Chapter One Welcome to Black Hollow
The first thing Lena Moreau saw when they crossed into Black Hollow was the giant wooden sign that read:
WELCOME TO BLACK HOLLOW Population: 6,742 “Where the Mountains Meet the Sea.”
Underneath it, someone had spray-painted:
AND WHERE DREAMS GO TO DIE
“Honestly,” Lena muttered from the passenger seat, “finally, a town slogan with personality.”
Her mother sighed the sigh of a woman who had been exhausted since approximately 2009.
“Lena.”
“I’m just saying. It’s memorable.”
Rain hammered against the windshield while their moving truck groaned up the narrow coastal road. Dark pine trees crowded the mountainside on one end while violent gray ocean waves crashed against cliffs on the other.
Everything looked cinematic in the worst possible way.
Like the opening credits of a supernatural teen drama where at least three people were destined to die before prom.
Lena pressed her forehead dramatically against the window.
“This,” she announced, “is exactly how every horror movie starts.”
Her younger brother Jamie didn’t look up from his Nintendo Switch.
“No, horror movies start with white people hearing noises and investigating.”
“That is deeply offensive.”
“It’s also true.”
Their mother pointed one tired finger toward the backseat. “If either of you start fighting before we unpack one box, I will drive this car directly into the ocean.”
Silence.
Then—
“Fair.”
Lena slumped lower in her seat and watched Black Hollow emerge through the fog.
The town looked frozen in time.
Old brick storefronts lined narrow streets glowing with warm yellow lights. A bookstore sat beside a diner straight out of the 1950s. Neon signs buzzed in rain puddles. The whole place had that weird small-town aesthetic people online became emotionally unstable over.
It looked exactly like the kind of town where:
vampires ran coffee shops,
everyone had generational trauma,
and the hot mysterious guy definitely knew how to kill someone.
Lena narrowed her eyes.
Actually…
The atmosphere was aggressively Twilight coded.
“Oh my God.”
Her mother groaned quietly. “What now?”
“What if this place has vampires?”
Jamie snorted. “Please go outside.”
“I’m serious. Look at this town. Nobody here pays taxes.”
“Vampires are not real.”
Lena gasped theatrically. “That’s exactly what someone hiding vampires would say.”
Her mother pulled into the parking lot of a large apartment building overlooking the sea.
“This is home.”
Lena stared at it.
The building was old but beautiful in a gothic-rich-people-with-secrets kind of way. Dark stone walls climbed with ivy, and huge windows overlooked the cliffs below.
Thunder rumbled overhead.
Lena pointed slowly.
“If I die here,” she said, “delete my search history.”
Jamie finally looked up.
“No.”
—
Three hours later, Lena regretted being alive.
Moving was demonic.
There was no other explanation.
Her mother had somehow vanished into landlord paperwork while Lena carried approximately fourteen boxes up three flights of stairs because Jamie had suddenly developed “back pain.”
“You are fourteen,” she snapped, dragging another box through the hallway. “Your spine is still loading.”
Jamie lay upside down on the couch scrolling TikTok.
“You’re being really negative right now.”
“I’m being oppressed.”
“You say that every day.”
“Because every day I suffer.”
She dropped the box near the kitchen and collapsed dramatically onto the floor.
Rain tapped softly against the apartment windows now, and for the first time since arriving, Lena actually looked around.
The apartment was…
Nice.
Really nice.
Hardwood floors. Tall ceilings. Warm lamps. Giant windows overlooking the dark ocean below.
The entire place felt oddly cozy despite the storm outside.
For a brief second, Lena imagined herself here:
drinking coffee while rain fell outside,
reading fantasy novels by the window,
falling in love with some emotionally damaged local boy hiding dark secrets—
A loud crash interrupted her thoughts.
Jamie appeared holding a broken lamp.
“…I can explain.”
“You’re adopted.”
—
By seven o’clock, Lena desperately needed air.
She threw on her oversized hoodie, ignored her mother yelling “Don’t wander too far!”, and escaped into the rainy streets of Black Hollow.
The town looked even prettier at night.
String lights glowed above sidewalks. Music drifted from little restaurants and bars. Fog curled around old buildings like smoke.
Everything felt unreal.
Like the town itself was pretending to be normal.
Lena shoved her hands into her hoodie pockets as she wandered past shop windows.
A tattoo parlor.
A record store.
An antique bookstore that looked cursed.
Then she spotted it.
MOONBEAN CAFÉ
“Oh, absolutely not.”
The sign literally had a crescent moon on it.
“This town is trying too hard.”
Still, she walked inside.
Warmth hit her immediately along with the smell of coffee, cinnamon, and old books.
The café looked like every aesthetic Pinterest board Lena had ever saved at two in the morning.
Soft lighting.
Vintage furniture.
Plants everywhere.
A girl with silver hair worked behind the counter while indie music played softly overhead.
