THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
The bell rang at exactly six in the morning.
Its sharp metallic sound echoed through every hallway of Saint Marrow Orphanage.
Children groaned.
Blankets shifted.
Footsteps began appearing from rooms one after another.
Another ordinary day had begun.
At least for everyone else.
For Riva, ordinary days didn't exist.
She was already awake.
She had been awake since four.
Sleep rarely stayed with her for long.
Not because she hated sleeping.
Because sleeping often brought dreams.
And dreams often brought things she never wanted to see.
Riva sat quietly near the dormitory window.
Outside, the sky was covered with pale gray clouds.
Rain threatened to fall.
The orphanage grounds looked empty and lifeless.
Dead leaves scattered across the yard.
The old iron gate creaked whenever the wind touched it.
Everything felt strangely distant.
As if the world existed behind invisible glass.
She liked it that way.
Distance was safer.
People were complicated.
People asked questions.
People expected answers.
Silence expected nothing.
And silence had always been Riva's closest friend.
"Why are you sitting there again?"
A voice interrupted her thoughts.
Riva turned.
One of the younger girls stood near the doorway.
Maybe ten years old.
Maybe eleven.
Riva wasn't sure.
The younger children often spoke to her.
Unlike the older ones.
The older children usually avoided her.
Or whispered behind her back.
"Nothing," Riva replied softly.
The girl frowned.
"You always say nothing."
Riva didn't answer.
The younger girl eventually left.
Just like everyone else.
Conversations with Riva never lasted long.
Not because she was rude.
Not because she hated people.
She simply didn't know how to belong among them.
The world felt different through her eyes.
And that difference had followed her her entire life.
---
Breakfast passed quietly.
Children filled the dining hall with laughter and conversation.
Riva sat alone near the corner.
A habit she had developed years ago.
Nobody told her to sit there anymore.
Nobody needed to.
Everyone simply expected it.
A group of boys occupied a nearby table.
One of them glanced toward her.
Then whispered something.
The others laughed.
Riva lowered her eyes toward her plate.
She didn't need to hear the words.
She already knew them.
Weird.
Cursed.
Ghost girl.
The names changed.
The meaning never did.
Several years ago she used to defend herself.
Now she didn't bother.
People fear things they cannot explain.
And Riva had long stopped trying to explain herself.
---
The first incident happened when she was seven.
A memory she wished she could forget.
She remembered standing beside the staircase inside the orphanage.
Watching a boy named Noah climb the steps.
Then suddenly—
A vision.
A flash.
Noah falling.
Blood.
Screams.
Pain.
The image lasted only seconds.
But it felt real.
Terrifyingly real.
Without thinking she shouted.
"Don't go up there!"
Everyone stared at her.
Noah laughed.
Adults ignored her.
Five minutes later the wooden railing broke.
Noah fell.
Exactly as she had seen.
The accident nearly killed him.
After that day people began looking at her differently.
Not with curiosity.
With fear.
And fear only grew over time.
---
Riva finished breakfast and headed toward school.
The orphanage and school were only ten minutes apart.
The road passed through old neighborhoods.
Most mornings felt the same.
Today didn't.
Halfway down the street a strange feeling settled inside her chest.
A cold sensation.
Small at first.
Then stronger.
Riva stopped walking.
The feeling returned.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She knew this feeling.
Every single time.
Something was about to happen.
Not tomorrow.
Not next week.
Soon.
Very soon.
The world around her suddenly blurred.
The sounds of traffic disappeared.
The street vanished.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then she saw it.
A bicycle.
A speeding truck.
A child.
The child couldn't see the truck.
The truck couldn't stop.
The vision ended.
Riva gasped.
Reality returned instantly.
People continued walking.
Cars continued moving.
Nobody noticed anything unusual.
Nobody except her.
Her eyes searched desperately.
Then she found him.
A little boy.
Holding a blue bicycle.
Exactly like the vision.
His mother stood nearby talking on the phone.
The boy began crossing the road.
Riva's heart pounded.
"No..."
The truck appeared.
