That night, Selene couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. Every creak of the floorboards and groan of the wind outside made her skin crawl. She lit a fire and sat by the hearth, the diary and letters spread out before her.


    The carved name, the clearing, the strange note—it all felt like pieces of a puzzle she didn’t have the edges for.


    The ticking of the clock drew her attention. Its steady rhythm was almost hypnotic, a reminder of its inexplicable revival. Lydia’s diary had mentioned a clock ticking when it shouldn’t, but Selene hadn’t given it much thought until now.


    The next morning, she decided to visit the town clockmaker, Elias Marsh. He was known for his eccentricity and reclusive nature, but if anyone could shed light on the clock’s strange behavior, it was him.


    Elias’s shop smelled of oil and aged wood, the air thick with the hum of ticking clocks. The old man himself sat hunched over a workbench, a magnifying lens perched on his nose as he tinkered with the gears of a pocket watch.


    “Miss Archer,” he greeted without looking up, his voice gravelly. “What brings you to my corner of time?”Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Selene hesitated, startled that he knew her name. “I have a clock,” she began, pulling it from her bag. “It started working again after being broken for weeks. I thought maybe you could tell me why.”


    Elias set down his tools and took the clock from her hands. His fingers moved deftly, examining its face and opening the back to study the gears.


    “This is old,” he said after a moment, his tone laced with curiosity. “Where did you get it?”


    “It was in the house when I moved in,” Selene said. “Why?”


    Elias frowned, his brow furrowing. “This isn’t just any clock. The mechanism—it’s unusual. Not something you’d find in an ordinary home. It’s designed to measure something more than time.”


    “What do you mean?” Selene asked, her stomach tightening.


    He glanced up at her, his expression unreadable. “This clock is attuned to anomalies—moments when time bends or shifts. It’s not just keeping time; it’s tracking it.”


    Selene’s breath caught. “Why would someone have a clock like that?”


    Elias shrugged, but his gaze lingered on her for a moment too long. “Whoever owned it must’ve had their reasons. Tell me—have you noticed anything strange happening lately?”


    She hesitated, debating how much to reveal. “A few things. Letters showing up without explanation, a… name carved in a tree. And now this clock.”


    Elias’s frown deepened. “Be careful, Miss Archer. Time isn’t always as linear as we think. And meddling with it can be dangerous.”


    He handed the clock back to her, his fingers lingering for just a moment. “If the letters keep coming, pay attention to what they say. They might be guiding you—or warning you.”