The Door At Duck

he sky seemed to press closer than the ground. Aria sat in the back seat of the rattling car, her headph

time she'd seen them, she was ten years old and asking too many questi

river's seat, her voice clipped and tired. "

ng the death of her father in a car accident three weeks ago. There had been no funeral, no family gathering-j

wood

ose out of the mist like a memory refusing to be forgotten. Gray stone walls streaked with moss, windows li

e car crunched to a stop on the gravel drive. "Don't go

ct with a taste for gothic novels. Aria stepped out of the car and took a deep breath. The a

long-dead relatives who stared down at her with suspicion. The floors creaked with each

dle. A single trunk sat at the foot, already unpacked with her belongings-done, no d

ry. The only rooms she could access were her own, the dining room where Miriam never ate, and the ma

here was t

r, half-rotted and tucked behind a moth-eaten curtain in the pantry. Ther

always, got th

stolen from her father years ago, back when he still smoked.

h unidentifiable contents. Herbs, maybe. Roots. Or parts of them. Cobwebs draped everything like lace. The beam

all s

r, and a panel of stone slid bac

ould h

she stepp

d with symbols she didn't recognize. Her flashlight flickered, then died. The l

when sh

do

. Not ir

en there. Around its edges were runes that pulsed faintly in

and it hummed be

initely alive. She pulled her hand back

kne

his

ia.

s, and into the kitchen. She slammed the pantry door

ng fo

thing ha

ime in days, Ar

r eyes looked hollow. She only passed her a thin envelope at breakfast

library's

any

y doors, which now stood slightly ajar. Inside, the air was heavy with dust and

central reading table, bound in green leathe

open

rst line read. It is older than the house

ightened on the

en it. But we didn't liste

tinued-scratched notes, ink stains, diagrams of

who enter return. Some a

ey," and something called "the Binding." She turn

r name, it's al

med the

een her father's-a simple piece of iron on a leather cord. He never said

mth against her chest, in

e manor, Aria stood once again at the pantry door. Sh

w what lay bey

it knew