Three knocks
2138 Words
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
The sound echoed through the house.
Elara stood frozen in the middle of the room.
Amara's fingers were still wrapped tightly around hers.
Tobias hadn't moved.
For several seconds, nobody breathed.
Then another knock came.
This time, slower.
Heavier.
Knock.
Elara swallowed.
“Who is it?”
Tobias immediately turned toward her.
“Don't.”
His voice was so serious that Elara's heart began to race.
“What?”
“Don't speak to whoever is outside.”
“But—”
“Stay here.”
Tobias walked toward the front door.
Elara watched him carefully.
There was something frightening about the way he moved.
He wasn't simply going to answer a visitor.
He was preparing himself.
Amara pulled Elara closer.
“Stay behind me.”
“Mom, what's happening?”
Amara didn't answer.
Tobias stopped in front of the door.
He looked through the small window beside it.
His expression changed.
Elara saw the color drain from his face.
“Who is it?” she whispered.
Tobias turned around.
Nobody spoke.
Then he slowly reached for the door.
“Elara,” Amara whispered.
“Yes?”
“Whatever happens…”
She looked at her.
“Don't leave my side.”
The door opened.
Cold air rushed into the house.
But there was nobody standing outside.
Elara frowned.
Tobias stepped onto the porch.
He looked left.
Then right.
The road was empty.
No footsteps.
No carriage.
No person.
Nothing.
He came back inside and shut the door.
“What happened?” Elara asked.
“Nothing.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You're lying.”
Tobias locked the door.
Then he checked it again.
And again.
Elara stared at him.
“Who were you expecting?”
“No one.”
“Then why are you locking the door like that?”
“Because it's late.”
“It isn't even dark yet.”
Tobias looked at Amara.
That look passed between them again.
The look Elara had seen too many times.
The look that told her they were having a conversation without words.
She was tired of it.
“I want answers.”
“Elara—”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“I've spent my whole life being told that I was abandoned. Today I found out that wasn't true. Then I found my mother's painting. Then a stranger looked at me like she had seen a ghost.”
Amara lowered her eyes.
“And now someone knocks on our door and disappears.”
Elara's eyes filled with tears.
“You keep telling me you're protecting me, but you won't tell me what I'm being protected from.”
Silence.
“I deserve to know.”
Amara stepped toward her.
“You do.”
“Then tell me.”
Before Amara could answer, a strange sound came from outside.
A low scraping noise.
Something dragged across the wooden front door.
Elara turned.
Tobias immediately stepped in front of them.
“Stay back.”
The scraping continued.
Slowly.
Then it stopped.
Everyone waited.
Nothing happened.
Tobias opened the door again.
This time, something lay on the doorstep.
A small black envelope.
Elara stared at it.
“What is that?”
Tobias didn't answer.
He bent down and picked it up.
There was no name on it.
Only the same symbol.
Three curved lines.
A tiny moon.
Elara's breath caught.
“That symbol…”
Tobias quickly closed his fist around the envelope.
“Go upstairs.”
“No.”
“Elara.”
“No!”
She stepped forward.
“I've seen that symbol everywhere.”
Amara's eyes widened.
“Where?”
“In my paintings.”
Amara went still.
Elara continued.
“On my bracelet. In my dreams. On my mother's painting.”
Tobias looked at Amara.
The secret was becoming too heavy to carry.
“Elara,” Amara whispered.
“What?”
Amara's voice trembled.
“Where is your bracelet?”
Elara looked down.
It was still around her wrist.
“Why?”
“Take it off.”
“Why?”
“Just take it off.”
Elara slowly removed the bracelet.
The moment it left her skin, the little silver moon on it began to glow.
Everyone froze.
Elara stared.
“What is happening?”
The glow grew brighter.
A faint warmth spread through the room.
Then the black envelope in Tobias's hand began to shake.
He dropped it.
It landed on the floor.
The seal broke by itself.
Elara stepped backward.
“No…”
A piece of paper slid out.
Tobias picked it up.
His eyes moved across the words.
His jaw tightened.
“What does it say?” Elara asked.
He didn't answer.
“What does it say?”
“Elara…”
“Give it to me.”
Tobias held it out.
She took it.
There were only six words.
SHE IS NOT SAFE WITH YOU.
Elara stared at them.
Her stomach twisted.
“What does that mean?”
Nobody answered.
She looked at Tobias.
“Who sent this?”
Silence.
“Who?”
Tobias finally spoke.
“We don't know.”
“You do know.”
“We have an idea.”
“Who?”
He looked toward the window.
“People from your past.”
Elara's hands began shaking.
“My past?”
“Yes.”
“Who are they?”
“We don't know exactly.”
“Then how can they know where I live?”
Tobias had no answer.
Elara looked at Amara.
“You said my mother was hiding me.”
“Yes.”
“From them?”
Amara nodded.
“Why?”
“Because they wanted you.”
“Why?”
Amara looked at the bracelet in Elara's hand.
“Because of who you are.”
Elara's heart stopped.
“Who am I?”
Amara's eyes filled with tears.
“You are the reason your mother died.”
Elara stared at her.
The words hit her harder than a slap.
“What?”
Amara immediately shook her head.
“No. That's not what I meant.”
“You said I'm the reason she died.”
“I meant she died protecting you.”
Elara's eyes burned.
“What was she protecting me from?”
