He waited 300 years
The village of Black Hollow had one rule:
Never enter Ravenwood Forest after sunset.
People whispered that a vampire lived inside the abandoned castle beyond the trees. Those who entered never returned.
Of course, eighteen-year-old Aria didn’t believe in fairy tales.
One stormy evening, while searching for her missing younger brother, she ignored every warning and stepped into the forest.
The deeper she walked, the quieter the world became.
No birds.
No wind.
Only the sound of rain dripping from ancient trees.
Then she saw it.
A castle, standing untouched by time.
Its enormous doors slowly creaked open before she could knock.
“You’re late.”
The voice echoed through the dark hall.
A tall man stepped out of the shadows. His silver eyes glowed in the candlelight, and his black coat swept across the marble floor.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Aria frowned.
“You have the wrong person.”
The stranger smiled sadly.
“No, Aria.”
“I’ve been waiting for you... for three hundred years.”
Her heart pounded.
“How do you know my name?”
Instead of answering, he handed her an old portrait.
The painting showed a young woman wearing a blue dress.
She had the same eyes.
The same smile.
The same face.
“It can’t be...”
“You were my wife,” the vampire whispered.
“You died before I could save you.”
Aria stumbled backward.
“I’m not her.”
“No,” he replied softly.
“But your soul found its way back to me.”
Before she could speak, the castle shook violently.
A deafening roar echoed outside.
Hunters.
Dozens of them surrounded the castle with flaming torches.
Their leader pointed a silver sword toward the entrance.
“Bring us the vampire!”
The stranger stepped in front of Aria.
“You should leave.”
“What about you?”
He smiled.
“I’ve survived three centuries.”
“But if they discover you’re here with me...”
“They’ll never let you go.”
The doors burst open.
The hunters charged.
The vampire fought to protect her, refusing to flee even as silver blades cut through his cloak.
At sunrise, the battle ended.
The hunters were gone.
The castle stood silent.
But so did the vampire.
The first rays of sunlight touched his face.
Instead of burning, he smiled.
“The curse is broken.”
Aria looked at him in disbelief.
“How?”
He reached for her hand.
“The curse was never about immortality.”
“It was about waiting until you found me again.”
As the sun rose over Black Hollow, the vampire took his first breath as a human in three hundred years.
For the first time, they walked out of the castle together—not as a monster and a stranger, but as two souls given a second chance.
Then she noticed the bite mark on her wrist.\
That stranger noticed that Aria has already saw the bite mark and replies with:
"Some stories are written in ink. Ours was written in blood."
You are finally mine Aria.
