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⭐ CHAPTER ONE — THE CLUB THAT ONLY OPENS ON FULL MOONS
(1,700–2,000 words, tight paragraphs, intense pacing)
Full-Moon City always breathed differently on the night of a full moon. It wasn't something tourists noticed. It wasn't something the mayor could put in his speeches or scientists could measure with instruments. It was a pulse, an invisible rhythm flooding the streets, threading through the concrete veins of the metropolis like silver fire. People felt it in strange ways, but few ever understood it. Nora Hale, a journalist whose instincts were too sharp for her own safety, always felt that pulse the strongest. It tugged at her senses like a warning or a promise, especially when she was close to uncovering something forbidden. And tonight, that pulse led her straight toward Lunar, the club rumored to open only on full moons.
She had heard the whispers of it for years: how the club housed an underground society, a place where the most dangerous people in the city met behind velvet curtains and obsidian doors; how it was all a mirage, a shifting building which appeared and then vanished with the cycle of the moon. But most insisted that humans-normal humans-were not allowed inside. Every post about the club online was either deleted or censored, and that only made Nora more determined to find it. The moment she received the anonymous email containing nothing but the words "Lunar opens tonight. Come alone.", she knew destiny was calling her name.
Nora prepared for the whole night with the solemnity of a soldier going into war. Not that she foresaw danger-she was used to that-but something within her whispered that she wouldn't be the same after tonight. By the time she reached the entrance of Lunar, the air felt thick, heavy with unseen energy. A black marble arch rose before her like the jaw of some giant beast, the doors carved with symbols she couldn't read but somehow felt. As she pushed them open, the hum of music spilled out-low, rhythmic, intoxicating.
The interior was unlike any club she had ever entered. Moonlit chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a pale silver glow that shimmered across the bodies moving on the dance floor. The crowd was beautiful, too beautiful, almost otherworldly. Their movements were fluid, too precise, like dancers who had trained their whole lives. Their eyes gleamed with something sharp and bright, watching her as if she were prey wandering into a den of predators. Nora forced her shoulders to square as she walked deeper inside. She had reported from war zones, uncovered trafficking rings, and exposed political scandals; she would not be intimidated by beautiful people with perfect cheekbones.
Still, something was off. The music pulsed through her bones rather than her ears. The air tasted metallic, like lightning before a storm. Whispers followed her movements, soft murmurs that fizzled out the moment she tried to listen. She adjusted her camera strap, and that was when it happened-a sensation like warmth brushing over her neck. She turned, and that was when she saw him.
Evan Wolfe.
She didn't yet know his name, but the instant her gaze clashed with his, it felt like a taut thread snapped between them. He stood at the far end of the room beside a polished obsidian bar, his tall form half-shadowed by silver lights. He was clad in a fitted black suit that seemed to be cut for no one else. His dark hair curled just slightly at the ends, framing a sharp, powerful jaw. It was his eyes, though, that stole her breath: They glowed faintly, a metallic silver that shimmered like moonlit steel. Eyes that looked old-not aged, but ancient.
When he started walking toward her, the crowd parted without him having to say a word. People moved away from him instinctively, as if he carried an aura with him that was too fierce to be near. The closer he came, the more her heartbeat seemed to sync to that invisible pulse she'd felt outside. As his shadow washed over her, she had the sudden, irrational sense that she had just stepped into something she could never step out of again.
"You shouldn't be here." His voice was low, velvet but edged with warning. It slipped under her skin, triggering a primal instinct to both run and step closer. "Not tonight."
Nora tried to keep composed as the adrenaline coursed through her veins. "I was invited."
"Invited by whom?" His eyes dropped briefly to her camera, then flicked back up with sharp intensity.
"Anonymous email."
"That wasn't an invitation." His jaw tightened. "It was bait."
A shiver trickled down her spine. "Bait for what?"
His eyes darkened. "For trouble. The kind you're not prepared for."
She bristled. "You don't know what I'm prepared for."
