Chapter 15
1248 Words
Darkness swallowed everything.
Amber couldn’t breathe.
The sound of breaking glass still rang through the house like screams trapped inside the walls. Tiny shards glittered across the floor, reflecting flashes of dying light before the room plunged completely black again.
Then—
Silence.
Not normal silence.
Heavy silence.
The kind that felt alive.
Amber’s pulse hammered painfully as she stumbled backward, her shoes crunching over broken glass.
“Zane?” she whispered.
No answer.
Fear clawed up her throat instantly.
“Zane?”
A faint groan came from somewhere near the kitchen.
Relief hit her hard enough to make her dizzy.
Before she could move toward the sound, icy air brushed against the back of her neck.
Amber froze.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
She turned around.
Lucian stood directly behind her.
Too close.
His face was tense, eyes darker than before, shadows twisting violently around him like they were reacting to something unseen.
“Don’t move,” he said quietly.
Amber’s stomach dropped.
Something in his voice terrified her.
Not anger.
Fear.
And somehow that was worse.
“What’s happening?” she whispered.
Lucian’s gaze lifted over her shoulder toward the dark hallway.
“It’s here.”
A soft scraping noise echoed from upstairs again.
But this time—
It wasn’t alone.
Something else moved with it.
A wet dragging sound.
Slow.
Unnatural.
Amber felt her entire body go cold.
“What is that?”
Lucian didn’t answer immediately.
His jaw tightened.
Then—
“The thing trapped behind the mirrors.”
Amber stared at him.
“What do you mean trapped?”
Another laugh drifted through the house.
Low.
Distorted.
Wrong.
The shadows around Lucian reacted instantly, snapping outward like living creatures preparing to attack.
“Stay close to me,” he ordered.
Amber almost argued.
Almost.
Then something moved upstairs.
Fast.
A black shape darted across the landing ceiling-first, crawling unnaturally along the walls before disappearing into darkness again.
Amber gasped sharply.
“Nope,” she breathed immediately. “Absolutely not.”
Lucian actually looked amused for half a second.
Then the lights flickered weakly.
And Amber saw it.
Standing at the end of the hallway upstairs.
Tall.
Crooked.
Its limbs bent wrong, too long for its body, joints twitching unnaturally beneath torn shadows that looked almost human but not fully formed. Its face—
God.
Its face looked smooth.
Blank.
Like someone had erased every feature except the mouth.
And the smile.
A massive carved grin split across its face far too wide to be natural.
Amber’s stomach lurched violently.
The creature tilted its head slowly toward her.
Then it whispered—
“Ambra.”
The voice sounded like dozens layered together.
Some deep.
Some childlike.
Some barely human.
Amber physically recoiled.
Lucian stepped in front of her instantly.
The temperature in the room dropped sharply.
The creature twitched violently at the sight of him.
Then the smile widened further.
“Lucian,” it hissed.
The way it said his name made Amber feel sick.
Lucian’s voice turned deadly calm. “You should not have crossed through.”
The creature laughed again.
Its body jerked unnaturally as it climbed onto the ceiling fully upside down.
Amber decided immediately she hated everything about tonight.
“What *is* that?!” she whispered harshly.
Lucian didn’t look away from it.
“A Hollow.”
The creature’s grin widened.
“Hollow,” it repeated mockingly.
Then its head snapped violently toward Amber.
“Queen.”
The word hit the room like a slap.
Lucian’s shadows exploded outward.
“Do not call her that.”
For the first time—
The creature hesitated.
Amber stared between them, her chest tightening.
“You know what I am?”
The Hollow twitched again.
Its blank face slowly split further open.
“You smell like her.”
Amber’s stomach twisted painfully.
“What does that mean?”
Neither of them answered.
Which was becoming a very irritating habit.
A loud crash suddenly came from the kitchen.
Zane stumbled back into the room holding what looked suspiciously like a sword.
Amber blinked. “Since when do you own a sword?!”
Zane looked offended. “That’s your concern right now?”
“Yes?!”
The Hollow shrieked.
The sound shattered what remained of the lights entirely.
Darkness swallowed the room again.
Then chaos erupted.
The creature launched from the ceiling.
Amber screamed as Lucian moved instantly, shadows slamming into the Hollow midair hard enough to send it crashing into the wall.
The entire house shook.
Zane grabbed Amber’s arm. “Move!”
They ran toward the living room as another violent crash exploded behind them.
Amber glanced back once.
Big mistake.
The Hollow was climbing over the walls again impossibly fast while Lucian’s shadows tore through the darkness around it like blades.
Neither of them looked fully human anymore.
The Hollow lunged.
Lucian caught it by the throat.
And for one horrifying second, Amber saw his real eyes.
Not red.
Black.
Completely black.
The Hollow suddenly laughed again despite Lucian literally holding it off the floor.
“She remembers.”
Lucian froze.
The Hollow’s grin widened impossibly further.
“She remembers the blood.”
Amber’s head exploded with pain.
A sharp flash tore through her mind—
A castle.
Dark hallways lit by candles.
Blood on marble floors.
Lucian screaming her name.
Amber staggered violently.
Zane caught her before she hit the ground.
“Amber!”
Another flash.
A hand in hers.
Lucian’s voice whispering against her skin:
*Find me again.*
Pain ripped through her skull hard enough to make her cry out.
Lucian turned instantly toward her.
And the second he lost focus—
The Hollow smiled.
“Oh,” it whispered happily.
“There you are.”
Everything happened too fast.
The creature vanished from Lucian’s grip.
Amber barely saw the blur rushing toward her before icy fingers wrapped around her throat.
She slammed hard against the wall.
The Hollow pressed close enough for her to smell decay beneath the shadows.
Its blank face hovered inches from hers.
“Pretty little queen,” it whispered.
Amber clawed at its hands desperately.
The room darkened around them.
Then suddenly—
The Hollow stopped moving.
Its body trembled violently.
Amber looked past it.
Lucian stood behind the creature completely still.
One hand buried directly through its chest.
Shadow bled from the wound like smoke.
Lucian’s expression was terrifyingly empty.
“You touched her,” he said softly.
The Hollow screamed.
The sound shook the walls.
Then Lucian ripped the darkness straight out of its body.
The creature collapsed instantly into ash.
Silence crashed over the room.
Amber slid shakily down the wall, gasping for air.
Lucian turned toward her slowly.
The shadows around him still moved unnaturally.
Dangerously.
For a second—
He didn’t look human at all.
Then his eyes met hers.
And everything softened.
“Are you hurt?” he asked quietly.
Amber stared at him in disbelief.
He had just ripped a monster apart with his bare hands.
And he was asking if *she* was okay.
“You’re terrifying,” she whispered breathlessly.
Something unexpectedly sad crossed Lucian’s face.
“I know.”
Then suddenly—
Amber remembered another flash.
Not fully.
Just enough.
Lucian kneeling before her centuries ago.
A crown in his hands.
Blood dripping from his fingertips.
And his voice saying—
*You chose me.*
Amber’s breath caught sharply.
Lucian saw the recognition instantly.
And for the first time since she met him—
He looked afraid.
- Writer
