Chapter 8: The Blood Recognized
1303 Words
Ravynn's memory may have awakened the past.
But in the human realm, something else stirred.
𝐙𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞 𝐏𝐎𝐕
It felt like a dream. A strange one.
But this was not the first time I had slipped into something like this.
After the grief, I learned that I was something people called an empath.
For so long, I thought I was simply too emotional. Too sensitive.
I questioned myself many times.
Was I an introvert?
I chuckled at the idea.
How could I be an introvert?
I blended well with everyone.
I just could not stand certain people.
Some people drained me.
Drained my energy in ways I could not explain.
And because of this difference, I started digging.
Searching for information.
At first, it brought me to the term highly sensitive person.
Only later did the word empath appear.
But last night was different.
It was not that kind of dream.
It felt too real.
And deep down, I knew it was real.
But how could I explain it?
Would anyone believe my words?
My heart was still in shock.
Heavy.
As though it had been thrown back into me from somewhere far away.
I sat up slowly and moved to the edge of my bed.
The room was dim.
Outside, rain had started to fall in tiny droplets.
Not heavy.
Just soft enough to make the silence feel colder.
I glanced down and let out a long sigh.
Shattered moonstone beads lay scattered near the edge of my bed.
I gathered them gently, one by one, and placed them on the nightstand.
The last one was warm.
I walked to the toilet and washed my face and hands.
The cold water grounded me.
Then I went to my desk and reached for my black tourmaline crystal bracelet.
I slid it onto my wrist the way some people reached for armor.
I tried to close my eyes again, lying on my side.
But sleep did not come.
Meanwhile, in the Other Realm, Aurelia waited in the hallway outside Arjuna's chamber.
Waiting for her brother.
She kept pacing back and forth.
It was a habit.
A terrible one, perhaps, but one she could never seem to stop whenever worry clawed at her chest.
She had been trying to mind-link with him since the moment she discovered he was no longer in his chamber.
But he had shut her out.
Completely.
𝐀𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐏𝐎𝐕
Dear God, please let him be safe.
That i***t kept looping back to the Human Realm as though danger was something he could simply outrun.
He did not learn.
The Elders had already summoned him once, and still, he did not learn.
Anger began to rise inside me, sharp and hot, but fear was louder.
My thoughts started spiraling.
What if the Elders found out?
What if Father noticed?
What if the veil rejected him?
What if he could not come back?
Before I could think of anything worse, I felt a presence.
My head snapped toward it.
Or rather...
toward him.
Arjuna.
He entered the hallway without a word.
Finally.
I did not even need to look twice.
"Brother!" I called, keeping my voice low.
A whisper.
The last thing I wanted was to draw attention, especially from our parents.
"Not now," he said without looking at me.
He was angry.
Great.
"I have been worried sick, Arjuna," I said through gritted teeth as I followed him toward his chamber.
He sighed and stopped before opening the door.
Then he looked at me.
Really looked at me.
"I'm fine, Aurelia."
His voice softened.
Not much.
But enough.
It was the softness that existed only between siblings.
The kind that had kept us together all these years.
People called me his shadow.
Perhaps I was.
I was his little darling.
His little sister.
And I would protect him until my last essence, even if he kept insisting he did not need my protection.
"You are not fine," I said, following him into his chamber.
Hours ago, I had come here to deliver the essential oils he had asked for.
Usually, whenever the full moon rose in the Human Realm, he would be meditating.
Quiet.
Still.
Annoyingly disciplined.
But not tonight.
At first, I thought he was in his bath chamber.
It was empty.
His bed was untouched.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
And then it clicked.
The full moon in the Human Realm had thinned the veil again.
It had been happening for centuries.
Every full moon, the boundary between our realm and theirs weakened just enough for certain energies to slip through.
Not bodies.
Not usually.
Only echoes.
Threads.
Dreams.
But Arjuna had never cared much for what was usual.
I tried to search for him.
As a healer, I carried certain gifts.
I could recognize energy.
Aura.
Essence.
And when it came to bloodlines, I could sense where they were, as long as they remained within our realm.
But tonight...
his essence was not here.
Not in the chamber.
Not in the estate.
Not anywhere within reach.
That was when I knew.
My brother was no longer in our realm.
Panic seized me so violently I could barely breathe.
So I did the only thing I could think of.
I reached for Ravynn through the mind-link.
And begged him to find my brother before the Elders did.
Zattie POV
My body was heavy.
So were my eyes.
But still, I forced myself to rise.
It was 6:15 AM.
I let out a tired sigh.
Another morning.
Another night of strange dreams I could not fully remember.
Or maybe...
it had not been a dream at all.
I moved through my routine like clockwork.
Waking the kids.
Preparing them for school.
Making sure bags, bottles, and uniforms were ready.
Then driving them with a weight in my chest I could not name.
Or maybe it was not a feeling.
Maybe it was energy.
After dropping them off, I stopped by the café nearest to the school and grabbed my favorite coffee.
Iced buttercream latte.
Double shot.
A tiny moment of joy in a morning that felt too heavy for my own body.
Then I headed home.
I made myself scrambled eggs and croissants.
Plated them gently.
Beautifully.
Like I always did, even when no one was watching.
But something was off. The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
After breakfast, I walked back to my room.
Slowly.
Quietly.
As though something was pulling me there.
I opened my drawer and reached for the small velvet pouch where I had placed the shattered moonstone beads.
The same moonstone that had broken last night.
I untied the pouch.
Then poured the pieces into my palm.
And there it was.
The energy.
Not mine.
Not his.
Something older.
Familiar in a way that made the back of my neck turn cold.
The blue sheen flickered faintly beneath the morning light.
Once.
Then faded.
I stared at the broken beads.
My fingers tightened around them.
The warmth moved from the bead into my palm.
Not through my skin.
Deeper.
Beneath it.
As though something in my blood had heard a name I could not remember.
No.
I brushed the feeling away.
Just imagination, I told myself.
Just residue from the dream.
But by dusk, the air changed again.
My house felt heavier.
Thicker.
As though something unseen was pressing against the walls from the inside.
I recited a few verses from my usual protection ritual.
Softly.
Carefully.
It helped.
A little.
But the unsettling feeling remained.
So I reached for my palo santo.
Lit it.
Then moved through the house, room by room, letting the smoke curl through the air while I recited protection verses under my breath.
The smoke drifted along the hallway.
Through the rooms.
Through the silence.
Through something else.
Something unseen.
But not silent.
- Writer
