valmora The twilight
MD Noyon Sarkar
Chapter 1: The Door Between Worlds
The city lights flickered against the rain-soaked pavement as Ethan Gray hurried down the alleyway, his breath curling into the cold night air. The hum of distant traffic and the occasional honk of a horn echoed faintly, but here, in the narrow streets between towering buildings, the world felt eerily quiet.
Ethan clutched the strap of his messenger bag tighter. Late-night shifts at the bookstore downtown paid the bills, but they also meant navigating these shadowed streets alone. He'd walked this route a hundred times, but tonight... tonight felt different.
A faint whisper of movement brushed the edge of his hearing. He stopped, pulse quickening, and glanced over his shoulder. The alley stretched behind him, empty but for the faint shimmer of rain beneath a distant streetlamp. Swallowing against the sudden dryness in his throat, he quickened his pace.
A low hum filled the air—deep, resonant, like the distant toll of a bell. Ethan stumbled to a halt as a ripple of darkness shimmered across the brick wall beside him. The air grew thick, charged with an electric tension that raised the hairs on his arms.
"What the hell—" His words cut off as a sudden force pulled at his chest. His heart pounded as invisible hands seemed to seize him, dragging him forward. Ethan's fingers scraped against wet brick as he tried to resist, but the world tilted beneath his feet. The air itself seemed to fold inward, collapsing into a whirlpool of shadow and light—
—then silence.
Ethan fell forward onto rough stone, gasping as the cold air hit his lungs. He lay still for a moment, heart hammering in his chest. Slowly, he pushed himself up, eyes wide as he took in his surroundings.
Gone were the rain-slicked streets of the city. Instead, he knelt on the cracked stone of an ancient courtyard, surrounded by towering spires of dark iron and obsidian. A pale moon, far larger than Earth's, hung overhead, casting silver light across jagged rooftops and narrow streets that wound like veins through the city.
The air smelled faintly of iron and frost. And somewhere, distant but clear, the low hum of unseen power vibrated through the ground beneath him.
Ethan staggered to his feet. "Where... where am I?"
"You should not be here."
The voice, low and cold as winter night, sent a chill through his bones. Ethan spun around, eyes widening as he met the gaze of a woman standing atop the stone steps leading to an arched gate.
She was tall and slender, her figure draped in black velvet that clung to her curves and swept the ground with silent grace. Her skin was pale as moonlight, and her long hair, black as midnight, cascaded over her shoulders like shadows made silk. But it was her eyes that held him captive—crimson as freshly spilled blood, cold and unreadable as distant stars.
Ethan swallowed hard. "Who are you? Where am I?"
The woman descended the steps, each movement fluid and precise, like a predator closing the distance to its prey. Her gaze never wavered from his, and though her expression was unreadable, there was a faint air of disdain about her.
"This is Umbra Noctis—the world between worlds." Her voice carried the faintest trace of an accent, old and elegant. "You are trespassing, human."
"Umbra... what?" Ethan shook his head. "Look, I—I don't know how I got here. One minute I was in the city, and then... something pulled me through—"
"Then you are a fool," she cut him off, her tone as sharp as a blade. "No human crosses the threshold without consequence."
Ethan took a step back as she approached, the faint scent of night-blooming flowers trailing in her wake. "Wait—hold on. Are you saying I can't go back?"
Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly. "Few who cross into this realm ever return to the mortal world."
Ethan's heart pounded in his chest. "But there has to be a way—"
"Silence." Her voice cut through the air like frostbite. "Your fate is no longer yours to decide."
"Who... who are you?" His voice dropped to a whisper.
The faintest smile touched her lips, though it held no warmth. "I am Selene of House Duskborne, first daughter of the Night Court."
"Night Court?" The words sounded like something out of a gothic novel. Ethan took a shaky breath, trying to steady his thoughts. "Wait, are you saying... you're a vampire?"
Selene's smile deepened, revealing the faint gleam of fangs behind her crimson lips.
"Welcome to the realm of shadows, mortal," she murmured. "You belong to the night now."