Silver burned. Holy light seared. I screamed my brother’s name, Theron, into the communication crystal.

My consciousness was fading. His cold voice finally crackled through. "What now?"

I fought through the pain, my voice weak. "Theron, please… help me…"

He cut me off, his voice a razor's edge.

"Enough! Lilith is hosting the Blood Moon Festival. Stop causing trouble. If you’re tormenting her out of jealousy again, I’ll throw you in the sun cells myself."

The line went dead.

Lilith. Our manipulative little adoptive sister. Was she really more important to him than his own blood?

The silver poison and searing light consumed me. I shattered. My tears turned to ash, my body right behind them.

Congratulations, Theron. You're free of your annoying sister.

You don't have to lock me up anymore.

Because I'm already dead.

My soul hovered in the air, watching the clan guards swarm my remains.

On the floor of the abandoned church, only a small pile of gray ash was left.

The lead Enforcer on the scene wore a mask of pure shock and horror.

A murder this brutal hadn't stained the clan’s territory in a century.

Our kind is strong enough to deter any outsider. To get past our defenses and kill a pureblood… it had to be one of our own.

The next second, the church doors burst open.

A black cloak swept in like a storm, bringing a chilling aura with it.

Theron strode onto the scene. His deep red eyes swept the room. Every guard bowed their head.

"Lord Enforcer."

My brother, Theron. Of course. He was the only one in the clan who could handle a case this complex.

I looked at his exhausted face, and a bitter mix of love and hate washed over me.

With the Blood Moon Festival so close, clan business was already a nightmare. Now he had to deal with my murder.

Guilt twisted with a sharp pang of heartache. Even in death, I was still a problem for him.

"Report." Theron's voice was ice.

"My lord," the guard captain said, handing him a data slate. "The victim is a young pureblood female. Time of death was at least two nights ago... based on the blood remnants in the ash. Before death, she was…"

His voice caught.

"Go on."

"Tortured. Silver piercing and holy light. The duration… was likely over twelve hours."

I saw Theron's fists clench, his knuckles white.

"Who did this?"

"No leads yet, my lord. The scene has nothing but the ash, some melted silver fragments, and traces of a holy light circle."

Theron stalked to my remains and knelt. Shadows clung to his features, making his face terrifyingly dark. His red eyes burned with raw murder.

"Listen to me," he said, his voice low. "I don't care who did this, or where they're hiding. I will make them pay tenfold."

He stood, his cloak swirling behind him.

"To torture one of our own like this… I'll make them beg for a death that will never come."

The guards shivered.

Just then, a solemn voice came from the doorway.

"Theron." Elias, a friend of our father's for over a century and the elder who’d championed Theron's rise to Lord Enforcer, walked slowly into the church.

His face was etched with deep worry.

"Elder Elias." Theron gave a slight nod. "You're just in time. You can see how serious this is."

"The case is complex, but I trust your skills. I'm here about something else." Elias’s gaze lingered for a moment on my ashes. "It's about Cerys's whereabouts."

I felt my soul tremble.

Theron’s expression changed instantly. The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

"Don't speak to me of that jinx. What has she done now? She's been throwing a tantrum for weeks because I wouldn't let her host the festival!"

His words were a thousand tiny needles stabbing my soul.

Right. Theron always called me a jinx.

Because our parents died a century ago. At my blood awakening ceremony.

He had hated me ever since.

He threw me out. Cut off my blood supply. Refused to acknowledge me as clan. He left me with nothing but a rundown house on the edge of the city.

We didn't see each other for a decade.

Not until the clan’s centennial gala. I was invited and saw him with a strange woman at his side.

Lilith. The sister he called his own.

I learned then that he’d found an orphan while working a blood-pact case. He adopted her, and the two of them became a family.

I stood in a corner that night, watching him dote on her, my heart breaking as tears streamed down my face.

He'd rather adopt an orphan than accept his own sister?

Things between us thawed over the decades, but it was never real. Whenever he had to choose between me and Lilith, he always chose her.

Even now, after my agonizing death, he still thought I was off sulking somewhere, trying to ruin Lilith’s big moment out of jealousy.

Brother, if you knew I was really dead, would you be glad to be free of such a burden?

"Your prejudice against Cerys runs too deep. It has to change." Elias frowned, defending me. "Don't forget, she's been preparing your special blood vials all these years. Those potions that stabilize your bloodlust? She made them herself. No one loves you more than she does."

"So what?" Theron waved a dismissive hand. "It's her duty as an alchemist. She's atoning for what she did."

His eyes were full of disgust. He glanced back at the ash on the floor, his face grim again.

"Alright, let's get back to the case."

He turned to a junior enforcer. "Have any disappearances been reported lately?"

The enforcer shook his head. "Even if a pureblood went missing for a day, their family would get a blood-link warning. For a death this violent... the psychic backlash should have been immense. This is strange."

Theron sighed. "Her family must not care much about her. Widen the search."

He picked up a monitoring device, ready to scan the remains again for information.

Elias stopped him. "If you're looking for the victim's family, you should look for Cerys, too. She used to deliver your vials every day. Now she's been gone for days. This disappearance…"

Theron cut him off again, his patience gone.

