Three Days Later
Bianca hated airports.
That was her official conclusion.
Too many people.
Too much waiting.
Too many opportunities for life-changing disasters.
And considering her track record lately, that was a serious concern.
The private Horizon jet touched down shortly after noon.
Bianca looked out the window as the city came into view.
And immediately regretted it.
Because she recognized it.
The streets.
The skyline.
The river cutting through the eastern district.
The old industrial zones.
Everything.
Home.
After years away.
After dying.
After waking up in the Red Room.
After discovering reality was apparently broken.
She was back.
“…well,” Bianca muttered.
Maya looked up from her seat.
“What?”
Bianca stared through the window.
“I officially hate emotional character development.”
An hour later.
The group exited the airport through a private terminal.
Ward had already arranged cover identities.
Fake names.
Fake documents.
Fake jobs.
Bianca thought it was ridiculous.
Until she saw how serious everyone else was.
Then it became slightly less ridiculous.
Only slightly.
A black SUV waited outside.
Dr. Reeves climbed into the front passenger seat.
Ward took the driver’s seat.
Bianca and Maya sat in the back.
The city slowly passed outside the windows as they drove.
At first nothing happened.
No cosmic horrors.
No secret organizations.
No reality fractures.
Just traffic.
People going to work.
Kids walking home from school.
Normal life.
And somehow that felt stranger than monsters.
Bianca couldn’t stop staring.
There was the old movie theater she’d visited as a child.
Still standing.
Still ugly.
There was the shopping center where she’d once gotten lost for three hours.
Still crowded.
Still terrible.
There was the bridge she’d crossed hundreds of times growing up.
Unchanged.
The world had moved on while she’d been gone.
That realization hurt more than she expected.
The SUV finally stopped outside a small apartment building.
Bianca froze.
“No.”
Ward glanced back.
“What?”
“No.”
“Bianca.”
“Absolutely not.”
Ward sighed.
Already exhausted.
Excellent.
“This was your last known residence.”
Bianca looked at the building.
The rusted balconies.
The cracked stairways.
She knew this place.
Too well.
Years ago she’d lived here with her mother.
Years ago she’d slammed the apartment door and walked away after their final argument.
Years ago she’d left.
And never came back.
Until now.
The memories hit harder than expected.
Maya quietly placed a hand on her shoulder.
Not saying anything.
Just there.
Bianca appreciated that.
Ten minutes later they stood outside Apartment 307.
The door looked exactly the same.
Which somehow made everything worse.
Bianca stared at it.
Her chest felt tight.
The hallway suddenly seemed too quiet.
Too small.
Too familiar.
Ward handed her a key.
She blinked.
“Where did you get this?”
“Horizon recovered your mother’s storage records.”
Of course they did.
Secret organizations loved collecting information.
Bianca slowly accepted the key.
Her hand shook slightly.
Just enough for her to notice.
Not enough for anyone else.
Hopefully.
The key slid into the lock.
Click.
The door opened.
And time stopped.
Dust covered everything.
The apartment sat frozen in time.
Like nobody had entered since the day Bianca left.
Furniture remained exactly where she remembered.
Bookshelves.
Old photographs.
The couch.
The kitchen table.
Everything.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The apartment felt haunted.
Not by ghosts.
By memories.
Bianca slowly stepped inside.
Every footstep echoed.
The smell was familiar.
Old paper.
Dust.
Coffee.
Home.
Her throat tightened unexpectedly.
And she hated that.
The living room looked untouched.
A blanket still rested on the couch.
An old mug sat near the television.
Half-finished notes covered part of the dining table.
Bianca stopped.
Notes.
Lots of notes.
Her mother had always written things down.
Research.
Observations.
Random thoughts.
The table looked like she’d left in the middle of working.
Not disappeared.
Not vanished.
Left.
That was different.
And important.
Ward noticed too.
“Interesting.”
Bianca nodded slowly.
Very interesting.
And very worrying.
Hours passed.
The team searched the apartment carefully.
Bianca wandered through memories.
Her old bedroom.
The hallway.
The tiny kitchen.
Places she’d once considered ordinary.
Now they felt like artifacts from another life.
Eventually she found herself standing in her mother’s room.
The room looked cleaner than the rest.
Organized.
Deliberate.
Almost prepared.
Like someone knew they might never return.
Bianca’s gaze slowly moved across the room.
Then stopped.
A small wooden box sat beneath the bed.
Hidden.
But not hidden enough.
Her pulse quickened immediately.
Because her mother wasn’t careless.
If she’d hidden something— it mattered.
A lot.
Bianca pulled the box free.
Dust scattered across the floor.
The lock was already broken.
Like someone expected it to be opened.
Inside sat only three items.
A photograph.
A silver key.
And a sealed envelope.
Addressed directly to her.
Bianca froze.
The room suddenly felt very quiet.
Very still.
She picked up the envelope carefully.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Her mother’s.
No doubt.
No mistake.
Her mother had written this.
For her.
Years ago.
Before disappearing.
Before everything.
Bianca stared at the envelope.
Unable to move.
Unable to breathe properly.
Then the System appeared.
> [ Main Quest Updated ]
> Mother’s Legacy
> Open the Letter
> Reward: Truth
For once— the System wasn’t being dramatic.
Because Bianca somehow knew.
Whatever was inside that envelope— everything was about to change.
And somewhere far away…
Something beyond the fractures awakened.
Because for the first time in years—
Bianca was finally standing where the story truly began.