Chapter 4: "I Reject You"
1047 Words
The moonlight bled red over the courtyard as Aria stepped into the ceremonial chamber.
She wasn’t ready for what waited inside.
The Blood Match Ceremony looked more like a royal tribunal than a school event. The chamber was circular, vast, and lined with dark pillars carved from obsidian. Students stood in rows by bloodline rank, wearing velvet cloaks stitched with their house insignias. Candles floated above, suspended in invisible wind, casting eerie flickers over fangs and narrowed eyes.
At the center of the room stood the Blood Mirror, a towering arc of polished crimson crystal. Pulsing. Waiting.
Aria's throat was dry. Her steps echoed too loudly.
She felt them watching her. Judging her.
What am I even doing here? she thought. I shouldn’t be here. I’m human. I don’t belong.
Yet beneath the fear, a flicker of defiance sparked to life.
No... not anymore. I came this far. I won’t cower for them.
She tightened her fingers around the ceremonial ribbon tied around her wrist, a pathetic imitation of noble finery. Her Academy-issued robes hung looser than the others', the black fabric too stiff, too plain. Her hair was unadorned, her hands trembling.
Her stomach twisted.
“Look who decided to show up,” came Vivienne’s voice like poisoned wine. She stood a few steps away, surrounded by her noble entourage. Her dress shimmered like liquid blood, and her smirk gleamed like polished silver. “Hope your blood doesn’t taint the ceremony.”
Aria said nothing. Her silence only made Vivienne’s smirk stretch wider.
“Maybe the Mirror will spit you back out,” someone behind Vivienne added. Laughter followed.
She clenched her jaw. Not tonight. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
The Headmaster raised his staff.
“The Blood Mirror shall now awaken,” he intoned, voice deep and ancient, “and reveal the fated pairs.”
A hum filled the room. Low. Ancient. Alive.
The Blood Mirror shimmered, and a red mist curled from its base. Names were called. One by one, students approached the mirror, and it flared with light, casting threads of crimson energy that reached out to chosen partners. Some results were met with applause. Others with gasps. One match even caused a pair to burst into tears, their hands clutching each other in stunned disbelief.
Aria watched it all, numb. Distant.
Then the chamber stilled.
The mirror pulsed again.
A deep, resonant chime echoed like a heartbeat carved in stone.
A swirl of red energy spiraled from the mirror and flew across the room, stopping directly in front of Aria.
She blinked.
What—?
The light flared violently and struck a second figure.
Prince Lucian D’Aragon.
Time froze.
Gasps tore through the chamber. Whispers exploded like sparks to dry leaves.
“No... it can’t be.”
“She’s his Blood Match?”
“A human?”
Aria's heart thundered like a war drum. Her legs nearly gave out beneath her.
Lucian stared at her, his expression unreadable. A muscle in his jaw tightened. His silver eyes were like shards of a frozen lake. Cold. Cracked. But flickering with something else.
His fingers twitched at his side. Just once. A hesitation. Then he straightened, and the mask dropped back into place. For a split second, something flickered in his eyes. Pain? Confusion? But it vanished as quickly as it came.
She took a breath and stepped forward, lips parting. “Lucian…”
And then he turned away.
Stepped toward the crowd.
Raised a single hand.
“I reject the match,” he said.
The words slammed into her like a physical blow.
Aria flinched.
It wasn’t just rejection, it was execution. In front of the court. In front of everyone who already wanted her gone.
“I do not accept this bond. This is a mistake.”
Laughter rippled like venom through the crowd. Vivienne gasped then beamed, victorious.
Aria stood frozen. The world tilted beneath her feet. It felt like someone had reached into her chest and crushed her heart in front of everyone.
The Headmaster’s brow furrowed. “Prince Lucian are you certain? This is a sacred call.”
“There is no sacred bond with a human,” Lucian said, voice sharp as ice. “The mirror is flawed. Or cursed. I reject her.”
The headmaster’s eyes narrowed. “The Mirror has never erred. Not in a thousand years.”
Lucian didn’t respond. But his jaw clenched. Hard.
The hush that followed was absolute.
Aria felt her lungs squeeze. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move.
Her hands trembled at her sides. “You don’t even know me.”
Lucian’s eyes met hers, just briefly.
“I don’t need to.” He turned his back.
And the mirror cracked.
The red mist from the mirror recoiled, shivering like a living thing.
Something ancient had been disturbed.
A thin fracture split through the crystal surface, humming with strange, ancient energy. The sound was soft, like ice breaking under pressure and Aria felt it in her bones, a thrum beneath her skin.
No one seemed to notice.
Except Aria.
She felt something awaken in the earth beneath her feet. A tremor. A whisper. Something older than vampires. Something buried. Waiting.
Her chest ached. Her vision swam.
She turned and walked out, forcing her steps to stay steady, every footfall a scream held behind clenched teeth.
But the moment she reached the hallway, the sob escaped.
It tore out of her throat and echoed down the empty corridor. Her knees buckled. She didn’t know how far she ran, only that she collapsed against the cold stone wall of the east wing, where no one dared to follow.
Tears blurred her vision.
How could he do that? In front of everyone?
She had braved humiliation, threats, and whispers just to exist in this academy.
Now the one spark of belonging—of being chosen—was shattered in front of the entire court.
Like she was never meant to be anything more than a flaw in their perfect world.
Behind her, in the ceremonial chamber, the crack on the Blood Mirror pulsed faintly. The mist curled tighter around the fracture like a living thing tasting blood.
No one else noticed.
But far beneath the Academy—
Something stirred.
And it had seen her.
- Writer
