chapter 1
1127 Words
Rain had been falling over Blackwood for several hours.
A cold and steady rain that had left the streets almost deserted. Raindrops slid down the windows of the houses while the streetlights cast a faint glow over the wet sidewalks.
At this hour of the evening, most of the residents had already returned home.
They had no idea that behind the peaceful appearance of their town were stories that no one would have dared to believe.
Ancient stories.
Secrets that some people had every reason to keep hidden.
In the middle of the silent town, Kelly White walked alone beneath the rain.
She held her umbrella in one hand and pulled her coat tighter around herself to protect herself from the cold.
At twenty-four years old, Kelly had always lived a simple life. She never tried to attract attention. She loved quiet things: reading a good book after a long day, drinking coffee in her small apartment, and talking with Sarah, her best friend.
She worked at a small bookstore downtown. A peaceful place where she spent most of her time surrounded by old novels and imaginary stories.
To everyone else, Kelly was just an ordinary young woman.
But lately, she had felt that something was no longer right.
Ever since her mother's death, her nights had become different.
At first, she thought it was simply a consequence of her grief.
After all, losing her mother had left a huge emptiness in her life.
But the dream kept coming back.
Again and again.
Every night, she saw the same woman.
A woman of strange beauty, with long black hair and red eyes that seemed to hide a pain Kelly could not understand.
She hardly ever said anything.
She simply stood there, looking at Kelly with eyes filled with sadness.
As if she had been waiting for a very long time.
As if she knew Kelly better than Kelly knew herself.
And before disappearing, she always whispered the same name.
— Kelly…
That night, the dream began again.
Kelly found herself in an unfamiliar forest.
The air was cold. A thick mist covered the ground, making it impossible to see clearly around her.
She looked at her hands, completely lost.
— Where am I…?
No answer.
Only silence.
Then, in front of her, a massive castle appeared through the mist.
Its ancient walls looked as though they had been abandoned for centuries. Yet a light shone behind some of the windows.
Above the castle, a huge moon illuminated the forest.
That was when she saw her.
The woman from her dreams.
She stood at the entrance of the castle.
This time, Kelly could see her face more clearly.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, but her eyes carried a deep sadness.
She wore a long black dress that flowed all the way to the ground and walked toward Kelly with an elegance that seemed almost unreal.
Kelly felt her body freeze.
She was afraid.
Yet at the same time, she felt something strangely familiar.
"Who are you?" she asked softly.
The woman stopped in front of her.
For a few seconds, she did not answer.
She simply looked at her.
Then a faint, sorrowful smile appeared on her face.
"Do you really not remember me?"
Kelly took a small step back.
"No... I'm sorry, but I don't know you."
Those words seemed to hurt the woman.
Her expression changed.
As if she had just heard something she had been fearing for a very long time.
"Not in this lifetime..."
Kelly frowned.
"What does that mean?"
But before she could get an answer, the woman slowly raised her hand.
Her fingers touched Kelly's cheek.
A strange sensation immediately spread through her body.
It wasn't painful.
It was different.
Like a memory she couldn't manage to recover.
Then a voice echoed inside her mind.
A soft voice, filled with emotion.
"My soul has searched for you for four hundred years."
Kelly woke up suddenly.
She sat up in her bed, breathing heavily.
Her heart was pounding.
For a few seconds, she remained still, unable to understand where she was.
Then she ran a hand over her face.
"That dream again..."
She looked around her.
Her apartment was quiet.
Everything was exactly as it had been before.
Yet a strange feeling refused to disappear.
She felt as if a presence was still there.
As if someone had just left.
Since her mother's death, Kelly had discovered an old box hidden at the back of a closet.
She still remembered that moment.
She had hesitated for a long time before opening it.
Inside, there was almost nothing.
Only an old letter.
A letter she had never found the courage to read.
On the envelope, a symbol had been drawn.
A black moon surrounded by a red circle.
At first, Kelly had not paid much attention to it.
She thought the symbol was simply part of her mother's past.
But now, she saw it everywhere.
In her dreams.
In her memories.
As if someone was trying to send her a message.
---
Several miles away from Blackwood, inside a castle hidden in the middle of an ancient forest, Jasmine Anderson opened her eyes.
She was sitting on her black stone throne, surrounded by the silence of the palace.
For four hundred years, nothing had ever managed to disturb her calm.
Until tonight.
She had just felt something.
A bond.
A call she believed she had lost forever.
Her face remained cold, but her eyes revealed an emotion she could not hide.
"She has returned..."
Beside her, Stéphane Anderson raised his head.
Her brother watched her expression with concern.
"Are you sure?"
Jasmine slowly stood up.
She looked at the moon through the palace's enormous windows.
"Yes."
Her voice was calm.
But this time, there was no hesitation in her words.
"After four hundred years of waiting... my soul has finally recognized her."
Stéphane lowered his eyes slightly.
He knew the prophecy.
He knew the consequences.
"The ancient clans will never accept her," he said.
Jasmine remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she replied:
"I am not asking for their permission."
She turned toward him.
Her gaze belonged to a queen who had already made her decision.
"If they want to prevent our destiny... they will have to face me."
Meanwhile, Kelly White still had no idea that her entire life was about to change.
She didn't know why this woman appeared in her dreams.
She didn't know why her heart seemed to recognize someone she had never met.
She didn't know that an entire kingdom already knew of her existence.
But soon, Kelly would discover the truth.
And when the vampire queen Jasmine Anderson appeared before her...
Nothing would ever be the same again.
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