THE DOOR BENEATH
1261 Words
"Run."
For a second, I just stared at Lucien.
The palace shook again.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
The roar beneath us grew louder.
Not human.
Not animal.
Something older.
Something hungry.
"Aria!" Lucien snapped.
My body finally moved.
I turned and ran.
The corridor exploded into chaos.
Servants screamed.
Guards rushed past us.
Some carried weapons.
Others looked terrified.
A third tremor shook the floor.
A c***k split across the marble wall.
People stumbled.
One servant fell.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her up before continuing.
"What is happening?" I shouted.
Lucien didn't answer.
His face was pale.
Not frightened.
Worried.
As if this was something he had feared for a very long time.
The crest on my wrist burned hotter.
I winced.
The strange symbol glowed beneath my skin.
Bright silver.
Alive.
Lucien noticed.
His eyes darkened.
"Hide it."
"What?"
"The crest."
"Why?"
"Because if anyone sees it, everything changes."
That wasn't an answer.
Before I could ask another question, another scream echoed through the palace.
This one sounded different.
Higher.
More desperate.
Then it suddenly stopped.
Silence followed.
The kind of silence that made my skin crawl.
The kind that came before something terrible.
Lucien cursed under his breath.
"We're too late."
A group of royal guards appeared ahead.
Their captain bowed quickly.
"Your Highness."
"What happened?"
The captain swallowed.
"The lower chambers."
Lucien froze.
My stomach dropped.
"The seal broke."
For the first time since meeting him, genuine fear appeared in Lucien's eyes.
Only for a second.
Then it vanished.
"What escaped?" he asked.
The captain hesitated.
"Something the records said wasn't real."
Another tremor hit.
A loud crash echoed somewhere nearby.
The captain looked toward the sound.
His face turned white.
Then we heard it.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching.
Every guard immediately drew their weapons.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody breathed.
The footsteps grew closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Then a figure stepped around the corner.
The guards relaxed instantly.
It was only a woman.
At least, that's what I thought.
Until I saw her eyes.
Black.
Completely black.
No whites.
No pupils.
Nothing.
Her skin looked gray.
Dead.
The woman smiled.
And every guard immediately stepped backward.
Because her mouth stretched far wider than it should have.
Far wider.
Almost impossible.
"Gods," somebody whispered.
The woman tilted her head.
Then she laughed.
The sound wasn't human.
It sounded like dozens of voices speaking at once.
The hallway temperature dropped.
Ice spread across the floor.
One guard lunged forward.
His sword cut through her chest.
The woman looked down.
Then smiled.
Nothing happened.
No blood.
No wound.
The guard's face turned pale.
The woman touched his forehead.
He screamed.
His body instantly turned gray.
Like stone.
The scream stopped.
The guard collapsed.
Shattered.
Pieces of stone scattered across the floor.
Nobody moved.
Nobody could.
Fear locked every muscle in my body.
The woman looked directly at me.
Not Lucien.
Not the guards.
Me.
Her black eyes widened.
Then she dropped to her knees.
The corridor fell silent.
The monster lowered her head.
Like a servant before a queen.
"No," she whispered.
My heart stopped.
The voice sounded ancient.
Broken.
Terrified.
"No..."
She stared at the crest on my wrist.
Then at my face.
And suddenly tears appeared in her black eyes.
Impossible.
Monsters shouldn't cry.
Yet she did.
"Your Majesty."
The words echoed through the corridor.
Every guard froze.
The captain dropped his sword.
Lucien looked ready to kill someone.
I couldn't breathe.
"What did you call me?" I whispered.
The creature stared at me.
"She's waking up."
Lucien moved instantly.
Dark energy exploded from his body.
The hallway filled with black shadows.
The monster screamed.
A second later she disappeared.
Gone.
As if she had never existed.
Only silence remained.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Every guard was staring at me.
At the crest.
At my wrist.
At the symbol glowing beneath my skin.
The captain slowly knelt.
Then another guard.
Then another.
Within seconds every royal guard was on one knee.
I felt sick.
"What are they doing?"
Lucien grabbed my arm.
"We're leaving."
Now.
The command in his voice left no room for argument.
He practically dragged me through the palace.
I followed.
Mostly because my brain had stopped working.
The monster's words repeated inside my head.
Your Majesty.
Your Majesty.
Your Majesty.
The phrase refused to leave.
We entered a private chamber deep within the palace.
Lucien locked the door.
Then another.
Then another.
Three separate locks.
Only then did he turn toward me.
Neither of us spoke.
For several seconds we simply stared at each other.
Finally I broke.
"What was that?"
Silence.
"Lucien."
More silence.
"Tell me the truth."
His jaw tightened.
"I can't."
Anger exploded inside me.
"Can't or won't?"
His eyes flashed.
Neither.
"The truth would put you in danger."
I laughed bitterly.
"A monster just called me Your Majesty."
"It gets worse."
The answer stunned me.
"Worse?"
Lucien looked away.
For the first time since meeting him, he seemed tired.
Exhausted.
Like someone carrying a burden for centuries.
"There are things buried beneath this kingdom."
I waited.
"Ancient things."
"Such as?"
Silence.
I wanted to scream.
Every answer created ten more questions.
Before I could push further, pain shot through my wrist.
I gasped.
The crest burned.
Silver light exploded beneath my skin.
I stumbled backward.
The room vanished.
Darkness swallowed everything.
I wasn't in the palace anymore.
I stood inside a massive throne room.
Thousands of candles burned around me.
Black banners hung from stone walls.
The air smelled of blood and smoke.
And someone sat on the throne.
A woman.
Beautiful.
Terrifying.
Her hair was silver.
Her eyes glowed crimson.
Power radiated from her like a storm.
People knelt around her.
Thousands of them.
Vampires.
Monsters.
Kings.
Queens.
All bowing.
All afraid.
The woman slowly raised her head.
And looked directly at me.
Not through me.
At me.
As if she could actually see me.
My blood turned cold.
The woman smiled.
"You finally came."
I tried to move.
Couldn't.
Tried to speak.
Couldn't.
The woman rose from the throne.
The entire room trembled.
Every person lowered their head further.
"Listen carefully."
She stepped closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Until she stood directly in front of me.
Our faces inches apart.
"You are running out of time."
A chill crawled down my spine.
"What are you?" I whispered.
The woman laughed softly.
Then she placed a hand over my glowing crest.
And whispered three words.
Words that shattered everything.
"You are mine."
The vision exploded.
I gasped.
The palace returned.
I collapsed onto the floor.
Sweat soaked my skin.
Lucien knelt beside me instantly.
"What did you see?"
His voice sounded urgent.
Desperate.
I looked at him.
Really looked at him.
And suddenly I realized something.
He already knew.
Maybe not everything.
But enough.
Far too much.
"What aren't you telling me?" I asked quietly.
His expression changed.
A fraction.
Barely noticeable.
But I saw it.
And that terrified me more than the monster.
Because for the first time...
I wondered if the most dangerous thing in this palace wasn't hiding beneath it.
It was standing right in front of me.
Then a knock sounded on the door.
Three slow knocks.
Lucien froze.
Nobody should have been able to find this room.
Nobody.
The knock came again.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then a voice spoke from the other side.
A voice neither of us recognized.
"Open the door."
The crest on my wrist began glowing violently.
And the voice added four words that made Lucien's face lose all color.
"The King has awakened."
- Writer
