The footsteps above them stopped.

Ivy stared at the ceiling.

Theo held the lantern higher.

Leo whispered, “Please tell me that’s a normal person.”

Professor Whiskers shook his head.

“No.”

Leo sighed.

“I knew you were going to say that.”

The clock in the room continued ticking.

TICK.

TICK.

TICK.

Ivy looked at the silver key inside the compartment.

“The clock gave us this.”

Theo picked it up carefully.

“Maybe it opens another door.”

“Hopefully a door that leads outside.”

Leo nodded.

“Finally, someone has a good idea.”

Theo examined the key.

“There are letters on it.”

Ivy leaned closer.

Three tiny letters were engraved along the metal.

R-O-S-E.

“Rose,” she whispered.

Professor Whiskers immediately looked toward the door.

“Put it away.”

“Why?”

“Because we shouldn’t use it here.”

Theo frowned.

“You know what it opens.”

The cat didn’t answer.

Ivy stepped closer.

“Professor.”

He sighed.

“The Rose Room.”

“What is the Rose Room?”

“A place Lillian created.”

“Why?”

“To hide something.”

“What?”

The cat’s eyes narrowed.

“Something that should never be found.”

Leo raised his hand.

“Can we vote to not find it?”

“No,” Ivy said.

“I’m beginning to hate democracy.”

Suddenly, something scratched against the other side of the wooden door.

Everyone froze.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Then came a whisper.

“Ivy…”

Ivy’s face went pale.

It was Lillian’s voice.

Theo stepped toward the door.

“Lillian?”

“Don’t open it.”

Her voice sounded frightened.

Ivy moved closer.

“What happened?”

“It’s awake.”

“What is?”

A long silence followed.

Then Lillian whispered:

“The thing beneath the roses.”

The scratching stopped.

Theo looked at Ivy.

“What thing?”

Lillian answered:

“The thing that remembers.”

The door suddenly burst open.

A powerful wind blew through the room.

The lantern went out.

Ivy felt something rush past her.

She heard Leo shout.

Then silence.

The lantern flickered back on.

Leo was standing beside the clock.

Theo was on the floor.

Professor Whiskers was hiding behind a box.

And Ivy was holding the silver key.

But the door was wide open.

Lillian was gone.

Theo stood up.

“Everyone okay?”

Leo nodded.

“I think so.”

Professor Whiskers crawled from behind the box.

“I am completely fine.”

Theo stared at him.

“You were hiding.”

“I was strategically repositioning myself.”

“Behind a box?”

“A very strong box.”

Ivy almost laughed.

Then she noticed something on the floor.

A trail of black petals.

They led through the doorway.

She followed them.

The staircase was empty.

But at the top was a single rose.

It was completely black.

Ivy picked it up.

The moment she touched it, she heard a voice inside her head.

You forgot me.

She dropped the flower.

Theo grabbed her shoulder.

“What happened?”

“I heard something.”

“What?”

Ivy looked at the black rose.

“It said I forgot it.”

Professor Whiskers stared at the flower.

“That is impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because you were never supposed to remember it.”

Ivy turned sharply.

“What exactly happened to me when I was a child?”

The cat remained silent.

“Tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“You knew me.”

“Yes.”

“You knew Lillian.”

“Yes.”

“You knew about the clock.”

“Yes.”

“And you know why I lost my memory.”

Professor Whiskers looked down.

“Yes.”

“Then tell me!”

The cat’s ears lowered.

“Your father asked me to erase it.”

Ivy froze.

“My father?”

“Yes.”

Theo stepped closer.

“Why would her father do that?”

“Because he believed it was the only way to protect her.”

“Protect me from what?”

Professor Whiskers looked toward the black rose.

“From the thing that lives beneath the garden.”

A deep rumble shook the floor.

The rose moved.

Its petals slowly opened.

Inside was a tiny silver eye.

Leo screamed.

“THE FLOWER HAS AN EYEBALL!”

The eye blinked.

Ivy jumped backward.

Theo grabbed a broom from the wall.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“Defend us.”

“With a broom?”

“It’s all I have.”

Professor Whiskers looked unimpressed.

“Humans are strange.”

The flower suddenly spoke.

“Seven.”

Ivy stared.

