The wind outside Asher's window carried a soft hum, like an echo of something ancient. He stared at the moonlight spilling across his floorboards, his thoughts tangled with the memory of that night. Ever since the encounter in the forest, Lucian's visits had changed — fewer words, heavier silence, and a weight in his eyes that Asher couldn't name.
"Asher," the low, velvet voice came from the shadows.
Asher turned. Lucian stepped into the light, his presence commanding yet strangely gentle. His crimson eyes glowed faintly in the dimness — steady, watchful, and far too knowing.
"You're late," Asher murmured, trying to hide the relief that always followed Lucian's arrival.
Lucian's lips curved into a ghost of a smile. "I was remembering."
"Remembering what?"
He turned his gaze to the window, where the moon sat like a pale guardian. "This land… it remembers more than you think. Long before your kind built these walls, my kind knelt beneath that same moon. And one name ruled over us all — Amara."
Asher froze. The name had surfaced before — in fragments of old tales, in his grandmother's trembling voice, in the rustle of forgotten pages. But hearing it from Lucian's lips felt different. He felt the air grow colder.
"She was the first," Lucian continued softly. "The one who reached for the moon's power… and paid the price for touching it. Her gift became our curse — immortality bound by blood."
Asher's voice trembled. "You mean… she created vampires?"
Lucian nodded slowly, the faint shimmer of crimson reflecting in his eyes. "She didn't just create us. She tied our souls to hers. Every vampire carries her within them — her hunger, her sorrow… her will."
The words sank deep. For the first time, Asher saw something fragile beneath Lucian's calm — a flicker of grief that had lived centuries.
"Then why tell me now?" Asher whispered.
Lucian hesitated, then stepped closer, his shadow brushing against Asher's. "Because her blood is stirring again, Asher. And I can feel it calling."
"Calling?"
Lucian's eyes met his — burning crimson meeting trembling violet. "To you."
The room seemed to hold its breath. A gust of wind rattled the window, and the candles flickered out, leaving only moonlight between them.
To be continued.....