The Midnight Oath

Chapter 2: The Man in Black

The mansion on the cliffs loomed against the sky like a dying sentinel, its decaying walls
crumbling into the wild landscape. Once grand, a beacon of wealth and power, the house
now stood as a monument to ruin, its blackened stones weathered by years of neglect and
the relentless assault of the sea. Every gust of wind that swept across the cliffs carried with it
the distant roar of the waves crashing far below, a constant reminder of the abyss that lay
just beyond the walls.
Inside, shadows lingered in every corner, thick and suffocating. The long corridors echoed
with silence, broken only by the faint creaking of old wood and the occasional moan of the
wind as it slipped through the cracked windows. The mansion’s former glory had long since
faded, but Damien Voltaire had found a certain comfort in its decay.
He stood by the large bay window in the drawing room, staring out at the tempestuous sea.
His reflection in the glass was ghostly, distorted by the uneven panes. Behind him, the room
lay in disarray—half-finished canvases scattered across the floor, paint splattered on every
surface. In the center of the room stood an easel, a large canvas half-covered in sweeping
strokes of deep red and black. It was an abstract mess, a storm of colors that seemed to
mirror the turmoil inside his mind.
Damien took a deep breath, his chest tight with the weight of old memories. They were never
far from him, always lurking just beneath the surface, ready to pull him under at any moment.He turned from the window and walked slowly toward the easel, his fingers twitching with the
urge to paint. But no matter how many strokes he added, no matter how many layers of color
he used, the image that haunted him remained unfinished. **Her** face—a ghost from his
past—always lingered just out of reach, half-formed, like a dream he couldn’t quite
remember.
Damien’s jaw clenched as he stared at the canvas. He could still see her. Her smile, her
eyes, the way her hair shimmered in the sunlight. Once, she had been everything to
him—his muse, his love, his obsession. But she had betrayed him. Left him broken,
destroyed.
His hands tightened into fists, the pain as fresh now as it had been all those years ago. The
world had moved on since then, but Damien hadn’t. He couldn’t. The betrayal had cut too
deep, leaving behind a scar that would never heal.
And now, after years of searching, he was closer than ever to finding her.
Damien had always known she was connected to the Blackwood family. The rumors, the
whispers—everything had led him back to them. Back to the cursed house where the
darkness had first taken root. But Elara Blackwood had been an unexpected complication.
He closed his eyes, remembering the moment he had first seen her. The bookstore had
been dark, cold, filled with the scent of old paper and secrets. And there she was, a shadow
among shadows, moving through the space like she was part of it. Her beauty was haunting,
but it wasn’t her looks that had unsettled him. It was the way she carried herself, the way her
eyes seemed to hold a thousand untold stories.
Elara Blackwood. Her name had sent a shock through him, like a bolt of lightning. He had
expected to feel nothing for her, to see her as just another piece of the puzzle that would
lead him to his revenge. But now, standing in the ruins of his home, he couldn’t stop thinking
about her. The way her fingers had brushed against his when she handed him that ancient
book, the softness of her voice when she had spoken his name.
He was drawn to her. He hated it, but he couldn’t deny it. There was something about Elara
that reminded him of his lost love, of the woman who had betrayed him so long ago. And that
scared him.
Damien paced the room, running a hand through his dark hair. He had come here for
revenge, nothing more. To find the woman who had ruined him and make her suffer as he
had. He had no time for distractions, no time for feelings. And yet, Elara’s face kept
appearing in his mind, her haunted green eyes pulling him deeper into her mystery.
He hadn’t planned on getting close to her, but now he wasn’t sure he could stay away.
With a growl of frustration, Damien slammed his fist against the wall, the sharp pain
momentarily clearing his thoughts. He couldn’t afford to lose focus. His past, his pain, wastoo important. He had spent years searching for answers, and he was so close now. So
close to finding her, the woman who had destroyed everything.
But Elara... she was different. Or at least, she seemed to be. There was a darkness in her, a
sadness that mirrored his own. And that connection—whether he wanted it or not—was
pulling him in, making it harder to remember why he had come to this cursed town in the first
place.
Damien’s thoughts drifted back to his past, to the nights spent in passionate embraces, to
the whispered promises that had turned to lies. He had loved her, the woman from his past.
Loved her more than anything. And she had taken everything from him.
The anger returned, hot and sharp. He couldn’t forget. He wouldn’t. His search for revenge
was all he had left. It was what kept him alive, kept him moving forward when everything
else had fallen apart.
But now, with Elara in the picture, everything felt uncertain.
He walked back to the window and looked out at the sea again, the waves crashing against
the cliffs in a violent dance. The storm outside was nothing compared to the one raging
inside him. He couldn’t let Elara distract him, couldn’t let her get in the way of what needed
to be done. And yet... the thought of seeing her again stirred something deep within him,
something he hadn’t felt in years.Obsession.
It was dangerous, he knew that. But the more he thought about her, the more he wanted to
uncover the secrets she was hiding. Perhaps she held the key to his past, to the woman who
had betrayed him. Perhaps she could lead him to the answers he had been seeking for so
long.
Damien’s hand tightened around the windowsill, his knuckles turning white. He would find
out the truth. About Elara, about her family, about everything.
And if she got in his way?
He would deal with that when the time came.
For now, all he knew was that he couldn’t stay away. He needed to see her again. Needed to
feel that connection, to understand why she haunted his thoughts like a ghost from his past.
Damien turned from the window, his mind made up. The storm outside raged on, but within
him, a darker storm was brewing.
His obsession with Elara Blackwood had only just begun.