Marked by Midnight

Chapter 7

The Door That Should Stay Closed

“Run.”

Ravina's voice was barely above a whisper, but there was something in it that made my stomach tighten.

I turned towards her. For the first time since I had met her, Ravina Hayes didn't look angry. The usual coldness in her face had disappeared, replaced by something I had never expected to see from her.

Fear.

Her eyes were fixed on the half-open door behind me, and the way she stared at it made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

I glanced over my shoulder. The room was still dark. I could hear that strange breathing from inside, slow and heavy, almost like someone was trying very hard not to make a sound.

Then came another whisper “Elena…”

My heart jumped. Someone inside knew my name.

I turned back to Ravina, searching her face for an explanation.

“Who is that?” I asked, my voice quieter than I intended.

Ravina's eyes widened slightly, and before I could look back at the door, she grabbed my arm “I said run.”

Her fingers tightened around my arm as she pulled me away from the door, her face tense in a way that told me she wasn't joking.

“Why?” I demanded, stumbling slightly as she dragged me down the hallway.

She didn't answer. Instead, she pulled me farther away from the eastern wing so quickly that I had to catch my balance.

“Ravina, wait,” I said, turning towards her. “What is going on?”

She finally stopped and looked at me. Her breathing had become uneven, and for a moment she looked less like the arrogant girl who always seemed to have control of everything and more like someone who was genuinely terrified.

“Do you want to get yourself killed?” she asked.

The question stopped me completely. I stared at her, trying to understand why she would say something like that.

“What is in that room?” I asked, lowering my voice as I searched her expression.

Her grip loosened. For a moment, it looked as though she might actually answer me. Then whatever emotion had crossed her face disappeared.

“Nothing,” she said quickly.

I almost laughed because the answer was so ridiculous.

“Nothing doesn't whisper my name,” I replied, raising an eyebrow.

Ravina's eyes narrowed immediately. Her expression hardened as if she had put her usual mask back on.

“You heard nothing,” she said firmly.

“I definitely heard someone,” I argued, watching her carefully.

“You're imagining things.”

“I don't think I am.”

Ravina stepped closer to me. Her shoulders were tense, and there was a warning in the way she looked at me.

“You're new here, Elena. There are things in this house you don't understand.” She paused, her eyes briefly flicking towards the eastern wing before returning to mine. “So when you're told to stay away from somewhere, you stay away.”

I looked past her towards the eastern wing. The door had closed. I hadn't seen anyone come out and that bothered me more than anything.

Someone had been inside. Someone knew my name. And Ravina knew exactly who or what it was.

“Does your father know someone is in there?” I asked.

The change in her face was almost too quick to notice.

Almost.

Her eyes shifted for a second, and the confidence in her expression faltered before she forced it back into place.

“You shouldn't ask questions about things that don't concern you,” she replied.

I studied her face.

“So it does concern you.”

Her lips pressed together, and she looked away.

“I didn't say that.”

“You didn't have to.”

Ravina released my arm and turned towards the staircase.

“Come on.”

I didn't move.

She took a few steps before realising I wasn't following. She turned back to me, her expression becoming impatient again.

“Now, Elena.”

But there was something different about her voice this time.

It wasn't anger.

It was fear.

I followed her.

We walked down the hallway without speaking. I kept looking back, expecting the door to open again.

It didn't.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me from the other side of it.

When we reached the staircase, Ravina finally stopped.

She turned to face me, crossing her arms over her chest as though she was trying to regain the control she had lost moments earlier.

“You are never to go into the eastern wing again,” she said.

I crossed my arms too.

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

“That isn't an answer.”

“It's the only one you're getting.”

Her voice was firm, but I could still see the tension in her face.

She started down the stairs.

I followed slowly.

There was one thing I knew now.

Ravina was hiding something.

And whatever it was, it had something to do with me.

Later that night, I couldn't sleep.

I lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard that voice again “Elena.”

It didn't sound angry. It didn't sound threatening either.

It sounded almost... familiar.

That was the part that bothered me most.

I had spent most of my life believing I knew very little about myself.

Then I came here and discovered that almost everyone seemed to know something I didn't. Alaric knew about my parents. Selene knew more than she told me. The three men at Moonridge had reacted to me as if something about me mattered, even though they believed I was human.

