A Forgotten Time Piece

VallyKent, an town located a 2 hour drive from the nearest city in any direction had a interesting story to tell. The old mansion stood atop the hill separate from all the other towns houses , its crumbling walls echoing secrets from centuries past. Katherine, an antique dealer, had heard rumours about a mysterious timepiece hidden within its decaying chambers. Settlers had been warned by an older couple not to go inside and uncover its secretes. Told by a local shop owner she asked, she could not resist the allure.

As she edged closer to the old Mansion, her heart raced. Echoing at the back of her mind, the words of the towns people “reconsider” repeated. Katherine brushed it off.as the distanced closed in, she could not shake off a lingering eerily feeling as the hairs on her neck stood up.

Katherine’s flashlight flickered as she stepped into the dim-lit hallway. Dust danced in the air, and the silence was suffocating. The clock tower loomed above her—a relic of forgotten days. Its hands hadn’t moved in decades.

As she explored room after room, each intricately designed , Katherine found faded portraits of what looked like family members, moth-eaten curtains, dusty empty vases, and forgotten diaries. But no sign of the elusive timepiece. The mansion seemed to hold its breath, waiting for her to uncover its truth.

As she made her way towards the attic, Each step taken, creaked with anticipation. Inside, she stumbled upon an ornate wooden box. Its lid creaked open, revealing a pocket watch—an exquisite creation with intricate engravings as well as a sealed up letter and a few other small ornaments namely postal stamps and a few inked pens. The glass was cracked, but the hands still pointed to a specific hour: 3:33.

Kathrine’s heart raced. As she wound the watch, and it sprang to life. But instead of ticking forward, it spun backward—an impossible defiance of time. Shadows danced on the walls, whispering forgotten names.

Without thinking twice she wore the watch, and suddenly, the room blurred. The mansion transformed—the wallpaper vibrant with many patterns and the air thick with laughter. Amelia stood in the centre a grand ballroom, surrounded by elegantly dressed guests. The chandeliers sparkled, and a waltz began.

However something about the dancers, they had hollow eyes, their movements jerky. Their voices echoed: “Remember, Katherine. Remember.”

She stumbled out of the ballroom, back into the decaying present. Her heart racing. The watch clung to her wrist, its ticking erratic. The mansion shifted—past and present merging. Katherine looked at a glimpsed her own reflection in a cracked mirror—a woman from another era staring back.

The clock tower chimed, and the hourglass turned. Time fractured, memories flooding her mind. She was Lady Isadora, cursed to relive the same night—a betrayal, a murder—forever. The watch held the key to her salvation.

Katherine’s pulse raced. She had to break the cycle, but the mansion fought back. Shadows whispered, “forget, forget” . The watch’s hands spun faster, pulling her deeper into the past, against her own will.Her faint screames echoed through the hallways.

As the clock on the wall chimed 3:33, she faced a choice: unravel the truth or remain trapped, a decision she could not make fast enough as the mansion had other plans. It swallowed her, and Katherine vanished—another forgotten soul lost in time.

The old mansion went silent, everything back to where it was originally found when Katherine first walked into the mansion. The entrance door faintly creaked and unlocked, providing a passageway for the next unsuspecting seeker.

—a forgotten time piece ticking toward eternity.