The Secret of the Puzzle
The Secret of the Puzzle1. The Eerie Puzzle
Night had deepened. Jamie sat at her desk, staring at the nearly completed puzzle in front of her.
It was an old-fashioned painting of a dimly lit town—a clock tower bathed in an eerie glow, surrounded by twisted, shadowed buildings.
She had bought this puzzle from a secondhand bookstore. The elderly shopkeeper had handed it to her with an odd smile, whispering, "This puzzle is special. Complete it, and you'll see the surprise."
Jamie had dismissed it as a marketing trick.
But now, as she was about to place the final piece, something felt off.
The last piece looked different from the rest—it didn't seem like part of the painting. Instead, it resembled a photograph, cut to fit the puzzle's shape.
Frowning, Jamie carefully slotted it into place.
The moment she did, her breath hitched.
It was a girl's face.
The young woman in the photograph had lifeless, hollow eyes, her skin pale and cold. The edges of the photo were stained with faint traces of dried blood.
A chill ran down Jamie's spine.
She grabbed her phone and quickly ran a reverse image search.
Seconds later, a news article popped up on her screen:
"Missing Girl: Zhou Ying Disappeared Mysteriously Three Years Ago"
Jamie's hands trembled as she clicked on the link.
The missing girl's photo in the article—it was the exact same face from the puzzle.
Heart pounding, Jamie stared at the completed puzzle. Had she just opened a door she was never meant to?
2. A Hidden Message
Without hesitation, she called Sandra.
Minutes later, Sandra arrived and took one glance at the puzzle before her expression darkened.
"You said you bought this at a bookstore?" Sandra asked.
Jamie nodded. "Yeah. Do you think this is just some creepy coincidence?"
Sandra didn't answer. Instead, she leaned in, closely examining the final puzzle piece. She then pointed at something near the bottom.
"Look here."
Jamie followed Sandra's finger and saw faint, almost erased letters at the bottom of the photograph. Squinting, she could barely make out a few characters:
C... L... O... C... K...
Jamie's breath caught. "Clock?"
She turned to look at the puzzle's image—the clock tower.
Their eyes met, and they both knew what they had to do.
3. The Clock Tower's Secret
According to the news report, Zhou Ying had lived in a small town on the outskirts of the city. Coincidentally—or perhaps not—that town had an old, abandoned clock tower.
The next morning, Jamie and Sandra drove there.
The town was eerily deserted, and the towering structure loomed at the far end of the street, its rusted clock face frozen in time.
The front entrance was chained shut, but they found a half-open wooden door at the side.
Exchanging a glance, they slipped inside.
The air was damp and filled with the scent of rotting wood. The stairs creaked ominously as they climbed to the second floor.
Then, Jamie suddenly froze in place.
"…Do you hear that?"
Sandra frowned and strained to listen.
Tick… tock… tick… tock…
It was the unmistakable sound of a pendulum swinging.
But that didn't make sense. The town's records stated that the clock had stopped working years ago.
Jamie's skin prickled. Slowly, she turned her head—
And noticed a dusty wooden chest in the corner of the room.
The sound was coming from inside it.
Sandra inhaled deeply, stepped forward, and lifted the lid.
The moment she did, a cold, oppressive energy swept through the room.
Inside the chest lay a withered corpse.
Its eyes were shut, its skin clinging to bone. But what caught Jamie's attention was the pocket watch clutched tightly in the corpse's skeletal hand.
The watch was still ticking.
Jamie's vision swam. The girl from the puzzle flashed in her mind—Zhou Ying.
"…It's her."
After three years, they had found the missing girl.
Only, she had long become nothing but a lifeless husk.
4. The Last Piece of the Puzzle
The police arrived soon after, sealing off the clock tower and launching a full investigation.
Forensics confirmed that the corpse was indeed Zhou Ying. The cause of death: asphyxiation.
But the most unsettling discovery was inside the pocket watch.
Tucked beneath the glass cover was a yellowed, brittle piece of paper. Written in shaky, uneven handwriting were five chilling words:
"I am the last piece."
Jamie stared at the note, her stomach twisting.
What did that mean?
Who had embedded her photo into the puzzle?
Had someone been guiding them here all along?
The truth remained elusive, but Jamie knew one thing for certain—some puzzles should never be completed.
Because some secrets… should remain buried.
Outside, the wind howled as the town's broken clock let out a deep, resonating chime—
DONG—
A single, eerie toll rang out, shattering the silence.
Jamie's eyes snapped up to the top of the clock tower.
A photo fluttered from the clock's face, slowly drifting down toward them.
Jamie bent down, picked it up, and turned it over.
Another girl's face stared back at her.
And on the back of the photograph, written in crimson ink, was a single sentence:
"She's next."