Lyria Vale had always avoided the forest at the edge of town. Dawnfall Forest was known for its strange glow at night as though hundreds of lanterns were hanging in the air. People whispered stories about wandering lights and voices calling your name from the shadows. Some claimed the forest was cursed. Others claimed it was alive. Lyria never believed any of it. She lived a simple life as an apprentice at the little herbal shop near the river and kept her days peaceful and quiet. Until the night a lantern appeared outside her window and changed everything. She saw it while closing her shutters. A single golden light floated…

Mira Thalen had always felt the ocean speaking to her in ways others could not understand. Since childhood she sensed currents like emotions and heard faint melodies echoing from the deep. People in the coastal town of Lyria often whispered that she was strange but harmless. They never saw the way the waves leaned toward her when she stood barefoot on the sand or the way the tide changed rhythm when she whispered back. The sea felt alive to her. It felt aware. And in its awareness she always sensed a presence watching her from somewhere far beneath the surface. One evening as the sun melted into the horizon Mira…

The ancient garden behind the abandoned mansion had always been forbidden. Everyone in the quiet town of Hollowmere spoke of strange lights drifting through its trees at night and whispers that rose from the vines when no wind was present. Children dared one another to approach the rusted gates but none ever stepped inside. The adults refused to speak of the place except in hushed tones. They said the garden had been cursed long ago that a tragedy took place there and that no living soul should enter. But to Seraphine Vale the garden was not frightening. It was beautiful. She had painted it from the outside many times its…

The first time Arienna Hale felt the river calling her name the world around her had already begun to change in quiet ways she could not explain. She had always lived in the small mountain town of Elderspring a place wrapped by forests steep cliffs and a river that glowed faintly silver each full moon. Most people believed the glow came from minerals beneath the water but Arienna had always sensed something deeper. Something alive. Arienna worked as a painter. She spent her days creating calm landscapes in her studio near the river. Her nights however were restless. For weeks she had been dreaming of a man whose face she…

Isla Wren had always been drawn to the mysteries of Crescent Lake a secluded body of water deep within the forest surrounding her hometown. Legends spoke of spirits inhabiting its depths travelers vanishing without a trace and an ethereal figure appearing only on misty nights. Most dismissed these stories as folklore but Isla with her fascination for the supernatural could not resist exploring the lake herself. The first evening she approached Crescent Lake a heavy fog rolled over the water swallowing the shoreline in a thick veil. The surface of the lake was still yet Isla felt a pulse in the air an energy making her skin prickle. Her flashlight…

Selene Ashcroft had always been drawn to the unknown. Her childhood had been filled with stories of spirits, haunted estates, and whispers that lingered just beyond hearing. Yet nothing had prepared her for Midnight Manor, a sprawling Victorian mansion perched on the edge of the sleepy town of Raven Hollow. The locals whispered tales of the manor being cursed, claiming that those who entered were touched by shadows that walked on their own. Selene, driven by curiosity and a sense of adventure, accepted a position as the caretaker for the estate, unaware that her life was about to intertwine with forces beyond comprehension. The first evening in the manor was…