The Ashford Diaries is a serialized gothic mystery unfolding day by day in letters from Ashford Manor. New here? → Start reading from the beginning.
July 15, 1947
Ashford Manor
The nursery is more than just a locked room.
Today, while peeling back the faded wallpaper, my fingers brushed against something cold and hard. A keyhole, hidden behind layers of floral print and dust.
Lucy’s warning echoes louder now: “Some roots go too deep.” But how can I not pry?
The keyhole is small, delicate almost like it belongs to a jewelry box or a diary. Yet it’s built into the wall itself, part of the very bones of this place.
What secrets have been sealed away behind this? What whispers kept under lock and key?
I pressed my ear to the wall, half hoping to hear the sound of a child’s laughter or a mother’s lullaby, but only silence answered.
Tomorrow, I will find the key. I will open the door, no matter what lies beyond.
Because if this house has buried truths, I’m ready to unearth them.
—Calliope.
Ashford Theory Prompt:
Why would someone hide a keyhole behind the nursery wallpaper? What do you believe lies beyond that secret door and who, or what, might be waiting on the other side?
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Thank you for reading. Always.
— Dakkota Lane, author of The Ashford Diaries, a serialized gothic mystery unfolding letter by letter.
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