Morning came beneath a gray sky. Fog still hung low among the trees when Elvarra opened her eyes. For a while, she simply lay there, staring at her bedroom ceiling and trying to sort out what had really happened and what might have been only a dream.
But the memory of last night was too vivid to be called a dream.
The girl behind the window. The stone gate in the middle of the forest. The voice calling her name. And the second shadow that moved without following her body.
Elvarra slowly raised her left hand.
The grayish mark was still in the center of her palm. Two interlocking circles with a line like a crack running through the middle. She had scrubbed it again and again, even washing her hand with cold water, but the mark remained.
She stared at it for a long time.
"Veyra."
The name surfaced in her mind again.
Elvarra didn't know who Veyra was. She had never heard that name from Rowan or Liora. And yet, strangely, it felt like something that had once been part of her life. Something she should have remembered, but couldn't.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Elvarra, are you awake?"
Liora's voice.
Elvarra quickly pulled down her sleeve to cover the mark.
"I am."
"Come downstairs. Breakfast is ready."
"In a minute."
She got up and fixed her hair before leaving the room. All the way to the dining room, one question continued to fill her thoughts.
Why was everyone hiding something from her?
And more importantly, what exactly were they hiding?
As soon as she entered the dining room, Elvarra realized the atmosphere was different from usual. Rowan was already sitting in his usual place, but the teacup in front of him was still untouched. Liora wasn't saying much either. She only glanced toward the window now and then.
Elvarra pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Why are you two so quiet?"
Liora turned toward her. "We're not quiet."
Elvarra raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? So I must be the one imagining that this house suddenly turned into a library?"
Liora gave her a faint smile.
Rowan didn't.
Elvarra picked up a piece of bread from the table. "Dad."
"Hm?"
"I saw someone last night."
Rowan's hand stopped above his cup.
Elvarra watched his reaction.
"A girl," she continued. "She was standing in the yard."
Liora lowered her face.
Elvarra took a small bite of bread, then said casually, "The interesting part is, she disappeared as soon as you came, Dad."
Rowan finally looked at her.
"Don't talk about that again."
Elvarra stopped chewing.
"Why?"
"Because there's nothing to talk about."
"Then explain why Mom looks like she wants to cry every time I mention her."
Liora raised her head.
"Elvarra..."
"I'm just asking."
"And I don't have an answer."
"Really?"
Liora fell silent.
Elvarra turned to Rowan. "Then what about you, Dad?"
Rowan sighed.
"You don't need to know."
Elvarra gave him a small smile. "That's your favorite answer."
"Because you ask too many questions."
"Because you hide too many things."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Rowan said, "Starting today, don't leave the house alone."
Elvarra set down her bread.
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
"Do you realize I'm not a child?"
"I'm very aware."
"Then treat me like someone who deserves an explanation."
Rowan looked at his daughter. There was something in his gaze that made Elvarra certain he was about to say something.
But as usual, the man changed his mind.
"There are things I can't tell you yet."
Elvarra let out a soft laugh without any humor in it.
"Can't, or don't want to?"
Rowan didn't answer.
That was the real answer.
Elvarra stood.
"Fine."
Liora looked at her. "Where are you going?"
"To find answers."
"Elvarra."
She stopped in the doorway.
"Don't worry," she said without turning around. "I just don't know where to look yet."
Of course, Elvarra knew.
There was one place that had always made her curious ever since she was a child.
The old shed behind the house.
The place was rarely opened. Even when Elvarra was little, Rowan had always forbidden her from going near it. She had once asked what was inside, but Rowan's answer was always the same.
Old things.
An answer far too simple for a place she had been forbidden to visit for so many years.
The shed door creaked when Elvarra opened it. The smell of dust and old wood immediately filled the air. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the walls, illuminating shelves packed with books and crates.
"Old things," she muttered.
If that was really all it held, Rowan shouldn't have looked so afraid whenever the place was mentioned.
Elvarra began searching the shelves.
One by one.
Most of them held nothing but family books, old records, and objects she didn't recognize. After nearly half an hour of searching, she found a small chest hidden beneath a table.
The chest wasn't locked.
Inside were several letters, a silver locket, and a black book.
There was no title.
Elvarra picked it up and blew the dust from its cover.
The moment she opened the first page, she stopped.
A sentence was written there.
Don't let the child remember.
Beneath it was a name.
Elvarra Veyne.
Her hands suddenly turned cold.
She read the sentence again.
Then again.
"The child?"
Elvarra's voice was barely audible.
She turned the page.
Blank.
The next page was blank too.
There was no other writing.
Only the first page.
"Why is my name in here?"
"Elvarra?"
Liora's voice came from the doorway.
Elvarra jolted and quickly hid the book behind her back.
Liora entered and immediately noticed the movement.
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing."
"You're terrible at lying."
Elvarra gave her a faint smile. "I learned from the people in this house."
