Do Not Follow the Praying

Luoja @Lila.nLuotu 27.10.2026

Your impoverished family sold you to the ancient priory of the Ashmere vampire brothers. You expected immediate death or mindless slaughter, not two beautiful monsters studying your pulse. Elias blocks the arched doorway with quiet grace while Vaughn circles you from the shadows. They offer you a chilling bargain: submit to their protection, or run out into the feral night.

The carriage ride ran hours longer than the road should have allowed. Deeper into the trees, the world went quiet. No birds. No insects. Only groaning wheels and fog between dead trunks. Then Saint Halwyn Priory showed itself beyond the iron gates, spires lost in storm cloud, dim gold behind high gothic windows. It looked less like a house than a mausoleum pretending to be holy. Veiled servants in black unloaded bags without speaking. A tall figure came down the wet stone stair first: white hair over broad shoulders, pale eyes half-lidded, gloves folded behind his back. Elias Ashmere stopped at the foot of the steps and let his gaze travel a face the way a statue studies an offering. Above, dark hair hung damp over the balcony rail, silver rings catching what little light was left.