I had no idea what had just happened. One minute, I was standing in that fancy, overpriced loft, trying to shake off the strange, overwhelming sensation that had smmed into me like a tidal wave. The next... everything went bck. It wasn’t like passing out—it was more violent, like being yanked backwards by some unseen force that didn’t ask for permission.

  When I came to, I was sprawled on the icy stone floor of a pitch-bck room. My entire body was on high alert, like every cell had suddenly remembered we might be prey. My breaths came in ragged gasps. I didn’t recognize anything—certainly not this pce, and definitely not how I’d gotten here. My thoughts were a tangle of confusion and fear. The st person I remembered seeing was Sis—that broody, intimidating guy with the violet-bck hair and the unsettling way of looking at me like I was a problem he needed to solve. Apparently, he’d decided to solve it by abducting me.

  I pushed myself up slowly, the cold seeping into my bones. The room smelled like forgotten wood and ancient dust, yered with a hint of something sharp and metallic underneath. Incense? Maybe. Or blood. The darkness was so thick, it felt like something alive, pressing in from all directions. The kind of pce nightmares might be born in.

  And yet, somehow, the darkness wasn’t empty. There was something coiled in the atmosphere—tension, like the walls were holding their breath. Like the room knew something was about to happen. Like it knew something about me that I didn’t.

  I stumbled to my feet, one hand bracing against the wall for bance. My fingers brushed rough stone. Still no windows. No furniture. No door that I could see. Just endless shadow. I wasn’t just lost—I was somewhere entirely removed from the world I knew.

  Then, from that void, a figure stepped forward.

  Sis. Of course.

  His deep violet hair nearly disappeared into the gloom, and his eyes glinted with something unreadable. He wasn’t surprised to see me conscious. If anything, he looked annoyed that I wasn’t still lying there quietly.

  “Where the hell are we?” I snapped, pressing myself against the wall like it could protect me.

  Sis didn’t answer right away. He took a slow step closer, his jaw tense. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head, calcuting how much to tell me.

  “You’re in a containment room,” he finally said, voice clipped. “Somewhere safe. Somewhere you can’t destroy anything important.”

  I barked out a ugh that was more panic than humour. “Containment room? What am I—some radioactive monster? What is this, a supernatural BDSM dungeon? Should I expect handcuffs and blindfolds next?”

  Sis didn’t even blink. “Shut up.”

  His tone was cold, but underneath it was something rawer—urgency. “You don’t get it,” he said, stepping closer. “You’re waking up. Your Nephilim powers are surfacing, and if you don’t learn to control them, it’s not just you who’ll suffer. It’s everyone around you.”

  I stared at him, uncomprehending. Nephilim? That was myth. Fantasy. A word from old religious texts and fantasy books, not something that belonged in my reality. “Are you serious right now? Nephilim? I read about that kind of stuff. I used to pretend I had magic powers when I was a kid, waiting for a letter from Hogwarts or for my witchy bloodline to kick in. But that’s all it ever was. Make-believe.”

  He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just let me spiral.

  “This is insane,” I continued, ughing again, more hysterical now. “I mean—what, you expect me to believe I’m some half-angel? That you kidnapped me because I might, what, accidentally smite someone?”

  I wiped a tear from my cheek, not even sure when it had formed. “You need help, Sis. Serious, psychiatric help.”

  Still, he said nothing. Just watched me, impassive and immovable, like a statue carved from midnight.

  Then, the silence was shattered by the groan of ancient hinges. The door I hadn’t even seen swung open, and searing light poured into the room, blinding after so much dark. My heart jumped into my throat.

  Seven silhouettes stood in the doorway, backlit and motionless. They entered without a word, every step measured, every movement precise. There was something terrifying about how quiet they were, how in control. Like predators.

  I instinctively backed away, my thoughts racing for some kind of expnation, some escape route, anything. But the words tumbled out before I could stop them.

  “Oh, great,” I said, voice cracking. “Is this your little cult? Am I supposed to bow now? Because if this is some freaky initiation ritual, you can count me the hell out.”

  One of them stepped forward. Asher. I recognized him from the party—tall, composed, with eyes that held the kind of calm you only earn from surviving too much.

