The Bride in White
789 Words
Chapter 6: The Bride in White
The woman below did not move.
She stood in the center of the flooded street, white dress untouched by rain, long pale hair drifting in wind that touched nothing else. Around her, shadows crawled over cars and walls like obedient animals.
Lena felt the room tilt.
“Selene,” she whispered.
Elias turned. “You know her.”
“I know what she is.”
Adrian’s face had gone unreadable, carved from stone.
“She should not be in this city.”
Lena laughed once, sharp with fear. “And yet she’s here.”
Selene slowly raised her head toward the apartment window.
Even from stories above, Lena could feel the weight of those eyes.
Then Selene smiled.
Every light on the street went out.
Darkness swallowed the block.
Elias stepped back from the window. “I’m officially done pretending this is normal.”
Lena grabbed her coat. “We have to leave.”
“For where?” he asked.
“Somewhere warded.”
Adrian spoke coldly. “There is nowhere in this city she cannot reach now.”
Lena glared at him. “Then why are you standing here?”
His silver eyes met hers.
“Because despite your talent for leaving me, I have not learned how to leave you.”
The words hit harder than she wanted.
Another crash sounded below—metal twisting, people screaming.
Elias looked between them. “Can we do the emotional warfare later?”
Lena moved first. “Roof access. Now.”
They ran into the hallway.
The elevator doors were bent inward like paper. Shadows moved inside the gap.
“Stairs,” Elias said.
They climbed fast.
Halfway up, the lights burst one by one behind them.
Third floor.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Something followed.
A wet scraping sound dragged along the walls.
Elias looked back and paled. “Keep moving.”
They reached the rooftop door. It was locked.
Adrian touched the handle; frost spread across the metal and it snapped open.
Wind slammed into them as they stepped onto the roof.
The city stretched in blackout darkness, broken only by fires and distant sirens.
And in the street below, Selene was gone.
Lena’s pulse raced. “Where is she?”
A soft voice answered behind them.
“Closer than before.”
They spun.
Selene stood at the far side of the rooftop.
No footsteps. No sound. Just there.
She was beautiful in a way that felt unnatural—perfect features, empty grace, eyes like polished glass. Rain curved around her without touching her dress.
Her gaze settled on Adrian first.
“My promised king,” she said gently.
Then on Lena.
“And the thief.”
Lena’s hands lit with silver energy.
“I never stole anything.”
Selene smiled. “You stole time.”
Adrian moved in front of Lena. “Leave.”
Selene’s expression did not change.
“You vanished before our binding ceremony,” she said to him. “You humiliated two courts. Started three wars. Chased a half-blood girl across the human world.”
She tilted her head.
“All for this?”
Elias stepped beside Lena. “Try insulting someone your own size.”
Selene finally noticed him.
“How charming. She keeps pets now.”
Before Lena could stop him, Elias lunged.
He barely took two steps before invisible force hurled him across the roof. He hit a vent hard and collapsed.
“Elias!” Lena ran toward him.
Adrian’s shadows exploded outward, slamming into Selene like black spears.
She lifted one hand and they shattered into smoke.
The rooftop trembled.
Lena helped Elias sit up. Blood marked his lip.
“I’m okay,” he gasped.
“You are many things,” she said, furious and frightened. “Okay is not one.”
Selene watched them with amusement.
“You see the problem, Lena? Humans break.”
Lena rose slowly.
Silver light gathered around her arms, brighter than before.
“Then watch what this human world taught me.”
She thrust both hands forward.
A wave of light ripped across the rooftop, cracking concrete, hurling water into the air. Selene was thrown backward for the first time, sliding to the roof’s edge.
Adrian stared at Lena, surprised.
“You hid that from me.”
“I hid everything from you.”
Selene stood again, dress torn at the sleeve, smiling wider now.
“At last,” she said. “There you are.”
The sky above them split with thunder.
Dark shapes began circling overhead.
Dozens.
No—hundreds.
Elias looked up through bloodied eyes.
“What now?”
Selene spread her arms.
“My wedding guests.”
End of Chapter 6
Say Chapter 7 when you're ready.
- Writer
