My Family's Secret

I swear I wasn't snooping. People love to slap that label on me, like I walk around with a magnifying glass and a trench coat. Honestly, I just needed air. Lunaris Manor squeezes you from the inside out, like the walls have opinions about your existence. The whole place hums with secrets, and tonight it felt louder than usual.

So yeah, I slipped out during dinner.

Nothing dramatic.

Or... it wasn't supposed to be.

I opened the wrong damn door.

Heat punched me in the face the second I stepped in. Not normal heat, the kind that feels like fire is breathing on you even when you don't see flames. My skin instantly went clammy. The room was almost pitch-black except for red symbols glowing faintly on the floor.

I should've turned around. Anyone sane would've.

But then I heard my mother's voice.

Cold. Flat. Chanting.

My mother doesn't chant. She barely prays over food.

My heart kicked into overdrive, and the room tilted for a second.

"Elara...?" Kael's voice came from deeper inside:  low, tense, like he already knew I'd stepped into something I shouldn't have.

I took one slow, shaky step forward.

And there they were: My mother, Victor Lunaris, and two elders I'd only seen during ceremonies.

And Kael standing at the edge of a glowing circle carved into the floor.

In the center of it...., something was moving.

It was breathing and waiting. 

My stomach dropped so hard I nearly gagged.

Kael snapped his gaze to me, ice-blue, furious. "Elara, get out-"

Too late.

My foot brushed the edge of the circle. Just barely. The symbols flared so bright I threw a hand over my eyes.

The creature inside lifted its head, slow and wrong, like it wasn't supposed to wake up yet.

I stumbled back into the wall. "What... what the hell is that?"

No one answered.

My mother's chanting cut off.

Victor hissed...., he actually hissed. The creature jerked against invisible restraints.

Kael moved fast. "You shouldn't be here." His voice shook. Kael does not shake. "Elara, look at me, do not panic."

"Don't panic? That thing is moving!"

It growled.

The sound hit somewhere inside my bones, like fear suddenly had a physical weight.

My knees almost gave out. I grabbed the nearest table and sent a tray of silver tools crashing to the floor. The sound echoed through every shadow.

The creature reacted instantly. Its head snapped toward me.

Its eyes glowed amber, it had my eye color, but twisted like something had broken inside them.

"Elara, MOVE!" Kael grabbed my arm.

And that tiny point of contact was enough. Something in the ritual snapped, I felt it, like a wire burning in half.

Victor shouted something that didn't sound human. My mom gasped, the red light around her flickering.

The circle cracked like shattered glass.

The creature lunged.

" Oh sh******" ..... I screamed.

Kael yanked me down just as claws sliced the air above us. The sound alone made every