Abria stood rooted to the spot; her gaze locked onto the mysterious creature that leaned out from an ancient, dust-coated book resting on a crumbling shelf. The dim light of the abandoned library revealed every shadow, every stain on the worn wooden floorboards that echoed with forgotten secrets. She had been convinced this place was forsaken, a relic of abandonment, but fate had drawn her here on a desperate quest to find the fabled book that might lead her to the lost twin brother she longed to reclaim.

She recalled vividly the hushed warnings and ominous tales whispered by the town elders and even the local police stories of that fateful night when her brother disappeared. Against the tide of disbelief, Abria had clung to her conviction. All she truly remembered was being found unconscious in the cobwebbed closet of their once bustling, now dilapidated elementary school, a haunting reminder of a long-gone childhood. Though the events of that tragic night were shrouded in a haze of amnesia, a nagging suspicion had always pointed to the elders' sinister involvement. They had been the ones to orchestrate the downfall of Albreck, exploiting the orphaned pair for their cruel gain. Rumors abound that only one twin was needed to secure a supposed inheritance once the age of twenty-five was reached, a twisted joke played on the unfortunate souls. Yet, their parents had outsmarted those greedy conspirators by stipulating that both twins must be accounted for unless irrefutable proof of one's death emerged.

A sardonic voice broke the silence, its tone dripping with dark amusement.

"Well, sweetie, demon got your tongue?" The figure, a demon half material, half ethereal, emerged from the shadowy pages of the book, its eyes glinting with mischief and ancient secrets. "Don't you remember me?" It teased, noting the subtle changes in Abria's appearance since they last met. Something profound and painful had altered her, marking her deeply since that long-ago encounter.

As the demon's gaze swept the gloomy, vaulted interior, he noticed that her brother once a comforting presence, was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a growing emptiness where once allies stood. The book slipped into her trembling hands before Abria could muster a coherent thought. Memories surged back like a tidal wave, laden with vivid, unsettling revelations.

"In the shadows of these forgotten shelves." A spectral voice intonated. "Lurked seemingly malevolent yet potent falsehoods, all shrouded by gloom. We placed you here, Abria, as yet another sacrifice." Heavy with ancient destiny, the words rang out as she gasped, her eyes clamping shut.

At that moment, the horrifying vision of the night when Albreck and she had unwittingly unleashed a crimson curse—a red decay soaked in blood seared itself into her mind.

A second, more commanding voice interjected, overpowering the lingering whispers from the darkness.

"Now you know the truth. Are you terrified by the ghosts of your past, or will you trust him?" The challenge hung in the air like a fragile, desperate hope.

The demon, his tone now imbued with a tender possessiveness, murmured.

"Abria, my little mate, you've finally returned to me." As his words resonated through the stark silence, torrents of unshed tears rose in her vibrant, sapphire eyes.

Through choked sobs, Abria's voice trembled with accusation.

"Did you help them? Did you aid the elders in sacrificing my brother?" A single, glistening tear escaped, trailing down her cheek until it met the cool cover of the ancient book.

Abria stood motionless, her entire being frozen as she watched with wide, unblinking eyes the mysterious creature that leaned out from the aged, dust-laden book on the shelf. Every nerve in her body cried out in silence as she struggled to comprehend the impossible, knowing deep inside that this very library, crumbling and reeking of forgotten time, had been destined for abandonment. Yet here she was a young woman chosen by fate to seek out a unique manuscript said to reveal the whereabouts of her long-lost twin brother. Abria's heart pulsed with defiance against the grim warnings of local police and the haunting tales woven by the town's elders; the legends were no fabrications but painful memories of the night her brother disappeared. Her only recollection was the blurry aftermath of being found unconscious, hidden away in the musty closet of their derelict childhood elementary school, where the echoes of laughter had long since faded.

Though the memory of that dreadful night escaped her, a searing certainty lingered, she was convinced that the elders, driven by greed after their parents' untimely death had orchestrated something sinister to seize the twins' future inheritance. Whispers in the town hinted that they only needed one twin to survive until the age of twenty-five to claim the fortune, a cruel joke masterminded by a will that decreed both siblings must live unless concrete proof of death could be provided for one.

"Still no hello princess,?" The voice taunted yet it was alluring. It had clearly come from the demon whose form flickered between the pages of the ancient book.

His half-material, half-shadowed presence seemed to weave itself into the very fabric of the room as he questioned her, "Don't you remember me?" Observing the transformation that had taken hold of her since their last encounter six years ago, he noted with a mix of curiosity and something deeper that something profound had altered her essence.

As the demon's gaze wandered across the dim, abandoned library, he realized with a jolt that her twin; a potential ally in his enigmatic plans was nowhere to be found. In a heartbeat, the heavy, leather-bound book found its way into Abria's trembling hands, unleashing a torrent of memories that surged to the front of her mind.

"In the shadows of the abandoned library's ancient shelves, where secrets festered like dark, twisted legends, lay wicked yet potent lies draped in darkness. We placed you here Abria, as yet another sacrifice to the inevitable fate that binds us." The voice resonated with a chilling finality, each syllable echoing against the weathered stone walls.

Abria inhaled sharply, her eyes snapping shut as the horrifying image of that fateful day when she and Albreck had dared to open the red-stained tome of decay that had seared itself into her consciousness.

"Now you know the truth." Came another voice, strong and commanding, forcing the other spectral utterances to recede into the background. "Are you terrified by what continues to haunt your dreams, or will you trust him?" The voice questioned.

"Abria, my little mate, you've finally returned to me!" The demon intoned, his voice dripping with a twisted affection that sent shivers down her spine. Tears welled in her vibrant blue eyes, shimmering like fragile crystals as they threatened to spill over.

