CHAPTER 15: THE VOICE IN THE DARK

CHAPTER 15: THE VOICE IN THE DARK

"The past."

Steele's words echoed in my head.

I stood behind him, trying to control my breathing as the voice outside called my name again.

"Amber..."

It was my mother's voice.

There was no mistake.

I might have been only six years old when I heard her for the last time, but there were some things a child could never forget. Her voice. Her way of saying my name. The softness of it whenever she called me.

But my mother was dead.

She had been dead for twenty-two years.

"That's impossible," I whispered.

Steele glanced at me.

"Don't listen to it."

"That's my mother's voice."

"I know."

My eyes widened.

"You know?"

He didn't answer.

Another laugh came from outside.

"You still protect her, Steele?"

The voice was unfamiliar this time.

A man's voice.

Deep.

Cold.

Steele's expression hardened.

"Show yourself."

The room remained dark.

Nothing moved.

Then something struck the window.

I flinched.

Steele immediately stepped closer to me.

"Stay behind me."

"You keep saying that."

"And you keep refusing to listen."

"Because I'm a detective, not a helpless civilian."

"This isn't a crime scene you can control."

"I know."

"Then act like you know."

I frowned.

Before I could respond, a loud crash came from the other side of the house.

Steele disappeared.

Not walked.

Disappeared.

One second he was standing beside me, and the next, there was nothing.

I swallowed.

"Steele?"

No answer.

The silence was worse.

I reached for my phone, but before I could turn on the flashlight, I heard footsteps behind me.

I slowly turned.

Nothing.

"Steele?"

A cold breeze passed through the room.

Then someone whispered beside my ear.

"Anna."

I immediately turned around.

Nobody was there.

My heart was pounding.

"Okay," I whispered to myself. "Definitely not normal."

I moved toward the door.

Just as my hand touched the handle, Steele appeared in front of me.

I nearly screamed.

"Don't do that!"

He stared at me.

"Where are you going?"

"To see what is happening."

"No."

"Steele—"

"I told you to stay here."

"Someone is outside."

"I know."

"Then let me help."

"You can't."

His answer was too quick.

I narrowed my eyes.

"You underestimate me."

"No. I know exactly what you are capable of."

"Then why are you treating me like I can't do anything?"

"Because whatever is outside isn't interested in fighting you."

He looked at my neck.

"They are interested in taking you."

My hand instinctively covered the strange mark.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"You keep saying that."

"Because I don't have the answer."

For the first time, I saw something different in his expression.

Frustration.

Not with me.

With himself.

"You know more than you're telling me," I said quietly.

"I know enough."

"Then tell me."

He looked away.

Before he could answer, the front door slowly opened by itself.

The wind entered the room.

I froze.

Steele immediately stood in front of me.

A shadow appeared outside.

Tall.

Thin.

Motionless.

Then it stepped into the house.

I couldn't see his face clearly.

But I could see his eyes.

Red.

Not gold.

Red.

Steele's body tensed.

"You're supposed to be dead."

The stranger laughed.

"So are you."

Steele's eyes turned gold.

"Leave."

"After all these years, that's the only thing you can say?"

The stranger took another step forward.

I felt something strange coming from him.

It wasn't like Steele.

It wasn't like Stan.

There was something darker.

Something that made the air itself feel heavy.

I moved closer to Steele.

"Is he a vampire?"

"Yes."

The stranger smiled.

"So the little detective knows about us now."

My stomach tightened.

"You know who I am?"

"Of course."

He looked at me.

"Everyone knows who you are."

"Then tell me."

Steele grabbed my wrist.

"Don't."

I pulled my hand away.

"I have questions."

"And he has answers you shouldn't hear."

The vampire laughed.

"Still protecting her."

"She's not yours to touch."

"Not yet."

The words made Steele's expression change.

"What did you do to her?"

The vampire's gaze shifted toward my neck.

"Nothing she can't survive."

My hand covered the mark again.

"What did you do to me?"

He smiled.

"You really don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Interesting."

He tilted his head.

"Maybe the seal hasn't awakened yet."

Steele moved forward.

"What seal?"

The vampire chuckled.

"You don't know?"

Steele's jaw tightened.

"Answer me."

"I thought the great Steele knew everything."

"Enough."

In the blink of an eye, Steele was in front of him.

The impact sent the vampire crashing through a wooden table.

I jumped.

The vampire stood again almost immediately.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled.

"I see you haven't changed."

Neither had Steele.

His eyes burned gold as he attacked again.

I stepped backward, watching them move so fast that my eyes could barely follow.

A chair flew across the room.

The wall cracked.

Glass shattered.

The vampire managed to grab Steele by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

I reached for the nearest object.

A heavy lamp.

I raised it.

"Hey!"

Both of them looked at me.

"Leave him alone."

Steele's brows furrowed.

The vampire laughed.

"You really are like her."

"Like who?"

