Red is a strange color, isn't it?
It bleeds into everything — love, rage, desire, destruction. It's beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Roses bloom in red; so does spilled blood. Hearts beat with it; wars are painted in it. The same color that whispers "I love you" can also scream "I will ruin you."
They say red is the color of blood. But they forget — it's also the color of love. Of obsession. Of hunger. Of everything both humans and vampires fear because they cannot control it.
Red seduces and destroys. It gives life. It takes life. It's both the warmth of devotion and the chill of death.
The moon hangs swollen above me, its silver light stretching across the cliffs like cold fingers, reaching, reaching, but never quite touching me. The wind howls, dragging at my cloak like some desperate hand trying to pull me into the void.
Let it try.
The world below sleeps, blanketed in shadows, but I know I'm not alone. I'm never alone. Not with these eyes.
Crimson.
The only red in a kingdom of silver, gold, and black.
The others — nobles, royals, council members — their eyes gleam in their respective hierarchies: silver for the Council, black for the Enforcers, gold for the hybrids, purple for the ancient royals. But me? My red eyes burn like fresh blood beneath the moonlight — too bright, too cursed, too… unnatural.
The Crimson Witch's descendant.
The cursed child.
The mistake that should've never been born.
Their whispers howl louder than the wind. I've heard them since my first breath, since I first opened my cursed eyes.
And yet, I am still here.
I tilt my head, letting my long hair whip wildly across my face, knowing full well that their gazes are on me from their safe little hiding spots. Always watching. Always hiding.
Cowards.
"Selene."
Auron's voice cuts through the cold, smooth and composed, as always.
I don't turn.
"You're late, Auron."
He steps beside me, his presence as steady as ever, as though even the wind parts for him. His silver eyes reflect the moon like polished metal, flawless and cold — everything I will never be allowed to be.
"You shouldn't be out here again," he says softly.
"I'm thinking. Is that forbidden now?"
"The Council watches you more closely than ever."
They always do. That's their only true talent — whispering, watching, and waiting like vultures circling my existence.
I finally glance at him, letting my lips curl into a slow, sarcastic smirk.
"Let them watch. I might wave next time."
He exhales sharply, jaw tightening.
"They fear you, Selene."
Good. They should.
"Maybe they should be afraid," I reply coolly. "Maybe it's wise to fear what they cannot understand."
He doesn't argue. He never does when I push.
I step closer to the cliff's edge, my boots grinding softly against the ancient stone. The drop beneath me is endless. The wind tempts me.
Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier to fall. To disappear. To end the whispers, the glares, the weight of being the unwanted anomaly.
But I don't fall. I never do. Because they don't get that satisfaction.
"You should come inside," Auron breaks the silence again. "It's not safe out here."
I snort softly.
"Oh yes, inside the palace, surrounded by spineless nobles and venomous councilmen. So much safer."
"The Council will convene tomorrow."
"How delightful." I clap my gloved hands together with slow mockery. "Another meaningless gathering where they pretend to debate my existence while secretly calculating who desires my death more."
Again, he says nothing.
As we walk toward the towering obsidian castle, its spires stabbing the starry sky like sharp fangs, crimson banners whip violently against black stone. My family crest — not that anyone truly calls me family.
Let them fear me.
Fear keeps me alive.
And soon…
they'll have far more to fear.
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