LOGINShare
THE MARKING SIGN
Last Updated:
2025-04-12 02:33:24
Related chapters
The Queen of The Rouge Blood RUNNING THE PAST WITCH
I don’t remember much about the trip to the hospital—just that the car windows were fogged from my heavy breathing, and Matthew’s hands shook on the steering wheel like he was fighting the urge to scream.He didn’t say anything. Neither did I.What was there to say?That the glowing mark on my stomach looked like a branding straight out of hell? That it pulsed like it had a heartbeat of its own? That it didn’t hurt the way normal injuries do—but instead, felt like something alive was feeding through my skin?We arrived at the nearest clinic twenty minutes later. It was a run-down place on the edge of town, wedged between a shut-down pet store and a bakery that smelled like stale cinnamon and cigarette smoke.The receptionist barely looked up. But the moment the doctor saw the marks, her face twisted into something between alarm and fury.“What kind of idiot branding is this?” she snapped, grabbing gloves and storming closer. “Did you use acid? A lighter? Some homemade chemical crap?”
Last Updated : 2025-04-12The Queen of The Rouge Blood VISITING THE GHOST TOWN
Matthew convinced me to go back to Cavenshade—the ghost town where nightmares didn’t just exist, they lived.I stood in the dorm hallway, dressed, packed, but not even close to ready. My hands were clenched so tight around my bag’s strap that I couldn’t feel my fingers. The burn on my stomach still pulsed like a warning siren, hidden beneath layers of clothing.Why me? Why now?My gaze landed on the dusty mirror near the front door. I looked like a ghost myself—hair limp, face pale, eyes wide and too hollow. Part of me expected to see her behind me in the reflection, burned and breathless, waiting.Footsteps sounded from the stairwell. My breath hitched.But it wasn’t Matthew. It was Jonas.He stepped into the hallway, suitcase in hand, and stopped when he saw me. His eyes narrowed—cold, accusing. There was no hello, no nod, no human decency. Just silence so sharp it cut.I opened my mouth, but no words came. Maybe it was better that way.He didn’t look away. Just stared me down like
Last Updated : 2025-04-15The Queen of The Rouge Blood THE BETRAYAL
My heart thudded like a war drum against my ribs as the bus rattled through broken streets, carrying us back into the ghost town I never wanted to see again. I’d tried to forget this place. I’d tried so hard. But the echoes always found me.The sun had just dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the cracked pavement. Trees bent like watchers, silent and accusing. I sat stiffly beside Matthew, clutching my coat around me, trying to still the storm inside.He glanced sideways. “You okay?”“No,” I admitted. “I don’t think I ever will be.”He didn’t press further. Just rested his hand beside mine on the seat—close, but not touching.The silence between us had changed since I told him the truth.“I lied,” I had confessed earlier on the bus. “About Tony’s death.”His eyes had snapped to mine. “What do you mean?”“He wasn’t just a victim,” I said, voice trembling. “He was a bully. He tried to force himself on me… again. I pushed him away, but then she came. She killed him. I d
Last Updated : 2025-04-15The Queen of The Rouge Blood FACE TO FACE
The hallway groaned around me like it remembered the pain. My breath didn’t hitch—it was completely gone. A steel band of terror wrapped around my chest, squeezing until my ribs protested. Every step I took deeper into that house made the air colder, heavier, like the walls themselves were inhaling my fear.I glanced over my shoulder. The door was gone. Or maybe it had never been there. Either way, I was trapped in a nightmare with peeling wallpaper and the stink of soot lodged in the floorboards.This was the house—the one I had seen in my dreams, in my visions. The house where I’d first met her."Matthew?" I called, my voice barely a whisper, but there was no response. Of course there wasn’t.And then the laughter started.It wasn’t the kind of laughter that made you laugh with it. No—it crawled along your spine, a rusty chuckle laced with sorrow, like the sound of someone who had laughed so long they forgot how to cry.I slapped my hands over my ears. “Stop! Just stop!”But the hou
Last Updated : 2025-04-15The Queen of The Rouge Blood THE HALLUCINATIONS