"Enough. She's trying to blackmail me," Theron sneered. "Thinking she can cut off my supply and force my hand? Pathetic."

He strode deeper into the church, leaving Elias and his words behind.

"I only care about one thing: making sure Lilith's Blood Moon Festival is perfect. As for my clever little sister, she can hide for as long as she wants."

Just as Elias was about to argue, Theron’s communicator chimed.

He pulled out the crystal device and glanced at the message.

In an instant, I witnessed a miracle.

The mask of cold fury on his face melted away, replaced by a tenderness I had never, ever seen.

A true smile touched Theron’s lips as he answered the call.

"Lilith." His voice was so gentle it broke my heart. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

A sweet, fragile female voice came from the crystal, thick with unshed tears.

"Brother Theron, I'm having trouble with the festival potions… Some of the formulas are so difficult, and…"

Her voice grew even more pitiful.

"And Cerys kept telling me the formulas were hers. She said I wasn't allowed to use them. She threatened me… said she would expose me in front of everyone if I dared to present them at the festival."

A silent scream tore through my soul.

Those are my formulas! I surged toward Theron, desperate to make him hear. She stole everything!

But I was just a ghost, a whisper no one could hear.

A cold glint appeared in Theron's eyes.

"She threatened you?"

"I don't want to fight with her, but… but this festival is so important to me." Lilith's voice was fragile. "It's my first chance to contribute to the clan. If I fail, everyone will think I don't deserve to be part of this family."

"Nonsense." Theron's tone was firm and warm. "You are my most precious sister. No one can question your place here."

That one sentence ripped my heart to shreds.

His most precious sister.

Then what was I?

The one who shared his blood, who grew up by his side?

"As for those formulas," Theron's voice turned to ice, "she dares claim them as hers? I'll make her confess she stole them from you. She thinks she can steal your moment? Dream on."

"Brother…"

"Don't worry. I'll handle everything. You just focus on the festival. Leave the rest to me."

Lilith’s voice was now syrupy sweet.

"Then… can you come early on the day of the festival? I have a surprise for you."

A surprise?

Ice flooded my soul.

Don't go! I shrieked, the sound lost to the living world. She's a demon, Theron! She'll kill you!

But he couldn't hear me.

He couldn't hear my desperate warning.

"Alright, I'll be there early," Theron said, his voice full of affection. "How could I miss a surprise from my little sister?"

"Okay, it's a date then. I love you, brother."

"I love you too, Lilith. Get some rest. Don't make me worry."

The call ended.

I could only stare at the gentle smile on his face as hopeless rage consumed me.

He had never once said "I love you" to me.

Not once.

Not even when we were children, when our parents were still alive.

Theron put the communicator away and walked back to my ashes.

He crouched down, his hand hovering over them.

I held my breath.

Please, recognize me.

When we were kids, we found an ancient text in the clan library.

It spoke of a secret unique to our bloodline.

Even in ash, an imprint of the soul remains. A powerful enough mind, one deeply connected to the blood, could read it.

Theron closed his eyes and began to focus.

I saw his expression shift slightly.

He felt something!

"This blood signature…" He frowned, his eyes narrowing. "It's… familiar."

Just then, his communicator rang again.

"Gods," he muttered, glancing at the caller ID. "It's Aunt Anna."

My heart leaped.

Aunt Anna. After our parents died, she was the only elder who never blamed me.

Theron answered the call.

"Aunt Anna, I'm busy right now…"

"Theron, where is Cerys?" Anna’s voice was strained with worry. "I haven't seen her in five days. The Blood Moon Festival is almost here. She shouldn't be absent."

"She's throwing a tantrum," Theron said, his voice sharp with irritation. "She's jealous of Lilith hosting the festival, so she's disappeared for attention."

"That's not like her. Cerys would never…"

"She's always been a manipulative liar," Theron cut her off harshly. "Look, I have a case to deal with."

He ended the call abruptly.

My soul trembled.

A troublemaker. A liar. No. A manipulative liar.

In his eyes, that's all I was.

Theron stood up in frustration, the flicker of recognition forgotten. He had just missed his chance to identify me.

At that moment, a young vampire appeared at the church entrance.

He looked frantic, practically running inside.

"Lord Enforcer!" he cried, falling to his knees before Theron. "Please, you have to help me!"

"Get up and speak," Theron said with a frown.

"My sister is missing!" the young vampire's voice shook. "She hasn't been home in days! We had a fight a few days ago, she left in a rage, and now I can't reach her at all. The blood-link is silent!"

Tears welled in his eyes.

"I'm scared… I'm scared something's happened to her. Please, help me find her. I can't lose her. She's all I have left in this world!"

His voice was choked with genuine, desperate worry.

I watched this boy weep for his sister, and then I looked at my brother, who couldn't care less that I was gone.

The contrast was a blade twisting in my soul.

I closed my eyes.

If I still had a body, I would have run out of tears by now.

The brother who once held my hand under the full moon and swore to protect me forever.

The Theron who once said that as long as he was alive, he would never let anyone hurt me.

He was gone.

