Ryan couldn’t stop staring at Oliver and Mrs. Martha.

His mind was racing.

“So… let me get this straight.”

“There is no ghost.”

Oliver nodded.

“No.”

“You’ve been pretending this house is haunted for fifteen years.”

“Yes.”

“And the whole neighborhood believed it?”

Mrs. Martha smiled proudly.

“People believe almost anything if you add a little mystery.”

Ryan covered his face with both hands.

“I came here looking for ghosts.”

“And I found two retired pranksters.”

Oliver laughed.

“Technically, I’m only forty-two.”

Mrs. Martha hit him lightly with her walking stick.

“Don’t remind me of my age.”

Ryan couldn’t help laughing.

“This neighborhood is completely insane.”

---

Oliver suddenly became serious.

“I wasn’t joking earlier.”

“There really is a secret hidden inside this house.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of secret?”

Oliver walked toward the fireplace.

He pushed one of the old bricks.

A loud click echoed through the room.

The entire bookshelf slowly slid to one side.

Ryan’s eyes nearly popped out.

“No way…”

Behind the bookshelf was a narrow staircase leading underground.

Mrs. Martha smiled.

“Welcome to the real House Number Thirteen.”

Ryan looked at them.

“You’ve had a secret basement this whole time?”

Oliver shrugged.

“I wanted to tell you.”

“But you seemed busy eating cookies.”

Ryan laughed.

“Fair point.”

---

The three of them carefully walked down the old stone stairs.

The air became colder.

Dust floated through the beam of Ryan’s flashlight.

After several minutes they reached a large underground room.

Old wooden shelves lined the walls.

Rusty boxes covered the floor.

Broken furniture was stacked in the corners.

Ryan looked around in amazement.

“This place is huge.”

Oliver nodded.

“It was built over a hundred years ago.”

“What was it used for?”

“No one knows.”

Ryan slowly walked forward.

Something shiny caught his attention.

He bent down.

It was an old silver coin.

The year engraved on it read…

1898.

Before he could examine it further…

His foot accidentally stepped on a loose wooden board.

CRACK!

The floor collapsed beneath him.

“RYAN!”

Oliver grabbed his jacket just in time.

Ryan dangled over a deep hole.

“My notebook!”

he shouted.

Mrs. Martha looked into the hole.

“Forget the notebook.”

“Try not to die.”

Oliver pulled Ryan back onto solid ground.

Ryan lay there breathing heavily.

“Next time…”

“I’m investigating haunted libraries.”

---

As they recovered…

Ryan pointed his flashlight into the hole.

Something reflected the light.

“It looks like…”

“A metal box.”

Oliver frowned.

“I’ve lived here fifteen years.”

“I’ve never seen that.”

Ryan smiled.

“Looks like today’s our lucky day.”

Oliver found an old rope hanging on the wall.

Five minutes later…

Ryan carefully climbed down into the hole.

The metal box was covered in dirt.

It was surprisingly heavy.

With great effort he pushed it upward.

Oliver and Mrs. Martha pulled it onto the floor.

All three stared at it.

The box was locked.

Its surface was covered with strange symbols.

Ryan reached for the lock.

Mrs. Martha stopped him.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“Look.”

A small piece of paper was taped underneath.

Ryan carefully unfolded it.

Written in faded ink were the words…

“Do Not Open Unless You Want The Truth.”

Ryan smiled.

“That’s definitely getting opened.”

Oliver sighed.

“I knew you’d say that.”

Ryan searched the room until he found an old hammer.

With one hard swing…

CRACK!

The rusty lock broke.

Slowly…

He lifted the lid.

Inside…

There wasn’t gold.

There weren’t jewels.

There wasn’t money.

There was only…

A single black notebook.

Ryan looked confused.

“That’s it?”

Oliver carefully picked it up.

Dust covered the front cover.

In faded golden letters it read…

PROPERTY OF DETECTIVE HENRY BLACKWOOD

Ryan froze.

“Blackwood?”

“That’s the richest family in the city.”

Mrs. Martha’s smile disappeared.

“I was afraid of that.”

Ryan looked at her.

“You knew about this?”

She slowly nodded.

“Not exactly.”

“But I knew the Blackwood family was somehow connected to this house.”

Before Ryan could ask another question…

A loud sound echoed from upstairs.

BANG!

Someone had slammed the front door.

The three of them looked at each other.

Oliver whispered,

“We’re not alone anymore.”

Heavy footsteps echoed across the wooden floor above them.

One person…

Then another…

Then another.

Ryan switched off his flashlight.

The underground room fell into complete darkness.

A deep unfamiliar voice echoed through the hidden tunnel.

“Search every room.”

“The notebook must still be here.”

Ryan tightened his grip on the mysterious diary.

Whoever those people were…

They had come for exactly the same thing.

And they were getting closer.