The Haunted Clocktower of Midnight

By Selene Carrington

In the quiet town of Morningside, a mysterious clocktower suddenly appears, chiming only at midnight.

Its shadow seems to bend time itself, casting a spell on the town that no one can explain. When three curious children — Gray, Rio, and Elliot — decide to investigate, they find themselves trapped in a time loop, facing strange puzzles, comical guardians, and lessons about the importance of every moment.

To escape, they must unravel the clocktower’s riddles, confront the mysteries of time, and outwit its eerie protectors before they are lost in time forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Good Child Bookstore
• Release date: Aug 5, 2025

Book preview

The Haunted Clocktower of Midnight

Selene Carrington

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The Haunted Clocktower of Midnight

Adventure Series

Selene Carrington

Published by The Good Child Bookstore, 2025

Copyright

Published by The Good Child Bookstore

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

All rights reserved © 2025, Good Child Bookstore.

Preface

The world of Morningside was like any other small town, where days passed quietly, and everyone knew everyone. That is, until a strange and towering clock appeared in the heart of the town. No one knew where it came from or why it had suddenly appeared, but one thing was certain — it only chimed at midnight, and when it did, something unexplainable happened. Time itself seemed to bend, twist, and warp in ways no one had ever experienced before.

This is where the story of three adventurous children begins. Gray, Rio, and Elliot — each with their own unique strengths and quirky personalities — will face challenges that test not only their courage but their understanding of time, fate, and the significance of each moment.

What happens when time is no longer linear? What happens when the rules of time no longer apply? Join the trio on a journey where every second counts, and every choice matters.

Contents

Chapter 1: The Clocktower Appears

Chapter 2: The Midnight Chime

Chapter 3: The First Riddle

Chapter 4: The Shadow of Time

Chapter 5: The Timekeeper's Puzzle

Chapter 6: The Guardians of Time

Chapter 7: The Echo of the Future

Chapter 8: The Hourglass of Choices

Chapter 9: The Path of Reflection

Chapter 10: A Moment’s Reflection

Chapter 11: The Clocktower’s Secret

Chapter 12: The Final Key

Chapter 13: The Door Beyond Time

Chapter 14: The End and the Beginning

Chapter 15: The Infinite Cycle

Chapter 16: The Seeds of Tomorrow

Chapter 17: The River of Moments

Chapter 18: The Canvas of Time

Chapter 19: The Weight of a Single Moment

Chapter 20: The Tapestry of Time

Chapter 21: The Endless Horizon

Chapter 22: The Weight of the World

Chapter 23: The Echo of Choices

Chapter 24: The Uncharted Path

Chapter 25: The Power of Now

THE END

Chapter 1: The Clocktower Appears

It was a quiet Tuesday afternoon when the first person in Morningside saw the clocktower. Or, rather, it was a quiet Tuesday afternoon when everyone in Morningside saw the clocktower for the first time. Before that day, there had been no clocktower.

It had simply appeared in the middle of town overnight, as if it had grown out of the ground like some peculiar tree. A clocktower with no explanation and no history — just there, towering over the town square.

Gray, Rio, and Elliot stood at the edge of the crowd, looking up at it, mouths open and eyes wide. It was bigger than they had imagined. From the base to the peak of the highest spire, it seemed to stretch on forever, casting a long, dark shadow that covered the cobbled streets and sent a chill through everyone who stood near it.

I’ve never seen it before, Gray said, adjusting his glasses for what seemed like the millionth time. He wasn’t the tallest kid in town, but he stood as tall as he could on his tiptoes to get a better view.

Rio, standing beside him, stared at the clocktower in awe, her mind already off in a different world. Maybe it’s magic, she said in a dreamy voice, as if the idea of magic was the most natural thing in the world.

Rio wasn’t known for being practical. She was the type of person who would happily claim that a unicorn was hiding behind the school gym just because the clouds looked like one. So, the idea that an enormous clocktower had appeared out of nowhere was hardly going to rattle her.

