Chapter 4 Episode 4: Ghosts in the Garden

That afternoon, Faye followed the stone path behind the dining hall toward the gardens. They were as Fayth had described in her letters-wildly overgrown, with marble statues crumbling under ivy and time.

She moved past the roses and into the greenhouse at the edge of the property. It was unlocked.

Inside, warmth wrapped around her like a breath. Vines coiled around rusted metal beams. A single light flickered overhead. The smell of damp earth clung to everything.

This had been Fayth's sanctuary.

Faye knelt beside a stone bench and ran her fingers along the base. Fayth's last letter had said she'd hidden something "where life and decay meet."

There-a loose brick. She tugged it free, heart pounding.

Inside: a small, brass key. Tarnished, delicate.

She held it in her palm, thinking. A music box, maybe. Or a journal. The answers were starting to bleed through the cracks.

Suddenly, a noise-a creak of glass.

Faye stood, every nerve on edge.

Griffin.

He stood in the doorway, shadows slicing across his face.

"You shouldn't be here," he said flatly.

"Neither should you."

Silence passed between them like a dare.

Griffin stepped closer. "You're not her."

Faye's breath caught. "Excuse me?"

"You look like her. But you're not her. Fayth would've never come back."

She didn't answer.

He leaned in, voice low. "Whatever game you're playing, stop. Before someone gets hurt."

Then he was gone, disappearing into the ivy.

Faye stood alone, brass key tight in her grip.

So Griffin did know something. Maybe too much.

But what he didn't know-what no one knew-was that she wasn't here to play games.

She was here to finish what Fayth started.

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[End of Episode 4]