Episode 1
Author
Hope you're all excited to see how the story begins <3
Author
Trying to finalize every scene so that you guys only get the best.
The air was thick with the scent of damp soil and blooming wildflowers.
The forest whispered with its usual secrets.. Birdsongs, the cold nighttime breeze, and the distant trickle of water.
Elias Maren ducked under a low branch, his white hair catching bits of moonlight that slipped through the canopy. He had a basket of herbs in one hand and a hunting knife on his hip, whistling to himself as he moved through familiar paths. On his way back to his parents' old cottage.
He wasn’t expecting blood... and certainly not a prince bleeding out in his mother’s rose garden.
Elias nearly tripped over the crumpled body near the tall white roses behind their cottage. The stranger was pale as bone, dressed in torn black silks embroidered with silver threading out of place. One gloved hand was pressed to his side, soaked red. His eyes cracked open at Elias’s approach, stormy-grey and sharp even through the haze of pain.
Elias
*Elias crouched, instinct kicking in.*
Elias
“Whoa, hey. Are you dying or just being dramatic?” *He teases*
The strange man didn’t answer right away, but his eyes spoke more to Elias than words ever could.. They were warning him to stay away.
Adrian
“Get away from me.. ” *He warned*
Adrian
*His eyes were flickering red, fixated on Elias, craving blood.. his breaths uneven as he was barely conscious.*
Elias
Elias yanked off his overshirt and pressed it to the bleeding wound.
Elias
“You’re not dying in my garden. My mom would be pissed.”
Adrian
“Your blood..” *Adrian whispered, barely audible.*
Before the stranger could answer, he passed out.
Dragging an unconscious noble stranger into one’s room wasn’t exactly what Elias planned for the day, but that’s exactly what happened. He got the man upstairs without being seen, locked the door, and started patching him up. He didn’t notice the fangs until later.
The next time the stranger woke, it was night. Moonlight spilled through the window, glinting off his face. He looked around, disoriented, until his eyes landed on Elias sitting on the floor in ripped pants and a loose shirt, a twig between his teeth, watching him.
Elias
“I’m Elias.” *He said casually.*
Elias
“and before you bite me, just know I punch really hard for a guy who makes flower crowns.”
Elias
"Nice to meet you Adrian."
Elias
"Do you have a last name?"
Adrian
*Adrian would quietly stare in thought.*
Adrian
*Adrian’s gaze lingered on him longer than before.*
Adrian
*Then he murmured, barely above a breath.* “Elias Maren.”
Elias’s breath caught.
No one had ever said his name like that. It sounded softer, deeper... like Adrian was tasting it. Like he meant it.
Elias shifted where he sat, and suddenly he was aware of how close they were. The heat from Adrian’s body under the sheets. The tension laced in the silence between them. Not quite trust. Not quite danger.
Adrian
*Adrian hesitated, then leaned just slightly forward. His voice was quiet, like a secret.*
The way he said it… It wasn’t romantic. Not yet. But it wasn’t nothing.
And Elias, so often the loudmouth, the flirt, the wild one in town. Found himself strangely still. He swallowed, blinking once.
Elias
“You’re weird.” *He said finally, voice low.*
Adrian
“So are you.” *Adrian replied, but there was the tiniest tug at the corner of his lips. Almost a smile.*
And for a moment, in the quiet woods, in a modest cottage lit by candlelight, a runaway vampire prince and a tough, wild commoner sat side by side and simply existed.
Two names... Elias. Adrian.
Not strangers anymore.
The night air was cool and crisp inside Elias’s small wooden room, moonlight seeping through the cracks in the shutters. Adrian lay half-covered on the narrow bed, his wound freshly cleaned and bandaged. Elias sat nearby in the old rocking chair, one leg draped lazily over the armrest, a blanket around his shoulders. Neither spoke for a while.
Adrian
*Adrian’s eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the dim glow of the oil lamp flickering in the corner.*
Adrian
“You’re still here?” *Adrian asked, his voice rough but quiet.*
Elias
*Elias looks over at him, smirking.*
Elias
“Where else would I be?”
Adrian
*Adrian blinked at him, studying his posture.*
Adrian
“Asleep. Somewhere more comfortable than that chair.”
Elias
“Well, excuse me, Your Highness. I must’ve missed the turn to my royal chambers.”
Elias
*Elias teased, shifting and trying to get the chair to stop creaking.*
Elias
“Besides… can’t exactly leave a stranger I dragged in from the woods bleeding on my bed, now can I?”
