Chapter 4 The Family Shadow

Ethan confronted his dad that night. Tom was in the garage, tinkering with an engine. "Dad, what do you know about Aunt Eleanor?"Tom froze, his wrench clattering to the floor. "Where'd you hear that name?""I found something. At the mill. Her name was carved there."Tom's face darkened. "Stay away from that place, Ethan. It's not safe.""Why? What happened to her?"Tom sighed, rubbing his temples. "Eleanor was... different. She got mixed up with some folks who thought they could control things-nature, fate, I don't know. She vanished one night.

Cops said she ran off, but I never believed it."Ethan showed him the journal. Tom's eyes widened. "Where'd you get this?""A box in the shed. What's going on, Dad?"Tom hesitated, then spoke. "Eleanor talked about a group called the Circle. They believed Willow Creek was built on something powerful, something they had to protect. I thought it was nonsense. But after she disappeared, I found a vial like that one in her room. I threw it out."Ethan's stomach dropped. The vial was still in his room. He didn't tell Tom. Instead, he biked to Lila's house, where she and Marcus were decoding more of the journal. "It mentions a ritual," Lila said. "Something about 'binding the shadow' to keep the town safe. It needed a guardian every fifty years.""Fifty years ago was when Eleanor disappeared," Ethan said.Marcus raised an eyebrow. "You think your aunt was part of some creepy ritual?""I don't know," Ethan admitted. "But I'm not stopping until I find out."They agreed to meet at the mill the next night. Ethan couldn't shake the feeling that the vial was watching him, its glow brighter than ever.