Victoria's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Victoria stood in the village square holding a pageant sash she did not remember winning. The sash read FIRST ROUND. Her name was stitched below it in gold thread. She stared at the letters and felt a small panic. She knew the letters spelled her name. She could not have said the name out loud. She turned in a slow circle. Cottages leaned around the square. A banner strung between two posts promised a crown to the last contestant standing. Below it, a line of girls waited, each wearing a sash. Some had blank, slack faces. One girl opened her mouth to speak and produced only a soft, lost sound. Victoria understood then. This village ate names. Forget yours, and you became one of those empty faces in the line. She needed to anchor herself fast. She dug through her jacket pockets. Her fingers found a folded photo. Two girls grinned at the camera. One had dark hair and gold hoop earrings. The other had blonde hair and blue eyes. On the back, someone had written two names. Victoria read them. Bella. Chloe. The letters held still. They did not slip away like her own. "You're doing the pocket thing again," said a voice behind her. Victoria spun. The blonde girl from the photo stood there, arms crossed, boots planted wide. Chloe. Relief hit Victoria so hard her knees went soft. "You know me," Victoria said. "Tell me who I am. I can't—I can't find it." Chloe's jaw tightened. "That's how it starts. You lose the name, then you lose everything else." She grabbed Victoria's wrist. Her grip was firm, real. "Bella's already fading. Look." The dark-haired girl from the photo sat on a step nearby. Bella stared at her own hands as if they belonged to a stranger. "I had hoops," Bella whispered. "Gold ones. I think." Her earlobes were bare. Victoria knelt in front of her. "You're Bella. You had gold hoops. You're in this photo with me and Chloe." She held the picture up. Bella's eyes tracked it slowly. Chloe pulled Victoria back up. "It doesn't work that way. You can't save her by naming her. You save yourself by refusing to let go." She shook Victoria hard. "Say it. Your name. You came here to win that crown. You said it a hundred times. Say it now or you join the line." Victoria shut her eyes. She pressed the photo to her chest. She reached past the fog for the one sound that belonged to her. It rose up slow, then clicked into place. "Victoria," she said. "My name is Victoria." The square sharpened. Color returned to her own hands. She knew herself again. Then Bella stood, swaying. Her eyes had gone flat and empty. She walked past them toward the silent line of girls and took her place at the end. She did not look back. Victoria had held onto her own name. She had not held onto her friend.