The world around me had begun to blur.I didn’t realize it at first—just a flicker in the corner of my vision. A shadow. A strange gleam in someone’s eyes. But soon, it was everywhere. People I’d never seen before walking past in outdated clothing. The faint sound of drums and chanting echoing through the corridors. And then, the banners—old, tattered things hanging from the ceiling of the hallway, stitched with sigils I didn’t recognize. Witchcraft symbols, curling in black and red thread, swaying as if they were alive.I stood there in the hallway of the dorm, gripping the railing tightly, trying to breathe evenly.Nope. Definitely not real. None of it could be real. Just more of the hallucinations. Or visions. Or whatever they were.Still, my body reacted before my mind could catch up. My skin crawled with goosebumps, and a shiver zipped down my spine.“Morning,” Matthew’s voice pulled me out of the spiral.I turned to see him, coffee mug in hand, looking frustratingly normal in hi
Last Updated : 2025-04-19The Queen of The Rouge Blood THE ACCUSATIONS
The whispers didn’t stop.They never really did, not even when the lab buzzed with fluorescent lights and the scent of coffee and latex gloves masked everything unnatural. The voices curled under my skin like smoke—soft, persistent, and impossible to ignore. Sometimes I caught pieces of words, names I didn’t recognize, hymns in a language I couldn’t understand. But most of the time, it was just... noise. A sound like breathing too close to my ear. Always there. Always watching.I didn’t tell Matthew.Not because I didn’t trust him. But because I did. And that’s what scared me the most.He was being too kind. Too present. Too much.We walked the halls of the lab like two normal interns working a long shift. He even handed me a cup of coffee with too much sugar—just how I liked it. I tried not to smile. He looked proud of himself.“You’re settling in really well,” he said as we entered the research bay. “Everyone’s impressed.”“Everyone?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.“Well… everyone but
Last Updated : 2025-04-19The Queen of The Rouge Blood SHATTER
There’s a certain peace that comes from mindless work—data charts, blood samples, chemical readings. For a moment, I wasn’t the girl haunted by ash-covered women and glowing scars. I was just Eztli, the intern who knew how to process anomalous blood samples faster than anyone else in the lab. I could hear the subtle awe from the techs around me. Whispers like, “She’s a natural,” and “How did she get this fast?”Because I’m cursed. That’s how.Still, I smiled through it. I needed normal, even if it was pretend.Until Jonas ruined it.He walked in like he owned the place, with that arrogant, superior expression that made me want to throw a microscope at his face. I noticed his glare the second he entered, and I swear I felt my stomach twist. I didn’t want to deal with him. Not today.“Of course she’s getting praised,” he muttered loudly enough for the entire lab to hear. “What else do you expect from a witch?”The word sliced through the air like a dagger.Every head turned.Laughter di
Last Updated : 2025-04-19The Queen of The Rouge Blood EVICTED
It was strange how quickly things could shift. One minute, I was shattering glass with a scream. The next, I was sitting on a cracked bench outside a convenience store with Andre beside me, sharing a can of cheap beer.The night was cool, but not biting. The air held that quiet stillness only small, sleepy towns could offer—like the universe hit the mute button just for us.Andre took a long sip and exhaled. “Okay, so the guy who runs that ramen place on 3rd Street? Still alive. Still creepy. Still thinks I’m twelve.”I snorted. “He once told me I’d make a good ‘quiet bride.’ I was fourteen.”He gagged and took another sip. “Disgusting. If I ever become famous, remind me to sue him for emotional damage.”“Done.”The beer was bad—bitter and watery—but somehow perfect. For the first time in weeks, I wasn’t seeing flashes of death, or hearing whispers that didn’t belong in this world. I wasn’t watching Matthew closely to guess if he was a liar. I was just… Eztli. Sitting with someone who
Last Updated : 2025-04-19
Latest chapter
The Queen of The Rouge Blood THE SPARK OF DARKNESS
