It's time," Stella's grandfather said quietly.
Stella looked up at him, her heart beating fast. She had waited years to hear those words.
"You're not a child anymore," he continued. "You're ready."
A heavy silence filled the room. Stella's mind drifted back to that day the day everything changed.
She wasn't on the plane.
She had stayed behind, arguing with her parents about a school event. It was the last time she saw them alive.
"What really happened?" Stella asked softly, her eyes filled with determination. "That crash… it wasn't just an accident, was it?"
Her grandfather turned away, his face serious. "No," he said. "It wasn't."
Stella stood up slowly. "Then tell me the truth."
He looked at her, then nodded. "Your parents were being watched. That plane… it was taken down."
A chill ran through her body.
"Who did it?" she whispered.
"That's what you're going to find out," he said. "And I'm going to train you for it."
Stella clenched her fists. The guilt, the anger, the pain it all turned into one thing.
Purpose.
"I'm ready," she said firmly.
And from that moment on, Stella's life changed forever