Halia's POV
Selora said nothing to me. She just kept staring at me. It was not like she was trying to figure out what was going on in my head or anything like that. It was more like she was waiting for something to happen to me.
The silence between us was really uncomfortable. It made my chest feel tight. I finally decided to say something.
"You said we would talk, " I said to Selora.
She smiled at me. "And we are talking," she said.
"That is not talking, " I replied, frowning at her. She was starting to scare me a little. She was the only one who might have answers. Everything that was happening in my life felt really wrong and unnatural.
First, there was that dream. The man in it touched me. Marked me. Then I woke up with blood between my legs. That mark on my neck. I was not sure if it was really a dream or something else.
Then I went to the library. I found a book and a newspaper. Sixteen girls had died on blood moons. They were all found in the same way.
I did not understand why I was still alive.
Then I had that second dream. There was chanting, a woman, Kathy, a baby, and a man who stabbed her. He thought the baby was still inside her.
A hybrid. What was that?
The woman in my dream looked like me. I was starting to think I was losing my mind.
Selora said, "You are just not used to listening," she said, snapping me back from my thoughts.
I frowned at her. She spoke like everything had a meaning.'Bitch, you are not Jesus to be delivering parables', I thought as I scoffed in my brain.
"Then help me understand, Selora," I said to her, my voice shaking a little.
She was quiet for a moment before she finally spoke.
"Tell me what you remember about the place you went to with your friend before you were brought here," she said.
I stopped eating. Looked at her. "You mean the library?" I asked.
"Yes," she said quietly. "The library."
"It was abandoned. It was burnt down. There were broken shelves and damaged books. I do not even know how I managed to find that book and the newspaper."
She smiled slightly. "That is what people in the outside world see," she said.
I felt a chill run down my spine. "What do you mean?" I asked.
Selora remained calm. "That place was never meant for everyone. It was protected. It was a place where knowledge existed. Only for those who could really access it."
My heartbeat slowed down. "What kind of knowledge?" I asked.
"Truths," she said. "The kind that sound like fantasy until you see them for what they are."
We were quiet for a moment.
I asked her, "You? What does that have to do with you?"
Her gaze held mine. "I was its keeper," she said.
My breath caught. "You were the librarian?" I asked.
"Yes," she said.
Everything shifted. I felt like I was seeing things differently.
I said, "You knew I was there."
She said, "I knew someone had crossed a line they did not understand."
I asked her, "How did you know it was me?"
Selora exhaled softly. "There was a day when someone came to me for help," she began, her tone changing slightly.
Something about her voice felt older.
"She was running. She was ....desperate. The kind of fear you feel when you know death is already close," she said.
I swallowed.
"She had hair, not from old age, they were white as snow, and eyes that were metallic blue. They did not belong to this world," she said.
Something stirred in my chest.
"She asked for my help, " Selora continued. "Not to escape death. To protect something she carried."
I asked her, "And you helped her?"
She said, "I gave her a place to hide, but she knew it would not be enough."
My chest tightened. "She knew she was going to die," Selora said quietly. "People like her always know."
I asked her, "What happened?"
"She gave me something."
My breath caught. "A pendant," she said. "Small, easy to overlook, but not meaningless."
My mind was racing.
"She told me someone would come one day," Selora continued. "Someone the library would recognize. Someone I would recognize."
I asked her, "Did you believe her?"
She said, "No."
That surprised me.
"But I remembered," she said.
A strange tension settled in my chest.
I asked her, "What happened next?"
Selora's expression darkened slightly. "They found her," she said.
My stomach dropped. "The people chasing her?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. Her fingers tightened faintly.
"They came for her and made sure she had died in the fire together with the library," she said.
I whispered, "The fire..."
She said, "It was not an accident."
My throat went dry.
"They burned the library to destroy everything inside it," she said.
"The woman?"
Selora met my gaze. "I could not save her," she said.
Her words were quiet and final.
I asked her, "You left her?"
Her eyes sharpened. "I survived," she said. "I kept what mattered."
That did not sound like regret. It sounded like a choice.
I asked her, "The pendant?"
Her gaze lingered on me. "I kept it," she said.
Something shifted inside me.
I asked her, "Why?"
"Because she was not entirely wrong."
My heartbeat picked up.
"She said someone would come," Selora said softly. "Someone the library would recognize."
Her eyes locked onto mine.
"I did not believe her until you walked in, " she said.
Her words settled slowly.
"You think that person is me?"
"I do not think. I observe."
That answer did not help me.
"You said I was brought here. Why?" I said.
Selora was quiet for a moment. "When you were found, you were bleeding," she said. "The mark on your neck was unstable."
My hand moved to my neck instinctively.
"It should not have healed that quickly," she said.
I asked her, "You do not know what it is?"
She said, "No."
That surprised me.
"But I know it is not ordinary," she said.
We were silent for a moment.
"You are not ordinary either, Halia," Selora said,
My chest tightened. "I am human, " I said.
She said, "Partially."
The word hit me hard.
I said, "That does not make sense."
She said, "It will, just not all at once."
My thoughts were spinning.
"The voice, the one I hear sometimes... What is it?"I said
Selora went still. "You hear it often?" she asked.
I said, "Not always. It is there."
Her gaze sharpened. "That voice is not something outside you," she said. "It is not madness. It is not foreign."
My fingers curled slightly.
"Then what is it?" I asked her
Selora leaned closer. "It is part of you," she said.
Her words settled heavily.
I whispered, "Part of me?"
"Yes."
We were silent for a moment.
My heart was pounding. None of this felt real.
I asked her, "The prophecy?"
Selora paused briefly. "A beautiful one shall be born," she said, "one who will become the key to breaking a curse and restoring balance between realms... Through blood and power."
Her words shut me up.
She turned to leave.
I called out to her, "Selora."
She paused.
I asked her, "What happens now?"
She said softly, "That depends on what you choose to remember."
Her words felt strange.
Before I could ask her anything, she walked out. The door closed behind her.
The room fell silent.
My thoughts were racing. The library, the fire, the woman, the voice. None of it made sense.
My breathing grew uneven.
Then I felt it again... That strange pull.
A whisper.
Faint. Familiar.
My lips parted slightly.
Before I could stop myself, the words slipped out.
"Bathron vethereth..."
The air shifted.
Pressure built around me.
Then everything went black.
---
"Halia?"
My eyes snapped open.
I blinked, disoriented.
The dining table. The plates. The smell of food.
Maggie was staring at me. I felt her eyes on me.
My mom sat across from me. She looked worried.
"Halia, are you okay?" Maggie asked me.
My breath came out unevenly. I tried to calm down.
I looked around the room. This was my home. I knew this place.
"What…?" I whispered. I did not know what to say.
"You just stopped eating, " my mom said. "Are you alright?" She sounded concerned.
My heart pounded in my chest. I felt scared.
Stopped eating?. I had just been with Selora. I remembered it clearly.
The memory felt real. Too real. It felt like it actually happened.
Maggie frowned. "You zoned out," she said.
"I…" I started to say something, but stopped. I did not know what to say.
Something felt off. Something did not feel right.
Slowly, I slipped my hand into my pocket. My fingers touched something.
My breath caught. I froze. Then I pulled it out.
A pendant. It was small. It was real.
My heart skipped a beat. Everything that happened. It was not just in my head.
It had happened.