The road was empty.

The black car had disappeared.

But Ethan couldn’t move.

He stood in the middle of the abandoned road, staring at the place where his uncle had vanished.

Daniel Cole.

His father’s brother.

A man who was supposed to have died before Ethan was even born.

A man who had just appeared after twenty-five years and claimed that Ethan’s father was alive.

And then there was the final message.

Five days.

Ethan looked at his phone.

His hands were shaking.

Maya noticed.

“Ethan.”

He didn’t answer.

“Ethan, look at me.”

He finally turned.

“He’s alive.”

Maya nodded slowly.

“Your father.”

“My father.”

“Are you sure it was his voice?”

Ethan looked at her.

“I’d know that voice anywhere.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“He said my name.”

Maya became silent.

Ethan looked away.

“Then he said he was sorry.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know.”

Maya stepped closer.

“Maybe Daniel was lying.”

Ethan shook his head.

“He wasn’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because of the phone calls.”

“What about them?”

“Someone has been calling me for years.”

Maya frowned.

“Years?”

“Every birthday.”

“What did they say?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“The calls lasted only a few seconds.”

Ethan looked at his phone.

“Sometimes there was silence.”

“Sometimes…”

“What?”

“A voice.”

Maya’s expression changed.

“What voice?”

Ethan swallowed.

“My father’s.”

The two stood silently.

Maya finally spoke.

“Why didn’t you ever tell anyone?”

“Because I thought I was imagining it.”

“And now?”

“Now I think he was trying to reach me.”

Maya looked toward the dark forest.

“Then why didn’t he tell you he was alive?”

“Maybe he couldn’t.”

“Why?”

Ethan remembered Daniel’s words.

Ask your father why he killed your mother.

His face became pale.

“Maybe he was hiding from someone.”

“Who?”

Ethan looked at her.

“The same person who’s been watching me.”

---

They returned to Blackwood Manor before dawn.

The police had left.

Only smoke remained.

Ethan stood outside the burned house.

Maya looked at him.

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

“Then why are we here?”

Ethan held up the key.

“Because Daniel said my father was alive.”

“So?”

“So my father left something here.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

Ethan looked at the house.

“But I’m going to find it.”

They entered through the broken window.

The ground floor was almost untouched.

Ethan walked toward the grandfather clock.

It was still standing.

The secret passage was open.

Maya looked down.

“Should we really go back?”

Ethan nodded.

“Yes.”

“What if whoever was there comes back?”

“Then we’ll be ready.”

“With what?”

Ethan looked at her.

“I have a flashlight.”

Maya stared.

“Wonderful.”

They descended.

The secret room was damaged but still intact.

Ethan’s eyes moved across the walls.

The photographs.

The files.

The maps.

Everything was still there.

Except one thing.

The photograph of his parents.

It was gone.

Maya noticed.

“Someone took it.”

Ethan nodded.

“Daniel.”

“Why?”

“Because it has something he doesn’t want us to see.”

Ethan walked toward the center of the room.

He looked at the floor.

Then at the walls.

His mother’s recording came back to him.

The truth is hidden inside Blackwood Manor.

Find the room beneath the floor.

Ethan looked down.

“Maya.”

“What?”

“The room beneath the floor.”

She stared.

“We’re already beneath the floor.”

“No.”

Ethan pointed.

“Not this floor.”

He walked to the center.

There was a large wooden panel.

It looked different from the rest.

Ethan knelt.

He ran his fingers across it.

A small line appeared.

Maya crouched beside him.

“There’s a door.”

Ethan nodded.

“Help me.”

Together they pulled.

Nothing.

Ethan tried again.

The panel moved slightly.

A loud crack echoed.

Then…

The floor opened.

A staircase descended into darkness.

Maya stared.

“Another secret room.”

Ethan looked at her.

“Your family really liked secrets.”

“Don’t blame me.”

“Fair.”

They went down.

The staircase was longer than the first.

Much longer.

Ethan counted.

Twenty steps.

Thirty.

Forty.

The air became colder.

Then…

They reached the bottom.

A metal door stood before them.

Ethan tried the handle.

Locked.

Maya looked at the key.

