Chapter 1 The Dream
The first thing Elara heard was the wind.
Not the familiar sound of London rain tapping against her bedroom window. Not the distant hum of traffic that usually drifted through the streets at night.
This wind was different.
It was cold.
Ancient.
It moved through the darkness like it had been searching for her.
Elara opened her eyes.
She wasn't in her bedroom.
She stood barefoot on a long stone corridor.
Tall black pillars stretched toward a ceiling she couldn't see. Pale moonlight poured through enormous windows, illuminating dust floating through the air.
At the end of the corridor stood a woman.
Elara couldn't see her face clearly.
But something about her felt familiar.
The woman wore a long silver dress that seemed to move with the wind. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, and a strange crescent-shaped symbol rested against her chest.
Elara took a cautious step forward.
"Hello???"
Her voice echoed through the empty corridor.
The woman looked at her.
And suddenly, Elara's heart began beating faster.
Those eyes.
They were the same colour as hers.
Grey-green.
The woman looked frightened.
"Elara.."
The sound of her name made the entire corridor seem to freeze.
"How do you know my name???"
The woman didn't answer.
Instead, she looked behind Elara.
Fear flashed across her face.
"Listen to me carefully."
Elara turned around.
There was nothing there.
When she looked back, the woman was already walking toward her.
"You cannot stay here."
"What do you mean?"
"You must leave."
"Where??"
The woman reached for her.
But before her fingers could touch Elara's hand, a deep sound echoed through the castle.
A door opening.
The woman froze.
Someone was coming.
Slow footsteps travelled through the corridor.
One...Two...Three...
The woman suddenly grabbed Elara's shoulders.
"Whatever happens," she whispered, "don't let him find you."
"Who?"
The footsteps stopped.
Elara looked past the woman.
A figure stood at the far end of the corridor.
A man....tall....dressed entirely in black....his face was hidden by the darkness....but his eyes were visible...silver-grey...
Elara's breath caught.
She knew those eyes.
She didn't know how.
She had never seen this man before.
Yet some strange part of her seemed to recognize him.
The man stepped into the moonlight.
He looked at Elara.
Not the woman.
Her.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then his expression changed.
Pain.
Regret.
Almost grief.
He whispered a single word.
"Elara."
The woman stepped in front of her.
"Run!"
The castle shook.
A deafening crack split the air.
The stone beneath Elara's feet began to break.
"What is happening?"
"RUN!"
The woman pushed her backward.
The corridor shattered around them.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Elara fell.
She reached for the woman.
Their fingers almost touched.
Almost.
Then the woman's voice echoed through the darkness.
"Forgive me."
Elara screamed.
"WAIT!"
She fell faster.
The black castle disappeared.
The moon disappeared.
The woman disappeared.
Only the silver-eyed man remained.
He stood impossibly far above her, watching her fall.
And then he said:
"I'm sorry."
Elara woke with a gasp.
She sat upright in bed.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
For several seconds she couldn't remember where she was.
Then reality returned.
Her bedroom.
London.
Rain against the window.
The faint glow of her bedside clock.
7:13 a.m.
Elara pressed a trembling hand against her chest.
"It was just a dream."
She said it aloud, as though hearing the words might make them true.
Just a dream.
She pushed the blankets away and stood.
Her feet touched the cold floor.
She walked toward the bathroom, still trying to shake the strange feeling clinging to her.
The woman.
The castle.
The man.
Especially the man.
Why did his face feel familiar?
Elara stared at herself in the mirror.
Her dark hair was tangled from sleep. Her eyes looked tired.
Nothing was unusual.
She turned on the tap.
Cold water ran over her fingers.
She splashed some onto her face.
When she looked up again, something made her freeze.
There was a mark on her palm.
A small black symbol.
A crescent surrounded by tiny lines that looked almost like branches.
Elara stared at it.
She hadn't seen it before.
She rubbed it with her thumb.
Nothing.
She tried soap.
Nothing.
Her heartbeat quickened.
"What the hell..."
The mark began to fade.
Elara stopped breathing.
Within seconds, it disappeared completely.
Her palm was perfectly normal.
She stared at it for a long time.
Then she laughed nervously.
"Okay."
She grabbed a towel.
"Definitely just a dream."
But as she walked out of the bathroom, she stopped.
Something had appeared on the fogged-up mirror.
Three words.
Written from the inside.
HE FOUND YOU.
Elara's smile disappeared.
She slowly turned back toward the mirror.
The words began to fade.
And somewhere across London, a man with silver-grey eyes opened his eyes.
He had seen the same dream.
But unlike Elara...
He remembered everything....
.
.
.
To be continued....🥀
