"Kara, come here!"
My mother's voice cut through the air—sharp, cold, and impossible to ignore.
The sun kissed my skin, wrapping me in a blanket of warmth, but it couldn't touch the cold rooted deep inside me. My hair caught the light like a stream of gold, glowing with something almost otherworldly—but the weight pressing on my shoulders made me stand tall, like a warrior called to battle before she's ready.
The garden looked like something out of a dream—too perfect. Birds sang as if trained to, butterflies drifted like they had nowhere better to be. I moved slowly along the edge of the pool, head high, chin lifted, pretending I belonged in this false paradise.
Because one day, I wouldn't just belong here.
I'd rule it.
But dreams like that always come with a price.
Her voice came again—softer now, but no less commanding.
"I have a surprise for you, sweetheart."
I smiled because I was supposed to. Because she expected it. But inside, something tightened. I forgot the rules. Forgot how I was meant to act.
For a second, I was just a girl. Just... me.
Standing at the edge of something I didn't yet understand.
I stepped inside. Her arms were already open, and I let myself fall into them—a hug that felt gentle but held steel underneath.
It was love.
And it was pressure.
She pulled back and handed me a small gold box, wrapped in a violet ribbon. Purple—the color of power. Of secrets.
My fingers trembled as I untied it.
Inside sat a silver bracelet, delicate and ancient-looking, set with four tiny amethyst stones that shimmered like star-tears. The number four was unmistakable.
"Mom... it's beautiful."
"It's a small thing," she said, her voice unreadable. "But it carries the weight of everything we are. Everything you will become, princess."
The word princess didn't feel like a compliment. It felt like a warning.
I looked up at her—and for a second, I saw it. The love. The fear. The legacy.
"What about Kelly?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
"This is just for you," she said softly. "Our little secret."
She fastened the bracelet around my wrist with the care of someone placing a crown on a queen—and maybe that's exactly what it was. The stones flickered in the sunlight, as if whispering truths I wasn't ready to hear.
"Our secret," I repeated. The words tasted strange in my mouth—too big, too heavy.
And then she told me the story. The one I didn't know I'd been born into.
A legend of four sisters.
Bound by blood. Torn apart by desire.
Each one slept in her corner of a single room—each dreaming, each fighting her own war. The golden bracelet had been meant to keep them together. But instead, it divided them.
Turned them into elements—air, water, earth, and fire.
Enemies.
Eternal.
"What do you think it means, Kara?" my mother asked.
I swallowed hard.
"That family is everything. That I have to find a way back to Makayla. Even if she hates me."
Her eyes—storm-grey and ancient—narrowed.
"The number four isn't just a number. It's structure. It's balance. It's home. Alone, you will fall. Together, you might survive. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mom." I breathed. "Even when it hurts. Even when we don't want to. We stay together. Because there's no other choice."
She gave me a look that burned right through me.
And I knew.
This was just the beginning.
That's when I woke up.