Chapter 9 – The First Seal
840 Words
The elevator descended slower than Aria expected, groaning like it hadn’t been used in decades.
Lucien stood beside her, arms crossed tightly, his face carved from stone. Between them, the black Vault keycard pulsed faintly in the flickering red light.
“You’re sure no one else can access it?” she asked.
Lucien nodded. “Not without the original Vale DNA imprint… or yours.”
Aria’s chest tightened. “Because of my mother.”
He didn’t answer. The silence said enough.
The elevator came to a halt with a heavy clank. The doors slid open, revealing a narrow corridor stone walls, low lights, and air that smelled of metal and secrets.
Lucien stepped out first.
Aria followed, heart pounding.
A steel door stood at the end, etched with ancient symbols and a fingerprint scanner glowing red.
Lucien placed his hand on the scanner.
A click. A mechanical growl.
Then: ACCESS DENIED.
Aria blinked. “What? I thought—”
“I was never granted full access,” Lucien muttered. “This Vault was built by my father… and locked after he died. I only ever got pieces of it.”
He turned to her slowly. “Try yours.”
Aria’s throat tightened. “Are you sure?”
“It only opens for someone it trusts,” he said softly.
Aria stepped forward, pressed her hand to the scanner—
The light turned blue.
A chime.
ACCESS GRANTED.
The door creaked open like something from a nightmare.
Inside, the Vault was colder than ice.
It wasn’t what Aria expected. No piles of gold. No computers.
It was a library of shadows—rows of glass panels with documents sealed inside, videos suspended in time, photos hanging in frozen frames. Like a museum of sins.
Lucien looked around, eyes dark. “This is where the family buried their skeletons.”
Aria walked slowly past each frame.
A photo of her mother.
Another of Lucien’s father, shaking hands with powerful men.
A blood-stained document with the word “Initiation” scrawled across it.
Then something odd.
A small case glowing red.
She stopped. “What’s this?”
Lucien leaned in. “Level One File. Only unlocks with dual print.”
They pressed their hands side by side.
The case opened.
Inside: a single letter.
Lucien read it out loud.
“Project Thorn.
Initiated: 17 years ago.
Primary subject: Aria D. Winters.
Bloodline selected. Asset prepared.
Trigger agent: Lucien Vale.”
Aria staggered back.
“Subject? They used me?”
Lucien’s face was pale. “I didn’t know. I swear.”
She was trembling. “They chose me. Before I was even born.”
“Your mother tried to stop it,” Lucien whispered. “That’s why they erased her.”
“Erased,” she repeated. “Not killed.”
Lucien glanced toward the darker section of the Vault.
“There are two more levels,” he said. “And each one brings us closer to the core.”
“And Ronan?” Aria asked.
Lucien’s jaw tightened. “If he sees this, he won’t stop at destruction.”
Later that night, back at the estate, Aria sat in the study by the fireplace, flipping through old files they’d taken from the Vault.
Each one painted a darker picture—Blackthorn was built not just for education, but as a grooming ground. The elite were tested, watched, selected.
And Aria’s name was in more files than she could stomach.
Lucien entered, two mugs in hand.
“Chamomile,” he said. “Not poisoned, I swear.”
She gave a tired laugh.
“You okay?” he asked, sitting beside her.
“I don’t know who I am anymore,” she said.
“You’re Aria Winters. You’re kind. You’re brave. You make terrible coffee.”
She smiled. Barely.
He looked at her seriously. “They didn’t define you. They tried. But who you are is what you choose now.”
There was silence.
Then: “Why me?” she asked softly. “Why did you want me in that contract?”
Lucien’s eyes darkened. “Because the first time I saw you, I felt something real.”
He looked away. “And I needed to know if I was still capable of that.”
Her heart thudded. “And now?”
He turned to her, eyes locked on hers.
“I’m terrified.”
She reached up, brushing his cheek. “So am I.”
Outside, lightning cracked across the sky.
But inside, Aria and Lucien sat closer than ever. Not quite touching. But everything between them about to break.
Until the glass shattered.
A brick flew through the window attached to a note.
Lucien grabbed it.
His face went white.
He handed it to Aria.
Level Two unlocked. She doesn’t belong to you anymore.
– R
⸻
In the distance, at the edge of Blackthorn Forest, Ronan Vale stood in the rain, watching the mansion with cold satisfaction.
In his hand, he held something glowing.
The second Vault key.
And a drop of Aria’s blood.
- Writer
