The New Town
214 Words
Episode 1
The rain had just stopped when Aria Lane stepped off the bus into Ravenwood. The streets were narrow and slick, lined with oaks so ancient they seemed to breathe with the fog curling between their branches. The whole town felt like a secret someone was trying to keep.
Her mother had promised the move would be a “fresh start,” but to Aria, it felt like exile. People on the sidewalks turned to stare, not with curiosity, but suspicion. Their eyes followed her as though she’d stepped into a place where outsiders didn’t belong.
That night, as she unpacked in her creaking new bedroom, the silence pressed too close. She opened her window, hoping for air, but what came instead was a sound that froze her blood.
A howl. Long, mournful, and inhuman, rising from the forest beyond the town. It carried something raw—something ancient—that pulled at her chest.
Aria’s breath fogged the glass as she pressed closer. For the briefest moment, she swore she saw them: two golden eyes glowing in the tree line. Watching. Waiting.
She blinked, and they were gone.
But the chill that sank into her bones told her the eyes had been real.
And Ravenwood had just whispered its first warning.
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- Writer
