Chapter 1 The Mark Beneath My Skin

My understanding of being unique developed through life until the night when shadows enveloped my reality.

The wind wailed through the towering trees of Raven Hollow, which existed in a peaceful valley surrounded by large hills and dense woods. The night of my eighteenth birthday brought forth a storm that filled the sky with its wrath. The bedroom windows shook violently against the continuous raindrops, which sounded like heavy gunshots as thunder boomed throughout the night. My body maintained an inner fire that seemed as old as time itself during the storm's chaos.

I remained perched at the edge of my bed as the moonbeams passed through the storm and painted my skin with patterns of silver light. My attention stayed focused on the light crescent moon symbol, which I inherited from birth through my left wrist. The birthmark always remained a silent observer, which matched the darkness of a night sky. The symbol glowed with an unnatural lust during this night, yet its source of power remained beyond my understanding.

My fingers moved along the outline of the mark as they quivered from the warmth which began to spread through my blood.

The moon planted itself inside me, opening an unknown part of my being.

The sudden and urgent tone of Aunt Celeste's voice screamed across the room.

My entire body shifted toward the entrance while my heart raced wildly inside my chest. My only remaining relative was Aunt Celeste who stayed calm through everything.

The voice of my aunt usually exuded stability, but tonight she sounded scared.

As I moved towards the door, I lost my balance on the rug because of the darkness.

I tried to maintain my composure when I asked her about the problem.

Aunt Celeste appeared at the bottom of the stairs, soaked from the rain with her hair stuck to her face. The book she carried in her hands had aged so much that its pages had yellowed and cracked. She spoke while her voice shook about the awakening mark. "The birthmark..." she repeated. "It's time. The mark... It's awakening. You've been chosen."

My body experienced a sudden cold sensation from the statement she delivered. "Chosen? Chosen for what?"

She paused before moving closer to me. "You're Moonborn, Aria. Descended from a bloodline long thought ost. " The birthmark represents a connection to the moon's power that runs through your family blood. The moon's influence was inherited through generations in your bloodline. The birthmark functions as a key to the moon's power, which flows within you during its awakening.

My body suddenly felt a cold sensation in my spine.

The words she delivered sent a cold shiver down my spine.

A sudden rush of adrenaline made my heart beat faster, and I swallowed deeply. "I'm completely lost with this." My body felt excruciating pain, which felt like someone rotating a hot and sharp blade inside my spinal cord, before the woman could answer. I lost control of my balance and dropped down to my knees while I tried to soothe the excruciating pain in my back.

I started seeing the world around me fade into twisted colors while darkness started to take over the space.

Then I started experiencing the vision.

A sequence of foreign memories flooded my mind in a manner resembling a storm of unowned recollections.

The thick fog covered the forest floor while the ancient tree tops reached skyward like noble guardians. The fog gathered at the base of the trees, which stood beneath a star-filled night sky.

Two silver eyes shone through the darkness as their primal intelligence observed my existence.

A large wolf emerged from the darkness and caused the ground to shake beneath my knees while its fur sparkled like moonlight on water.

The wolf ascended to the rocky cliff's edge then lifted its head in a manner that produced a howl which resonated through time itself. The sound contained intense emotions which combined wild animal nature with a yearning that penetrated deeply.

The sound reached out to an existence that existed outside both the forest and all my known worlds.

He materialized from the mist.

Came a boy, much taller and much more agile, with the color of light amber in his eyes. He had long and wavy hair that seemed to need to be untangled and a face that portrayed both charm and fierceness. Although I hadn't laid eyes on him before, there was just this sensation of sensing him in me. His being was as consuming to me as a wildfire ravaging through the plain during a drought.

Thin and soft the voice was, but still it was reaching out to my mind.

"You're mine, Aria. You always have been," he remarked.

Those words sounded like a promise-an each-way bet, and they were both mine.

Then the image disappeared, and I was in my room again, the crescent moon shining on my wrist dimly and steadily.

But I was not alone anymore.

Aunt Celeste was in front of me, her eyes wide open, and uncontrollable fear written all over them.

"It's happening," she murmured, her voice trembling. "You've been chosen."

My blood iced as soon as I heard it, and the word floated solemnly between us. Chosen.

My breath got stuck in my throat, and the fire under my skin flared high, threatening to swallow me whole.

I intended to get an explanation from her about what was going on. I longed to shriek that I did not comprehend the situation. But it seemed as if my lips were burdened with the weight of some millennia-old destiny. (ambiguous... thus unclear).

"I don't like it," I murmured, my voice fading out. "I'm not prepared."

Aunt Celeste came a little bit nearer, a trembling hand placed on my shoulder. "No one is ever ready, Aria. But the blood chooses you whether you want it or not. The Moonborn have power-and danger-that comes with the mark. It will control you unless you learn to control it. I looked down at my wrist, the crescent glowing brighter, pulsing faster. It was as if my entire being was tied to that mark-the legacy of my ancestors, and something darker that lurked just beneath the surface.

Outside, the storm kept on thundering, with the lightning fracturing the sky like shards of glass.

All of a sudden, the front door was burst open with such a noise, and an icy wind gushed into the room. Rainwater spilled over the floor, making it all wet and the cold air filled the room.

Shadowy figures flew through the door-swift, noiseless, and with an eye on me.

With purpose, Aunt Celeste's eyes turned black. She forced the leather book onto me.

She ordered them to "flee into the woods." "Go to the old stone circle. You'll know what to do when you get there."

I quickly interrupted her by saying, "No. I won't leave you."

In response, she said, You must go now, they are coming, the hunters. They can't find you here! Her voice was trembling, and her throat was dry from the anxiety of the situation. "I see you. Go, Aria. Quick, now,"

The figures in the black, with their eyes blown up to the size of the coals in the fire, were visible to me outside.

The Earth seemed to be rotating on its axis perfectly.

And I hurried out of the building.