Mara

The morning comes, and Mara's friends gathered their things and drifted out the door. “See you later, Mara!” Ellie called as she stepped outside. “Thanks for having us,” John added with a wave. Clara simply gave a small nod before following them. Her home quickly settled into silence. Mara went back to her room to lay down on her bed, already thinking of what to do as boredom takes her.

Time passed normally until something felt different. It was subtle at first, then the sensation deepened. A voice spoke to her from within her mind. The presence curled around her thoughts, talking about her now being capable of once impossible things such as displacing and swapping souls. Mara’s lips moved as she tried to reply. “Hello? Who are you? What do you mean?” she whispered, but only silence returned from the empty room. She tried again, focusing harder. “Can you hear me?” Still nothing. A slow realization settled in. Whatever the ritual had been meant to do, it had chosen her.

She then checked her phone. Maybe her friends had the same experience, but she didn't see any messages except from her parents, who sent photos from their vacation. “Nothing…” she murmured, scrolling through the empty group chat. “Did they feel it too? Or am I the only one?” She knows because that's how she feels. Probably except John, she can already imagine him telling everyone. “John would probably be texting right now like ‘Guys, I can swap souls, lol’,” she thought with a small, nervous laugh.