Page 22 of A Touch of Darkness
Her voice breaks the silence, raw and trembling. “But why me? I’m just… human.”
The wordhumantumbles 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 deeplyshe, 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 studyingme?”
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, Iwonder 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 becausethey 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 finalin 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.
