Chapter 1
Aurora's POV
Something wasn't right...like the wind carried a secret I couldn't unhear.
I stirred the pot slowly. The steam from the stew blasted into my face. I blinked through it, my hand moving without thinking. I have made this meal a thousand times. It was the same recipe, the same flavor. But today, it tasted off.
I wasn't myself.
I don't know why or can't seem to explain it.
The whispers which had plagued me for years had started again. It was faint, like voices in a dark room.
Like they knew my name.
That was not all, I have also been disturbed by strange dreams in the night.
And all these started some few days ago.
"Aurora, are you alright?" Eamon's voice broke through my thoughts.
I turned and saw him standing by the bar counter, wiping a glass with a rag. His brows were raised.
"Yeah," I tried smiling but sold myself. "Just tired." I shrugged.
"You sure? You look like you saw a ghost."
I forced a smile again. "Come on, I didn't see a ghost. I ...am...just... thinking."
Eamon nodded but kept staring. "You know, you have been like this all week. If you need to take time off..."
"No," I cut in, hurriedly. "I'm fine."
I turned back to the pot and gave it one last stir. The meat was soft. The carrots were tender. It was ready.
"I'm done for the day," I said, pulling off my apron.
Eamon nodded. "See you tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
I grabbed my bag and stepped out of the inn. The sun was down and darkness was setting in. The street lamps glowed a soft orange. I walked fast, my boots crunching the leaves on the ground. It was autumn and the leaves had fallen. The trees now stood like skeletons.
I walked for an hour until my cottage rose in my sight, although still miles away. It stood alone at the outskirts of the town and near the edge of the forest. It was always quiet and small. I opened the door and walked in, dropping my bag on the only couch in the room.
My mother sat near the fire. Her hair was tied up today but her eyes looked tired.
"You're back late," she said as a way of greeting me. "I have told you countless times never to stay outside so late."
"I am sorry. I stayed longer at the inn," I replied.
She nodded and pointed to the pot on the stove. "I kept food for you. That's if you're hungry."
I sat and glanced around. "Where's Elena?"
"Hmmm...where's Elena?" She repeated.
"Mom, that's not the answer to my question!" I said gently.
"Of course you know where your sister would be if not home. She's in town as usual." she
I clenched my jaw. "She never helps."
"She's young."
"So am I," I snapped. "I am young too Mom! I don't need to work my ass out at the inn fending for us. I also need to wrap myself in a warm bath, filled with lots of perfumes and scenting oils. I need to enjoy my life."
She sighed tired of having this conversation everyday. "Some people are born to rule. Some people are born to take care of their family. Some people are born to live careless life. Some people are born to stay. Which one of them do you want to be?"
I didn't reply. It was the same talk. The same lecture all over and over again. I was tired of having to choose 'I am the one born to rule and take care of the family.' But what can I do? The weight of the breadwinner was passed down to me after the unfortunate and tragic death of my father.
I went to my room and spruced up, came back to the sitting room in my night wear. I took a bowl of soup and sat by the window.
"Something's wrong," I said after a while of silence between us
"What is it?"
"I don't know." I looked out the window to the forest. It was dark and the trees were beginning to form lines of shadows. "It feels like… something's calling me."
My mother's back straightened immediately, like she understood what I said. Or she was panicked about what I said. "Don't start now, Aurora. I am not in the mood for your silly imaginations."
"I'm serious, Ma. I feel it. And did I tell you I have been having strange dreams and hearing whispers? It is like something's pulling me towards the forest."
She stood up and drew the curtains. "Eat your food Aurora, you must have had a stressful day at the inn."
"Can you take me seriously for once? I don't want to go to the priest after this complaint." I whined knowing fully well it was how it always ended.
Anytime the dreams and whispers started, mother wheels me off to the priest. And I end up drinking a very bitter concoction.
"Don't ever go into those woods. Especially not at night."
"Why?"
She looked away. "listen to me and don't try to be stubborn."
I stared at her for so long that she didn't meet my eyes. That silence stayed between us while I ate. I didn't ask again. I didn't want to get on her nerves. Not really like she listens to me. And she didn't speak again.
After dinner, we concluded Elena was not coming home, we locked the door and retired to the warmth of our bed.
I lay on the bed asleep, my face to the window. There was a rasp to my window and my eyes flew open.
I saw something deep in the forest.
A silver light.
It was soft, glowing, dancing between the trees.
It moved.
And I moved with it.
I don't remember getting up.
I don't remember walking out of my bedroom.
I don't remember walking down the quiet hallway to the sitting room.
I don't remember opening the door.
But I was walking.
Barefoot.
I walked past the barn.
I walked past the little fence around the cottage.
I walked into the trees.
The light danced ahead of me and I followed.
The forest was quiet and dark. Not quite long I stepped foot in the forest, did I hear a howl: very low, deep and guttural.
I froze and then my mind snapped back.
What the hell am I doing?
Why am I in the forest?
How was I here?
"Don't ever go into those woods. Especially not at night." Mother's warning came crawling into my mind.
Immediately I turned to run.
But my feet slipped. I fell, my hands hitting the ground. I scrambled up, not wasting time and kept running. Branches scratched my arms but I didn't care about them. I need to get out of this forest.
I ran until I reached a clearing and then stopped breathing heavily.
I looked up to see a wolf staring at me. A big wolf. Its eyes locked onto mine. Its golden flecked eyes enchanted me and I stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.
My heart beat was thudding faster that I feared my chest would explode from the effect.
Right before my eyes, the wolf moved, its body twisted, bones snapped and broke, the furs shrinked into skin and then a human stood there, naked.
But it was not just any man.
It was him.
Marek.
My heart dropped to the floor.
His face was still the same, strong jaw, wild hair and eyes like storm clouds.
He stared at me like I was poison.
I stared at him like he was fire.
"You have some fucking nerve showing your face again," he growled. "After what you did to me."