**Time**: The second day after crossing over
**Location**: The abandoned manor on the edge of the Black Forest; the library inside the manor
**Characters**: Li Haoran, Catherine
Li Haoran and Catherine stood on the terrace of the abandoned manor on the edge of the Black Forest, with the spires of Silvermoon Castle looming faintly in the distance. The night wind swirled the hem of Catherine's blood-red gown. She turned to face Li Haoran, a flicker of tangled emotion glinting in her purple eyes.
"Humans always cling their fates to arrow shafts, thinking that drawing the bowstring taut will pierce through the future," Catherine murmured, her fingertips brushing the stone roses lining the terrace edge. The petals crumbled to ash the moment her touch landed on them. "Yet the fifth point of the pentagram always hides in the shadows—just like the blood in my veins. It was meant to be cold, but now it simmers like red wine poured over shards of ice."
Li Haoran's fingers tightened around hers instinctively, the icy chill of her skin seeping into his palm. Catherine trembled slightly, but she did not pull away. She simply gazed at him quietly, as if waiting for something.
"I come from a world entirely different from this one, Catherine," Li Haoran said softly, his voice ringing with unshakable resolve in the night wind. "There, people believe that every person holds their own destiny in their hands."
A faint, almost imperceptible curve tugged at Catherine's lips—as if she were satisfied with his answer. She gently slipped her hand out of his grasp, turning to stare at Silvermoon Castle in the distance. Moonlight draped over her, etching an outline of noble solitude against the dark sky.
"Come with me," Catherine's voice carried the hint of a command, yet it was laced with undeniable softness.
The wall lamps lining the corridor flickered to life one by one as they passed, their dim amber glow stretching her shadow long across the stone walls. The rustle of her gown sweeping the floor sounded like snake scales gliding over withered leaves. She halted abruptly in front of the third family portrait, her fingertips tracing the pentagram pendant hanging from the countess's chest in the painting. "She once drank wine from a human skull, yet on her deathbed, she sealed her heart away in the cellar." As she spoke, her peripheral vision never left his face, watching him like a nightingale that had stumbled into a trap.
The bookshelves were crammed with ancient tomes, each one seemingly whispering tales of a bygone era. Catherine ran her hand over the leather-bound spines, finally pausing at a tattered old book.
"This is my family's heirloom grimoire. It holds the history and secrets of the vampires," Catherine whispered, flipping open the pages to reveal intricate runes and illustrations.
Li Haoran leaned in closer. The runes seemed to stir with a life of their own, shimmering faintly under the moonlight. His gaze caught on an illustration—a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Catherine, standing beneath a star-strewn sky, a star-shaped pendant clutched in her hand.
"That is my mother," Catherine's voice softened with nostalgia. "She was once the wisest woman in our clan… yet she was burned at the stake for falling in love with a human."
A jolt of shock coursed through Li Haoran. He turned to look at Catherine, catching the flicker of agony in her eyes. When he slid his arm around her waist, his fingertips first brushed against a patch of cold, bare skin—a thin tear had split her gown open at some point, revealing the pale blue veins beneath her shoulder blades. The sight made his throat tighten, his palms suddenly feeling as if they were scalding. He curled his fingers, using his knuckles to trace the curve of her spine gently, as if playing a dusty, forgotten piano. When her chin finally came to rest in the hollow of his collarbone, he caught the scent of cedar and rust in her hair—a faint, lingering echo of her mother, a epitaph etched into her bloodline by the flames of a century ago.
"You are very much like her," Li Haoran whispered. "You both have unyielding souls."
Catherine lifted her head to meet his gaze, surprise flitting across her purple eyes before they settled back into calm. She nodded slightly, a soft smile tugging at her lips.
"Thank you, Li Haoran," her voice was as light as a breath of air. "Few have ever understood the pain of us vampires."
Time seemed to stand still in that moment, the air between them thick with a delicate, unspoken tension. Li Haoran could sense Catherine's wariness melting away, replaced by an indescribable sense of closeness. He knew deep down that this cross-species bond had only just begun—that countless hardships and trials lay ahead. But in this instant, all he wanted was to cherish every second spent by her side.
The night hung low, shrouding the Black Forest in a veil of mystery. Li Haoran and Catherine remained in the manor's library, poring over the ancient family grimoire. Moonlight streamed through the tall windows, pooling on the floor and wrapping the old room in an aura of serenity and enchantment.
Catherine's fingertips paused on a yellowed page, her nails tapping the prophecy written in dragon's blood: "The Sacred Blood is not a fountain—it is a scar." She suddenly laughed, revealing her sharp fangs. "Just like the star-shaped birthmark on your palm. When a vampire noble is pierced through the heart by a silver sword, a mark like this blooms on the wound."
Li Haoran's heart skipped a beat. He thought back to the moment he had crossed over, and the star-shaped pendant he had found beneath the stone sarcophagus. The pendant was identical to the symbol depicted in the grimoire.
"The Source of Sacred Blood?" Li Haoran repeated the words softly, his gaze locking with Catherine's purple eyes.
