The tape sat heavy in my hands, as though the weight of everything it held was pressing against me. It felt like a strange and unsettling invitation, one that could either bring me peace or unravel the very fabric of my understanding of everything that had happened. This tape — the st piece of the puzzle — was all that stood between me and the truth.

  I had to listen. I had to know.

  With trembling fingers, I slid the tape into the old recorder I had found in the back of my sister’s room. The clicking sound of the machine starting up echoed in the quiet, empty house. My heart was in my throat, each beat like a drum against my ribs. I was standing in the same spot where I had found my sister’s lifeless body, where the air had been thick with loss and unanswered questions. Everything had led to this moment.

  The static crackled from the speaker before the familiar sound of my sister’s voice filled the room. My breath caught in my chest.

  “Iris,” she whispered, her voice soft but urgent.

  “If you’re hearing this, then I... I’ve failed you. I’m sorry.”

  I could barely breathe. Tears sprang to my eyes, unbidden and unexpected. It was as though she were standing right in front of me, speaking just to me, just as she had when we were children, when we used to py and dream together. Her voice held an edge of desperation, a need to protect, to warn. But there was something more — a quiet, steady strength beneath it.

  “I know you’ve been seeing things, hearing things,” she continued, the words growing more strained, as though she was fighting against something.

  “I tried to tell you, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t make it stop. Not in time.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to process everything. The ghost, the strange occurrences, the constant pull of something unfinished — it all made sense now. She had been trying to protect me. She had known something dark, something dangerous, and had gone to great lengths to keep me safe from it.

  “There’s a man,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.

  “Carter Nelson. He’s dangerous, Iris. He’s been hiding something, something from this town’s past. But it’s not just about him — it’s about all of us. It’s about what he’s done, what he’s still doing.”

  The name sent a cold shiver down my spine. Carter Nelson — the man who had always seemed untouchable, powerful, respected. The man everyone thought of as a community leader. The man who had made me feel small and helpless when I tried to confront him all those years ago.

  “I couldn’t expose him on my own. But you… you can,” my sister’s voice urged.

  “You have to stop him. You’re stronger than you think, Iris. You have to know the truth, because once you do, you’ll be able to set everything right. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, but I’m not gone. I’m still here, guiding you. Listen to the tape. It’s all there. The truth.”

  The voice on the tape faded into static, and for a long, heavy moment, I stood frozen, the silence pressing in around me. My mind was reeling, spinning with revetions and questions. Carter Nelson. My sister had uncovered something about him, something that had to be hidden for a reason. But what?

  I felt a wave of emotion wash over me, overwhelming and heavy. The truth my sister had tried to protect me from was closer than ever. But she had been right — I wasn’t alone. She was still here, in some form. And now, I had to take what she had left me and finish what she had started.

  I had to confront Carter. But I couldn’t do it alone.

  I knew exactly where I had to go.

  The day of Carter Nelson’s big speech arrived with an eerie calm. The town square was packed with people, all gathered for his annual address. I had been to many of these over the years, but this one felt different. The weight of everything that had been revealed — the ghosts, the tapes, my sister’s death — pressed down on me, threatening to crush me with its enormity.

  Kian had agreed to join me. I wasn’t sure how he had ended up in the middle of all of this, but now, standing beside me in the crowd, he felt like the only person I could trust. He had been there for me, even when I had pushed him away, even when I had misunderstood his actions. And now, I could see it more clearly. Kian had tried to help my sister. He had tried to do the right thing, to stand by her side in the face of something far darker than we had known.

  “I’m with you, Iris,” Kian said, his voice steady beside me.

  “We’ll get through this together.”

  His presence was a comfort. I nodded, taking a deep breath as Carter Nelson took the stage at the front, ready to deliver his speech to the crowd. The crowd cheered and cpped, their faces a blur of admiration, but I could see the mask Carter wore — a calm facade, hiding something far more sinister beneath. He smiled, his teeth too perfect, his eyes too calcuting.

  But this time, I wouldn’t stand by and let him manipute everyone. This time, I would confront him with the truth.

  I stepped forward, Kian close behind. Carter hadn’t noticed us yet, too focused on his speech, but I could feel the weight of his eyes on me the moment I moved. The crowd started to murmur, whispers rippling through the air. I didn’t care. I had come this far, and there was no turning back now.

  “Carter Nelson,” I called, my voice rising above the crowd.

  “You’ve lied to everyone here. You’ve hidden the truth for far too long. It’s time for it to come out.”

  The speech stopped abruptly, the crowd falling silent as Carter turned toward me. For a moment, his expression flickered — a brief fsh of surprise, but then it was gone, repced by that same calm, practiced smile. He stepped down from the podium, walking toward me slowly.

  “You’re making a mistake, Iris,” Carter said, his voice low, but smooth.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I know exactly what I’m talking about,” I shot back. “I know what you’ve done. I know the secrets you’ve been hiding — the ones that my sister tried to warn me about. You’re not fooling anyone anymore.”

  Carter’s smile faltered for just a second, and I could see the shift in his eyes. He was losing his grip on the situation. But even then, he remained composed, his voice still steady as he spoke.

  “You’re meddling in things you don’t understand, Iris,” he said, stepping closer.

  “This is bigger than you. You don’t know the consequences of what you’re doing.”

  “I don’t care about the consequences anymore,” I replied, my voice trembling with determination.

  “I care about the truth. And the truth is that you’ve been hiding a dark secret from this town — and from me. You killed my sister.”

  The words hung in the air, heavy and final. Carter’s expression shifted, his mask slipping for a moment before he regained control. But it was too te. The truth was out.

  The crowd was silent, everyone waiting, unsure of what would happen next. But I didn’t need their approval. I didn’t need anyone’s approval. All I needed was to confront the truth, to finish what my sister had started.

  Kian stepped forward beside me, standing strong, his presence a silent testament to the support I hadn’t realized I needed. We were in this together.

  The final confrontation with Carter Nelson marked the end of the haunting, and the beginning of something new. The town learned the truth. My sister’s ghost finally found peace, and I… I found my own peace, too.

  As I walked away from the town square, the ghostly presence that had once haunted me felt lighter, as though it had been released into the air, like the first rays of sunlight after a long, stormy night.

  And maybe, just maybe, I could finally let go of the past.