Chapter 5: The Broken Tide

The lighthouse stood on the edge of the cliffs, its beam slicing through the thick fog, but the light felt distant, like a memory I couldn't reach. My boots crunched against the wet sand as I went down the beach. The air was heavy with the smell of salt and decay, the unmistakable scent of a town long forgotten by the world but never by its ghosts. Haven's Cove had a history, a pulse, that whispered through its creaking wooden houses, its crumbling wharves, and the dark corners of its long-abandoned cannery. But tonight, it wasn't the town's ghost that haunted me.

It was the Ferryman.

I didn't know why I came here. Maybe it was instinct, maybe it was the pull of the clues that kept me tethered to this place like an anchor, dragging me deeper into the abyss. The diary entry from my mother—"They drowned her, but the tide always gives back the truth"—had been my only guide. Each word was like a riddle, an invitation to unravel a deep mystery that threatened to swallow me whole. And now, I stood in front of the lighthouse, the light flickering like a false hope. A lighthouse meant to guide ships safely to shore, yet it had failed to save the lives of those it was meant to protect. Just like the town. Just like my family.

I pulled the collar of my jacket tighter around my neck, trying to shield myself from the biting autumn winds that whipped across the cliffs. The storm was coming, just like Mac had warned. The streets would soon flood, and the town would retreat into itself, waiting for the storm to pass. But I couldn't wait. Not this time. I had to keep moving forward, even though every part of me screamed to turn back.

As I reached the lighthouse base, I paused, my eyes scanning the rocks below. The sea was restless tonight, its waves crashing against the jagged edges like a warning. I had been to the lighthouse before, many times. It had always been a symbol of safety, a beacon in the dark. But tonight, it felt like a tomb. A place where secrets were buried, where the past was locked away and never meant to be uncovered.

I wasn't alone. I could feel it—the eyes watching me from the shadows. A figure was silhouetted against the lighthouse, barely visible in the fog, but I knew who it was. Mac.

"Ellie," his voice cut through the wind like a blade. "You shouldn't be here."

I didn't look back at him, but I could hear the worry in his voice, the same voice that had led me to this point, yet now felt so distant. I should've trusted him more, but how could I, knowing what I did now? Knowing that he had lied to me, that he had been a part of the Mariner's Circle—the very same group that had been responsible for my aunt's death, for my mother's obsession with the truth, for everything that had been ripped from me.

"Why not, Mac?" I asked, my voice strained. "Why shouldn't I be here?"

"Because it's not safe," he said, his tone shifting. "The Ferryman... he's close. I can feel it. You don't want to get tangled in this. Not anymore."

I finally turned to face him, my expression hard. "What do you mean, 'not anymore'? What does that even mean, Mac? Why did you lie to me? Why didn't you tell me about the Circle? About everything? I trusted you."

His face was shadowed, his eyes unreadable. But there was a sadness in them, a weight that I hadn't seen before. "I didn't have a choice, Ellie. I was part of it, yes. But I wasn't... I wasn't in control of it. You have to believe that."

I clenched my fists. "And now you want me to believe that you're on my side? After everything?"

"I never stopped being on your side," he said quietly. "You don't know what this town's like, Ellie. You don't know what it takes to survive here. To keep your head above water. The Circle—they control everything. And if you dig too deep, if you get too close to the truth, they'll pull you under. Just like they did with your mother."

My stomach twisted. "You're saying that they killed her?"

Mac didn't answer right away. Instead, he shifted his weight, looking down at the rocks below, his expression torn. "I'm saying that she knew too much. They were afraid of what she might find. She was getting too close to something big, Ellie. Something that could ruin them all. And your aunt? She was the first casualty."

I felt my heart sink. The pieces were falling into place, but they were pieces I didn't want to put together. Everything I had uncovered, every lead I'd chased, had only led me back to the same painful truth: My family had been part of the problem. They hadn't just been victims of the Mariner's Circle—they had been complicit in it.

"You're telling me that my mother... she was investigating the Circle all along?" I asked, my voice trembling. "And Clara... Aunt Clara... she was involved too?"

Mac's face hardened. "Clara had an affair with the mayor. She knew things—things she shouldn't have known. The ruby... the heirloom—it's tied to everything. Your mother knew that, and she was going to expose it. But she got too close, and they silenced her."

I shook my head, disbelief washing over me. "How could I not know any of this? Why didn't anyone tell me? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to protect you," he said, his voice quiet, but intense. "I thought you were better off not knowing. But I see now that you're too deep in it already. There's no turning back. You have to finish it, Ellie. You have to expose them all. But you can't do it alone."

I stepped back, my mind reeling. "I can't trust you anymore, Mac. Not after everything."

Mac's expression softened, and for a moment, he looked like the man I had trusted all these years. "I never wanted you to get caught up in this, Ellie. But I know you're going to do it anyway. You're like your mother. You're relentless. And you're right—there's no going back."

I swallowed hard, trying to steady myself. "Then help me. Help me finish this."

Before Mac could respond, the wind picked up again, the fog rolling in thicker than ever. The light from the lighthouse flickered once more, casting an eerie glow on the rocks below.

Then I heard it. The sound of footsteps behind me, soft but deliberate. My heart skipped a beat, and I spun around, my breath catching in my throat. The Ferryman.

He stood there, cloaked in darkness, his face obscured by shadows, but I could feel his presence like a cold breath against my skin. The riddle had led me here, but it wasn't my expected answer. And now, I was face-to-face with the killer.

"You're too late," the Ferryman's voice was low, almost a whisper, but it cut through the fog like a blade. "The truth is already in the tide. It's already been claimed."

I took a step back, my hands shaking. "No. I won't let you win. I'll expose you. I'll expose everything."

The Ferryman's eyes gleamed from beneath his hood, a twisted smile curling on his lips. "You don't understand, Ellie. It's not about exposing anyone. It's about finishing what your family started."

He reached into his cloak, pulling out a small object—a ruby pendant, identical to the one my mother had found. I felt my blood run cold.

"This," he said, holding the pendant up to the light, "is the final piece. The bloodline. Your mother was too weak to finish it. But you... you're strong enough. You were always meant to carry the legacy."

I couldn't breathe. The weight of the words settled over me, suffocating me. The ruby. The bloodline. It was all connected. I had been looking for answers, but now I realized—I was the answer. And I didn't know whether to run, fight, or accept my fate.

"You're lying," I said, my voice cracking. "I'm not part of this. I'm not a part of your legacy."

The Ferryman's smile deepened. "You can deny it all you want, Ellie. But the truth is in your blood. And you can't outrun it."

In that moment, I realized that the Ferryman wasn't just a killer. He was a harbinger of something much darker—something I was connected to whether I liked it or not.

And as the fog thickened around me, I knew one thing for certain: the tide had come in, and I was in too deep to escape.

The storm was coming, and with it, the truth. But I had no idea just how much I had yet to uncover.