  “Luna,” he said gently, but firmly. “This isn’t what you think. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here to help.”

  “Help?” I echoed, my voice rising. “You drag me into a dungeon, surround me like some sacrificial mb, and then tell me I’ve got powers I didn’t ask for? That I’m something inhuman? I don’t want your help. I want out.”

  My hands were glowing.

  I hadn’t even noticed it until Asher’s eyes flicked to them.

  Light pulsed from my fingertips, flickering like lightning in a storm. Panic surged in my chest. I backed up, hitting the wall. I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t know how to stop it.

  “Ground her!” a deep voice barked—Thorne, I thought. Another from the group.

  Asher didn’t move suddenly, but his voice reached me again, calm and grounding. “Focus on something real. Something constant. Breathe, Luna. Just breathe.”

  They moved closer—not threatening, not forceful, but like anchors bracing against the storm. Their presence was steady, and something in the chaotic storm of my thoughts tched onto it.

  The light began to fade. Slowly. Reluctantly.

  My breath evened out. My vision cleared. The tremor in my hands dulled.

  And then Sis was in front of me again, gaze still sharp, but not as cold. “This,” he said, voice low, “is only the beginning.”

  The others fanned out, their movements silent and coordinated. Cael leaned against the far wall, his dark eyes never leaving me. Lucien stood a little closer, his usual radiant smile repced by a serious, almost concerned expression. Elior observed me with a detached curiosity, his gaze sharp and analytical. Sethiel fidgeted slightly, his youthful face a mixture of apprehension and fascination. Kairo remained near the doorway, his usual pyful energy subdued, repced by a watchful intensity. They were a strange collection, each radiating a distinct aura, a unique fvor of power that I could now sense in the air, a subtle hum beneath the silence.

  “Beginning of what?” I asked, my voice still shaky. “What am I supposed to do now? Just accept that my life is apparently a poorly written fantasy novel?”

  Asher took another step closer, his hands held out in a non-threatening gesture. “Luna, we know this is a lot to take in. We understand your fear and confusion. But Sis is right. What happened at the loft… that wasn’t an accident. It’s a part of who you are.”

  “Who I am?” I scoffed. “Last time I checked, I was just Luna. A student. Someone who occasionally sets off faulty wiring. Not some mythical creature.”

  “The wiring,” Sis interjected, his voice ft. “The fire arm. The incident in the chemistry b. Those weren’t accidents, Luna. They were… uncontrolled releases. Your power trying to manifest.”

  I shook my head, trying to deny the unsettling logic in his words. “That’s insane. Things like that just happen.”

  Elior pushed himself off the wall, his voice cool and precise. “Statistically improbable, occurring in such close proximity to you. We’ve been… monitoring you for some time.”

  A chill ran down my spine. “Monitoring me? You’ve been watching me?” The thought was deeply unsettling, a viotion of the fragile sense of privacy I clung to.

  Kairo finally spoke, his usual light tone edged with a seriousness I hadn’t heard before. “We had to, Luna. We sensed the awakening. It’s… rare. And potentially very dangerous if not handled correctly.”

  “Dangerous for who? Me? Or your precious ‘important things’?” I shot back, still feeling defensive and cornered.

  Lucien stepped forward, his expression earnest. “For everyone, Luna. For you most of all. Untamed power like yours… it can be destructive. To yourself and others.”

  His words echoed the fear I had felt at the loft, the raw, untamed energy that had erupted from me without warning or control. A terrifying glimpse of something I didn’t understand, something that felt both alien and intrinsically mine.

  “So, what now?” I asked, the fight slowly draining out of me, repced by a weary resignation. “Am I just supposed to move into your creepy dungeon and learn how to… not explode?”

  Thorne finally moved fully into the light, his arms crossed, his gaze intense. “It’s not a dungeon. It’s a sanctuary. A pce where you can learn. Where you’ll be safe.”

  “Safe from what? Myself?” The question hung in the air, heavy with unspoken fear.

  Asher nodded slowly. “In a way, yes. Until you understand what you are capable of.”

