Damian walked ahead of me, his movements smooth and sure, like he knew every shadow in this place by heart. His grip on my hand was firm, and even though every rational part of me screamed to pull away, to run back to the safety of my old life, I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not now. Not after everything.
The abandoned village felt more like a memory than a real place. Each crumbling stone building we passed seemed to lean in, whispering secrets I wasn't meant to hear. The wind howled through the empty streets, stirring the scent of damp earth and decay. There was no moon, no stars, just an endless sky, black as pitch, pressing down on us like a heavy shroud.
"What is this place?" I asked, my voice barely audible over the wind.
He didn't answer at first, just glanced back at me with those dark, unreadable eyes. "It's older than anything you know," he said finally, his voice low and measured. "Older than you, older than me."
I swallowed, glancing around at the desolate buildings, their windows like hollow eyes watching our every move. "I don't understand. Why are we here?"
"To begin," he said simply, as if that explained everything.
We reached the crumbling structure I had noticed earlier, a towering building that looked like it had once been a church, now long abandoned. Its walls were covered in creeping vines, and the wooden doors hung on rusted hinges. As we approached, Damian finally stopped, his gaze fixed on the entrance.
"This place," he said, "is where the boundaries between worlds are thinnest. It's where I found you."
I blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You've felt it, haven't you?" He turned to face me, his eyes searching mine. "That pull, that darkness that's always lingered at the edges of your life. That's why you've been drawn to me. You've always been connected to something, more."
I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words wouldn't come. He was right. I had felt it, that constant shadow trailing behind me, the feeling that there was something just beyond my reach, waiting for me to step into it.
Damian stepped closer, his voice soft but insistent. "This place is a gateway, Lucia. A place where you can see the truth. Your truth."
My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt the cold press of fear creeping up my spine. "What truth?"
He reached out, his fingers brushing against my cheek, and I shivered at the touch. "The truth of who you are. Of what you are."
I stared at him, my mind racing. "And what am I?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he turned toward the old wooden doors and pushed them open with a creak that echoed through the night. Inside, the air was thick and heavy, the scent of old stone and dust filling my lungs as I stepped across the threshold.
The interior of the building was vast, though empty. Broken pews lined the floor, and shattered stained-glass windows cast fragments of color on the cracked stone walls. At the far end, an altar stood, draped in shadows. But there was something else, something beneath the surface. I could feel it, a presence lurking just out of sight, waiting.
Damian led me forward, his steps sure and deliberate. As we approached the altar, I noticed symbols carved into the stone, symbols that seemed to shift and writhe as I looked at them. My stomach twisted in knots, and I hesitated.
"What is this?" I whispered, my voice trembling.
"This," Damian said, gesturing to the altar, "is where the veil thins. Where you will see what lies beyond."
He turned to me, his expression serious. "But you must choose, Lucia. You must choose to see it."
My pulse quickened. "See what?"
He stepped closer, his hand brushing against mine. "Everything."
I glanced at the altar, then back at him, my mind spinning with fear and confusion. "I don't understand. What are you asking me to do?"
"I'm asking you to let go," Damian said softly, his voice like a whisper in the wind. "To let go of the life you've known. To step into the darkness and embrace what you've always been."
My throat tightened. "And what if I can't?"
His gaze darkened, and for the first time, I saw something else in his eye, something deeper, more dangerous. "Then you will remain trapped, caught between the life you've lived and the one you were meant for."
I took a step back, my heart racing. "Why me?"
"Because," he said, his voice low and steady, "you were born for this. You were chosen."
I shook my head, the weight of his words pressing down on me. "I'm not special. I'm just, me."
He smiled, but it was a sad smile, full of something I couldn't name. "You are more than you know, Lucia. So much more."
I stared at the altar, my mind screaming at me to run, to leave this place and never look back. But something in Damian's words, in the way he looked at me, made me hesitate. What if he was right? What if there was something more, something waiting for me, just beyond the veil?
And what if I had been running from it all my life?
Slowly, I took a deep breath and stepped toward the altar, my hand reaching out to touch the cold stone. As my fingers brushed against it, I felt a surge of energy rush through me, filling me with a sense of power and fear all at once.
Damian watched me closely, his eyes never leaving mine. "Are you ready?"
I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of the moment settle over me. This was it. The moment of choice. The moment where everything would change.
"Yes," I whispered, my voice trembling. "I'm ready."
And with that, the darkness swallowed me whole.
