Reborn In Moonlight

The wolf at the window

Aerin stood still in her room, watching the silver-eyed man by her window. She believed fear had a sound -- the shatter of glass, the scream of a nightmare. But she realized that true fear was silence.

Kyre stood by her window speechless. He didn't move. He just watched her closely as if seeing her wasn't satisfying. As if he had been waiting for her all through his life. The moonlight clung to him like a second skin, tracing the ridges of his cheekbones, the sharp angles of his shoulders, the silver glint in his irises that refused to be human.

His strange stare made Aerin's heart beat like a frantic drum.

"Who is he? What's he doing here? Why has he been staring at me without saying a word?" These questions cascaded through her mind but she had no answers to them.

Being pissed up by his ominous look, Aerin asked holding the edge of her bed, "What are you doing here?".

"I had to see you," Kyre said, his voice low and rough like it had been dragged through gravel and wind.

She took a step back. "See me? For what reason? Please leave or I'll call someone. The guards... the town council... anyone" Aerin stuttered.

"They won't help you, no one can", he said gently. "They are all afraid of me".

Aerin raised her brow in shock and fear.

"Then you are dangerous".

He flinched slightly, as if her words pierced through his heart. "Not to you. Never to you. I cannot hurt you".

She hesitated. Her thoughts tangled. She didn't know if she should scream, run or call for help but her feet refused to move. He looked wild, not just in appearance, but in presence. Something about him vibrated with barely-contained power. He was dressed in black, his hair ruffled like he had just walked through a storm. Yet beneath it all, there was sorrow, regret and hopelessness. And something strangely familiar.

"You were in my dreams", she whispered.

Kyre stepped closer, his eyes locked on hers. "You were in mine first".

"Huhhh..." Aerin eyes widened in shock.

"What does he mean?" She thought to herself.

The air between them felt thick, charged with something ancient and unnamed. There was a sudden wave of silence. Kyre's words rang in Aerin's ear. Her instincts screamed danger, but another part of her--something deeper told her he wasn't here to hurt her.

Aerin broke the silence between them.

"Who are you really?" she asked, her voice thin.

"You are already aware". Kyre stepped closer, slowly, cautiously. "My name is Kyre. And I carry a curse that only you can break".

"Which curse?", Aerin wondered.

Her breath caught in her throat.

"Why does it have to be me?". She asked curiously.

"Because you spared me once," he uttered, voice heavy with memory. "In another life. You were Teresa then. You had every reason to destroy me, but you didn't. You looked into my eyes and saw someone worth saving. You didn't just see a beast but a human inside me."

"I don't recall being her," she whispered trying to keep her voice steady. "I don't want to be her".

"You don't have a choice anymore. The magic remembers, even if your mind doesn't. And now it's coming alive".

Aerin shook her head, moving backwards until her spine hit the wall. "You're crazy. This...this isn't real. It's just a figment of your imagination".

Aerin's gaze dropped to her wrist where the crescent shaped scar had begun to glow again.

Kyre's eyes caught the scar on her wrist, his expression darkening. "She marked you. That scar is more than a symbol. It's a reference to the past, to the curse... to me."

Aerin grew more confused by every word he said. Her pulse pounded in her ears. She turned toward her dresser mirror, desperate to see herself , but her reflection looked like a strange. Her eyes were too bright, her skin too pale, her breath hot.

"Why are you here now?".

"I'm here because the moon is almost near." Kyre said. "And if we don't stop the curse, I won't just lose my humanity. I'll lose everything."

Those words sent shivers down her spine.

The window was open, the curtains swaying the night breeze. Kyre vanished into the night, leaving Aerin with more questions than answers. The silence returned, heavy and watching.

She couldn't sleep all night. She kept on thinking about what Kyre said.

"What's this curse about? How I'm i to break it? Who's this Teresa? What's my connection with her? And what's with this scar?. These were her thoughts.

By morning, her skin still tingled with the traces of magic. The journal on her desk seemed to hold secrets. She had not touched it. But there it was. It's pages turned, it's ink still fresh.

A new entry had appeared.

*He will come to you in the night. Do not send him away.*

"Hmm" Aerin shook her head, slammed the journal shut and shoved it under a pile of dusty poetry anthologies.

The day was dull at Whispers & Ink library. Customer trooped in and out, but they barely looked at her. The townspeople moved around like smoke, like they sensed the change before she did. Even Mara, the cheerful herbalist who usually brought her tea avoided her gaze that morning.

Aerin couldn't understand the cause for their awkward behavior.

"What's up with everyone today?" Aerin questioned.

She tried to focus on her tasks, re-shelving tittles, dusting the books and taking inventory. But her thoughts drifted. The scar on her wrist burned beneath the bandage. She was conscious of everything: the sound made by the ticking clock, the creak of floor boards upstairs, the weight of the journal still in her bag.

Then the door creaked open again.

And Old Finch entered in.

For years Finch had not set foot in the shop. Not since the last eclipse, people said. He was tall but hunched, with a wooden walking stick and eyes sharp as ice under thick brows. He moved slowly with his walking stick, deliberately selecting three books and placing them gently on the counter.

Aerin greeted him with a smile, summing up the purchases.

"You have her eyes," he said suddenly, voice filled with mystery.

Aerin blinked."Uhmm, excuse me?".

"Teresa. You carry her in your bones. The whole town feels it. That's why they whisper when you pass. That's why they avoid eye contact with you. They're afraid of what's waking",

She froze. "How do you know that name?"

Finch looked around then tapped the leather journal peeking from her bag. "Because I've seen that book before. A long time ago. Before it disappeared".

"What is it? What does it mean?" Aerin asked inquisitively.

"It's a warning," Finch said, voice lowering. "And a key. Keep it close".

"Uhmm..." Before she could ask more questions, he turned and went out, the bell above the door ringing like a death toll.

That night, the dreams appeared again. But this time, they were real.

Aerin stood in the forest. The trees' branches spread like cathedral pillars. The stone circle glowed beneath her feet.

Kyre was there.

He was on his knees. Chest heaving. Sweat clinging to his skin. His claws half-formed. His face throbbed with agony.

He was fighting it, fighting himself.

"Help me," he pleaded.

"I don't know how to," she said in a trembling voice.

"No, you do", he said. "It's inside you. Teresa's power... your power. You don't have to remember it inorder to feel it. It's the only thing keeping me from loosing control."

She took a careful step closer. Her hands glowed faintly green. Power emerged from her skin.

"What happens if I can't control it?" she asked worriedly.

Kyre looked up, eyes weak.

"Then we both burn".

"No...." Aerin shouted.

She reached toward him trying to hold him but their fingers were inches apart.

And then the forest shattered.

----

Aerin jerked from the bed breathing heavily. Sweat drenched her collar. Her heart raced.

The journal glowed softly and another message has appeared.

*You must choose. The curse is not the only danger awakening. He is coming. Maeron*

Her body went cold. One question ravaged her mind. "Who is Maeron? What's his connection?".

The mention of his name dripped with menace.

Outside the window a shadow lingered across the roof.

A twisted figure cloaked in silence, watching from the dark.

And the moon was almost full.