The water cradled me like an old lullaby—sweet, heavy, dangerous. I floated at the surface, the crown still tethered to my head like a curse that had chosen to love me instead of kill me.
Above, the moon bled silver across the sky.
Below, the lake whispered.
She was still inside me.
But she wasn’t alone anymore.
I wasn’t either.
I stumbled ashore, limbs trembling, lungs dragging in air like it owed me something. My clothes clung to me, soaked and streaked with ash. The night was unnaturally quiet—like the world was holding its breath.
Then I saw the others.
They stood at the edge of the trees.
The girls.
The dead ones.
But they weren’t dead anymore.
They glowed faintly, like starlight filtered through fog. None of them spoke, but their eyes held stories. Warnings. Regret.
And
