Chapter 3

ARIA'S POV:

The silence in my father's study was unbearable.

He stood frozen, flipping through the photos again and again, his jaw locked tight. I could see it nowhe wasn't just scared. He was terrified.

These were taken recently, he muttered, not looking at me. How did they even find you three together? You said you didn't know them.

I don't! I snapped, yanking the photos from his hand. I don't even like them! One's a weirdo from a bookshop, and the other's basically invisible at school. What's going on?

He looked at me like I'd just confessed to murder.

They were never supposed to find each other, he whispered.

Find each other? My blood went cold.

What do you mean 'they'? We?

Before he could answer, the butler returned, voice trembling. Sir… the security system was breached. Someone got into the archives room downstairs.

Dad bolted upright. What?

I didn't wait, I raced after them both.

Because if someone was digging into our past…

I needed to know what they'd find, before I did.

ARIANA'S POV:

I didn't sleep that night.

I spent it staring out my window with a bat beside me and the note burning a hole in my pocket.

That shadowy car never left. It just sat across the street like it belonged there, like it owned the night.

My phone buzzed.

No more warnings, Ariana.

Stop digging, or we'll bury the truth with you.

I dropped the phone, heart in my throat.

Who was we?

I turned toward the mirror and for the first time in years, I really looked at myself.

Same brown eyes. Same stubborn curl in my hair. Same pale scar above my eyebrow from when I fell off the porch steps as a kid.

And yet… something felt off.

Like I was a puzzle piece jammed into the wrong box.

I grabbed my backpack, stuffed it with everything I had notes, photos, the crumpled silhouette drawing and ran to the garage. If I stayed, I was dead.

It was time to find the other girls.

Even if it meant confronting a past I never agreed to live.

ARIELLE'S POV:

I couldn't move.

I sat on the floor of my bedroom, that journal page open in my lap, reading it over and over again. The paper was scorched on one side. The writing faded. But it was all there.

If they ever meet, the truth will kill everything we built.

Kill.

That word haunted me.

I used to think my mother was just paranoid… hiding me from the world because of anxiety, trauma, something. But now?

She was protecting me from something much darker.

My hands trembled as I turned another page, burned, barely legible.

Aria… Ariana…

Keep them apart.

They're dangerous together.

Blood calls to blood but sometimes, blood spills more than it saves. My heart stopped.

My name.

Their names.

Why would she write this? What was she hiding?

Before I could think, my phone buzzed again.

Same unknown number.

It's not safe there anymore. They know where you are. Leave now, or pay the price.

My breath caught. I turned to the window. The black car was outside.

Waiting.

MYSTERY POV:

In the shadows of a high-rise downtown, the Watcher stood before a wall of monitors.

Three screens. Three girls.

One fate.

They're moving, a voice rasped behind them. The serum didn't suppress their instincts as long as we'd hoped.

The Watcher's jaw tensed. Then we accelerate Phase Two.

A tray was brought forward, three files with red wax seals. Each stamped with a crest long buried in history: a triangle formed by bleeding roses.

Do we expose the secret? the voice asked.

The Watcher turned, revealing sharp, calculating eyes. No. We push them to find it themselves. Fear is the best bait. Pain is the best trigger.

The final monitor zoomed in on Aria.

She's already asking questions. She's the spark.

A second monitor flashed on Ariana. And she's the matchstick.

Then the third screen. Arielle. Quiet. Distant.

And she, the Watcher whispered, is the bomb.

The voice behind him hesitated. If they remember what happened as infants…

They won't, the Watcher interrupted. Not unless someone shows them.

They picked up a photo burned on the edges, just like the journal page. Three baby girls. Holding hands. Blood smeared across the crib.

Let them come together, the Watcher said. "Let them dig their own graves.

ARIANA'S POV:

The library smelled like old wood and secrets.

Ariana tucked herself into a back corner, clutching the note from the magazine like it might catch fire. She'd never believed in fate, but now, every step she took seemed carved by someone else's hand.

The black car.

The note.

The photos.

What was the connection?

She flipped open her laptop and typed in a name she'd found at the bottom of the shoebox: Evelyn Saintwood—a name written in shaky handwriting, beneath a photo of a woman holding three newborns.

The search results pinged.

