POV: Lucien
Lucien had expected to find more when he returned. Something to explain the strange, lingering feeling that hadn't left him since the night he saw the house—whatever it was.
But when he asked about the glass house, people only shook their heads. They didn't remember it the way he did. The way the photo felt like it wanted to pull him deeper.
He had to dig. Had to push harder.
Old towns, old people—they all had secrets. And secrets never stayed buried forever.
That afternoon, he found the right person. An old man hunched over a counter, his hands shaking as he sifted through receipts and half-empty bottles of ink.
"Excuse me," Lucien said, taking a step forward. "I'm looking for any records on a house. A manor, maybe. It's—well, it's old. And it's out near the edge of the field."
The old man paused, peering over his glasses.
"You talkin' about the Glass Tomb?" the man rasped.
Lucien froze.
"The Glass Tomb," the old man repeated, as if tasting the words. He went back to sorting papers. "Yeah, I heard stories about it. Not many people remember it anymore. Doesn't really matter. It's gone."
"Gone?" Lucien asked, leaning in.
The man paused again, but this time his gaze turned sharp. "People think it disappeared. But nothing ever disappears. You just don't see it anymore."
Lucien's pulse quickened. "What happened to it?"
The man didn't answer right away. Instead, he picked up a dusty ledger, flipped it open, and slowly traced a finger down the page. "It was a long time ago. The house was… not meant to be found. No one really talks about it. You don't need to know."
Lucien took a step forward, his voice quiet but insistent. "I do need to know."
The old man's eyes narrowed. He leaned closer. "There's a reason it's hidden. A reason it was forgotten."
Lucien felt a shift, the air tightening around them.
"And what's the reason?" he asked.
The man didn't answer. He just stared.
Finally, Lucien turned and left the shop, the old man's unspoken words hanging in the air like the weight of something too close to being understood.