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CHAPTER 9: "SHADOWS OF THE PAST"

Auteur: Joyce Benjamin
last update Date de publication: 2025-10-29 15:36:02

The rain had started as a light drizzle that afternoon, drumming gently on the windows of Elara's room.

But by evening, it poured in sheets, as if the sky was trying to drown the entire city.

She sat curled at her desk, attempting to write again, but every word she typed felt meaningless, especially with Marek haunting the corners of her thoughts.

She hadn't seen him since that night. Not truly.

He was there in the mirrors.

In the shadows.

In cold drafts that brushed her skin when all the
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  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 23: "A MINOR MISSTEP"

    The music pulsed through the ballroom in slow waves, deep enough that the bass could be felt underfoot.Crystal chandeliers spilled warm light over the polished marble floor, turning the moving crowd into shifting flashes of satin, glass, and gold. Laughter rose and fell with the rhythm of the music. Somewhere near the bar, someone cheered as the DJ switched tracks.Clara barely noticed any of it.She had been watching him for almost a minute now.Victor stood near the far side of the hall, not quite part of the crowd, not quite separate either. His posture was relaxed, one hand resting in the pocket of his dark trousers, the other loosely holding a glass.He wasn’t drinking.He was watching.Clara inhaled slowly, smoothing the side of her dress before she could overthink it.Then she walked toward him.Each step felt louder than it should have.By the time she stopped in front of him, Victor had already noticed her.His gaze settled on her calmly, quietly observant.Clara offered

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 22: "A PAUSE IN VELVET"

    The card sat between them like an accusation. The card shouldn’t have been there. Elara stood in the middle of her room, the invitation balanced between her fingers like it might bite. Thick, expensive cardstock. Matte black. Gold embossing that caught the light when she tilted it. She had checked her bag three times already. “I didn’t put this there,” she said quietly. Fallon crossed her arms. “Me neither.” They stared at it together. No envelope. No explanation. No handwriting they recognized on the front. Just the phrase. Perfectly centered. Elara flipped it over again. 'Attendance is mandatory.' Her throat tightened. “That’s not normal,” Fallon muttered. “That’s not even rich-people dramatic. That’s… weird.” Elara swallowed. “Clara said she wasn’t doing cards.” “Exactly.” Fallon pushed off the doorframe. “So unless the air is handing out invitations now…..” “….someone put it there,” Elara finished. Silence followed. The kind that sat heavy instead of empty. Elara

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 21: "UNSPOKEN ATTENDANCE"

    It's been two days already since Elara and Fallon had gotten back from the police station.Fallon, as always, was restless. Her eyes kept darting to the corners, to the reflections on windows, the shadows that seemed out of place. Two days ago, she had handled a polaroid, a file, that vanished mysteriously, only for her to hear a voice asking where she found it. Nobody had been there.The late afternoon sun draped over the city, painting the streets in a golden glow. Elara and Fallon walked side by side into the school gate, heads low, silent except for the soft crunch of their shoes on the pavement. The recent chaos of Sylvia’s death, Marek’s absence, the constant tension still lingered in their bones, a heavy, unshakable weight.But at the end of the day, they had to be in school even though the thoughts of some things kept weighing on them.And Fallon as agile as she could be, she wouldn't want anyone to see her at her lowest in school, so she had to switch up.Clara Veyne had

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 20: "SILENT SHIFTS"

    The interrogation room felt too clean for grief.Elara sat with her hands folded on the metal table, fingers laced so tightly her knuckles had turned pale. The fluorescent light above buzzed faintly, a constant irritation she couldn’t ask to be turned off. Her eyes stayed fixed on the scratched surface of the table, tracing invisible patterns, because every time she lifted her gaze she felt like she might fracture.Marek was gone.Not gone like before, this was worse.This was silence.The door creaked open.Detective Langdon stepped in, tall, composed, his expression unreadable in the way only people who had seen too much death could manage. He closed the door behind him carefully, as if sound itself mattered.“Elara Voss,” he said, sitting opposite her. “Thank you for waiting.”She nodded once. No smile. No greeting.He studied her for a moment. Not rudely. Not kindly either.“You’ve been through a lot,” Langdon said. “Two deaths in close proximity. Both… violent.”Elara’s jaw ti

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 19: "WHEN SILENCE CHOSES SIDES"

    Detective Langdon’s voice didn’t rise.It didn’t need to.“I’ll need you and Miss Fallon at the station tomorrow morning,” he said calmly, folding his notebook shut. “Routine questioning.” Routine.Elara nodded, even though her hands were shaking so badly she had to press them into her thighs to stop them.Fallon didn’t nod.Fallon scoffed. “Routine,” she repeated, disbelief dripping from the word. “Someone gets hung upside down like meat in a freezer and that’s routine?”Langdon’s gaze flicked to her. Sharp. Measuring.“Miss Fallon,” he said evenly, “everything is routine until it isn’t.”That shut her up.Elara swallowed. Her mouth was dry. Her chest felt hollow, like something had been scooped out of her. “We’ll be there,” she said quietly.Langdon watched her for a long second, too long, then nodded once and stepped away.The crowd was already thinning. Whispers followed them like shadows as they walked out.Fallon leaned close. “Elara… you okay?”Elara didn’t answer.Her eyes

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 18: "STILLNESS"

    Elara couldn’t breathe. The auditorium felt smaller suddenly too tight, too loud, too alive. The lights burned against her eyes, the murmurs crawling over her skin like insects. Her name, not her name, still echoed in her head. Sylvia Hart. She stood frozen at the edge of the stage, fingers numb, palms damp. Security hovered close, not touching her yet, but close enough that she felt their presence like a hand pressed to her spine. Her throat tightened painfully. Feel what? The humiliation? The betrayal? The way her world cracked open in front of hundreds of strangers? Her vision blurred. Security shifted closer. Elara’s eyes found him before her mind could stop them. Black cloak. Hood low. No face, just the curve of lips beneath shadow. Smiling. Her breath hitched. You knew. The words screamed inside her chest, but when her lips parted, nothing came out. Marek’s voice slid into her head like silk over glass. “Stand still.” He

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 16: "SHADOWS THAT BLINK"

    Sylvia's hand clamped around Fallon's wrist so tightly that Fallon winced."Fallon, what was that?" Sylvia demanded, her voice low, sharp. "Who were you talking to? Because it definitely wasn't a person."Fallon shuddered. "I…… I wasn't talking to myself, Sylvia. I swear I saw someone. A man. He wa

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 15: "UNSEEN"

    The grocery bags dug into Fallon's arms as she strutted down the street, humming loudly to herself and muttering under her breath about how Elara should have tagged along.The evening was chill, painting the sky in streaks of gold.Her day had been boring, Elara had holed herself up again, Fallon h

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 14: "A DANGEROUS LONGING"

    Marek turned sharply into the portal again.Elara was lying now, her eyes had fluttered shut, her breathing now calm. Her fingers still lingered on her laptop keyboard.Marek didn't speak. Didn't move. Just stared.His voice came out hoarse, almost broken. "Then why does my soul only respond to

  • LUSTBORN   CHAPTER 13: "A BREATH BEFORE CHAOS"

    "I'm not. He came last night. Said I called him. He didn't even deny it. He said Damien touched me and he doesn't let things like that live. So he had to erase him…….Oh Fal!" Elara said.Fallon slowly sipped her coffee and replied sarcastically, because it looked like Elara was obsessed with her bo

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