All Chapters of Crimson Bloomed: Ascend: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Chapter 1: Before the StaticAria Solenne had a talent for being unnoticed. Not out of fear or shyness — more like quiet resistance. The city moved fast, loud, and unforgiving, but she'd learned how to drift through its cracks, like fog slipping between streetlights.Morning started the same as always: too early, too gray. Light crept through her blinds like it was tired, stretching across the linoleum floor in fractured gold. Her apartment smelled faintly of lavender and stale tea, dust curling in corners no one else noticed. She shuffled into the kitchen in mismatched socks, her oversized cardigan sliding off one shoulder. The kettle hissed, warming water she probably didn't need. But ritual mattered.She spooned sugar into her chipped ceramic mug — three heaps, always — and dropped in a pinch of rose petals from the jar above the sink. Her fingers paused, as they always did, on the faded label: For Mom. They weren't fresh anymore, but the scent still clung. Still meant something.S

Chapter 3: Under the SurfaceThe mirror crack had deepened overnight. It wasn't dramatic — just a hairline fracture crawling along the glass like a spider's leg — but Aria noticed it the second she walked past. Something about it looked… wrong. It hadn't been there yesterday. She paused, backpedaled, and stared.The glass caught the early gray light filtering through her half - shut blinds, making the crack shimmer slightly. Cold. Too cold. She pressed her fingertip to the glass and flinched. The chill bit deeper than it should've. Not like a draft. More like a warning.She stepped away and tried to shake it off. Maybe she'd just slept like garbage again. The kettle on her stove hissed but never quite whistled, like it knew she wasn't paying attention. She poured hot water into her chipped mug and forgot the tea bag, standing in the kitchen with both hands wrapped around the cup, the steam fogging her glasses. Dominic's cat, Piper, rubbed against her ankle with a meow that sounded les

Chapter 5: The Girl in the Fever DreamShe was sixteen. Technically "emancipated." Practically just a girl with keys, a name that wasn't hers anymore, and an apartment no one was supposed to know about. And still, somehow — Uncle Raymond found her.She didn't know how. Maybe Evan had followed her one day, or maybe one of those fake "family friends" had given her up. Either way, they were at her door. Loud, entitled, and pushing."You think you're grown now, huh?" Raymond's voice was smooth, practiced, fake concern dripping from every syllable. "I'm just worried about you, honey. You're not answering calls. I thought maybe you needed help managing everything."Aria didn't answer. She stood behind the door, breath held, phone clutched in her hand but no one to call. The lawyer said the trust was hers. But if Raymond pushed hard enough, if he found a judge —"Come on, Aria. Be smart. You don't even know how to handle money. Let me help you."His fist pounded once, hard.She flinched."Da

Chapter 7: I Watched You Before You Knew MeSelene's first breath after the rebirth wasn't calm — it was fire threading through her blood, ice cracking in her bones. Her body shook as if the earth itself had snapped back into her chest. She opened her eyes, not to light, but to memory.The first name in her mind was Aria.She didn't know why. Just that it rang like a bell every time her heart beat. Aria. Her Aria. The girl she hadn't even met yet.She started watching. Quietly. From afar.At seventeen, Aria Solenne was still human. Still untouched by the supernatural storm brewing beneath her skin. She didn't know the weight she carried in her blood or the danger that bloomed every time she smiled.Selene did.She'd stand outside the school gates sometimes, eyes hidden behind mirrored sunglasses, hoodie pulled low, pretending to check her phone while watching Aria laugh with her friends. Selene hated how easily Aria trusted the world. And she loved it, too.There were moments when fat

Chapter 9: Breaking PointAria jolted awake, heart already racing like it had never stopped beating from some forgotten nightmare. Her breath came fast, damp hair clinging to her forehead. The rain outside was still going, soft now, more like static against the glass than an actual storm.Her apartment smelled like damp earth and charged air — like the ground right before lightning hits.She sat up slowly, wincing. Her limbs were stiff, like she'd slept with tension coiled too tight. She looked toward the window.The flowers were different.The four glowing red blossoms — the ones that had pulsed gently for weeks, always four, no more — had changed.There were six now.Two new petals had unfurled overnight. Quietly. Without warning.She blinked, breath catching. The fifth looked newer, less confident in its shape, but the sixth… The sixth pulsed stronger than the others. Brighter. And underneath that red light, the glass of the window had started to fog.She moved closer, barefoot on