The sunlight bleeding through the curtains barely managed to warm the cold pit in my stomach. I stood by the window of Andre’s penthouse, watching the city stir to life. I hadn’t told him yet, but my chest ached every time I blinked—expecting to see that reflection again. That face. Her face. The one that kept showing up in my nightmares, in mirrors, in every corner of my collapsing sanity.Andre walked in with two cups of coffee, setting one down beside me. "Sleep any better?"I forced a small smile and took the cup. "I had a nightmare. Again."He sat beside me on the armrest, giving me that brotherly look of concern I hadn’t seen in years. "The one with the witch?"I nodded."You know," he said, tapping his mug lightly against mine, "there’s a way we can figure this out. You need to dig into the town’s past. We find out who she is, what she wants. Maybe even why you."I bit my lip. "You want me to go back to that ghost town?"He nodded slowly. "I know it’s not ideal, but this isn’t
The Queen of The Rouge Blood SHADOWS THAT BURN
I took the box carefully, the weight of it unsettling. “What’s in it?”“The next step.”“That’s cryptic.”Fiona raised a brow. “Darling, you’re being haunted by a soul scorched from history and possessed by vengeance. Did you expect a brochure and a welcome kit?”Andre burst out laughing, and to my surprise, I joined him. Even Fiona cracked a smile.It felt like we were breathing again. Just a little.Outside, the wind howled low and hungry, the forest groaning in its wake. I stared out the small window as Fiona handed me a pouch of dried herbs.“For dreams,” she said. “It won’t make them go away. But it might help you survive them.”I nodded, clutching the box tighter.When we left the apothecary, the sky was already bleeding into dusk. Andre held my hand as we walked back to his car, his grip grounding me. We didn’t speak much, and honestly, I was grateful. My thoughts were already clawing at each other inside my skull.“She’s intense,” he said once we were driving again. “But not t
The Queen of The Rouge Blood APOTHECARY IN THE WOODS
The tires crunched over gravel as Andre's car came to a reluctant stop. The road behind us had vanished into dense forest, the canopy above so thick it nearly swallowed the daylight. Before us stood a small, crooked cottage, its roof covered in moss and its wooden walls faded by years of rain and wind. It looked like something out of a nightmare fairytale. If a witch stepped out with a cursed apple, I wouldn’t be surprised.“This is it?” I asked, peering out the windshield.Andre nodded, shutting off the engine. “Looks cozy, right?”“Cozy in a ‘you’ll die if you spend the night here’ kind of way.”He snorted. “Come on, don’t be dramatic. She’s harmless. Mostly.”I followed him out of the car, my boots sinking slightly into the damp forest floor. The smell of pine and earth was sharp in the air, and everything was so quiet it made my skin crawl. No birds. No wind. Just the muffled sound of our footsteps as we approached the cottage.Andre knocked on the door.Once.Twice.Three times.
The Queen of The Rouge Blood NO PLACE LEFT
The room was quiet—too quiet. The kind of silence that clawed at your throat. I sat on the bed, my fingers clenched around the termination letter like it had personally betrayed me. The words blurred together under the dim light of my bedside lamp, but the sting of it was clear.You are hereby dismissed from your position…Effective immediately…Due to incidents of misconduct…What a joke.I let the paper fall from my hands and flutter to the floor like a dying bird. I wasn’t going to cry. Not again.Instead, I started to pack.Clothes. Toiletries. My books. My notebook with all the scrawled warnings and half-baked theories about the woman—the witch. A few faded photographs that used to make this place feel like a temporary home. Now it was nothing more than a reminder that I didn’t belong here. Not with the rest of them. Not in this sterile, fearful building that watched me like I might combust at any moment.I stuffed the last of my things into my bag, zipped it up, and threw on my
The Queen of The Rouge Blood EVICTED
It was strange how quickly things could shift. One minute, I was shattering glass with a scream. The next, I was sitting on a cracked bench outside a convenience store with Andre beside me, sharing a can of cheap beer.The night was cool, but not biting. The air held that quiet stillness only small, sleepy towns could offer—like the universe hit the mute button just for us.Andre took a long sip and exhaled. “Okay, so the guy who runs that ramen place on 3rd Street? Still alive. Still creepy. Still thinks I’m twelve.”I snorted. “He once told me I’d make a good ‘quiet bride.’ I was fourteen.”He gagged and took another sip. “Disgusting. If I ever become famous, remind me to sue him for emotional damage.”“Done.”The beer was bad—bitter and watery—but somehow perfect. For the first time in weeks, I wasn’t seeing flashes of death, or hearing whispers that didn’t belong in this world. I wasn’t watching Matthew closely to guess if he was a liar. I was just… Eztli. Sitting with someone who
