(Aria’s POV )
The full moon was trying to kill me.
That was my first thought when the silver light exploded from my hands and the voice screamed inside my head.
“Aria! Run…the hunters are coming for the Key!”
I was sixteen years old, standing frozen in the middle of my new bedroom after a long, exhausting day of unpacking boxes in this quiet town surrounded by thick woods. Suddenly, my palms burned like someone had poured hot oil on them. Soft at first, then blinding pure silver light poured out of my skin, lighting up the entire room like a mini moon had burst open inside me.
I screamed and shook my hands wildly, trying to make it stop, but the light only grew brighter and brighter. It felt alive, pulsing with warmth and power that made my whole body tingle.
My name is Aria, and this was supposed to be our fresh start. Just me, Mom, and my thirteen-year-old brother Max. No more constant moving from town to town. No more late-night questions about why Dad disappeared two years ago. Just normal life, school, friends, boring homework. That was the plan.
Instead, the moon was whispering straight into my mind.
“Come outside right now… or they will find you here and take everything!”
My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it might break. I grabbed my hoodie and sneakers in a panic, not caring how much noise I made. Mom and Max were asleep in their rooms down the hall. I had to get out of the house before this crazy glowing light woke them up or worse, attracted whatever “hunters” the voice kept warning me about.
The back door slammed shut behind me as I ran barefoot into the backyard and straight into the woods. The tall pine trees glowed with the same eerie silver edge as my hands. Every step I took sent sparks shooting through my veins, making my legs feel both heavy and strangely light at the same time.
“Stop! Please just stop!” I begged the light, my voice cracking with fear. But it only flared hotter, casting wild shadows on the tree trunks around me.
I kept running deeper into the forest, branches whipping against my arms and face. My breathing came in short, panicked gasps. What was happening to me? Was I going crazy? Was this some kind of nightmare?
Then I heard footsteps ahead and voices.
A group of kids suddenly appeared in a small clearing. Their eyes glowed with gold and silver light, just like the moon above. There were about eight or nine of them, some my age, some younger like Max, and a few who looked eighteen or nineteen. They wore normal hoodies, jeans, and sneakers, but nothing about the way they stood there felt normal. They looked ready for battle.
One tall boy with dark messy hair stepped forward. His sharp eyes narrowed immediately at my glowing hands. “You’re glowing way too bright! You’re going to bring every hunter in the forest straight to us!”
I backed up quickly, my voice shaking. “I don’t know what’s happening to me! Who are you people? What’s wrong with my hands? Am I losing my mind?”
A curly-haired girl about my age raised her hands, and a shimmering silver shield appeared in front of the group. “She’s the new one. And she’s burning like a living beacon.”
A smaller, excited boy around fourteen stared at me with wide eyes. “Her light… it feels exactly like the Key from the old stories the elders tell.”
The tall boy, whose name was Kael, moved fast and grabbed my arm. The moment his fingers touched my skin, a warm, electric spark shot through the chaos in my body. For a brief second, my wild silver light actually steadied.
“I’m Kael,” he said, his voice firm but not unkind. “You’re standing on Moon wood territory. That light means the moon has chosen you. But right now, it’s screaming your location like a flare to every shadow hunter in these woods.”
Before I could even process his words, a low, chilling growl ripped through the trees right behind me. Red eyes appeared in the darkness; first two, then four more, glowing like fresh blood.
“They’re already here,” Kael hissed, his grip on my arm tightening. “Because of you and that light.”
My glowing hands trembled violently. “What do I do? I don’t know how to turn this off!”
Kael’s eyes met mine, intense and urgent. “Run with us right now. Or we all die tonight.”
I looked back at the red eyes closing in fast, their smoky forms starting to take shape between the trees. Then I looked at the group of glowing-eyed kids standing there, waiting for my decision.
My normal, quiet life was already over.
And if I didn’t move immediately, my little brother Max, who was still sleeping safely back at the house, might be the next target.
I took a deep, shaky breath and grabbed Kael’s hand.
The silver light in my palms exploded even brighter than before.
As the first hunter lunged out of the shadows with a piercing scream that froze my blood, I realized there was no turning back.