Chapter Two
937 Words
Lucien —
He stood alone in the catacombs long after the courtyard had emptied. A worn-out photograph rested at the centre of the stone table, the prophecy child, faded at the edges, the image nearly swallowed by age. Beside it, another photo taken that afternoon. A girl with a backpack and a glowing necklace, stepping between him and a bleeding boy without flinching.
The resemblance was undeniable.
He had felt the necklace before he had seen it properly, that same Laurent signature, the same particular energy that had been in the air the night they brought Celeste home. He knew it the way you know a scar.
Gracie Laurent's daughter was there… in Noctis.
He stared at her face in the photograph for a long time.
She had looked at him without fear. She had stepped forward when everyone else stepped back. She had her mother's defiance, he could see it already, in the set of her jaw, in the way she had held his gaze across the courtyard like she had every right to.
It should have made this simpler but it didn't.
He picked up both photographs and held them together in the dim blue light.
Gracie had run. But she had left this behind, her daughter, the prophecy walking around Noctis with no idea what it was carrying. He would find Gracie eventually. But Elisé was here now, within his reach.
He set the photographs down.
“Finish it,” he told himself. “For Celeste.”
A low rumble moved through the stone beneath his feet. After years of searching, the prophecy had finally arrived at Noctis University and so had the daughter of the woman who had taken everything from him.
He grabbed the photos and walked out of the catacomb, his face darkened with rage and thirst for revenge.
~~~
Elisé —
She stood by her room's window admiring how the sun's ray reflected on the floral necklace. Her roommates were still asleep as the school's bell rang across the courtyard.
She barely slept the last night, tossing on the bed with recurrent nightmares. She saw the blood moon redden the sky across a forest. A scream rang across the forest but she woke up instantly.
Her breath hitched as she felt her necklace warm against her neck. Sweat dripped down her skin in heavy droplets.
Someone knocked on the door breaking her from her cascade of thoughts. She stared at her roommates who were fast asleep, slightly snoring. She pulled the door open but none stood outside. Girls in school uniform walked by quickly through the dorm hallway. Her eyes darted around and fell on a dark object laying still on the floor.
She let out a scream immediately, on seeing the dead sparrow with blood on its neck. On its wings were carved ‘You’re Mine, Laurent’.
Her roommates jerked from the bed the moment she screamed. Other hall girls perked their heads out towards their room door.
Another scream rang across the hall then her roommates saw the still bird. They were scared and heaving. Their eyes narrowed towards Elisé who stood dazed from the inscription on the bird's wings. It was a clear warning, she was being watched but by who?
The hall president, Sandra walked up to their room, she was visibly annoyed by the commotion the girls had caused in the hallway. Her eyes locked with Elisé's as she stormed towards her.
“What's this trouble for now?" She said glaring at Elisé. “Everyone clear out, now" she commanded and the girls that had gathered around melted away immediately from the doorway.
Sandra's eyes fell on the bird's still body on the floor and staggered back a bit. “What the hell?" She asked, frightened.
Elisé's lips parted as if to answer the query but shut back immediately. Sandra glared at her immediately, her lips twisted with rage, "Is this a prank or something? This school has rules against such things… you're coming with me.” She said, pulling Elisé by the arm harshly.
She felt her necklace become warm against her skin again, Sandra saw the glow and backed away immediately. Her eyes widened with fear, "Where'd you get that from?" the words slipped out of her mouth shakily.
Elisé only stared back at her, her face expressionless. Sandra stepped back slowly and turned to leave. “Clear up this mess… next time I would report this mischief to the proprietor" she threatened and hurried off immediately.
Elisé picked up the dead bird and carried it into the room examining the wings. Her roommates were whispering to each other when she shut the door behind her. She ignored them completely and dropped the bird into the bin.
She felt the warmth that hit her cheeks immediately like someone was watching her. She stared at the one eyed sparrow, a deliberate act by someone with bad intentions.
Elisé sighed heavily and turned to her bedside, her roommates stopped whispering immediately, their eyes following her every move. Elisé rubbed her arms uneasily. Whatever was happening, it was bigger than a dead bird. Bigger than strange nightmares. And somehow, she knew Noctis was at the centre of it.
The weird glow from the necklace dimmed slowly but pulsed against her skin like a warning. She was still staring at the bin when her phone lit up on the bedside table. A message from an unknown number.
‘You should have stayed in Colmar.’
A chill ran down her spine. Somewhere across Noctis, in the cold dark beneath the building, a blue flame flickered and went out.
- Writer
