---
The courtyard behind the science wing had long stopped pretending it belonged to anyone.
Dead ivy clung to the lattice like old regrets. Cracked bricks disappeared into patches of moss. The air felt still—like even the wind had forgotten how to breathe here. At the center stood Chancellor Edwin Vale's statue. Bronze arm raised, book aloft, mouth open mid-speech. A pose meant to inspire.
It used to scare me.
Now it just looked like a man caught mid-lie.
I stepped over what used to be a bench and crouched at the statue's base.
The box was gone. I'd already taken it.
But I still stood there, staring at the place it had been. Velvet-wrapped. Wax-sealed. Not buried, just… waiting.
Like it knew I'd come.
I remembered how the seal cracked. Gold wax, stamped with a crown torn down the middle.
A symbol built to insult something holy.
Inside: six items. A board folded like a battlefield. And a card with no name.
> "You know what you lost. This is your chance to reclaim it.
Gather five more, and begin.
— G.M."
I hadn't shown anyone.
Not right away.
I studied each piece. Held them. Waited. Each one pulsed back at me like a heartbeat—like they were alive.
A crown. A flame. A mask. A clock. A mirror. A blade.
All waiting.
All here now, in my satchel.
Tonight, I'd open it in front of the others.
Not because I wanted them involved.
Because I needed witnesses.
---
The wind stirred the ivy behind me as I turned. Gravel crunched beneath my boots. Chancellor Vale didn't look noble anymore—just weathered. Like the years had finally caught up with him and no one noticed until now.
His plaque was still there.
> VALE DOMINION GROUP — ENDOWED 1913
Moss-covered. Birdshit-stained. Forgotten, but too big to remove.
When I was younger, I used to trace the letters with my fingers like that would make me part of the name.
It didn't.
Legacy doesn't care about reverence.
It rewards whoever moves first.
My hand brushed the satchel.
Tonight wasn't about heritage.
It was about leverage.
Let them think this was a curiosity. A prank. A trust exercise. Let them look at me with suspicion, or awe, or that quiet desperation that clings to people who want to believe in something.
The board didn't belong to me.
But it had picked me to begin.
---
Game Night.
Technically, it wasn't a party.
But when Ashworth Vale sends out a ping to the Legacy Circle at 11:15 p.m.—"Vale House. Common Room. Bring questions."—you show up.
The fire was already going. Low, steady. The kind that flickers just enough to make you second-guess what you're seeing. Two chairs dragged inward. One couch claimed. Whiskey uncorked.
"Please tell me this isn't a cult," Mira said, kicking off her boots and flopping into a chair like she owned it.
I crossed the room and smiled. "Can't it be both?"
She smirked, curls catching the firelight like sparks on a fuse.
Theo showed up next. Hoodie. Silver rings. That look like he was already counting the steps to the exit. He didn't sit.
"If you say the word legacy, I'm leaving," he muttered.
"I'm impressed," I said. "You read it."
Luna didn't knock. Fur-trimmed coat. Lip gloss like a blade. She leaned against the wall like she was charging rent.
"Didn't realize we were starting a ghost club."
"Not a club," I said. "A curiosity."
Seo-jin arrived without sound. All black. Bare wrists. No makeup. She moved like a whisper that didn't want to be heard and stood quietly in the corner.
Cal was already there. Leaning near the door, like he hadn't decided whether to come in or kick it down.
"If this turns into a Vale family séance, I'm out."
"You say that like you're sober," I said.
Then I placed the box on the table.
The room stilled.
Velvet lid. Black latch. Six compartments.
One centerfold board, sharp and ancient.
"It has a name," I said, unfolding it.
Gold lines sparked across the surface—veins under frost.
> "Monarch of the Boards."
Mira scoffed. "Okay, no. That sounds fake."
"It is," I said. "Or it was. Until now."
Theo stepped closer. "Where'd you find this?"
"Courtyard. Science wing. Under the statue."
