The lost daughter

The 18th birthday woke Aria up to its ominous silence. She stirred, her brain foggy from a sleep that wasn't very proper. The dream still lingered, its dark tendrils wrapping themselves around her consciousness. She'd stood on the edge of a forest in the dream, looming over her with whispering shadows. A figure, shrouded in mist, lured her closer. As she drew closer, the figure vanished, leaving behind a cryptic message that was etched into the trees: "The power within, unleashed." The residue of fear still lingered upon her, but Aria, blaming it all on birthday excitement, shook them off. Tossing the covers off, she swung her legs over the bed and planted her feet firmly on the ground. That was when she saw them. Weirder still, her bedroom wall was smeared with symbols she'd never set eyes on. They shone soft, an ethereal light, casting strange shadows in the room. Aria's heart skipped a beat as she scrambled out of bed, fixedly watching the markings. How did they get there? She reached out her hand cautiously to the wall and laid it gently against the symbols. As her skin made contact, the glow intensified, and the symbols shifted, reordering as a message into: "Happy Birthday, Aria. Your true legacy begins." Aria's mind was reeling. Who could have done this? And what did it mean? She whipped around, scanning the room for any invasion point, but everything lay in its proper place. The window was latched; the door remained shut. The hairs stood on the back of her neck. No prank here. Aria's mind was aflame with questions, one dominating all the rest: What did these symbols have to do with her? She grabbed her phone and took a picture of the symbols across the wall, in hopes that she could research them later. As she turned to exit the room, she glanced over at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes seemed different, brighter, almost as if the light was shining from inside her eyes themselves. Aria's 18th birthday had started off as a mystery, and she could tell that her life was never going to be the same. To be continued.