Episode06
1035 Words
His Eyes Follow Me
Isla couldn’t stop thinking about him.
No matter how many shifts she picked up, no matter how hard she tried to distract herself, Kael Draven haunted her. Even now, brushing her teeth in the sterile white bathroom of her dorm, she caught herself staring blankly at her reflection, replaying the memory of his touch, the raw sound of his voice.
“Mine”
The word echoed inside her, rattling something loose.
She snapped out of the daze and shoved the toothbrush back into its holder, wiping her mouth roughly with a towel. “Get a grip,” she muttered.
But even as she dressed in her uniform, her fingers hesitated at the hem of her shirt. That night, his hands pinning her against the wall, his lips brushing her skin, had awakened a strange feeling in her. And it terrified her.
At breakfast, the cafeteria buzzed with low chatter. Conversations that stopped when she entered. Whispers that turned into stares.
She kept her head down, collected her tray, and slid into the nearest empty seat.
"Morning, Carter."
She glanced up. Nurse Talley, an older woman with silver-streaked hair and a reputation for being blunt, stood over her, offering a folder.
"Room seventeen. Sedative monitoring. Simple vitals. No physical contact." Isla nodded. "Thank you."
Talley gave a curt nod and moved on, leaving Isla to finish her cold toast in silence.
Half an hour later, she stood outside Room 17. The hallway lights flickered faintly overhead, casting long, eerie shadows across the pristine floors. No matter how modern the facility appeared, there was something ancient and wrong about it. She stepped inside.
The patient in the bed didn’t move. He was unconscious, possibly sedated. Machines beeped steadily beside him, charting heart rate and oxygen. Isla scribbled notes on the clipboard, her pen hovering mid-air as a shiver crawled across her skin.
She felt watched. Her gaze flicked toward the small surveillance camera tucked in the corner. In her chest, her heart gave a strange little kick.
He was locked away, wasn’t he?
She bit her lip, looked down at her notes, and forced herself to breathe normally.
"This isn’t some twisted fairytale," she whispered to herself. "He’s not watching. He can’t be." But deep down… she wasn’t so sure.
That night, Isla tossed and turned in bed, the sheets twisted around her legs. Her skin felt hot, her heart restless. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him.
Kael’s eyes, burning gold and his voice, low and possessive. The wall cracking. The breathless moment before the kiss. The way he collapsed after whispering mine.
She bolted upright, gasping. The knock came at the worst moment. "Yeah?" she called, dragging the blanket higher. The door creaked open and Rosie peeked in, holding two mugs of cocoa and a familiar smug grin.
"You look like someone’s ghost just confessed his undying love." Isla exhaled sharply. "Not even close."
Rosie walked in, kicked the door shut behind her, and dropped onto the bed. "Let me guess, Cell Nine?" Isla groaned. "Can you not?"
"Oh, come on," Rosie teased, handing her a mug. "You look like you’ve been hit by a full moon and a freight train."
Isla stared into the cocoa, unwilling to admit anything. But her silence was its own confession.
Rosie’s smirk faded. "Listen… I heard something."
Isla glanced up.
Rosie lowered her voice. "There’s talk about a Moonborn."
"A what?"
"Someone descended from the Moon Goddess. Extremely rare and powerful. Fated for something bigger than themselves." Rosie hesitated. "Some say the Moonborn can break curses, shift destiny and even control the Alphas."
Isla blinked. "You think Kael is one?"
"No," Rosie said quietly. "I think you might be."
The mug nearly slipped from Isla’s fingers. "Me?"
"You don’t feel it? The connection between you two? The fact that he lost control the moment you entered the room?"
Isla stood up, pacing now. "That’s not proof. That’s… coincidence."
"Isla," Rosie said gently. "Coincidences don’t leave marks."
"What marks?"
Rosie didn’t answer. She just gave her a look. The kind that said You know exactly what I mean.
The next morning, Isla noticed the tension before she stepped out of her room. The air was heavier. The guards are more alert. Whispers followed her like shadows.
“Did you hear what happened in the lower levels?”
“They say Kael snapped again.”
“He broke the reinforced restraints… again.”
She didn’t ask questions. She didn’t need to. She already knew.
And still, her feet betrayed her.
They carried her down the hall, past checkpoints she wasn’t cleared for, toward the forbidden corridor.
She got as far as the last corner before a voice stopped her cold.
"Miss Carter."
She froze.
Dr. Monroe stepped into view, her face unreadable, eyes sharp behind her glasses.
"You were warned."
"I wasn’t trying….."
"You were," Monroe cut in. "And if you continue on this path, you will not only lose your position here… you will lose yourself."
Isla swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"
Monroe stepped closer. "You think this place is about healing? About order? It was never built for that. And Kael Draven… he is not a patient. He’s a weapon we haven’t figured out how to control."
Isla opened her mouth to respond…but Monroe was already turning away.
"Stay away from him," she said without looking back. "For both your sakes."
That evening, when Isla returned to her room, something strange was waiting.
A folded piece of paper. It was plain and unmarked.
She picked it up, her heart thudding in her ears.
Scrawled in black ink, only five words stared back at her:
“The mark has begun forming.”
She dropped the paper like it burned her.
Then her eyes caught a movement..just beneath her collarbone, above her heart.
A small black crescent. It was perfectly shaped. Etched into her skin, but It hadn’t been there before.
Her knees gave out, and she collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
Because at that moment, Isla Carter knew two things for sure.
One, she was no ordinary girl.
And two, She was being claimed by a force greater than her.
- Writer
