Chapter 2 The Warning

The next night, Seraphina felt it again. The weight of eyes on her, watching her every move.

It wasn’t paranoia this time. Something was moving through the city, silent but deliberate.

She locked the shop early. Trine’s streets were unusually quiet, the kind of quiet that didn’t belong to a city of millions. The lights flickered, and a low mist rolled in, swallowing sound.

She walked fast, avoiding eye contact. This city had always carried a sort of darkness. One that allowed even the foul of creatures to live in.

Every vampire knew when they were being hunted—primal instinct, as you may call it. The air carried pressure, a shift in rhythm. It wasn’t sight or sound. It was instinct, the dead remembering fear.

When she reached her building, she stopped. The front door was slightly open. She hadn’t left it that way.

Seraphina didn’t breathe. She pushed it open slowly.

Inside, everything looked normal, a little too normal. Her books were stacked neatly, her candles unlit. But the faint scent of iron told her the truth. Someone had been there. Something had been there and it definitely wasn't human.

On the counter sat a single black feather.

She recognized it instantly. The Eternal Court used it as a mark. A warning before they struck.

Her stomach turned. They had already found her.

She didn’t sleep that day. Vampires don’t sleep—something she had learned how to pretend to do.

When dawn came, she sat by the window, watching the sunlight crawl over the skyline. Vampires didn’t need rest, but they did need stillness, time to think.

Lucen’s words from the night before echoed in her head.

“He’ll come for you himself.”

She didn’t want to believe it. Caelum had been many things: fierce, proud, dangerous. But she had never seen cruelty in him. If he was truly alive and ruling the Court, then the man she had loved was gone.

By sunset, she made a decision. She wouldn’t run. Not again.

Trine came alive with night traffic as she opened her shop. People drifted in and out, buying trinkets they didn’t understand. She forced herself to act normal, to smile when they spoke. But deep inside her was a worry that she couldn't shake off.

It worked until the last customer left.

The bell above the door rang again. This time, soft and  deliberate.

She turned, expecting another customer. But it was a familiar face.

“Elias,” she said, surprised and smiling.

Her neighbor smiled awkwardly, holding a cup of coffee. “You left your mail box open again. I thought I’d save your bills from the rain.”

She exhaled in relief. “You shouldn’t sneak in like that.”

He shrugged. “You always forget to lock up. You’d think a woman who runs a shop full of antiques would be more careful.”

She forced a small laugh. “You’re right. I’ve been distracted lately.”

He looked at her curiously. “You okay?”

She hesitated. “Just tired.”

“Too tired for dinner?” he asked with a grin.

“I don’t eat much,” she said, almost truthfully.

“Then tea,” he insisted. “Or I’ll start thinking you’re secretly a vampire.”

Her smile faded for half a second too long. He laughed, not noticing.

"Just kidding", he laughed. She was relieved. She thought he had figured her out. Figured out her vampire curse!

Later that night, she watched him from her window as he crossed the street back to his apartment. Elias was kind. Human. And kind people rarely survived in her world.

She told herself to stay away from him.

But kindness was a rare thing, and she was tired of being alone.

The ring around her neck pulsed once, like a warning.

She ignored it.

The next evening, Trine’s streets felt heavier. She walked home from closing the shop, the sound of her boots echoing in the empty alley. The mist had thickened again.

Halfway to her building, she stopped.

The scent hit her; sharp, metallic, unmistakable. Blood.

Her hands curled at her sides.

She followed it around the corner and froze.

A man stood at the end of the street. His eyes glowed faintly red, his fangs visible even in the dark.

A Court hunter.

He smiled when he saw her. “Seraphina Vale,” he said, her name a hiss. “The forgotten queen.”

She didn’t move. “Tell your master I don’t answer to him.”

“Oh, he doesn’t want your loyalty,” the vampire said. “He wants what you’re hiding.”

Before she could react, he lunged.

She dodged easily. She had fought enough monsters to recognize arrogance. The fight was quick and brutal, too fast for human eyes to see. In less than a minute, she had him pinned against the wall, her hand around his throat. She looked at him with disgust still pining him down with the strength she thought she had forgotten.

“Who sent you?” she demanded.

He laughed, blood dripping from his mouth. “The one who made you.”

She froze. “What did you say?”

He smiled, fangs slick. “He said you’d remember him when you saw this.”

He opened his hand. Inside lay a small ring identical to hers.

Seraphina’s grip tightened. “Where did you get that?”

But before he could answer, his body convulsed and turned to ash. She knew the Court had killed him from afar. That's the specialty afterall.

She stared at the pile of dust at her feet.

Somewhere in the dark, thunder rolled.

When she returned home, she locked the door and leaned against it, trying to breathe.

Two rings. Two lives that shouldn’t exist at the same time.

If Caelum’s ring still existed, it meant he had been watching her long before tonight. He knew she wasn't dead.

The realization made her shiver.

On the counter lay the black feather. Its edges shimmered faintly now, glowing with faint red light. The message was clear.

They were coming.

She whispered to the empty room, “Then let them.”

She was tired of running.

Outside, lightning flashed across the skyline.

The temporary peace she had known for a while had come to an end.

The hunt had begun.