Grave Secrets and Ghostly Warnings

The library smelled of old paper and dust, the dim overhead lighting casting long shadows across the rows of bookshelves. Jess sat hunched over a stack of records, her fingers tracing over faded text. Leanna, Ryan, Kevin, Hannah, and Olivia were scattered around the table, each flipping through documents, muttering to themselves, trying to make sense of the puzzle they had stumbled into.

"Got something," Leanna finally announced, straightening up. She turned her laptop screen toward the group. "I found the names of a dozen individuals linked to Project Prometheus. These aren’t lab technicians or researchers—they’re test subjects. The first test subjects."

Jess leaned in, her stomach tightening as she read the list. Names. Ages. Dates of death.

Her breath caught in her throat. "They all died within the same week… twenty years ago."

Ryan frowned. "And look where they’re buried."

Leanna nodded. "All of them are in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, near Erasmus Vellum’s grave."

A shiver ran down Jess’s spine. "It’s like they were collected there."

Kevin drummed his fingers on the table. "This isn’t a coincidence. Something happened to them. All at once."

"But why?" Olivia asked, her voice hushed. "Were they failures? Or were they successes that had to be erased?"

No one had an answer.

Hannah glanced back at the list. "Wait, there’s one more name here… No death date."

Leanna clicked on the entry. "It’s the only test subject still alive. And get this—according to the records, they’re living in a group home just outside of town."

Jess exhaled, rubbing her temples. "So, we have a survivor."

Ryan sat back. "Which means we finally have a lead."

The excitement in the room was palpable, but Jess couldn’t shake the unease settling in her gut. She forced herself to focus, to think logically. "Alright. Tomorrow, we check out the cemetery. After that, we track down the survivor."

**************************************

The drive back to their Airbnb was quiet. Jess sat in the backseat, staring out the window, unable to shake the growing sense that they weren’t alone in this. Someone had led them here. Someone had scrubbed the crypt clean. Someone had been watching them since they arrived.

When they pulled into the driveway, the house was just as they had left it. But as soon as Jess stepped inside, her blood ran cold.

A typed note sat on the refrigerator. It was not taped. It was not pinned. Just placed there, as if someone had walked right in and left it for them to find.

Leanna grabbed it first, her hands tense as she read aloud:

You’re asking the right questions. But some truths are better left buried.

Silence fell over the room. No one moved. No one breathed. Jess felt the walls closing in, her heart hammering against her ribs. She turned slowly, scanning the room, checking the locks, the windows, the doors.

"How did they get in?" Kevin finally asked, voice low.

No one had an answer.

Jess gripped the edge of the table to steady herself. "They knew we’d be here."

Ryan clenched his jaw. "And they’re not trying to stop us. Not yet. Just warning us."

Jess swallowed hard. "Or leading us exactly where they want us to go."

No one spoke. The note sat between them like a ghostly presence, a silent threat hanging over their heads.

Tomorrow, they would go to the cemetery.

But tonight… no one would be sleeping.