Chapter 6: The Blackwood Encounter

The room felt suffocating, the air thick with unspoken tension. Lysandra’s gaze remained fixed on Kaelen as he stood across from her, his posture rigid, a storm brewing behind his sharp golden eyes. She clutched the photographs in her hands, her knuckles white, her heartbeat thrumming in her chest. Each picture was a reminder of the horrors that had begun haunting her. The figures—those unnatural beings—appeared only in the frame, but their presence lingered in her mind, haunting her thoughts.

She wanted to scream at him, demanding answers, but the words caught in her throat. Instead, she asked the only thing on her mind for days. “Why are they following me, Kaelen? What’s happening to me?”

Kaelen’s jaw clenched, and for a moment, he didn’t respond. His eyes scanned the photos she had spread across the table. Each picture in the corner of the new photo stood the figure once more.f the new photo stood the figure once more. In the corner of the new photo stood the figure once more. Ghostly shapes, their faces twisted and eerie. It was all too much for her to understand.

“You’re seeing things no one should,” Kaelen said finally, his voice steady, yet there was an underlying edge of worry.

“Stop,” Lysandra cut him off, her voice shaking. “I don’t want cryptic answers anymore. What are they?” She paused, and her heart clenched with an uncomfortable thought. “Are they... ghosts?”

“No,” Kaelen said sharply, his golden eyes intensifying. “They’re not ghosts. They’re... something else. And they’re not supposed to be visible to humans, let alone captured in photographs.”

Lysandra took a step forward, her eyes narrowing. “Then what the hell are they, Kaelen? And why can I see them?” Her voice cracked as a tremor of panic ran through her. “What does this have to do with me? What’s happening?”

Kaelen remained silent for a long moment, his gaze flicking from the photos back to her, his eyes softening. “Because of your blood, Lysandra.”

“My blood?” Her voice broke with disbelief. “What does my blood have to do with anything?”

His expression tightened as he looked down at the photos. “Everything,” he muttered. “Your bloodline is not ordinary. You are... connected to something ancient.”

Lysandra’s mind raced, her head spinning with this new revelation. “What are you talking about? How could I be connected to anything ancient?”

Kaelen met her gaze, his eyes dark and unreadable. “Because your parents were more than what they seemed. They were part of something... powerful. Something that not many people know exists.”

A cold shiver ran down Lysandra’s spine. She had always known that her parents were different, but this—this was something she couldn’t comprehend. “But they’re dead,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kaelen didn’t respond at first. He took a step closer to her, his presence overwhelming. “Not everyone is dead, Lysandra. Not the way you think.”

Lysandra’s mind immediately went back to the nights she could barely remember. Fragments of her childhood floated to the surface—her father’s sharp and urgent voice, her mother’s tear-filled eyes.. The memory was vague, a blur of images and emotions she couldn’t assemble.

“I remember something,” Lysandra murmured, as if to herself. “A night—something happened.” She swallowed hard. “I was hiding under the floorboards. My mother was—was crying.”

Kaelen’s eyes softened. “I know,” he said gently. “Your parents did everything they could to protect you. They hid you when the danger came.”

Lysandra closed her eyes as the memory surged forward, clearer now. She was lying flat against the cold, hard ground beneath the floorboards, her small body trembling in fear. Her mother’s voice came through the thin cracks in the wood.

“Stay hidden. Stay quiet, Lysandra, no matter what happens.”

Her father’s footsteps had been heavy, hurried. His voice was urgent as he spoke to her mother, but Lysandra couldn’t understand the words. The last thing she remembered before the darkness swallowed her was her mother’s hand brushing her hair away from her face, her whispered promises of safety. Then... nothing.

She opened her eyes, tears stinging the back of her lids. “They never came back, Kaelen. I was alone. They were gone.”

“I know,” Kaelen said softly. “But they didn’t leave you willingly. They were taken.”

The weight of his words hit her like a hammer. “Taken? By who? By what?”

