Tides Between Us

The mail slot clattered. Selene didn’t even look up at first. “It was probably the bills or junk,” she said, “or another flyer for the town fair I never go to.” Selene’s hands were deep in flour, kneading dough for bread, so she wiped her hands on her jeans and went to check the mailbox. It was just a single envelope. Thick. Brown-colored, like old bone. And on the front of it was a seal. A silver seal it was, made of real wax, pressed with a crest — a wolf’s head crowned in thorns, its mouth open mid-howl. The edges of the envelope were sharp enough to cut. Her name was written across the front of the envelope in black ink. Miss Selene Mar. Not Selene, but Miss Selene Mar , like she was someone of importance. Like she was expected. Her fingers trembled as she subconsciously reached for the letter opener, and suddenly it was in her hand. The wax cracked open with a little noise too loud for a quiet kitchen. Inside the envelope sat heavy paper. Expensive. The kind that smelled like real money. The letter carried a few lines of typed text, and a signature at the bottom that looked just like claws. Miss Selene Mar, You have been awarded a full academic scholarship to Silvercrest Academy, effective immediately. Your attendance is highly anticipated. We await your arrival. Silvercrest Academy. Selene read it three times, loudly, with her eyes wide open. Silvercrest was the kind of school you saw on TV and in magazines. Uniforms that cost more than her grandmother’s old house. Kids of powerful people who mattered in society. Silvercrest was the kind of school for kids whose last names held weight. It was one of the most famous, most expensive boarding schools in the country. Silvercrest had the best teachers in the country. Students who graduated from Silvercrest went on to be very successful in life. And they wanted her. Selene thought to herself. Selene’s breath paused. Her hands trembled, still holding onto the paper. A full scholarship to Silvercrest was rare. “It is impossible. I hadn’t applied,” Selene muttered, pacing around the kitchen. “Why me?” she yelled. At just seventeen, Selene Mar was really quiet. When other girls laughed and shared secrets, she stayed off to the side. She wasn’t the kind that talked much, and sometimes it felt like people barely noticed her. Folks in town thought she was weird, but Selene didn’t think she was weird. She just felt empty — like part of her life story was missing, and no one would tell her what it was. Selene lived with her grandmother in an old house. The house was loud in its own way. The wooden beams creaked when the wind blew. The shutters rattled like someone shivering in the cold. The floors groaned when she walked. At night, after everyone in town went to sleep, the house made low sounds — creaks and sighs. It felt like the house remembered things Selene didn’t know. Her grandmother was strict but kind. She always wore her silver hair tied back. She raised Selene since she was an infant. Selene’s parents died in what everyone called a bad accident. But when Selene would ask what happened to her parents, adults changed the topic. They looked away, like the truth was too hard to say. Because of this, Selene always felt like her life was a riddle waiting to be solved. She tried to live like every other normal kid — reading by the attic window, walking around town, helping her grandma with chores. But weird things kept happening to her. Selene often woke up at night from the same dream. In the dream, she would be in a huge, dark forest. The trees were tall, and their branches looked like claws reaching for the sky. The moon above her was bright and silver. It lit everything up like a ghost. Far away, wolves howled loudly. The sound was sad and sharp. It made her chest hurt, like the wolves were calling her. Every time she woke up, she was breathing fast. Her hands were sweaty. Her heart was racing because she knew the dream meant something. Something big. Something she couldn’t figure out yet. She never made mention of the dream to anyone — not even her grandmother; not to the girls at school. She was scared they would think she was strange, or worse, that they’d tell her she was really different. Most days, Selene kept to herself. She liked books more than people. She liked the quiet woods more than her noisy classmates. But deep down, she felt restless. It was the same pull she felt when she was near the forest. Her life was a very simple one, and a calm one at that. Same old breakfast. Same old house. Same silence at dinner with her grandmother. Same old reoccurring dreams that left her heart beating fast. Then one afternoon, everything changed.