The city of eldhollow looked tired in the evening. Streetlights flickered on, casting long shadows. Liora Tatrez held her coat close as she walked by, her steps steady but slow. People passed by without noticing her. She liked it that way. Work at the apothecary had left her drained, and her hands felt numb. Her chest was tight, but not in a normal way. It was like something inside her was fading. No one knew what to call it. No spell helped the matter. They called it a CURSE.
The healers whispered the word when they thought she couldn't even hear. She made a turn into a quiet street, the shops were closed, the fences were tall, and the air smelled dusty. Her steps became slower, and that part of the walk made her feel uneasy. But that's when she saw him, a man leaned against a lamp post, watching her. She ignored him and kept on walking. He said nothing, but she felt it like something under her skin stirred. Her body became tightened. She stopped a few feet away, but he didn't move. he was too pale, too still, his dark hair was firmly tied back, and his clothes were too neat for someone standing alone there. She decided to talk,
"You lost?" she asked flatly.
He smiled. "Not anymore."
She rolled her eyes and then said. "Congratulations! You can leave now."
He chuckled and walked beside her.
"You shouldn't walk alone this late," he said.
She gave him a cold look. "And you shouldn't follow strange women unless you like being hexed."
He laughed lowly and smoothly
"My mistake," he said "I didn't mean to bother you." "Then don't."She walked ahead, and he didn't follow.
"Good" Liora said in her heart with a bit of relief
Her heart was racing, and her pale fingers shook. That wasn't just a strange man. He felt... wrong. Like the stories her family had always told her as a child.
But she already has enough problems to handle that night and didn't want to add more to them.
Her magic had become weak, and her skin was colder every day. Her spells slipped through her fingers like smoke. The curse was winning, and it wasn't a good sign for her.
She reached her apartment, a small, warm house full of herbs and hanging dried flowers. Nessa, her little sister, had left her a note saying:
I made soup, please eat. Also, Mira is upset, avoid her or be ready to fight.
Liora sighed. Nessa always tried to help her, especially when she needed it, but Mira, her older sister, always tried to control.
She ate a little, then stopped. The soup was warm, at least, and then her thoughts drifted back to him, the mysterious man in the alley. No heartbeat, that chill, that look. Everything. She knew what he was. A vampire. He looked at her like she was something rare, not just as a woman, not just as a person but as a key.
Far away, Kael Vortem stood on a rooftop, watching the city below. Elric, his second in command and right-hand man, waited beside him.
"She sensed you, didn't she?" Elric asked
Kael nodded. "Her blood is marked. The curse runs deep." Kael said anxiously "You're sure she's the one?" Elric asked
"I've waited a long time. I don't guess." Kael responded to him with certainty.
"She won't trust you, you know that?"
"She doesn't have to. Not yet." Kael's eyes glowed faintly red. "I only need her close."
LIORA'S HOME
Back in her room, Liora brushed her burgundy and gold hair, her pale face stared back from the mirror, her eyes looked too bright, like someone had lit a fire behind them. She stopped and sighed, and then She touched her chest, still beating, still fading.
She didn't know something ancient was watching her. That her blood tainted by the curse was the last piece of a very old deal.
And Kael, the vampire behind that deal, was getting closer.
The next day, on her way home, she saw him again, same street, same place.
"I think i should stop following this street" she said within herself.
This time, he spoke first. "May I walk with you?" "No," she said, not slowing down.
He followed anyway. "I only want to talk."
"Why?"
"Because I'm curious." She turned to him. "You're too old to be curious."
He smiled. "You noticed, I thought looking young would cover it."
"You're not very good at hiding it" she told him "You're not very good at hiding how tired you are." Kael replied almost immediately
That stopped her. Her voice was colder now. "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing," he said. "Just a name."
She knew he was going to press on, so she stopped and said "You first?" "Kael."He answered. She hesitated and sighed. "Liora."
He nodded like he already knew.
Then he stepped away. "Sleep well, Liora."
She watched him go, and her heart was racing. He wasn't just dangerous. He was patient, too patient. It was scary.
Later that night, she dreamt of the shadows and blood of a man standing at the edge of her bed, hs wore a black cloak and he stared at her continuously without blinking and when she woke, her window was open.