CHAPTER 1: The Key
Emily’s fingers trembled as they closed around the cold brass key.
It felt heavier than it should have—like it carried something more than metal. Something final.
“Don’t let them…” her grandmother whispered, her voice barely audible over the steady beep of the heart monitor. “…open that room.”
Emily leaned closer, tears blurring her vision. “What room? Grandma, what do you mean?”
But the old woman’s gaze had already softened. Not empty—never empty—but distant, as if she were looking past Emily… toward something only she could see.
Behind them, the door slammed open.
“Where is it?” one of the women snapped, her heels clicking sharply against the hospital floor. “The will. She must have signed it already.”
Emily turned, instinctively curling her hand around the key, hiding it.
“I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered.
The second woman stepped forward, her lips tightening. “Don’t play games, Emily. Your grandmother wasn’t in her right mind these past few days. Whatever she gave you—hand it over.”
A soft chime broke the tension.
Emily’s phone lit up on the bedside table.
Unknown Number: Don’t let them open that room.
Her breath caught.
“How did—?” she whispered.
But when she looked back at the bed…
Her grandmother was gone.
May you like
Not physically—but in the way that mattered most.
And suddenly, the key in Emily’s hand felt like the beginning of something dangerous.
