Chapter Four - The House Of Shadows
878 Words
The city disappeared behind us.
I sat silently in the passenger seat, staring through the rain-covered window while Alexander drove.
Neither of us spoke.
My wrist still burned where his fingers had touched me.
I pulled my sleeve over the mark.
It didn’t help.
The strange red glow was still visible beneath my skin.
“What are you?” I finally asked.
Alexander’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“You’re asking the wrong question.”
“Then give me the right one.”
His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror.
“Ask yourself what you are.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
“I’m human.”
He looked away.
“No.”
My heart skipped.
“What do you mean, no?”
“You were born human.”
The words hung between us.
“But something else was born with you.”
Before I could respond, the SUV turned through enormous iron gates.
Beyond them stood a mansion.
It wasn’t beautiful.
It was terrifying.
Black stone walls rose into the darkness, surrounded by dead trees and thick mist. Strange symbols had been carved into the gates.
The moment I looked at them, my wrist burned.
Alexander noticed.
“Don’t look at the symbols.”
“Why?”
“They recognize your blood.”
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“So is everything that’s happening to you.”
The gates opened by themselves.
I swallowed.
“Did you do that?”
“No.”
The SUV stopped.
Alexander got out and came around to my side.
He opened the door.
“Come.”
I didn’t move.
“Where?”
“Inside.”
“I don’t want to.”
His gaze softened for the first time.
“You’re afraid.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
He held out his hand.
I stared at it.
Then at him.
“Why are you helping me?”
His expression became unreadable.
“Because I was ordered to protect you.”
“By who?”
“My father.”
“And why would your father care about me?”
Alexander stepped closer.
“Because twenty-one years ago, your mother saved his life.”
I froze.
“And he promised to protect her daughter.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
He lowered his voice.
“But promises mean very little in my family.”
I looked at the mansion.
“Then why bring me here?”
“Because there’s nowhere else left.”
A cold wind swept through the courtyard.
The doors of the mansion suddenly opened.
No one was standing there.
Alexander’s expression changed.
“Stay close to me.”
We entered.
The doors slammed shut behind us.
I jumped.
The inside was even darker than the outside.
Candles lined the walls, their flames burning an unnatural crimson.
Portraits covered the walls.
Generations of the Vale family.
Men and women dressed in black.
But one painting made me stop.
A young woman stood beside an older man.
I recognized her immediately.
My mother.
I stepped closer.
“She was here.”
Alexander stood beside me.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Twenty-one years ago.”
I looked at him.
“Why didn’t she ever tell me?”
“Because she was trying to keep you alive.”
A voice suddenly echoed through the hall.
“She failed.”
I turned.
A woman stood at the top of the staircase.
She was dressed in a long black gown, with silver hair falling over her shoulders.
Her eyes were almost completely black.
Alexander stepped in front of me.
“Grandmother.”
The woman smiled.
“So, the blood heir has finally returned.”
My stomach twisted.
“Who is she?”
Alexander’s voice was low.
“My grandmother.”
The woman descended the stairs slowly.
Her eyes never left me.
“You have your mother’s eyes.”
I swallowed.
“What do you want from me?”
She smiled.
“Nothing.”
Her gaze dropped to my wrist.
“Yet.”
The mark suddenly flared.
Pain shot through my arm.
I gasped.
Alexander caught me before I fell.
His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me against him.
“Don’t touch her.”
His grandmother laughed softly.
“Already protective?”
Alexander’s jaw clenched.
“She is under my protection.”
The woman tilted her head.
“For now.”
I looked up at Alexander.
His face was inches from mine.
His eyes were darker than I’d ever seen them.
“You’re safe,” he whispered.
For some reason, those two words frightened me more than anything else.
Because I didn’t believe him.
Not anymore.
Suddenly, every candle in the mansion went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A whisper brushed against my ear.
Blood calls to blood.
I froze.
“Alexander?”
His arms tightened around me.
“I heard it.”
Another whisper came.
The heir has awakened.
Then something scratched against the inside of the walls.
Once.
Twice.
Then dozens of times.
Alexander pulled me closer.
His lips brushed against my ear.
“Whatever happens…”
His voice was barely a whisper.
“Don’t let go of me.”
The walls began to shake.
And somewhere beneath the mansion, something ancient opened its eyes.
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