Chapter 1

The patter of rain could be heard as it hit the damp ground; Aria sighed again as raindrops struck her head, which was covered only by a coat.

“Do you think Rowan will drown in his grave if the drizzle keeps up like this?” Without turning her head, Aria chose instead to stare at Rowan’s body, which already lay in the grave.

“I don’t know. I hope he can rest in peace,” Orion said, shrugging indifferently.

“What a tragic fate to die alone like this. The dementia he suffered from made him forget everyone,” Aria murmured softly.

Her eyes didn’t really show even a hint of pity; Aria only said it because she was bored of having to be there.

To be honest, Aria wasn’t particularly close to Rowan; she only helped him occasionally. If she were to count, it seemed Aria had only stopped by fewer than 10 times.

“The Captain thinks there’s another reason why he died. What do you think?” Orion asked as he took a drag on the cigarette in his hand, then slowly exhaled a thick plume of smoke.

“If it weren’t for the Captain, I wouldn’t be here. That crazy bastard has become obsessed with anyone who dies after all these strange incidents have been happening lately,” Aria hissed irritably.

Orion snorted in agreement, silently endorsing Aria’s words.

As detectives, Aria and Orion had been assigned to provide security for Rowan’s funeral; at least, that was the official reason.

In reality, however, they were there because their Captain had ordered them to dig deeper into the circumstances of Rowan’s death.

Lately, there have been many cases of suspicious deaths in London, and their Captain believed that Rowan’s death was one of them.

Aria glanced again at the grave, just large enough for Rowan’s body, which was finally completely covered with soil. She felt a twinge of pity when she saw how cramped the grave was.

But she quickly shook her head gently as someone walked toward her.

“The funeral is over. This book was in Rowan’s hands when he died; I hope it helps you.”

“Thank you.” Aria took the plain black notebook and let the gravedigger go.

“Are you going to take that book?” Orion furrowed his brow as he looked at the worn notebook.

“What else can I do? It’s the old man’s last memento.” Aria shrugged indifferently, choosing to keep Rowan’s notebook.

“It’s up to you, then.” As long as he wasn’t the one keeping that worn-out notebook, Orion didn’t really care.

They slowly began to walk away from the public cemetery.

Aria truly hated the sound her feet made as they stepped on the muddy ground, damp from the rain.

She held back from venting her frustration, preferring instead to leave the cemetery as soon as possible.

. . .

The wall clock read 11 p.m. when Aria arrived at her apartment; her Captain wouldn’t let her leave until she’d finished the report on Rowan’s death.

“That damn bastard really wanted to kill me!” Aria kept muttering after entering her apartment.

She felt sticky all over and didn’t want to bring that eerie atmosphere into her apartment, considering she’d just visited a cemetery that day.

So Aria decided to take a shower as soon as she got home.

It was already midnight when Aria finished, with a small towel on her head. She walked toward the living room and turned on the TV.

“Where’s my phone?” Lazily, Aria rummaged through her bag, which was on the sofa.

That’s when Aria realized that Rowan’s black notebook was still in her bag.

“Should I look inside?” A sense of curiosity crept into Aria’s heart as she looked at the notebook.

Figuring there was no harm in checking it, Aria picked up the notebook and sat down on the sofa.

“I wonder what Rowan wrote in his notebook. Did he write down things he needed to remember?” Aria wondered if people with dementia would record their lives in a notebook.

Full of anticipation, Aria began to turn to the first page of the notebook.

Aria’s jade bracelet began to vibrate as she opened the notebook; she grew wary when she felt it.

Aria received the jade bracelet from her grandmother. Her grandmother told her that the jade bracelet would protect her from supernatural forces intent on harming her.

“Don’t tell me…”

With horror, Aria stared at the line of words in the middle of the book’s page; her body immediately broke out in goosebumps as she read them.

“The truth can only be seen by the Master.”

As a detective, Aria immediately sensed something was off when she saw those words.

Actually, Aria was a bit skeptical about the supernatural or the occult, but she couldn’t shake the feeling when she felt her jade bracelet reacting strongly to Rowan’s notebook.

Although Aria felt a little hesitant, she decided to turn to the next page of the notebook.

Aria’s hand, which had previously been holding a towel, now shifted to hold her jade bracelet, which was beginning to vibrate even more intensely.

Aria was shocked when she saw the rows of words filling the next page; she still didn’t know what they meant.

“Why do I have a bad feeling when I see these words deliberately crossed out?” Aria muttered, still clutching her jade bracelet.

Her other hand reached out to trace the words, following them all the way to the end.

At the end of the list, Aria’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she saw the name of someone she knew there.

Rowan Hatchet.

It was then that Aria realized the list was a list of people’s names.

And every single name on it had been crossed out, just like Rowan’s.

“Why… why are these people’s names crossed out like this?” Aria realized she could barely find her voice as she muttered those words.

Her eyes then moved back to the final line of text written on that page.

“The previous master has died; may the new master live for eternity.”