Ashes and Embers
570 Words
The moon hung low, casting a pale silver glow over the clearing just beyond the mansion. Shadows twisted between the trees like whispers, but Elysia sat still on the stone bench near the edge of the woods, staring into nothing.
She held a blood bag in one hand, untouched. For once, she wasn't hungry.
Her thoughts were louder than the night.
What if I was wrong?
She hated the question. Hated that it had even surfaced. But Ivy’s face, torn between loyalty and fear, clung to the corners of her mind.
“If they become a risk, you end them.”
It had felt right at the time. Necessary. But now… it echoed hollow in her chest.
She gritted her teeth, squeezing the blood bag until her claws almost tore it.
“I didn’t think I’d find you out here.” Elias’s voice was soft, unusually so.
Elysia didn’t turn. “Maybe you shouldn’t have.”
But he didn’t leave. He came closer, slowly, and sat beside her without a word.
After a moment, she sighed. “I told Ivy to kill anyone who couldn’t follow the rules.”
“I know,” Elias said.
“I think I regret it.”
That caught him off guard. He blinked, then looked at her more carefully. “You? Regret?”
She finally turned to face him, eyes burning—not with fury, but something deeper. More broken. “She’s not like me. She still believes in people. She still thinks she can save them.”
Elias tilted his head. “And that makes you angry?”
“I don’t want to be saved,” she snapped. “I don’t want to be rewritten. Ivy’s trying to turn me into something I’m not. I told her to follow me, and now she’s trying to lead me in return.”
Elias leaned in, brushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, his touch cool and deliberate.
“Ivy also can’t change because of you,” he murmured. “She still has her moral. She’s still holding on.” He gave her a wicked smile. “But don’t worry… I’ll finish whatever she can’t.”
That made her look at him—really look. For a moment, all the darkness and fire in her flickered… not into ash, but into something dangerous. Curious.
They sat in silence for a while, sipping blood from their bags, the crimson warmth dulling the edge of the cold air.
When she smiled, finally, there was blood on her lips. A small, careless stain.
Elias noticed it instantly.
“You’ve got something…” he said, voice lowering.
Before she could react, he reached over. His thumb brushed the corner of her mouth—but it lingered too long. His touch burned.
Her eyes met his.
Neither of them spoke.
Then their lips met—slow and inevitable, a clash of fire and hunger. It wasn’t sweet. It was intimate. Intense. Long.
A kiss that tasted like blood and blurred lines.
When it finally broke, Elysia’s eyes widened for the briefest second. Then she vanished in a blur of speed, gone without a word.
Elias blinked, licking his lower lip, still tasting her. A slow, crooked smile spread across his face.
“I liked that,” he said to the air.
Unseen in the shadows beyond the trees, Kieran stood still. His fists clenched.
He had seen everything.
- Writer
