As she approached, a whisper seemed to echo, not in the room, but in her mind. “At eighteen, the blood remembers.”
The vision snapped back to the present. Sarah was stumbling, grasping the mannequin for support. The bloodstain on the dress was gone. She looked at her finger. There was no cut. 18eighteen sarah
The heavy iron key felt cold in Sarah’s palm, a stark contrast to the stifling, humid air of the forgotten attic. It was her eighteenth birthday, but there was no party. There was only the house—18eighteen Oakhaven Lane—a sprawling, creaking Victorian that had belonged to a family she never knew, until today. As she approached, a whisper seemed to echo,
Sarah brushed her hand against the velvet. A sharp, stinging sensation erupted on her finger. She gasped, pulling back, and watched a single drop of blood fall, landing perfectly on the white fabric of the dress. The world tilted. The bloodstain on the dress was gone
She wasn't in the attic anymore. The room was vibrant, filled with the scent of lavender and candlelight. She saw a girl—no, she was the girl—standing before a mirror, wearing the dress. It was 1906. She was looking at her own face, yet it was different, older in spirit. She felt a profound, aching love for someone named Elias, and a terrifying, cold fear of a man with eyes like shadowed glass.