DavinaMaddie

Every century, an ancient curse demands a binding—a mortal and a vampire joined by blood and fate.

Kaelen  refuses to become part of this ritual, despising mortals and the sacrifices it entails. But his siblings and parents won’t accept his defiance. When the shadow of the Crimson Moon looms, the consequences of refusal are more deadly than anyone dares to admit.

A family torn by power, secrets, and fate—how long before the curse claims another soul?

Beneath The Crimson Moon.

Kristof's voice dropped into a hush, the kind that made even shadows hold their breath.

"The night the veil fractured… The moon dipped. The stars bent. And things that should never have remembered how to walk began to crawl back into our world. The dead—those who had been buried by magic—began to stir. Creatures forgotten by every tongue broke through between the trees. And with them came those we had sealed away… murderers, traitors, the blood-crazed. The veil didn't care. It tore."

"Moments looped. The night refused to end. Some saw their ancestors walking through the halls. Others wept over futures they hadn't yet lived. It was called it The Breach of Time."

"He was the first to feel it. The vampire who denied the ritual. His memories twisted — a child's laughter that hadn't happened yet, blood on his hands from wars he never fought. He begged us to end it. Begged for death."

Elira's breath caught, but she said nothing.

"But death wouldn't come. Because time no longer moved for him. Not forward. Not backward. Just… endless spiraling."

A silence settled, cold and suffocating.

Kaelen's lips parted, but it was Cameron who asked, quietly, "And the vampire? The one who refused the bond… what happened to him?"

Kristof's eyes flickered with something old and cold.

"Not all at once. Slowly. First, his skin thinned. He stopped healing. Then his blood began to burn in daylight again—only worse. The sun didn't scorch him… it unraveled him. Piece by piece. Memory. Hunger. Voice. He became… hollow. Like the world forgot how to hold him."

A silence followed — thick, heavy.

And then Kristof looked up, eyes distant.

Somewhere out there, it remembers the blood that once opened it.

Far beyond their walls, a girl walked home.

Lily rubbed her hands together as the city's hum returned — distant chatter, car horns, the echo of laughter from the festival still going on in the town square. Balloons bobbed above rooftops. Somewhere, a brass band was butchering a folk song with the enthusiasm only underpaid teenagers could muster.

Lily let herself fade into the crowd. She pulled her jacket tighter to shield her from the cold

Ahead, the cracked gate of her grandma's house came into view. Her grandmother stood there with her eyes scanning the darkening street with that familiar, worried frown—the one she always wore whenever Lily went to the woods alone, as if the trees might reach out and pull her under.

Lily caught the look and smiled softly, a small warmth blooming inside her chest.

"Still here, Grandma," she thought. Still safe.

The evening breeze tugged at her hair and skirt, carrying with it a faint rustle—almost like a whisper from the shadows beyond the city lights.

Her heart fluttered, uneven and sudden,though she couldn't say why

Lily paused, heart fluttering for no clear reason.

From the edge of the street, a shadow shifted. Eyes, cold and unreadable.

Before she could react,the shape vanished into the darkness.

Lily stopped,her fingers curling into a loose fist at her side.

She blinked, forcing herself to breathe.

"Just my imagination",she said to herself.

Chapter 5 : The veil.