Kael's Chosen Girl

Red is often described as warm, stimulating, and intense. The colour red is often seen as attractive and even aggressive, but it can also evoke feelings of love and comfort.

Red is often used to attract attention.

The colour red represents assertiveness, courage, perseverance, energy, strength, enthusiasm, impulsiveness, attractiveness, and aggression.

Red represents physical energy, lust, passion, and desire. This colour symbolises action, confidence, and courage.

Red is an intense colour packed with emotions ranging from passion and intense love to anger and violence – representing both the god of love and the devil.

It is a hot, strong, and stimulating colour that represents joy and energy.

I disagree with this statement; the colour red has never made me feel any excitement.

Humans have adopted the evolutionary meaning of red and use it as a warning colour, for example, in 'stop signs' and traffic lights.

Doesn't that mean you should be careful when you encounter this colour?

I read all these analogies on a website called diedit.com. I was looking for the meaning of the colour red, but instead I found this explanation.

Lately, I've been curious about the colour red, all because my sister always tells me that when the blood moon arrives, I have to stay at home and not go anywhere.

Hmm... The problem is that tonight is a blood moon eclipse, where the moon will be so bright and its light will be refracted, slightly darkened and blood red in colour.

Alaric—my brother—said that tonight would be a total blood moon eclipse. That means I have broken his warning tonight.

Knock, Knock.

There was a knock on my door, and I jumped a little. It was Saga Valmount, a tall, handsome man with short black hair. He is my assistant and personal bodyguard.

"Miss Vael, Mr Alaric has instructed you to return home before nine o'clock tonight," Saga said to me.

I glanced at the wall clock hanging directly above Saga's head. Ah, it was already eight o'clock at night; perhaps I had worked overtime for too long.

"Alright, get my car ready. I'll drive myself home this time."

"But Miss—" Saga protested, but I immediately gave him a sharp look.

He sighed but finally nodded, and the man left my room. I got ready to go home. The night sky was quite dark, but one thing caught my attention: the Blood Moon.

A red moon, as red as blood.

My footsteps echoed in the office hallway. There were a few people still working overtime besides me. As soon as I entered the lift, I felt a different atmosphere than usual. It was as if there was a wind blowing around my body, as if someone was following me, but I was alone.

As the lift approached the ground floor, the lights flickered several times. I panicked, because I was alone here.

When the lift doors opened, I immediately ran out, afraid of being trapped. Saga was waiting for me; he looked worried.

"What happened? Is there an issue with the building's electricity?" I asked him.

The man appeared to be contacting the security team using his walkie-talkie, then he nodded at me.

"There's a slight problem, it seems to be getting fixed," he replied.

I didn't feel relieved at all, my mind was still in turmoil because the atmosphere earlier had felt tense to me. I walked out of the building with Saga behind me, the moon rising higher in the night sky.

Saga hadn't yet retrieved my car from the basement, so I had to wait in front of the lobby.

Again, I felt someone watching me, but this time it was from across the street from the office. I saw a man with red hair, wearing all black, staring at me.

Not only was his hair as red as the moon tonight, but his eyes were also very red. Even though we were quite far apart, for some reason I could see him clearly, as if he were entering my mind.

I gasped as the lights in the building suddenly went out completely, along with all the street lights in front of it. Several people panicked, but when my car arrived and provided enough light, the electricity came back on.

And the man disappeared from there.

I approached one of the guards standing not far from me.

"Did you see someone there? He was standing under that light, where did he go?" I asked him.

The guard looked uncertain, "I didn't see anyone there, Miss."

Saga came over to me, "What's wrong, Miss?"

"I saw a man standing there, Saga. But now he's gone. Can you check the CCTV camera that faces that area?"

I was very curious. After all, that man had disturbed me. He felt familiar, and I wanted to check whether my vision was real or not.

Saga sighed briefly, then checked his phone to contact the security team again.

It didn't take long before I could see a slightly guilty look on his face. "I'm sorry, Miss. When the power went out before it shut down completely, all the CCTV cameras also shut down. No areas were recorded until the power came back on."

I took a deep breath, then nodded resignedly. I'd better hurry home before Alaric got angry with me.

I quickly got into my car and drove off alone. Tonight, the blood moon accompanied me, illuminating the deserted streets until I reached my residence. The large Haugen family mansion that had stood for hundreds of years.

Perhaps around two to three hundred years ago? At least that’s what my mother told me.

After parking the car, I stepped out and walked towards the front door. The wind blew past my neck, feeling cold and making me shiver.

In the bushes to my right, I felt someone standing and watching me, but I didn’t see anyone there.

The front door suddenly opened, revealing Alaric, who immediately stared at me intently.

"Vaelora! I told you not to come home late during the blood moon!"

He shouted at me, his annoyance palpable.

"I'm sorry, brother," I said softly as I entered, and he immediately closed the door.

"Why? What would happen if I came home late?" I asked him.

Alaric walked ahead into the house, heading towards the living room while I stopped at the doorway, waiting for his answer.

"You don't need to know. Now be quiet, it's already late."

Alaric's answer was useless, so I immediately rushed to my room feeling annoyed, awkward and curious. He had warned me, almost every time a blood moon eclipse was coming, but there was never a definite answer.

Should I sneak into the family archives?

In this big house, only Alaric, my father, my mother, and I remain. Our extended family has disappeared, most of them marrying non-Haugen relatives, leaving only us as the successors here and the ones to continue the large company.

Midnight finally arrived, and I sneaked into the unlocked family archive room. Here, there was a lot of data stored, ranging from investor data, client data, and also data on all family members related to the Haugen family.

Everything was neatly organised but dusty, as this place was rarely visited.

My eyes fell on a book lying at the end of the table near the window. It was red, like an old book, but I could see the engraving, raised like roots encircling it.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

There was the sound of footsteps. I looked around, but I was alone in the room. Was it just my imagination? I took a breath and refocused on the book I was holding.

When I opened it, I was shocked. There, written clearly, were the names of my ancestors, crossed out in red ink, like blood.

Page after page, I opened them, revealing the names of women from the Haugen family, their names marked and crossed out.

Then I realised, the writing was clear there.

The Chosen Girl.

My heart was pounding, I felt scared. I opened the next page again, my eyes widened once more. There, my mother's name was clearly written, but it was only marked, not crossed out.

But next to it was clearly written, failed.

What did that mean?

"Vaelora Haugen."

My breath caught in my throat. I heard a man speaking right behind me, but when I turned around, there was no one there.

I turned around again, and I saw him. It was him! A man with red hair, as red as the blood moon tonight, standing a few steps in front of me with a smile that sent shivers down my spine.

Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating his face in this dark room where, for some reason, the lights had gone out.

"Who are you?!" I shouted at him.

He grinned at me, "Your beautiful nightmare," he replied.

The book in my hand fell to the floor, opening another page that made my body tense up again. My name was clearly written there, marked with blood-red ink along with the date of the next blood moon.

"You can't run away from me, Vaelora. You're trapped in a destiny with me."

The light came back on, and the man was no longer in front of me, but he was already right behind me. I could feel his breath near my neck.

When I turned to look at him, he had vanished. Leaving me alone with the ancient book, my name marked inside it.