Mother Village -ch. 1- -ch. 2 V1.0- By Shadow... Online

“Elara.”

The Hawthorne house stood at the edge of the village, half-swallowed by ivy. Its windows were dark, its porch sagging, but the garden—the garden was impossibly lush. Roses the color of dried blood climbed the walls. In the backyard, a massive oak stretched its arms over a well.

The main street was empty. Doors were shut tight, curtains drawn. Yet she felt them watching—the narrow gaps in shutters, the slight tremble of lace. A child’s ball rolled out from an alley and stopped at her feet. No one came to fetch it. Mother Village -Ch. 1- -Ch. 2 v1.0- By SHADOW...

When she reached the stone rim, she looked inside.

The old woman from before stepped forward. Her shawl had slipped, revealing a necklace of woven hair—gray, brown, black, and a few strands of bright red. Elara’s color. “Elara

Before Elara could ask what that meant, the woman shut the door. The click of the lock was soft, but it echoed like a gunshot in the silence.

Now, at twenty-eight, she was back. The inheritance letter had been clear: a house, land, and a “responsibility” she could no longer outrun. In the backyard, a massive oak stretched its

The well.

“Welcome home, little bird,” the old woman said. “The Mother’s been hungry.”