Midnight’s Embrace: The Curse of the Crimson Moon

1 ◇ The Silence After the Storm**

We didn't speak for a long time after we escaped the clearing.

The forest felt different now — quieter, heavier, like even the trees were mourning something we couldn't name.

The snow fell slower, drifting like ash, softening the bruises we didn't talk about.

Yuria walked ahead of me, her coat torn, her breath uneven.

The way she moved… it wasn't like before. Not graceful or cold.

She was… tired. Just like me.

I kept thinking about the black scar on my arm.

It didn't hurt — not really — but it pulsed.

Like something alive had burrowed under my skin and was waiting.

> *Was it the curse? A brand? A warning?*

> *Or something worse?*

"Yuria," I finally said, my voice catching in the cold. "What did he mean when he called you… Crimson-Bitten?"

She stopped. Slowly turned to face me.

Her expression didn't waver, but her eyes held something ancient. Heavy.

"It's not a title," she said. "It's a sin."

---

**2 ◇ A Curse Carried in Blood**

We sat beneath a twisted willow tree near a frozen stream.

She stared at the ice as if it held memories only she could see.

"The Crimson Curse," she began, voice quiet, "is older than any vampire bloodline. It was a punishment… handed down by the Moon Queen to a noble family that defied her law."

I listened, but I wasn't breathing properly. My chest felt too tight.

"That family was mine," she continued. "We weren't just cursed to drink blood. We were cursed to *remember* every drop we ever drank."

> *That explains her eyes.*

> *Why they always looked like she'd seen too much.*

"That's why I don't feed often," she said, turning toward me. "Because every life I take… I carry. I feel them. Hear them. Forever."

I didn't know what to say.

What do you say to someone who carries a hundred deaths inside her chest?

Maybe… nothing.

Maybe you just stay.

So I did.

---

**3 ◇ The Scar That Whispers**

Later that night, I tried to wash my arm in the stream. The scar didn't fade.

In fact, it started… whispering.

Not loud. Not words.

But a pressure behind my ear, like a voice that hadn't learned language yet.

I flinched back, falling into the snow.

"Ren?" Yuria rushed over, eyes alert.

"It's… my scar," I said, panting. "It's whispering to me."

She knelt beside me, gently pulling my sleeve up.

Her fingers traced the dark rune-like line along my forearm. As she touched it, the whispering grew louder.

Then she frowned.

"No," she whispered. "No, this isn't from the Inquisitor."

"What do you mean?"

She looked up at me — her eyes glowing faintly.

"This mark is older than him. Older than *me*."

---

**4 ◇ The Night Council's Shadow**

We didn't have much time to think.

The snow around us stirred.

And suddenly, six masked figures stepped into the clearing — silently, like shadows that had always been there.

Each wore a different animal mask.

Wolf. Serpent. Crow. Fox. Deer. Rabbit.

Yuria stood instantly. "Stay behind me."

One of them stepped forward — the **Fox**.

"You've broken the pact, Crimson-Bitten," the voice was distorted, but feminine. "You brought a human to the forbidden shrine. You interfered with an Inquisitor's test."

"This was *not* a test," Yuria growled. "He tried to kill him."

"He was supposed to," the **Crow** said, tone sharp. "If the human survived, he'd be marked. If not, he wasn't worthy."

"And what if I hadn't stepped in?"

"Then the boy would be dead," the **Wolf** replied coldly. "As was intended."

My hands clenched into fists.

"You people… you're the ones behind all this?"

"No," the Fox answered. "We are only… observers."

> *Observers?*

> *They sent a monster after us, then just watched?*

"I don't care who you are," I said, stepping beside Yuria. "I'm not some experiment."

The **Rabbit** tilted their head. "You're not just human anymore."

I felt my scar throb.

They knew something.

Something even Yuria didn't know.

And I could feel it — deep inside — like a door was waiting to open in my blood.

---

**5 ◇ The Choice**

"You have two options," the **Wolf** said. "Come with us to the Hall of Echoes, and we will teach you how to control what's inside you."

"Or?" Yuria asked darkly.

"Or we remove the curse entirely. You'll be normal again. No powers. No memories."

I blinked.

That… was an option?

> *No more danger. No more pain. No more being hunted.*

> *Just a normal life… again.*

But then I looked at Yuria.

At the scar on my arm.

At the faint silver snow falling in the moonlight.

"…No," I said. "If I forget everything, I'll forget *her*, too. I'd rather burn."

The Council was silent.

Then, the **Fox** spoke.

"Very well. Then your trial begins. Survive… or be consumed."

They vanished in a flash of black mist, leaving only silence.

Yuria let out a shaky breath.

"…You really are an idiot," she whispered.

I smiled faintly. "I know."

And for the first time that night, she smiled

back.

Just a little.