A knock at the door.
I already know who she fears it will be.
Her thoughts race too loudly, a frantic pulse of dread. It's her… I can hear the weight behind those words—the unwanted presence, the tension tightening her chest. She doesn't want to be seen with me. She doesn't want the whispers that would follow.
I smirk. Humans and their little social fears.
I was leaving anyway. The moment had stretched long enough, and I had what I came for, for now. My hand lingers on the doorknob, waiting, calculating.
The door creaks open, and the tension in her body shifts from rigid dread to cautious relief. Not the girl she feared, but a man stands there instead, a security officer. his uniform was slightly rumpled,like an air of duty delayed hanging around him.
"Sorry, miss. Heard a loud noise earlier. Got caught up with something urgent, but I wanted to check in. Everything alright?"
She nods, quickly. "Yeah. I'm fine."
He scans the room, his eyes narrowing slightly at the overturned chair and dust lingering in the air. "No one got hurt?" he added.
I feel it before seeing it, the flicker of concern she tries to smother but her eyes betray her. They flicker toward me, just for a second, just long enough. Interesting.
I tilt my head slightly, acknowledging what she won't say aloud. That she's still thinking about me, still worried despite the indifference she tries to wear like armor.
I do not respond and only nod.
The officer seems satisfied. "Alright then. I'll call for maintenance." He steps back, giving her one last glance before turning away.
The door clicks shut.
And there was a moment of silent before she exhales, her shoulders sagging just a little. It's subtle, but I catch it. A moment of relief, of safety in my presence, even if she won't admit it.
I smirk. Humans are so transparent.
She wants to ask for my number, to find a way to see me again. I can hear the unspoken hesitation, the war in her mind. But I do not bother to make it easy for her.
I don't have to, she will come to me anyways.
After all, our game has already been set. The pinky promise—her so-called servitude. A foolish, playful bet on the surface, but one I know I will win. And when I do, she will have no choice but to seek me out again.
I turn toward the door, stepping away.
"Bye, good luck, my slave. Stay safe until we meet again." though I can still hear the unspoken thoughts lingering in her mind. The hesitation, the reluctant pull. Amusing..
And with that, I leave. I step out of her apartment, the night air was thick, cool against my skin with the scent of rain, though the streets remain dry. A city on the verge of a storm.
The streets hum with life—humans moving about their fleeting, insignificant existences.
I exhale, letting out a quiet chuckle.
"Humans."
So predictable. So easy to sway with the smallest gestures of kindness. I helped her, and already, she's thinking otherwise.
Especially human women. A little kindness, a passing touch, and they start believing in the impossible. that a handsome, rich man like me could ever be theirs. It never fails to amuse me. No matter the century, the story remains the same. give them wealth, power, and a face that never ages, and they fall head over heels.
For thousands of years, they have called me the Heartbreaker. Not because I set out to break hearts, but because they break themselves on the illusion of me. They chase a dream they can never have, and when I leave... as I always do, they're left shattered.
It isn't my concern and It never has been. I never stay. My longest indulgence has lasted a week. They come to me for pleasure, and I take what is offered. no attachments, nor emotions. And yet, they always hope.
I grip my car door handle but do not open it.
This girl, however... this human... is different. Not in the way she looks. she doesn't compare to the women I've known, the ones who prided themselves on their beauty. She is nothing like Clawden also. Not in face, or in presence.
And yet, I am drawn to her.
Not her... The pendant pendant though.
That is why I approached her. Not for pleasure or amusement, but for answers.
Because what should have been buried with Clawden...what should have been lost to time... has somehow found its way into human hands. Into her hands.
I glance back at the apartment, my grip tightening.
Three thousand years... three thousand years I have spent clinging to a promise that was whispered through bloodied lips. A dying wish I believed in until it became nothing more than a ghost of hope, buried beneath time.
"We shall meet again." these words..
I believed her once. I waited for her, searched and searched for her. And when nothing came, I buried that hope alongside her. I stopped waiting and believing.
Yet here she is... a girl who should mean nothing, who should have no connection to Clawden... and yet she holds her pendant. The one Clawden cherished. The one she swore it held her family's secret. The very pendant I buried her with.
What cruel twist of fate has placed it into human hands? And more importantly.. what does it mean for me?
The engine hums as I slide into the driver's seat, my fingers tightening around the wheel. I should drive and leave this moment behind. And yet, I hesitate.
My gaze drifts to the thought of the pendant... the one I haven't seen in over three millennia. My curiosity is not so easily satisfied. It was never about her, but always about what she carries.
The pendant.
I inhale sharply. And just like that, the past crashes into me like an unbidden wave, shattering the present.
In that surge, a vivid flash overtakes me. then came a soft laughter in the dark, our hands brushing beneath a blood-red moon, a promise whispered between trembling breaths. And then... pain.
My hands curl into fists. The noise of the city fades, drowned by the pounding in my ears.
She is gone... gone for millennia. as she vanished, the night she died, something that should not exist. Something lost to time, to death, to the cruel hand of fate...
And yet, impossibly, it has returned. I breathe deeply, and with it comes a scent I've long tried to forget... wild jasmine and burning embers, delicate yet untamed. It was her scent. And just like that, time fractures.
The present shatters beneath the weight of the past.
