The nightmares started three nights after meeting Theron.
Arav would close his eyes and find himself in a different time. Ancient temples with golden spires. Silk robes in colors he'd never seen before. And a face—always the same face—looking at him with desperate love.
The face looked like Kayen's, but younger somehow. More human.
"Arav, wake up!" Min was shaking him in the library. "You fell asleep again. That's the third time this week."
Arav jerked awake, his heart pounding. The dream was so vivid—he could still smell the incense from those ancient temples, feel the weight of silk against his skin.
"Sorry," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "I haven't been sleeping well."
"Is everything okay? You've been acting strange since that party." Min's concern was genuine. "And you're spending every evening with Kayen. Don't get me wrong, he's gorgeous, but you look exhausted."
"I'm fine," Arav lied. But he wasn't fine. The dreams were getting stronger, more detailed. And stranger still—sometimes during the day, he'd see flashes. A temple courtyard superimposed over the university quad. Ancient script floating across his textbook pages.
That evening, Mae Siri took one look at him and frowned.
"Sit," she commanded. "Tell me about the dreams."
Arav described them—the temples, the silk robes, the face that looked like Kayen.
Mae Siri's expression grew grave. "Have you told Kayen?"
"No. They're just dreams—"
"They're not dreams," Mae Siri interrupted. "They're memories. Past life memories." She stood, pacing. "I should have seen this coming. A convergence bloodline bonding with an ancient vampire... of course there would be echoes."
"Past life? You mean reincarnation?" Arav's voice rose. "That's real?"
"For souls as powerful as yours? Yes." Mae Siri pulled out an ancient book, flipping through pages. "Your soul has been here before, Arav. Many times. And I suspect... ah, here." She pointed to a passage written in Thai script that seemed to glow faintly.
"What does it say?"
"It's a legend. About a thousand years ago, there was a temple guardian—a young man with divine blood who protected a sacred shrine in Chiang Mai. He fell in love with a vampire who was still human then, still learning to control his nature." Mae Siri looked up. "The guardian's name was Arthit."
Arav felt cold. "And the vampire?"
"The text doesn't name him. But it says the vampire was cursed during a village raid. The guardian tried to save him, but..." she trailed off.
"But what?"
"The guardian died. Killed by vampire hunters who thought he was protecting a monster. The vampire survived but lost his humanity—lost the only person who'd ever loved him despite what he was becoming."
Arav's hands trembled. "Kayen. It was Kayen, wasn't it?"
Mae Siri nodded slowly. "I believe so. And I believe you're the reincarnation of Arthit. Your souls found each other again after a thousand years."
"Does Kayen know?"
"I don't think so. Not consciously. But perhaps his soul recognized yours in that jungle. Perhaps that's why the blood resonance was so strong—it wasn't just your bloodline. It was recognition across lifetimes."
Arav stood abruptly. "I need to see him. Now."
"Wait." Mae Siri caught his arm. "There's more. The text says the guardian and the vampire were bonded—not in the vampire way, but through ancient Thai magic. A soul binding that was never completed because the guardian died. That binding might still exist, Arav. Waiting to be fulfilled."
"What happens if we complete it?"
"I don't know. This magic is older than vampire traditions, older than most supernatural knowledge. It could strengthen your bond beyond anything seen before. Or..." she hesitated.
"Or what?"
"Or it could trigger something neither of us can predict. Past life connections are powerful. Sometimes they bring healing. Sometimes they bring back old traumas, old pain."
But Arav was already leaving. He had to find Kayen.
He found him at their viewpoint, staring at the city like he did every night when Arav wasn't there.
"Kayen," Arav called, climbing off the taxi he'd taken.
Kayen turned, surprised. "Arav? I thought you had training with Mae Siri—"
"I need to ask you something." Arav walked closer, his heart hammering. "Do you ever dream about the past? About... a thousand years ago?"
Kayen's expression shuttered. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I do. I dream about temples in Chiang Mai. About a young man who looked like you, but human. About..." Arav's voice broke. "About dying."
Kayen's face went pale—paler than usual. "How do you know about that?"
"Mae Siri told me. About the temple guardian named Arthit. About the vampire he loved." Arav moved closer. "It was you, wasn't it? You were that vampire."
Kayen turned away, his shoulders tense. "I didn't want you to know. I didn't want you to think... that the only reason I'm drawn to you is because of who you were."
"Were you going to tell me?"
