Chapter 3: The Letters from Nowhere
Penny had never felt like she was inside a story before—until now.
Her apartment was silent, but the air was thick with something unspoken, something waiting. The bundle of letters in her hands felt impossibly light yet heavy with meaning, as if the weight of every untold secret inside them pressed against her fingers.
She swallowed hard, staring at the faded blue ribbon wrapped tightly around the stack. It had been knotted with care, the kind of careful precision that suggested whoever tied it had meant for these letters to be kept safe.
And yet, here they were. In her hands.
Waiting to be read.
Her pulse pounded against her ribs as she sat down on the floor, cross-legged in front of the desk. The dim glow of her desk lamp cast flickering shadows across the aged parchment. The paper was soft, fragile, yet the ink remained bold, dark, defiant against time itself.
With hesitant fingers, she untied the ribbon.
The knot resisted at first, like it didn't want to be undone, but then—snap—it loosened, and the ribbon slithered to the floor like a breath exhaled.
Penny picked up the first letter.
The handwriting was elegant, almost poetic, written in smooth, looping strokes that felt… personal. Like a whisper. Like the kind of writing that wasn't just meant to be read, but felt.
Her name was scrawled across the top of the page in careful, deliberate strokes.
Penny.
Her throat tightened.
She forced herself to start at the beginning.
"You won't believe me, Penny. Not at first. But I need you to trust me."
"I don't know how much time we have, but I love you. I always have. And I will find you again."
Her breath caught.
What the hell?
She flipped to the bottom, searching for a signature, and there it was—again.
Theo.
A name that meant nothing to her. A name that shouldn't have meant anything.
Penny pressed the letter to her lap, her mind spinning.
This wasn't just weird. This wasn't just some lost love note from the past. It was directed at her. It spoke like it knew her.
And worst of all?
It sounded like this Theo guy was writing from… the future.
That's insane. Impossible.
She looked at the stack of remaining letters. If she read the next one, would it make things clearer? Or would it drag her even deeper into whatever the hell this was?
Her hands moved before she could think.
She picked up the second letter and unfolded it.
The ink was slightly smudged, like someone had written it in a hurry.
"Penny, by now you've found the first letter. I wish I could see your face. You're probably frowning, chewing your lip like you do when you're trying to convince yourself you're not scared."
She stiffened.
She was frowning. And she was chewing her lip.
Goosebumps prickled up her arms.
"I know you don't believe in fate. But I do. And I know you won't understand how I know you—not yet. But I swear to you, everything I'm saying is true."
"Don't throw these away. Please. Keep reading."
"I need you to remember me."
A chill curled through her spine.
Remember him?
How could she remember someone she had never met?
Her heart thudded violently in her chest as she stared at the remaining letters. A choice stood before her, one she didn't know if she was ready to make.
Because the moment she read the next letter, she wasn't just reading anymore.
She was involved.
And something told her there was no turning back now.