For seventy-three years, the Vales had stayed away from Blackwater. They never
spoke about the night Elian's grandfather died there. Whenever Elian asked, his
mother said only:
"Some houses remember what people do inside them."
Then she died, leaving him the key.
At the funeral, an envelope appeared among her belongings.
Inside was a photograph of Blackwater House.
On the back, in his mother's handwriting, were seven words:
DO NOT LET A GIRL IN THE MIRROR KNOW YOU.