Chapter One
854 Words
“Go! Nyra! Run!!!”
She didn’t think before she turned and ran into the darkness, her feet carrying her forward without direction or plan. Branches tore at her skin as she pushed through the forest, and the smoke made it hard to see, thick and suffocating as it swallowed everything behind her. Her village was burning.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
Her Amma’s scream.
Nyra woke up.
Her body jerked upright, her breath caught halfway in her chest as she tried to steady herself. Sweat clung to her skin, her nightshirt damp, and her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might break through her ribs.
The room was silent.
There was no fire, no smoke—just her room.
“Another nightmare,” she whispered.
But it didn’t feel like one. It never did.
Nyra Vale had one rule: never stay in one place long enough to be found.
It was the only reason she was still alive.
For years, she had been running from creatures she did not fully understand, guided only by one terrifying truth—her blood was not normal.
Flashes from that night had never left her. They stayed with her in pieces she could not fully escape. The fire. The smell of burning wood, mixed with something worse. The way her Amma had looked at her—not just afraid, but certain.
“They found you.”
Those words had followed her longer than the screams.
Nyra swung her legs off the bed slowly and pressed her feet against the cold floor. She remained there for a moment, forcing her breathing to steady, grounding herself in the present.
She was not there.
That night was over.
She was still alive. Still hidden.
For now.
She stood and walked to the window, pulling the curtain aside just enough to look outside.
Everything looked normal. Dark. Quiet.
But Nyra no longer trusted quiet.
She had learned that silence often came before everything fell apart.
A knock sounded on the door.
It was sharp and unexpected.
Nyra froze, her heart skipping once before steadying again.
No one knocked at this hour.
Her rule echoed in her mind.
Never stay in one place long enough to be found.
She had broken it.
And now—
“They found you.”
Nyra drew in a slow breath, steadying herself.
Then she moved.
The knock came again. Same rhythm. Firm. Certain.
Nyra reached under her pillow and pulled out the blade. She did not go to the door. She picked up her bag instead and moved to the window.
The knocking stopped.
She paused, listening.
Nothing.
That was enough.
Nyra opened the window, climbed out, and dropped to the ground. She landed quietly and started moving, keeping to the darker paths between the houses.
She did not look back.
She didn’t need to.
Something was wrong.
By the time she reached the edge of town, she was already moving faster. The forest ahead was dark, but she stepped into it without hesitation.
A branch snapped behind her.
Nyra kept going.
Another step followed, it wasn’t chasing, it sounded more like it was following.
Nyra pushed forward until the sound of water reached her. The trees thinned, and the river came into view. She slowed, just enough to steady herself.
Then she turned.
He was closer now.
Not far.
Close enough that she could see the stillness in the way he stood, like he had been there longer than she realized.
Nyra tightened her grip on the blade.
He did not rush her, he stepped forward.
Nyra moved first.
She crossed the distance and drove the blade toward him. He caught her wrist, but the blade still cut across his hand.
He let go immediately.
Nyra stepped back.
The blood was wrong.
Dark. Thick. It smoked where it touched the air.
For the first time, he looked at her differently.
Not surprised, but now interested.
Nyra felt it then, it wasn't fear, something colder that told her that he hadn’t been trying before.
He stepped forward again.
Faster this time.
Nyra reacted, but she already knew—
He was not going to miss again.
She turned and ran.
The river was right behind her. She didn’t slow down.
She jumped.
The cold hit instantly, knocking the breath from her lungs as the current dragged her under. The water pulled hard, twisting her, forcing her deeper before she could fight her way back up.
She broke the surface once, gasping, then the current pulled her under again.
By the time she reached the other side, her body felt heavy and slow, but she forced herself forward, dragging herself onto the bank.
She stayed there, listening.
The river roared behind her.
Nothing else.
No footsteps.
Nyra pushed herself up slowly.
She took a step, but something still felt off.
She turned.
The opposite side of the river was empty.
But she could feel it.
He was still there, waiting in the shadows.
She didn't wait to confirm if he was truly there.
She turned back and walked into the forest without looking again.
She did not stop.
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