Amara looked at Tobias.
He gave a small shake of his head.
But Amara was crying now.
And Elara knew she was finally close to something.
“My mother…”
Her voice broke.
“What happened to her?”
Amara wiped her tears.
“She came to us eleven years ago.”
Elara listened.
“She was injured. She had been running for days. She was carrying you.”
“What happened?”
“She asked us to hide you.”
“From who?”
“She wouldn't tell us.”
“Why?”
“Because she was afraid someone was listening.”
Elara looked around the room.
“Someone?”
Amara nodded.
“She said there were people looking for you.”
“Why?”
“She said if they found you, they would take you away.”
“Where?”
Amara's lips trembled.
“She didn't know.”
Elara looked down at the bracelet.
“And this?”
“She gave it to you.”
“Why?”
“She said you must never remove it.”
Elara frowned.
“Then why did you just tell me to?”
“Because I needed to see if it would react.”
Elara looked at her.
“React to what?”
Amara didn't answer.
Tobias suddenly moved toward the window.
“Someone is outside.”
Elara's heart jumped.
“What?”
Tobias held up his hand.
Everyone became silent.
There.
A faint sound.
Footsteps.
Someone was walking along the side of the house.
Elara's breathing quickened.
Tobias motioned for them to move away from the window.
The footsteps stopped.
Then came another sound.
A whisper.
Too faint to understand.
Elara stepped closer.
“What did they say?”
Tobias grabbed her arm.
“Don't.”
She looked at him.
Then she heard it.
Her name.
“Elara…”
Her eyes widened.
Someone outside knew her name.
Amara covered her mouth.
Tobias quietly moved toward the back door.
The whisper came again.
“Elara…”
This time, she recognized something in the voice.
It wasn't angry.
It sounded desperate.
Almost like someone who had been searching for her for a very long time.
Elara took one step toward the door.
“Wait.”
Tobias blocked her.
“Don't go outside.”
“But they know my name.”
“That doesn't mean you should answer them.”
“Maybe they know my parents.”
“We don't know who they are.”
“I need to know.”
“No.”
Elara stared at him.
“You don't get to tell me that anymore.”
Tobias's expression hardened.
“Elara.”
“No!”
She pulled her arm away.
“You've all been deciding what I can know for eleven years.”
Her tears finally fell.
“I am done.”
She turned toward the door.
Amara grabbed her.
“Please.”
Elara looked at her.
Amara was crying now too.
“I know you're angry.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“You kept my mother from me.”
“We were trying to keep you alive.”
“And now someone is outside looking for me!”
“I know.”
“Then tell me the truth!”
Amara closed her eyes.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then she whispered,
“Your mother wasn't human.”
Elara stopped breathing.
The entire house seemed to fall silent.
“What?”
Tobias looked sharply at Amara.
“Amara.”
But she continued.
“She wasn't human.”
Elara stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Amara shook her head.
“I can't tell you everything.”
“Why?”
“Because you're not ready.”
“I am!”
“You don't even know what is out there.”
“Then tell me!”
Amara looked toward the dark window.
“There are things in this world that people don't know exist.”
Elara's face went pale.
“Like what?”
Amara didn't answer.
A loud bang suddenly shook the house.
Everyone screamed.
The front door rattled violently.
Once.
Twice.
Then again.
Tobias moved immediately.
“Upstairs.”
Elara shook her head.
“I'm not leaving.”
“You need to.”
“No.”
“Elara!”
Another violent bang struck the door.
The wood cracked.
Amara pulled Elara toward the staircase.
“Move!”
They ran upstairs.
Tobias stayed behind.
Elara reached the top step and looked back.
He stood alone in the hallway.
The front door shook again.
Something was trying to get inside.
Tobias reached beneath his shirt.
Elara saw him pull out something metallic.
A small blade.
But it wasn't an ordinary blade.
The metal seemed to glow faintly beneath his fingers.
Elara stared.
“What are you?”
Tobias looked up at her.
For the first time, he looked less like the father she knew and more like a man who had spent years preparing for this exact night.
“Go.”
Elara didn't move.
Then the door burst open.
A gust of freezing air swept through the house.
Tobias raised the blade.
And from upstairs, Elara heard Amara whisper the words she had been trying so hard not to hear.
“They found her.”
Elara's blood ran cold.
But whoever had come for her did not enter the house.
Instead, the darkness outside remained perfectly still.
No footsteps.
No voice.
Nothing.
Only a single black feather drifted through the broken doorway and landed on the floor.
Tobias stared at it.
His face changed.
“That's impossible.”
Amara came down one step.
“What?”
Tobias didn't answer.
He crouched and picked up the feather.
His fingers trembled.
Elara watched him.
“What is it?”
Tobias looked at her.
And for the first time since Elara had known him, she saw genuine terror in his eyes.
“Someone has sent a warning.”
Elara swallowed.
“What kind of warning?”
Tobias looked toward the darkness beyond the doorway.
“A promise.”
“What promise?”
He slowly closed his fist around the feather.
“That they're coming back.”
Elara stood frozen on the staircase.
She didn't know who they were.
She didn't know why they wanted her.
She didn't know what her mother had been running from.
And she still didn't know what she truly was.
But for the first time in her life, Elara understood something clearly.
The life she had known in Bellmere was over.
Someone had finally found her.
And whoever they were…
They had no intention of letting her remain hidden.
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