The Crimson Diary

IN THE PATRIARCH'S SHADOW...

The massive iron doors of Ravenwood Academy clicked shut behind us with a loud, terrifying sound. The whole entrance hall was silent. It felt like nobody was breathing.

The red mark on my chest was still burning through my shirt. It felt like a hot iron pressed against my skin.

"Damon..." Lucian said. The funny, playful look he always had on his face was completely gone. He looked pale. "Tell me you didn't do this."

Damon didn't say a single word. He just stood there like a wall, his hand holding mine tight. I tried to pull my hand back, but his grip was like steel. Up on the big balconies above us, groups of teenagers in dark clothes were leaning over the railings, staring straight at us.

"Take her bags to the top floor," Damon said. His voice was cold and calm, like ice.

"The top floor?!" Lucian whispered loudly, stepping closer to Damon. "That floor is only for your bloodline! She is a newborn! She doesn't even know how to hide her teeth yet, and you are carrying her in here with that mark burning on her chest?!"

"I said take her bags," Damon repeated. His eyes turned dark, almost completely black.

Lucian swallowed hard. He looked at me with a mix of pity and warning. "Fine. But the Council is meeting tonight, Damon. When the other high houses find out about this, things are going to get messy."

Lucian grabbed my two suitcases and moved so fast he literally turned into a blur, disappearing up the giant stairs.

I stood there, my legs shaking. My head was spinning from everything happening at once.

"Damon," I whispered, pulling on his sleeve. "What is he talking about? What is this mark on my chest? Why was he looking at me like that?!"

Damon turned around to face me. He stepped so close to me that I had to tilt my head up to look at him. He raised one hand and gently touched my face. His fingers were cold, but where he touched my cheek, a warm spark went down my neck.

His eyes softened just a little bit—just for a second, before turning back into his usual strict face.

"Stop panicking, Elena," he said softly. His voice wasn't harsh like before. It was deep and surprisingly warm. "You are safe here with me. Nobody in this castle will touch a single hair on your head while I am standing next to you."

"That doesn't answer my question!" I said, my voice cracking. "You guys keep talking in riddles!"

"You will understand when the time is right," Damon said gently, wiping a small tear from my cheek with his thumb. The way he looked at me wasn't cold at all. It looked like... care. Or something deeper that scared me even more. "For now, you just need to trust me. Can you do that?"

Before I could answer, a loud, heavy bang shook the front doors.

The air in the hallway changed instantly. The sweet, clean smell of the castle was wiped out, replaced by a strong, wild smell like fresh rain, mud, and leather.

A group of seven people walked into the hall. They weren't wearing the neat, expensive suits like Damon and Lucian. They wore leather jackets, ripped jeans, and heavy combat boots.

The girl leading them at the front was tall and drop-dead gorgeous. She had long, messy brown hair, dark skin, and fierce yellow eyes that looked like a tiger's. Next to her was a guy with broad shoulders and a scar across his left eyebrow.

The moment the girl stepped inside, her eyes locked onto me. Her nose twitched in the air.

"Well, well, well," the girl said. Her voice was rough and loud. "What do we have here?"

She walked straight toward us with long, confident strides. Her group followed right behind her like a pack of hunting dogs.

Damon immediately moved his body in front of me, blocking her view. "That's close enough, Maya."

The girl—Maya—stopped a few feet away. She put her hands in her leather jacket pockets and smirked.

"Since when does the great Patriarch bring a human girl into Ravenwood?" Maya asked, glancing over Damon's shoulder to stare right at me. "And not just any human. She smells like raw blood and fresh pine trees. Who is she, Damon? Your new midnight snack?"

The guy with the eyebrow scar stepped up next to Maya, his eyes glowing bright amber. "She doesn't belong here, Maya. You can smell it. She's fresh. One bite from any of our guys and she'll faint."

"Shut up, Caleb," Maya snapped at him without looking away from Damon.

I shrunk back behind Damon, my heart beating so fast I thought it was going to burst out of my ribs.

