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CHAPTER 1

AVA CLARKE

Mystic Heaven.

I've known this name since I was just a little 5-year-old girl who had her parents killed in a horrible car accident. I was only 5 when I watched my parents die in front of me.

Furthermore, I sigh, put on my headphones, and start to listen to some upbeat music as the taxi continues to drive through the dark streets of Mystic Heaven.

Fifteen years ago, I was no longer in this town; today, I'm a grown woman in my twenties, and I grew up with my two uncles in a very big city far away from this place.

Being here again feels very strange. I've taken up 15 years of my uncles' lives, and I decided it was time to leave and live my own life. I took the entrance exam, and I got into a university in this city.

Likewise, I'm going to study at the same university that my parents studied at together in the past, and being here makes me feel closer to my dead family.

I turn down the volume of the music I'm listening to before looking out the window and seeing only darkness. My aunt and uncle used to tell me that this city is well known for its very dark nights, and I'm seeing it now.

"Is there still a long way to go?", I ask, removing my headphones as I speak to the driver, who looks at me through the car's rearview mirror.

"Yes, this place is a little way out of town, maybe we should be there in twenty minutes.", he says, and I nod, looking at the car window next to me.

I knew I was abandoning my whole life when I moved to this city. I'm sure I'll miss my friends a lot, but I needed this time to myself and to be closer to my parents.

"This place is very dark...", I mutter quietly, looking ahead and unable to see anything but the night fog in the darkness.

"Yes, this town has very long nights and many peculiar legends. Are you going to visit someone?", the driver asks, and I nod again.

"No, actually, I'm moving to this town. I need some time off, and I've got a good job at the Fell family home.", I'm looking at the details of my new job on my cell phone.

"The Fell family home?", the man asks with a frown, and I nod.

"Well, I don't know them. But they're well known for being very private people, it was their ancestors who built this town a long time ago.", he says, and I feel more curious about this subject.

I'm moving to this town to live in a family home to look after an eight-year-old girl. I was thinking of renting a small house in town so that I could study, but this job opportunity came along at the perfect time in my life.

They're going to pay me to babysit a child, and I get to live in the house, which is fantastic for me.

I haven't met them yet, I've only spoken to the owner and person in charge of the house, and I was very surprised when he hired me so quickly. We've spoken by message, but I haven't met him yet. From the messages I've seen, he's a very polite person.

I managed to get into university, a job, and a house quickly and at the same time.

"They're not strange people or psychopaths, right?", I ask, making the old driver start laughing, and seconds later I'm smiling too.

"Well, I've never heard anything about it. I've lived in this town for a long time, of course, there are legends, but I've never heard anything about the Fell family.", he says, and I sigh.

"That's good, I'm more relieved now."

When I arrived at the airport and typed the name of this city into the Uber app, all the drivers refused to take me there, and he was the only one who accepted. I found that very strange, maybe everyone doesn't like small towns.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and put my headphones back on, but I open my eyes quickly and scream, looking ahead when I see a person standing in the road.

Furthermore, I can't see the person, but I can see their shadow.

"Oh my God, be careful!", I shout when I see the car approaching the person.

The driver quickly turns the steering wheel to the side, and I feel my body being pulled by the impact. I blink my eyes, breathing hard at that moment.

He manages to control the car before causing an accident, and it panics me. I have my eyes closed when I feel the car coming to a stop.

"Are you hurt? Are you all right? I'm sorry, I didn't see him, he came quickly.", he says, and I open my eyes and nod.

I see the driver get out of the car quickly, and I do the same, feeling the cold night wind against my body.

I walk quickly beside the man, and seeing that the road is very foggy, I frown when I don't see anyone there.

"Where is he here? Can you see him?", he asks, and I nod quickly.

"He's gone...", I whisper, feeling confused.

"Maybe it's one of those crazy kids who like to scare people, come on, there's no one here.", I get in the car again and turn my head back to see that there's no one on the road.

That was very strange.

Since the death of my parents, I still have car trauma, and I put my hands on my chest, still feeling my heart pounding.

"We've arrived. The Fell family home.", I raise my head when I see the car coming to a slow stop next to a large mansion.