"Anna."

I froze.

Steele immediately looked at him.

"Don't say her name."

"Why? Does it still hurt?"

The vampire smiled.

"After all these years?"

Steele's fist tightened.

"Who are you?"

The vampire ignored me.

Instead, he looked at Steele.

"Did you ever tell her what happened?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Twenty-two years ago."

My heart stopped.

Steele remained silent.

The vampire smiled.

"Ask him, Detective."

I looked at Steele.

"What happened?"

"Don't listen to him."

"Steele."

"I said don't."

"Why are you afraid of telling me?"

He stared at me.

"I am not afraid."

"Then tell me."

The vampire laughed softly.

"She deserves to know."

Steele suddenly turned toward him.

"Get out."

"You can't hide the truth forever."

"I can if I have to."

"Can you?"

The vampire's eyes turned toward me.

"Because sooner or later, she will remember."

My skin crawled.

"Remember what?"

He smiled.

"Ask yourself why you survived."

I felt my chest tighten.

"Steele told me he found me alive after the plane crashed."

"He found you unconscious."

The vampire took a step forward.

"That's not the same thing."

Steele immediately stood between us.

"Enough."

The vampire smiled.

"Tell her, Steele."

Then he vanished.

Just like that.

No smoke.

No dramatic transformation.

One second he was there.

The next, there was nothing.

The house became completely silent.

I looked around.

"Where did he go?"

Steele didn't answer.

I turned to him.

"What did he mean?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me."

He looked at me.

"You want the truth?"

"Yes."

"Then you need to understand something first."

He walked toward the broken window.

"The people who caused the plane crash weren't simply trying to kill everyone."

I followed him.

"Then what were they trying to do?"

He looked at my reflection in the broken glass.

"They were looking for someone."

"Anna."

He nodded.

"But Anna wasn't on that plane."

"Then why were they there?"

"Because they believed someone carrying her soul would be."

My breathing stopped.

"You mean me."

"Yes."

"But I'm not Anna."

"I know."

"Then why do they keep looking for me?"

Steele looked directly at me.

"Because you have her face."

"That's not enough."

"No."

He glanced at the mark on my neck.

"It isn't."

My fingers trembled.

"What does this have to do with the seal?"

"I don't know."

I glared at him.

"You're lying again."

"I know what the seal can do. I don't know why it appeared on you."

"What can it do?"

"It connects you to the vampire who created it."

My stomach dropped.

"Then he can find me anytime."

"Yes."

"Can he control me?"

Steele didn't answer immediately.

"Can he?"

"Not yet."

"Not yet?"

His silence told me everything.

I took a step backward.

"What happens when it awakens?"

"We don't know."

"You don't know?"

"The seal is old. We haven't seen one in centuries."

"Then how do we remove it?"

"We need to find the vampire who placed it on you."

I laughed bitterly.

"Great. So I just have to find an immortal vampire who can disappear whenever he wants."

Steele looked at me.

"I'll find him."

"You?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

He didn't answer.

I crossed my arms.

"Don't tell me it's because of the wish."

"It isn't."

"Then why?"

His eyes softened for a brief moment.

"You asked me to help you uncover the truth about your parents."

He paused.

"That means I will see it through."

I didn't know why, but those words affected me more than they should have.

"Steele..."

He looked away.

"You're going home."

"I'm not leaving."

"You need rest."

"I have too many questions."

"And you will have answers."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

I frowned.

"Why tomorrow?"

"Because tonight, you are staying here."

My eyes widened.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I have a condo."

"You are being tracked."

"I can protect myself."

"You almost died today."

"I survived."

"Because I found you."

I became silent.

He stepped closer.

"This time, you listen to me."

His voice was firm, but there was something beneath it.

Concern.

"You stay here tonight."

I looked around the ruined room.

"You're asking me to sleep in your house after a vampire broke into it?"

"Yes."

"That's comforting."

His lips twitched slightly.

It was barely noticeable.

But I saw it.

"Why are you smiling?"

"I'm not."

"You almost did."

"I don't smile."

"Right."

I shook my head.

Despite everything that had happened, I couldn't help but smile.

Then the mark on my neck suddenly burned.

I grabbed it.

Steele's expression changed.

"Amber?"

"I..."

The pain intensified.

My vision blurred.

And suddenly, I heard a voice inside my head.

Not my mother's.

Not the vampire's.

A woman's voice.

Soft.

Broken.

Find me.

I froze.

Steele grabbed my shoulders.

"What happened?"

I stared at him.

"I heard someone."

"Who?"

I swallowed.

"Anna."

His entire face changed.

"What did she say?"

I looked at the mark.

Then back at him.

"She told me to find her."

Steele went completely still.

For the first time since I met him, I saw something that frightened me more than his anger.

Fear.

And I knew then that whatever happened twenty-two years ago wasn't over.

It had only been waiting for me to find it.