Damon didn't move an inch. His energy felt heavy and dangerous. "She is under my personal protection, Maya. If any of your pack comes near her, I will personally rip their claws off."

Maya laughed, a loud, wild sound that echoed through the marble room. "Protecting a little human? You must be getting soft in your old age, Patriarch."

Maya suddenly moved forward fast—faster than a normal human could ever see! But Damon was even faster.

In a split second, Damon caught Maya by her throat, holding her back in mid-air!

The other six wolves instantly growled. Their teeth grew long and sharp, their fingernails turning into thick, black claws right before my eyes.

"Get your hands off our Alpha!" Caleb roared, taking a step forward.

"Try me, Caleb," Damon growled. His eyes flared a terrifying, blinding crimson red. The sheer power coming off him made the glass windows in the lobby vibrate.

Maya didn't even look scared. She just smirked while Damon held her neck, her yellow eyes flashing. "You're very protective over this girl, Damon. Why? Is there something special about her blood?"

Damon tightened his grip for one second before shoving her back onto her feet. Maya stumbled back gracefully, landing on her boots and fixing her leather jacket.

Damon turned his back on them, grabbing my wrist gently. "We're leaving."

He pulled me toward the grand staircase. As we walked up the steps, I looked back over my shoulder. Maya was still standing there, staring up at me with those strange, glowing yellow eyes. She raised two fingers to her lips and blew me a fake kiss, a slow, dangerous smile spreading across her face.

Damon led me down a long, dark hallway on the top floor. The walls were lined with old paintings of men and women in dark cloaks. Everything here looked ancient, rich, and private.

He stopped in front of a giant double door made of dark wood. He opened it and pushed me gently inside.

The room was huge. It had a king-sized bed with dark red sheets, a massive stone fireplace with a crackling fire, and a huge balcony overlooking the foggy forest outside. My bags were already sitting near the wardrobe.

"This is your room," Damon said softly, standing at the doorway.

I turned around to face him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why are you doing all this, Damon? You don't even know me! Last night I was just a girl running through the woods, and today you're fighting wolves for me and giving me a luxury room?!"

Damon walked into the room slowly. He closed the door behind him, making the room dead silent except for the crackling fire.

He stopped right in front of me. He was so tall I had to tilt my head all the way back.

He didn't answer right away. He reached out and gently took my hand, lifting it up. His long fingers wrapped around mine. He raised my hand to his lips and pressed a soft, lingering kiss against the back of my knuckles.

My whole body froze. My breath caught in my throat. My heart started pounding so loud I was sure he could hear it.

"Because, Elena..." Damon whispered, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my knees feel weak. "You are the only thing in a thousand years that has made me feel alive. I won't let anyone in this world hurt you. Not the wolves, not the hunters... nobody."

My mouth opened, but no words came out. He sounded so sincere, so deep, that it scared me. He wasn't acting like a scary monster anymore. He looked at me like I was the most important thing in the world to him.

"Get some rest," Damon said softly, gently letting go of my hand. "I have to attend the Council meeting. Lock the door behind me."

He turned around, opened the door, and walked out into the dark hallway, shutting it quietly behind him.

I stood there by the fireplace for a long time, staring at my hand where his lips had touched. My skin still felt warm.

I turned around and walked over to the glass balcony doors to pull the heavy curtains closed. I just wanted to lie down on the bed and try to process everything that happened today.

As I reached for the curtain, a sudden, ice-cold gust of wind blew the balcony doors wide open.

I gasped, stepping back into the firelight.

Sitting casually on the stone railing of my third-floor balcony—three stories up in the air—was Caleb, the wolf with the scar over his eye. Beside him stood Maya, leaning against the archway with a lazy, dangerous grin.

"Did you really think locking a wooden door would keep the pack out, little bird?" Maya purred, stepping into my bedroom as her yellow eyes flared in the dark.

NEXT CHAPTER TOMORROW BY 5PM, OR EARLIER.

STAY TUNED.