Chapter 1

Sophia’s POV

I pushed open the heavy oak door of the old stone church just as the morning light filtered through the stained glass windows, casting soft colored patterns across the wooden pews.

The place smelled like polished oak and faint incense, quiet except for my own footsteps echoing a little.

I was early for choir practice like always, so I hummed one of the hymns under my breath while I sorted through the sheet music on the stand near the altar.

My fingers felt a bit shaky today. College was starting soon and everything felt bigger, scarier, like the world outside these walls might swallow me up...