Turning around the corner.
Too fast.
Exactly as she had seen.
Without thinking, Riva ran.
The boy stepped forward.
The truck accelerated.
Several people screamed.
Riva grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him backward.
The truck rushed past.
Barely missing them.
Silence followed.
For one moment the entire street froze.
The boy started crying.
His mother rushed over.
People gathered.
Questions filled the air.
"How did she know?"
"What happened?"
"Did she see the truck?"
Riva didn't wait.
She turned and walked away.
Fast.
Very fast.
Before anyone could stop her.
Before anyone could ask questions she couldn't answer.
Because she didn't know how she knew.
She never did.
---
The rest of the day felt wrong.
As if invisible eyes followed her.
Even during classes she couldn't concentrate.
Numbers blurred together.
Words lost meaning.
Something was changing.
She could feel it.
The same feeling she experienced before storms.
Before accidents.
Before disasters.
Something was approaching.
And this time it felt bigger than anything she had experienced before.
Much bigger.
---
After school Riva avoided the main road and took a longer route home.
The path led through an abandoned park.
Most people ignored it.
Riva preferred it.
Silence lived there.
The swings barely moved.
The benches were covered with moss.
An old clock tower stood nearby.
Its hands had stopped years ago.
Nobody knew why.
Riva sat beneath a large tree and opened her notebook.
Drawing helped calm her thoughts.
Most of her drawings looked strange.
Places she had never visited.
Symbols she didn't understand.
Doors.
Keys.
Ancient towers.
She often wondered where those images came from.
Today her pencil moved almost automatically.
Line after line appeared.
A circular symbol.
Then another.
Then a giant gate.
Riva froze.
She recognized it.
The same gate from her dream.
The same gate from the vision.
The giant stone structure she had seen beneath the black sky.
A chill ran through her body.
Slowly she closed the notebook.
For the first time—
She felt afraid of her own drawings.
---
The sun was beginning to set when she finally left the park.
The streets were becoming darker.
Streetlights flickered on one by one.
Rain clouds gathered overhead.
Everything looked ordinary.
Yet something felt hidden beneath the surface.
Like a secret waiting to reveal itself.
As she approached the orphanage gates, she noticed someone standing across the street.
An old man.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
Watching.
Not moving.
Just watching.
Riva frowned.
She had never seen him before.
The moment their eyes met, the old man turned away.
Then disappeared into the crowd.
Strange.
Very strange.
For reasons she couldn't explain, a familiar feeling settled inside her chest.
As if she had seen him somewhere before.
A memory buried beneath years of forgotten dreams.
But that was impossible.
Wasn't it?
---
That night the rain finally arrived.
Thunder rolled across the sky.
Most children slept peacefully.
Riva didn't.
She sat beside her window once again.
Watching the storm.
Listening to the rain.
Thinking about the old man.
Thinking about the gate.
Thinking about the strange feeling that refused to leave.
Hours passed.
Then it happened.
A sudden pain exploded behind her eyes.
Far stronger than any vision before.
The room vanished.
Darkness returned.
And she saw four lights.
A red light.
A green light.
A silver light.
A golden light.
Each one glowing somewhere far away.
Separate.
Yet connected.
As if invisible threads bound them together.
Then came the gate.
The same ancient gate.
Larger this time.
Closer.
Waiting.
And beyond it—
Someone was standing in the darkness.
Watching.
The figure's face remained hidden.
Only two crimson eyes were visible.
Cold.
Patient.
Ancient.
The eyes slowly opened wider.
And a voice echoed from somewhere beyond the darkness.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Almost like a whisper.
"The keys have begun to awaken."
The vision shattered.
Riva opened her eyes.
Her breathing became uneven.
Rain crashed against the glass.
Thunder shook the building.
And somewhere beyond the storm—
Unknown to her.
Unknown to everyone.
Three other girls were experiencing the beginning of the same mystery.
A compass was turning.
A box was opening.
And nature itself was whispering a forgotten name.
The Kingdom of Aurelia was waking.
And Riva had just taken her first step toward it.