Raven's fingers traced the edges of the raven-shaped mark on her wrist, the skin around it faintly pulsing. The rhythmic sensation was unnerving, like a second heartbeat. She stared at it as sunlight streamed through the narrow dorm window, its warmth doing little to dispel the chill rooted deep within her.
"Raven, are you even listening?" Elara's voice broke through her thoughts.
Raven glanced up to find her roommate leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed. "What?"
"You should talk to someone—maybe the counselor. Yesterday wasn't normal, even for this school," Elara pressed, her voice softening. "You can't just shrug it off."
"I'm fine." Raven stood, pulling her sleeve down to hide the mark. "People fall. Accidents happen. Nothing to talk about."
Elara sighed, her brows knitting together. "Raven, you know it wasn't an accident. You were...different yesterday. That kid wasn't just scared; he was terrified of you."
Raven's jaw tightened. "I didn't do anything to him."
"Then why are you hiding that mark?" Elara pointed at her wrist.
Raven hesitated but quickly shook her head. "It's nothing. Just a bruise."
Elara clearly wasn't convinced, but she let the subject drop. For now.
The day stretched on with Thornwood's usual peculiarities: floating candlesticks in the dining hall, sentient shadows skittering along the walls, and whispered rumors weaving through the student body. Raven paid little attention to most of it until she caught a snippet of conversation between two girls near the main staircase.
"...She tried to go into the Forbidden Hall, and they had to pull her out. Said she was screaming about shadows trying to pull her under," one girl whispered.
The other girl shuddered. "I heard the hall is cursed. Even the Headmistress doesn't go near it."
The words "Forbidden Hall" struck something in Raven. She paused, pretending to inspect a notice pinned to the wall but listening intently.
"They say the last person who made it inside vanished. No one knows what happened to them," the first girl added, her voice dropping to a dramatic whisper.
A chill ran down Raven's spine, but it wasn't fear—it was curiosity.
"Raven," Elara's voice came from behind her, startling her. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Raven replied quickly, stepping away from the staircase.
Elara frowned, clearly not buying it. "You were eavesdropping."
"No, I wasn't."
"You're a terrible liar."
Raven ignored her and walked toward the next hallway. "I'm heading to class."
The whispers about the Forbidden Hall lingered in Raven's mind throughout the day. By the time her last class ended, she couldn't resist the pull any longer. Instead of returning to her dorm, she took a detour toward the north wing of the school, where the hall was rumored to be.
The air grew colder as she approached, and an unnatural stillness settled over the corridor. Thornwood was never silent—there was always the rustle of enchanted books or the distant hum of spells being cast. But here, the quiet was suffocating.
Then she saw it: a heavy wooden door bound with thick iron chains and secured with multiple locks. The walls on either side were carved with strange symbols that seemed to shift when she looked at them too long. Her wrist burned, and she winced, clutching it.
"Raven."
She jumped, spinning around to find Elara standing a few feet away, her face pale.
"What are you doing here?" Elara demanded.
"Just...looking," Raven said, though even she didn't believe her own words.
"You shouldn't be here. No one should." Elara glanced nervously at the chained door. "There's a reason they call it forbidden."
"Doesn't it make you curious?" Raven asked, her voice low. "Why lock it up so tightly? What are they hiding?"
"Something dangerous," Elara hissed. "That's the point. Let's go before someone sees us."
But Raven's gaze was fixed on the door. "Don't you feel it? There's something...calling."
Elara grabbed her arm. "Raven, no. This is exactly the kind of thing that gets people expelled—or worse."
Before Raven could respond, a sudden chill swept through the corridor, and a faint glow emanated from the symbols on the walls.
"What the—" Raven began, but her words died in her throat as a ghostly figure emerged from the door.
It was a woman, her translucent form draped in tattered robes. Her eyes, pale and lifeless, fixed on Raven.
"Turn back," the ghost said, her voice echoing like a distant wind.
Raven stepped forward despite the warning. "Who are you? What's behind this door?"
The ghost's expression twisted with something between sorrow and anger. "You carry the mark. You are bound to the Veil."
"The Veil?" Raven echoed, confusion lacing her words.
Before the ghost could answer, the symbols flared brighter, and the ghost let out a wail. Her form dissipated like smoke, leaving the corridor in darkness.
"Raven!" Elara grabbed her shoulder, shaking her. "We need to leave. Now."
Raven hesitated but relented when the burning in her wrist grew unbearable.
The two of them hurried down the corridor, but the atmosphere had changed. The shadows along the walls seemed to shift and stretch, their edges sharp like claws. A low whispering sound filled the air, unintelligible but menacing.
"Don't look back," Elara muttered, her grip on Raven's arm tightening.
Raven clenched her teeth, resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder. The whispering grew louder, pressing against her mind like a suffocating fog.
They didn't stop running until they reached the dormitory hallway.
Elara released Raven, glaring at her. "What were you thinking? You could've gotten us both killed—or worse!"
"I didn't ask you to follow me," Raven snapped, her voice harsher than she intended.
Elara's eyes narrowed. "You're my roommate. What am I supposed to do? Let you get dragged into some cursed abyss?"
"I'm fine," Raven insisted, though her trembling hands betrayed her.
Elara shook her head, exasperated. "You're not fine, Raven. That mark, that hall—none of this is fine. If you don't stop, you're going to get yourself killed."
Raven didn't respond. She couldn't. Because deep down, she knew Elara was right.
That night, as Raven lay in bed staring at the ceiling, the whispers from the hall echoed in her mind. The ghost's words replayed over and over: You are bound to the Veil.
She didn't know what it meant, but one thing was certain—this was far from over.
Somewhere in the darkness, something stirred, waiting. And Raven couldn't shake the feeling that whatever it was, it was waiting for her.