The darkness wasn't just around me, it was inside me, clawing its way through my chest, seeping into every crevice of my mind. I gasped for breath, my lungs burning as if I were drowning in it, but there was no air, no ground beneath my feet, nothing to hold onto but the terrifying sensation of falling into the unknown.
And then, just as suddenly, it stopped.
A soft light pierced through the blackness, faint and distant, like the first glimmer of dawn breaking through the night. My body, which had felt weightless in the void, found solid ground beneath my feet. The air shifted, warm and thick, carrying with it the scent of something familiar, something I couldn't quite place.
I opened my eyes, blinking against the light. I was no longer in the crumbling church or even the village. I stood in the center of a grand hall, its vastness stretching far beyond anything I could comprehend. Tall, ornate columns lined the walls, each one carved with intricate symbols that glowed faintly in the dim light. Above me, a vaulted ceiling soared into the darkness, and the floor beneath my feet shimmered like polished obsidian.
It was beautiful. And terrifying.
"Where, where am I?" My voice echoed off the walls, small and uncertain in the face of the vastness around me.
Damian stood beside me, his expression unreadable as he surveyed the hall. "This is the place between," he said softly. "A threshold. A bridge between worlds."
I turned to him, my heart still racing from the sensation of falling. "Between what worlds?"
He didn't answer immediately, his gaze fixed on something far ahead in the distance. "Between the world of the living," he said slowly, "and the world of the damned."
The words sent a shiver down my spine. "The damned?" I repeated, my voice barely more than a whisper.
Damian's eyes met mine, and for the first time, I saw the full weight of what he was. There was no mistaking the darkness that lingered in the depths of his gaze, no denying the otherworldly power that radiated from him. "The souls who have crossed over. Those who have given themselves to something greater, something darker."
I swallowed hard, trying to make sense of it all. "Is that what you are?"
He smiled, but it was a sad, hollow smile. "I was once like you," he said. "Mortal. Fragile. But I chose a different path. One that led me here."
I shook my head, confusion swirling in my mind. "Why me? Why bring me here?"
Damian stepped closer, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my pulse quicken. "Because you're more than you know, Lucia. There's something inside you, something that has always connected you to this world, even if you couldn't see it."
I took a step back, my mind spinning. "I'm just, I'm just a person. An ordinary person. I don't belong here."
"You belong more than anyone," he said softly, his voice filled with a strange kind of reverence. "You were born for this. You were born to walk between worlds, to see what others cannot."
I shook my head, my throat tightening with fear. "No… no, I can't. This isn't, this can't be real."
But even as the words left my lips, I knew they were a lie. Deep down, I had always known there was something different about me, something that had never quite fit into the ordinary life I had tried so hard to live. And now, standing in this strange, impossible place, it all felt like it was finally coming into focus.
Damian reached for my hand, his touch warm and grounding. "You don't have to be afraid, Lucia. I'll guide you. But you have to trust me."
Trust him? The very idea seemed absurd. He was a creature of darkness, something beyond human, and yet… there was a part of me that already did. A part of me that had always felt drawn to him, even before I knew his name.
I closed my eyes, taking a shaky breath. "What happens if I don't?"
His grip tightened just slightly, enough to let me know there was no turning back. "Then you'll remain in the world of the living, blind to what lies beneath. But once you've seen what I've shown you, there will be no peace. No rest. The shadows will follow you, always just out of reach."
My heart pounded in my chest. The choice lay before me, stark and undeniable. I could stay in the life I knew, safe and ignorant, or I could step fully into the darkness and embrace whatever fate awaited me.
"I don't know if I can do this," I whispered, my voice trembling.
"You can," Damian said, his voice steady and calm. "You've already begun."
I opened my eyes, meeting his gaze once more. There was no deception there, no malice. Just the truth, raw and undeniable. And in that moment, I knew there was no going back.
With a deep breath, I nodded.
"Show me."
Damian's smile widened, and for a brief moment, I saw something almost like relief in his expression. He raised his other hand, and as he did, the air around us seemed to shift, the shimmering floor beneath us pulsing with a dark, otherworldly energy.
"Then let the descent begin," he whispered.
The ground beneath me trembled, and suddenly, the world around us began to unravel. The columns that lined the hall dissolved into smoke, the ceiling above us cracked open, revealing a swirling abyss of shadows and light. The grand hall, the place between, was falling apart, and we were falling with it.
I reached out for Damian, panic surging through me, but his grip remained firm, steady.
"Hold on," he said, his voice calm amid the chaos. "This is only the beginning."
And then, with a final shudder, the world around us collapsed, and we plunged into the depths of the unknown.