Sarafina POV
The night I died started like any other.
Cold air. Midnight traffic. Neon lights reflecting off the river beneath Starlit Bridge.
I walked the route home like I always did, hands in my jacket pockets. It was my twenty-fifth birthday.
No cake. No party.
Just another quiet night.
"Happy birthday to me," I muttered.
Then the air shifted.
Not wind.
Something else.
A ripple moved through the atmosphere, subtle but wrong. My skin prickled instantly.
And then the ringing started.
Not in my ears.
In my blood.
A thin metallic hum vibrated beneath my skin like a wire pulled too tight. I stopped walking, gripping the bridge railing as the sensation spread through my chest and throat.
"What the hell…"
The streetlights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every lamp along the bridge glitched in a cold blue pulse.
I blinked. "Okay… that's weird."
The hum grew stronger.
It felt ancient. Instinctive. Like something inside me was waking up.
My phone buzzed.
Clara: Good night babe.
You better not be crying about turning 25.
Drunk testing.
We had just had few drinks she dragged me out to get.
Normally I'd laugh.
Tonight the message made my chest tighten.
Because someone stepped out of the shadows ahead.
Then another.
Three more followed.
Five men.
They walked slowly onto the bridge, dark coats swaying as they spread out in a quiet formation.
My stomach dropped.
They weren't drunk.
They weren't tourists.
They moved like predators.
I took a step back.
"Uh… do you guys need something?"
No response.
They kept coming.
One of them lifted his hand and moonlight flashed across a curved blade.
My heart slammed.
"Okay—look," I said quickly. "It's late. I don't want any trouble."
Silence.
Then the tallest man spoke.
"Sarafina Ainsley."
My blood turned to ice.
Not a question.
A confirmation.
"By decree," he continued calmly, "your existence ends tonight."
"What?"
My voice shook. "Who are you? What decree? I don't—"
"You do not need to understand."
The men spread out, surrounding me.
Panic surged.
My phone slipped from my hand and clattered against the concrete.
One of them hesitated.
A man standing slightly behind the others.
His jaw tightened as he looked at me.
Conflicted.
"...She doesn't even realize," he murmured.
"Darius."
The leader's voice cut through the air.
"Hold your position."
So that was his name.
Darius clenched his fists but stayed still.
My heart pounded so hard I could barely breathe.
"Please," I said. "Just tell me what I did."
The leader raised his blade.
"You were born."
Before I could react, he moved.
Pain exploded through my side.
The force knocked the air from my lungs and sent me crashing to the ground.
I gasped, trying to crawl away as blood soaked through my shirt.
Darius stepped forward.
"Wait—"
But the others didn't move.
They stood like statues.
The leader crouched beside me and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.
His eyes were cold.
"When your blood sings," he said quietly, "the world ends."
"I don't… know what that means…"
But then I heard it.
A sound rising deep inside my body.
A hum.
Soft at first.
Then louder.
Stronger.
My blood was singing.
The leader's expression flickered.
Fear.
Darius shouted something behind him.
Too late.
The blade came down.
Darkness crashed over me.
My heartbeat slammed once.
Twice.
Then everything went silent.
And as the world faded away
My blood kept singing.