Chapter 1
Another Beginning
Whispers rouse me from my slumber.I throw off the sheets and scan the room as if I could find the source of the sound outside. Before I touch the doorknob, the voices fade, and the panic dissipates.
I rush to a small dresser and pull out a copper mirror. I inspect my naked collarbones, hoping to see dark curls that weren’t there the day before, a glyph. Its absence saddens and worries me. Will my gift ever reveal itself?
Little do I know that on the same day, the whispers will return, transforming into screams. Loud, unending screams that cannot be silenced by any means. Not my pleas, nor my tears.
Father rushes for help. Mother stays behind, attempting to calm me. Something tells me to run, urging me to leave her. Escape from the cottage, towards the lake deep in the forest. Obedient to this intuition, I ignore her caring voice and run.
I run breathlessly, but the screams evolve into shrieks—loud as the cawing of a thousand crows. The pain becomes unbearable, as if all the birds nesting in my head have decided to break free
I cannot appreciate the beauty surrounding me, indifferent to the greens and deep navies. Fallen branches covered in moss and mushrooms go unnoticed. I leap over a stream embraced by mist, pass beneath bowing branches. The rustle of leaves and the splash of water are muffled and distant. The icy wind tousles my hair, penetrates my thin dress, a reminder that despite the prevailing spring, winter is inevitably approaching.
Finally reaching the water, I must navigate through giant lily pads. Wading through the fronds, stepping on arrowheads, my fingers graze against sharp edges. I know the names of all these plants. They are like family to me, and now I need them.
I dive deeper, and at last, silence descends. Relief floods over me so profoundly that I am hesitant to resurface. I choose to stay here, alone. I no longer rejoice in being chosen.
The lake’s cool water soothes my irrational rage. Eyes closed, dark hair undulating, my skin turns corpse-pale.I sink deeper and deeper.
The voices return, clearer this time. I surrender to them, listening to every word. I feel them breaking me, tearing apart my entire being, rending my soul. I open my mouth, but water doesn’t flood in. Instead, it turns into black liquid that envelops me like a shroud. Starting from my feet, it slowly creeps higher, eventually suffocating me. Reaching my throat, lungs, seeping into my veins, overtaking my heartbeat. It fights my attempts to resist, quelling every struggle. I can’t move or escape. I let myself be defeated. Now I know who I am.