Liora sighed.
"Give it to me."
"Why?"
"Because it doesn't belong to you."
"Then who does it belong to?"
Liora didn't answer.
Elvarra brought the book out.
"This is about me."
Liora's eyes fell on the writing on the first page.
Her face changed.
Elvarra saw it.
"You knew?"
Liora looked away.
"How long have you known?"
"Elvarra..."
"Don't say my name like that if you're trying to avoid the question."
Liora looked at her.
"You found something you were never supposed to find."
"That's not an answer."
"I know."
"Then give me the real answer."
Liora drew a long breath.
"That name."
"What name?"
"Veyra."
Elvarra froze.
"So you know her?"
"I know her name."
"What's the difference?"
"The difference is..." Liora paused. "If I say I know her, then I'd have to explain how I know her."
Elvarra stepped closer.
"And you don't want to explain."
"I'm afraid to explain."
The answer left Elvarra speechless.
Liora rarely admitted that she was afraid.
"Why?"
Liora looked at the black book.
"Because every time that name comes back, something else comes back with it."
"What?"
Liora didn't answer right away.
Then she said, "You."
Elvarra felt her throat tighten.
"Me?"
Liora nodded slowly.
"Enough. Leave the book here."
"What if I don't want to?"
"Elvarra..."
"I've lived with half-answers for too long. I wake up every day without knowing why Dad always locks the back door, why you won't let me go near the forest, or why I dream about a place I've never even visited."
Liora looked at her sadly.
"You have been there."
Elvarra fell silent.
"What?"
Liora looked as if she had just realized she'd said something she shouldn't have.
"You never said—"
"I have to go."
"Mom."
Liora turned away.
"Who is Veyra?"
Liora's steps stopped.
A few seconds later, she answered without turning around, "Someone you should have forgotten a long time ago."
Then she left.
Elvarra stood alone.
She stared at the door her mother had just closed.
"Someone I should have forgotten?"
She slowly shook her head.
"How can I forget someone I don't even remember?"
There was no answer.
Only the sound of wind slipping through the gaps in the walls.
Elvarra looked down at the black book in her hand again.
The writing on the first page was unchanged.
Don't let the child remember.
But slowly, black ink began to appear beneath it.
One word.
Too late.
Elvarra stepped back.
The book nearly slipped from her hands.
The air inside the shed suddenly turned cold.
Then a voice sounded.
"Elvarra..."
She turned.
There was no one there.
The voice came again.
Closer this time.
"Elvarra..."
Elvarra slowly looked down.
Two shadows lay on the floor.
One was hers.
The other wasn't.
The second shadow stood directly behind her.
Its long hair fell over its face.
Elvarra swallowed.
"Veyra?"
The shadow didn't move.
"If you're really Veyra, give me one reason not to be afraid of you."
Slowly, the shadow raised its hand.
It pointed at the black book.
Then it pointed at Elvarra's chest.
A whisper surfaced in her mind.
"I'm not something you need to fear."
Elvarra frowned.
"Then what are you?"
The shadow was silent for a long time.
Then its answer came.
"The part of you they took."
Elvarra hadn't had time to understand what it meant when the shed door flew open.
Rowan stood there.
His gaze went straight to the black book, then to the second shadow.
His face turned pale.
"Don't listen to her."
Elvarra looked at her father.
"Why?"
"Because she'll say anything you want to hear."
"How do you know?"
Rowan didn't answer.
Elvarra studied his face. "You know her?"
"Elvarra, give me the book."
"Why?"
"Because that book shouldn't be here."
"Who put it back?"
Rowan fell silent.
Elvarra stepped closer.
"You said this book was buried twelve years ago."
"It was."
"Then who took it from the grave?"
Rowan didn't answer.
A knock sounded at the back door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Elvarra and Rowan both turned.
Someone was standing on the other side of the door.
A woman's voice came from outside.
"Rowan."
Rowan's face changed.
Elvarra had never seen her father look like that.
The woman gave a soft laugh.
"Still hiding behind lies?"
Rowan clenched his fists.
"Go away."
"After twelve years, that's all you have to say?"
Elvarra looked at Rowan.
"Dad..."
The woman outside spoke again.
"You should know, Rowan. Memories can't be buried forever."
The mark in Elvarra's palm suddenly grew hot.
The second shadow on the floor moved.
And for the first time, Veyra whispered not inside her head, but right beside her ear.
"Don't let her in."
Elvarra stared at the door.
"Who is she?"
Rowan remained silent.
Then the door handle began to turn.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
At last, Rowan looked at Elvarra and said,
"If you still trust me even a little, whatever happens after that door opens..."
He stopped.
His gaze was filled with fear.
"...don't call that woman by the name she gives you."
The door handle stopped turning.
Then a voice whispered from the other side.
"What a shame, Rowan."
The voice sounded like a smile.
"She doesn't even know yet that I'm her mother."