When Ada left Elizabeth room, she couldn't sleep that night. Her mind was a storm of thoughts, swirling with everything Ada had revealed. Helen was a Keeper. The river was more than just water, it was a threshold. A gate. And now that Helen was gone, it was unguarded. Vulnerable.
She sat on her bed with the journal open on her lap, the faint glow of the bedside lamp casting shadows across the walls. Helen's handwriting looped carefully across the pages, soft and delicate, but the words were laced with quiet urgency.
"To the Keeper of Our Souls, when the river speaks, follow its voice. The answers lie where the water meets the forest."
Elizabeth traced the words with her fingertips. Helen had been trying to protect them from something. From the darkness beneath the river.
A soft knock at her bedroom door made her jump.
"Elizabeth?"
Her father's voice.
She closed the journal and sat up. "Come in."
Her father opened the door, his tall frame silhouetted in the dim light of the hallway. He looked tired, the weight of loss etched deep into his face. His hair, which had begun to grey at the edges after Helen's death, was more unruly than usual. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
"I thought you'd be asleep by now," he said, sitting on the edge of her bed.
Elizabeth shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."
He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "Is it about the lady that left your room?"
Elizabeth stiffened. "You saw her?"
"I saw her leave," he said. His gaze sharpened. "Who is she?"
Elizabeth hesitated. She could lie but what would be the point? He deserved the truth.
"She knew Helen," Elizabeth said. "And she knows why Helen died."
Her father's expression darkened. "What did she tell you?"
"That Helen was a Keeper," Elizabeth said carefully. "That the river… it's not just a river. It's a gate. And whatever's beneath it… it's waking up."
Her father's hands dropped to his sides. His face changed. "She told you that?"
Elizabeth's heart skipped. "You knew?"
Her father's mouth tightened. He stood and turned toward the window, and backed her.
"I didn't want you to know," he said quietly. "Helen made me promise not to tell you or your siblings."
Elizabeth stood. "Promise not to tell us what?"
Her father's shoulders tensed. He pressed his hands against the window frame. "Your stepmother wasn't just a good woman, Elizabeth. She was… chosen. From a young age. The Keepers have protected the river for centuries. Helen was the last of them."
Elizabeth was shocked. "You knew all this time and never told us?"
"I didn't want you to carry that weight," he said, turning to face her. His eyes were heavy with sorrow. "Helen always knew that one day the river would call her. That it would demand a price."
Elizabeth's stomach twisted. "You mean… she knew she was going to die?"
Her father's gaze hardened. "Helen hoped it wouldn't come to that. She thought she could stop it. But when Christian started… changing, she knew the river had already begun to awaken."
Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Christian?"
Her father nodded. "Helen believed the river had marked him. That's why she started writing in the journal. She was looking for a way to protect him."
Elizabeth's heart raced. She sat back down on the bed, clutching the journal to her chest. "Why Christian?"
"The river chooses," her father said, his voice hollow. "No one knows why."
Elizabeth shook her head. "But Helen was a Keeper. Why didn't she stop it?"
His eye's darkened with sadness"Because the river always takes what it's owed."
Elizabeth's grip on the journal tightened. "Then why did Helen die instead of Christian?"
Her father closed his eyes. "Because Helen made a deal."
Elizabeth froze. "What kind of deal?"
Daniel replied, Elizabeth's father. "Helen gave her life to spare Christian's. But Ada is right, the river is waking up. It's going to come for him again."
Elizabeth's pulse hammered in her ears. The river wanted Christian. Helen had died protecting him, but now that she was gone, nothing stood in the river's way.
"What do we do?" Elizabeth whispered.
Daniel's eyes sharpened. "We need to keep Christian away from the river."
A sharp knock on the front door echoed through the house.
Elizabeth's head jerked toward the sound. Her father's expression turned grim.
"Who could that be?" Elizabeth whispered.
Her father strode toward the door. Elizabeth followed, her heart thundering in her chest.
The knocking came again, faster this time, more insistent.
Daniel unlocked the door and opened it.
Christian stood on the porch, soaking wet. His dark hair clung to his forehead, and his clothes were dripping water onto the floor. His eyes were glazed, his expression empty.
"Christian?" Elizabeth rushed toward him. "What happened? Were you"
Christian's hand shot out and gripped her arm. His skin was freezing cold.
"The river…" he whispered. "It's calling me."
Elizabeth's blood turned to ice.
Daniel pulled Christian inside and shut the door. "Go get some towels," he ordered.
Elizabeth hesitated at first, staring at her brother. His lips were pale, his breathing shallow. His eyes, once warm and lively now seemed shadowed, darkened by something else.
"Elizabeth!" her father shouted.
She turned and ran toward the bathroom, yanking open the cabinet doors and grabbing every towel she could find. When she returned, Christian was sitting on the couch, his head bowed, his wet hair plastered to his skin.
Daniel knelt in front of him. "Christian, what happened?"
Christian's gaze lifted slowly. His pupils were dilated, his expression eerily calm.
"I… I don't know," Christian said. "I was sleeping. Then I woke up, and I was standing in the river."
Elizabeth's breath caught. "How did you get there?"
"I don't know," Christian said. "I heard something calling me. It… it sounded like Helen."
Elizabeth's father's face tightened. "Helen's gone."
Christian's gaze sharpened. "I know. But it was her voice."
Elizabeth's chest tightened.
"It told me to come."
"To the river?" Elizabeth whispered.
Christian nodded slowly. "It's waiting for me."
A cold weight settled in Elizabeth's chest.
Daniel stood. "We need to keep him away from the river."
Christian's hands began to shake. His breath quickened. His eyes darkened. "I don't think it's going to let me go."
Suddenly, the house seemed to groan around them, the floorboards creaking under their feet. A low humming noise echoed from the walls like water rushing beneath the house.
Elizabeth grabbed Christian's hand. "It's not going to take you."
Christian's gaze sharpened. "How do you know?"
Elizabeth's jaw tightened.
"Because I'm not going to let it."