And sitting alone near the back window—
Oh.
Oh no.
There he was.
Every supernatural romance warning sign in human form.
Tall.
Dark hair falling over sharp eyes.
Black hoodie.
Broad shoulders.
Brooding expression staring out the rain-covered window like he personally hated happiness.
Lena physically stopped walking.
The boy looked up.
Golden-brown eyes locked onto hers.
And for one weird second—
The entire café went silent.
Not literally.
But internally.
Like her brain had blue-screened.
Because the guy was offensively attractive.
Not normal attractive.
Not “cute barista” attractive.
No.
This was:
ancient curse attractive,
ruin your life attractive,
definitely transforms during full moons attractive.
Lena’s inner monologue whispered:
That man has committed at least one felony.
The silver-haired girl behind the counter noticed her staring and smirked knowingly.
“Oh no,” she said quietly. “Another one.”
Lena blinked. “What?”
“Nothing. What can I get you?”
Lena tore her eyes away from the guy.
“Uh… hot chocolate.”
“Name?”
“Lena.”
The girl typed it into the register.
“You’re new.”
“That obvious?”
“You still look hopeful.”
“That’s concerning.”
The girl handed her a receipt.
“I’m Violet.”
“Cool name.”
“I know.”
Lena smiled despite herself and turned—
Directly into a moving wall of black fabric.
Coffee splashed.
A cup hit the floor.
And Lena looked up into the face of the mysterious hot guy.
Up close, he somehow looked worse for her mental stability.
Rain clung to the edges of his dark hair. His jaw was sharp enough to cut glass. There was a faint scar near his eyebrow that made him look illegally cinematic.
“Oh my God,” Lena whispered.
The guy frowned slightly.
“…Are you okay?”
Deep voice.
Fantastic.
Of course.
Lena straightened instantly.
“Yes. Totally. I just assaulted you with coffee, so honestly this is a strong first impression for me.”
His expression twitched like he was fighting a smile.
Interesting.
Brooding boys in movies never laughed this early.
“You’re new here,” he said.
It wasn’t a question.
“How can you tell?”
“You look lost.”
“That’s just my face.”
A small laugh escaped him this time.
Actual evidence that he possessed emotions.
Lena felt weirdly victorious about it.
The silver-haired girl—Violet—appeared beside them with paper towels.
“You break it, you buy it,” she informed Lena.
“I hate capitalism.”
“You spilled a four-dollar coffee.”
“Exactly. Corruption.”
The guy bent to help pick up the shattered cup before Lena could stop him.
Their hands brushed briefly.
And suddenly—
Pain.
Sharp.
Fast.
Like static electricity exploding up her arm.
Lena jerked backward.
“So that happened.”
The guy froze.
For the first time since she’d seen him, his calm expression cracked.
He looked… alarmed.
Not normal alarmed.
Terrified.
Violet noticed too.
A weird tension filled the café instantly.
Lena blinked between them.
“…Did I accidentally join a cult?”
“No,” the guy said immediately.
Too immediately.
Suspiciously immediately.
Violet looked like she was trying not to laugh.
The guy stood slowly, eyes still fixed on Lena.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
A pause.
“Kai.”
Of course it was.
Of course the mysterious emotionally unavailable rain boy had a name like Kai.
Lena almost laughed.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
His eyebrows pulled together.
“What?”
“Nothing. You just look exactly like someone named Kai.”
“That doesn’t even mean anything.”
“It means you definitely stare moodily out windows.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re literally doing it right now.”
For the first time, a real smile appeared.
Quick.
Crooked.
Dangerously attractive.
And Lena’s brain immediately betrayed her.
Oh, I’m going to make terrible decisions here.
Outside, thunder shook the windows.
Kai’s smile vanished instantly.
His head turned sharply toward the street.
Every muscle in his body tensed.
Lena followed his gaze.
At first, she saw nothing.
Then—
A massive shadow moved across the alley outside the café window.
Too big to be a dog.
Too fast to be human.
Gone in seconds.
A cold chill crept down Lena’s spine.
“What was that?”
Kai stood abruptly.
Violet’s expression darkened.
The entire mood of the café changed so quickly it made Lena’s stomach twist.
Kai looked down at her.
“You should go home.”
“What?”
“Now.”
“Okay, rude—”
“Lena.”
The way he said her name made her stop talking.
Low.
Serious.
Almost urgent.
For one strange moment, genuine fear flashed across his face.
Not for himself.
For her.
Rain pounded harder outside.
Somewhere in the distance, deep in the woods beyond town—
Something howled.
The sound echoed through Black Hollow like a warning.
And every person inside the café went completely silent.
Lena stared around the room.
Nobody looked surprised.
Nobody looked confused.
They looked nervous.
Like they had heard that sound before.
Kai’s eyes locked onto hers again.
“Go home,” he repeated softly.
Then he walked out into the storm.
