“You…” Kate stammered, heart racing as recognition hit her like a wave. The woman’s presence sparked memories of a dream—a warning, a vision—where this same figure had appeared, telling her chilling words: To save them, you must die.

The woman’s eerie smile and the haunting words returned to her with stunning clarity.

“Who are you?” Kate had whispered, her voice trembling.

“Isabel,” the woman had replied calmly, her voice smooth, yet there was something unspoken in it.

“Isabel?”

The woman nodded. Her enigmatic smile never faltered.

Kate’s mind raced. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?” Her eyes darted to the door. “Didn’t Alena see you walk in?”

“Alena can’t see me,” Isabel said, her voice firm yet gentle. “I’ve been waiting for you to visit my world.”

“Your world?” Kate echoed, unsure of what she meant.

“If you want to stop the dark vision you’ve had about your brother and his friends, you need to come to me,” Isabel said, her gaze piercing.

Kate recoiled slightly, disbelief rising in her voice.

“How do you know about that?”

“Because I have powers you can’t understand,” Isabel answered, her smile twisting with a hidden meaning.

Kate froze, dread sinking into her bones. “And how am I supposed to come to you?”

“By dying,” Isabel murmured, her smile deepening in a way that sent chills down Kate’s spine.

Kate’s voice barely escaped her lips. “To– die?”

Isabel nodded, and at that moment, she vanished, leaving Kate gasped awake in her bed.

Now, standing face-to-face with Isabel in the waking world, Kate’s breath caught, her chest tightening as though the air itself had thickened. She locked eyes with Isabel, her pulse quickening, the mixture of surprise, fear, and an aching curiosity knotting in her stomach.

Why am I seeing her here?

“I... Isabel?” Kate stammered.

Isabel’s smile widened, her expression softening as she closed the distance between them. She cupped Kate’s face in her hands, her touch cold yet strangely comforting.

Kate frowned, noticing the glint of tears pooling in Isabel’s eyes. Why is she crying? We’ve never met before. What’s going on? How...how did she even know me?

“You’re... crying?” Kate asked hesitantly as tears began to stream down Isabel’s pale cheeks.

Isabel nodded. And to Kate’s surprise, she pulled her into a tight embrace.

“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry,” Isabel murmured, her voice cracking with emotion.

Kate stiffened, confusion clouding her thoughts. “Why are you sorry?” she asked, her tone flat. “We’ve never met before.”

Isabel gently pulled her hands away, still cradling Kate’s face. “Let me tell you a story,” she said with a sigh, her lips curving into a bittersweet smile. She guided Kate to a chaise lounge, sat beside her, and held her hands firmly.

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“There was a witch princess named Eva,” Isabel began, her voice distant. “She was vibrant, full of life, deeply loved. She married another witch, and soon after, they had a daughter. But happiness didn’t last. Her husband died, leaving her to mourn. Grief consumed her, and she wore black every day.”

Isabel’s gaze darkened, a quiet sadness in her eyes. “Then, something changed. Eva started to smile again, her old self returning. No one knew why—until she fainted during training. The healers confirmed it: Eva was pregnant again, but this time, with a human’s child.”

Isabel paused, her voice trembling. “It was forbidden for witches to mingle with humans. To protect our kind, our laws are strict. Eva’s actions were seen as a betrayal. She was banished from the coven. Her mother, the queen, made that decision but It tore her apart.”

Kate’s chest tightened, and Isabel’s grip on her hands grew stronger.

“Eva returned days later, begging for forgiveness. She said the man had abandoned her. But the witches were resolute. The queen, however, couldn’t let Eva’s First child be abandoned. She kept the child, but no one heard from Eva after that.” Isabel exhaled slowly, tracing the back of Kate’s hand.

Kate’s gaze remained fixed on Isabel’s lips as it quivered slightly, their unspoken meaning heavy in the silence.

“Do you know the woman in the story?” Isabel asked softly, her voice thick with sorrow.

Kate shook her head, confusion flickering in her eyes.

“She was your mother,” Isabel said, her voice shaking.

“Eva was banished while carrying you. Your sister stayed with us.” Her hand tightened around Kate’s. “Eva was my friend. I think about her every day—how she must have struggled, how her heart shattered. It haunts me.”

Kate’s breath caught. The words felt like a jagged knife, and her mind spun. Rebecca—her mother, the only mother she had ever known—flashed in her mind. Warm, nurturing Rebecca, who had raised her and Jeff with unwavering love. The realization that Rebecca wasn’t her biological mother pierced her heart with an ache she couldn’t explain, leaving a hollow space where certainty used to be.

Is this what Jeff felt when he learned the truth about Rebecca? she wondered, bitterness seeping into her thoughts. The pain of discovering Rebecca wasn’t her mother gnawed at her, sharp and relentless. Yet beneath it, something softer stirred—sympathy for Eva.

Eva’s pain unfolded in Kate’s mind. Eva’s lover had betrayed her, a betrayal so deep it shattered Eva’s world.

How had Eva survived? Kate’s thoughts twisted as the weight of Eva’s story pressed in on her. How had she carried a child alone and been cut off from everyone?

Her mind flickered to Alicia, the sister she had lost to a different kind of betrayal. Had Eva become like Alicia? The thought stung. Could the pain have twisted Eva too, turning her into someone driven by vengeance, like Alicia? Kate felt pity for Eva, but that pity was tinged with a deeper sorrow as if the weight of grief could destroy everything in its path.

“It must have been so hard for her,” Kate whispered, her gaze fixed on the hands that still rested over hers. “I can’t imagine how she lived after that.”

Isabel’s grip tightened, her voice cracking as she spoke. “I couldn’t save her. I carry the guilt of not being able to change her fate.”

Kate placed her other hand over Isabel’s. “You can’t carry guilt for what you couldn’t control,” she said quietly. A faint smile passed over her lips before fading. The echo of Jeff’s voice—It’s all my fault, Kate—echoed in her mind, and her throat tightened. “Please, Isabel, don’t let guilt consume you. It’s not your fault.”

Isabel offered a faint, bittersweet smile but remained silent, her eyes downcast. The room fell into a heavy quiet.

As Jeff’s voice echoed in her mind, Kate cleared her throat, shifting uneasily in her seat. She forced her thoughts away from the painful memories and tried to regain control.

“You mentioned I have a sister,” she said, her voice tinged with intrigue, her curiosity slowly growing. The thought of having a sister consumed her, and she couldn’t help but ask,

“What happened to her?”

Isabel’s expression hardened, her grip loosening around Kate’s hands as she slowly stood.

Kate frowned, a flicker of unease crossing her face. Is she dead? Lost? Or something worse? The questions pressed at her, but she pushed them aside, watching Isabel’s every movement.

Isabel walked over to the table, poured herself a glass of water, and drank it slowly. The silence stretched between them.

Finally, Isabel spoke, her voice barely a whisper. “We’re still looking for her.”

“Looking?” Kate’s heart sank. “Is she lost?”

“No,” Isabel replied sharply, setting the glass down. “She ran away. She’s a rebel, defying everything we stand for.”

Kate’s brow furrowed in shock. “A rebel? Why?”

A sly smile tugged at the corners of Isabel’s lips, but her gaze remained intense. “Because we need you here,” she said, her voice low and purposeful. “That’s why I came to you in your dreams.”

Kate shifted uneasily, her spine stiffening. “What do you mean by that?” she asked, wary.

Isabel sat, a knowing smile on her lips. “Let me tell you another story,” she said, her voice taking on an unsettling cadence. The room seemed to be still as the tension thickened.