CHAPTER 3:Claimed By The Moon
1031 Words
KAREN'S POV
Cassian crouched in front of me, his eyes searching mine with quiet urgency. "You can't stay here. Your grandfather won't protect you now, and the hunters will come for you first."
I still felt hollow from the truth that shattered my world. My mother. My bloodline and everything I was raised to hate were already a part of me.
"But I don't even trust you fully. What if you try to hurt me?"
"Don't be ridiculous; if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done that while you were a baby. I mean no harm. You've known the truth about your bloodline. If you don't make a move now, your body will start choosing a side for you, and if the moon chooses you, you'll begin to change, and your grandfather will gladly give you to the council. He voted for the council to kill his daughter so that he could keep his seat on the council. Your case will not be an exception.
"This is all happening so fast; I don't even have time to process all of this."
His lips curved faintly. "But we have to move fast."
Before I could answer, he knelt, his back toward me. "Get on."
"What?"
"You're too slow," he said calmly. "Unless you want a welcoming party of hunters."
I hesitated, heat rushing to my cheeks, then climbed onto his back. The moment my arms circled his shoulders, he stood in one smooth motion. I felt the strength in him like coiled steel under my hands.
"Hold tight," he murmured.
Then the world blurred; I was on top of the world, though my worries didn't disappear with the wind, but it made me feel calm. It felt like I was in dreamland because I never imagined that I would be in this position someday. The wind tore past my face, sharp and icy, but I couldn't stop the gasp that left my lips. Cassian ran with a speed that defied nature. Trees whipped by in streaks of black and silver as the moon spilled light across the endless forest. His body moved like a liquid shadow, powerful and unyielding. I could feel the steady rhythm of his breath, calm even as he devoured miles in seconds.
For the first time that night, I didn't feel hunted. I felt like I was flying.
When we finally stopped, my legs trembled as he set me down gently. Before us yawned the mouth of a cavern, veiled in pale mist. Strange symbols glowed faintly on the rock, pulsing as if alive.
"Where are we?" I whispered.
"The Undercity," Cassian said. "It was abandoned when humans pushed the frontier. Only outcasts live here now."
He led me into the cavern, where he touched them, and the door groaned open. The air grew colder, thick with the scent of earth and old secrets. The darkness pressed close, but I felt his presence like a shield.
Then a voice broke the silence.
"So, you brought her. Brave! You do know what is at stake, Cassian.
I froze. A woman stepped from the shadows, tall and graceful, her hair the colour of moonlight braided with silver threads. Her eyes burned gold, ancient and knowing.
"Isolde, she needs answers," Cassian said, bowing his head.
Her gaze settled on me, sharp enough to cut. "Come closer, child."
I hesitated, but something in her voice pulled me forward. She studied me like an open book.
"I see her in you," she said softly. "The woman who defied her bloodline for love."
My breath caught. "You knew my mother."
"I delivered you," Isolde replied, her gaze fixed on mine.
"Tell me everything," I whispered. "And what am I?" The question tasted like iron on my tongue.
Isolde stepped closer. Her fingers brushed my cheek lightly, and a strange warmth sparked under my skin. "What they fear most. A Daywalker. Half human, half vampire. Rare, powerful, and feared. Hunger will not bind you. Power neither side can control."
I stumbled back. "No. That's impossible. I've walked in sunlight all my life."
"Daywalkers can," she said calmly. "But when the moon is full, your other half awakens."
Her words sank into me like ice water. I thought of the vision Cassian gave me, the way my body hadn't weakened after days without food.
"But I don't want this?"
"Choice was never yours," she said softly. "Survival is."
Cassian moved closer, his voice low. "The Vampire Council wants you alive. Protected."
"Protected?" I laughed bitterly. "You mean locked up."
His jaw clenched, but he did not deny it.
"And the Hunters?"
"The minute they sense your blood has shifted, they'll come for you," he said.
The silence pressed down like a weight. The weight of it crashed down, suffocating. "So what do I do?"
"You choose," Isolde said simply. "But know this: once your blood answers the moon, there is no going back."
As if on cue, the cavern shuddered with a distant rumble. A shaft of moonlight broke through a c***k in the ceiling, spilling over me like liquid silver. Pain lanced through my body. I gasped, clutching my chest as my heart pounded wildly, too fast, too strong. Heat crawled under my skin like fire and ice at once. My vision sharpened until I could see every c***k in the walls, every breath Cassian took. It started as a spark in my veins and then grew into an inferno. I collapsed, choking on a scream. My body was burning and twisting against the floor.
"What's happening?"
"The moon," Isolde said calmly. "It's claiming her."
I clawed at the ground as heat flooded every vein.
"Cassian," I tried to reach for him, voice breaking. "Make it stop."
He tried to grab me, but Isolde stopped him, and he came to a halt.
"Don't!!! It's too late.
Darkness swallowed me, but before it did, I heard Cassian's voice, desperate, raw, and worried. The pain I felt was like thousands of bones being broken at the same time. I wanted it to stop, but I passed out before I could feel anything else. My soul left my body. I was still and I wasn't breathing.
- Writer
