Chapter 18: The Name on the Wall
The Dream House
Book One
The following Tuesday was supposed to be productive.
Very productive.
At least that had been Selena's plan.
Whenever Selena created a plan, she treated it like a legal contract.
The universe, unfortunately, did not.
I was sitting at her office staring at a giant whiteboard covered in notes.
Ideas.
Deadlines.
Budgets.
Goals.
More goals.
Then goals for the goals.
I was beginning to suspect Selena's true love language was spreadsheets.
"You haven't written anything in ten minutes."
I looked up.
"I've been thinking."
"No."
She pointed at my notebook.
"You've been doodling."
I looked down.
She was right.
I had accidentally drawn a dragon wearing sunglasses.
The dragon looked cool though.
"Artistic brainstorming."
"That's not a thing."
"It absolutely is."
Luna laughed from the other side of the room.
She was sitting on the floor beside the window arranging flowers for an upcoming event.
The room smelled like lavender.
And somehow that felt very Luna.
The girl could probably survive a zombie apocalypse and still find time to arrange flowers.
My phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph.
Nothing else.
Just a photograph.
My smile disappeared.
The room suddenly felt colder.
The picture showed an old brick building.
Abandoned.
Covered in vines.
Broken windows.
Rotting wood.
But that wasn't what caught my attention.
What caught my attention was the symbol painted above the entrance.
The exact same symbol from the journal.
My heart immediately started racing.
"Maya?"
Luna's voice sounded distant.
"Maya?"
I looked up.
Both of them were staring at me.
"What happened?"
Without speaking, I handed them my phone.
The room became silent.
The kind of silence that makes you aware of your own breathing.
Selena took the phone first.
Then Luna.
Neither looked happy.
"Who sent this?" Selena asked.
"I don't know."
"No number?"
"Blocked."
Luna looked worried.
Very worried.
Which instantly made me worried.
The three of us stared at the image.
Nobody spoke.
Then Selena stood up.
"I want to see it."
Of course she did.
"What?"
"The building."
"Today?"
"Yes."
I blinked.
"Selena."
"Today."
I looked toward Luna.
Normally she would be the voice of caution.
The reasonable one.
The peaceful one.
Instead she surprised me.
"I think she's right."
Traitor.
Complete traitor.
I rubbed my face.
This was how horror movies started.
A mysterious picture.
An abandoned building.
Three women making terrible decisions.
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
"Fine."
Thirty minutes later we were driving across the city.
Rain clouds had started gathering overhead.
Traffic crawled.
Nobody spoke much.
Everybody was thinking.
The photograph sat in my lap.
I kept looking at it.
Then looking out the window.
Then back at the photograph.
Trying to connect the two.
Trying to understand why somebody sent it.
Why now.
Why me.
The building eventually appeared.
And the moment it did...
Something felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Not exactly.
Just wrong.
Like walking into a room where an argument had recently happened.
The air itself felt different.
We parked.
Nobody moved.
For several seconds we simply sat there.
Staring.
The place looked even older in person.
Even more abandoned.
The symbol above the entrance remained visible despite years of weather.
Waiting.
Watching.
Remembering.
Finally Selena opened her door.
"Let's go."
I hated those two words.
I hated them with passion.
But before any of us could move...
A familiar voice spoke behind us.
"You should've called first."
All three of us froze.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
We turned around.
Standing beside a black pickup truck was Sinnad.
Arms crossed.
Expression unreadable.
As if he'd been expecting us.
As if he already knew why we were there.
And for the first time...
He didn't look like a barber.
He looked like someone carrying a secret.
And somehow...
That scared me more than the building.