Chapter 1 : The Letter
Elara had been checking her mail religiously hoping for a reply from a college; which she never thought would happen but kept hope.
One morning, a letter arrived on a day that smelled like smoke, making her nauseous.
She noticed it as soon as she even opened the mailbox; an envelope sitting on top of the stack, darker than the rest, sealed with a crest she didn’t recognize. Heavy. Intentional. Important.
She hesitated.
For a moment, she just stared at it, fingers hovering like touching it might burn.
That was stupid. And yet…
Her hand curled slowly around the envelope, and the second her skin made contact, something in her chest tightened. Not pain. Not fear. Something familiar.
Elara frowned, pulling it free and shutting the mailbox with more force than necessary. “Get a grip,” she muttered under her breath.
It was just a letter; it didn’t mean anything.
Once inside, her apartment was quiet, too quiet, just like always. No television humming in the background. No voices drifting from another room. Just the faint creaking of old wood and the distant sound of traffic outside.
Elara dropped her bag by the door, turning the envelope over in her hands.
The seal caught the light.
A thorned crest, wrapped around something that almost looked like a wing… or maybe a flame.
Her stomach twisted. She knew that symbol. Or at least… she felt like she did.
“Blackthorne Academy,” she read softly, the words settling heavier than they should’ve.
The name meant nothing. And yet…
Her fingers tightened slightly on the paper. It should have meant nothing. But instead felt like a slight pressure on her chest.
She scanned the letter reading aloud.
“We are pleased to inform you… full academic scholarship… exceptional consideration…”
Elara let out a quiet, humorless laugh.
“A school I’ve never heard of just decides I’m special,” she murmured. “That’s not suspicious at all.”
But her eyes caught on the next line.
And this time. She didn’t joke.
“…in recognition of your family’s legacy.”
Her chest went still.
Slowly, carefully, she lowered herself onto the edge of the couch.
“No,” she said under her breath.
That wasn’t possible. No one talked about her parents. There was nothing to recognize. Nothing left but a burned down house, an old pendant she wore 24/7, and a past she didn’t remember clearly enough to piece together.
The only thing she really remembered is that the pendant was something very important to her parents. It’s looks worn down and old with its dark silver color, has the shape of a tear drop, and the center is like a trick of the eye; depending on the angle you look it has a different design every time. She mostly sees a thorn like design. There are two other shapes it looks as though it takes on but Elara can’t tell what they are. Almost as though she can’t fully focus on them.
They had died when she was young. A fire, they said. Fast. Tragic. Unavoidable. Elara swallowed. The word fire always felt… wrong. Her gaze drifted back to the letter.
“Blackthorne Academy.”
The name echoed strangely in her mind, like something half-forgotten.
And then, a flicker; a memory that didn’t feel like a memory.
Tall windows. Stone walls. The faint smell of something old; like dust and rain and something sharper beneath it. Voices, low and distant. Watching.
Elara’s breath hitched. The image vanished as quickly as it came. She pushed to her feet, pacing once across the room.
“This is ridiculous,” she said, sharper this time. It was just a school. A scholarship; an opportunity she financially couldn’t afford to turn down...
That’s it. That’s all it was. So why did it feel like a door she wasn’t supposed to open?
Elara stopped pacing. Looked back at the letter, the crest, the name, and after a long moment, she exhaled slowly.
“…Guess I’m going.”
The words settled into the silence like a decision already made long before she spoke it.
---
Outside, a breeze rattled the window. For a split second, the reflection in the glass shifted, darkened. Not enough to see clearly, but enough to feel like something had been waiting.
And now…It finally had her attention.