"I don't know," Kayen admitted. "I wasn't even sure it was real. Past lives, reincarnation—I've lived long enough to doubt most legends. But when I saw you in that jungle, it was like being struck by lightning. Recognition so deep it hurt."
"Tell me what happened," Arav said softly. "Tell me about Arthit."
Kayen was silent for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was heavy with centuries of grief.
"I was human once. A farmer's son in a village near Chiang Mai. Twenty-five years old when raiders came—not human raiders, but vampires. They attacked at night, turning some villagers, killing others. I was bitten, left for dead."
"But you survived," Arav prompted.
"I survived, but I was changing. Becoming something I didn't understand. I was terrified, hungry for blood. I ran into the forest, planning to die there rather than hurt anyone."
"And Arthit found you?"
Kayen nodded. "He was the guardian of a temple deep in those mountains. He found me collapsed near the shrine, starving, losing my mind. He should have killed me—vampire hunters were common, and guardians were trained to destroy supernatural threats. But he didn't."
"Why not?"
"He said he could see my soul. That despite the curse transforming my body, my soul was still human, still good. He took me to the temple, taught me to control the hunger, showed me how to be more than a monster."
Kayen's voice cracked. "I loved him. Completely. He was light in my darkness, hope when I had none. We bonded—not the vampire way, but through Thai magic. A soul binding that would link us across lifetimes."
"What happened?" Arav asked, though part of him already knew.
"The vampire hunters found us. They'd been tracking the raiders who turned me. When they saw Arthit protecting me, they assumed he was corrupted, bewitched. They killed him while I was away hunting. I came back to find him..." Kayen's hands clenched into fists. "His blood was everywhere. They'd used blessed weapons—he died instantly."
Tears streamed down Arav's face. He could feel it now—the echo of that ancient pain, that devastating loss.
"I went mad," Kayen continued. "Killed the hunters, destroyed half the village. I became the monster they feared. It took me two hundred years to regain my humanity, to remember what Arthit taught me. But I never forgot him. Never stopped loving him."
"And now I'm here," Arav whispered. "His soul in a new body."
Kayen finally turned to face him, his eyes wet with red tears—vampire tears, blood instead of water.
"I didn't seek you out because of who you were," Kayen said intensely. "I didn't know for certain until tonight. But yes, I think your soul is his. My Arthit, returned to me after a thousand years."
"The soul binding," Arav said. "Mae Siri says it might still exist. Waiting to be completed."
Kayen's eyes widened. "That's why our bond is forming so quickly. The vampire binding is reconnecting with the ancient Thai magic. They're merging."
"What happens when they fully merge?"
"I don't know," Kayen admitted. "No one does. This has never happened before—a past life binding reconnecting with a new vampire bond." He stepped closer. "Arav, if this is too much, if you want to walk away—"
"I'm not Arthit," Arav interrupted. "I'm me. Arav. With his soul maybe, but living my own life. And I'm choosing you, Kayen. Not because of who we were, but because of who we are now."
"You're sure?" Kayen's voice was vulnerable in a way Arav had never heard. "Because once this bond completes, once both magics merge at the full moon... there's no going back. We'll be connected across lifetimes, Arav. Even death won't separate us again."
Arav thought about Theron's offer, about the normal life he could have had, about all the unknowns ahead.
Then he thought about Kayen—broken and brave, ancient and alone, loving him across a thousand years.
"I'm sure," Arav said.
Kayen kissed him then, desperate and tender. And as their lips met, Arav saw flashes—not dreams, but memories. Arthit's memories.
Kayen teaching him to meditate in the temple courtyard.
Laughing together under moonlight.
Kayen whispering, "I will find you again. In every lifetime."
The burning pain as blessed blades pierced his chest—
Arav pulled back, gasping.
"What did you see?" Kayen asked urgently.
"Everything," Arav breathed. "I remember everything. The temple, our promise, the pain—" He looked at Kayen with new understanding. "You kept your promise. You found me."
"And I'll never let you go again," Kayen swore.
But across the city, Theron stood in his luxury apartment, staring at an ancient scroll he'd stolen from a European archive decades ago.
The scroll told of the temple guardian and the vampire. And more importantly, it described a ritual—a way to break soul bindings and claim the power for oneself.
"A thousand-year-old soul binding," Theron mused, "combined with convergence bloodline power. If I can break their bond and take that energy..." His eyes glowed red with hunger. "I could become the most powerful vampire in history."
He looked at the calendar. Eleven days until the full moon.
"Plenty of time," he smiled coldly. "Plenty of time to tear them apart."
*To be continued...*