Chapter 4 — The Compass Awakens

Claire Hartwell

The manor’s silence wrapped around Claire like a heavy shroud, amplifying the faint creak of the floorboards beneath her steps. Dust motes swirled lazily in the sunlight streaming through the cracked window, illuminating the cluttered remnants of her great-uncle’s life. The air was thick with the scent of mildew and aged wood, a scent that seemed to carry the weight of time, as if the room had been waiting, untouched, for her arrival.