The Hall of Echoes
Arias' eyes slowly opened. The crimson eyes blinked open one by one. There were hundreds of them. They floated in the darkness beyond the black stone doorway. It was like embers burning beneath ash. The chamber fell silent.
Arias Moon Mark lit up the room. It cast pale silver light across Damien's face. He looked tense.
Then the creature wearing her mothers face smiled. Its neck twisted with a c***k. "You've become beautiful Aria " it said. Its voice was almost identical to the one Aria had imagined hearing in the journal. That was what made it terrifying.
Arias' heart clenched. Every instinct screamed that this wasn't her mother.. Another part of her, the lonely little girl who had spent twenty-three years wondering why no one ever came for her, wanted to believe. I
