The Cross mansion was more like a castle than a house, with its towering stone walls, sprawling gardens, and an air of old money that felt suffocating. It was intimidating, to say the least, and walking through its grand front doors made me feel like I’d stepped into another world.
Dinner was tense, filled with sharp remarks and unspoken tension between the brothers that I couldn’t quite figure out. Asher tried to keep the conversation light, throwing jokes my way, while Aiden sat back with his usual smirk, watching me like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve. Grayson, of course, barely spoke, his piercing gaze cutting through me every time I accidentally met his eyes.
But it wasn’t the dinner or the brothers’ icy banter that stayed with me. It was the door.
The forbidden room.
It was a heavy, dark wooden door at the end of a long hallway, barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. But once I saw it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Something about the way it loomed at the end of the corridor sent a chill down my spine, like it was guarding something terrible.
“What’s in there?” I asked casually during dinner, keeping my tone light as I gestured toward the hallway.
Asher’s fork froze halfway to his mouth, and he exchanged a glance with Aiden, who smirked. “That’s none of your business,” Aiden said, leaning back in his chair.
“Definitely off-limits,” Asher added, though his tone was softer. “Let’s just say it’s not a room you want to wander into.”
I glanced at Grayson, waiting for his reaction, but he didn’t look at me. Instead, he set his glass down with a sharp clink and said, “Stay away from it.”
His tone was colder than usual, and that only made me more curious.
Late that night, after the house had gone silent, I couldn’t stop thinking about the door. Every time I closed my eyes, it was there, taunting me, daring me to find out what was behind it.
I waited until I was sure everyone was asleep before slipping out of the guest room. The hallway was dark, the only light coming from the faint glow of the moon filtering through the windows. My heart pounded as I crept toward the door, my footsteps barely making a sound against the polished floor.
When I reached the door, I hesitated. My fingers hovered over the doorknob, my mind racing with all the warnings the brothers had given me. But the curiosity was too strong. I had to know.
The doorknob turned easily, and the door creaked open, revealing a dimly lit room filled with an eerie stillness.
The air was colder here, thick with the scent of old wood and something faintly metallic. The room was lined with shelves of books and trinkets, but it was the desk in the center that caught my attention. On it was a stack of old photos, yellowed with age.
I stepped closer, my hands trembling as I picked up the top photo.
Evelyn.
She was smiling in the picture, her dark hair falling around her face, her eyes bright and full of life. But there was something about her smile that felt… forced.
I flipped through the photos, each one more unsettling than the last. Evelyn laughing, Evelyn standing with Grayson, Evelyn staring directly at the camera with an expression that sent chills down my spine.
And then I saw it: a small, leather-bound diary tucked beneath the photos. My breath caught as I reached for it, the weight of it heavy in my hands. The edges of the pages were stained with something dark—blood.
My hands shook as I opened the diary, the first page scrawled with messy, frantic handwriting:
“Someone is watching me. I don’t know how much time I have left. I have to get out before it’s too late.”
I flipped through the pages, my heart racing as I read fragments of her words. Fear. Desperation. Warnings about the Cross brothers, about their secrets, about something dark and terrible that I couldn’t quite piece together.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed my shoulder, yanking me backward. I gasped, the diary slipping from my hands and hitting the floor with a dull thud.
I spun around to find Grayson standing behind me, his eyes blazing with rage.
Diary Entry
Date: October 12th, 1:15 AM
Dear Diary,
Tonight, I went to the Cross mansion, and it was… overwhelming. Everything about that place feels like a trap, from the grand chandeliers to the silent hallways that stretch on forever. It’s the kind of place that makes you feel like you don’t belong, no matter how hard you try to act like you do.
They told me not to go near the locked room. Asher laughed it off, Aiden smirked, and Grayson just gave me that cold, unreadable stare, like he knew I wouldn’t listen. And he was right. Because I didn’t. And now I’m shaking as I write this, because what I found… it changes everything. I thought I wanted answers, but now I’m not so sure.
There are things I saw tonight that I’ll never be able to unsee. And the worst part? Grayson caught me. He’s never looked at me like that before—with pure, unfiltered rage. What have I done?
Lila