Gemotions

The musty smell of the ancestral home hit Elias the moment he pushed open the front door. He squared his shoulders, a tingle racing up his spine. His sister, Clara, trailed behind him, already wrinkling her nose. “Seriously, Elias? This is what you were so eager to see?” He ignored her, striding towards the grand oak staircase. His hands were itching to touch the banister, to feel the smooth wood under his fingertips. He felt a surge of… something… as he pictured their father, the man he barely knew, descending those very stairs. The will was clear: The house, and everything in it, was to be divided. He found the key to the cellar first. There, tucked away in an old wine rack, was a leather-bound book, filled with intricate maps and coded messages. Clara found a jewel-encrusted dagger hidden inside a grandfather clock. He knew what he had to do.