Chapter five
1276 Words
Elena barely slept.
The image of the girl standing inside the burning house kept returning to her mind.
The girl's face.
Her eyes.
The strange silver mark on her wrist.
Everything felt familiar, yet Elena couldn't understand why.
By morning, she was sitting beside the window of the old stone house, staring at the forest.
Adrian entered carrying a small wooden box.
“You're awake.”
“I never slept.”
He placed the box on the table.
“I found something.”
Elena immediately turned toward him.
“What?”
Adrian opened the box.
Inside was an old photograph.
Elena picked it up.
Her fingers froze.
The girl in the photograph was the same girl she had seen in her vision.
“What is this?”
“My grandmother kept it hidden.”
Elena stared at the photograph.
“When was this taken?”
“Twenty years ago.”
“That can't be possible.”
Adrian nodded.
“I know.”
Elena looked closer.
The girl was standing beside a man Elena recognized.
Lucian.
Her heart began racing.
“Why is Lucian in this photograph?”
“I don't know.”
“You said your family protected the Moonborn.”
“They did.”
“Then why were they protecting someone who was with a vampire?”
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Finally, he said, “Because the girl wasn't a vampire.”
Elena looked at him.
“Then what was she?”
“A human.”
Elena frowned.
“A human standing beside Lucian?”
“Yes.”
Adrian took another photograph from the box.
This one showed the same girl standing beside two men.
One was Lucian.
The other was a man Elena had never seen before.
“He was the leader of the werewolves at the time,” Adrian explained.
Elena's confusion deepened.
“Why would a human be connected to both vampires and werewolves?”
“That is what my family spent years trying to discover.”
Elena looked down at the photographs.
Then she noticed something.
The girl was wearing a necklace.
A small silver moon.
Elena touched her own neck.
She was wearing the same necklace.
Her breathing stopped.
“Adrian…”
He looked at her.
“This necklace.”
His expression changed.
“Where did you get it?”
“My mother gave it to me.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Elena nodded.
“She told me it belonged to my grandmother.”
Adrian stared at the necklace.
“Then your mother knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That you were connected to the prophecy.”
Elena shook her head.
“No. My mother would never hide something like this from me.”
“Maybe she didn't have a choice.”
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from outside.
Adrian turned toward the door.
Someone was approaching.
He reached for the weapon beside him.
But the door opened before he could move.
An elderly woman entered.
Elena had never seen her before.
The woman looked directly at Elena.
Then her eyes moved to the necklace.
“You finally found her.”
Adrian lowered his weapon slightly.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Mara.”
Elena's heart skipped.
“Mara?”
She remembered the name.
Lucian had mentioned it before.
“You know Lucian.”
Mara's expression became serious.
“I knew him before he became what he is now.”
Elena stood.
“Then tell me about the girl.”
Mara looked at her for a long moment.
“You saw her.”
It wasn't a question.
Elena nodded.
“In my vision.”
Mara walked closer.
“The girl's name was Amara.”
Elena stared at her.
“Who was she?”
Mara sighed.
“She was the last person who carried the Moonborn blood.”
Elena's face went pale.
“But you said she was human.”
“She was.”
“Then how could she be Moonborn?”
“Because Moonborn isn't a species.”
Mara touched Elena's glowing wrist.
“It is a bloodline.”
Elena looked at the mark.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because people were trying to kill everyone who knew.”
Adrian looked at Mara.
“Tell her everything.”
Mara hesitated.
“Your parents belonged to a secret group that protected Amara's descendants.”
Elena's eyes widened.
“My parents?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did they leave me?”
Mara's expression softened.
“They didn't.”
Elena froze.
“What?”
“Your parents didn't abandon you.”
A painful silence filled the room.
Mara continued.
“They were trying to protect you.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“What happened to them?”
Mara looked away.
“The vampires found them.”
Elena felt as if the floor had disappeared beneath her.
“Who?”
“The Vampire King.”
Adrian clenched his fists.
Mara continued.
“He believed your family carried the key to the prophecy. He wanted the bloodline destroyed before the next Blood Moon.”
Elena remembered the burning house.
“My vision…”
Mara nodded.
“That was the night your family was attacked.”
Elena's voice trembled.
“I was there?”
“You were a child.”
“Then how did I survive?”
Mara looked at Adrian.
“Someone rescued you.”
“Who?”
Mara didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the window.
“The same person who has been watching you since you arrived in this forest.”
Elena turned.
There was no one there.
She looked back at Mara.
“Who?”
Before Mara could answer, a loud crash came from outside.
Adrian immediately moved toward the door.
A shadow passed across the window.
Then another.
Mara whispered, “They're here.”
“Who?” Elena asked.
“The king's hunters.”
Adrian's eyes changed.
“Stay here.”
He stepped outside.
Elena followed him.
The forest was empty.
Then a voice echoed from the trees.
“Elena.”
She recognized it.
Lucian.
He stepped out from the darkness.
Adrian immediately stood between them.
“You followed us.”
Lucian shook his head.
“I came because she deserves to know the truth.”
Elena stared at him.
“You knew my parents?”
Lucian became silent.
“Answer me!”
“Yes.”
Elena's heart sank.
“Were you there when they died?”
Lucian looked at her.
“I was.”
Adrian stepped forward angrily.
“You should leave.”
But Elena stopped him.
“No.”
She looked directly at Lucian.
“I want to hear him.”
Lucian's expression was filled with something Elena couldn't identify.
Regret.
“I wasn't the one who killed them.”
“Then who did?”
Lucian looked toward the blood-red moon still faintly visible in the daylight sky.
“The king.”
Elena's hands trembled.
“Why did he kill them?”
“Because he was afraid of you.”
“I'm not even powerful.”
Lucian shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Elena looked at the mark on her wrist.
It was glowing again.
Lucian's eyes widened.
“The awakening has begun.”
Adrian looked at Elena.
“What does that mean?”
Lucian stepped backward.
“It means the king knows she's alive.”
A distant howl echoed through the forest.
Then another.
Lucian looked toward the mountains.
“They're coming.”
Elena swallowed.
“Who?”
Lucian's voice became quiet.
“The Vampire King's army.”
And somewhere beyond the trees, something answered with a roar.
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