Episode 07
1182 Words
The Mark and the Madness
The mark didn’t go away.
Isla stood in front of the mirror, her fingers trembling as they hovered over the small black crescent just above her heart. It was sharp, perfect, like it had been inked into her skin by a powerful being. That was ancient and knowing.
She rubbed at it with a wet cloth harder, harder—until her skin turned red and raw.
Still it was there.
It pulsed faintly, as if alive.
"This isn’t happening," she whispered. "It’s not real."
She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and sat cross-legged on her bed, the glow of the screen casting eerie shadows across her room.
She typed in every combination she could think of.
“Crescent mark + supernatural meaning.”
“Fated mates + mark on chest.”
“Moonborn mate marking without bite.”
Dozens of results.
Legends. Myths. Forum threads filled with speculation.
But one phrase kept appearing again and again.
“The Binding.”
A sacred connection between two fated souls. A bond strong enough to defy the rules of nature. A mate bond that began before the bite.
Her stomach twisted as her eyes fell on a highlighted line from an old book scan.
“In rare Moonborn pairings, the bond manifests early. If the mark forms without physical contact, the connection is irreversible.”
Her heart thudded.
Irreversible?
A knock rattled her door, sharp and sudden.
She jumped.
"Rosie?" Isla called.
There was no answer.
She opened the door to find no one in the hallway, just a folded piece of paper on the floor.
She bent down, fingers shaking as she picked it up.
The handwriting was messy. Angry.
“It’s not safe for you here anymore. He’s slipping.”
Her blood ran cold.
“He”?.
There was only one person that note could be about.
Kael.
*********
Far beneath the facility, Kael Draven lay chained in darkness.
But the chains did little to contain what writhed inside him.
His breath came in ragged bursts, sweat glistening on his scarred skin. Every pulse of his heart burned hotter than the last. The mark on Isla’s body mirrored one seared across his chest, only his glow faintly with crimson light.
He could feel her.
Her panic, her fear.
Her scent was everywhere, even in his dreams. And now, her emotions bled into him like poison and pleasure all at once.
“Mine”.
His beast stirred, restless beneath the surface.
“Still pretending you’re in control?”
Vespera’s voice cut through the silence as she stepped into the room. Her violet eyes sparkled with a cold and cruel look. She wore black leather like it was skin, her lips painted blood-red.
Kael didn’t bother to lift his head.
“Leave.”
“You didn’t used to mind when I visited,” she said, circling him like a vulture. “Now you barely look at me.”
“You’re not the one I want to see.”
Her expression cracked for just a second. “She’s just a girl.”
“No.” His golden eyes finally met hers. “She’s everything.”
Vespera’s hands clenched at her sides.
“This bond…..it’s killing you. I can feel it, Kael. You’re unraveling.”
Kael’s jaw tensed. “Then let it unravel. I’d rather lose myself than pretend she doesn’t matter.”
Vespera took a step closer, her voice low, angry. “She’ll destroy you.”
Kael’s answer came as a growl, deep and deadly. “If you touch her, I’ll tear your throat out.”
Vespera froze.
And for the first time in years… she feared him.
********
Rosie groaned as she rubbed sleep from her eyes, blinking blearily as Isla burst into her room.
“Do you know what time it is…”
"Look," Isla cut her off, yanking down the collar of her shirt to reveal the black crescent. "Tell me what the hell this means."
Rosie stared.
And for once, she didn’t have a snarky comment ready.
“Oh… shit.”
"That bad?" Isla breathed.
Rosie sat up slowly, all humor gone. “That’s a binding mark.”
"I figured that part out."
“It’s more than that,” Rosie said. “Most people don’t even get the mark unless the bond is completed. It usually only appears after a mating bite.”
Isla blinked. “He never….”
“Exactly. Which means the bond is forming on its own.”
“How is that even possible?”
Rosie hesitated. “There’s this old theory… about Moonborns. That they don’t follow the rules of normal bonds. When they find their fated mate, their souls begin merging. Even without contact.”
Isla shook her head. “That sounds impossible.”
“Yeah,” Rosie agreed. “So does surviving a full-moon attack in a room with Kael Draven. But here you are.”
Isla looked down at the mark again, her chest tightening.
“What happens if it… finishes forming?”
Rosie’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Then you’re his forever.”
The room spun.
“No,” Isla said, standing up, pacing now. “I didn’t choose this. I didn’t ask for this.”
Rosie didn’t argue.
Because what was there to say?
That night, sleep came quickly. But rest never followed.
Isla found herself standing in a forest made of moonlight and shadows. The trees glowed. Fire danced around her bare feet. It was cold, silver fire.
A cloaked woman stepped from the blaze, her voice echoing like a thousand whispers.
"You are the echo of the Moon’s first cry."
Isla’s throat closed.
"One mate will save you. One will destroy you. But both are fated to love you."
Before she could speak, the ground cracked.
She fell, screaming, straight into darkness.
And landed in his memory.
She stood in a cold forest under a blood moon, watching a younger version of Kael, barely a teenager on his knees, covered in blood.
Chains bound his wrists. A circle of cloaked figures surrounded him, chanting in a language she didn’t understand.
He screamed, his bones cracked. And then… he changed.
The shift wasn’t graceful or beautiful like stories made it sound. It was violent. Agonizing. A beast erupting from a boy’s body, tearing through his skin with savage hunger.
Isla jolted awake, soaked in sweat.
Her heart pounded. She could still feel his pain. She wasn’t just seeing memories now.
She was living them. Her eyes were opened, lost in thoughts until the morning sun eeped through her windows.
In the security wing, alarms began to blare.
Two guards raced down the lower hall, their footsteps frantic.
“Cell Nine! Where is he?!”
“He’s gone… he’s off the feed!”
“Gods, the restraints…he tore through them!”
“Check the doors, secure all the….”
CLANG.
The lights flickered, a howl echoed through the corridor.
Isla sat frozen in her room, staring at her locked door.
Then she heard it, the faintest creak. The knob slowly turning.
From the inside.
- Writer
