Chapter 3 Marked Beneath The Skin

Cindy stood in front of the mirror, pulling her hair to one side.

Her heart pounded.

She had dreamed about fire and blood-about a burning sensation crawling down her back. It felt too real. And when she woke up, her body was still trembling. That couldn't be just a nightmare. Not after everything that had already happened.

With slow, shaky hands, she lifted the back of her shirt.

And there it was.

A mark.

It glowed faintly beneath her skin, like a moonlit scar, shaped like an old rune-a swirling symbol with sharp edges, intricate, almost alive. It shimmered silver, then dimmed again.

"What... the hell?" she whispered, running her fingers over it.

But it wasn't just a scar. It pulsed. Like it was waiting to be awakened.

She yanked her shirt back down, breathing hard. This had to mean something.

She needed answers.

And only one person could give her any.

---

A few hours later, she slipped out of the house while Aunt Martina was in town. She sprinted across the edge of the forest until she reached the hidden cabin.

Aeron was outside now, looking stronger. He had wrapped his wound himself, and his posture was more alert. As if the forest healed him faster than anything human ever could.

He turned as he sensed her.

"You're back."

"I have something to show you," she said, stepping closer.

Aeron's gaze flickered to her face, then her eyes, and then the tension behind her words. "What is it?"

Without speaking, Cindy pulled her shirt collar aside and turned her back to him.

A moment of silence.

Then, a sharp inhale from Aeron.

"That mark," he said, voice low and cautious. "Where did you get it?"

"I don't know. It showed up this morning after a dream. It was burning in the dream-like it was carved into me."

Aeron moved closer. Not touching her, but inspecting the mark with care. His eyes narrowed.

"That's not just any mark. It's... a Seal."

"A seal?"

He finally met her eyes again. "A symbol of binding. Or power. In the old world, those marks were used to protect-or to trap. But this one... it's not just protection. It means blood has chosen you."

Cindy blinked. "What blood?"

Aeron hesitated.

Then he said it quietly. "Hybrid blood."

Silence passed between them.

She didn't understand. How could she have any connection to hybrids?

"I'm not one of you," she said.

"Maybe not," Aeron replied. "But maybe... you're something in between."

---

Later that day, Cindy snuck into Aunt Martina's library.

Martina had always kept it locked, but Cindy found a rusted key hidden behind an old painting in the hall. The library was a room of secrets-filled with leather-bound books, old maps, spell scrolls, and ancient documents written in languages she couldn't read.

Dust covered everything, but it was clear: this wasn't a normal library.

It was a record of creatures.

Vampires. Lycans. Half-bloods. Demons. Beasts.

And under a section labeled Hybrida Maledicta, she found a page with a symbol nearly identical to the mark on her back.

She read slowly:

> "When the mark chooses flesh, the bearer walks between the curse of two worlds. Neither beast nor human. Not born of blood, but awakened by it. A key. A weapon. A prophecy."

Cindy stepped back.

Prophecy?

She closed the book quickly, heart racing. She had only just arrived in Santa Fe. How could she be part of something this... massive?

A noise behind her.

The door creaked.

She turned, thinking it was her aunt-

But no one was there.

Instead, on the table beside her, was a black envelope.

She picked it up. No name. Just a wax seal in the shape of a beast's claw.

Inside was a single note:

> "You're not the only one being hunted."

---

Cindy barely slept that night.

Aunt Martina was back, and her presence in the house was heavier than usual. The chandelier flickered more. The walls creaked like whispers.

Martina didn't mention the library. She didn't say anything. But Cindy felt the shift.

Her aunt knew she had seen something.

So the next morning, she left again-early-returning to the cabin with the envelope.

Aeron took one look at it and cursed under his breath.

"That's a warning," he said. "They've found you."

"Who?" Cindy asked, voice strained. "The Council?"

"Worse. The Hunters."

"The what?"

He stared at her. "There's a group of rogue beings-half-human, half-shadow. They don't belong to any race. Their only mission is to wipe out hybrids... and those connected to them."

"Why me?"

"Because you're marked now," Aeron said grimly. "You're part of our world, whether you want to be or not."

---

As evening fell, Aeron led her deeper into the woods-to a place hidden by thick vines and enchanted stones. A stone circle stood in the clearing, with markings that glowed faintly under the moonlight.

"This is where it started," he said. "This is where my parents were killed."

Cindy stepped carefully into the circle. "By the Council?"

He nodded. "They didn't want a child born from both sides. My mother was vampire. My father, a werewolf alpha. When I was born, the world declared war on me."

Cindy looked at him with quiet sadness. "And now they're declaring war on me too."

He turned to her slowly. "You don't have to stay in it."

"I think I already am."

There was a silence between them again. The kind filled with tension neither of them understood fully. But it wasn't fear. It was something else.

Connection.

Fire.

Then suddenly-a scream echoed through the woods.

They both snapped to attention.

Aeron grabbed her arm. "Go back to the house. Now."

"No. I'm not leaving you."

He met her eyes. "Then stay close."

And just like that-they ran.

---

The trees grew darker. The air was thick. Cindy's heart pounded as they moved like shadows through the forest. Then they saw it.

A body. Bleeding. Half-conscious. A girl, maybe no older than Cindy, lying against a tree. Long white hair, pale skin, and glowing blue eyes.

Not human.

She looked up weakly as they approached.

"They're coming," she whispered. "The ones with no faces. They're coming for the girl with the mark."

Cindy froze.

Aeron's eyes darkened. He stood between Cindy and the girl, scanning the trees.

"Who are you?" Cindy asked.

The girl smiled faintly. "My name is Liora. I was sent to find you. Before they do."

"Before who?"

But it was too late.

The air split.

And from the shadows stepped a creature with skin like ash, eyes like coals, and no face-only a mouth filled with jagged teeth.

One word rang through Cindy's mind as fear seized her.

Hunter.