The Ivory Library

The Letter in Black Ink

The rain had been falling all night. It tapped softly against the windows of Aria’s small attic room, the sound constant and oddly comforting. Everything around her was quiet. Still. Except for her thoughts.

She sat cross-legged on the bed, staring at the envelope in her hands.

It looked old. The paper was thick and smooth, almost like something from another time. Her name was written in black ink on the front "Aria Varin". No stamp. No sender. No real reason why it should even exist.

She had found it on her under door that morning. Just sitting there, dry, despite the storm outside. Almost like it had been waiting for her.

...Inside was a single sheet of paper. ...

...The message was short, formal, and strange:...

...You have been selected for full admission to Elowen Hall....

...Report to Platform 9 at Meremont Station....

...Boarding time: 4:44 a.m....

That was it. No explanation. No details about the school. No mention of a scholarship application, or how they’d even found her. She hadn’t applied to anything. Not since the accident. Not since her mother died.

And yet… something about the letter felt important. Heavy. Like it was more than paper. Like it was a choice.

4:42 a.m.

The train station was nearly empty. Most of the lights flickered, and the air smelled like rust and old rain. Aria clutched her coat tighter around her shoulders as she made her way down to Platform 9.

She half-expected to find nothing there. Maybe this was a prank. Or a mistake. But when she turned the corner, she saw it: a silver train, long and old-fashioned, waiting in silence. Steam curled from beneath it like breath in the cold.

There were no signs. No other passengers. Just a set of doors that opened the moment she stepped closer.

something deep inside her, something quiet and aching, told her not to.

But still she stepped onto the train.

The ride felt like a blur. The windows showed only snow and shadows, and she couldn’t tell how long they’d been moving. She must have fallen asleep at some point, because when she opened her eyes again, everything had changed.

The train had stopped.

Outside was a tall iron gate, and beyond it stood Elowen Hall.

The school looked like a castle. Towering stone walls, snow-covered rooftops, and windows glowing faintly in the gray morning light. It didn’t look like a university. It looked like something out of a dream or maybe a nightmare?

Aria stepped off the train, her breath curling in the cold.

She walked through the gate, drawn forward by something she couldn’t name. Something just beneath the surface.

there was a brass plaque glinted above the entrance:

...“Knowledge is Memory....

...Memory is Power....

...Power must be Earned.”...

And that’s when she heard it.

“Aria Varin,” a voice called from the steps.

A man stood there, tall and serious, dressed in a long black coat. His eyes were sharp and unreadable.

“I’m Professor Thorne,” he said. “You’ve arrived. The Ivory Library is waiting.”

Aria swallowed hard.

She had no idea what that meant.