All Chapters of TRAPPED IN THE DARK CASTLE: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

OLIVER’S POVThe forest felt wrong tonight—too quiet, too still, too aware. Even the wind seemed to hesitate before touching the castle walls, like it didn’t want to disturb whatever unseen thing lurked beyond the treeline. I stood at the highest balcony, hands braced against cold stone, my senses stretched far beyond the walls of my domain.Amy was asleep.Her heartbeat told me that much—soft, uneven, restless.It calmed something inside me even as it twisted other parts into knots.But everything outside her room felt… disturbed.Unsettled.Violent.A presence drifted beyond the forest, brushing against my instincts like a cold fingertip against exposed nerves. It wasn’t the outcasts; their stench was easy to detect. This presence was cleaner, sharper, threaded with old magic and older hunger.A familiar pull dragged across my spine.No.Not him.Not now.I clenched the railing until cracks splintered beneath my palms. “Show yourself,” I muttered into the darkness. “I know you’re th

OLIVER’S POVThe night tasted wrong again—sharp, metallic, tainted with a scent that didn’t belong to my castle. I felt it long before anyone spoke a word, long before the torches flickered strangely, long before Gina approached with a tight, worried expression.“Oliver,” she whispered, stepping into the hall. “Something is moving near the west wing.”“I know,” I replied without turning. “There are three of them.”Her eyes widened. “Already? Sean’s men—”“Yes.”My voice was calm. Too calm.A sign of how deep the violence was settling into my bones.I moved down the corridor silently, my senses flaring outward like a net. Footsteps—soft, hurried, attempting stealth. Breathing—controlled, shallow, predatory. The cold aura of young vampires who believed themselves competent enough to cross my border.But what tightened my chest most was something else entirely:Amy’s scent in the west wing.Not close enough to be touching danger, but close enough for danger to want her.Gina stepped besi

OLIVER’S POVNight falls differently when danger is near. The air grows tighter, the shadows heavier, the castle walls themselves turning into something restless and listening. I felt it long before the torches flickered, long before the floors vibrated faintly under my boots, long before the forest began to whisper the way it does when a predator crosses its boundaries.Sean was close.Closer than I’d ever allow.Closer than he should ever dare.I walked the corridor outside Amy’s new room with slow, deliberate steps, letting my senses extend far beyond the stone, beyond the courtyard, beyond the gates. The castle was quiet except for the crackling of torches and the faint hum of magic threading through ancient architecture. But beneath that quiet lay tension—coiled, sharp, unmistakable.Her heartbeat pulsed steadily behind the door.Soft.Warm.Vulnerably human.It shouldn’t have mattered this much.But it did.I rested my fingers lightly against the doorframe. “Sleep,” I whispered,

OLIVER’S POVRage does not feel like fire to me.It feels like cold—so cold it burns, so sharp it slices everything inside me at once. When Amy’s heartbeat vanished from the castle, the temperature of the world dropped until I tasted frost on my tongue.I didn’t think.I didn’t breathe.I didn’t speak.I became the monster I’ve spent centuries refusing to acknowledge.Stone cracked beneath my boots as I walked back into the main hall. Torches along the walls flickered violently, struggling to stay lit under the pressure of my aura. The castle groaned, its old bones shaking, as if begging me not to destroy it.Too late.Gina rushed in behind me. “Oliver—wait—listen to me—”I didn’t listen.My hand slammed against the nearest column, splitting it from base to ceiling. Marble shattered, dust exploding outward in a violent cloud.“She was right here,” I growled, my voice cracking with something far uglier than rage. “She was right here, Gina.”“I know,” she whispered. “But if you lose con

AMY’S POVThe moment Sean stepped out of the room, I pressed both hands against the bedpost, trying to steady the frantic rush of my breathing, because my chest felt too tight and my skin felt too warm and nothing about my body was acting the way a normal human body should act after being bitten by a monster who claimed my blood wasn’t human at all. I paced the floor with unsteady steps while the floating candles shifted in the air as though responding to the agitation burning beneath my skin, and the sensation only worsened when I remembered the look in Sean’s eyes after he tasted me—half shock, half hunger, and entirely something I wished I could erase from my memory.I squeezed my hands together, forcing myself to think clearly. “He’s lying,” I whispered under my breath, though I didn’t believe the words, and the silence around me seemed to agree with Sean more than me. I needed to calm down. I needed to think. I needed to figure out what part of me he had awakened with that bite,