Page 11 of A Touch of Darkness (Chronicles of the Cursed #1)

Student slowly trickle out of the classroom, and I exhale a deep breath. Sylvie comes back down to my podium once nearly everyone has filtered out, and she sits across from me, the last words she said hanging in the air like heavy fog.

After recounting the secrets Isabel, a Solstice Society member, entrusted to her—the cryptic warnings, the shadowed path she now walks—I can see the terror in her eyes, the unspoken fear that dances behind her resolve. The truth is far darker than she is prepared to accept. But now, it is too late to turn back.

I exhale again, slowly, then deeply inhale, letting the stale, cool air fill my lungs. The room is dim, the flickering candlelight casting long, uneven shadows on the stone walls, as if the very atmosphere reflects the unspoken unease lingering between the two of us. Shadows stretch like twisted ghosts of the past, whispering their secrets in the quiet spaces of the room. A storm brews—both in the world outside and within the hollow of my chest. I feel it, the terrible inevitability, like the calm before a deluge. She waits for me to speak, her gaze fixed on mine, daring me to reveal the depths of the nightmare that awaits her. I know she’s still puzzled, but I cannot possibly make sense of everything for her. Not yet.

“The Solstice Society,” I begin, my voice low, tinged with an ancient bitterness, “is not a simple faction of extremists. No, Sylvie. They are far more insidious. They are not simply hunters of the supernatural, or slayers, as they like to refer to themselves. They are humans—but not in the sense you’ve come to understand. They use powerful dark magic, provided by old witches who are indebted to their service. They are the remnants of those who think they can cleanse the world of us—of vampires , among other supernatural beings.”

I watch her chest rise and fall more quickly now, the gold S chain wrapped around her neck rising up and down with each breath. She could sense something was off about me, that much I know, but now she knows for sure.

Now she sees me for the monster I am.

The monster she made me.

“You’re a…a…”

She cannot even bring herself to say it.

“A vampire,” I say, finishing for her. “Solstice believes themselves to be the arbiters of some twisted fate, determined to rid the earth of any supernatural creature,” I continue, “but they’re starting with vampires and just going down the line until they ‘ cleanse’ the world.”

Her brow furrows, but she does not interrupt. She listens with the fragile hope that my words might provide some understanding, but I see her mind racing, seeking answers that will tear the veil of illusion from her world. But I know— I know —that she is not prepared for what follows. For that type of encumbrance.

“They have a singular, petrifying goal, Sylvie,” I continue, my tone darkening, as though the very words I speak stain the air. “They aim to eradicate us all. Vampires, witches, any creature born of the dark. They believe that humanity would flourish, untainted by our existence. And they are willing to destroy everything in their path to see that vision realized.”

I watch as her fingers twitch, as though she might lash out or perhaps retreat. I desire, so badly, to read her thoughts, but I won’t. I refuse. She is frightened—terrified, even—and I am wary to add to that burden.

Though I must.

Her voice breaks the silence, raw and trembling. “But why me? I’m just… human.”

The word human tumbles from her lips as though it is a shield, a veil she believes she can wear forever. She does not yet understand how delicate that word is, how it has slipped from her grasp without her even realizing it.

“No,” I reply softly, “you are not just human, Sylvie. And that is why they seek you. This Isabel girl, she wasn’t lying to you about that. Her cause may be wretched, but she spoke some truths.”

She stiffens at my words, her breath catching in her throat. I know she has heard rumors but hearing them spoken aloud carries a burden that she will struggle to bear. She leans forward, her eyes wide, pleading for clarity. “What do you mean? How am I connected to them, then? If I’m not ‘just’ human…what am I?”

I hesitate, a flicker of reluctance stirring within me. The truth I have held for centuries is a curse I would not wish upon anyone, least of all her. “Your bloodline, Sylvie, is bound to something far older than even you realize. Your ancestors are tied to the origin of the vampire curse—the curse that created the original vampire.” I want to continue. To tell her just how deeply she , alone, is connected to the curse, but I won’t do that to her.

Her lips part in disbelief, her confusion deepening. “My ancestors? But… but I don’t?—”

“The Solstice Society knows of this,” I interrupt, my gaze unwavering. “They know the significance of your lineage—of you. You are descended from the very blood that once created and shaped the fate of vampires. Your ancestors played a pivotal role in the ancient ritual that trapped us in this cursed life. And now… the Society believes you are the key to undoing it. If they can use you, in some way that is unknown to me, they believe you can help them end us all.”

She recoils, her shock palpable. “I don’t understand… How do you know this?”

I cannot tell her everything—not yet. The truth is far darker than she could ever comprehend. “I have studied your family, Sylvie. Not out of idle curiosity, but out of necessity. I needed to understand the power you hold, the danger you represent to my kind. The Solstice Society believes you are the one who will destroy us, meaning you’ll be the hidden key to eradicating us all. They won’t have to spend years hunting us one by one, because there’s something about you, something about your power, that will take us out swiftly. I know many things, and I am willing to discuss it all with you, but I must admit…even I still have questions about their plans.”

