The Curse Awakens
The rain wouldn't stop.
It pounded against the windows of the old mansion, a relentless drumbeat that seemed to echo in Aarya's chest. Tonight was her eighteenth birthday—the night her grandmother had warned about in hushed, trembling tones.
Her fingers shook as she lit the last candle in the dusty prayer room. Shadows danced across the walls, stretching and twisting as if alive.
"When the clock strikes twelve, your soul will find its other half… but beware, for not all bonds are blessings."
Aarya swallowed hard. She had laughed off these warnings as superstition… until now. Because as midnight approached, a cold wind swept through the room, snuffing out the candles one by one.
Then a whisper—low, haunting, and utterly foreign—cut through the silence.
"Finally… I've found you."
Aarya froze. Shadows elongated, forming the outline of a man she had never seen before. His eyes glimmered like molten silver, locking onto hers as if he had known her all his life.
Her pulse raced. Who was he? Stranger… or the cursed bond her grandmother had feared?
A sharp, burning pain shot through her chest. Invisible chains coiled around her heart, leaving a crimson mark glowing faintly on her wrist.
The man stepped closer, his expression unreadable.
"From this night on… your fate is mine."
And just like that, Aarya's life was no longer hers to control.