chapter 2 whispers in the hall
726 Words
The chores never ended.
By midday, Aria’s arms ached from scrubbing clothes at the well. Her fingers were wrinkled and numb, her back screaming from bending over the basin. But she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. Selda had a way of appearing out of nowhere whenever Aria even paused to breathe.
She carried the wet laundry to the line behind the house. The sun burned hot across her neck, but at least out here, Selda’s voice felt farther away.
As she pinned the last cloth, a tiny spark tingled across her palm.
Aria jerked her hand away. A faint shimmer, like dust caught in sunlight, danced across her skin… then disappeared.
Her chest tightened.
“Not now… please, not now.”
She shook her hands until the tingling faded.
The last time she lost control—even slightly—the pots had rattled on the shelves, and Selda had beaten her so hard Aria couldn’t move her arm for two days. She’d told the neighbors Aria was “clumsy” and “fell.”
Everyone believed her.
Because who would believe the unwanted girl over the respected healer of the village?
Aria sighed and turned back toward the house.
The moment she stepped inside, Selda’s voice struck her like a slap.
“Where have you been? The floor is still dirty!”
Aria lowered her eyes. “I just finished the laundry—”
“Excuses!” Selda grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her inside. Her nails dug into Aria’s skin. “If your mother hadn’t died before teaching you discipline, maybe you wouldn’t be such a burden.”
Aria bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood.
Selda shoved a broom into her hand. “Sweep everything. And don’t make noise. My customers will arrive soon.”
Aria nodded quickly and got to work.
As she swept the floor, two village women stepped inside the small herbal shop attached to the house. Selda switched instantly into her sweet, welcoming tone—one she never used on Aria.
“Oh blessings! Welcome! Come, I have fresh healing salves.”
The women glanced at Aria, pity in their eyes… but pity didn’t help her.
Aria swept harder. Dust rose, and she had to cover her mouth to keep from coughing. Her wrist stung where Selda’s nails had scratched her, and every sound in the room felt too loud.
Then she heard it.
A whisper.
Soft. Familiar.
Aria…
She froze. The broom slipped a little in her hands.
She knew that voice. She had heard it in dreams, like someone calling through fog.
But this time… it wasn’t in her head.
It came from the inner room. The room where Selda kept locked jars, herbs, and strange items Aria was forbidden to touch.
Aria stepped closer to the doorway.
The whisper brushed her ear again.
“You are not meant to stay here.”
Her heart hammered.
Magic… again?
She glanced toward Selda. The woman was laughing with her customers, bragging about her skills.
Slowly Aria pushed the inner room door open.
Inside, everything was quiet. Still. Jars lined the shelves. Dried herbs hung from ropes. A single candle flickered beside a cracked mirror.
Aria stepped inside.
The whisper stopped.
But the air felt charged, like it remembered something she didn’t.
She moved closer to the mirror. Her reflection stared back her green tired eyes, messy hair, a dull dress patched too many times.
“Who am I?” she whispered.
The mirror surface shimmered—just for a heartbeat—like ripples on water.
Aria stumbled back, gasping.
Footsteps.
Selda appeared in the doorway, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
“What are you doing here?”
Aria’s blood ran cold.
“I—I was just—”
Selda’s slap landed so hard Aria’s cheek burned. “You disobedient, ungrateful child! Get out of here!”
She shoved Aria backward.
Aria fell to her knees, tears slipping down her face.
Selda pointed toward the kitchen. “Finish cooking dinner. If I catch you near this room again, you’ll sleep outside with the goats.”
Aria scrambled to her feet and hurried out, her heart pounding, her cheek throbbing.
But as she crossed the hallway, the whisper returned—faint… determined.
Soon.
You won’t be here much longer.
Aria swallowed.
Something was coming.
Something that would change everything.
- Writer