Her eyes narrow, suspicion flickering behind her gaze. “You’ve been studying me ?”

I nod slowly, the guilt stirring within me like a roiling tempest. “Yes, as I said, I have. I had to know. I had to know what you were before you even knew yourself. I’ve been studying you longer than you’ve been alive. Studying your legacy. What you will mean to the world. To mankind. To me.”

The words hang in the air, suffocating the fragile space between us. Her eyes search mine, and for a brief moment, I wonder if she can see beyond the veil I’ve so carefully woven around my soul.

“What is the vampire curse?” she inquires. “Do you just mean the fact that the world was cursed to have vampires in the first place? The curse that created vampires? Help me understand, please.”

“The curse was never meant to be what it is. It was meant for one man, but the witch who created it was strong, powerful beyond measure. She had no idea what she was capable of, and she was too young to do such a spell. It ended up creating a curse that started with one but easily and quickly moved on to many other living humans through her original target. She had no idea the fire she was playing with, and she never intended to harm anyone else. But when she cursed that original man, the curse had a ripple effect. Vampires were not known of at the time, and she thought she was cursing him to a life of solitude, but it ended up being much, much more.”

I don’t know how to better explain it. And I don’t feel like she’s ready to know that man was me.

“That helps. But I still don’t understand why you’ve been studying me,” she whispers, the question significant with the weight of a thousand unspoken emotions.

Why, indeed.

I could tell her the truth—the real truth—but it is a truth that would break her. The truth of how I failed her in another life. The truth of how she single-handedly shaped mankind. The truth of the curse she placed upon me, the punishment I’ve borne for centuries. But that is a story for another time, one that she is not yet ready to hear.

One that I am not ready to tell.

I swallow the bitter knot in my throat. “Because you’re important, Sylvie. Not just to me, but to the world, to mankind as a whole. The Solstice Society seeks to control you because they believe you are the key to the war between us and humanity. They think they can radicalize you and then use you to end the vampire curse—whether that be killing us or whatever it is they have in mind—they believe they have a loophole with you. You have power, power that even they don’t fully understand. And they will stop at nothing to use it. To use you,” I say. “As their weapon.”

She looks away, her expression clouded from the emotions swirling within her. “I’m just a student,” she murmurs, as though she can convince herself of that simple, fragile truth. “I don’t have any power.”

I stand, the room suddenly too small for both of us, the air thick with pressure that crackles between us like a live wire. “You absolutely do have power, Sylvie. More than you can possibly imagine, and in time, you will be shown it, or it will reveal itself on its own as you carry on. But if the Solstice Society gets to you first, they will use that power to destroy you—and anyone they don’t deem fit for life.”

Her chest rises and falls rapidly as she processes my words, her mind grappling with the enormity of the situation. I see her wavering, caught between the desire to run and the instinct to fight. But I can’t protect her if she runs. Not from this.

“I… I need to go,” she says at last, her voice hollow.

I nod, my throat tight, as though I could hold her here by sheer will alone. But I don’t. I can’t. She must find her own path—though I fear it is already too late for that.

“I will help you, Sylvie, but you’ll have to let me. There’s much more to tell, but I think you’re right. You should go. Allow everything we’ve spoken of to marinate. I don’t want to burden you with too much at once.”

She stands, the movement graceful yet stiff, her back turned to me as she walks toward the door. There is something final in the way she moves, something irrevocable. She doesn’t look back.

“But Sylvie,” I call out, just as her hand wraps around the doorknob. “Whatever you do next, please do not trust Isabel. Do not trust the Solstice Society. It will not end well for you, or anyone, if you do.”

She doesn’t turn back. Doesn’t reply. She steadily opens the door and exits. It clicks softly behind her, and I am left alone in the aftermath of our conversation.

I am haunted by the echo of her presence, a shadow that lingers in the space she’s left behind. My fingers trace the edges of the desk, seeking solace in the familiar cold of the wood. But it is useless. The heaviness of the moment presses down on me, suffocating me as the memories rush forward, memories of a time long past, a time when she was not just a student, not just a girl caught in the webs of fate.

She was once mine. Or—she was almost mine.

The curse she placed on me still burns, the agony of it endless. The love I failed to act upon, the betrayal that sealed both of our fates. I chose power over her, and now I pay the price for that mistake—every second of every day. And now, I must watch her again, knowing that I am powerless to protect her from the very fate I helped create.

I have to do something.

Her absence fills the space between us. I should have stopped her. I should have warned her.

But I didn’t.

I won’t make the same mistake again.

I turn from the desk, my mind spinning. She doesn’t know the whole truth. She doesn’t know how deep the betrayal runs or how desperately I wish I could undo the past. But I cannot afford to think about that now.

The Solstice Society will continue to come for her. I know it. I feel it in my bones. But they don’t understand her. They don’t understand what she is capable of—what we could be together.

I will not let them take her from me. I will not let her fall to their hands.

I cannot undo the mistakes of the past. But I will protect her this time, even if it costs me everything.