𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐓 | #𝟏 ✔️

𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄

I groan, as expected, it's closed. Though with a bit of snooping around the porch and outdoor seating, I find another note and an item right next to it.

Too bad, guess you were too late.
The next place is somewhere with a big, big gate.

It reads, leaving me dumbfounded as I search through my mind for memories of places with big gates. Nothing comes to mind and so my gaze shifts to where the note had been and a small item sits near the empty spot.

A book.

My favorite book.

I hold a copy of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black in one hand and the note in the other.

The cover and back look the same as every other copy a normal person would have but something seems different about it. This setting's aura and the urge to open it, flip through the pages, is killing me.

I swallow, crumpling up the paper in my fist which I then use to open the book.

My eyes are wide at the sight of the book's contents.

Its pages are filled with various colored highlights, monotone notes, and the straightest underlining ever.

It's annotated.

I'm not surprised Salem would give me something like this, though it certainly gets a chuckle out of me.

I take slow, dragged out steps to my car as I try to analyze the note and annotations in the book. I desperately try to find any possible hints about this treasure hunt, but my efforts were to no avail.

I step into my car yet again, starting up the engine and placing the book on the passenger seat along with the note.

Big, big gate.. I rub the back of my neck, trying to recall any places from our past with a big gate.

Just when I'm about to give up, I come to a conclusion that it may be our old high school. I want to scoff just thinking about it, yet alone visiting it.

So many memories. Good, bad, and maybe a tiny bit hot.

I have no choice, continuing to reverse out of the spot I had parked in and driving over to Riverside Heights.

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It's an endless fucking night.

I've been to various places ranging from the simplest ones, such as an ice rink Salem and I would train at, to traumatic ones. Like Rainer's house.

Thankfully, I'm on my last note and I'm now sitting in my car, parked in front of a closed Wendy's that my co-workers, Salem, and I would order at when craving a snack.

Looks like you have made it till here,
Come to this place and please have no fear.

I scrunch my eyebrows at what's written. Have no fear? Those three simple words just gave it back to me.

My gaze scans over the short address underneath the text and it doesn't seem familiar at all.

I don't think I have much of a choice and type in the address on my GPS and it reveals a private art gallery that's only five minutes away. I run a hand through my hair and sigh, shifting my car into reverse gear and starting my drive.

As I'm driving down the empty, dimly lit roads, there's thousands of thoughts prowling through my mind.

Why would Salem do such a random thing like this? On a weeknight too?

It makes me question this woman's abilities and if she's using them for her job or the stupidest things. I chuckle to myself, hand regripping the steering wheel as I make a right turn.

The GPS says I'm a minute away and I start to see a white building in the distance. My heart is pounding in my chest as I try to conceal my excitement as I reach my last destination.

Parking my car out the front, I unbuckle myself and take my purse. I pull the doors up to open them and hold onto it to keep myself steady as I step out on my heel.

My eyes scan the white building, there's not a single window on it and I scrunch my eyebrows. I hesitantly walk towards the glass doors and push it open, immediately being greeted by a sign with an arrow that points to the right.

And around the corner is a few flights of stairs that I walk up, leading to an area with large pictures hung adjacent to each other on the white walls.

But it's not just pictures.

It's pictures of me. At way too familiar places.

It's evident they're candid pictures too, in the point of view of someone close to me as we're on a date.

My gaze lands on a picture of me, at the beach, sitting on a beach chair.

In Rainer's point of view.

And that's when I finally realize the purpose of this not-so-stupid treasure hunt and all of the gifts with hidden meanings.

"Gold. You're here."

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Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for not updating for the past few days. Univ is hitting me like a fucking truck + I got sick over the weekend, still am, and yeah 🥲

I'm sorry to everyone that thought HoL is over lmfaoo, not yet! Still got 3 chapters to go, excluding epilogues ☺️

Thank you all for waiting! Sorry for the cliffhanger again.