Kaelen’s gaze hardened. “It wasn’t just an accident, Lysandra. Your parents weren’t killed in some random attack. It was deliberate. And now... the people responsible are coming for you.”

Lysandra felt the world around her tilt. The air was thick with dread, and the photographs before her suddenly felt like they held the answers she had been searching desperately.

“So, these—these things that I’m seeing,” she said, her voice trembling, “they’re connected to whatever happened to my parents?”

Kaelen nodded gravely. “Yes. The creatures in the photos are part of a larger, darker force. A force that your parents fought against. And now, it’s hunting you.”

“What are they?” Lysandra’s voice cracked. “What do they want from me?”

“They’re part of an ancient order,” Kaelen explained, his voice filled with grim understanding. “A group that controls the supernatural realms. They use bloodlines like yours to gain power. And they’ve been after your family for generations. Your parents tried to stop them, but...” He hesitated. “But they failed.”

Lysandra’s pulse raced as the weight of Kaelen’s words settled over her. “My parents were protectors. They fought against this force,” she whispered, more to herself than to Kaelen.

“Yes,” he affirmed. “They didn’t just protect you from ordinary threats. They protected you from something far more dangerous—something that exists between the worlds of the living and the dead.”

The tension in the room deepened as Kaelen reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, crumpled piece of paper. The edges were worn, as though they had been handled many times before. He placed it on the table in front of Lysandra.

“What’s this?” she asked, her voice shaky.

“A message,” Kaelen said softly, his gaze flicking to the door as though listening for something. “It’s from someone who’s still... connected to your parents.”

Lysandra studied the paper, her fingers hovering over the cryptic symbols and lines of code written across it. It was a strange mix of ancient runes and modern numerals. She had never seen anything like it.

“What does it mean?” she asked.

“It’s a warning,” Kaelen replied. “But I don’t know all of it. We need to decipher it, but... there’s no time.”

Lysandra’s heart skipped a beat as Kaelen’s eyes narrowed, and his expression became distant. “I have to go,” he said abruptly.

“What? No!” Lysandra’s voice was desperate as she reached for him. “You can’t leave me now, not after everything you’ve told me. Not after all this!”

Kaelen stepped back, a flicker of guilt flashing across his face. “I have no choice. There’s something I need to take care of.”

Lysandra’s throat tightened as she stood, her pulse pounding. “What’s happening? Who are you really, Kaelen? What’s going on?”

Kaelen paused, his eyes meeting hers. “I wish I could tell you everything. But for now, you need to be careful. Don’t trust anyone.” He turned toward the door, his back to her.

“Kaelen, wait!” Lysandra called out, but he was already slipping out into the night. The door closed softly behind him, and the room felt colder in his absence.

Lysandra stood frozen in the center of the room, her mind racing. Her gaze flicked to the photographs laid across the table. The feeling of being watched—or something hidden beyond her reach—hung in the air.

She picked up one of the photos, staring at the shadowy figure in the corner. She had never noticed it before, but now, it was glaringly obvious. The figure stood just behind her, dark and indistinct.

Her heart thudded loudly in her chest. That figure... it hadn’t been there when she took the photo. She could remember it clearly—the air had been still, the night quiet. She hadn’t seen anyone near her at that moment.

Her hands shook as she reached for her camera, snapping a photo of the room. She waited as the image developed slowly in front of her.

And then she saw it.

In the corner of the new photo stood the figure once more. This time, it was closer. Its eyes glowed faintly, a sickly, otherworldly light.

Lysandra’s breath caught in her throat. She turned slowly, but the room was empty. There was no one there, No one but her.

But the photos told a different story.

Her fingers tightened around the photograph, her pulse pounding in her ears. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to breathe. Was it a trick of the light? A glitch in the camera?

No. She knew better.

Kaelen had left in a hurry, his words laced with urgency. He knew something—something he wasn’t telling her. And now, alone in the silent room, with only the photographs and her racing thoughts for company, she couldn’t ignore the truth clawing its way to the surface.