Chapter 4: Beneath the Old Oak If there's one thing I've learned from mystery books, it's this: When someone leaves you a clue... You follow it. Even when you probably shouldn't. The next day, I couldn't stop thinking about the metal box. The Red Hood Boy. The hidden message. The footsteps outside the clock tower. And the number carved into the box. The first clue. The first secret. The first piece of a much larger mystery. As soon as school ended, I rushed to Feltham Park. The old oak tree stood near the edge of the field, its enormous branches stretching across the sky. The moment I reached it, I knelt by the roots and began searching. Leaves. Twigs. More leaves. Nothing. Then my fingers brushed against something cold. Metal. My heart skipped. I cleared away the dirt. A small silver plate was buried beneath the roots. Carved into it was a rose. The same rose from the box. Underneath were four words: LOOK ABOVE, NOT BELOW. I looked up. High among the branches, something glinted in the sunlight. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." It was hidden in the tree. Of course it was. After several failed attempts and one almost embarrassing fall, I finally reached it. A small glass jar. Inside was a folded note. I opened it carefully. The message read: You are closer than you think. That's it. No explanation. No signature. Nothing. Typical. I sighed and climbed back down. As my feet touched the ground, another piece of paper slipped from the jar. I unfolded it. This note was different. At the bottom, someone had doodled a tiny football. I frowned. For some reason it felt familiar. I had seen that exact little football drawing somewhere before. Maybe at school. Maybe on someone's exercise book. I couldn't remember. The note itself only contained three words. Trust the clues. A voice suddenly called from across the park. "Aria!" I jumped. It was Damien. A boy from my class. A boy I'd known since Year One. He jogged over carrying his school bag. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Nothing." He looked at the tree. Then at the dirt on my hands. Then back at me. "That doesn't look like nothing." I rolled my eyes. Damien laughed. For a second, I froze. Something about that laugh felt familiar. Very familiar. Like I had heard it somewhere recently. But before I could think about it, Damien pointed to my sleeve. "You've got leaves in your hair." "What?!" I immediately started checking. Damien grinned. "Got you." "Not funny." "It was a little funny." I groaned. He laughed again. That same familiar laugh. The feeling returned for a brief second before disappearing. Strange. "Anyway," Damien said, adjusting his bag. "See you tomorrow." Then he walked away. I watched him disappear down the path. And for some reason, my eyes drifted back to the note in my hand. You are closer than you think. I suddenly wondered if the message meant more than I first thought. And somehow... I couldn't shake the feeling that the answer was standing much closer to me than I realized. To Be Continued...