Elliot, who had been carefully reading a book about ancient ruins when the clocktower appeared, adjusted his posture and spoke in a voice that carried the weight of a thousand encyclopedia entries. "This is impossible. A clocktower doesn’t just appear. Someone must have built it. He glanced around at the other people in town. But no one has mentioned any construction. No blueprints. No planning. Nothing."

The clocktower stood in the center of the square, with its sharp spires reaching up like fingers trying to poke the sky. The clock face on the front was enormous, as big as the moon itself, but it wasn’t just any clock face.

The numbers on it shimmered in strange, iridescent colors — blues and greens, golds and purples — all swirling together in a way that made it look more like a painting than a real clock.

The hands of the clock didn’t just point to the hours, but moved in unpredictable ways, as though the clock itself was out of sync with time.

Do you think it’s haunted? Rio asked, tapping Gray on the shoulder. I mean, it’s spooky-looking, right?

Gray narrowed his eyes. Spooky? Yeah. Haunted? I don’t know. It looks like something straight out of a fairy tale.

Elliot, however, was unconvinced. It’s probably just some sort of... engineering project gone wrong. You know, like a giant mistake. I bet there’s a reasonable explanation for it.

Oh, there’s always a reasonable explanation with you, Elliot, Rio teased. "Maybe it’s not about reason. Maybe it’s about adventure."

That caught Gray’s attention. He turned to his friends, his expression shifting from skepticism to curiosity. Adventure, huh? How do you mean?

Rio grinned mischievously. Well, what if the clocktower is a portal to another world? Or maybe it’s some kind of magical puzzle waiting to be solved? Don’t you want to figure it out?

Gray and Elliot exchanged glances. They had always thought of Rio’s ideas as wild flights of fancy, but there was something in her voice that made them wonder if there was more to this clocktower than they had initially thought.

I mean, it’s not like we’ve got anything better to do, Gray said slowly.

Elliot, ever the cautious one, pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and began scribbling down his observations. We should gather more information first. We should—

The loud, echoing chime of the clock interrupted him.

DONG!

The sound was deep and rich, vibrating through the very ground beneath their feet. It was louder than they expected, and it seemed to go on forever, echoing through every corner of Morningside.

The townspeople who had gathered around the clocktower stood frozen, looking up at it in disbelief. The hands on the clock had just moved — they pointed to twelve, but instead of the usual tick-tock of time, the town was now enveloped in a strange silence.

It’s... midnight, Rio said, her voice tinged with awe. But... it’s still the afternoon, isn’t it?

Gray glanced at his watch, then back at the clocktower. The hands on his wristwatch were still ticking normally. But in the town square, it felt like time had stopped. Not just stopped, but paused. Frozen in place, like a photograph. Everyone stood still, eyes wide and mouths agape, all waiting for something — but no one knew what.

Then, with an eerie creak, the clocktower’s shadow seemed to stretch and stretch, moving across the square. It was no longer just a shadow.

It was something more, something alive. As it reached them, it covered everything, even the tiniest cracks in the cobblestones. And as it touched each person, their faces changed — their expressions shifted as though the shadow had seeped into their very souls.

Did you see that? Gray whispered, his voice trembling. The shadow — it changed them. I saw it.

I saw it too, Rio said, staring wide-eyed at the others. It was like they were... frozen. But in a different way.

Elliot was holding his breath. This isn’t just an ordinary clocktower. Something’s wrong here.

Without another word, the trio turned and dashed toward the clocktower. They needed to understand what was going on. They needed to figure out how it worked, and what was happening to time itself.

But as they approached the base of the clocktower, they realized something even stranger: The ground beneath their feet had begun to warp, as if it, too, was caught in the strange power of the clocktower’s chimes.

We need to get inside, Gray said, pointing to the grand wooden doors that stood wide open, inviting them into the unknown.

Elliot was about to protest when another loud chime rang through the air, louder than before, almost as if the clocktower itself was aware of their every move.

DONG! DONG!

The ground beneath their feet shook, and for a brief moment, everything went black.

Chapter 2: The Midnight Chime

The world felt different when the clocktower’s chimes faded away. It wasn’t just the absence of sound — though the deep echo of the final gong still vibrated through their bodies like a low hum. It was something more unsettling, something that made the hairs on the back