The man standing here was a stranger, filled with nothing but disgust and prejudice for me.

Theron and Elias stood frozen, a heavy silence hanging between them.

After a long moment, Theron walked slowly to the young vampire and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Young one… we just discovered the remains of a murdered pureblood here."

The young vampire’s face went white.

"We don't know the victim's identity yet, but…" Theron’s voice was soft as he pointed to the ground. "That ash is…"

"No… it can't be…"

The boy scrambled to his feet, stumbling numbly toward my remains.

"It can't be her… it can't…" His voice broke. "She's just mad at me… She'll come back… She has to come back…"

My soul ached watching his despair.

Just as he was about to completely break down, his communicator rang.

A teasing female voice came through. "That'll teach you to make me angry, you little brat!"

The young vampire froze.

"I brought back your favorite blood-ale. Where are you? Get back here and apologize!"

"Sister!" He burst into a teary laugh, tears still streaming down his face. "Oh my god, sister! You're okay! You're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay! Trying to get rid of me? Dream on!" Her voice was full of affection. "Hurry back, I brought you something good."

The young vampire was laughing and crying at the same time. He turned and bowed deeply to Theron.

"Thank you, Lord Enforcer! Thank you for being willing to help me!"

He wiped his tears and rushed out of the church.

Theron let out a breath of relief, but his brow quickly furrowed again.

My case was still a dead end.

"Another dead end," he said, looking at the ash on the floor, his voice laced with exhaustion.

Two days later.

In the Enforcer's office, case files were piled high.

Elias walked in to find Theron still hunched over his desk.

"You haven't slept in two days."

"There are no useful clues at the scene," Theron said, rubbing his temples. "Melted silver, traces of holy light, and that damned pile of ash. The killer was a professional."

"Theron, we need to talk about Cerys."

"Her again?" Theron’s head snapped up, his eyes blazing. "I don't care where she is! For all I care, she can rot!"

"She's been missing for seven days…"

"She's blackmailing me! She thinks this will force my hand?" Theron stood and paced the office. "I told you, I only care about one thing—Lilith's Blood Moon Festival!"

Just then, his communicator rang.

A gentle, elderly voice came through. "Lord Enforcer, this is Marcus, Cerys's alchemy mentor. She hasn't been to the lab recently. It's not like her. She never misses a lab session without a reason…"

"I don't care if she's dead or alive!" Theron roared. "Stop bothering me about that worthless girl!"

He cut the connection, but his fingers unconsciously tightened around an old picture frame on his desk.

It was the only photo we had from our childhood.

Then, he picked up his communication crystal and sent me a message.

[Cerys! If you're still alive, you'd better crawl back here right now! You will attend the Blood Moon Festival and you will assist Lilith with the ceremony!]

Seeing that message felt like my soul was being torn apart.

Theron, I am right in front of you.

My body is the ash you keep staring at.

When will you finally see it's me? And when you do… will you even be sad?

He had just put the crystal down when the office door opened softly.

Lilith walked in, holding a crimson-red vial.

Tears glistened on her cheeks. She looked pitiful and fragile.

"Brother Theron…" she said, her voice trembling.

"Lilith?" Theron was on his feet instantly, all his anger gone. "What is it? What happened?"

"It's… it's Cerys," Lilith choked out. "I just ran into her on the street."

A cold premonition washed over me.

"I wanted to talk to her about the festival, to try and make her understand… but she was so angry."

Lilith held up the vial in her hands—the special blood potion I made for Theron.

"She shoved me with her magic, and she smashed this on the ground. She screamed that… that she would never make another blood vial for you again."

Then, she pulled something else from her cloak.

My soul shook violently.

It was the moonstone pendant our mother left me. My moonstone. The silver chain glinted, the stone pulsing with a soft, protective glow.

I never took it off. It was my most precious treasure. I would never, ever have abandoned it!

"She threw this at me," Lilith's tears fell faster, "and said she was done. Done with you, done with this family, and done with everyone who hates her…"

"Liar!" I raged, my voice a phantom wind. "I've been dead for seven days! I never saw you!"

But no one heard my desperate cries.

Elias’s face grew grim. He snatched the pendant from her hand.

"This is impossible!" Elias snapped, his voice sharp. "Theron, think! This was your mother's. It's her only protection from the sun! After her failed blood awakening a century ago, she couldn't even stand the morning twilight without it! You think she would throw away the one thing keeping her from burning to ash over a tantrum? It makes no sense!"

"She's that crazy!" Theron snapped, snatching the pendant back, enraged by Elias's doubt. "She’d do anything for attention! I'll prove she's just putting on a show!"

He grabbed his communication crystal and dialed the one number he hadn't willingly called in a hundred years.

As if my answering would prove it was all just a childish game.

And the crystal I thought was destroyed… actually connected.

"I knew it," Theron snarled into the crystal. "Cerys! Get here. Now. You selfish brat, how dare you hurt Lilith? How dare you try to ruin her festival?!"

But the voice that came back wasn't mine.

It was a man's voice. Guttural. A stranger.

"Lord Enforcer Theron? We've located the primary crime scene for the pureblood murder. We found this crystal there."