Adrian
*Adrian sighed and turned his head to the side, his eyes narrowing just slightly.*
Adrian
“You shouldn't have taken me in.”
Elias
“Oh, we’re doing that again?”
Elias
“Look, it’s done. You’re here. You’re alive. My mom would’ve done the same.”
Adrian
“You’re reckless.” *Adrian muttered.*
Adrian
“That kind of kindness gets people killed.”
Elias
“And brooding in silence makes people want to kill themselves,” *Elias shot back.*
Elias
“You’ve got the personality of a haunted coat rack.”
Adrian
*Adrian actually chuckled. Just a soft one, quick, dry, but it was real. It surprised both of them.*
Elias
*Elias glanced sideways at him and grinned.* “There. You do have a soul.”
Adrian
*Adrian didn’t respond right away, then said, voice softer*
Adrian
“It’s buried deep.”
They both fell quiet again, this time not awkwardly, just… processing each other.
Elias
“Hey,” *Elias said after a beat.*
Elias
“Can I ask you something?”
Adrian
*Adrian shifted under the blanket but nodded.*
Elias
*Elias leaned forward a bit, resting his chin on the back of the chair.*
Elias
“Why were you out there? In the woods? You were hurt bad. Looked like someone hunted you down.”
Adrian
*Adrian looked toward the ceiling, and for a moment, he didn’t answer.*
Adrian
“I lived in a castle where every shadow was a threat, every smile a lie. I had power, title, blood… but no peace. Not once. I couldn’t breathe there. And when they started choosing my future for me..”
Adrian
“I chose freedom. Even if it meant dying in the mud somewhere.”
Elias
*Elias stared at him a long while, then shrugged.*
Elias
“Well. Lucky for you I have a thing for bleeding, broody fugitives.”
Adrian
*Adrian studied him.*
Adrian
“You’re not afraid of me?”
Elias
*Elias leaned in a little.*
Elias
*Elias paused, his eyes serious now.*
Elias
“Because I saw you flinch when I touched your wound. Because I saw the way you looked at the moon like it meant something. Because… I don’t think you want to hurt people.”
Adrian
*Adrian looked away.*
Elias
“You’re still here.”
That made Elias quiet. He stood, stretching, walking toward the little table in the corner where he kept some water and a half-eaten roll while Adrian watched him.
Adrian
*Adrian gave a very dry look.*
Adrian
"Do I look like I need bread?”
Elias
“Well, I don’t know what you eat, Your Bleakness."
Elias
“But if you get any hungrier you’re gonna start sniffing my neck, and I’m not into that. Not on the first night, anyway.”
Adrian
“You really don’t know when to stop talking, do you?”
Elias
*He took a bite of the roll.*
Elias
“It’s part of my charm.”
Adrian
“…It’s part of something.”
Elias
*Elias narrowed his eyes.*
Elias
“I’m taking that as a compliment.”
Adrian
*Adrian’s lips twitched again.*
Elias
*Elias walked back to the chair, then paused.*
Elias
“Actually, screw it.”
Elias
*He climbed up onto the bed, sitting near Adrian’s feet, blanket still wrapped around him like a cocoon.*
Elias
“Chair’s too stiff. My ass was going numb.”
Adrian
*Adrian arched an eyebrow.*
Adrian
“You’re very forward.”
Elias
“I don’t believe in pretending to be someone I’m not.”
Elias
*Elias said with a little shrug.*
Elias
“I like people. I like talking. And I like knowing who I’m risking my neck for.”
They sat together in the low lamp light, the edges of night blurring between them.
Elias
“…What’s your name again?”
Adrian
"You forgot my name already."
Elias
*Elias just stared softly, eyes focused on the Adrian.*
Adrian
*Adrian hesitated then said it for a second time*
Elias
*Elias tilted his head.*
Elias
“So what should I call you? Adrian? Your Highness? Broody McBleedout?”
Adrian
*Adrian rolled his eyes.*
Elias
“Alright then… Adrian." *Elias said, smiling gently.*
There was a beat of quiet where their eyes met and held.
Elias
*Elias stretched out, laid on his side, facing the wall, and muttered.*
Elias
“Don’t stab me in my sleep, okay?”
Adrian
“I’ll try to resist,” *Adrian said, lying back again.*
The room fell into stillness, but the tension was growing between them.
Author
Hope you all enjoyed the first of many chapters.
Author
And that you all got a feel for the characters. See you in the next episode.
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