CHAPTER 1 — THE MAN WHO DOESN’T DIE
965 Words
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, releasing Elara Hayes into the marble lobby of Vale Industries—the most powerful corporation in the city.
Her heart pounded.
First week. First job. Don’t panic.
The air inside the building felt colder than outside—unnaturally cold, as if the temperature obeyed something other than the laws of nature.
She adjusted the strap of her bag, tugged her blazer straight, and approached the front desk.
A receptionist in a sleek black suit looked up. Her smile was polite… but tight.
“Name?”
“Elara Hayes. I’m the new junior data analyst.”
Something flashed in the woman’s eyes—something like confusion, or maybe pity—but she quickly masked it.
“Of course. Welcome to Vale Industries.” She handed Elara a badge. “Floor 87. CEO’s division.”
Elara blinked. “Sorry—the CEO’s what?”
The receptionist hesitated only a moment. “Your team works directly under Mr. Lucian Vale’s oversight.”
Cold prickled down Elara’s spine.
The CEO.
The man people whispered about. The man whose image adorned magazines but whose presence was almost… mythic.
According to rumors—
He never aged.
He never slept.
He never bled.
Ridiculous, obviously.
But the way everyone stiffened at his name? That wasn’t normal.
Elara forced a smile. “Thank you.”
She walked toward the elevators, but her badge shook slightly in her hand.
Relax. You need this job. Rent doesn’t pay itself.
The elevator ride felt endless. By the time she reached the 87th floor, her palms were damp.
When the doors opened, she stared.
The floor wasn’t like a normal corporate level.
It was silent, dim-lit, and lined with floor-to-ceiling black glass that reflected her own nervous figure back at her.
The moment she stepped out, her badge buzzed—just once, like something behind the walls had scanned her.
Elara swallowed.
A man approached—tall, dressed in a fitted suit, his expression unreadable.
“You’re the new analyst.” Not a question.
“Yes. Elara Hayes.”
“Follow me.”
He led her past a row of glass offices. People inside worked stiffly, quietly, as if any sound above a whisper would get them erased from existence.
Only one door occupied the farthest corner.
Black.
No windows.
A presence behind it so heavy it felt like a second heartbeat in the room.
Her guide stopped.
“This is the CEO’s office. If he calls for you, go immediately. Speak only when spoken to. Don’t make eye contact unless he initiates it.”
Elara’s stomach knotted. “That sounds… intense.”
“Mr. Vale values order.” He paused. “And he’s not fond of new people.”
Great. Perfect. Exactly what she needed.
Before she could ask anything else, the black door clicked.
Opened.
Her breath stalled.
He stepped out.
Lucian Vale.
Tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a charcoal-black suit that fit too perfectly to be humanly designed. His hair was dark, swept back. His features sharp, impossibly refined. His eyes—
A cold silver that didn’t look natural. Didn’t look human.
He looked at her.
Just one glance.
And the world… shifted.
Pain stabbed behind her ribs—sharp, electric, searing. She gasped, clutching her chest as her knees weakened.
Lucian froze.
Everyone else in the hallway froze too—terror whitening their faces.
Only his voice moved.
Low. Smooth. Dangerous.
“…Impossible.”
Elara’s breath shook as the pain pulsed through her like something inside her had been claimed without her permission.
Lucian took a step toward her.
Her guide immediately bowed his head, trembling. “Sir, she’s the new—”
“I know who she is.”
Lucian’s eyes never left her.
Silver eyes that saw too much. Eyes that felt like they were peeling back her skin, reading something inside her blood.
He reached out—slowly—touching her wrist with the barest brush of fingers.
A shock went through her. Heat. Cold. Pain. Electricity. Everything at once. She yanked her hand back with a gasp.
“What—what was that?”
Lucian’s jaw flexed.
His voice dropped to a whisper that wrapped around her spine like silk and chains.
“You should not exist.”
Her heart stuttered. “Excuse me?”
He stepped closer. Too close. Close enough to smell something faint on him—dark, clean, metallic, like rain on stone.
“You,” he murmured, “are a problem.”
Her throat tightened. “I just started my job.”
“That is the problem.” His gaze lowered to her badge. “…Elara Hayes.”
Her name on his tongue sounded like a verdict.
Then—
The lights flickered. Her badge buzzed again. A pulse—deep under her skin—answered something in him.
Lucian’s eyes widened the slightest fraction.
“No,” he breathed. “This cannot be happening.”
He leaned in, his lips near her ear, his voice like a threat wrapped in desire.
“You will come to my office after your orientation.”
She froze. “Why?”
His eyes lowered to her throat, unreadable.
“Because something in you,” he whispered, “…is calling to me.”
The hallway turned silent.
Lucian Vale walked past her without another word.
But as he did, she heard it—just barely.
A whisper. Spoken too softly for the humans around them.
Yet meant for her.
“Mine.”
Her blood turned to ice.
Elara stood trembling in the quiet hallway, clutching her badge, trying to breathe.
What she didn’t know—not yet—was that an immortal had just recognized her.
And she had no idea what that meant.
Or how darkly her life was about to unravel.
- Writer
