The night was unusually quiet.
Soraya had gone to gather herbs in the northern woods, leaving Kyra alone in the candlelit drawing room. Shadows danced across the walls, their movement eerily calm, as if they too were holding their breath.
Kyra sat on the edge of the velvet couch, staring into the flickering flame of a single candle. Everything she had learned over the past few days swirled in her mind—Keal, the Council, her mother, Lucien... and now the Original Bloodline.
She hadn't felt human in a long time. And maybe that's what scared her the most.
But just as the weight of it all began to crash over her, a scent caught her attention—something faint, almost forgotten. Coconut oil and jasmine, mixed with the distant rhythm of music and perfume.
Tari.
Kyra's breath hitched as the scent grew stronger, and the candlelight blurred.
And suddenly—
---
FLASHBACK
The sunlight streamed through the open window of their shared dorm room at KU. The white curtains fluttered like dancing ghosts. Kyra sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by scattered books and half-drunk iced coffee.
"Kyra!" a familiar voice rang out.
She barely looked up before Tari flung the door open dramatically, heels clicking against the tiled floor.
"You promised you'd be ready! The sociology lecture is in twenty minutes and I am not walking in alone again like I don't have a best friend."
Kyra laughed, a real laugh—young, carefree.
"I'm coming," she said, rising to her feet.
Tari rolled her eyes. "Coming, she says—while still in her pajamas. Honestly, what would you do without me?"
Kyra smiled, tugging on a hoodie. "I'd probably sleep through life."
"No, babe. Without me, you'd read through life."
The two girls burst out laughing. They walked side by side to class, and the world felt right. Easy. Full of small dreams and infinite possibilities. Their world had no vampires. No witches. Just friends, coffee, and whispered secrets under the stars.
That weekend, they went to the beach. Tari had a tiny camera she took everywhere, snapping blurry candids of Kyra with her wind-blown braids and sunburned nose.
"Take this one properly!" Kyra had laughed.
"I am!" Tari grinned. "But your future husband will thank me when he sees how fine his wife was before she got too serious!"
"Ugh," Kyra groaned. "No husbands. Just books and ice cream."
"Okay, scholar," Tari teased. "But remember this moment. One day, everything will change. Life's funny like that."
---
PRESENT
Kyra blinked.
The memory faded like smoke, but the ache in her chest remained.
So much had changed.
"I wish I could tell you," she whispered into the silence. "I wish I could explain everything."
She wrapped her arms around herself as the candle's flame danced in the hush of the room. For the first time, she realized what she missed the most—it wasn't just her past.
It was the girl she used to be in it.
---