“What?”

“Seven.”

The flower repeated the word.

Then its eye closed.

The petals fell apart.

Inside was another clue.

A small piece of paper.

Ivy unfolded it.

THE FIRST MEMORY LIES WHERE THE ROSES SLEEP.

Theo looked toward the garden.

“The Rose Room.”

Professor Whiskers nodded.

“Then we must go.”

Leo stared.

“Wait. You just said nobody should go there.”

“I changed my mind.”

“You change your mind very quickly.”

“I am a cat.”

“That doesn’t explain anything.”

They returned to the garden.

The moon had disappeared behind thick clouds.

The glowing flowers had become dull.

The garden seemed different now.

Almost angry.

The black rose trail continued across the stone path.

It ended at an enormous arch covered in red roses.

There was no door.

Only a wall of flowers.

Ivy took out the silver key.

The moment she touched it to the roses, they moved apart.

A hidden doorway appeared.

Theo stared.

“That’s impressive.”

Leo shook his head.

“No. That’s terrifying.”

They entered.

The room beyond was beautiful.

Thousands of roses covered the walls.

Red.

Blue.

Purple.

Silver.

Golden.

At the center stood a large glass table.

On it were seven objects.

A toy rabbit.

A broken watch.

A yellow ribbon.

A tiny silver bell.

A photograph.

A wooden bird.

And a small red notebook.

Ivy walked toward them.

“These are the seven lost things.”

Professor Whiskers nodded.

“The seven memories.”

Ivy reached for the notebook.

“Don’t.”

Lillian’s voice came from behind them.

Everyone turned.

She stood beside the doorway.

Her white dress was covered in black rose petals.

“You mustn’t open that.”

Ivy looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because once you remember everything, it will know where you are.”

Theo stepped forward.

“What is it?”

Lillian looked at him.

“You’ve been searching for six months.”

“Yes.”

“You still don’t know?”

“No.”

She smiled sadly.

“Then you’re not ready.”

Theo’s expression hardened.

“I’ve lost my sister.”

Lillian froze.

“What?”

“My older sister.”

Lillian stared at him.

Her face changed.

“What was her name?”

Theo swallowed.

“Lillian.”

The room became silent.

Ivy slowly turned toward the girl.

“Your name is Lillian Vale.”

The girl nodded.

Theo stepped closer.

“But you disappeared twenty-three years ago.”

“Yes.”

“You’re my sister.”

“Yes.”

Theo’s eyes filled with tears.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I wasn’t supposed to exist anymore.”

Ivy stared.

“What does that mean?”

Lillian looked toward the seven objects.

“The garden doesn’t simply hide people.”

She took a breath.

“It changes them.”

The roses began trembling.

Lillian whispered:

“And twenty-three years ago, the garden changed me.”

Suddenly the glass table shattered.

The seven objects flew into the air.

The toy rabbit began laughing.

The broken watch started spinning.

The wooden bird opened its wings.

The silver bell rang.

DING.

Every rose in the room turned black.

Lillian stepped backward.

“No.”

The floor cracked.

Something enormous moved beneath them.

Leo grabbed Ivy’s hand.

“What is happening?”

Lillian shouted:

“RUN!”

The floor exploded.

A giant black root burst through the stone.

Then another.

And another.

They twisted together into the shape of a tall figure.

It had no face.

Only a single silver eye.

Ivy remembered the voice from the flower.

You forgot me.

The creature leaned toward her.

Then it spoke.

“You promised.”

Ivy couldn’t breathe.

“I don’t know you.”

The creature’s eye widened.

“Yes, you do.”

The garden shook violently.

The seven objects fell around Ivy.

One landed at her feet.

The red notebook opened by itself.

On the first page was a drawing of a little girl.

Ivy.

Beside her stood Lillian.

And behind them stood the black-eyed creature.

Underneath the drawing were five words:

WE MADE A DEAL TOGETHER.

Ivy stared.

“A deal?”

The creature smiled.

And suddenly Ivy remembered.

She had been here before.

She had met it.

She had spoken to it.

And when she was seven years old…

she had asked it for something.

The creature leaned closer.

“Now, little Ivy…”

Its voice echoed through the garden.

“It’s time to pay me back.”