Chapter 1 The First Locket

The rain fell like whispered warnings, painting Hollow Creek in sheets of gray. Streetlights flickered through the haze, casting fractured reflections across the slick pavement. Detective Selena Ward leaned against the hood of her car, eyes fixed on the alleyway ahead. Her trench coat was damp, clinging to her athletic frame, but she barely noticed. The city had a way of feeling alive only when it hurt.

She hadn’t been back on duty for months. The departmental psychiatric leave had been intended to restore her focus, but every quiet morning had only reminded her of what she had lost: her sister, Evelyn, gone for ten years, a void no badge or rank could fill. And now, a new case threatened to rip open old wounds.

A uniformed officer emerged from the alley, boots squelching in the puddles. “Detective Ward,” he said, voice tense, “the scene is… unusual. You’ll want to see this.”

Selena nodded, her stomach tightening. She followed him, the weight of her service revolver at her side. The alley smelled of wet asphalt and decay. At its end lay the body: a young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties, draped in red silk that glimmered faintly under the dim light. Her fingers were clean unnaturally so and a small silver locket hung from her neck. The word “Remember” was engraved in delicate script.

Selena crouched beside the body, careful not to disturb anything. Her fingers hovered over the locket. A cold dread curled in her chest. She recognized the pattern. Not just the precision, but the message. Someone was sending her a warning.

“Who found her?” she asked, her voice quiet, deliberate.

“Local shopkeeper,” the officer replied. “Saw her stumble in from the rain. Tried to help, but…” His voice trailed.

Selena’s jaw tightened. She didn’t need the rest. Too many lives ended in alleys like this, too many cries swallowed by Hollow Creek. Yet there was something personal here something only she would notice.

She examined the scene: no fingerprints, no obvious struggle. It was meticulous, ritualistic. Her instincts prickled. Whoever had done this wasn’t just a killer; they were sending a message. And she was the intended recipient.

A soft chime from her phone pulled her attention. A message with no sender appeared: a photo of a bracelet Evelyn’s bracelet, worn and tarnished with age. Her heart lurched. She blinked rapidly, as if the world would correct itself, but it did not.

“Detective?” the officer prompted. “Are you alright?”

She swallowed, nodding. “I’m fine. Just… thinking.”

Inside her coat pocket, her fingers brushed against her own voice recorder a habit she hadn’t abandoned, even on leave. She pressed record. “First victim found. Red silk. Locket reads ‘Remember.’ Connection unknown. Feels… personal. Must trace origin immediately.” Her voice was steady, professional, though the tremor in her chest betrayed her.

By the time she returned to the station, the rain had stopped, leaving streets slick and glistening under the fading glow of streetlights. Jamie Noor, the tech analyst, was already there, hunched over multiple screens displaying crime scene photos. Their dark eyes lifted, bright with curiosity and concern.

“Back in the game, huh?” Jamie said, voice teasing but soft. “Or dragged kicking and screaming?”

Selena ignored the jibe, placing her coat on the chair and letting her gaze linger on the screen. The body’s arrangement was chilling. Meticulous. Artful. But it wasn’t art it was communication. Someone wanted her to see it, to understand it, to remember.

“Whoever did this knows me,” she said, voice low.

Jamie raised an eyebrow. “That’s… ominous. Care to elaborate?”

Selena didn’t answer. She couldn’t, not yet. She opened the evidence folder, scanning the victim’s file. Nothing in her records matched except for one chilling detail: the locket. She’d seen that exact design before, tucked away in a memory she hadn’t wanted to access. But now it surfaced like a specter, demanding attention.

The evening deepened, and the station’s fluorescent lights hummed overhead. Selena walked to the evidence locker, her mind replaying every detail of the crime scene. The red silk, the absence of fingerprints, the locket, the bracelet in the photo. Each element was a breadcrumb, a piece of a puzzle she had been avoiding for years.

“Detective Ward,” Jamie called, startling her. “You need to see this.”

On the main screen, a digital map displayed the city, with a new red dot flashing. It marked a location from a report filed ten years ago the day Evelyn disappeared. Her stomach tightened. She hadn’t thought about that case in months, not since the department shelved it as cold, unsolvable. Yet here it was, blinking on her screen like a heartbeat she couldn’t ignore.

Selena’s hands tightened into fists. “Why now?” she muttered.

Jamie leaned closer. “Maybe someone’s dragging it out for you. Or maybe…” Their voice dropped. “…it’s never been solved. And it’s not done with you yet.”

The words hung in the air. Too true, too heavy.

Selena exhaled slowly, pushing past the fear. “Get me everything on this victim. Every record, every camera feed, every witness. And cross-reference it with the old files all of them. I want patterns, links, anything that connects this to… her.” She tapped the screen where Evelyn’s old case file glowed faintly. “…anything.”

Jamie nodded, already typing furiously. “You got it. Just… try not to lose yourself in it.”

Selena’s gaze drifted to the window. Hollow Creek was dark, wet, and indifferent. But the alley, the locket, the bracelet they had a story. And she intended to read it, no matter the cost.

Hours passed. The hum of computers and quiet chatter of officers filled the station like distant rain. Selena sat alone, staring at the images of the victim over and over, memorizing details others would miss. Every fold of silk, every angle of the body, every shadow was a message.

Her hand brushed the recorder again. She whispered into it, almost as if the words were meant to reach someone across time. “This isn’t random. Whoever did this knows me. And they want something. I don’t know what yet. But I’ll find out. I will.”

Outside, the city slept under a veil of mist, unaware that darkness had returned not just to its streets, but into Selena Ward’s past. And as she sat in the fluorescent glow, a soft knock echoed through the station door.

Selena stiffened. She hadn’t expected visitors. Not tonight.

The door creaked open, and a figure stepped in, drenched from the evening rain. Their presence was both familiar and unsettling.

“Detective Ward,” the voice said, low and measured. “We need to talk.”

Selena’s heart skipped. Recognition flared a memory she had buried deep. The first domino had fallen.