Celeste’s POV

*****

"Celeste..."

"Wake up."

"Open your eyes, child of chaos."

The influx of voices in my head made my eyes open wide. I’d gone to sleep not too long after leaving my parents—yet I wasn’t in bed right now.

What surrounded me instead was a vast expanse of darkness. Dark clouds surged above, lightning cracking with flashes of red.

In the midst of all this... chaos, I stood still.

Uncertain of where the fuck this was and how I ended up here.

"W–Wolf?" I hesitated. "Was that you? Is this my mental space?"

However, I didn’t get a response from her.

My head was empty. The same feeling I’ve known for nineteen years and thought I’d finally overcome. No growls. No soft howls. No lurking presence waiting to guide me.

Just silence.

Panicking, I spun around. "Hello?!" My voice echoed through the expanse, the lightning rumbling louder. "What is this place? Am I dreaming?!"

If I were dreaming, how would a dream answer that for me?

This was no mere dream.

"Celeste..." that silvery female voice called me again, this time sounding like the owner was right beside me.

I jerked, my heart in my throat as I gazed at the person speaking all this while. It was a woman with long curly black hair and skin as dark as night. Her eyes had a faint glow, expression neutral.

A handless silk black dress clung perfectly to her figure.

But all those details faded when I noticed something on her arms. Or rather... several things.

Dark sigils!

"Y–You," I took a trembling step back. "W–Who are you?"

She took a step toward me as well. "Oh, sweet child. You’ve tapped into my power so intimately to not know who this is by now."

By the gods...

No way.

Nyx?!

"As for where we are..." her arms rose as her features shifted before my eyes. "Can’t you feel the energy? The chaos pulsing through every inch of space around you?"

I blinked with disbelief. "You’re... you’re Nyx." The name rolled out like a bad omen, thunder roaring when it fell. "And this is the Vein."

She transformed into something else.

Or rather—someone else.

This time her eyes were purple, almost close to mine. Her hair was still black, but now straighter. And her skin... glossy and pinkish, a great contrast to who she was a few seconds ago.

I’ve... I’ve seen this face before.

Not in person. But portraits—

"I doubt your mother has told you much about this face," she touched her chin like she’d just applied makeup she’s been dying to try. "Her aunt. Althea."

A blood-chilling cold ran through my veins like I’d been splashed with ice water.

Althea.

One of the elders of the Luminari coven. Who fell during the final battle against Lord Ryker—the one hundred years’ war’s final stumbling block.

She was right... Mom rarely ever brought her up.

"Decades ago, your great aunt did something your mother resents deep down till this day." Nyx lumbered lazily toward me. "She locked her hybrid blood, keeping her wolf from awakening. And in turn, making her powerless."

My jaw worked. "Why are you—?"

"You on the other hand... didn’t have your powers tampered with at all." She raised a finger. "Yet you shared a similar fate. Only to get it all coming back all of a sudden after meeting your mates."

"Hey!" I snapped. "Can you pause your villain monologue and tell me how I ended up here? If this is real does that mean—"

No sooner had those words left my mouth than a pressuring force descended on me. I gasped, collapsing to the ground, my head lying before her against my will.

"Such insolence from a child who wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for MY power," she thundered. "It’s your consciousness, child."

I struggled to lift my head. Even if only a little. But all I could manage was a strained grunt, my fingers shaking like they were about to snap under the pressure.

"I can sense it in you." She was in front of me now, presence looming like chaos incarnate. "You were born of debt, little one."

The more she spoke, the bigger my confusion.

Sadly, questioning her was futile.

"The Vein is your home, Celeste Bloodoak." Her words drifted, sounding fainter now. The pressure drifted as well, giving me enough breathing space to raise my head. "And soon—when you’ve fully accepted its call—you’ll understand why."

Suddenly, the lightning flashes became more violent. Cracks appeared in the space around me, and the ground underneath was caved in.

"Wait—!" I reached out when she disappeared but before I could move... I was sucked down with such a powerful force that the air left my lungs.

I tried to scream. I tried to breathe.

But each attempt felt more hopeless than the last.

"Run from it if you wish," her voice echoed as the darkness consumed me. "You will always return home."

.

.

Beach House, 7:15 Am

"Celeste?!"

"Ah!" My eyes opened with a shout, adrenaline pushing my body until I sat up.

Sweat soaked my clothes but I ignored that, taking in the familiar scene around me. It was no longer the vast darkness of the Vein.

It was the morning sunlight and the homely warmth of my room.

Beside my bed, my mother stood, worry clear in her eyes. "Darling. Did you have a nightmare?"

I was too shaken to speak. Too terrified of what saying anything would cause. My mind pounded with a repeated cacophony of all Nyx said.

A child who wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for her power...

What does that even mean?

"Oh, sweetheart." My mom sat on the bed, wrapping her arms around me. "Whatever it was, it’s over now. You’re safe. Momma’s here."

She brushed a hand down my hair as she whispered.

I sank my head into her neck, nodding. Even with the residual ache in my chest.

"You’ll be leaving this place behind soon," my mother added just then, pulling out of the embrace. She kept her hands on my shoulders, beaming. "We’ve called the Dean. You and the boys will be heading back to the academy today."

At the mention of the Dean and the academy, the chills from the nightmare flushed out of my system instantly.

What do you know?

It seemed horror followed me whether my eyes were closed... or wide open.