In the grand drawing room of the Price mansion, the atmosphere was thick with the scent of pine and the soft glow of candlelight. Gwendolyn Price, the matriarch of the family and a figure of regal bearing, presided over the Christmas gathering of 1904, a social highlight in the Washington D.C. elite’s calendar. Her silver hair was pinned neatly, a stark contrast to her still-vibrant eyes, reflecting a lifetime of both privilege and personal trials.
As the evening wore on, a servant hurriedly approached Gwendolyn, his face pale. “Madam Price,” he whispered urgently, “there’s been an… incident outside.”
Gwendolyn excused herself with a practiced smile and followed him, her mind racing through possible scandals or accidents that could mar her meticulously planned event. Outside, under the gentle fall of snow, lay an unconscious woman. The resemblance between the stranger and Gwendolyn was uncanny, stirring whispers among the guests who followed.
“Bring her inside, immediately,” Gwendolyn instructed, her voice steady despite the shock. In the warmth of the mansion, she kneeled beside the woman, examining her face and the strange, glowing crystal pendant around her neck.
Later, as the woman lay resting in a guest room, Gwendolyn rummaged through her belongings, finding an identification with the name ‘Evilyn Price’—the same as her late mother’s. The mystery deepened, pulling Gwendolyn into an unexpected kinship with the stranger.
Over the weeks, as Evilyn recovered, Gwendolyn noticed changes in herself. Her skin grew firmer, her steps lighter. “You’ve never looked better,” her friends remarked. But it was more than just rest or good spirits; the crystal was at work.
One evening, as they sat by the fireplace, Evilyn spoke of the Udath Crystal. “It has properties, Gwendolyn,” she explained, her eyes reflecting the firelight. “It can heal, rejuvenate…”
Gwendolyn listened, fascinated and fearful. The implications were enormous. “People will ask questions,” she mused aloud.
“We could say it’s a youth serum,” Evilyn suggested, half-joking. “After all, who would believe the truth?”
Gwendolyn considered this, her mind working through the possibilities. “A youth serum,” she repeated slowly. “Yes, that could work.”
As months turned into years, Gwendolyn and Evilyn grew inseparable, their bond cemented by the secret of the crystal. Gwendolyn, once a figure shadowed by her past, now stood radiant and full of life, hosting her parties with a vigor that seemed born anew.
But beneath the glamour and whispered secrets, the truth lay hidden in the brilliant glow of the Udath Crystal, a link to a past that was as mysterious as the future it promised.
In the quiet solitude of the library, surrounded by generations of Price family history, Evilyn turned to Gwendolyn one cool evening, curiosity coloring her tone.
“Gwendolyn, what happened to my grandfather? You never speak of him.”
Gwendolyn paused, her fingers tracing the spine of an old leather-bound book. She sighed, a sound heavy with memories. “Your grandfather, Corey Wall, was a man of great vision but equally great flaws. He expanded our family’s real estate empire beyond what anyone thought possible in the early days of Washington, D.C.”She pulled out a chair, sitting opposite Evilyn. “But his ambition was a double-edged sword. It was during the construction of our second mansion on the outskirts of Potomac, Maryland, where his story took a darker turn. The family had just settled in, relishing in the grandeur of what he had built, when scandal struck. It’s easy to lose track with so many generations. Your grandfather, Corey Wall, that British lawyer with a charm as bright as his vices were dark.”
She leaned back into her chair, the firelight casting dancing shadows across the room filled with portraits of ancestors. “Corey came to us full of promise. We thought his marriage to me would stabilize him, that the responsibilities of family would curb his indulgences. We were wrong.”
Gwendolyn’s voice grew firmer, her gaze distant. “He was unfaithful, yes, but there was more. He gambled—gambled away more than money, more than trust. He gambled away parts of our future. When it came to light, he denied everything. But, the evidence was undeniable, thanks to the diligence of friends and some astute private inquiries.”
She paused, her fingers intertwined tightly in her lap. “My father, Clarence, tried to intervene. He hoped to salvage what could be saved, to steer Corey back on a path less destructive. It led to a confrontation that none of us could have foreseen, one that would cost my father his life.”
Evilyn’s eyes widened, absorbing every detail. “Was it an accident?” she whispered.
“No,” Gwendolyn replied quietly. “It was anger, it was fear; it was many things. In the heat of that fatal argument, things went too far. Corey’s actions that night led directly to your great-grandfather’s demise.”
She sighed deeply. “Your grandfather was arrested shortly afterward by a young officer named J.J. SmithJohn Jacob Smith is a seasoned police officer from Georgetown, known for his bravery and unique involvement in managing time anomalies. He has become a pivotal figure in handling temporal disturbances, working undercover as Agent 93 for a secretive organization tasked with protecting the temporal integrity of his environment. Early Career and Experiences John Jacob Smith has been a fixture.... The trial was a spectacle, drawing eyes from all corners of the city. In the end, Corey was found guilty. The evidence was overwhelming, and he received the harshest sentence.”
Gwendolyn looked at Evilyn, her expression softening. “It was a tumultuous time, but it shaped much of who I became and how I chose to raise my children. Your father was just a child then, too young to understand the gravity of it all, but the shadows of those events lingered.”
Evilyn reached across, taking Gwendolyn’s hands in hers, a gesture bridging generations of sorrow and strength. “And now here we are,” Evilyn murmured, “together in this grand old house, with a chance to heal some of those old wounds.”
Gwendolyn nodded, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Yes, together. And with the mystery of this Udath Crystal and your sudden appearance, it seems the past isn’t quite done with us yet.” The two women shared a look of mutual understanding, their lineage a complex tapestry of triumph and tragedy, now woven with new threads of mystery and possibility.