When Kiera Hart moved to the gloomy town of Crescent Falls to start her life anew, she never expected it would nearly end before it began.
A sudden car crash landed her in the hospital, unconscious and broken. Somewhere between the blur of sirens and the sting of pain, she slipped into darkness—until a voice cut through it.
"Everyone out. I'll take it from here."
The man who entered the operating room was no ordinary doctor. Dr. Lucian Vale, the youngest surgical prodigy in the region, carried an air of command that no one dared challenge. Some envied him. Others worshipped him. No one understood him.
He approached her still form, eyes glinting with something beyond science—something ancient.
With a soft whisper, he murmured, "My wife... At last, I've found you."
Then, with deliberate resolve, he bit into his own wrist. Crimson blood flowed, and he tilted her head gently, letting a single drop fall into her parted lips.
The effect was immediate. Kiera's body arched in pain as ice spread through her veins like fire in reverse. She felt everything—her organs freezing, her senses shattering. Then, just as suddenly, she blacked out.
When she awoke, she was in a hospital bed, bandaged and gasping for breath. Her skin tingled unnaturally. Her heart beat differently. And her mind swirled with a dream too real to forget.
Was that just a hallucination... or did something truly happen to me?
A voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hello, Ms. Hart. How are you feeling?"
She turned—and froze.
It was him. The man from her dream. The one with the impossible eyes.
Her heart skipped. How is he real?