And now there was someone hidden inside the Hayes residence who knew my name.

I sat up.

I couldn't leave it alone.

Quietly, I slipped out of bed. The house was silent. I opened my bedroom door and stepped into the hallway.

For a moment, I stood there listening. No one was coming and I moved towards the staircase.

I knew I shouldn't. Ravina had warned me. Alaric had warned me. But warnings had never worked very well on me when they came without explanations.

I reached the bottom of the stairs.

The eastern hallway was empty.

I took one step and then another but my heart was beating faster with every step.

I reached the corner. The door was still closed and then I stopped. Maybe I was being stupid. Maybe there really was nothing inside.

Then I heard something. A soft movement which made me freeze.

Someone was there. I moved closer, my eyes fixed on the door. Before I could touch the handle, a voice came from behind me.

“What are you doing?”

I spun around. Ravina stood at the end of the hallway. She was wearing a dark robe and staring at me, her face a mixture of disbelief and frustration.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke. Then she walked towards me, her footsteps quiet against the floor.

“I told you to stay away,” she said, her eyes fixed on me.

“I couldn't sleep,” I replied, trying to keep my voice calm.

Ravina stopped a few feet away from me and looked at the door before looking back at me.

“So you decided to explore?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I heard someone.”

The moment I said it, her expression hardened. “You heard nothing.”

“I heard the same voice again.” I replied.

Her face went pale.

I noticed.

She quickly looked away, but not before I saw the fear in her eyes.

“Go back to your room,” she said.

I stared at her. “Who is in there?” I asked.

“No one.” She said.

“Ravina.”

Her eyes snapped back to mine.

“Go.” She said in a loud voice which Sounded like a warning

I didn't. I stood my ground, watching her closely.

She stepped closer saying “Please.”

That single word surprised me. Ravina Hayes had never said please to me before.

Something was seriously wrong. I looked at the door again, then back at her.

“What are you afraid of?” I asked.

Her jaw tightened. I could see the muscles along the side of her face tense as she struggled to control herself.

“You don't know what you're asking,” she said quietly.

“Then tell me.”

She stared at me for a long moment.

There was something almost desperate in her eyes now.

“I can't.”

“Why?”

Before she could answer, something hit the other side of the door.

A heavy sound.

Ravina jumped.

I did too.

We both turned towards the door at the same time. For a moment, neither of us moved. We stared at it, waiting for another sound. Nothing came.

Silence filled the hallway. Then Ravina suddenly reached for my hand.

“Come with me,” she said, her voice urgent. This time, I didn't argue. We hurried back towards the stairs. I looked over my shoulder one last time.

The eastern-wing door remained closed. But just before we disappeared around the corner, I thought I saw the handle move.

Neither of us spoke until we reached the main hallway.

Ravina finally released my hand. “Forget what you heard,” she said.

I looked at her, still trying to process everything that had happened. “I can't.”

“You have to.”

“Why?” I asked

She looked at me.

For once, there was no anger in her eyes. Only fear.

“Because some secrets are safer when they stay buried.” She said, then she walked away.

I stood there alone.

Her words followed me all the way back to my room.

Some secrets are safer when they stay buried.

I sat on the edge of my bed. For years, I had wanted answers about my parents. Now I was beginning to wonder if answers were exactly what everyone was afraid of me finding.

I looked towards the window. The Hayes residence was quiet again. But somewhere in that house, behind a door I had been forbidden to open, was someone who knew my name. Someone who knew something about me. And I was going to find out what. I just didn't know when.

Behind the locked door of the eastern wing, the man sitting in the darkness listened until Elena's footsteps. Ronan Nightveil remained completely still.

He had heard every word. He had also heard the fear in Ravina's voice. For years, he had kept silent. He had survived by keeping his distance from the people who wanted him forgotten. But tonight had changed something. The moment Elena had stood outside that door, he had known exactly who she was.

“Magnus's daughter” and “Lyra's daughter”

The child everyone had believed was lost to the human world.

Ronan lowered his head. “She looks just like him,” he whispered. His hand tightened around the old pendant hanging from his neck. He had promised Magnus that he would keep the secret. But Elena was already asking questions. And sooner or later, someone would have to tell her the truth. The only question was whether Ronan would still be alive when that time came.