Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Fantasy

  The air was thick with the scent of rain-soaked earth as Scarlett stepped onto the crumbling cobblestone path. The dilapidated mansion loomed ahead, its windows glowing faintly like eyes watching her approach. The invitation, sealed with crimson wax and no name, had been left on her doorstep days ago—a curious summons she couldn't ignore. It promised answers, though to what questions, she wasn't sure.


    Inside, the air was colder, tinged with a faint metallic tang of something she couldn't name. Shadows twisted along the walls as the flicker of dying candlelight struggled to hold them at bay. And then she saw him—a man leaning against the far wall, his presence impossible to ignore. His dark hair fell in sharp contrast to his pale skin, and his eyes, dark as ink, bore into her with an intensity that stole the breath from her lungs.


    "Scarlett," he said, her name a soft exhale that made her chest tighten. "I've been waiting."


    She should have run. Everything about him screamed danger—his calm confidence, the way he carried himself like the world bent to his will. But something in the way her said her name, like it belonged to him, made her stay.


    The silence stretched between them, heavy and taut, broken only by the distant pater of rain on the mansion's slate roof. Scarlett's heart hammered in her chest, her instincts warring with her curiosity. She tightened her fingers around the strap of her bag, her knuckles white.


    "How do you know my name?" She asked, her voice steadier than she felt. She didn't move closer. The man's presence seemed to fill the room, swallowing the air, and every step closer felt like it would be a step into something she couldn't undo.


    The corners of his lips lifted in the faintest trace of a smile—not kind, but sharp, like he was entertained by her fear. "I've known it for a long time," he said. His voice was deep, low, like the rumble of a storm on the horizon. "I know a great deal about you, Scarlett. Far more than you know about yourself."


    Her stomach churned. "That's impossible," she snapped, trying to mask her unease. "You don't know m. I dont even know you."


    His smile widened. Just enough to show a glimpse of something darker lurking beneath the surface. He pushed away from the wall, his movements fluid and deliberate, like a predator who didn't need to rush to catch his prey. 


    "You will," he said simply, his tone laced with something that made her skin prickle. "Soon enough."


    Scarlett's breath hitched as he stepped closer. She should have run— every nerve in her body screamed at her to bolt back into the rain, to leave this cursed place behind. But her feet stayed rooted to te ground, and when his eyes met hers again, she felt something she couldn't explain: a pull, deep and primal, as though the space between them wasn't distance but gravity.


    "I didn't come here for games," she said, forcing her voice to steady. "If this is some kind of cruel joke—"


    He chuckled softly, cutting her off. "Oh, Scarlett, this is far from a game. But you're right—it's not why you're he. You came because you're searching for something. An answer. A truth. Maybe even yourself."


    Her throat tightened. How did he know that? How could he possibly know the restless, gnawing emptiness she carried, the questions she'd never dared voice aloud?


    "I don't know what you're talking about," she lied


    He stopped just a breath away, his height casting a shadow over her. The faint flicker of candlelight reflected in his dark eyes, making them seem almost endless.


    "You will," he said again, softer this time, almost like a promise. "But first, you have to decide, Step into this world, and nothing will ever be the same again."


    Scarlett's lips parted to respond, but she couldn't find the words. The air between them felt charged, alive, and beneath her fear, something darker stirred, something that whispered she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to turn back.