"Oh my God, this isn't possible!", I say delightedly, completely forgetting what happened a few minutes ago as my eyes are fixed on a beautiful old-looking mansion.

"Do they live here?", I ask the driver, and he nods.

"They have a large estate here, the town hall has tried to buy this house several times, but they've always refused. It's known as the most beautiful and mysterious house in the whole city.", he says, getting out of the car, and I do the same.

I'm still in shock because I imagined a completely different place.

My eyes take in the large Victorian-style mansion, it's as if this house had been here for centuries. It's isolated from the rest of the city, with a forest of tall trees surrounding it.

I've never seen a house as beautiful as this, and I don't understand why it's here, so hidden from the rest of the people. There's a stone wall on one side, and I turn my head to see more open ground.

"Is that a cemetery?", I ask, pointing with my finger, and he nods, helping me get my bags out of the car.

"Yes, that was very common around here many centuries ago, people had cemeteries near that kind of house because they wanted to bury their dead family somewhere nearby. The Fell family likes to keep it that way, even in the modern world. I hope you enjoy living here. Mystic Heaven is a very small town, but there are some lovely people here.", he says, and I smile, paying him the money.

"Thanks...", I see him get into his car, and a second later I'm alone, still looking at the house.

I walk up to the gate of the house and see that it's open, which means they're waiting for me to arrive right now.

I pull out my bags and sigh as I stand in front of the closed door of the house.

Furthermore, I look at the time on my cell phone and see that it's not too late because I don't want to disturb them.

I turn around quickly when I hear the sound of the gate, but there's no one, and I smile, seeing how ridiculous I'm being.

I raise my head to the sky when I hear the sound of a crow flying through the air, and when I turn my head forward, I do my best not to scream out loud when I see the door open and a tall man with long hair staring at me.

Likewise, I take a deep breath, still feeling my heart beating faster in my chest from the fright, and I blink my eyes rapidly, still holding my bags tightly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Your name is Ava Clarke, right?", I see him bending down in front of me, and I see him pick up my cell phone that was on the floor.

I got really scared, and I didn't realize it when I dropped the phone on the floor.

"It's okay; yes, that's my name. But I'm the one who should apologize for arriving too late, I had a problem with the taxis.", I said this while smiling, looking more at the man in front of me.

I have to confess that I imagined him completely differently. I thought he would be a very old man who hired me to look after his daughter because he couldn't do it anymore, but I see that I was completely wrong.

He has long black hair, perfect skin, and no scars. His eyes are green and seem to glow a lot when he's looking at me. I lower my head, seeing that he's wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and pants.

I blink, taking my cell phone from his hands.

"No need to apologize; my name is Lucius Fell, and we talked by message. It's very cold out here; please come in. Let me help you with your bags...", I open my mouth to say that they are too heavy, but I remain silent when I see him lift my bags as if they were completely light for him.

"Thanks...", I mumble as I enter the house.

I've never been in a house like this. I hear the door closing behind me, and I know he's watching me right now, but my eyes are fixed on the living room around me.

There are two long sofas in the center and lots of glass windows, and they're all covered by long, dark curtains. I walk a few steps and turn my head to see that there are lots of paintings scattered around the walls.

This mansion has an old style, the kind of mansion that very rich people had a long time ago. I think this house has been in Lucius' family for a long time, and he didn't want to change the architecture of the house. I see that he made a great choice.

"Wow, everything is very nice!", I say, smiling, turning my head to look at him, and I see that he lowers his head, smiling in a sophisticated way before looking at me again.

"Well, I wanted you to meet Elara, but she usually goes to bed early every night and my younger brother isn't home at the moment.", he says, and I move closer to the living room, seeing that there are also a lot of ancient monuments.

I remember when he mentioned in his messages that he lives with his eight-year-old daughter and his brother, who is a few years older than me.

I don't know where Elara's mother is, but I'm not going to ask that kind of question now.

"Would you like to see the house before I show you to your room, Ava?", he asks, and I nod quickly, and he smiles again.

"This house was built in the 1700s, and my family has always lived here. I know we're in a more modern world, and I may sound old about what I'm about to say, but I like to preserve the old style of things, I like that kind of essence of ancestry.", he says, inviting me to follow him around the house.

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