CHAPTER 1: THE SILENT TOWN Ethan Blackwood had always been a man of logic, a trait honed by his years as a journalist uncovering the hard truths of the world. Yet, as he drove into the town of Darkwood, logic seemed to slip away like the mist that curled around his car. The letter had arrived a week ago, a cryptic message from a distant relative he had never known. It spoke of an inheritance—a mansion on the outskirts of a town he had never heard of. Intrigued and with nothing holding him back, Ethan decided to investigate. The town greeted him with an eerie silence, broken only by the occasional chirp of crickets and the distant bark of a dog. As he drove down Main Street, he noted the old-fashioned charm of the place. Quaint shops with colorful awnings lined the street, their windows filled with antique trinkets and hand-crafted goods. It was a place that seemed frozen in time, untouched by the chaos of the modern world. Ethan pulled up to the ...