Chapter 1: Aria’s Cage

POV: Aria Monroe

The bruises weren’t the worst part.

It was the silence.

Silence had a shape. A weight. It pressed against Aria Monroe’s chest like a stone she couldn’t move. It filled the corners of her trailer, seeped into the walls, and wrapped around her throat every time she tried to speak. Darren didn’t yell anymore. He didn’t need to. His rage had evolved—refined into something colder, sharper, more efficient.

She sat on the edge of the bathtub, the cracked porcelain cool against her thighs. The mirror above the sink was fractured in the top corner, a spiderweb of broken glass from the time Darren had slammed the medicine cabinet shut too hard. Aria dabbed concealer over the newest mark blooming across her cheekbone. It wasn’t purple yet—just a sickly yellow, fading from the last time.

She hated the way she’d learned to measure pain in colors.

In the next room, Luna slept curled around her stuffed wolf, its fur worn thin and one ear stitched back on with mismatched thread. Aria had repaired it three times. She knew the feeling.

She leaned forward, studying her reflection. Her eyes looked older than twenty-nine. Her skin was pale, her lips cracked. But her hands were steady. That mattered.

Tonight was different.

She’d had the dream again.

A forest bathed in silver light. A tree taller than any she’d ever seen, its bark etched with glowing symbols. A man stood beneath it—his eyes burning like stars, his voice a whisper in her soul.

You are not forgotten.

She’d woken with tears on her cheeks and the scent of pine in her hair.

It wasn’t the first time. The dreams had started weeks ago, growing stronger each night. She hadn’t told anyone. Who would she tell? Her only friend had stopped calling after Darren “accidentally” broke her phone. Her mother had passed years ago. Her sister lived states away and hadn’t spoken to her since Luna was born.

But the dreams felt real. Too real.

Aria stood and opened the cabinet beneath the sink. The emergency bag was still there, tucked behind the toilet paper and a box of expired cold medicine. She pulled it out and unzipped it slowly.

Diapers. Cash. Luna’s birth certificate. A burner phone she’d bought at a gas station two towns over. Her favorite book—Moonbound Hearts, a supernatural romance she’d read a dozen times. She tucked it into the side pocket.

She didn’t know where she was going. Only that she couldn’t stay.

She crept into Luna’s room and knelt beside the bed. The little girl stirred, blinking sleep from her eyes.

“Mommy?” she whispered.

Aria brushed her curls back gently. “Shh, baby. We’re going on an adventure.”

Luna sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Like in the stories?”

Aria nodded. “Just like that.”

She dressed Luna in warm clothes, wrapped her in a blanket, and kissed her forehead. The child didn’t cry. She didn’t ask questions. She trusted her mother completely.

Aria’s heart broke a little more.

She tiptoed into the living room. Darren was passed out on the couch, the bottle still in his hand. His chest rose and fell in slow, uneven breaths. Aria stared at him for a long moment.

She didn’t feel fear anymore. Just pity.

She opened the back door and stepped into the night.

The air was cold and wet, the Indiana woods behind their trailer thick with fog. Aria walked quickly, her breath visible in the moonlight. Luna clung to her, silent and trusting.

The forest was familiar. She’d played here as a child, before life had turned into something she didn’t recognize. She remembered the old trails, the hidden paths. But tonight, the woods felt different.

The mist shimmered. The trees leaned inward. A soft hum filled the air—like a song without sound.

Aria paused, her heart pounding.

Luna pointed. “Mommy, look. It’s glowing.”

Aria squinted. A faint silver light flickered in the distance. She stepped forward, drawn by something ancient.

The clearing opened like a breath held too long.

At its center stood the tree from her dream.

Massive. Timeless. Its bark pulsed with light, runes etched deep into the wood. The air around it buzzed with energy. Aria stepped closer, her feet moving without permission.

She reached out and touched the bark.

A pulse shot through her body. Her vision blurred. Her knees buckled.

She collapsed at the base of the tree, clutching Luna tightly.

And just before the darkness took her, she heard the voice again.

You are not lost. You are found.