"Ms. Vance," he said, eyes still on the mirror, "for your safety, do not look back again."
The words hung thick in the cabin—more command than warning, more inevitable than either. Elara swallowed and fixed her eyes forward, fingers curling around the edge of the black folder in her lap.
The man settled back into his seat, composure restored but sharpened, as though the creature beneath his calm exterior had briefly surfaced. The SUV continued accelerating, weaving through the thinning streets until the city began to fall away behind them.
Buildings gave way to industrial stretches.
Industrial stretches gave way to abandoned lots.
Then—trees.
Endless rows of them, crowding close to the narrow road like silent spectators.
Elara shifted uneasily. "Where exactly are we going?"
"You'll see soon."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one permitted."
She stared at him, jaw tightening, but the phrase rolled off him with the same effortless finality as every other thing he'd said. He didn't seem capable of deviating from protocol, even when it made the silence feel suffocating.
They drove for nearly an hour. The sun should have risen by now—but the sky remained a murky gray, smothered by low fog that thickened the further they traveled. It gathered against the windows, obscuring the branches outside.
The GPS screen on the dashboard was dark.
No route.
No map.
No coordinates.
Like the vehicle had slipped off the world.
"You shut off the navigation?" she murmured.
"It was never on."
She didn't ask how he knew the way. She wasn't sure she wanted the answer.
The road twisted, climbing gradually. The fog grew denser, swallowing the trees until they became pale shadows drifting past like ghosts. The engine's hum grew louder in the silence, vibrating through her feet and up her spine.
Then the man spoke again, voice softer.
"When we arrive, you will address him as 'Overseer.' Only that."
"Why?"
"It's the only name he permits."
She frowned. "Is he… some kind of employer? A collector?"
The man turned his head just enough that one side of his face caught the dim morning light.
"He is the reason you're here."
The phrasing made something cold settle in her stomach. "Do you follow him? Or work for him?"
He paused—not dramatically, but with the stillness of someone selecting truth while discarding all the unacceptable versions of it.
"I serve at his discretion."
Serve.
Not follow.
Not work for.
Serve.
Elara's breath thinned.
Before she could press further, the SUV slowed. The fog peeled away in small, reluctant wisps as they approached an old iron gate—the kind that belonged to a place where nothing truly ended up by accident.
Tall. Rusted. Spiked.
A crest carved at the top, the same one she'd seen in red wax on the envelope.
The gate opened on its own.
No guards.
No keypad.
No sensors she could see.
Just metal groaning softly as it welcomed her in.
The estate beyond it rose gradually into view, piece by piece—first the shadow of a tower, then the sloped rooflines, then the sprawling stone walls that seemed to absorb the fog rather than be obscured by it.
"Elara," the man said quietly, as though sensing something in her posture, "this place has been prepared for you."
"For me?" she whispered.
He nodded once. "He's been expecting you."
Her chest tightened. "Expecting me for how long?"
The SUV climbed the final curve of the drive. The estate now loomed fully visible—ancient, vast, and eerily pristine. Not ruined, not decaying, not empty.
Waiting.
The man met her eyes.
"For longer than you think."
The SUV rolled to a stop.
The engine cut.
And the silence that followed was too complete.
Elara stared at the estate's enormous doors. Her lungs forgot how to work for a moment.
The man gestured toward them calmly. "He will meet you inside."
A beat.
Another.
She opened the door and stepped out.
The fog swallowed her ankles immediately, cool and strangely dense, like it had substance—like it could cling.
The estate stood before her, ancient stone radiating a muted hum, as if the building exhaled with its own slow heartbeat.
She pulled her suitcase from the car. The wheels touched the ground. The door of the SUV shut behind her with a soft, inevitable thud.
And then—
The headlights flicked off.
The engine restarted.
And the SUV drove away.
Leaving her alone at the foot of the Overseer's estate.