Former heiress. Vanished seventeen years ago. Declared legally dead after her car was found at the bottom of a river. No remains.

Her stomach flipped.

She clicked an archived article: Evelyn Saintwood: The Heiress Who Disappeared with Her Secrets.

There, buried deep in the article, was another name.

Leonardo Gray.

Ariana's hand trembled.

That was Aria's father.

Her heart thundered as a dangerous theory began to form. What if Evelyn Saintwood wasn't just a tragic socialite?

What if she was their mother?

ARIELLE'S POV:

Arielle pressed the journal page to the light, trying to make out faded ink beneath the burns. Each word made her breath catch.

The children were separated for their safety. The bloodline cannot be revealed. If the truth comes out, the council will kill them all.

Council?

Bloodline?

She turned the page. A symbol had been etched there, three stars inside a triangle. She'd seen it once before. On her mother's ring.

The sound of glass shattering downstairs pulled her from the pages.

She froze.

Someone was in the house.

She grabbed the journal and slipped into her closet, holding her breath. Footsteps padded softly over tile, then paused.

The door creaked open.

She stifled a scream.

A dark silhouette entered the room and went straight for the shoebox. When they realized it was missing, they cursed and bolted.

Only then did she dare to breathe again.

Whoever they were, they weren't looking for money.

They were looking for the truth.

ARIA'S POV:

Aria stared at the photos on the desk.

Her, Arielle, and Ariana.

Same eyes. Same bone structure. Even her father, usually cold as granite, looked haunted.

You said I was your only daughter, she whispered, voice trembling.

I didn't lie, he said softly. Not completely.

She stepped back. So you did know?

It was for your safety. All of you.

Aria's hands balled into fists. "You took my sisters from me.

His silence was confirmation enough.

I trusted you, she said bitterly, backing toward the door. You let me believe I was alone.

Before he could stop her, she turned and ran through the hallway, past the guards, into the pouring rain.

Lightning flashed overhead, and for the first time in her life, Aria Gray had no idea who she was anymore.

MYSTERY POV:

She's beginning to awaken, the voice said, watching Aria sprint down the driveway on the security feed.

They all are, the hooded figure muttered. Just as the prophecy said.

Do we intervene?

No. Let them uncover the truth. When they do, they'll either destroy each other… or rise.

The figure pressed a button. Monitors shifted to show all three girls.

The final phase had begun.

ARIANA'S POV:

Ariana had never broken into a house before.

But this wasn't just any house. It was the Saintwood estate.

Or what was left of it.

The iron gates creaked as she slipped through a gap in the fence. Vines crawled over the mansion's skeleton, windows shattered like tired eyes. But something pulled her forward. Maybe it was madness. Or instinct.

She found the door half-open.

Inside, time had stopped. Portraits still hung on cracked walls. The scent of rotting wood and dust filled her lungs.

And then she saw it.

A nursery.

Painted stars on the ceiling. A rusted crib. A mobile still turning slowly, as if touched by invisible hands.

On the wall, carved into old plaster, were three names:

Ariana. Arielle. Aria.

Her breath hitched.

Her name had been here. Once.

A creak echoed behind her.

She turned but saw no one.

Then a shadow darted past the hall.

She wasn't alone.

ARIELLE'S POV:

Arielle didn't go to school the next day. She called in sick, though her voice barely worked.

Instead, she sat in her room, surrounded by the scattered pages of the journal.

She'd managed to piece together a few things:

There was a war once. A hidden one. Between those born of blood and those created by it.

And her mother was at the center.

But one line haunted her:

If the chosen three reunite, the seal breaks.

What seal? she whispered, running a finger along the cryptic phrase.

That's when her phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

"You're in danger. He knows you found the journal. Meet me at the train station. Come alone."

Her stomach twisted.

Who was he?

And who sent the message?

Before she could overthink it, a knock rattled her window.

A figure stood outside in the dark.

ARIA'S POV:

Rain clung to her lashes as she ran, soaking her to the bone. Every breath felt like fire, every step heavier than the last.

She didn't know where she was going. She just had to get away.

A car screeched to a halt beside her.

The door swung open.

Get in, said a voice.

Aria paused.

It was him. The boy from the party. The one who had kissed her like he knew her soul.

Why are you here? she asked breathlessly.

Because if you keep running like that, someone's going to find you. And this time, they won't be wearing a pretty mask.

