The city stretched out below me—a sea of cold, gleaming lights that never truly slept. From this penthouse, perched high above the restless streets, I could watch the pulse of the world as it beat blindly on. But I was not part of that world anymore. Not truly.
I had done this before. More times than I cared to count. Each girl, just shy of her eighteenth birthday, a fragile thread in the delicate balance we fought to preserve. The ritual is cruel—claiming a soul, binding it to me, to us. A necessary evil to hold back the curse that would otherwise consume everything.
They call me a monster. Some might be right. I have made myself a cage, locking away the darkness that threatens to swallow us whole. But it is a burden I bear willingly. Because without this, there is only destruction. Only chaos.
Last night, though... last night was not like the others.
The dream—the ritual—was supposed to be one-sided. I was to take, to claim, to bind. But with her... I felt something I never had before. Not just ownership, but belonging. A pull that yanked at the parts of me I thought long dead. It was a strange, wild thing, fierce and undeniable. She wasn't just a pawn in this game. She was... different.
I remember the feel of her breath against my skin, the softness of her in the dark, the sharp tang of blood on my tongue. But beneath all of that was something else—a silent promise, or maybe a warning. That we were tied together in ways I didn't yet understand.
I am weary. Every ritual tears a little more of me away. Every girl claimed feels like a thread severed from my own soul. I have been the guardian, the lock on the door. But what if the key lies within this one?
The curse I've fought against is relentless. It whispers in shadows, twisting minds and souls until there's nothing left but madness and ruin. It's a poison in our bloodline, passed down through generations. That is why I must claim them. To hold it back. To keep the darkness contained. To save what remains of what is left of our world.
But Halia... she might be the turning point. I don't know if she will be our salvation or our destruction. The way she reached inside me last night shook my very foundation. There is a fire in her—wild, untamed, and raw. It scares me.
I arranged for her to be taken. Pulled from the fragile world she inhabits, because it is not hers to stay in. The place she's been living is a trap, and the longer she remains there, the deeper she sinks into danger.
The others don't understand. They see the ritual as a necessary sacrifice. They accept the pain. But even among them, I am an outlier. This girl is not like the others, and I am not sure if I can control what she might unleash.
I am told to be cold, to be detached, to treat this as duty alone. But how can I when part of me aches for her? When the nights without her feel hollow, like a wound that will never heal?
She's in.
The message came early this morning. The operation succeeded. She is no longer a girl bound to the human world. She is ours now, trapped between realms, caught in the space where the curse breathes deepest.
And with her, the stakes have risen. The balance we have maintained for centuries teeters on the edge. One wrong move, and everything we have fought for will crumble.
I can feel it, like a storm brewing just beyond the horizon. The darkness is patient, and it waits for the perfect moment to strike.
This bond with Halia is no accident. It is a thread woven by fate, or perhaps by something darker. We are connected, tangled in a way that I can't yet unravel.
I do not know if I am the master of this ritual anymore, or if I have become its prisoner.
But I will protect her. I will bind her. Because if the curse finds her first... if she falls to it, then nothing will remain.
The weight of centuries presses down on me, but the fire inside will not go out.
She's in.
And now, the real game begins.