Lady Collfumes' POV

  It seemed unbelievable, but I'm in Nocturne Kingdom, the hidden kingdom they whispered about. Nocturne is the most secretive and isolated of all the kingdoms, with very few outsiders ever returning from within its borders.

  The vampires gathered around in the room, dimly lit and filled with cold that seeped through my veins.

  All eyes went on me, filled with malice and something sinister. They've been waiting for me.

  "The new member," the masked man said, his voice distorted.

  "Hi, Dream Seer," he greeted me with a strange charm that sounded familiar. "You thought you could escape destiny, but here we are."

  He slowly slipped off the mask, and he was wearing the face of Lord Alaric, and smiled.

  "Felipe," I gasped. "What are you doing here?"

  "The vampire population is scarce and their leader is dead so I offered help," he stated. "I just don't want anyone to be left out, you know. Other kingdoms are taking advantage of the oppressed. And I don't like that."

  "Wasn't the Glacia Kingdom enough?" I shouted, my breath ragged. "You're going to destroy it."

  "I'm being nice to the Glacians, really. Nothing really changed in Glacia. They just got a formidable king," he said with a smirk.

  He really is something. A Wolf King ruling the Glacia Kingdom and vampires.

  "Tell me your visions. No lies," he demanded, his crimson eyes gleaming with malice.

  I gazed at him, weighing which ones and measuring how much to share.

  "Your quietness reminded me of your reckless son. I thought you'd be more open," Felipe said. Suddenly, his eyes sparked with something vicious. "You've got no choice after all. Do you want me to wait for you to be a hungry vampire, begging for blood, before you tell me? I think that would be intriguing."

  My heart hammered in my chest. So that's how he's keeping everyone controlled here. I can't let that happen to me. An essential vision reminded me in my mind, something I could tell instead of the recent one.

  "Alright, I'll speak," I said, taking a deep breath. "Aerol could have been a Vampire's Magic user."

  The words hung in the air.

  The vampires around me gasped, the pale color of their skin losing life.

  "Now, you're a useful person. See, it's that easy. No suffering in hunger," Felipe said approvingly.

  A part of me worried that I planted a new evil plan in his mind. What is he going to do with that info when Aerol's dead already?

  "I'll get him bitten by a vampire to unlock the sealed magic of his," he added.

  "Don't tell me..." I began, my voice trembling.

  "Resurrection spell. I'll bring his soul back from the depths of Nocturne," Felipe said matter-of-factly.

  "Thank you for telling an important info. I treat people just and fairly, so you earn a treat," he said.

  He passed a jar to me. I sensed it's filled with blood. Human blood.

  "No. Turn me back into a human," I said firmly.

  "If you want your humanity back, you'll have to tell me more visions," he said warmly.

  I continued to stare at the jar, its scent drawing me in like a magnet.

  "Drink!" one vampire shouted.

  "Drink!" another joined in.

  "Drink!" the crowd chanted, their words getting louder and louder in the cold air.

  "Oh yeah, it's a tradition for newcomers to drink blood," Felipe added cheerfully. "I promised them you would."

  My expression went grim. "You didn't say it has to be public. I want it in solitude," I said.

  "We'll discuss something interesting. Don't you want to not miss that?" Felipe asked, daring me to open the jar.

  His nice words clashed with his actions and it makes me uncomfortable. The pale creatures around me made it worse. As though I'm suffocating.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  I can't leave yet as I need to know his plans. Anyone here would be distrustful to tell me anything later. Their presence is pressuring me to do it, right now.

  "Fine. I'll stay," I said.

  I opened the lid and quickly drank the blood. Strangely, it tasted delicious, and I hated myself for it.

  They applauded, as though I'd saved the world. They are shredding away the last remnants of my humanity. I have to get out of this place as soon as I get the chance.

  "We'll invade Glacia. Turn everyone into vampires. But we'll still have to find a way to bring us all the way to Glacia without the other kingdoms noticing. Especially the vampire hunters of the Greatspire Kingdom," Felipe explained.

  "And we have the solution now. Revive Aerol and use his magic for good," he said with a wicked grin.

  I don't know what nightmare I've stepped into, but it's too late to wake up.

  ***

  Arie's POV

  He may not see it, but I noticed Skymint shifting uncomfortably around me, and whenever our gaze met, it was like he was looking through me. The same way Dorsey has always looked at me, especially during the trial.

  I tried hard to forget that, but I can't. Just like the gap in my memory that still lingers. But Skymint's words echoed in my mind: If it's important, it'll come back when you're ready.

  The sky is painted with strokes of pink and orange while the sun casts looming shadows as we walk by the forest, starting to sink behind the distant Greatspire Mountains.

  "Skymint," I said, "I have something important to tell you."

