000: Prologue

^^^Yorkshire Moors, 1793 ^^^

The first frost always took the Hartleys.

They whispered about it in Blackthorn’s taverns, between pints of bitter and pipe smoke—how the Lennox heirs would vanish into the mist each December, returning with snow in their hair and secrets rotting behind their teeth. But Liora Hartley, the baker’s boy with wheat-gold curls and a laugh like church bells, didn’t believe in fairy tales. Not until the morning they found him.

Seventeen, seven days wed, and perfectly preserved beneath the snow.

No scream. No struggle. Just a smile, soft and sweet as a spouse’s, and a single strand of silver hair coiled in his palm.

Two centuries later, the frost still takes.

...**CASE FILE: BLACKTHORN FROST MURDERS**...

...Classified Level 4 // EYES ONLY...

##SUBJECT 001: DET. ADRIAN HAYES

- ROLE: Lead Investigator, Blackthorn CID (1959–Present)

- PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE: Obsessive, guilt-driven (see Incident Report #45-89 re: E---’s death), dismissive of occult theories despite evidence.

- PHYSICAL MARKERS: 185 cm, green-gold eyes, jagged scar across left palm (origin: unknown, resembles Lennox family crest).

...**KEY EVIDENCE TIES**...

- RE: Victim #4 (Margaret Harlow): Discovered journal fragment linking 1793 & 1993 murders.

- RE: Subject 002: Claims "visions" of 18th-century figure ("A--- L---") during interactions.

- ANOMALY: Body temp. drops to 33°C near Subject 002.

...**NOTES**...

Hayes exhibits erratic behavior post-Incident #45-89. Recommend psych eval. Filed under "HIGH RISK."

SUBJECT 002: LIORA HARTLEY (DECEASED)

- STATUS: Spectral entity (Unconfirmed). No physical remains recovered.

- HISTORICAL RECORD: Born 1776, died 1793. Married A---- (heir to Thornfield Estate) prior to death. Case closed as suicide; reopened 1823, 1893, 1993.

- CURRENT MANIFESTATION:

- APPEARANCE: Male, 17–20 y/o, pale hair/eyes, frostbite mottling on hands.

- BEHAVIOR: Non-hostile. Observed aiding Hayes’ investigations.

- ANOMALIES:

- Thermal displacement (ambient temp. drops 10°C within 3m radius).

- DNA traces recovered from Victim #5 scene match 1793 coroner’s report (99.7% certainty).

...**CURSE PROTOCOL (CLASSIFIED):**...

..."H----L--- Cycle" - Confidential Document...

- MECHANISM: Ritual sacrifice every 100 years to sustain L---- family

- VECTOR: Silver hair follicles (harvested from victims) used in t----

- BREAKPOINT: Hayes’ scar (linked to ---) may d---

...**EVIDENCE EXHIBIT #17:**...

- ITEM: Liora Hartley’s diary (1793).

- EXCERPT: "He says the frost speaks. It calls me his ‘everlasting ledger.’ I fear he knows what his family did. What they’ll do to us both."

...### **TEASER EXCERPT**###...

Adrian Hayes didn’t believe in ghosts.

Not until one followed him home.

It stood in his kitchen at 3 a.m., barefoot and bleeding frost onto the linoleum. Not a ghost—a boy, maybe nineteen, with hair like a winter dawn and eyes that held five centuries of silence.

"You took something from the lake," the boy said, voice crumbling at the edges. "They’ll kill you for it."

Adrian leveled his service revolver. "Who are you?"

A smile, fragile as old glass. "You named your sister after me."

The gun clattered.

Eva. Liora.

Outside, the first snow began to fall.

"Love is the only vow that outlives frost." — Last entry, Liora Hartley’s diary

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