She hesitated but the cold was unforgiving.

She climbed in.

They drove in silence for a while. Then he spoke.

I know who you are," he said. "And I know who's hunting you.

Her heart clenched.

And who are you? she whispered.

He glanced at her. Rain slid down his cheek like a tear. Let's just say… I made a blood oath to protect you. All three of you."

MYSTERY POV:

She went to the mansion, the man said through the earpiece, watching Ariana from the trees.

Did she find it? the voice replied.

Yes. All of it.

A pause.

Then we move to Phase Two. If they find each other, everything we've built collapses.

The man pulled a dagger from his coat. It shimmered unnaturally in the moonlight.

What about the oath? he asked.

The voice was cold. "Break it. Or die with them."

ARIANA'S POV:

Ariana didn't run when she heard the creak again.

She stood her ground in the nursery.

Whatever was here with her, it had been watching her long before she ever stepped foot inside.

She moved back toward the door but it slammed shut with a bang.

A whisper coiled through the room like smoke:

You were never meant to return.

Her pulse screamed in her ears. Who's there?

The mobile above the crib began to spin—violently.

She reached for her phone.

No signal.

Suddenly, the room darkened, as if the shadows themselves had come alive. The crib caught fire, flames licking the edges of the mobile but not burning the wood.

And then she saw it, on the wall behind the fire.

A blood-red handprint. Dripping fresh. Her own size.

Someone or something was leaving her a message.

Ariana didn't wait to read it. She threw open the door and ran.

But as she reached the hallway, a tall, hooded figure stepped into her path.

He tilted his head.

And smiled.

ARIELLE'S POV:

The figure outside her window didn't move.

Arielle's hands trembled as she grabbed the curtain rod like a weapon.

Go away! she shouted.

But the figure simply placed a finger to his lips… and vanished.

No footsteps. No noise. Just… gone.

Her phone buzzed again.

Same unknown number.

You're being watched. Don't trust the boy with the grey eyes.

Her blood turned to ice.

Grey eyes?

Her new friend at school, Damian had grey eyes.

Could it be him?

Could any of this be real?

She threw her phone on the bed and turned—only to find a single white rose on her desk.

She hadn't left the window open.

The petals were bleeding red.

ARIA'S POV:

He didn't speak again until they pulled into an abandoned gas station.

Aria's arms were wrapped tightly around her chest. Her dress clung to her like second skin.

Why are you helping me? she asked.

He looked at her, his jaw tight. Because I failed once before. I won't fail again.

She stepped out of the car, shivering. you're not making any sense.

I know.

He opened the trunk. Inside, a black duffel bag.

From it, he pulled out three small boxes. Velvet. Identical.

One for each of them.

He handed her the first.

What is this?

He met her gaze. A trigger. When all three of you open yours, the truth will begin to unravel."

Aria opened the box.

Inside was a necklace, an obsidian pendant with the symbol of a crescent moon pierced by a dagger.

It pulsed against her palm like a heartbeat.

Suddenly, her vision blurred.

And then

A flash.

She was standing in a war-torn courtyard. Screams echoed. Fire raged. Two girls—one with her face stood beside her.

A voice shouted, "Protect the Bloodline!"

Then darkness.

She gasped, falling to her knees.

What did you do to me? she whispered.

He crouched beside her. I didn't do anything, Aria. That was your memory. One of many.

MYSTERY POV:

She has the pendant now, the hunter muttered, watching through a distant mirror, the image flickering with unstable magic.

She's remembering.

Too soon, the voice snapped. The Seal hasn't weakened enough. If she regains her full power now, we won't be able to control her.

The hunter frowned. What about the sisters?

A pause.

They're starting to remember too. But Ariana is the real threat.

The hunter gripped the dagger tighter.

Then I'll take her out first.

BACK AT THE ESTATE

Ariana's breath came in shallow gasps.

The hooded man raised a finger, the air around him crackling.

You don't remember yet. But you will, he said in a voice that sounded like every nightmare she'd ever had.

He pointed to the wall behind her.

A new message had appeared beneath the carved names:

The blood you share is the curse you'll carry.

Ariana ran.

She didn't look back.

But for the first time, she wasn't just running from shadows.

She was running toward a war she didn't yet understand.

To be continued.....