  "Go on, I'll listen," he replied.

  "Back in the palace... I was held in a trial, just a few days before you found me." I took a breath. "My cousin accused me of her father's death."

  He gasped. "General Dicester?"

  "Yes. And Dorsey was really furious at me, and I don't understand why. Like she knows me more than I know myself." I glanced at him. His gaze was fixed on the ground.

  He tilted his head up. "And what about her?"

  "She ended up in the dungeon. Even now, I still feel guilty about how the trial concluded," I said, melancholic. "But I didn't want to be imprisoned either. Thinking back... you wouldn't have found me if that had happened."

  "You shouldn't feel guilty. It just happened that the stars were unfair. I'm glad you told me," he said, his words unexpectedly gentle.

  I took a deeper breath. "And there's a noble that I loved, Skadar Facienda. I felt like he saw me the same way... so I trusted him. After the palace burned, he brought me to the Great Glacia Ocean. And encased me in ice. I felt terrified, because I wasn't expecting it... especially from him. He just cast me away like that."

  "I'm sorry to hear that. I wish I knew earlier. I promise I won't be like him." Our eyes met, and for a moment, I thought our hands might intertwine.

  "I mean it," he added, as though sensing my skepticism.

  Skymint fell quiet for a moment, then said, "You're not the only one who trusted the wrong person."

  I looked at him, surprised.

  "My father... he disappeared when I was ten, seven years ago. No note. No reason. Just gone. I used to think he'd come back with some explanation, some secret mission, some noble cause." He let out a dry laugh. "But he didn't. So my sister and I took on everything. We worked odd jobs, begged a little, scavenged. While our mother pretended to be only doing household chores... I wish I knew she was an activist."

  He paused, then looked at me with a worn smile.

  "Guess that's why I try too hard sometimes. I'm always afraid I'll lose someone again."

  My chest tightened. "You never told me that before."

  "I didn't want to. I didn't want you to see me as someone who's still haunted."

  "I don't," I said quietly. "I see someone who's strong enough to carry more than he should."

  I hesitated, then added, "My mother vanished too, you know. The former Ice Queen. One day she was just... gone. Everyone whispered different reasons. Some said exile, others said madness. I was too young to understand it, but old enough to feel the hole she left behind."

  I glanced at him. "So... I get it. That kind of silence doesn't just stay in your past. It grows with you."

  He looked at me then, really looked at me, and something softened in his expression. A rare moment of quiet understanding passed between us.

  The light had almost been swallowed by the dark sky, and the trees seemed to grow denser.

  We stopped.

  "Uh, I think we walked too far," Skymint said.

  "Berard said it's safe in his forest. I hope we're still in it."

  "Llanova?" he called into the air.

  He started walking again, and I quickly followed. "What's going on?"

  "I can hear him. Begging for help."

  "But I don't hear anyone," I said.

  We crossed through a cluster of trees, and a lake bathed in moonlight came into view at the center. It's too quiet here. The only sounds are from me and Skymint.

  He suddenly yelled, "NOOO!"

  Before I could react, he jumped into the lake and vanished beneath the surface.

  I'm left alone, and I can feel the cold prickling my skin.

  I looked back for a moment, and when I turned again, he was already there, resurfacing on the muddy ground.

  He approached me, his fur untouched by the water. "Arie, I love you. Please love me back."

  No. This isn't right. The way his limbs moved screamed danger. I quickly froze his legs while trying to make sense of what was happening.

  I ran and hid behind a large tree. My worst thoughts, the ones I never believed, are coming true. I just opened up to him. Why does this have to happen now? This is the Doppelganger Lake from the old folktales. It projects a person that can only be seen by its target, assuming that they would follow it to the lake. And I'm in the real thing now.

  The only way to bring Skymint back... there's nothing I know.

  It's eerily quiet, and my heart beats so loud I'm afraid the whole forest can hear it.

  "Found you," he said, his odd eyes obsessively locked on mine.

  And for the first time in a while, I screamed in shock.

  He pinned my arms against the trunk with his durable hands.

  He leaned in too close, his breath brushing mine like he was trying to wear my skin.

  "You don't have to pretend, Arie. You love me back."

  "No, I don't," I breathed, struggling. "You're not him."

  "I am," he insisted, smiling wider. "You told me everything. That means I know you. That means I belong to you now. And you... to me."

  My pulse thundered in my ears. "Let go—"

  "But you do love me," he said, voice softening into a strange mimicry of pain. "You just don't know what you really are yet."

  "What?" I choked.

  He tilted his head. "You'll understand. Soon."

  That was the last thing I heard before a sharp ringing filled my ears, and a cold pressure overtook my mind.

  Everything felt like a surreal dream. The world tilted. The tree vanished. The forest blurred.

  And then...

  Darkness.