The warning
1494 Words
“That they're coming back.”
Tobias's words hung heavily in the room.
Elara stood halfway down the staircase, staring at him.
“Who?”
Tobias didn't answer.
“Who is coming back?”
His eyes moved toward the broken doorway.
Amara was still holding the banister, her face pale.
“Elara,” she whispered, “go to your room.”
“No.”
“Elara—”
“No!”
Her voice echoed through the house.
She came down the remaining steps.
“I am tired of being sent away every time something happens.”
Tobias looked at her.
“I understand.”
“No, you don't.”
She pointed toward the broken door.
“Someone came here because of me. Someone knows my name. Someone knows where I live. And you're standing here telling me to go upstairs like I'm five years old.”
Tobias sighed.
“You're right.”
Elara blinked.
She hadn't expected that.
Tobias placed the black feather on the table.
“We can't keep hiding everything from you.”
Amara looked at him sharply.
“Tobias.”
“She deserves to know enough to protect herself.”
“Enough?”
Elara repeated bitterly.
“Why does everyone keep saying enough?”
Tobias ignored the question.
“Years ago, before you came to Bellmere, your mother was being hunted.”
Elara's heart tightened.
“By who?”
“We don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's the truth.”
“Then what do you know?”
Tobias stared at the feather.
“We know she was terrified.”
Elara's voice softened.
“Was she alone?”
“No.”
“Who was with her?”
“You.”
Elara froze.
“You mean... when she brought me here?”
Tobias nodded.
“She arrived in the middle of the night. You were seven years old.”
Elara looked toward Amara.
“What happened?”
Amara's eyes glistened.
“She was badly injured.”
“Where?”
“Her side.”
“Was she dying?”
Amara looked down.
“Yes.”
Elara swallowed hard.
“What did she say?”
Amara closed her eyes.
“She kept repeating one thing.”
“What?”
“Don't let them find my daughter.”
Silence.
Elara's eyes filled with tears.
“She knew she was going to die?”
“Yes.”
“And she still left me?”
“She didn't leave you.”
Amara stepped closer.
“She chose to leave you somewhere safe.”
Elara looked away.
For years, she had imagined her mother turning her back and walking away.
Now she didn't know what hurt more—the lie she'd believed or the truth she was discovering.
“What was my mother like?”
Amara smiled sadly.
“Beautiful.”
Elara laughed through her tears.
“That's not very helpful.”
“She was stubborn.”
Elara raised an eyebrow.
“Like me?”
“Exactly like you.”
A small smile appeared on Elara's face.
Then disappeared.
“What was her name?”
Amara hesitated.
“Seraphine.”
Elara whispered the name.
“Seraphine.”
Something strange happened.
The moment she said it, pain shot through her head.
She grabbed the staircase railing.
“Elara!”
A flash appeared in her mind.
A woman with long black hair.
A silver moon hanging from her neck.
Her arms wrapped tightly around a little girl.
And a voice.
“Whatever happens, never let them take her.”
Elara gasped.
The vision vanished.
Amara rushed toward her.
“What did you see?”
Elara looked at her.
“My mother.”
“What did she say?”
“I don't know.”
She pressed her fingers against her temple.
“She said something about... taking me.”
Tobias's face hardened.
Amara looked frightened.
Then Elara noticed something.
The painting she'd found earlier.
The one showing her mother.
It was still in her bag.
She pulled it out.
“Why does she have this symbol?”
Amara stared at the painting.
Tobias looked away.
“Answer me.”
Amara finally whispered,
“I don't know.”
Elara shook her head.
“You're lying.”
Amara didn't deny it.
Before Elara could continue, a loud knock came from the back door.
Everyone froze.
Tobias immediately grabbed his strange blade.
Elara's eyes followed him.
“What is that?”
“Nothing.”
“You're carrying a weapon in your own house.”
Tobias didn't answer.
Another knock.
This time, three short knocks.
Amara's face changed.
“That's not the same person.”
Elara stared at her.
“How do you know?”
Amara whispered,
“Because that's our signal.”
Tobias looked at her sharply.
“You told me nobody else knew.”
“I thought nobody did.”
They moved toward the back door.
Tobias opened it carefully.
A young man stood outside.
He was breathing heavily.
His clothes were torn and muddy, as though he had been running through the forest.
“Noah?”
Elara's heart jumped.
Her brother stumbled inside.
Amara rushed toward him.
“What happened?”
Noah looked at Tobias.
“They're here.”
Tobias's face hardened.
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
“Where?”
“The eastern road.”
Noah looked at Elara.
“They were asking about her.”
Elara went still.
“What did they look like?”
Noah swallowed.
“I couldn't see their faces.”
“Why?”
“They were wearing masks.”
Tobias cursed under his breath.
Noah suddenly grabbed Elara's wrist.
“We need to leave.”
Elara pulled away.
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
“I'm not running.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No, you don't!”
Noah's voice cracked.
“I saw what they did to the men guarding the eastern road.”
Silence filled the room.
Elara looked at Tobias.
“What men?”
“Village guards.”
“Are they alive?”
Noah didn't answer.
Elara's stomach turned.
“How many?”
“Three.”
“And?”
Noah lowered his eyes.
“They're dead.”
Amara covered her mouth.
Elara felt cold all over.
“They killed them?”
Noah nodded.
“Because they wouldn't tell them where you lived.”
Elara stepped backward.
Suddenly everything made sense.
The stranger in the market.
The message.
The broken door.
The black feather.
They weren't warnings anymore.
They were threats.
“They're going to hurt everyone because of me.”
“No,” Tobias said.
“They already have.”
“No.”
He stepped toward her.
“This isn't your fault.”
“But they're looking for me.”
“Because of something you don't understand.”
“What?”
Tobias looked at Amara.
Amara nodded slowly.
Tobias took a breath.
“There is something about your family.”
“My family?”
“Your bloodline.”
Elara stared at him.
“My bloodline?”
“Yes.”
“What about it?”
Tobias hesitated.
Then the lights suddenly went out.
The house fell into darkness.
Lila screamed from upstairs.
“Elara!”
Elara looked up.
“Lila!”
A loud crash came from above.
Everyone ran toward the stairs.
“Elara, stay behind me!” Tobias shouted.
But Elara was already running.
She reached Lila's room.
The window was open.
Curtains blew wildly in the night air.
Lila was standing beside her bed, trembling.
“What happened?”
“I heard something.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Elara looked outside.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
Then she noticed something on the windowsill.
A small piece of white paper.
She picked it up.
Her heart stopped.
There was a drawing on it.
A silver-eyed girl standing beneath a moon.
And beneath the drawing were four words.
WE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE.
Elara's fingers trembled.
She turned toward Tobias.
“What does this mean?”
Tobias stared at the paper.
He looked terrified.
Then, somewhere far beyond Bellmere, a howl echoed through the mountains.
Everyone in the room went silent.
Elara looked toward the window.
For a strange moment, she felt something inside her respond to the sound.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Her bracelet suddenly became warm.
She grabbed her wrist.
“What is happening to me?”
Amara stared at her.
Her face had gone completely white.
And for the first time, she whispered a word Elara had never heard before.
“Clucan.”
Elara looked at her.
“What?”
Amara immediately covered her mouth.
But it was too late.
Elara had heard it.
“What's a Clucan?”
Nobody answered.
Elara looked from Amara to Tobias.
“What is a Clucan?”
Still nothing.
Her voice became louder.
“WHAT IS A CLUCAN?”
Outside, the howl came again.
Closer this time.
And somewhere in the darkness beyond the village, something ancient had finally awakened.
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