Obsessed By Moonlight

Eyes in the dark

Elena barely slept that night. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him—the stranger in the woods with the dark, piercing eyes. There had been something unnatural about the way he moved, like he belonged to the mist itself, as if the night bent to his will.

By morning, the encounter felt almost like a dream, but Elena knew it wasn’t. She could still hear his voice in her head, deep and soft, warning her to be careful. But why? What danger was he talking about?

“Elena, are you even listening?”

She blinked and turned to face her best friend, Mia. They were sitting in their usual spot at the back of Blackthorn High’s cafeteria, where the fluorescent lights buzzed overhead and the scent of stale coffee lingered in the air.

“Sorry, what?” Elena asked, pushing her tray of untouched food aside.

Mia sighed, flipping her long, blonde hair over her shoulder. “I was saying that there’s a party at Mason’s house this weekend. You should come. You’ve been hiding out at that bookstore too much lately.”

“I like the bookstore,” Elena muttered, but Mia wasn’t listening. She was already scrolling through her phone, probably checking Mason’s latest post.

Elena glanced out the window. The sky was gray and heavy with clouds, as it always seemed to be in Blackthorn. Beyond the school parking lot, she could see the edge of the forest—the same forest where she’d seen him.

“Elena, seriously,” Mia said, nudging her. “You’re acting weird. What’s going on?”

Elena hesitated. She hadn’t told anyone about the stranger. Part of her didn’t want to. It felt too… personal. Too strange.

“Nothing,” she said finally. “Just tired.”

Mia raised an eyebrow but didn’t press the issue. “Fine, but you’re coming to that party. No excuses.”

Elena nodded absentmindedly, her thoughts already drifting back to the woods.

---

That evening, Elena found herself walking home alone again. The streets were quieter than usual, and the cold air nipped at her cheeks. She pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, her footsteps quickening as she approached the familiar bend in the road near the forest.

Her pulse sped up as she glanced toward the trees, half-expecting to see him again. But the woods were empty, their dark depths silent and still.

“You’re being paranoid,” she whispered to herself, shaking her head.

But then, just as she turned away, she felt it—that same, unsettling sensation of being watched.

“Elena.”

She froze. The voice was barely more than a whisper, but it cut through the silence like a blade. Slowly, she turned around—and there he was.

He stood at the edge of the woods, half-hidden by the shadows. His hood was down this time, and Elena could see his face clearly. He was breathtakingly handsome, with sharp, angular features, pale skin, and eyes as dark as midnight. But there was something cold and dangerous about him, something that made her heart race with both fear and fascination.

“We meet again,” he said, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Elena opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She could only stare, her mind racing with questions.

“Who… who are you?” she finally managed to whisper.

For a moment, he didn’t answer. He just looked at her, his gaze intense and unreadable. Then, he took a step closer, and Elena felt her breath catch in her throat.

“My name is Lucien,” he said softly. “And you shouldn’t be here.”

Before Elena could ask what he meant, he vanished—fading into the mist as if he’d never been there at all.