Chapter 32: The Woman
Nobody spoke.
The ashes of the photograph lay scattered across the floor.
The silver flames were gone.
The message was gone.
But the words remained.
If you can read this, they're already too late.
And then James's whisper.
She knows you're awake.
Lena looked from James to Adrian.
Then back again.
Neither looked normal.
Neither looked calm.
The fear on their faces was real.
Which meant one thing.
The person they were talking about was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Lena swallowed.
"Who?"
No answer.
Her voice rose.
"Who knows I'm awake?"
Still silence.
Something snapped inside her.
"No."
She stepped forward.
"I'm done."
James closed his eyes.
"Lena..."
"No."
Her hands trembled.
Her pulse hammered.
Every secret.
Every half answer.
Every lie.
All of it crashed together.
"You don't get to keep doing this."
She pointed toward the ashes.
"People are disappearing."
Toward Adrian.
"Random strangers show up claiming they know me."
Toward Caleb.
"I keep seeing things nobody can explain."
Her voice cracked.
"And apparently everybody knows what's happening except me."
Silence.
Then Adrian spoke.
"The woman who sent that message is named Seraphine."
The name hit the room like a stone.
James immediately cursed.
Caleb's jaw tightened.
Neither reaction escaped Lena.
Important.
The name was important.
"Who is she?"
Adrian didn't answer right away.
For the first time he seemed genuinely unsure.
As if he was trying to decide how much to tell her.
Finally he sighed.
"The last queen."
The room became very still.
Lena frowned.
"Queen of what?"
Adrian looked directly at her.
"You."
The answer made absolutely no sense.
James pinched the bridge of his nose.
Caleb muttered something under his breath.
Lena stared.
"That wasn't an answer."
"No."
Adrian agreed.
"It wasn't."
His silver eyes darkened.
"Because if I tell you everything at once, you're not going to believe me."
"Try me."
A bitter smile touched his lips.
"Trust me."
The smile vanished.
"You won't."
Something in his voice made her uneasy.
Before she could push further, a loud crash echoed from upstairs.
Everyone froze.
The sound had come from Lena's room.
Silence followed.
A long.
Uncomfortable silence.
James looked toward the ceiling.
Caleb looked toward the ceiling.
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
None of them looked surprised.
That was the worst part.
Lena's stomach tightened.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Another sound came.
A scraping noise.
Like furniture being dragged across the floor.
Her bedroom.
Definitely her bedroom.
"What was that?"
Nobody answered.
Caleb moved first.
Fast.
He was already halfway up the stairs before Lena could blink.
Adrian followed immediately.
James cursed and ran after them.
Lena stood frozen for exactly one second.
Then she sprinted after them.
Her pulse pounded in her ears.
The staircase felt too long.
Too steep.
Too slow.
The scraping sound came again.
Louder this time.
Then suddenly stopped.
The silence that followed was somehow worse.
Caleb reached her room first.
The door stood partially open.
He froze.
Adrian froze.
James froze.
Lena pushed past them.
And immediately understood why.
Her room was destroyed.
The desk had been overturned.
Books scattered everywhere.
Drawers ripped open.
Clothes thrown across the floor.
It looked like a tornado had passed through.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Lena stared.
"What happened?"
No one answered.
Then she noticed something.
The mirror.
The mirror was untouched.
Everything else had been destroyed.
Everything.
Except the mirror.
Perfect.
Pristine.
Standing in the middle of the chaos.
Waiting.
The sight sent chills through her body.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
A silver symbol began appearing across the glass.
Lena's breath caught.
The symbol glowed.
Expanded.
Shifted.
Then words began forming.
Not one word at a time.
All at once.
Like someone writing directly onto the mirror.
The message read:
You shouldn't have let them find her.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The room felt colder.
The message remained.
Bright.
Clear.
Impossible.
Lena looked toward James.
The color had drained from his face.
Adrian looked furious.
Caleb looked ready to break something.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Because none of them seemed surprised the message existed.
Only by what it said.
Another line appeared beneath the first.
The silver writing moving across the glass by itself.
Now she's mine again.
The temperature dropped instantly.
A sharp crack echoed through the room.
Lena jumped.
The mirror.
A fracture had appeared.
One thin silver crack.
Then another.
Then another.
The web of fractures spread across the glass.
Something moved inside.
Not a reflection.
Something else.
Something standing behind the reflection.
Watching.
Waiting.
Lena's heart nearly stopped.
The girl.
The silver-eyed girl.
She was back.
Standing on the other side.
For the first time she didn't look calm.
She looked terrified.
The girl slammed her hand against the inside of the mirror.
Hard.
The cracked glass shook.
Her mouth moved.
She was saying something.
Desperately.
Frantically.
But Lena couldn't hear her.
The cracks multiplied.
The girl's panic intensified.
She pointed behind Lena.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Lena turned.
Nothing.
The room was empty.
When she looked back, the girl had become even more frantic.
Her mouth formed a single word.
Run.
The realization hit instantly.
Lena spun around.
A second too late.
Something grabbed her wrist.
Ice cold fingers.
Not Caleb.
Not James.
Not Adrian.
The touch sent a violent shock through her body.
Silver light exploded behind her eyes.
A memory crashed into her mind.
A massive stone hall.
Thousands of people kneeling.
A throne carved from moonlit crystal.
A woman sitting upon it.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Silver eyes.
Dark hair.
A crown of living light.
The woman smiled.
Not kindly.
Not cruelly.
Possessively.
As though she were looking at something that belonged to her.
Then the woman spoke.
Three simple words.
Words that echoed through Lena's soul.
"I've found you."
The vision shattered.
Lena gasped.
The cold hand vanished.
The room returned.
The broken mirror.
The scattered furniture.
The terrified faces around her.
Only one thing remained.
Burning across the inside of her wrist.
A silver mark.
Fresh.
Glowing.
Alive.
And the moment Caleb saw it...
His expression turned into pure horror.