The Perfect Alibi

Previously

…I didn’t linger. I walked out of the Grand Athenaeum, the heavy oak doors closing behind me with a soft click, and stepped back into the cacophony of the city. The sunlight felt harsher now, the shadows deeper. The adventure I’d craved had suddenly taken a sharp, dangerous turn. I was no longer just a curious explorer; I was a target. The treasure hunt was real, and so were the hunters. And they were already closing in. The cryptic note had led me to a truth far more perilous than I could have imagined, and the path ahead was now shrouded in a very real, very tangible darkness.