CHAPTER- 1
2222 Words
FREYAH
I hadn’t slept properly in days. Restless and uneasy, I finally rose to my feet and faced the glow of the enormous TV screen. For a moment, I closed my eyes, just a breath, just a pause, and when I opened them, I was no longer there.
I was standing beside the bed of my soulmate, Gillian, though the world knew him by another name: Archie.
I looked at him, searching for any sign of change, any flicker of life. My fingers brushed against his forehead, it was still cold, lifeless, exactly as it had been the first day I brought him into this room.
I turned away and lay down on the other bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling as minutes slipped by in silence. Then, without warning, something strange stirred inside me. A tremor. A pull.
I shut my eyes. The sensation deepened, weightless, unreal, as though my body had begun to float.
I wanted to open my eyes, to see, to understand… but fear gripped me. If I moved, if I even breathed too hard, the moment might dissolve.
So I stayed still, eyes closed, surrendering to whatever force had taken hold of me.
Until… my eyes slowly fluttered open.
Shapes blurred before me, shifting into something solid, a house. No… not just a house. A mansion, vast and gleaming, too grand to belong to any ordinary life.
In the middle of its spacious living room stood a woman, her back to me. The air around her felt strangely familiar, almost electric. I couldn’t see her face, but something inside me urged me forward.
I reached out, placed a trembling hand on her shoulder, and turned her around.
My breath caught. My eyes widened.
It was me.
“Who are you?” I demanded, my voice barely steady. “I don’t remember ever having a twin.”
The woman smiled faintly, calm, knowing. “I’m Freyah,” she said. “You, when you were fourteen.” Her tone carried both warmth and sorrow. “Come with me. It’s time you understood what’s been haunting your mind all these years… how you became immortal, while those you call your parents remain mortal. I’ll show you what really happened to you back in high school.”
Before I could speak, she took my hand and led me toward a door bathed in pale, trembling light.
“I’m not going in there,” I said, my voice firm but uncertain.
She tilted her head slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips. “So, you don’t want to know why you became immortal?”
Her words struck me like a cold wind. My brow furrowed. Was she telling the truth?
“If you refuse to come with me now,” she continued, already walking away, “it’ll be years before you see me again.”
“Wait!” I called out. She stopped, though she kept her back to me.
“Speak quickly,” she said, her tone sharp and unyielding. “My time in the mortal world is running out.”
I clenched my fists. “If that’s true, then why do you keep calling me immortal when I’m clearly here, living among mortals?”
She let out a quiet, humorless laugh. “You’re right. This world belongs only to mortals.” Her voice softened, but only slightly. “You’re different, fortunate, perhaps. You exist in two realms. But as I said, my time is short. I only appear when there’s something you’ve forgotten… something buried deep, like what truly happened back in high school.”
Her gaze flicked over her shoulder, eyes gleaming faintly. “So make the most of this moment, while I’m still here.”
“Fine! But you have to bring me back here afterward. You do know it’s my birthday today,” I said, trying to sound casual, though deep down, I knew there was nothing to celebrate.
“I haven’t forgotten,” she replied, her voice calm, almost detached. “It’s my birthday too.”
That made me pause for a moment. “Alright then, let’s make this quick. I need to be back before six.”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she walked ahead, her movements smooth, deliberate. I followed close behind. The moment the door opened, she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.
The door shut with a heavy thud, and suddenly, the air shifted. From the empty wall before us, a massive screen emerged, glowing with an eerie light. She raised her hand and began scrolling through it effortlessly, her fingers gliding across the surface as if she’d done this countless times. I could only watch, uneasy, my heartbeat quickening.
The screen flickered, then focused, revealing an old school draped in vines, surrounded by towering trees that swayed as if whispering forgotten secrets.
“Look closely,” she murmured. “This is where you’ll finally understand why you became immortal.”
I said nothing. My eyes stayed fixed on the screen, afraid to blink, afraid to miss whatever truth it held.
Seconds passed. Then, slowly, the image sharpened, until I saw a familiar face staring back.
It was me.
I was younger, maybe fourteen. Wearing a school uniform with a nameplate pinned neatly to my chest, a backpack slung loosely over my shoulders. I was walking down a hallway toward a classroom, when a man appeared.
He was strikingly beautiful. Strong. His long golden hair shimmered like liquid sunlight, and his presence radiated something both magnetic and dangerous.
And he had, wait…
My focus broke. I turned toward a nearby mirror and stared at my reflection, disbelief twisting inside me.
“Was that really me?” I whispered. “If so, why was my hair black back then? Why… do I look different now?”
When I looked back at the screen, the man had already moved closer to the girl… to me.
The fourteen-year-old version of myself I could barely remember.
I stumbled backward, but before I could escape, his hand shot out, fast, unrelenting, and clamped around my arm. In one swift motion, he yanked me toward him, the force sending me crashing into his chest. My breath caught. His scent, something ancient and strange, filled my senses. Then I saw his face.
It was as if time had stopped. My body refused to move. My heart thundered in my ears.
“It’s you, Freyah,” he said, his voice deep and certain. “I’ve finally found you.”
“You… know me?” I managed to whisper, my voice trembling.
“Yes,” he replied, his eyes glowing faintly, something dangerous flickering within them. “I’ve searched for you for years. And now that I have you, you’ll do exactly as I say, if you want your family to stay safe.”
