Chapter Four
1056 Words
The air smells of lavender and old wood polish when Valeria opens her eyes.
The soft creak of a rocking chair drifts through the room. Sunlight spills across the faded quilt that covers her legs.
For a moment, she forgets everything, the betrayal, the lake, the strange new world. She’s home.
Radella hums quietly by the window, the same tune she used to hum when baking bread. Valeria blinks, disoriented. Am I dreaming?
“Radella?” Her voice is barely a whisper.
The old woman turns, smiling with such warmth that Valeria’s chest aches. “Morning, my girl. You’re awake just in time.”
Valeria looks around. The room is exactly as she remembers, her worn-out posters, the vase of daisies on the windowsill. She’s sixteen again.
“My birthday,” she murmurs, realisation dawning.
“Sixteen is a special number,” Radella says softly, crossing the room to sit on the edge of the bed. “A year where the moon watches closest.”
Valeria frowns. “You’re being weird again.”
Radella chuckles, brushing a strand of hair from Valeria’s cheek. “Turn around, love. I need to check something.”
Valeria obeys, tugging her hair to one side. The air shifts, charged. She feels the pads of Radella’s fingers pause against her shoulder, tugging down the sleeve of her shirt.
Then, a quiet gasp.
Valeria twists halfway. “What? What is it?”
Radella’s face is pale, eyes wide with something between awe and fear. “It’s… It’s appeared.”
“What has?”
“The mark,” she whispers, almost reverent. “The moon’s blessing...or curse, depending on who you ask.”
Valeria blinks. “You’re not making sense Radella, did you draw this...is this a birthday prank?”
Radella takes her hand, squeezing gently. “Promise me, Valeria. Whatever happens, you tell no one how it came to be. If they ask, you say it’s just a tattoo. Something you liked. Promise me.”
Valeria’s pulse quickens. “You’re scaring me.”
“I’m only trying to protect you,” Radella says, voice cracking slightly. “There are people who’d kill for what you carry.”
A sharp knock interrupts them.
They both turn as the door creaks open. Selena pokes her head in, hair tied in a messy bun, eyes bright with excitement. “Val! Happy birthday!”
Valeria forces a smile, tugging her sleeve up to hide her shoulder. “Hey, Lena.”
But Selena’s gaze sharpens instantly. “What’s that?”
Valeria freezes. “What?”
Selena steps into the room, her grin widening as curiosity replaces cheer. “Come on, don’t tell me you finally got inked! Let me see!”
Valeria glances at Radella. The old woman’s expression changes subtly, a calm mask, but her eyes flicker, giving a small, urgent shake of her head.
Valeria swallows hard and forces a laugh. “Yeah, I, uh… I got it done last night.”
Selena’s eyes widen. “Without me? You said we’d get matching ones for your birthday!”
“It was kind of… spontaneous.”
Selena circles her like a cat, peering at her shoulder before Valeria can cover it again. “Oh my God, Val, that’s gorgeous! It looks...wow...so detailed. Who did it? I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“I, um…” Valeria stammers, stealing a glance at Radella again. The old woman’s warning look deepens.
Valeria inhales shakily. “It’s… uh… something I designed myself. You know, for fun.”
Selena’s expression shifts to something unreadable. “So you just decided to get this beautiful design without telling me?”
“I didn’t think you’d want the same thing,” Valeria says quickly, trying to laugh it off. “It’s just random swirls, really.”
“Random? It looks like a freaking crest.” Selena crosses her arms. “You have to tell me who did it.”
Valeria shakes her head. “I honestly don’t remember his name.”
Radella interjects smoothly, her tone gentle but firm. “Let the girl breathe, Selena. It’s her birthday, not an interrogation.”
Selena pouts. “Fine. But now I want one too! Same spot, same design. Friendship tattoos!”
Valeria’s stomach twists. “You don’t have to...”
“Oh, come on. It’ll be cute. You and me, forever. No secrets.”
Something flickers in Selena’s eyes, something that makes Valeria hesitate. Envy, maybe. Possessiveness.
Radella’s hand tightens around Valeria’s shoulder, a silent plea not to argue.
Valeria forces another smile. “Sure, Lena. If that’s what you want.”
Selena squeals, wrapping her arms around her. “Best birthday ever!”
Valeria hugs her back, heart pounding. Over Selena’s shoulder, Radella watches them with sad, knowing eyes.
The room darkens suddenly, the light fading from the window.
Selena’s laughter echoes faintly and then fades, as if being pulled away.
Valeria looks around, panic rising. “Lena?”
Radella’s voice breaks through the shadow. “Remember, my girl… hide the mark until it calls you. When the moons align, the truth will seek you.”
Valeria reaches for her but the image blurs, Radella’s figure dissolving into silver light.
She wakes with a start.
The cell is cold and dim again. Her breath trembles. The dream lingers, so vivid it hurts.
Her shoulder burns. The mark.
She reaches for her shoulder, fingers brushing the raised pattern under her shirt. It’s warm. Alive.
The plate from her earlier meal sits beside her cot. She snatches it up, tilting it toward the lantern’s faint glow.
Her reflection stares back, wide eyes, trembling lips, and her shoulder, faint golden lines pulse softly on her skin.
Her stomach drops. “It’s glowing?”
She swallows hard, the dream echoing in her ears. Hide the mark until it calls you…
The mark flares brighter.
A gasp sounds from the doorway.
Valeria’s head snaps up just in time to see a shadow in the torchlight. Instinct takes over. She screams, hurls the plate. It clangs against the frame of the door.
“Stay back!” she shouts, tugging her sleeve down.
The figure hesitates, stepping forward.
Her pulse hammers. The glow beneath her shirt fades slowly to nothing.
When the shadow steps into the light, Valeria’s breath catches.
The person at the door isn’t a stranger at all.
- Writer
