Gemotions

The solicitor’s words echoed in Elias’s ears: “Your sister, Ms. Amelia Blackwood, will receive the ancestral home and its contents. You, Mr. Blackwood, inherit… this.” He held out a small, unassuming package wrapped in plain brown paper. Elias felt a cold sweat prickle his neck. The room seemed to shrink, the ornate furniture pressing in on him. He ripped open the package with jerky movements. Inside, was a map. A hand-drawn, faded map depicting a coastline he didn't recognize, marked with a single, cryptic ‘X’. His breath hitched in his chest. What had their parents been hiding?