The house had always been alive. But now… it had a heartbeat.
Selene could feel it thudding beneath her feet as she stood barefoot in the hallway, every breath shallow, every wall listening. Her skin was still coated in dried blood and filth from the pit of the forgotten women — the graveyard Lucian kept hidden beneath their feet.
"You were born here."
The words echoed louder now, like they were stitched into her veins.
Her mother hadn't just escaped this place.
She had survived it.
And left Selene behind.
The hallway had changed. It stretched longer now. The walls were tighter. The air carried a faint scent of burnt roses and singed silk — sickly sweet, like perfume left too long on a corpse.
At the end of the hall was the door.
Not just any door.
The Red Door.
It was taller than it should've been. Its surface pulsed. The bolts were rusted shut, but it moaned as if something inside was pressing — breathing.
Lucian hadn't followed her here.
Not yet.
But she could feel him. Wounded. Angry. Obsessed.
And afraid.
She stepped closer.
Each step triggered a sound — memories embedded in the wood.
"No, please—"
"Don't lock me in—"
"It's too dark in here—"
"I loved you…"
Selene placed her hand on the handle.
It was hot.
Like flesh stretched over fire.
"He's in there," said the voice in the wall — the girl, weaker now. "But it's not just him. That's where the first one waits."
"The first what?" Selene whispered.
"The original Selene. The one he couldn't break."
Selene's blood ran cold.
What the hell was this place?
She turned the handle.
It didn't open.
But the door whispered.
"I've been waiting for you."
Suddenly, a wind slammed through the hallway, knocking her back — crashing her into the wall. Her head hit plaster. She blinked through the spinning stars and saw Lucian standing over her.
But he was different now.
Cracked.
Burning.
The bite she left on him had spread. His throat was veined with black, his eyes sunken, his mouth trembling with something between rage and fear.
"You touched the door," he said, voice ragged.
"I need to know what's behind it."
"You're not ready."
"Make me."
Lucian's face twisted.
He grabbed her, yanked her up, slammed her body against the door — and she swore it sighed beneath her back, like it was hungry.
"You think you're brave because you bled?" he growled. "You think biting me made you strong?"
"No," Selene hissed. "But it made you mortal."
He froze.
Her hands clawed at his chest. She could feel it — the weakness. The shadow inside him cracking.
He shoved her harder, mouth devouring hers in a brutal, breath-stealing kiss, as if trying to consume her strength before it turned on him.
"I gave you power," he growled. "I gave you purpose."
"You gave me scars," she spat.
And she kneed him in the ribs.
Hard.
He staggered — and the door reacted.
It creaked open just an inch. A light spilled from within — not white.
Red.
Blood red.
Hell red.
And a whisper.
"Let me out, and I'll kill him for you."
Lucian's eyes widened. For the first time — true fear.
"Don't listen to her," he hissed. "She's worse than me. She's what made me."
Selene looked between him and the door.
She realized now… the curse didn't start with Lucian.
It started with her.
The woman behind the Red Door.
The First Selene.
Her namesake.
Her mother?
No…
Herself. From another time. Another life. Another version he failed to erase.
A scream began to rise from behind the door. Low. Female. Violent.
The handle turned on its own.
Selene didn't stop it.
She whispered, "Show me who I really am."
The door opened.
And everything went black.
🔥 End of Chapter 8 🔥