The mystery Deepens

Iris woke up with a jolt, her breath shaky and her heart racing. The dream she’d had clung to her mind like fog: Granny Row’s unsettling smile, the broken clock chiming as if alive, and shadowy figures lurking in every corner of her vision. It felt so vivid, too vivid. She reached for her phone, the screen casting a soft glow in the darkness—3:45 a.m. The room was silent except for Avelia’s rhythmic breathing. Iris lay back down, staring at the ceiling, trying to shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

---

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the curtains, but it did little to ease the tension Iris felt. She and Avelia made their way downstairs, drawn by the smell of fresh tea and croissants. Granny Row was already there, humming softly to herself as she set the table.
“Good morning, my darlings,” Granny Row greeted them with her usual warm yet unsettling smile.
“Good morning, Granny,” Avelia replied, nudging Iris, who muttered a hesitant, “Good morning.”
Granny Row gestured for them to sit. “I’ve left something for you both in the library upstairs. You might find it... enlightening.”
Avelia raised an eyebrow. “The library? I didn’t even know this house had a library.”
Granny Row chuckled, her eyes twinkling in a way that sent a shiver down Iris’s spine. “Oh, there’s much you don’t know about this place, my dear.”

---
After breakfast, curiosity got the better of them, and Iris and Avelia decided to find the library. Following Granny Row’s vague directions, they discovered a narrow staircase at the end of a dim hallway. The wooden steps creaked under their weight, and the air grew colder as they ascended.
At the top, they found a heavy wooden door. It groaned loudly as Avelia pushed it open. The library was small but packed with old books, the air thick with the scent of dust and aged paper. A single, dim window let in just enough light to reveal the room’s strange details: shelves lined with ancient tomes, a faint outline of a map etched into the wooden floor, and a single leather-bound journal left open on a table in the center of the room.
“What is this place?” Avelia whispered, her voice tinged with unease.
Iris stepped closer to the journal, drawn to its worn cover. The pages were filled with intricate sketches of the broken clock downstairs, notes written in looping handwriting, and symbols she didn’t recognize.
“Look at this,” Avelia said, pulling out an old photograph tucked between the pages. It showed a young woman who looked uncannily like Iris, standing beside a much younger Granny Row.
“Why does she... look like me?” Iris murmured, her voice barely audible.
Avelia didn’t answer. Her attention had shifted to the far corner of the library, where a shadow seemed to ripple unnaturally.
“Did you see that?” Avelia whispered, clutching Iris’s arm.
“See what?” Iris turned to look but saw nothing. The corner was empty, save for stacks of dusty books.
“I swear... I saw something move,” Avelia said, her voice trembling.

--
They quickly left the library, their nerves frayed. As they walked back to their room, Iris couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder, the feeling of being watched growing stronger with every step.
As they passed the broken clock in the hall, it gave an eerie creak, its long-frozen hands twitching ever so slightly. Iris froze.
“Did you hear that?” she asked, her voice shaky.
“Hear what?” Avelia said, looking around nervously.
Before Iris could respond, a faint sound echoed down the hall—a soft, rhythmic tapping, like footsteps retreating into the shadows. But when they turned to look, no one was there.
“Let’s just go,” Avelia whispered, gripping Iris’s arm tightly.
As they hurried back to their room, neither noticed the figure standing silently at the top of the stairs, watching them with cold, unblinking eyes.