Secrets of blooming estate book one

Chapter three the gardens test

Light swallowed Sophia whole, blinding her to the world around her. It wasn't the comforting warmth of the sun but something sharper, colder, and more alive. The energy coursed through her body like lightning, seizing her muscles and pulling at her mind. Her breath caught in her throat as she fought to stay grounded, to hold on to some sense of reality.

But reality was slipping away.

The air around her shimmered, twisting and warping as if the very fabric of the Garden had been torn open. Sophia blinked, struggling to focus, but when her vision finally cleared, she found herself standing somewhere else entirely.

The Garden was gone. The cavern, the altar, the dark, twisted tree—everything had vanished. Instead, she stood in a vast, open field bathed in a strange, pale light. The sky above her was an endless expanse of shifting colors—purple, gold, and black—like a storm constantly on the verge of breaking.

The ground beneath her feet was soft, like freshly tilled soil, and strange flowers bloomed around her, their petals glowing faintly with that same sickly light she had seen at the heart of the Garden. The air was thick with the scent of decay masked by something sweet, like rot hidden beneath layers of perfume.

Sophia turned slowly, her heart pounding in her chest. Where was she? Was this some part of the Garden, or had she been pulled into something else, something deeper?

"You're not dreaming," a voice echoed, startling her. It was a voice she recognized, yet it didn't belong to anyone she could see.

Sophia spun around, her eyes searching the empty field. "Who's there?"

There was no answer, just the faint rustling of the strange flowers in the breeze. The ground beneath her trembled slightly, and as she looked down, she saw the soil shifting, moving like something alive.

Then, slowly, a figure began to rise from the earth. At first, it was just a shadow, a dark shape forming in the misty light. But as it grew clearer, Sophia's breath caught in her throat.

It was her father.

His face was pale and gaunt, his eyes hollow, and his clothes hung loosely on his skeletal frame. But it was undeniably him—the same strong jawline, the same dark eyes that had always watched over her with quiet intensity.

"Dad?" Sophia whispered, taking a hesitant step forward.

He said nothing at first, just stared at her with an expression she couldn't read. Then, slowly, his lips parted, and he spoke in a voice that was both familiar and hauntingly distant.

"Sophia," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "You should not have come here."

Sophia's heart clenched. "What do you mean? You're... you're dead. This can't be real."

Her father's face twisted into something that might have been a smile, but it was hollow, lifeless. "None of this is real. And yet, it's all real enough. You've touched the heart, and now you're in the Garden's domain. It will test you, just as it tested me."

Sophia took a step back, her mind racing. "Tested you? Is this what happened to you and Mom? Is this why you died?"

Her father's form flickered, his image wavering like a mirage. "We tried to protect you, to keep you from the Garden's reach. But we failed. And now it's your turn. It's been waiting for you, Sophia. It always has."

The air around her thickened, and Sophia could feel the weight of something pressing down on her chest. Fear clawed at the edges of her mind, but she forced herself to stay calm. She had to understand what was happening, had to find a way to stop it.

"What is this test?" she demanded, her voice stronger now. "What does the Garden want from me?"

Her father's image flickered again, his form growing more transparent with each passing second. "The Garden is not a place, not a simple piece of land. It's alive. It feeds on power, on life, and on the choices made by those who come into its grasp. It will test you, force you to confront what you fear most, what you desire most."

Sophia's hands clenched into fists. "And if I fail?"

Her father's eyes darkened. "If you fail, the Garden will take what it wants from you. It will consume you, just as it consumed us."

The ground beneath her feet began to shift again, and Sophia stumbled as the soil turned to mud, sucking at her boots. The strange flowers around her began to wither, their glowing petals curling in on themselves as if in agony.

Sophia's breath quickened. "How do I pass? What am I supposed to do?"

Her father's voice grew fainter, his form barely visible now. "The Garden knows your heart, Sophia. It knows your fears, your secrets. It will show you what you must face. But in the end, the choice is yours. It always has been."

With that, his image flickered one last time before disappearing completely, leaving Sophia alone in the field of dying flowers.

The silence that followed was deafening.

For a long moment, Sophia stood frozen, her mind racing. The Garden would test her, her father had said. It would show her her greatest fears, her darkest desires. But why? What did the Garden want with her, and how was she supposed to survive this?

A sudden movement caught her eye, and Sophia turned sharply to see a figure emerging from the mist. Her heart stopped.

It was her mother.

Unlike her father, her mother's form was whole, her face soft and kind, just as Sophia remembered. She wore the same floral dress she had always worn in the garden behind their house, her hair falling in gentle waves around her shoulders. But there was something wrong in her eyes, something distant and cold.

"Sophia," her mother said softly, her voice carrying on the wind. "You've come back to me."

Sophia's throat tightened. "Mom? Is that really you?"

Her mother smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You've always been so strong, my darling. But you don't have to be strong anymore. The Garden can give you what you want. It can give you peace."

Sophia shook her head, her mind racing. "What do you mean?"

Her mother stepped closer, her eyes locking with Sophia's. "You've been carrying this burden for too long. The weight of your family's legacy, the secrets, the pain... You don't have to carry it anymore. The Garden can take it all away. You can leave this place behind, forget everything, and be free."

Sophia felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Her mother's words were soft, tempting, but there was something wrong about them, something off. She had seen what the Garden could do, the way it twisted things, turned them into something unnatural.

"I... I don't want to forget," Sophia whispered, her voice shaking. "I need to understand. I need to know the truth."

Her mother's smile faltered, her eyes narrowing. "The truth will only hurt you, Sophia. Let it go. Let the Garden take it from you."

Sophia took a step back, her heart pounding in her chest. This wasn't her mother—not really. It was the Garden, manipulating her, testing her. And she couldn't let it win.

"No," Sophia said, her voice firmer now. "I won't give in. I won't let the Garden control me."

Her mother's face twisted into something darker, something monstrous. "Then you will suffer, just as we did."

The ground beneath Sophia's feet began to tremble violently, and the world around her started to collapse. The flowers withered completely, turning to ash, and the sky above darkened, swirling with storm clouds. The Garden was angry, and it was coming for her.

Sophia braced herself, her mind racing as the world collapsed around her. She didn't know how to pass the test, didn't know what the Garden wanted from her. But she knew one thing for certain: she wouldn't let it consume her.

With a final breath, Sophia closed her eyes, steeling herself for whatever came next.

And then the darkness swallowed her whole.