Prologue
Windmere, which was a small town with a rich traditional history, had long been the abode of peace deep in the valley, shielded by the dense woods. Nevertheless, over the past six years, chaos had found its way into that peace through some unexplainable curse. The cryptic messages were making less sense day by day and six people, as tragically as it sounds, have already gone and no one knows where they are, therefore, the community already fears this seventh winter as the last chance to their survival.
This time, something went wrong after the first snow had fallen and the seventh individual went missing. Anna hood Ashley, a ghostwriter and the messenger among the other five ghosts, came and advised the people of the town by giving them enlightenment through the lines, "find the seventh, or lose them all".
Chapter 1: The Vanishing Since her earliest recollection, Emma Carter has been living in Wind mere. At 23, she was used to witnessing strange events in the town, but the vanishes had made her grief-stricken. The girl was the fifth victim and Emma's best friend. Emma could not keep out the feeling of guilt for not having been able to rescue her.
On the 12th of December of the same year, the recent disappearance close to her home caused a stir. It was Emma’s younger brother, Jake.
The cops had no clues. Jake’s bed was neat and his shoes were still near the door, but he was nowhere in sight. All there was that was his ominous note, seen when they found it pinned on the window of his room. Anxiously, yet with resilience, Emma resolved not to wait for the authorities and she would set out to seek her brother on her own. She was resolute, even when it was not easy, that she would.
Chapter 2:Uncovering the Past She hitched up her retake of the disappearances by going through the history of them. Every victim was seen to be there in December in the middle of a blizzard, and all of them were from the southern part of the town. She remarked some unusual tracks that lead her to the connection between the Wetherby Manor, the place a resident of which was found dead, and the persons who had been disappeared.
People around kept saying bitter words about the manor. Some of them stated that it used to be cursed, while others suggested that there was a spirit who was getting the manor back who was being abused. Without giving it even a thought, she decided she must get some info. So Emma went to the library to browse through the town’s archives and found an old diary. It was written by Margaret Wetherby, a Lady who had the manor, and it was situated some fifty years ago when she lived there. What she wrote was almost a transcript of how Emma felt in her own tragedy.
A journal told a sad story: Margaret was seven years old whose son, William, had been lost during a snowstorm. She had been looking for him for the rest of her life, insisting that he had been taken by something in the woods. Her last entry read: "Seven souls must pay for what was lost."
Chapter 3:Into the Forest Emma believed the forest held the secret, got a flashlight and Jake's pocketknife, and walked to the manor. The snow squeaked under her boots as the high, dark pine trees closed in on her. The forest was deserted, yet she felt eyes upon her.
Upon reaching the manor, Emma found that it was completely destroyed. Once indoors, she found a secret room underneath the floorboards. The walls were filled with strange drawings, and in the middle of the room was a circle of seven candles, six of which had been used up.
As Emma was rummaging through the room, she felt someone breathe down her neck. She turned around very fast and saw a dark smoky figure with empty eyes staring directly into her eyes.
"You seek the seventh?" it hissed.
Chapter 4:The Bargain The figure turned out to be the ghost of William Wet herby. Imprisoned between the worlds, he demanded justice in his death, stating that it was no accident when he had disappeared; they had taken him for a ritual to protect the town. The ritual, however, went wrong, and seven lives were required to balance the score.
"If you want to save your brother, you've got to take his place," William said, stretching a bony hand out toward Emma.
Emma's heart pounded. Could she trade her life for Jake's? Before she could make a decision, the spirit's shape shifted. It howled in pain, and a voice boomed from the woods: "The cycle must end!"
Chapter 5:Breaking the Curse She had now realized the disappearances did not occur randomly. They had been orchestrated by a secret group of people from that town; the descendants, of course. The purpose for these disappearances was to give up seven souls every 50 years, maintaining their magical powers.
With this, Emma confronted the town elders. They denied everything at first but were cornered when she brought out Margaret's journal and the room in the manor. Cornered and defeated, they confessed their guilt but said it was too late to stop the curse.
She rejected this and headed back to the manor. She lit the seventh candle and found a prayer in the journal. Again, the dark figure of William stood before her. However, this time around, he was quite peaceful.
"Thank you," he whispered as he vanished into the light.
Epilogue
Jake was found stumbling close to the periphery of the woods, stunned but unhurt. The missing children stopped happening, and life slowly started anew. Emma emerged as a kind of hero, at least within town; yet she lived on with what she knew.
Wetherby Manor crumbled into dust and dust as well as stones upon completion of the ritual. The curse was indeed lifted, yet Windmere was never healed again.
On the first snow of the next winter, Emma was so happy to find one candle still burning on her windowsill. She smiled at that because the seventh soul was finally at rest..