Chapter 4: The Mirror of Secrets

The room was eerily silent as the shock of seeing Mac's twin, the man who looked like him in every way but one—the one who had no name, no place—washed over me. My heart was pounding so loudly I could barely hear anything else. Everything around me blurred, like I was underwater, struggling to breathe. But one thing was clear: nothing was as it seemed.

The man who looked like Mac stood there, his face a perfect mirror of the man who had been my reluctant ally through this whole investigation. The same deep lines in his weathered skin, the same gray hair curling at the edges of his collar, the same haunted eyes. But there was something off, a subtle difference, like an echo, a shadow.

"Who are you?" My voice felt foreign to my own ears, tremulous and weak.

The man—no, the other Mac—stepped forward, his boots creaking on the old wooden floor. The weight of his presence was crushing, suffocating the space. He didn't answer me right away. Instead, he looked at me with an unreadable expression, as though measuring my every move.

I glanced at the real Mac, or at least the man I thought was Mac. His face had gone ashen, his eyes wide in disbelief. He stepped backward, his voice catching in his throat. "No. This can't be—"

But the man before me raised a hand, silencing him, and then turned his attention back to me.

"I'm not here to hurt you, Ellie," the man said, his voice deep and gravelly, but strangely calm. "At least, not yet."

"Not yet?" I repeated, the words like acid on my tongue. The last thing I needed was another cryptic statement. But everything had become a riddle, and I had no choice but to play along.

"Look at him." The man nodded to the real Mac, who was still standing, rooted to the spot. "This man—he's not who you think he is. He's part of the Mariner's Circle. Always has been. And if he hasn't told you, then I will."

The weight of those words hit me like a tidal wave. My mind spun. The Mariner's Circle. The secret society that had controlled Haven's Cove for decades, that had buried so many truths beneath layers of deceit. And Mac? Mac was one of them? Had I been played this whole time? Had I trusted him too easily? Was he really the man I thought he was, or was he simply another pawn in the game?

My gaze shot back to the real Mac, and I saw the guilt and the shame written on his face like an open book. My breath caught in my throat. It was true, then. Everything that had been building up to this moment. He was one of them.

"You… you're one of them?" I whispered, the betrayal tasting bitter in my mouth. My heart felt as though it was breaking all over again. It wasn't just my mother I had to mourn anymore. It was everything. The truth about Mac, the truth about everything that had been hidden for so long.

The other Mac took a step forward, his voice low and dangerous. "He's been running from the truth, just like you have. Hiding in the shadows, hoping no one would find out what he really is."

"No." The real Mac's voice cracked. He stumbled backward, his face full of anguish. "Ellie, listen to me. I didn't know. I didn't know they were—"

But before he could finish, the other Mac raised a hand again, cutting him off.

"You didn't know? Or you didn't want to know?" The twin's voice was cold, calculating. "You were part of this town's deepest secrets, Mac. You were the one who helped bury the truth. You were complicit in it all."

I felt like I was drowning. The ground beneath my feet was slipping away, the walls closing in. Every truth I had discovered over the past few weeks—every piece of this twisted puzzle—had been shattered in an instant.

But there was one thing I knew. The Mariner's Circle had taken so much from me. My mother. My aunt. Everything I thought I knew about this town. I had to stop them. And to do that, I needed answers.

"What do you want?" I asked the other Mac, trying to steady my breathing, my mind racing. "Why are you here?"

The man gave me a grim smile. "I'm here because I was always meant to be. You see, Ellie, the truth about your family runs deeper than you think. Your mother wasn't just investigating a murder. She was investigating a legacy. A curse."

The words didn't make sense. A curse? What was he talking about? But I knew I couldn't afford to miss anything now. The stakes had never been higher.

He stepped closer, his eyes never leaving mine. "You thought it was all about Clara. About the murder. But that's just the surface. Your mother knew something far darker. She found something that could destroy the Mariner's Circle, and that's why they killed her. That's why they killed Clara."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "No. My mother didn't—" My voice faltered as the pieces slowly clicked into place. Everything she had written in her diary. The riddle that had haunted me: "They drowned her, but the tide always gives back the truth." She had been trying to uncover this all along. She had found something buried in the town's history—something to do with the Circle and the heirloom. And it had cost her everything.

The other Mac's eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction, as if he could read my thoughts. "Your mother found the real truth. And it wasn't just the ruby. It was the bloodline. The Harper bloodline."

I couldn't breathe. "The Harper bloodline?" My voice was hoarse, barely audible.

"Your family's ties to this town go back farther than you realize. Before the Circle ever existed, the Harpers were the ones who kept the balance. They were the ones who guarded the secret, protected it. But someone betrayed them. Someone in your family. Someone who wanted power."

My stomach churned. My mind raced to connect the dots, but they weren't coming together fast enough. Power? Betrayal?

I could barely comprehend it all, but I forced myself to focus, to listen. This was the key. I had to understand it if I was going to survive.

"Who betrayed my family?" I demanded. "Tell me, who?"

The other Mac paused, his gaze darkening. "Your mother didn't just stumble upon the truth. She was meant to. It was her destiny. But she was never meant to uncover it all. She died because she was too close to revealing the final piece. The one that would destroy everything."

My pulse raced. "What is it? What's the final piece?"

The other Mac grinned, a cruel smile twisting his features. "It's you, Ellie. You were the final piece all along. You were always meant to take your mother's place."

Before I could respond, the real Mac lunged toward the twin, his hand reaching for his collar, but the other man was quicker. In an instant, he grabbed a knife from his belt and pressed it against Mac's throat.

"Don't make me do this," the twin warned, his voice cold and emotionless.

"Please," the real Mac gasped. "I didn't want this. I swear to you, I didn't know—"

But his words were cut off by the twins' cold laugh. "It doesn't matter what you wanted. You chose your side long ago. And now, you'll pay the price for your sins."

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't let them kill Mac—not after everything. I couldn't let the man who had been my guide, my ally, die in front of me. But I also knew that there was something more at play here. Something deeper than I had ever understood.

"Ellie," Mac gasped, his voice ragged, desperate. "You have to—"

But before he could finish, the door slammed open, and a figure stepped into the room, casting a long shadow over everything.

Jesse.

"Jesse, no!" I cried out, but it was too late. He had already moved.

In one swift motion, Jesse grabbed a chair and swung it at the twin. The man's eyes widened in shock as the chair cracked against his back, sending him stumbling forward. The knife dropped from his hand, and Mac was able to free himself, backing away quickly.

"Jesse!" I screamed. "What are you doing?"

Jesse didn't answer. His face was grim, determined. "I couldn't let him do it. We need to stop this. All of it."

But as he stepped forward to face the twin, the lights flickered, and for one horrifying moment, I thought I saw something else in Jesse's eyes. Something familiar.

It was the same look I had seen in Mac's twin—the same cold, calculating gleam.

My breath caught.

"Jesse?" I whispered. "What's happening?"

But it was too late.

The truth I had been searching for had always been within reach. But I had never seen it until now. The final twist—the one that would shatter everything—was staring me in the face.

And I wasn't ready for it.

Jesse smiled, and the world went black.