The whispering voice disappeared along with the fog drifting between the trees.
Elvarra was still crouching on the ground, staring at the small footprints that stopped right in front of her. For some reason, seeing those tracks stirred a strange feeling in her. It wasn't fear. Quite the opposite. It was as if something inside her recognized that path.
“Don't touch it.”
Rowan's voice made Elvarra pull her hand back.
She stood and looked at her father. “What?”
“The tracks.”
“Why?”
Rowan walked closer, then crouched to examine them. His face grew even tenser.
“These aren't human footprints.”
Elvarra frowned. “They look like a child's footprints.”
“Because they were deliberately made to look that way.”
“What does that mean?”
Rowan didn't answer. Instead, he looked toward the forest.
Elvarra followed his gaze. Beyond the trees, the fog was growing thicker. Strangely, that part of the forest felt darker than it should have, as if the morning light couldn't penetrate it.
“You know this place?”
“Unfortunately.”
“And Kaelith?”
Rowan stood. “We're going home.”
Elvarra almost laughed. “We just met someone who said I should already be dead, found strange tracks that don't belong to a human, and now you want us to go home?”
“Yes.”
“Great.”
Rowan stared at her.
“I'm not going home.”
Elvarra turned toward the tracks.
But after only a few steps, Rowan grabbed her arm.
“Elvarra.”
“Let go.”
“Don't go in there.”
“Why?”
“Because I've been inside.”
Elvarra fell silent.
Rowan rarely spoke about his past. This time, there was something in his voice that made Elvarra reluctant to press him.
But her curiosity was stronger.
“What did you see in there?”
Rowan looked at the forest.
“A house.”
Elvarra frowned. “Whose house?”
Rowan shook his head.
“A house that shouldn't exist.”
They finally returned home before noon.
Elvarra didn't say much along the way. But her thoughts kept returning to one thing.
Nocthollow.
That name had appeared in the black book. Veyra had mentioned it. Kaelith had told her to go north. And Rowan had looked so frightened when he heard the name.
As soon as they arrived home, Elvarra headed straight for Rowan's study.
The door was locked.
She knocked.
There was no answer.
Elvarra tried the handle.
Locked.
“Dad?”
Still no answer.
She pressed her ear to the door.
She heard something fall inside.
Elvarra immediately stepped back.
“Dad?”
The door suddenly opened.
Rowan stood there, his face pale.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for you.”
“Why?”
“I want to talk about Nocthollow.”
Rowan immediately shut the door behind him.
“Don't say that name in this house.”
Elvarra stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because there are ears we can't see.”
He pointed toward the window.
Elvarra stepped closer.
There was no one there.
Only the backyard and the trees.
“Who's watching us?”
Rowan didn't answer.
Elvarra noticed the desk behind him. Several books lay scattered across it. One of them was open.
She recognized the symbol on its cover.
Two interlocking circles.
The same symbol as the mark on her palm.
Elvarra stepped closer.
“What is that?”
Rowan immediately closed the book.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm not ready to explain it.”
“And when will you be ready?”
Rowan fell silent.
Elvarra sighed.
“You know what happened to me, don't you?”
“Some of it.”
“And Mom?”
Rowan looked at her.
“Don't talk about your mother right now.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't yet know who you truly miss.”
Elvarra felt her chest tighten.
“I don't even remember her face.”
Rowan lowered his head.
“That's the problem.”
Before Elvarra could ask another question, a sound came from outside.
A black bird was perched on the windowsill.
The bird didn't move.
Its eyes were white.
Elvarra stared at it.
“That's strange.”
Rowan immediately drew a dagger.
“Don't get closer.”
The bird opened its beak.
But the voice that came out wasn't a bird's voice.
“She has found the trail.”
Elvarra froze.
Rowan stared at the bird.
“Who sent you?”
The bird tilted its head.
“You know who.”
Then its body turned into black smoke and vanished.
Elvarra stared at the spot where the bird had been.
“I think we have a problem.”
Rowan didn't deny it.
“Starting tonight, you can't leave your room.”
“Why?”
“Because they know now.”
“Who are they?”
Rowan looked at her.
“People who should have already forgotten you.”
Night fell earlier than usual.
Elvarra sat on her bed, gazing at the moon hidden behind the clouds. She should have been afraid, but strangely, her thoughts only felt calmer.
As if someone were guiding her.
She opened her palm.
The mark began to glow again.
Then she heard a soft knock at the window.
Elvarra turned.
There was no one there.
The knocking came again.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
She stood and opened the window.
Fog filled the yard.
Then a voice rang out.
“Elvarra.”
Veyra appeared from behind the fog.
This time, she looked different. Her face was paler, and there was a thin wound near her temple.
“What happened to you?”
Veyra didn't answer.
“You have to leave.”
“Where?”
“North.”
Elvarra stared at her.
“Kaelith said the same thing.”
“Don't trust Kaelith.”
“Why?”
“Because he hasn't told you the real reason.”
“What reason?”
Veyra stepped closer.
“He was the one who brought you to Nocthollow twelve years ago.”
Elvarra fell silent.
“Kaelith?”
Veyra nodded.
“Then why does he want me to go back?”
“Because he needs you.”
“For what?”
Veyra looked toward the forest.
“To open something.”
“What?”
“A gate.”
Elvarra remembered the stone gate she'd seen on the first night.
“A gate to Nocthollow?”
Veyra nodded.
But before Elvarra could ask anything else, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Veyra immediately stepped back.
“Don't tell Rowan I came.”
“Wait.”
Veyra stopped.
“If you're really a part of me, why don't I remember you?”
Veyra looked at her sadly.
“Because to remember me...”
She gave a faint smile.
“...you have to remember how you died.”
Then Veyra disappeared.
Elvarra's bedroom door opened.
Rowan stood there.
His gaze immediately fell on the open window.
“You saw her?”
Elvarra didn't answer.
Rowan closed his eyes for a moment.
“She came again.”
“Who?”
“Veyra.”
Elvarra looked at her father.
“You know her.”
“Yes.”
“And you know why she said I had died before?”
Rowan fell silent.
Then a bell rang outside the house.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Rowan's face immediately went pale.
“That's impossible.”
Elvarra stared at him.
“What?”
Rowan turned toward the window.
In the distance, beyond the fog-shrouded forest, a purple light slowly appeared between the trees.
The stone gate.
The same gate as that night.
But this time, the gate wasn't alone.
A little girl stood in front of it.
And though she was very far away, Elvarra could see her face clearly.
The little girl's face was Elvarra's face at seven years old.