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Chapter 55 - Nineteen

Author: Stephanie Benedict
last update Last Updated: 2025-04-25 11:32:35

Aria

The note sits at the bottom of the drawer like it owns the damn room.

A small, folded piece of paper—simple, stupid, and ordinary. Except, it isn’t ordinary. It shouldn’t be here. No one should have touched this drawer. No one should have access to this room. And yet—here it is. Crisp edges. Smooth texture. Same paper. Same weight. Same fucking handwriting.

No message this time. Just a number.

19.

I stare at it like it might change if I blink enough. It doesn’t. The black ink remains bold, unmoving, certain of its own mystery.

What does this mean? Is it a date? A countdown? A room number? A threat? My mind runs wild, fingers clutching the note like it might disappear if I let go. Every possibility flashes through like a horror reel.

And that’s the part that terrifies me most—not knowing.

I slip it into the pages of a book and slide the book deep inside the drawer, then I lock the drawer with a key I didn’t think I’d need.

Back in New York. Same surveillance, new format. These pe
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