The first time Aria Wynn saw the star hanging beneath the ravens crown it was whispering her name in a voice made of wind and moonlight. The star was not a true star but a pale silver orb suspended over the abandoned moor of Blackthorn Vale a place the villagers refused to cross after dusk. They claimed the vale was cursed. They claimed the ravens that circled its sky were guardians of something ancient and restless. But Aria had never feared the dark. She only feared the quiet that followed her everywhere the quiet that filled her chest where a voice should have been. She had been born without speech…

The night the mist returned to Hollowmist Shore was the night Elara Quinn realized she was no longer alone in the world and no longer part of it either. The shore had always been a strange place where fog clung like memory and the tides whispered in accents no human tongue could claim. Children grew up hearing tales of spirits walking beneath the moon and lovers trapped between the worlds. Most forgot these legends by adulthood. Elara did not have that luxury. She was born during the Mistfall the rare night every century when the fog took shape like living silk. Her grandmother used to warn her that the mist…

I used to believe shadows were empty things simple silhouettes born from the absence of light. They stretched and shifted but always stayed silent loyal to their owners. That was before the night my shadow broke away from the ground stood up and whispered my name as if it had been waiting lifetimes to finally speak it. My name is Elara Wyn and nothing about my life was ever extraordinary until that moment. I lived alone in a small attic apartment above a dusty bookstore working part time sorting rare manuscripts and spending most nights sketching street scenes from my window. The city was loud chaotic alive with neon and…

The first time I felt the moon watching me I was seven. The second time it spoke to me I was twenty three. And the night it came for me was the night everything I knew about love life and reality shattered like thin glass under too much truth. My name is Aria Lane. I grew up in a small coastal town where myths were told like daily prayers and the ocean carried whispers no one admitted hearing. Most people blamed the wind for those whispers. I knew better. Even as a child the moon followed me. I used to sit on the shoreline with my knees hugged to my…

I never believed the sky could watch us until the night it called my name. The town of Riverpoint had always been quiet too quiet the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and nothing ever truly changed. But on the outskirts beyond the abandoned rail tracks and the rusted signal tower there was a field the townsfolk refused to enter after dark. They called it the Hollow Sky Field because no matter how clear the night was no stars ever shone above it. I did not believe that either until I stood there myself. It was supposed to be a simple photography trip. I had been chasing unique night…

The first time I stood before Crystal Lake I understood why the villagers refused to approach it after sunset. The water was too still too perfect like a sheet of glass reflecting the moon without a single ripple. The air carried a hush so complete that even the wind seemed afraid to disturb the silence. I had arrived only two days earlier seeking peace from the chaos of the world but instead I found myself staring into a place that felt alive in ways I could not explain. They told me never to listen to the lake at night. They told me never to answer if the water began to…

The first time I stepped into the abandoned estate on Hollowmere Road I felt the air shift as if the house itself inhaled. The gates stood open though no one had touched them in years. Vines curled around the iron bars like silent guardians and the moon hung low above the roof casting a pale glow across the cracked stone path. I should have turned back. Every instinct whispered caution. But something deeper pulled me forward like a distant voice calling my name from the dark. I had come to the village to escape the noise of the city. My life had fallen apart piece by piece until I no…

The first night I arrived in the old coastal town of Arindale I felt something watching me from beyond the tide. The sea was calm but the wind carried whispers that brushed against my neck like unseen fingers. I had come for solitude hoping that the sea air would clear the clutter in my mind. Instead I found myself standing on the quiet sand staring at a single lantern glowing far out near the misty horizon. It flickered like a heart still beating in the darkness. No boat. No ship. No path for anyone to stand there. Yet the lantern remained as steady as a soul refusing to be forgotten.…