The Forbidden Prophecy

Chapter 1: The Girl from Nowhere

Lyra POV

I didn't know how fast life could change in such a short amount of time. I thought I knew exactly who I was, only to find out I was so wrong.

3 Weeks Earlier

The morning sun peeking through my windows was a clear indication that it was time for me to get up. It was another day in this small, unusual, and run-down town.

Ebonridge

A small town located in the North Mountains, some say the town is watched by a woman who walks the cliffs. Personally, I don't believe in any of the town's folklore, but my mom and friends all do. They put salt by the windows and crystals above the doors, saying it will keep out the unwanted and dangers in this town.

I gathered all my necessities before heading to the bathroom across the hall. My mom and I usually move around alot but it seems that here we have actually settled down. A new start, so far I have only made 2 friends, Cam and Miyah. They are siblings and both attend Ridgeway High with me.

After finishing up in the bathroom I really take a minute to truly look at myself. My long blonde hair and emerald green eyes staring back at me. I jogged down the stairs, brushing my fingers through my tangled hair, only to catch sight of Mom slipping her keys into her purse by the front door.

“Can you drop me off at school?” I asked, hopping the last two steps.

She paused with one hand on the doorknob, turning just enough to glance at me over her shoulder.

“You need to hurry up and get your license.”

I made a face, grabbing my jacket from the hook near the stairs.

“Well, I would—if you could find my birth certificate.”

That stopped her cold. Just for a second. Her hand tightened slightly on the strap of her bag.

“Don’t go there,” she said, her voice low, even, but heavy.

The air felt thicker all of a sudden. My throat tightened, but I masked it with a shrug.

“I was just saying…” I muttered, avoiding her eyes.

She didn’t reply. She just opened the door and stepped out into the morning chill.

I stood there for a beat, staring at the space where she’d been, something uneasy curling low in my stomach.

It was always like this. Questions followed by walls.

And lately... the walls were starting to crack.

The bell rung, signaling the start of lunch. Walking through the halls, I felt out of place which usually for me isn't anything new. Today was pizza day, but due to this being the only school in such a small run-down town, the pizza was limited and not everyone would get to eat. And somehow, I always seemed to fall into the unlucky group.

As I stepped into the cafeteria, the buzz of students and the smell of burnt cheese hit me at once. The line was already curving around the tables. I didn't bother even joining it .

Instead I slid into my usual spot near the back corner a table half in the shadows, far enough from the windows that I could avoid the stares of the kids who had grown up here, whose families had lived in Ebonridge for generations. I was still “the girl from nowhere,” even after five years.

I pulled out the half-crushed granola bar from my bag and unwrapped it slowly, pretending it was a choice. My stomach disagreed, but I wasn’t in the mood to fight over greasy food with the football team.

“Hey, Lyra.”

The voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

It was Cam, well, Camden Myers, technically, but only his mom called him that. He sat across from me without asking, his tray stacked with two slices of pizza and a juice box. His shaggy brown hair looked like he’d been caught in a wind tunnel, and his hoodie sleeves were frayed like always.

“Didn’t grab food?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

I shrugged. “Didn’t feel like elbowing a freshman for the last slice.”

He slid one of his pieces toward me without a word. I blinked.

“Cam, seriously. You don’t have to—”

“You say that every time. And I ignore you every time,” he said, flashing me a crooked grin.

I gave him a small smile, but something in my chest tugged uncomfortably. I hated depending on anyone, even in small ways. Especially lately. After finding out that my mom lost my birth certificate, it has been hard to trust or depend on anyone else for anything.

“Thanks,” I said, taking a bite and chewing slowly, my mind already drifting again.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Stacey and her usual crew gliding through the lunchroom like they owned the floor. She was all perfect hair, too-white teeth, and unspoken rules. Her laugh was too loud. Her eyes lingered too long, like she was always searching for a weakness.

She glanced in my direction for just a moment before turning back to her group with a whisper.

I didn’t need to hear it to know it was about me.

Directing my attention back to Cam, something flickered in the window beside us, drawing my eyes to the tree line behind the school.

Movement. Too fast to be a bird. Too tall to be a student.

I leaned closer to the glass, squinting at the woods behind the field.

“Lyra?” Cam’s voice pulled me back.

I shook my head. “It’s nothing.”

But something in me knew it wasn’t just nothing.

I rounded the corner, lost in my thoughts, when I almost collided with someone.

“Watch where you’re going, freak,” a sharp voice cut through the air.

I barely had time to step back before I realized it was Stacey—the queen bee of Ebonridge High, surrounded by her little flock of followers, all of them eyeing me like I was an experiment gone wrong.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, trying to move around her, but she blocked me with a deliberate step forward.

“No, you're sorry,” she sneered, lifting an eyebrow. “You really think you can walk through the halls like you're one of us? You don't belong here, Lyra.”

The words stung more than I cared to admit, and something inside me tensed—like an electric hum sparking just beneath my skin. I fought the instinct to lash out.

She looked me up and down, a smirk playing at her lips, clearly enjoying every second of making me feel small.

"You're a joke. Everyone knows you’re just some outsider who doesn't know how to fit in."Stacey said, her voice loud enough for her group to hear.

As she turned to walk away, something odd rippled through me—just a brief moment of heat that I couldn’t explain. A spark of something strange, like fire licking the edges of my senses, and before I could stop it, I felt a small surge of energy course through me.

The air around me seemed to hum for a split second, and Stacey’s group paused in their tracks, glancing back toward me.

I held my breath, praying they wouldn’t notice the brief flicker of light that danced around my fingertips. But it was gone in an instant.

Stacey, of course, didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and walked off with her minions trailing behind her.

I stood frozen for a moment, my heart hammering in my chest. My hands felt strange, like the blood in them had turned to ice. I glanced down at my palms, but there was nothing, nothing visible. But the feeling lingered.

“Are you alright?”

I snapped my head up to see Cam standing there, his usual crooked smile softening into something more concerned. I hadn’t even noticed him walking toward me.

“Yeah,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if I believed it myself.

“Just Stacey being, well, Stacey.”

He frowned, glancing in the direction she’d gone. “She’s a piece of work, huh?”

I shrugged, trying to brush it off. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

Cam studied me for a moment before his eyes softened. He seemed to sense that something more was going on, but he didn’t push. Instead, he just offered me a quick nod.

“Well, don’t let her get to you. You’re better than her,” he said, before moving toward his next class.

I watched him walk away, feeling the familiar ache of isolation creep back into my chest.

Stacey’s words echoed in my head: “You’re just some outsider.”

I wasn’t even sure who I was anymore.

As I made my way to the next class, my mind still reeling, I couldn’t shake the strange feeling in my chest. The spark of heat, the energy that pulsed beneath my skin it was like something was waking up inside of me. Something that wasn’t supposed to be there.

I forced myself to focus, pushing the thought away as best as I could. One step in front of the other. Keep moving.

But a small part of me couldn’t ignore it.

There was something happening to me. And I had no idea what it was.