Ashes of Our Flame
Episode 18: "The Garden of Ghosts"
The next morning, Nova stood at the edge of a forgotten garden buried deep in the city's old quarter. It was untouched by progress, hidden behind rusted gates and overgrown vines—just as she remembered.
Her mother used to bring her here as a child.
The air carried the scent of wet earth and forgotten dreams.
White lilies—wilted, stubborn, still standing—lined a cracked stone pathway.
Adrian stood beside her, silent.
He could feel the weight pressing on her chest, the ghosts watching from the shadows.
"This is where she found peace," Nova said softly. "Before the Vale family stole it."
She stepped forward and knelt by the largest lily bush. Her hands, still bandaged from the vault heist, pushed aside the leaves and felt around the soil.
She dug slowly, her breath catching when her fingers brushed against metal.
Click.
A small box.
Rusty, locked.
Adrian handed her a switchblade. "Open it."
She sliced through the latch and lifted the lid.
Inside:
A golden key.
A faded photograph of her parents holding a baby.
A folded letter.
Nova opened it with trembling hands.
> "Kara—
If you're reading this, then everything we feared has happened. The key opens more than a vault. It opens the truth beneath our city.
There is a room hidden under Blackridge Asylum. Go there. Find the ledger. And don't trust anyone who says they're protecting you—not even Adrian Vale."
Nova's heart thudded.
She reread the line twice.
Not even Adrian Vale.
Her fingers curled around the paper as she stood.
Adrian had stepped back, brows furrowed.
"What does it say?"
She hesitated.
Then lied.
"Coordinates. For the next clue."
He didn't press her.
But a storm had started building between them.
---
They returned to the hideout to find Ronan pacing, holding a burner phone.
"Good news," he said, not looking thrilled. "Tessa's alive."
Nova nearly collapsed. "Where?!"
"Held in a Black Vale detention site. East docks. Underground bunker."
"That's where we go," she said without hesitation.
Ronan shook his head. "It's a trap."
Adrian agreed. "Talon left her alive for a reason. He wants you to walk into that site."
"I don't care," Nova growled. "She's my family."
"We go," Adrian said. "But on our terms."
---
That night, beneath the cloak of a new moon, they arrived at the docks.
Fog rolled over the water like smoke from a dying fire.
The Vale detention site was a concrete bunker disguised as a shipping company.
Adrian disabled the perimeter locks.
Nova moved ahead like a shadow, armed and pulsing with fury.
They slipped through the side entrance.
The air reeked of mildew and rot.
Nova descended the stairs, heart pounding.
The cells were lined with steel bars, glowing dim under flickering lights.
And there, in the last one—Tessa.
Face bruised. Eyes swollen. But alive.
"Nova," she whispered.
Nova rushed to the bars, grabbing her hand.
"Hang on. We're getting you out."
Adrian pulled out a magnetic override key and slammed it into the panel.
Buzz. Click.
The door opened.
But before they could celebrate—
Sirens.
"Too late," Ronan hissed.
Talon's voice boomed from the intercom.
> "Welcome home, traitors."
Metal shutters slammed down over the exits.
"Split up!" Adrian shouted.
Ronan dragged Tessa out as Nova and Adrian turned back into the corridor.
"We're underground," Nova said. "There's no signal."
"We'll make our own exit," Adrian replied.
They ducked into a side corridor.
Nova felt the walls with her fingers.
Then she saw it.
A hatch. Low to the ground. Marked: Maintenance—Restricted Access.
Adrian kicked it open and crawled in. Nova followed.
They slid through the tight tunnel until it opened into a wider corridor lit by harsh white light.
And then—
Nova froze.
At the end of the hall was a mirror.
A one-way glass.
Behind it… a darkened room with files.
"A surveillance center," Adrian said.
Nova spotted something on the wall.
A blueprint.
She raced forward, tore it down.
It was Blackridge Asylum.
And beneath it—a hidden floor. The room her mother's letter spoke of.
Adrian looked at her. "This is it."
She nodded.
But before they could leave, footsteps echoed behind them.
"Move," she whispered.
They sprinted toward a back door—and burst into the cold night behind the warehouse.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
---
They regrouped in a safer safehouse, an old jazz bar Adrian's mother once owned before she vanished.
Tessa, still weak but alert, sat by the fire sipping broth.
Nova handed Ronan the blueprint.
"We're going to Blackridge."
Tessa's eyes went wide. "You serious?"
Nova nodded. "That asylum is hiding something. Something my parents died for."
Ronan folded his arms. "It's federal territory. Heavily guarded. Entry is death."
Nova looked at Adrian.
"Then we'll break in like ghosts."
He smiled faintly. "That's the girl I fell for."
Their eyes lingered.
But Nova still felt the words from the letter ringing in her mind
.
Don't trust him.
She wanted to. God, she wanted to.
But trust didn't survive in a city built on betrayal.
Not here.
Not anymore.
---
To be continued in Episode 19…
Don't forget to vote, comment & follow for more.