The wind howled through the crumbling arches of Castle Dimitrescu, carrying with it the scent of wet stone and old blood. The once-grand halls echoed with silence now, save for the occasional creak of floorboards that shouldn’t move on their own.

You hadn’t meant to wander this far. The invitation had seemed like a joke a wax-sealed letter with a crimson emblem and a single line:

“Come find what you’ve been missing.” —C.D.

And for some foolish reason, curiosity had outweighed caution.

You pressed forward through the main corridor, heart pounding as you passed beneath a chandelier of twisted iron and bones. Shadows clung to the corners of the castle like cobwebs. But it wasn’t until you entered the overgrown conservatory that you heard the soft laughter sharp, rich, and predatory.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come.”

You froze.

From behind a pillar of ivy and rose vines, she stepped into view Cassandra Dimitrescu. Her eyes glinted gold in the dim light, and her lips curled into something between amusement and menace.

She tilted her head, studying you like prey that had surprised her by speaking.

“I thought you humans had more sense than to follow strange letters into stranger castles,” she murmured, voice like velvet against the cold air.

Your voice came out steadier than you felt. “And I thought vampires didn’t send invitations.”

That earned a low, dangerous chuckle. “Oh, darling,” she said, stepping closer. “You’re not here by accident. You’re here because I wanted you to be.”

Something in her gaze made your skin prickle an ancient hunger behind a face that hadn’t aged in centuries. And yet, underneath it, a flicker of something else. Interest? Curiosity?