Silas Reed's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Silas Reed was reviewing the week's delivery logs when the woman walked into their office without knocking. She set a forest vine pouch on the desk between them. Inside would be copies of everything stolen from Silas's network over the past month. The woman didn't ask for money. Silas leaned back and waited. The woman reached into her coat and pulled out a pocket watch with a frozen face. She set it beside the pouch. The watch was old, heavy, and engraved with words Silas couldn't read from where they sat. The woman said she wanted a promise. Not information. Not access. A promise that would cost Silas more than coin ever could. Silas picked up the watch and turned it over. The engraving was a contract written in ornate script. The woman explained that she'd left a bell at the old hideaway cabin near the forest edge. When Silas was ready to answer, they would ring it three times. The woman would return. Until then, she'd keep leaking information to every client Silas had. The network would collapse in weeks. Silas set the watch down and met the woman's eyes. They asked what the promise was. The woman smiled and said Silas would know when they rang the bell. She took the pouch with her when she left. Silas sat alone with the watch, feeling the weight of the choice settling into their chest like sediment. The game had changed, and for the first time in years, Silas wasn't the one holding the cards.