Haunted by You

Chapter 5

Luna

I stood frozen, my heart racing as the mysterious figure vanished into the shadows. His words lingered in the air, wrapping around me like a dark fog. 'Secrets I don’t even know myself?'

Kael was still there, watching me with those sharp eyes that seemed to cut through every facade I tried to build. I could feel his presence behind me, heavy and dark like a storm waiting to break. The weight of his gaze made my skin prickle, but it wasn’t just fear—it was something far more dangerous, something I didn’t want to name.

I turned, meeting his eyes. His face was unreadable, the sharp angles of his jaw catching the moonlight, casting shadows that made him look even more untouchable.

"Who was that?" His voice, low and demanding, cut through the silence like a blade.

I shook my head, feeling the frustration rising inside me. "I don’t know," I whispered, but the words felt weak, uncertain. My mind raced, trying to make sense of the stranger’s cryptic warning, but the fear in his voice, the way he knew my name, made my stomach twist.

Kael took a step closer, closing the distance between us. I should’ve backed away, should’ve kept the space between us, but I couldn’t. Something about him drew me in, even as every instinct told me to run. His presence was magnetic, dangerous, but I wasn’t sure if it was him or the darkness in him that called to me.

"You expect me to believe that?" His voice was a low growl now, his frustration clear. His hand moved before I could react, fingers catching my chin, tilting my face up so I couldn’t look anywhere but at him. "You’ve been hiding things, Luna. And I’m getting tired of waiting."

The fire in his eyes burned through my fear. He was right—I was hiding something. The prophecy. The warnings. The feeling of something powerful and dangerous lurking inside me, growing stronger every day. But the problem was… I wasn’t even sure what it meant. Every time I reached for the truth, it slipped through my fingers like sand.

"Let go," I whispered, my voice cracking.

To my surprise, he did. His hand fell to his side, but the intensity in his eyes didn’t waver. "You think you can walk away from this? From me?" His words were a challenge, an unspoken threat.

I swallowed hard, my throat tight. "I don’t have a choice, Kael. I’m not like you. I don’t—"

"You have more power than you think," he cut me off, his voice soft but laced with something darker. "I’ve seen it. The Luminari think they can hide you, protect you from what’s coming, but they’re wrong. You can feel it, can’t you? The pull. The darkness."

My breath hitched. How did he know? How could he know the dreams that haunted me, the shadows that seemed to stretch longer every time I looked at them? The power that flickered at the edges of my control, whispering to me, tempting me to let it out.

"You don’t understand—"

"I understand more than you think," he said, stepping closer again. "I’ve walked that line, Luna. I’ve seen what happens when you push away what you are. It consumes you." His voice softened, almost tender, as if he were offering me something. "You’re not like them. You’re not just a Luminari. You’re something else."

I wanted to deny it, to push him away, but the words wouldn’t come. The truth was clawing at the surface, demanding to be let out. A part of me knew he was right. There was more inside me than light and innocence. I’d felt it, a creeping darkness that I’d tried to ignore for so long.

"I don’t want this," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "I never asked for it."

Kael’s expression softened, and for the first time, I saw something human in his eyes. "None of us ask for it, Luna. But we don’t get to choose who we are."

The silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken things. For a moment, we were just two people caught in something far bigger than ourselves. But that moment passed too quickly.

A flicker of movement in the corner of my eye drew my attention back to the street. The shadows shifted unnaturally, and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

"Kael, we need to go," I said, my voice more urgent now.

He turned, his hand instinctively moving to the hilt of the blade he always carried. "What is it?"

"I don’t know," I said, my voice shaking. "But it’s not safe. Not here."

For once, he didn’t argue. He stepped beside me, his eyes scanning the street, his body tense and ready. Together, we moved quickly, slipping into the maze of alleys that cut through the city. The Luminari quarter felt darker tonight, the usual glow dimmed by some unseen force. Something was coming—I could feel it in my bones.

As we rounded a corner, I felt Kael’s hand brush against mine. I flinched but didn’t pull away. His presence was grounding, a tether in the swirling storm of my thoughts. I hated it. I hated how much I needed him, how much I was starting to rely on the darkness he carried.

But I couldn’t deny it any longer.

There was no escaping what was coming for me. The shadows were closing in, and this time, I wasn’t sure I could outrun them.

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Iviana🍀