"Your statue," Cal muttered.
I didn't correct him.
"It wasn't buried," I said. "Just… waiting."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "And you brought it back. Why? Looking for a haunting?"
"I thought it might be meaningful."
Seo-jin, quiet as always: "Or dangerous."
"Both."
I unlocked the board.
The surface shivered. Rings etched in glass. Thirty-six hexagonal tiles. One center.
I didn't assign the pieces.
I let them choose.
Mira moved first. She always does—brave or reckless, it makes no difference. She took the Spiral Flame. A red-orange glow flickered inside the glass.
"Pretty," she said. "We betting drinks or souls?"
"You'll find out."
Theo reached next. Grabbed the Masked Dice like it insulted him. It glinted once—just once—like something grinning in the dark.
Seo-jin's fingers trembled when she touched the Clock Petal. Frost bloomed across its petals. She didn't flinch. Just watched.
Luna plucked the Gilt Mirror with two fingers. Its surface warped, reflecting everything but her.
Cal stared. Then picked the Rusted Blade like it was a dare. It pulsed once, red haze curling around his knuckles.
I picked the last: the Crown of Dust.
It was warm. Like breath. Like memory.
I placed it on the center tile.
Click.
Gold shimmered across the board.
The pieces were watching.
Mira leaned in. "Well? Let's see what happens."
She rolled the dice.
They clattered. Once. Twice.
Then—
Something broke.
Not loudly. Just… wrong.
Like porcelain shattering underwater.
A hidden slot opened beneath the board.
A card slid out.
Black.
Etched gold veins.
Mira grabbed it.
> "BURNED OFFERING.
One soul still smolders beneath the ash.
Accept your consequence."
The room went still.
Then the Spiral Flame ignited.
Not a spark.
A surge.
Like grief catching fire.
Mira didn't scream.
She just—glitched.
One second whole. Next, jagged.
Reality lost track of her shape.
Then—
Buzz.
Her phone lit up.
> Voice Note — Leo Lane
Received: 12:01 A.M.
My stomach dropped.
"No," Cal said. "That's—he's dead."
Mira stared.
Then played it.
Silence. Static. Then—
> "You weren't there, Mira.
I waited.
You said you'd come.
You promised.
Why didn't you come?"
Leo's voice.
But wrong.
Slowed. Smoked. Dragged through grief and something darker.
Mira dropped the phone.
It kept playing.
Seo-jin muttered something in Korean. A prayer, maybe.
Cal swore. Grabbed the poker and slammed it into the board.
It didn't scratch.
I stepped forward. The center tile glowed.
And I heard it.
A whisper, too low to be imagined.
> "This is how you begin again, son."
My father's voice.
Dead five years.
This wasn't a joke.
It had already begun.
Luna backed away. "I'm not doing this. Haunted Monopoly? No thanks."
She grabbed the door.
It didn't move.
Not stuck.
Just… refusing.
Cal pushed. Shoulder. Weight.
Nothing.
Then—click.
It opened.
White hallway. Cold tile. Normal.
Too normal.
Bait.
Theo checked his phone.
Still 12:01 A.M.
Mine too.
The clocks ticked.
But didn't change.
Then the board lit again.
Red now.
Six initials burned across its surface:
> A.V.
M.L.
T.W.
Y.S.J.
L.R.
C.B.
Pawns reappeared.
🧊 Crown of Dust — mine
🧬 Spiral Flame — Mira
🐍 Masked Dice — Theo
⏳ Clock Petal — Seo-jin
🎭 Gilt Mirror — Luna
⚔️ Rusted Blade — Cal
And then the sound.
Mechanical. Precise.
A countdown.
> ⏳ NEXT TURN: 23:59:59
23:59:58
23:59:57
A small slot pulsed red.
Watching.
Waiting.
I touched the Crown.
Its pulse echoed in my skin.
> "The only way out…" I whispered,
"…is forward."
---
END OF CHAPTER 1