Night.

Rain hitting the cracked windows of the abandoned mansion like fingers tapping for attention.

Aira Vole should’ve never come inside.

But she did.

Because she felt something calling her.

She didn’t believe in curses.

She didn’t believe in ghosts.

She believed in running away… and tonight she needed a place to hide.

Her breath fogged the air as she stepped deeper into the hallway, the old chandelier creaking like it was turning to watch her.

Aira: “Just one night… I’ll leave at sunrise.”

The house responded with a low groan.

Like it disagreed.

Aira swallowed hard.

Her phone had died an hour ago; no signal, no torch. Only the weak moonlight slicing through broken glass.

Then—she felt it.

A presence.

Behind her.

She spun around, heart in her throat.

Nothing. Only shadows.

But the shadows seemed to shift… as if someone had just stepped behind the wall.

She backed up, pressing her palm on the dusty table. One object sat on it—a faded photograph.

A man.

Tall. Sharp jaw. Cold eyes.

Too handsome for a house like this.

Below it, a name smudged in ink:

Zayen Rael.

A shiver tore through her.

The moment she touched the photo—the air changed.

Something breathed against her neck.

Aira froze.

A man’s voice, deep… velvet smooth… whispered against her skin:

“I thought you’d never come home.”

She stumbled forward, fear gripping her ribs.

Aira: “W-Who’s there?!”

Silence.

But she could feel him.

Someone standing behind her. Watching. Smirking.

Her pulse hammered; a strange heat crawled up her spine.

Suddenly—

The mansion door slammed shut on its own.

BANG.

Aira jumped, running to pull it open—but it wouldn’t budge.

Aira: “No, no—open!”

A whisper brushed her ear again.

“You shouldn’t try to leave me.”

This time she felt fingers—ice cold but gentle—slide across her shoulder.

Her entire body stiffened.

She turned slowly—

And there he was.

A man standing in the darkness of the corridor.

Wet hair dripping.

Black eyes glowing faintly.

And that same cruelly beautiful face from the photograph.

He shouldn’t be real.

He looked like a ghost sculpted too perfectly to exist.

But he felt real.

Too real.

Aira: “Who… who are you?”

He stepped forward, each footstep echoing like the house exhaled with him.

His voice was low, dangerous, intoxicating:

Zayen: “The one this place was built for.”

He tilted his head.

“And the one you were meant to fear.”

Her breath caught.

He smirked when he saw it.

Zayen: “But don’t worry… fear makes you even prettier.”

Aira backed away—but he moved faster.

His hand shot out, caging her wrist.

Cold at first—then slowly warming, as though draining heat from her skin.

His eyes held something dark.

Possessive. Ancient.

Like he had been waiting centuries for her.

Aira: “Let me go—”

Zayen: “No.”

The way he said it—deep, soft, unarguable—felt like a broken promise against her pulse.

He leaned close.

His breath ghosted her cheek.

Zayen: “You walked into my home. I decide when you leave.”

Her heart raced.

Was he a ghost?

A demon?

A cursed soul?

Or something even worse?

Then—his hand moved to her jaw, lifting her face.

His thumb brushed her lip.

Aira’s breath hitched.

And Zayen’s voice dipped into a whisper that sounded too much like desire:

“Don’t tremble like that… or I might not let you go at all.”

Before she could answer—

Something screamed upstairs.

Not human.

Not animal.

Something trapped.

Something angry.

Zayen’s smile twisted into something darker.

Zayen: “Looks like the house already knows you're here.”

His fingers tightened on her waist.

“Stay close to me, Aira. The walls like to bite.”

She didn’t ask how he knew her name.

She was too terrified.

And too drawn to him.

As lightning flashed, his figure flickered—like he wasn’t completely alive.

Or completely dead.

And Aira realized the worst thing of all:

She wasn’t trapped in a haunted house.

She was trapped with him.

The man the house breathed for.

The man it awakened for.

The man who whispered her name like a curse and a promise.

Zayen Rael.

And he wasn’t letting her leave alive…

or alone.