"Did you help them? Did you aid the elders in sacrificing my brother?" Abria accused her voice trembling with both sorrow and fury as a solitary tear escaped, rolling down her cheek until it met the worn cover of the book.

With surprising tenderness amidst the storm of accusations, the demon replied.

"No, little mate, I would never harm your loved ones." At his words, the tear glimmered and fell upon him directly, and from it burst forth a brilliant radiance that seemed to swallow the surrounding darkness until it vanished entirely. Titus, as he revealed himself, wrapped his strong protective arms around the fragile figure of the young woman.

"Abria, you are my mate and yours. I am Titus. I will protect you, avenge you, and help you find your brother!" He vowed solemnly, his voice echoing with a promise as old and rich as the dark magic that pulsed through the ancient pages.

Her body responded with a jolt of life as she realized he was truly free; her heart pounded wildly against her ribcage while Titus held her tightly as if to shield her from the world's cruelty.

"I know that falling in love with a demon was the last thing on your wishlist," Titus added with a slow, knowing smirk as he glanced around the deserted library, its broken windows and peeling paint bearing silent witness to forgotten histories. "But fate has woven our destinies in ways none of us could have foreseen. I was framed by them and locked away here. Yet now my power is yours to share, so together we can right the monumental mistakes that have been done to our families. You and your brother were always destined to join our kind; our bond was written in blood."

Abria stood rooted to the spot as Titus's words echoed in her ears, the phrase "written in blood" conjuring vivid images of the crimson diary she had once dared to read, its pages steeped in the macabre truths of her past.

"How can I trust you?" She demanded, her voice laden with both raw concern and a deep-seated, lingering fear.

Titus leaned closer; his voice soft yet filled with an undeniable conviction.

"You can feel it despite us not having fully bonded yet, the connection between us is undeniable. Within your soul, you know whether I speak truth or treachery. Trust that feeling, Abria." He whispered in her ear.

Abria felt a strange warmth spreading through her chest, an inexplicable pull towards this enigmatic being who claimed to be her destined mate. She wanted to deny it, to push away the foreign sensations coursing through her veins. But she found herself unable to resist the allure of his words.

"I...I don't understand." She whispered, her voice barely audible in the oppressive silence of the library. "If you're truly here to help me, why didn't you come sooner? Why let me suffer alone for all these years?" She questioned the pain evident in her eyes.

Titus's eyes darkened, a storm of emotions swirling in their depths.

"I was bound, little one. Trapped within the pages of that cursed book by the very elders who sought to keep you and your brother apart. It was only your tear, your pain, that finally broke the seal." He explained. His fingers gently traced the curve of her cheek, wiping away the remnants of her tears. "I've waited centuries for you, Abria. Watching, yearning, unable to break free until this moment." Titus told her as he held out his other hand to her.

Abria shivered at his touch, torn between the desire to lean into his caress and the urge to pull away.

"But why me? Why us?" She asked, her voice trembling.

Titus's eyes gleamed with ancient knowledge, with the thrill of being able to tell his mate about her family before someone could mislead her.

"Your bloodline is special, little mate. You and your brother carry within you a power that has been dormant for generations. The elders knew this, and they feared it. That's why they sought to separate you, to keep that power from awakening." He explained.

A flicker of recognition sparked in Abria's mind.

"The red decay... the curse we unleashed that night. Was that...?"Abria gasped as shock filled her whole body.

"The first stirring of your true nature." Titus confirmed, his voice a low rumble. "That night, you and Albreck tapped into something primal, something that had lain dormant in your bloodline for centuries. The elders panicked, realizing their carefully laid plans were unraveling." He was glad she was remembering the past finally.

"So, they... what? Decided to get rid of us?" Abria asked as her mind reeled with the implications.

Titus's expression darkened; he didn't like how he had to explain what these people were up to. He hated that she was at the front of this war that was transpiring. They had already made Albreck disappear without a trace. He feared that they would take her from him, that he would never see her again. After all, it happened once, it could happen again.

"They tried. But they underestimated the strength of your bond and the power that protects you both. They managed to separate you, yes, but they couldn't destroy you. Not completely." Titus offered up as he spoke, his eyes never leaving her.

A chill ran down Abria's spine as she recalled the fragments of memory from that night; the suffocating darkness, the whispered incantations, the searing pain that had torn through her very being.

"And Albreck?" Abria whispered, her voice barely audible. The name of her twin brother, the reason for her desperate search, hung heavy in the air.

Titus's grip on her tightened, a flicker of pain crossing his features. "He's alive, Abria. I can feel it. But he's... different. Changed."

Abria's heart lurched. Different? What did that mean? "Changed how? What did they do to him?" The questions tumbled out, fueled by a resurgence of fear and desperate hope.

"They used him, Abria. They forced him to embrace the darkness, to amplify his inherent powers, twisting them for their own gain. He's become a weapon, a shadow of his former self." Titus explained, his voice laced with regret.

A wave of nausea washed over Abria. Her brother, her other half, a weapon? The thought was unbearable. "But... why? Why him and not me?"

Titus sighed, his gaze softening as he looked at her. "They needed both of you, but in different ways. Albreck was the raw power, the brute force. You, Abria, you are the key, the anchor. You possess the ability to control and focus that power, to temper it, or to unleash it."

"Control it?" Abria echoed, her mind struggling to grasp the enormity of what he was saying. "I don't understand. I'm just... me."

Titus smiled gently. "You are so much more than you believe, little mate. The power within you is dormant, waiting to be awakened. It's in your blood, passed down through generations. It's what connects you to Albreck, and it's what connects you to me."