The house had never felt so empty before.

Ember sat alone in the dark, the flickering flame she held barely keeping the shadows from swallowing her. With every breath, the flame wavered and danced, casting long shadows that clawed for her.

She hadn’t meant to return; she had fought for years to keep the memories locked away. But the letter, ripped and unsigned, demanded it.

Find her.

The two words, scribbled in jagged, red lines. The two words that changed her forever.

Gripping the flame that tethered her to the world, Ember slowly ascended the winding stairs.

Step one…step two…skip step three

Ember closed her eyes and willed herself to stay steady. She methodically climbed the creaking steps, remembering which steps to avoid, which side to walk on.

As she reached the final platform, she followed the narrow, familiar path.

Forward 10 steps…

Ember had walked that path countless times before. As a child, after waking from yet another nightmare, she would creep down that passageway to her mother’s bedroom.

Turn left…

She always hoped for anything- a gesture, a word, a light left on.

Walk 5 meters…

But her mother never gave any. Ember was forced to deal with the nightmares, every night. She never knew that they were shadows of the wounds her mother had left in her. Shadows that only appeared when a child cried out- and no one replied.

Into the bathroom and…

Ember sucked in a breath. The oval mirror that hid her mother’s bedroom was dangling low. The edges were chipped, pieces of glass scattered on the ground. The hole behind the mirror was in plain sight, revealing the dimly lit dirt tunnel to the large bedroom beyond.

Ember felt a wave of adrenaline surge through her as she climbed into the room, the slender flame she still gripped fading with every step. Suddenly, she gasped and covered her mouth.

Jagged words were painted on the wooden walls with something metallic, crimson red. Blood.

You can’t hide. I will come back.

Ember felt whispers of that fateful line echoing through the walls, her mother’s cold voice drowning her thoughts. The one she failed with her inaction, the one she had killed with her silence.

Ember sank to the floor, her face ashen, hollowed. Memories of that one night nearly five years ago flooded back. The bloodcurdling wails of her mother, and the last pleading glance, filled with hurt and betrayal, that she gave Ember. That glance had haunted her dreams long after that day had passed, bringing the feeling that something vital was missing.

It was just a fire. No one else was involved. Ember kept reminding herself, pushing back the details she had never been brave enough to acknowledge.

Then why was it, on that same day, her father had mysteriously disappeared?

No one had ever searched the interior of the burned, broken down house she was now in. The incident had been dismissed as a fire, an accident, and her father’s disappearance had never been looked into.

Ember felt the feeling of uneasiness growing. Something tugged at her gut, something she couldn’t quite place. The candle burned brighter than ever, lighting her path to the truth.

Ember rose and slowly exited the bedroom, closing the mirror behind her. She quietly retraced her steps back to the entrance of the house.

She was going to find the truth. She would have to face it, eventually.