Greenvale EstateChapter Archive

The Departure Column

The final hour before sunset

Merrit arrived at Greenvale for a temporary job and received a quiet warning from worker Jory not to miss the evening departure cutoff. Maudren offered her overnight accommodation, but Merrit saw that a previous temporary applicant had no recorded departure; with the last shuttle gone, she accepted a room and signed in for the night.

The Time Beside Her Name

That evening through just after eleven

Merrit tested the locked gate and learned it would not open until morning; at dinner, Dr Pell’s clinical scrutiny made her uneasy. Jory told her he saw the previous applicant being loaded into a van while still breathing, and Merrit later found her own departure time entered in the register before she had left.