Matilda's life had turned into a nightmare when she realized that no one else had seen the handsome boy she had been seeing every day for years. He always dressed in black, and she soon discovered that his family, school, and friends were not who he...
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While I jumped at the sound of the whispers, my body collided with Raven's behind me. As I looked back at him, he seemed to know what was going on. His fingers prodded my back lightly, but this time, I didn't feel the nausea from before, just a tingling sensation. As we continued walking through the dark tunnel, the girl in the white dress acted as our light. The tunnel was dark but not narrow, and the floor beneath us was made of concrete.
"Camellia has arrived," a woman's voice whispered.
"Who is Camellia?" I asked, confused.
The whispers continued, coming from two different voices.
"Arthur's daughter."
"Ian's daughter."
"No, Arthur's daughter!"
I found myself standing still, lost in thought, as the whispers continued in my mind. Ian was my father's name, but Arthur was also my father. And Camellia... it was a word my father used to say to me often.
"Are the shadows whispering?" asked the Samara girl, who noticed I had stopped. Her thin, cherry-bruised lips formed a smile, and her black eyes looked at me with affection.
"Yes," I whispered, and the whispers began again.
"The girl knows her father's name is Ian..."
"She knows who you are now that you're here, fool. She's the Neva girl!"
"Oh, that's right. Sometimes my brain stops me."
"How will the nonexistent thing stop, you dummy?"
"Hey!"
When the angry whispers ceased, I looked at the girl in front of me with wide eyes. As she noticed my expression, she burst out laughing. I squinted at her, taken aback by her exotic voice and unattractive smile.
"What were they saying?" she asked, chuckling. Raven was also studying my face beside me, but he didn't seem to react to the whispers.
"They seemed to be arguing," I muttered, feeling confused and disoriented.
"Oh, how interesting! Did they mention your name?" she asked, turning to face me as we walked.
"They called me Matilda," I replied, still unsure of what was going on.
"Neva girls don't take those kinds of names. Only flower names are allowed. Perhaps they called you by a flower name, and the shadows whispered it to you," Raven explained.
"They called me Camellia," I said, realizing why Raven had been calling me that.
"Camellia, that's a beautiful name. It suits you well. Welcome aboard, Camellia," the strange girl said with a smile, as she continued to lead us through the dark tunnel.