Catherine nodded, a complex swirl of emotions flickering in her gaze. "Yes—the Source of Sacred Blood. It is said that those who bear this bloodline can awaken the dormant powers of the vampires… and perhaps even alter our fate."
Li Haoran fell silent for a moment, feeling the weight of her words settle heavily on his shoulders. The prophecy seemed to foretell a storm that would shatter the fragile peace of the present.
"Li Haoran, there is something I must tell you," Catherine suddenly turned to face him, her voice tinged with a hint of nervousness. "Before you came to this world, I had been searching for a human. A human who could truly understand me."
Li Haoran's heart jolted. His eyes fixed firmly on hers. "Did you find that human?"
A soft glimmer of tenderness lit up Catherine's eyes. She shook her head gently. "No… not until you appeared. Only then did I realize—the human I was looking for was you."
Li Haoran's heart raced. Her words struck him like a hammer blow to the chest. He had never imagined that he would come to hold such an important place in Catherine's destiny.
He reached out instinctively, his fingers curling around hers once more. Her hand was still cold, but he could feel the faint tremor running through it as it rested in his palm.
"Catherine, I have been searching too," Li Haoran said, his voice brimming with resolve. "Searching for a place to belong in this strange, unfamiliar world."
A look of delight flashed across Catherine's face. She nodded softly, her eyes brimming with trust and reliance. "I believe in you, Li Haoran."
Moonlight spilled over them, as if draping them both in a silken veil. In that quiet night, the sound of their two heartbeats intertwined, weaving a love song that transcended the boundaries of race and time. Though the future was fraught with uncertainty and danger, they knew that as long as they stood together, nothing in the world could tear them apart.
The night was as dark as ink, and the distant chirping of insects drifted from the depths of the Black Forest. Li Haoran and Catherine lay naked in the library, her fingertips hovering over the illustration of the Blood Pact—the spot where silver nails pierced the heart—her nails digging so deeply into the paper that they left crescent-shaped indentations. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, a strange, rhythmic counterpoint to the soft rustle of her fingers brushing the page. When she suddenly pressed his hand against her left abdomen, he felt a crescent-shaped scar just below her ribs—a burn left by silver, its temperature a full ten degrees colder than his palm. But Li Haoran's gaze remained locked on her mysterious purple eyes.
"Li Haoran… can you feel it?" Catherine's voice cut through the silence, a glimmer of something unfathomable shining deep within her gaze.
Li Haoran froze for a moment. A strange, surging urge welled up from the depths of his soul—familiar yet alien, as if some long-dormant power buried within him was stirring awake. He glanced down at his palm instinctively, where a faint crimson pattern flickered to life, glowing softly.
"What is this…?" he breathed, his voice laced with astonishment.
Catherine nodded, her expression shifting to one of solemnity and reverence. "This is the awakening of the Blood Pact, Li Haoran. Our fates are now inextricably bound—never to be separated again."
Just then, a faint blue light flashed from Li Haoran's palm, and a warm, surging power flooded into his body. It was a force that seemed to pulse with life, coursing through his veins and awakening potentials he had never known he possessed.
"The Blood Pact is more than a mere contract—it is a resonance of souls," Catherine's voice was filled with awe. "It allows us to share each other's joys and sorrows, and grants us the strength to face the future together."
Li Haoran listened in silence, his heart filled with shock and wonder. He had never dreamed that he would forge such a profound bond with a vampire from another world—a connection that transcended the barriers of language and race, a true communion of souls.
Catherine laced her fingers through his, her palm glowing with the same blue light. She pressed his hand against her own chest, right over the faint, steady beat of her heart.
"Can you feel it?" her voice was as light as a feather. "This is the power of the Blood Pact. It has synchronized our heartbeats… making us true partners of fate."
Li Haoran held his breath, feeling the faint, steady thrum of Catherine's heart beneath his palm. Though it was cold to the touch, it pulsed with a fierce, unyielding vitality—just like her soul, noble and resilient. A surge of intense emotion welled up inside him: a profound sense of attachment, and an overwhelming desire to protect her.
Li Haoran wrapped his fingers around hers, pressing her hand firmly against his own chest. His Adam's apple bobbed as he forced out the words, his voice raw with emotion. "Catherine… no matter what happens from now on…" He dipped his head suddenly, his gaze fixed on their intertwined fingers. Sunlight (moonlight—corrected for context consistency) cast trembling shadows beneath his eyelashes. "I will never let go."
Catherine's fingers curled gently in his palm. The wind stirred the stray strands of hair across her forehead. She stared at the flush of his ears, then suddenly pulled his wrist to her lips. It was not a perfunctory kiss—instead, she pressed her fingertips against his pulse point, letting her breath caress the lines of his palm slowly, deliberately.
Moonlight streamed through the window, bathing their clasped hands in a soft, sacred glow. In this world of mystery and uncertainty, Li Haoran and Catherine's love shone like a beacon, illuminating each other's souls. They knew that their cross-species, cross-time love was only just beginning—and that countless storms lay ahead. But as long as they stood together, they would be able to overcome anything.