THE TWO STRANGERS
CHAPTER ONE
THE TWO STRANGERS
The first thing seventeen-year-old Aria Vale noticed when she stepped into her house was the smell.
Cinnamon.
Her mother never baked with cinnamon.
Aria slowly closed the front door behind her.
“Mom?”
No answer.
She dropped her schoolbag onto the floor and looked around.
Everything seemed normal.
The old wooden table was still beside the window. Her mother's favorite flowers were still sitting in a glass vase. The clock on the wall was ticking like it always did.
But there was something different.
A pair of black boots sat beside the staircase.
They weren't hers.
Aria frowned.
“Mom?”
This time, she heard voices.
Girls.
Coming from upstairs.
Her heart immediately began beating faster.
She grabbed the nearest object she could find—a wooden umbrella—and quietly walked toward the stairs.
The voices became clearer.
“…I'm telling you, she has to know eventually.”
“She can't. Not yet.”
Aria froze.
She?
Who were they talking about?
She climbed another step.
Then another.
The voices suddenly stopped.
Aria tightened her grip on the umbrella.
She reached the top of the stairs and slowly walked toward her bedroom.
The door was open.
Two girls stood inside.
One was sitting on Aria's bed as though she owned it.
The other was standing beside her desk, examining a strange old book.
Aria stared at them.
They stared back.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Aria raised the umbrella.
“Who are you?”
The girl on the bed smiled.
“Finally.”
Aria blinked.
“Finally what?”
“You're home.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
The second girl slowly closed the strange book.
“You're Aria, aren't you?”
Aria's expression hardened.
“How do you know my name?”
The girl exchanged a look with the other.
Then she whispered,
“Because we've been waiting for you.”
Aria felt a chill run down her spine.
“Waiting for me?”
Before either girl could answer, something on the desk caught her attention.
A small red crystal.
It was shaped like a diamond.
And it was glowing.
Aria stepped closer.
“What is that?”
Neither girl answered.
The red diamond suddenly pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then the lights in the entire house went out.
Aria screamed.
A strange wind rushed through the bedroom, sending papers flying everywhere.
The old book on the desk opened by itself.
Its pages began turning rapidly.
And then—
A voice whispered from inside the darkness.
“The three have finally returned.”
The lights came back.
The red diamond was gone.
The two girls were staring at Aria.
But this time, neither of them looked surprised.
They looked afraid.
Aria lowered the umbrella.
“What just happened?”
The girl on the bed slowly stood.
“Your life,” she said, “is about to change.”
Aria stared at her.
“Who are you?”
The girl hesitated.
Then she gave Aria a strange, almost nervous smile.
“My name is Selene.”
She pointed toward the other girl.
“And that's Maya.”
Maya looked at Aria.
Then at the empty space where the red diamond had been.
“And we're witches.”
Aria laughed.
It was the only thing she could think of doing.
“Right.”
Selene didn't laugh.
Maya didn't either.
Aria's smile disappeared.
Because suddenly, the old book on the desk began glowing.
And three symbols appeared across its open page.
One for Selene.
One for Maya.
And one for her.
Aria stepped backward.
“What is happening to me?”
Selene looked at her with a seriousness that made Aria's stomach twist.
“We were hoping you wouldn't have to find out this way.”
“Find out what?”
Selene took a breath.
“That you're the third witch.”
Outside the window, somewhere deep in Brooklyn, a single red light appeared in the night.
Then another.
Then another.
Three red diamonds.
And none of them knew that someone was watching from across the street.