  “And what exactly am I capable of?” I pressed, needing to understand the scope of this unbelievable reality.

  Sis finally closed the distance between us again, his gaze direct and unwavering. “You are Nephilim. Descended from the union of angels and humans. You possess abilities far beyond the understanding of the mortal world.”

  The words hung in the air, heavy and surreal. Angels. Humans. Powers. It felt like a fever dream, a bizarre hallucination brought on by stress and too little sleep.

  “Show her,” Asher said quietly to Sis.

  Sis hesitated for a moment, his gaze flicking to the others before returning to me. He extended one hand, palm up. A faint violet light began to emanate from his skin, swirling and coalescing in his palm. It wasn’t blinding, but it held a depth, an ancient energy that resonated deep within me, stirring something dormant and unfamiliar.

  The air in the room shimmered slightly around the light, and I could feel a subtle shift in the atmosphere, a pulling sensation like an invisible thread connecting his light to something within me. It was both unsettling and strangely… right.

  He closed his hand, and the light vanished. “This is a fraction of what we can do. And what you will eventually be able to do.”

  My mind reeled. Seeing the light, feeling the subtle energy, it was harder to dismiss as fantasy. It was tangible, real in a way that defied my understanding of the world.

  “The others… they’re like you?” I asked, looking at the seven faces surrounding me, each now clearly visible in the light streaming from the doorway.

  Asher nodded. “We are all Nephilim, Luna. We’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Waiting for me?” The words felt heavy with a significance I couldn’t grasp. “Why?”

  Elior stepped forward, holding my gaze with his sharp, intelligent eyes. “The circumstances of your birth… they were unique. Prophesied. Your awakening is… significant.”

  Prophesied? There was that word again. It felt like something out of those fantasy books I used to read, not my actual life.

  “Prophecies,” I repeated, the word tasting strange on my tongue. “What kind of prophecies?”

  Cael finally spoke, his voice a low, melodic murmur that seemed to vibrate through the stone floor. “Of bance. Of change. Of a power that could tip the scales.”

  His words were cryptic, ominous, adding another yer of unease to the already surreal situation.

  Kairo cpped his hands together softly, breaking the heavy atmosphere slightly. “Alright, enough doom and gloom. How about we get our guest something to eat? All this talk of ancient powers is making me hungry.”

  His attempt at levity was a jarring contrast to the gravity of the conversation, but it was a welcome distraction. A reminder that beneath the yers of the supernatural, these were still… people. Albeit very strange and intense people.

  Lucien smiled gently. “He’s right. You must be exhausted, Luna.” His usual warmth felt genuine, a small beacon of reassurance in the oppressive atmosphere.

  Sis, however, remained focused. “This conversation isn’t over. You need to understand the gravity of the situation.”

  He looked directly at me, his violet eyes holding a depth of concern that surprised me. It was a stark contrast to his earlier coldness.

  “We didn’t bring you here to hurt you, Luna,” he continued, his voice softer now, though still firm. “We brought you here because you’re in danger. And because the world might be in danger because of you.”

  His words were a heavy weight, settling in my chest. Danger. To me. To the world. It was too much to process, a sudden, brutal upending of everything I thought I knew.

  Thorne grunted. “Let’s just get her settled. Expnations can wait until she’s had some food and rest.”

  Asher nodded in agreement. “He’s right. This has been overwhelming.” He offered me a small, hesitant smile. “Come on, Luna. Let’s get you out of this… containment room.”

  He gestured towards the doorway, the light beyond it now seeming less harsh, more like an invitation.

  I hesitated for a moment, looking at the seven faces surrounding me. They were strange, intense, and had just told me my life was a lie. But there was also a sense of… purpose in their eyes, a conviction that felt unsettlingly real.

  With a deep breath, I pushed myself to my feet, my legs still shaky. I had no idea what awaited me beyond that doorway, but staying in the darkness felt like a far worse option.

  “Okay,” I said, my voice barely a whisper. “Lead the way.”

  Asher offered me his arm, a gesture that felt surprisingly normal in the midst of the bizarre circumstances. I took it, and together, we stepped out of the darkness and into the unknown.

  TO BE CONTINUED...