My stomach twisted. "What do you mean? Who are you?"
He tilted his head slightly, a shadow of a smile curling his lips. “Before I tell you… there’s something I must do first.”
His hands tightened around my shoulders, sending a chill down my spine.
“W—What are you…” My words broke off into a gasp as pain seared through my neck. His teeth sank into my skin. My knees gave way, strength draining from my body as the world blurred and dimmed at the edges.
The last thing I heard before everything went black was his whisper against my ear… low, haunting, and possessive.
“Welcome back… my immortal.”
When I came to, everything felt… different. My body was heavy, my vision hazy, but the moment I caught a glimpse of my reflection, my breath hitched.
My hair had turned golden red, shimmering like fire under the faint light. My eyes, once ordinary, now glowed a deep crimson, but only for a fleeting second before fading back to normal. My hair, however, remained the same, radiant, unnatural, otherworldly.
I pushed myself up, scanning the unfamiliar room. The walls were dark, the air cold and silent. By the window stood the man, his back to me, shoulders tense, gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the glass.
“Um… s—sir?” My voice trembled. “What happened? Where am I? This place… it doesn’t look familiar.”
He didn’t turn around immediately. When he finally spoke, his voice was calm but carried a weight that made my chest tighten.
“Listen carefully, Freyah, because I won’t repeat this.”
I swallowed hard.
"First, you must never have a boyfriend.
Second, when you turn eighteen, the signs of your immortality will begin to appear.
And third, on your birthday, you’ll meet your soulmate. He is the only one destined to be your husband. Through him, your true power will awaken, power greater than any immortal’s. But…" He paused, his tone dropping lower. “If another man leaves a mark on you, that power will vanish… forever.”
I blinked, my pulse racing. “W-wait, I have a question.”
He finally turned to face me, his golden eyes sharp and unreadable. “Then ask it, quickly.”
“How… how will I know who he is? This soulmate you’re talking about?”
A faint, knowing smile curved his lips. “You’ll feel him,” he said softly. “The moment your eyes meet, you’ll know, because your soul will remember him.”
“When will my true power appear, the one you said is the strongest, sir?” I asked, my voice low, laced with a mix of curiosity and unease.
“It will awaken,” he said evenly, “the moment the golden stone appears on the pendant around your neck.”
“Pendant?” I blinked. “But… I don’t have one.”
“You do.” His gaze flicked toward my chest. “Look closer, it’s already there. You’ll see three colors on the pendant: white, blue, and gold. Nothing else.”
My brows furrowed. “And if another color appears?”
His tone darkened. “That would mean you’ve done something wrong. If the stone ever turns black… it means only one thing, you’ve consumed something forbidden.”
A chill ran through me. “Forbidden? What do you mean?”
“Human blood,” he said coldly. “It’s strictly forbidden.”
My eyes widened. “But… you said I’m a vampire. Isn’t that what vampires drink?”
He shook his head. “Not use. We are not like them. Our kind are called the Golden Bloods, guardians of the innocent, protectors of mortals. We exist to preserve balance, not destroy it.”
“So there are other kinds of vampires?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes,” he said, his expression hardening. “The others are corrupt, driven by hunger and greed. They kill for pleasure, feed on fear, and crave power they do not deserve. They are the lesser kind… the damned.”
“I see…” I hesitated, then asked, “Um… one last question, sir. May I know your name?”
His lips curved into the faintest smile. “No one can know my name,” he replied. “But when the golden light appears in your pendant… you’ll recognize me.”
“Alright… thank you, sir.”
“If you have no more questions, I’ll be leaving. Goodbye.”
“W-wait…” I called out, but he was gone. Vanished, like a breath of wind snuffed out by silence.
I stood there for a moment, scanning the empty hallway, but there was no trace of him. Only the faint echo of his words lingered in my mind.
Taking a deep breath, I headed toward my classroom.
The moment I stepped inside, every head turned. Dozens of eyes locked on me… staring, whispering.
“Ms. Freyah,” my teacher snapped, her eyes narrowing, “That hair color is not allowed in this school!”
I froze. How could I explain that I hadn’t dyed it, that it had changed on its own?
"I’m sorry, ma’am," I mumbled, forcing a nervous smile. “I’ll, uh… dye it black again when I get home later.”
Soft laughter rippled through the room as I hurried to my seat, cheeks burning. I sat down, eyes lowered, pretending not to hear them, even as my hand brushed against the strange pendant resting warm against my chest.
But before I could even finish listening to my teacher, a soft white glow pulsed from the pendant around my neck.
My breath hitched. The light grew brighter, blinding… until instinct forced me to squeeze my eyes shut.
When I opened them again, the world had changed. I was no longer in the classroom. I was standing beside Archie’s bed.
The air felt heavy, alive, with something unseen. A chill raced down my spine as a single thought struck me like lightning: Archie’s in danger.
My fingers tightened around the pendant, its warmth thrumming against my palm. I closed my eyes again, focusing… willing the power to respond.
When I opened them, my heart leaped. Four massive wolves surrounded Archie’s bed, their eyes glowing an eerie, electric blue. For a heartbeat, fear gripped my chest, until realization dawned.
They weren’t here to harm him.
They were here to protect him.
And somehow… they were with me.
- Writer
