Night has fallen over Aldenvik like a black velvet blanket, and with it comes silence.

I press myself against the cold stones of old Weber's wall, watching Ursa hurry through the twilight. She's taking the long way around, past the tanner's shed and through the marketplace. But I know a better way.

Slipping between the narrow gap behind the baker's house, I scramble over the loose stones that Mom always warns me about. "You'll break your neck on those rocks," she always says. But I'm faster and lighter than Ursa - I can make it to Sven's house before her.

When I reach Sven's house, I duck behind the old oak tree, my heart pounding. The windows are shut tight, not even a crack of light showing through. I edge around the house, keeping to the shadows of the trees that line his property. Nothing. Every window is sealed like a tomb.

Inside, Gondo paces the length of the room while Sven watches from his chair. The air is thick with tension and something else - that metallic smell that always lingers around Gondo's forge, but stronger tonight.

"Can't breathe in here," Gondo mutters, tugging at his collar. "Need some air."

"Don't," Sven warns. "Someone could be watching."

"Let them watch," Gondo growls. He strides to the window and pushes it open a crack. "We'll hear them coming."

Sven sighs but doesn't argue. The stuffiness is getting to him too, though he'd never admit it.

The sound of wood scraping against wood makes my breath catch. I creep closer to the house, scanning the walls until I spot it - a thin line of greenish light spilling from a partially open window.

Moving from shadow to shadow, I make my way toward that beckoning sliver of light. My stockings are still soaked from that stupid puddle by the fence, and the cold is creeping up my legs like tiny spiders.

Something's wrong in our village. I know it the same way I know summer is ending when the leaves start turning gold - that feeling deep in your stomach that says everything's about to change. Only this is worse. Way worse.

Weird lights keep flickering through the gaps in Sven's shutters. First green, like that time Gondo accidentally set copper on fire in his forge, then blue like the deepest part of the lake where Dad says never to swim. The shadows dance across the ground, making shapes that shouldn't exist.

I'm not so sure anymore.

Because now there are voices.

Not normal voices - these are different. Like whispers inside my head that shouldn't be there. "Child of the veil," they say. I rub my ears but it doesn't help. The words are just... there, clear as if someone was right next to me. I want to run home and hide under my blankets until everything goes back to normal, but I can't move. Not yet.

I crouch beneath the window, listening to the voices drift from inside. Gondo's massive form casts a shadow that stretches across the floor, making the boards creak with each step.

A sudden knock makes them both jump - three quick raps on the door. They freeze, waiting in tense silence. After what feels like forever, two slower knocks follow. Sven and Gondo exchange glances, their shoulders relaxing slightly, and Sven moves to open the door.

Ursa slips inside, slightly out of breath. "Forgive me," she pants. "I had to be careful. The children... they were watching me."

I shrink back against the wall, my heart hammering. Does she mean me? But how could she have seen me?

"What?" Sven's voice rises sharply. "Are you certain?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Yes, but there's more." Ursa drops into a chair, her voice lowering. "I had a vision."

The room goes so quiet I can hear my own heartbeat. Gondo and Sven exchange looks that make my stomach twist.

"Your visions..." Gondo's voice is barely above a whisper. "They've never been wrong before."

"Not once," Sven confirms, his face pale in the strange light. "Not since the statue first touched her."

"The statue below," Ursa says, her voice trembling. "We need to check it. Now."

That's when I hear them - whispers, but not from inside the house. They seem to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, seeping into my mind like cold water. "Child of the veil..."

"Julie?"

I spin around so fast I almost fall over. It's Claire, standing there in her white nightdress like a ghost.

"What are you doing here?" I whisper.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she steps closer. "I came to find you and saw you sneaking around here. What's going on?"

Before I can answer, more whispers fill my head, louder now. Claire must see something in my face because she grabs my arm.

"Julie? What's wrong?"

In the distance, a dog starts howling. Then another joins in, and another, until it sounds like every dog in the village is crying out in fear.

Claire's fingers dig into my hand, ice-cold. "Julie, I'm scared."

"Claire," I whisper, "did you know there's a statue in a room under your grandfather's house?"

Her eyes widen. "What? No, that's impossible. I've been in every room..."

"They just mentioned it. They're going down there now." I peek through the window again. "We need to find another way to see what's happening."

"There's a coal chute around back," Claire says after a moment. "It's small, but maybe you could hear something from there."

"Good idea," I whisper. "You stay here and watch in case they come back up. I'll be quick."

Claire nods, but grabs my wrist before I can go. "Be careful, okay?"

I squeeze her hand once, then slip away into the shadows. The coal chute isn't far - just around the corner where the kitchen window sticks out. I creep along the wall, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

Claire keeps watch from her spot by the window, occasionally glancing in my direction. That's why she sees it first - the strange mist that begins seeping up through the cracks between the cobblestones. Purple-tinged and writhing like it's alive.

She opens her mouth to warn me, but it's too late. The mist moves faster than anything natural should, wrapping around my legs like cold fingers. Before I can even scream, it pulls me down, down into darkness that shouldn't exist beneath our village.

The last thing I see is Claire's terrified face, her mouth open in a silent scream that suddenly becomes very, very loud.

"JULIE!" Claire's scream pierces the night, echoing off the houses. "JULIE!"

More voices join in - adults calling my name, lanterns bobbing in the darkness. Claire's scream has woken the whole village.

"Julie?" That's Mom's voice, scared in a way I've never heard before. "Julie, where are you?"

But I'm already gone, pulled into shadows where no light can reach, where the whispers grow stronger and stronger: "The pact must be honored... The price must be paid..."

The last thing I hear before the darkness takes me completely is Claire's voice, growing fainter: "Help! Someone help! She's gone... Julie's gone!"

"JULIE!" Claire's scream pierces the night, echoing off the houses. "JULIE!"

More voices join in - adults calling my name, lanterns bobbing in the darkness. Claire's scream has woken the whole village.

"Julie?" That's Mom's voice, scared in a way I've never heard before. "Julie, where are you?"

But I'm already gone, pulled into shadows where no light can reach, where the whispers grow stronger and stronger: "The pact must be honored... The price must be paid..."

The last thing I hear before the darkness takes me completely is Claire's voice, growing fainter: "Help! Someone help! She's gone... Julie's gone!"