The Queen of The Rouge Blood SHATTER
There’s a certain peace that comes from mindless work—data charts, blood samples, chemical readings. For a moment, I wasn’t the girl haunted by ash-covered women and glowing scars. I was just Eztli, the intern who knew how to process anomalous blood samples faster than anyone else in the lab. I could hear the subtle awe from the techs around me. Whispers like, “She’s a natural,” and “How did she get this fast?”Because I’m cursed. That’s how.Still, I smiled through it. I needed normal, even if it was pretend.Until Jonas ruined it.He walked in like he owned the place, with that arrogant, superior expression that made me want to throw a microscope at his face. I noticed his glare the second he entered, and I swear I felt my stomach twist. I didn’t want to deal with him. Not today.“Of course she’s getting praised,” he muttered loudly enough for the entire lab to hear. “What else do you expect from a witch?”The word sliced through the air like a dagger.Every head turned.Laughter di
The Queen of The Rouge Blood THE ACCUSATIONS
The whispers didn’t stop.They never really did, not even when the lab buzzed with fluorescent lights and the scent of coffee and latex gloves masked everything unnatural. The voices curled under my skin like smoke—soft, persistent, and impossible to ignore. Sometimes I caught pieces of words, names I didn’t recognize, hymns in a language I couldn’t understand. But most of the time, it was just... noise. A sound like breathing too close to my ear. Always there. Always watching.I didn’t tell Matthew.Not because I didn’t trust him. But because I did. And that’s what scared me the most.He was being too kind. Too present. Too much.We walked the halls of the lab like two normal interns working a long shift. He even handed me a cup of coffee with too much sugar—just how I liked it. I tried not to smile. He looked proud of himself.“You’re settling in really well,” he said as we entered the research bay. “Everyone’s impressed.”“Everyone?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.“Well… everyone but
The Queen of The Rouge Blood THE HALLUCINATIONS
The world around me had begun to blur.I didn’t realize it at first—just a flicker in the corner of my vision. A shadow. A strange gleam in someone’s eyes. But soon, it was everywhere. People I’d never seen before walking past in outdated clothing. The faint sound of drums and chanting echoing through the corridors. And then, the banners—old, tattered things hanging from the ceiling of the hallway, stitched with sigils I didn’t recognize. Witchcraft symbols, curling in black and red thread, swaying as if they were alive.I stood there in the hallway of the dorm, gripping the railing tightly, trying to breathe evenly.Nope. Definitely not real. None of it could be real. Just more of the hallucinations. Or visions. Or whatever they were.Still, my body reacted before my mind could catch up. My skin crawled with goosebumps, and a shiver zipped down my spine.“Morning,” Matthew’s voice pulled me out of the spiral.I turned to see him, coffee mug in hand, looking frustratingly normal in hi
The Queen of The Rouge Blood FACE TO FACE
The hallway groaned around me like it remembered the pain. My breath didn’t hitch—it was completely gone. A steel band of terror wrapped around my chest, squeezing until my ribs protested. Every step I took deeper into that house made the air colder, heavier, like the walls themselves were inhaling my fear.I glanced over my shoulder. The door was gone. Or maybe it had never been there. Either way, I was trapped in a nightmare with peeling wallpaper and the stink of soot lodged in the floorboards.This was the house—the one I had seen in my dreams, in my visions. The house where I’d first met her."Matthew?" I called, my voice barely a whisper, but there was no response. Of course there wasn’t.And then the laughter started.It wasn’t the kind of laughter that made you laugh with it. No—it crawled along your spine, a rusty chuckle laced with sorrow, like the sound of someone who had laughed so long they forgot how to cry.I slapped my hands over my ears. “Stop! Just stop!”But the hou
