The night had settled over Beacon Hills like a thick blanket. The house was quiet, save for the occasional creak of the old wooden floors and the low hum of the fridge. I had just finished my homework and was lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. The flickering streetlights outside cast their dim glow through the curtains, creating shifting shadows across the room. It was just another night, another seemingly normal evening in this town full of secrets.
But tonight… tonight was different.
I was just about to turn over and try to get some sleep when I heard it. A voice. Soft, like a whisper carried by the wind, but it was undeniably there.
"You're not alone."
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. I thought maybe it was just the exhaustion, the weight of the dreams from the last few nights seeping into my consciousness. But the voice didn't stop. It came again, clearer this time.
"Destiny awaits. Power calls to you. You must listen to the trials ahead."
My heart skipped a beat. My eyes shot open, and for a second, I thought I'd imagined it. My mind had been racing all day, after all. Maybe I was just hearing things. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to go back to sleep.
But the voice came again, more insistent this time, like it was speaking directly into my mind.
"Strength is your birthright. Embrace it, or it will consume you."
I shot up in bed, my pulse hammering in my ears. The room felt cold all of a sudden, and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Was I dreaming? Hallucinating? I glanced over at Scott's bed across the room, but he was sound asleep, blissfully unaware of the voice that was now echoing in my head.
"Hello?" I whispered, my voice barely audible in the silence.
There was no response. Only the heavy silence that followed.
I shook my head, trying to dismiss it as a figment of my imagination. I'd had strange dreams before, sure, but this… this felt different. I reached for my phone, needing something to distract me, but as soon as I looked at the screen, the voice came again. But this time, it felt more real, more present, as if it was waiting for me to acknowledge it.
"You are not ready, but you must prepare. Time is short."
I stared at the ceiling, my mind spinning. My hands were shaking as I set the phone down. Was this some kind of weird dream? Or was I losing my mind?
"What do you want from me?" I murmured, more to myself than anyone else. But there was no answer. Only the same haunting silence that now filled the room.
The voice hadn't stopped, though. In the back of my mind, I could still hear its cryptic words, like a distant whisper from the abyss.
"The power within you cannot be ignored. It is a gift, but it comes with a cost."
I rubbed my temples, trying to calm my racing thoughts. This can't be real, I told myself. It's just the stress. Just the dreams. Nothing more.
But deep down, I knew that wasn't true. Something was happening. Something was changing, and I didn't understand it.
I stood up and walked to the window, pushing the curtains aside. The street outside was quiet, as if the entire world was holding its breath, waiting for something. Beacon Hills, for all its strange occurrences, felt as normal as it always did. The same old town I'd grown up in. Or so I thought.
The voice was still there, like a low hum in the back of my mind, reminding me of its presence. It had left a mark on me—something that lingered like a shadow. I wanted to scream at it, demand answers, but I didn't know how.
I glanced over at Scott again. He was still asleep, oblivious to whatever madness was stirring inside my head. He had no idea what I was going through. How could he? The world I was starting to see, the one I was being pulled into, was nothing like the normal life he was still living.
It wasn't fair. None of it was fair.
"What am I supposed to do?" I asked aloud, my voice breaking the silence.
The answer came, but it wasn't the voice this time. Instead, I felt something—something inside me, deep in my chest, like a sudden rush of energy, a crackling power awakening. I stumbled back from the window, my heart racing. The air in the room felt heavier, charged with an unexplainable tension.
The voice spoke once more, but this time it was different. It was clearer, more familiar, like it was a part of me.
"You will know when the time comes. Trust in the power within you. But beware the darkness that follows."
I stumbled backwards, almost tripping over my own feet. I pressed my hand to my forehead, as if trying to block out the voice, the overwhelming sensation that was flooding me. My breath came in shallow gasps, my heart still hammering in my chest.
I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the voice away, willing the overwhelming feeling to stop. But even as I did, I could still hear it, faint but insistent.
"Strength comes at a price. And the trials will test you. But you are stronger than you know."
I took a deep breath, trying to center myself. My thoughts were a whirlwind, a storm of confusion and fear. What did this mean? Why me? Why now?
And then it hit me. The dreams. The strange pull I had felt toward the forest. The growing sense that something, something huge, was about to change. Maybe it wasn't just a coincidence. Maybe I wasn't just having nightmares.
Maybe I was meant for something else. Something I didn't understand yet.
The voice had warned me. I had to prepare. I had to get ready.
But for what?
Before I could answer that question, I heard a noise from across the room. Scott shifted in his sleep, groaning slightly. I froze, my pulse skipping in my chest. He didn't wake up, but the moment was enough to break my concentration.
I turned away from the window, my head still spinning, trying to make sense of everything. The voice, the power. It was all too much. And yet, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was only the beginning. That whatever was happening to me wasn't just some weird dream or hallucination. It was real.
And it was only going to get worse.