Evan stepped closer, overwhelming her with his presence. "I know exactly what you're walking into, and if you're smart, you'll turn around and leave before—"
Before he could finish, the lights flickered. The music jolted into silence. Every head snapped toward the ceiling. Nora felt a vibration under her feet—soft at first, then stronger. A tremor rippled through the club, rattling glasses and sending dust drifting from the chandeliers. People gasped. Some backed away, others stood eerily still, their eyes glowing faintly like Evan's.
Nora looked around, confused and alarmed, but as she turned to Evan, he wasn't confused at all. His shoulders squared, muscles tightening beneath his suit. His expression darkened into something fierce and unearthly. His pupils thinned, flashing silver in a way no human eyes ever could.
"What's happening?" she whispered.
His voice dropped to a growl. "You need to stay behind me."
The earth beneath them cracked, a jagged fissure splitting the marble tiles. A rush of cold, shadowy energy burst upward, forming a creature unlike any Nora had ever seen. Its body was made of smoke and claws, its shape shifting between wolf and nightmare. It shrieked, the sound slicing into her skull like broken glass. Panic erupted around them, but no one moved—not the way humans should. People fell back in perfect synchronization, forming a circle around the creature.But Evan didn't fall back.He stepped forward."Nora," he said, his voice rumbling with authority. "Don't run."
She was trembling. Her heart was beating so hard, she felt it in her throat. But she couldn't run-her legs wouldn't move. She watched, frozen in place, as Evan positioned himself between her and the creature. Then she saw it. His fingers lengthened, the bones cracking and reshaping under his skin. Claws—real claws—ripped through his fingertips, shining silver. His canines elongated, sharp and deadly. His entire body seemed to hum with a force that rippled through the air.
Nora's breath hitched. This couldn't be possible. Men didn't shift. Men didn't glow. Men didn't grow claws and stand before monsters like they'd been born to kill them.
But Evan did.
The shadow creature lunged, its body like liquid darkness. Evan moved faster. He slashed through it with his glowing claws and the creature exploded into smoky shards that scattered across the floor before dissolving into nothing. Nora stumbled backward, unable to tear her gaze from Evan as his breathing slowed and his claws receded, the monstrous features melting away until he looked human again.But he wasn't human.
He turned to her, eyes still glowing. "Are you hurt?" She shook her head, unable to speak. His intensity softened slightly, but only slightly."Good. Now you need to leave. Immediately."
"Not until you tell me what that thing was." Her voice shook, but she stood her ground.
"It's not your world," he said sharply. "You're not supposed to see this." Too late."His nostrils flared. "Damn it.
Before she was able to press him further, the lights steadied and the music resumed like nothing had happened. People went back to dancing. Conversations picked up. The world around them reset unnaturally fast, like the chaos had been nothing more than a flicker in reality.
But Nora had seen enough to know it was real.
Evan laid a warm, urgent hand on her arm. "I'm asking you one last time—leave and don't look back. "Why should I trust you?"
He hesitated, his eyes ablaze with some inner conflict that she couldn't understand. "Because if you stay… I won't be able to protect you.""From what?""You don't want to know."
Nora would have opened her mouth to argue, but in the next second—Evan was gone, vanished into the shadows like he'd never been there. The club felt colder without him, the air thick with unanswered questions.
She had stumbled out into the night, breathing hard, and trying to steady herself. Maybe she was hallucinating; maybe she was exhausted, or maybe she imagined all of it.
But all hope of denial was shattered the moment she returned to her apartment hours later.The lights in her living room flickered as she stepped inside. Something wild—musky, earthy—lingered in the air. She froze, keys clutched like a weapon.
And then she saw it.
Three long claw marks slashed across her wall, glowing faintly with a silver light like molten moon metal. Deep, carved through plaster and paint, the markings looked to have been made by something And beneath them—
Her name.
NORA. Seared into the wall, as though burned there. Her breath shook. Because whatever entered her home could write. And knew exactly who she was.