“Try it.”

Ethan inserted the key.

Click.

The door opened.

Ethan stepped inside.

And froze.

The room was small.

But it was filled with photographs.

Thousands of them.

Ethan walked slowly.

Every photograph showed him.

As a child.

As a teenager.

As an adult.

Ethan at school.

Ethan at university.

Ethan at work.

Ethan walking home.

Ethan sleeping.

Ethan traveling.

Someone had been watching him.

His entire life.

Maya covered her mouth.

“Oh my God.”

Ethan couldn’t speak.

He picked up a photograph.

It showed him at the age of eight.

Standing outside his new school.

Another showed him at twelve.

Another at eighteen.

Then twenty-five.

Then thirty.

Ethan looked at Maya.

“Who did this?”

She shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

Ethan turned.

On the wall…

There was a large map.

Hundreds of red lines connected different locations.

At the center…

Was Ethan’s name.

Maya walked closer.

“These are all places you’ve lived.”

Ethan nodded.

“How?”

“Someone followed you.”

“All these years.”

“Yes.”

Ethan stared at the map.

Then he noticed something.

There were two photographs pinned separately.

One of him.

One of his father.

They were connected by a red line.

Underneath them was written:

THE SON

THE FATHER

And below that…

THE SURVIVOR

Maya pointed.

“What’s that?”

Ethan stepped closer.

He noticed a third photograph.

It showed his mother.

Underneath her picture was a single word.

DEAD.

Ethan’s face changed.

He looked at the photograph.

Then he saw something.

A red line.

It connected his mother to another photograph.

Ethan moved closer.

The photograph showed…

Victor Reed.

Maya froze.

“No.”

Ethan looked at her.

“Your father.”

Maya shook her head.

“He wasn’t involved.”

“Maybe he was.”

“No.”

“Maya—”

“My father loved your mother.”

Ethan stopped.

“What?”

Maya’s eyes filled with tears.

“He loved her.”

Ethan stared.

“What are you saying?”

“My father and your mother…”

Maya looked away.

“They had a relationship.”

Silence.

Ethan couldn’t breathe.

“My mother?”

Maya nodded.

“Before she married your father.”

Ethan looked at the photograph.

“Did my father know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did Victor?”

“Yes.”

“Then why was he investigating my parents’ deaths?”

“Because he believed your father killed her.”

Ethan’s blood ran cold.

“My father killed my mother?”

Maya shook her head.

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Because Victor believed your father was responsible.”

Ethan stared.

“Why?”

“Because your mother was planning to leave.”

“Leave my father?”

“Yes.”

“With Victor?”

Maya nodded.

Ethan stepped backward.

“This makes no sense.”

“There’s more.”

Ethan looked at her.

Maya took a deep breath.

“Your mother wasn’t the only person planning to leave.”

“Who else?”

“Your father.”

Ethan froze.

“My father?”

“Yes.”

Maya looked at the photographs.

“Your father was working with Adrian Vale.”

Ethan’s expression changed.

“Working with him?”

“Yes.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know.”

Ethan walked toward the wall.

“Then why did they die?”

Maya shook her head.

“I don’t know.”

Ethan suddenly noticed a file on the floor.

He picked it up.

The name was written on the front.

DANIEL COLE.

Ethan opened it.

Inside were photographs.

Documents.

Medical records.

A death certificate.

Ethan stared.

The date of death was listed.

October 14, 1998.

Ethan looked at Maya.

“That’s the night my parents died.”

Maya nodded.

Ethan turned the page.

The cause of death was listed as:

Fire.

Ethan stared.

“But Daniel was my uncle.”

“Apparently.”

“Then how could he have died the same night?”

Maya looked at the photograph.

“Maybe he was there.”

Ethan turned the page.

A police photograph.

A burned body.

Ethan’s stomach turned.

“That’s not Daniel.”

Maya stared.

“How do you know?”

“Because the report says the body was never identified.”

Ethan looked at the file.

“The police assumed it was him.”

Maya whispered:

“Then who died?”

Ethan looked at her.

“The man who never left.”

Suddenly…

A sound came from above.

Footsteps.

Ethan and Maya froze.

