Chapter 3

• "Don't touch that."
• The sharp command cut through the air, making me flinch. I turned slowly, meeting Aiden’s eyes, which were fixed on me with a look that could freeze anyone in their tracks.
• I stood in the kitchen, frozen with my hand hovering just above the bowl of flour I was about to place on the counter. It was a simple task—one I had done hundreds of times—but the weight of Aiden’s presence made it feel like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, the ground beneath me shifting with every step I took.
• “Why?” I asked, keeping my tone even, despite the flutter in my chest. “It’s just flour.”
• “Just flour, huh?” His lips curled in a half-smirk, but his eyes remained hard. “You really don’t get it, do you? Every time you do something... every time you try to break free...” He took a step closer, his voice low and dangerous. “You remind me of her.”
• Her. The words hit me like a punch to the gut. My mother. The woman who had vanished years ago, leaving behind nothing but whispers and questions.
• I didn't know why Aiden always brought her up, why it seemed like my mere existence triggered something dark in him. But every time he spoke of her, something inside me tightened, as though the pieces of a puzzle I didn’t even know I was putting together were shifting in my mind.
• “I’m nothing like her,” I muttered, my eyes dropping to the floor. I wasn’t ready for another confrontation. Not today.
• Aiden’s gaze softened, but the tension in his posture remained. “You think you’re not, but you are. You’ll see.”
• His words lingered in the air long after he left, leaving me alone with the uneasy feeling that something was wrong. Not just with him, but with everything around me.
• The days leading up to my birthday were always quiet, a strange calm before the storm. No one ever acknowledged the date, as if it were some kind of taboo. I didn’t mind. In fact, I preferred it that way. But this year, things felt different.
• Strange things were happening. Small things. But enough to make my heart race whenever they occurred.
• Like last night, when I’d been sitting on the porch, staring out at the woods, and I’d heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind me. I’d spun around, expecting to see someone—Aiden, Cole, even one of the other servants—but there had been nothing. Not a soul. Just the rustle of the trees in the wind.
• Or the way I kept catching Aiden’s gaze when he thought I wasn’t looking. It wasn’t just the usual cold disdain. There was something else there. Something deeper. His eyes seemed to study me, as if trying to understand something about me that even I didn’t know.
• It was unsettling. And it was starting to feel like something more than just my ordinary life in the packhouse.
• The morning before my birthday, things took a turn.
• I was cleaning the hallway, mindlessly scrubbing the floors, when I felt a sudden pull—a pressure in the air, thick and heavy. I looked up to see Aiden standing at the end of the hallway, watching me with those damn piercing eyes.
• “Stay away from the woods tonight,” he said, his voice low, almost a whisper. “I mean it, Ava.”
• I blinked, taken aback. "What do you mean? Why would I go into the woods?"
• Aiden’s jaw tightened, and for a moment, his expression seemed to flicker with something unreadable. Then he stepped back, his cold mask falling back into place. “Just don’t. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
• And with that, he turned and disappeared into the depths of the packhouse.
• I stood there, my heart racing in my chest. The woods. He was warning me about the woods? What was he talking about?
• I didn’t have time to process his words before I felt a cold shiver run down my spine. It was as if someone—something—was watching me.
• As the day wore on, the feeling only grew stronger. The air seemed thicker, charged, as though something was about to break. But what?
• By the time the sun began to dip below the horizon, I was already standing by the back door, preparing to slip out into the night. The woods were calling to me, their darkness wrapping around my mind like an irresistible force.
• And yet…
• I couldn’t shake the feeling that Aiden’s warning was more than just an order. It felt like a plea.
• But I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t let fear control me.
• I pushed open the door and stepped into the cool night air, my footsteps light on the grass as I made my way toward the familiar path that led into the forest.
• The trees loomed tall and thick, the shadows long and stretching. Every snap of a twig beneath my boots felt amplified, every rustle of leaves like a whisper in my ear. But it was the silence that unnerved me the most.
• There were no birds. No wind. No sounds at all. Just the oppressive quiet that seemed to surround me.
• I kept walking, drawn by an inexplicable force, deeper and deeper into the woods.
• And then, I heard it.
• A faint whisper, carried by the wind.
• “Ava...”
• I froze, my heart leaping into my throat. I spun around, but there was no one there.
• My breath caught in my chest. The voice was familiar, though I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t Aiden. It wasn’t Cole. It was… something else.
• Something older. Something deeper.
• I didn’t know how to explain it, but I felt the presence of someone—something—close by. It was like the air itself was thick with the weight of it.
• I turned back to the path, trying to steady my breath, but then I saw it.
• A figure, standing just beyond the trees. A tall silhouette, cloaked in darkness.
• My heart hammered in my chest as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. The figure stepped forward, moving with unnatural grace, and my blood ran cold.
• It was Aiden. But his eyes—they were glowing. A soft, ethereal light emanated from them, piercing the darkness around him.
• “Aiden?” I whispered, my voice trembling.
• He didn’t answer. Instead, he took another step forward, his face softening into something almost... tender.
• “Do you feel it, Ava?” he asked, his voice hushed. “It’s happening.”
• I opened my mouth to speak, but the words died on my tongue. What was happening? What was he talking about?
• Suddenly, everything went still. The woods, the air, even the night itself seemed to hold its breath. A sharp pain exploded in my chest, and I stumbled back, clutching my heart.
• “Ava!”
• Aiden’s voice rang out in a frantic, desperate tone. But I couldn’t focus on him. The pain was overwhelming, gnawing at my very core.
• And then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped.
• I gasped, sucking in air as if I had been underwater for too long. The woods were silent once again.
• But Aiden was gone.
• The figure—whatever it was—had disappeared.
• And I was left standing in the dark, heart racing, with no idea what had just happened.
• Was it real? Or had I imagined it all?
• I couldn’t shake the feeling that something deep inside me had shifted. But what?
• And why had Aiden been so… different?
• As the night stretched on, the questions swirled in my mind, unanswered and gnawing at me. What did it mean? What had I just witnessed?
• The strange sensation in my chest wouldn’t fade, and I couldn’t help but feel like the world had just changed forever.
• But the real question lingered in the back of my mind, refusing to be ignored:
• What did Aiden mean by “It’s happening”?