Chapter 4: The Blood Moon's Call
Aarav staggered back, his heart pounding like a war drum. His mind screamed at him to run, to leave this cursed mansion and never look back. But his body—his very soul—felt tethered to this place, to them.
Seraphina and Selene watched him with eerie calm, their crimson eyes reflecting the dim candlelight. The air between them was thick with something unseen, something powerful.
"You feel it, don't you?" Seraphina murmured, stepping closer. "The pull of your blood. The truth whispering beneath your skin."
Aarav shook his head violently. "No. This is crazy. I don't know what you did to me, but I'm not like you."
Selene's lips curled into a knowing smirk. "Oh, but you are."
Before he could protest, the entire mansion shuddered. A deep, guttural groan reverberated through the walls as if the house itself was alive—watching, waiting.
Aarav's breath hitched. "What the hell was that?"
Seraphina and Selene turned their gaze toward the massive stained-glass window at the end of the hallway. Beyond it, the moon hung low in the sky, a deep crimson hue bleeding across the heavens.
"The Blood Moon has risen," Selene whispered. "And with it… so has your fate."
Aarav felt an invisible force tighten around him, heat seeping into his veins like molten fire. His vision blurred, the edges of the world distorting. The walls of the mansion pulsed in sync with his racing heartbeat.
Memories that weren't his clawed at his mind—flashes of a life he had never lived. A shadowed figure standing over an altar. The sharp bite of fangs against his throat. A name spoken in reverence and fear.
"Kairos," Seraphina breathed, her voice filled with something between awe and possession.
Aarav's knees buckled. He barely managed to steady himself against the banister. "Who… what did you just call me?"
Selene knelt beside him, her cold fingers brushing against his cheek. "Your true name. The name of the one who was lost… but never forgotten."
Aarav's pulse roared in his ears. The burning sensation in his blood grew unbearable, like something ancient was waking inside him.
Then, from the depths of the mansion, a whisper slithered through the dark. A voice he didn't recognize, yet somehow knew.
"Welcome back, my son."
His vision went black.
To be continued…