MOONBOUND: THE HUMAN HEART

The envelope arrived on a Tuesday.

Not by mail. Not by courier. It was simply there, resting on my pillow when I came home from school, as if someone had been sitting in my room, waiting for me to leave, waiting for the perfect moment to slip it into my life like a knife between ribs.

I stared at it for a full minute before touching it.

The paper was thick, almost leathery, the color of old ivory. No return address. Just my name, written in elegant silver ink: Ela Demir.

"Ela! Dinner's ready!" My mother's voice floated up from the kitchen, carrying the familiar warmth of cumin and simmering tomatoes.

"Coming!" I called back, but I didn't move.

I picked up the envelope. It was heavier than it looked. Something shifted inside-not paper, something denser. My fingers trembled as I slid my thumb under the seal.

The wax broke with a soft crack.

Inside was a single card, embossed with the image of a crescent moon and a howling wolf. The text was formal, almost archaic:

Silvermoon AcademyEst. 1487

Dear Ela Demir,

You have been selected for admission to Silvermoon Academy, effective immediately. Your unique heritage qualifies you for enrollment under the Sacred Blood Accord. Transportation has been arranged for Friday evening. A representative will meet you at the address below.

Failure to appear will result in automatic forfeiture of your birthright.

We await your arrival.

-Headmaster Aldric Vane

I read it three times.

Then I laughed.

It had to be a joke. Some elaborate prank cooked up by the kids at school who thought it was funny to leave notes in my locker about how much space I took up, how my thighs didn't fit in the desk chairs, how my face was the reason boys looked away.

But this didn't feel like their handwriting. This didn't feel like a joke at all.

"Ela!" My mother's voice was sharper now. "The food is getting cold!"

I shoved the card back into the envelope and hid it under my pillow. Then I went downstairs and ate my mother's lentil soup and tried to pretend my heart wasn't pounding.

Dinner was the usual performance.

My father asked about my grades. I said they were fine. My younger brother, Deniz, kicked me under the table and I kicked him back. My mother talked about her friend's daughter who had just gotten engaged to a nice boy from a nice family and wasn't that lovely?

The unspoken question hung in the air: When will you be normal, Ela? When will you lose weight, find a boyfriend, stop reading so much, stop being so... much?

I didn't answer. I never answered.

Instead, I cleared the dishes, kissed my mother's cheek, and went back to my room.

The envelope was still there.

I sat on my bed and pulled it out again. This time I noticed something I'd missed before-a faint scent clinging to the paper. Pine trees. Snow. And something else, something wild