Chapter 15 Who are you
Rain POV
The knocking stopped.
For a moment, the silence pressed so heavily against my ears it felt like the world held its breath. Then the door opened not forcefully as I expected, just a slow push, as if whoever stood outside feared the sound might shatter me further.
Rosee stepped in.
His movements were careful, deliberate, the way you approach a wounded wolf that might bite or collapse. His eyes scanned the room until they found me curled beside the bed, hugging my knees to my chest.
“Rain…” He crouched down slowly, leaving space between us, not touching. “Can you hear me?”
I nodded weakly, but my body wouldn’t stop shaking.
He didn’t push to touch me, didn’t ask questions, didn’t tell me to stop crying. He just sat on the floor beside me. Silent. A steady presence in a storm I couldn’t escape.
My voice cracked through the quiet.
“H-he… used his face. Ryan’s face.”
Rosee inhaled sharply. “The creature in the mirror?”
I nodded, biting my lip until metal filled my mouth.
“He sounded like him,” I whispered. “He laughed like him. And Vinc—God, I heard Vinc. I heard him calling me. I thought—I thought I could save him this time.”
Rosee’s hand twitched on his knee as if he wanted to take my pain and crush it in his fist.
“You did nothing wrong,” he said firmly. “What you saw wasn’t Vinc. It was a lure designed to break you.”
A broken laugh slipped out of me. “It worked.”
There was a pause.
Then Rosee said softly:
“You’re still here. That means you won.”
I didn’t feel like I’d won anything.
MYKEL ENTERS
The window creaked open with a cold gust of wind.
Mykel appeared on the sill—literally materializing out of shadow, his eyes glowing faint crimson.
“You two made yourselves comfortable,” he said dryly, stepping in like a cat who owned the room.
Rosee shot him a look. “She needs...”
“She needs protection,” Mykel cut in sharply, pointing at the floor where faint glowing runes appeared. “Look.”
Drops of my blood, those tiny red dots I hadn’t even realized fell from my arm were glowing like tiny stars.
Magic responding to them.
Calling to something.
Rosee paled. “You said her blood attracts creatures, but...”
Mykel crouched and touched the glowing spot. The rune flared up like a flame licking his skin.
“She’s not just attracting monsters,” he said, voice low. “She’s summoning them.”
I froze. “W-What?”
Mykel stood tall again. “Any creature with hunger for power or magic can track you now. You are a beacon.” His eyes narrowed. “And some things… will kill for a taste.”
I swallowed hard, remembering those creatures chasing us. The ones who clawed at the mirror. The ones who screamed when they smelled me.
Rosee shifted closer. Not touching me, just… anchoring me.
“What do we do?” he asked.
Mykel smirked lightly. “First, you keep her calm. The more distressed she gets, the stronger the pull.”
My chest tightened. “I’m trying…”
“I know.” Mykel’s tone softened for the first time. “You survived something that would break most beings. You’re allowed to shake.”
I blinked. Mykel? Comforting?
That was new.
“But second,” he continued, “we need to figure out why her blood burns vampires…” He lifted his hand where I had touched him—still faintly reddened. “…but doesn’t affect you.”
Rosee’s eyes flicked to mine.
Our fingertips brushed as he helped me shift up—and nothing happened.
“No burn,” Mykel murmured. “Interesting.”
Rosee exhaled slowly. “It’s like she recognizes me.”
I stiffened at that word.
Recognizes.
But neither of them pushed it further.
“I...” My breath broke. “I can’t stop seeing him. Vinc. The way he looked at me in the garden. The way he died… and I couldn’t—”
My voice shattered.
Rosee didn’t think anymore. He moved not to touch me fully — but he placed his hand gently on my back, grounding, slow, no pressure.
“Rain,” he murmured, his voice like warm fog. “You’re safe. You’re not alone.”
Something inside me cracked.
Water spilled from my eyes, hot and endless.
“I don’t… I don’t know why this keeps happening to me. I don’t know why everything I love gets destroyed.” My voice thickened. “I feel cursed.”
Mykel leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching me with a mixture of annoyance and… reluctant respect.
“You are cursed,” he said bluntly. “But not in the way you think.”
Rosee glared. “Mykel.”
“What?” Mykel shrugged. “She deserves the truth.”
He stepped closer, eyes gleaming red.
“Rain, something ancient sleeps inside you. Something powerful. Something that wants to awaken. You think you’re broken, but you’re evolving.”
I stared at him through tears. “Into what?”
He smiled faintly.
“Something the world should fear.”
My heart thumped once.
Twice.
Fear and something else twisted in my stomach.
Rosee stiffened beside me. “She’s not alone in this. Whatever comes, we face it.”
Mykel raised an eyebrow. “Bold words for someone who doesn’t even know his own nature.”
Rosee tensed. “Watch it.”
“Oh?” Mykel smirked. “Shall I tell her what you really are?”
Rosee moved so fast it startled me.
He grabbed Mykel by the collar, eyes flashing with warning.
“No.”
Mykel didn’t fight.
He just grinned.
“Fine. Keep your little secrets.”
Secrets?
My gaze bounced between them.
But Rosee let Mykel go, breathing hard, then turned back to me with gentleness again.
“Rain,” he said softly, “please rest. I’ll stay outside your door. Nothing will touch you tonight.”
Mykel added, “And I’ll handle anything that tries.”
For the first time, despite everything, I felt a small ember of safety.
I curled smaller on the floor, exhaustion pulling at me.
Mykel began carving runes on the windowsill.
Rosee sat with his back against my door.
And I whispered, barely audible:
“Vinc… Ryan… please forgive me.”
As sleep pulled me under, only one thought echoed.