I see her again... a flash of silver hair caught in the wind, her eyes were dark as the void, gleaming with mischief. And a voice like whispered spells, calling my name in a world that no longer exists.
She was the only thing I ever wanted, a creature caught between realms, one foot in magic and the other in mortality. she was a halfbreed.
And yet...
The word is a wound, a memory and a promise broken by death. My grip on the wheel tightens until the leather creaks beneath my fingers. I exhale slowly, trying to force the past to loosen its hold.
I press down on the accelerator, the car gliding into the night.
But no matter how fast I drive, some ghosts cannot be outrun.
***
Three thousand years ago, I loved a woman I was never meant to love.
A vampire and a witch... a forbidden union. We vampires are expected to stick to our own, never straying beyond our kind. And witches, on the other hand, despise our very existence. As long as I can remember, their kind has sought to erase us, to wipe us from this world like an unwanted stain.
That is what I was always told... the truth I was raised on. But then I met Clawden.
I was young then, not yet the feared being I am today. The Leader. I was reckless, fragile, insatiably curious. One night, I slip past the boundaries of my kind, venturing too far into the unknown... and then I found her.
It was love at first sight. Or perhaps something deeper, something I still cannot name. There was a pull... strong, inexplicable that pushes me toward her, compelling me to speak, to reach out before reason can stop me.
She is beautiful. Not in the delicate way humans admire, but in a way that roots itself deep into my soul. And the moment our eyes met, I knew it, that she will be mine, I have to make her my mate.
We loved in secret. We swear ourselves to each other, making promises no force in the world can shatter. promises that defy death. We were foolish enough to believe we can defy fate.
But fate is cruel.
Her parents accept me, her human father and her witch mother... but their acceptance means nothing against the venomous hatred of her mother's kind. The witches will never stand for our union and neither will my own.
Betrayal was how our story ends.
Her mother's coven conspires with my own. In whispered shadows, they seal our fate with their bitter hatred. Clawden overheard their treachery and does what she always does. she fights for me.
That night was meant to be special. Under a full moon on my 3,000th year, I wanted her to see what I will become. I wanted to show her everything.
Instead, she steals something from them... a secret gem, a forbidden spell. it was an eternity spell.
She casts it for me, breaking every law of her kind, the only way she knows to protect me. And she was caught mid-spell, but she escaped.
She came to me, bleeding, breathless, desperate.
"You have to leave. Now. Please!"
She was weak... too weak. I should have run, but how could I ever leave her? Even as she begs, even as I heard them coming, I stayed.
Then the attack comes.
My own kind turns against me, and hers against her. We fought, but were outnumbered. And Clawden... she was too weak to heal.
I felt it before I could see it, that terrible, final moment. She throws herself in front of me—a blade meant for my heart, buried in hers.
I caught her as she falls, the warmth of her blood searing into my skin. I remember how she looks up at me, the fire in her eyes dimming, her lips curled in that stubborn, knowing smile.
"Do not be sad, Duvall. I won't leave you alone. We shall meet again."
And then she is gone.
Gone!
I lose myself that night. An anger I have never known consumes me... a rage that obliterates all in its path. I do not remember how many I killed, only the silence that follows haunts me.
I buried her with the pendant she cherished. the very pendant she claimed held her family's secret. It was with her when she died. It should have remained lost in the grave.
And yet, three thousand years later, that pendant appears in the hands of a human woman.. a woman who looks nothing like Clawden, who should have nothing to do with her.
And yet, I am drawn to her. Not by choice, not by desire, but by something far worse. the whisper of a dying wish I spent a thousand years believing in... until I gave up, until I buried that foolish hope with her.
And here she is... with Clawden's pendant in her possession.
****
I drive home in silence, the city lights blurring past as I maneuver through the empty streets. My estate is nestled deep within the human realm, a place built for my solitude, untouched by outsiders. Though my clan disapproves of how much time I spend here, but accept it begrudgingly. After all, I provide for them.
Blood distribution is my business, a network I have cultivated over centuries. My companies handle it under human disguise.... animal blood that's carefully sourced and distributed to keep our kind in control. Human blood is a different matter. it's rare and forbidden. Too potent to taste without consequence. There's a story behind that, but tonight, I won't dwell on it.
As I approach the wrought-iron gates, they slide open without a sound, recognizing my presence. The mansion stands ahead, a masterpiece of architecture... dark, and sprawling, one of the largest estates in this city. Humans whisper about the owner, but none truly know me. and they never will.
I park the car and step out, the night air's cool against my skin. With unhurried steps, I ascend the front steps and input my passcode. The lock clicks open, and I push the door inward.Then, I freeze.
Someone is inside.
A figure lounges on my black leather couch, one leg crossed over the other, utterly at ease. A hood is drawn low over their face, strands of dark hair spilling forward, concealing their features. Though, i do not need to see. The scent in the air is enough.
My fingers twitch at my sides. No one gets into my home uninvited. No one.
The figure exhales a soft chuckle, head tilting slightly.
"DRA…" My voice comes out slow and controlled, but a flicker of disbelief edges in.
"Draculaura?"
At that, they smirk, showing a flash of teeth beneath the shadows.
"Hello, Duvall," A murmur, smooth voice, almost teasing.
"Miss me?"
***