Someone was walking inside the secret room.

Ethan turned off the flashlight.

They stood in darkness.

The footsteps came closer.

One.

Two.

Three.

Then stopped.

Maya held Ethan’s arm.

The door opened.

A man’s shadow appeared.

Ethan held his breath.

The man stepped inside.

Ethan couldn’t see his face.

Then the lights came on.

Ethan raised his flashlight.

The man was gone.

But something was lying on the floor.

A small black notebook.

Ethan walked toward it.

Maya stopped him.

“Don’t.”

Ethan looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because someone wants us to find it.”

Ethan crouched.

“Maybe that’s the point.”

He opened it.

The first page contained only one sentence.

“The truth is not in the house.”

Ethan turned the page.

Another sentence.

“The truth is beneath the house.”

He continued.

Page after page.

Names.

Dates.

Locations.

Then…

A name.

Samuel Cross.

Ethan stared.

Maya stepped closer.

“What?”

Ethan showed her.

“He’s not just a detective.”

“Then what is he?”

Ethan turned the page.

A photograph was attached.

Cross.

Adrian.

Victor.

Ethan’s father.

And Daniel.

All standing together.

The date was twenty-eight years ago.

Maya whispered:

“They knew each other.”

Ethan nodded.

“All of them.”

“Why?”

Ethan read the final line.

“THE FIVE MEN OF BLACKWOOD.”

Maya frowned.

“Five?”

Ethan counted.

There were only four.

Victor.

Adrian.

Cross.

Daniel.

And Ethan’s father.

Five.

Maya looked at him.

“What did they do?”

Ethan turned the page.

The answer was missing.

Someone had ripped it out.

Then…

Ethan noticed something.

A small note was attached to the back.

He pulled it free.

It contained an address.

Maya read it.

“The old railway station.”

Ethan nodded.

“That’s where we’re going.”

“No.”

Ethan looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because I know that place.”

“And?”

“That’s where my father disappeared.”

Ethan froze.

“When?”

“Three months ago.”

Maya’s voice became quiet.

“The night before he died.”

Ethan stared.

“Your father disappeared?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“Six hours.”

“Where did he go?”

“I don’t know.”

Ethan looked at the address.

“Then we’ll find out.”

---

The old railway station stood at the edge of Blackwood.

It had been abandoned for years.

The windows were broken.

The tracks were covered with weeds.

The station clock had stopped at 3:17.

Ethan noticed immediately.

“Again.”

Maya looked at the clock.

“3:17.”

Ethan walked inside.

The building was empty.

Except for one old bench.

And a suitcase.

Maya stopped.

“That’s my father’s.”

Ethan looked at her.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Maya ran toward it.

She opened it.

Inside were clothes.

Documents.

And a photograph.

Maya picked it up.

Her hands began shaking.

“What?”

Ethan came closer.

The photograph showed Victor.

Standing beside a man.

Ethan recognized him.

Samuel Cross.

But there was another person.

A woman.

Ethan stared.

“Who is she?”

Maya looked at the photograph.

Her face changed.

“That’s my mother.”

Ethan froze.

“Your mother?”

Maya nodded.

“But she’s dead.”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Twenty-five years ago.”

Ethan looked at the photograph.

It was dated the same night his parents died.

Maya whispered:

“My father was here with her.”

Ethan looked at her.

“Then your mother knew my parents.”

Maya nodded.

“And she knew Adrian Vale.”

“How?”

Maya turned the photograph over.

There was writing on the back.

“The truth will be revealed when the fifth man returns.”

Ethan stared.

“The fifth man.”

Maya looked at him.

“Who is the fifth man?”

Suddenly…

A train horn sounded.

Both jumped.

Ethan looked outside.

A train was approaching.

But there hadn’t been a working train on those tracks for twenty years.

The train stopped.

The doors opened.

No one came out.

Ethan looked at Maya.

“Stay here.”

“Absolutely not.”

They approached the train.

The doors remained open.

Inside was darkness.

Ethan stepped inside.

Maya followed.

The train was empty.

Except for one seat.

A man sat there.

His back was facing them.

Ethan stopped.

