Gwen closed her laptop slowly, the flickering image of the house still vivid in her mind. The Holloway House—the place she’d only just remembered, now calling to her with a strange pull she couldn’t ignore.
As she stepped outside, the cool afternoon air brushed against her skin, sending a shiver down her spine. She pulled her jacket tighter—but then paused, noticing how the fabric stretched a bit more snugly across her hips. She reached up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, surprised at how much longer and softer it felt brushing past her shoulders.
Her reflection caught in a shop window, and she stopped short.
The girl looking back was familiar, but different. Her face was softer, her jaw less angular. Her lips looked fuller, naturally tinted with a rosy hue. Even her eyes seemed larger, framed by eyelashes that brushed her cheeks when she blinked. There was a subtle glow to her skin, a warmth she hadn’t felt before.
She touched her waist and felt the curve more pronounced than usual, the swell of her chest pressing gently against her shirt.
Gwen blinked, unsettled but not afraid.
“Am I really changing?” she whispered.
Shaking off the thought, she forced herself to keep walking. The Holloway House waited just ahead, its brick walls draped in creeping ivy, windows dusty and dark—except for the stained-glass window she recognized, glowing faintly in the fading light.
The gate creaked as she pushed it open, the sound echoing in the quiet street. She stepped onto the cracked stone path, feeling the uneven ground beneath her feet, every movement making her more aware of her body’s new softness and unfamiliar curves.
Inside, the air was cool and thick with dust. The late afternoon sun streamed through the blue-and-gold stained glass, casting fragmented light across the worn floorboards.
Gwen’s breath caught.
Her eyes scanned the room, drawn to the grand staircase spiraling upward into shadow.