𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐃━︎━︎ R. Hale ✓︎

The biting wind of the barren plains whipped around Emma, stinging her eyes. Dust, the color of dried blood, clung to her worn dress, a stark reminder of the battlefields she'd left behind.

Beside her, Jasper moved with a silent, restless grace, his eyes, once a comforting chocolate, now a terrifying crimson. He was a stranger and yet, undeniably, her brother. The vow, spoken in hushed tones beneath a starless sky, echoed in her mind: "Never leave you."

They had escaped Maria's clutches, leaving behind a trail of death and despair. But freedom, they were quickly learning, was not without its own haunting.

Jasper paused, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon, where the first hint of dawn painted the sky in muted grays. "We need to keep moving, Emma," he rasped, his voice still edged with a hunger that made her instinctively tense. "Daylight approaches."

She nodded, clutching the worn locket around her neck. Their path was uncertain, their future shrouded in shadow, but one thing remained clear: they would face it together.