“Hello?”

The man didn’t move.

Ethan stepped closer.

“Sir?”

The man slowly turned.

Ethan froze.

It was Samuel Cross.

But something was wrong.

His face was covered in blood.

Ethan rushed forward.

“Cross!”

Cross looked at him.

His eyes were wide.

“He’s coming.”

“Who?”

Cross grabbed Ethan’s arm.

“The fifth man.”

“Who is he?”

Cross looked behind Ethan.

His expression changed.

“He’s already here.”

Ethan turned.

No one.

When he looked back…

Cross was dead.

Maya screamed.

Ethan stepped backward.

A gunshot echoed.

The train lights went out.

Then…

Someone whispered behind Ethan.

“You should have stayed away.”

Ethan turned.

A figure stood in the darkness.

The man was wearing a black coat.

His face was hidden.

Ethan reached for Maya.

“Run!”

They jumped off the train.

The figure followed.

They ran through the station.

Then outside.

Ethan looked back.

The man had disappeared.

Maya was breathing heavily.

“Ethan…”

“What?”

“Cross.”

“What about him?”

“He’s gone.”

Ethan looked back at the train.

The doors were closed.

The train was empty.

No body.

No blood.

Nothing.

Ethan stared.

Maya whispered:

“Was he ever there?”

Ethan didn’t answer.

Then his phone rang.

Unknown number.

He answered.

A voice spoke.

“Five days became four.”

Ethan froze.

“Who are you?”

The voice laughed.

“You met him tonight.”

“Who?”

“The fifth man.”

“Tell me his name.”

Silence.

Then…

The voice whispered:

“Ask your father.”

The call ended.

Ethan looked at Maya.

She was crying.

“What?”

She pointed behind him.

Ethan turned.

A man stood across the railway tracks.

He was holding a photograph.

He slowly raised it.

Ethan recognized the image.

His parents.

Victor.

Adrian.

Cross.

Daniel.

The five men.

Then the man tore the photograph in half.

And walked away.

Ethan shouted:

“Wait!”

He ran toward him.

But the man disappeared into the darkness.

Ethan stopped.

Then he noticed something on the ground.

A piece of the photograph.

He picked it up.

It showed one person.

His father.

On the back…

A message.

“He didn’t kill your mother.”

Ethan turned it over.

There was another line.

“But he knows who did.”

Maya came running.

“Ethan!”

He looked at her.

“Where did he go?”

“He’s gone.”

Maya stared at the photograph.

“What does it say?”

Ethan handed it to her.

She read it.

Then…

Her eyes widened.

“What?”

Ethan looked at her.

“What’s wrong?”

Maya pointed to the corner.

There was a date.

Tomorrow.

And beneath it…

A location.

Blackwood Cemetery.

Ethan’s heart stopped.

“Tomorrow?”

Maya nodded.

Ethan stared into the darkness.

“Someone wants us to go there.”

“Who?”

Ethan looked at the photograph.

“I don’t know.”

Then his phone vibrated.

A message.

UNKNOWN NUMBER:

“Come alone.”

Ethan stared.

Another message arrived.

“If you bring Maya…”

A third message.

“She dies.”

Ethan looked at Maya.

She saw the messages.

Her face went pale.

“No.”

Ethan stepped closer.

“Maya…”

“No.”

“It’s okay.”

“You can’t go.”

“I have to.”

“No.”

“Maya—”

“You’re not going alone.”

Ethan stared.

“You’ll be killed.”

Maya looked directly into his eyes.

“Then we’ll die together.”

Ethan’s expression softened.

“Maya.”

“I spent twenty-five years running from this.”

She stepped closer.

“I’m not running anymore.”

Ethan looked at her.

For the first time…

He realized something.

He wasn’t alone anymore.

Whatever happened next…

They would face it together.

Then a final message appeared on Ethan’s phone.

“Tomorrow, the dead will speak.”

Ethan looked toward the dark cemetery.

And somewhere behind the trees…

A man watched them.

He smiled.

Because the truth was finally coming.

And tomorrow…

Ethan would meet the man who had been hiding behind every mystery.

The man who never left.

TO BE CONTINUED…