Riya never liked the forest behind her new house. It was too silent, as if the trees were holding their breath. On her 18th birthday, she found a small, wooden box at her doorstep. There was no name, no note—just a rusted latch.
Inside, resting on a bed of black velvet, was an iron amulet. It was shaped like a weeping eye, with a dark crimson stone in the center. As soon as Riya touched it, she felt a sharp jolt, like an electric shock.
That night, the dreams started. She saw a village in flames and a woman screaming, pointing at the same forest behind Riya's house. When Riya woke up, cold sweat dripping down her face, she realized the amulet was no longer on her bedside table. It was hanging around her neck, its chain tightened as if it were alive.
She tried to take it off, but the metal felt like ice against her skin, and the clasp wouldn't budge. Suddenly, a shadow detached itself from the corner of her room. It had no face, only glowing red eyes that matched the stone in the amulet.
"It has chosen you, Riya," the shadow hissed. "Now, give it what it hungers for."
A rhythmic thumping began from inside the forest—the sound of a giant heart beating in the earth. Riya looked at her reflection in the window, but it wasn't her own face looking back. It was someone else—someone from a hundred years ago.