Chapter Text
Nova gasped, shooting up in her bed, her heart racing and her skin clammy.
What… was that?
A dream?
No, it couldn’t have been. Could it?
But as she looked around her dark bedroom, she was sure it couldn’t have been anything else.
But it had felt so real…
She’d seen a person. A boy, around her age, with the most striking red hair she’d ever seen, and the darkest, most soulful brown eyes.
Even now, as the sleepy fog faded from her brain, his image stayed, clear as day, imprinted in her mind, right down to the silver jewellery—which she had to admit was an oddity among the residents of Sunnyside—that adorned his tan skin, rings and chains far bolder and chunkier than the usual dainty, simple charms of her people.
Only a dream…
So, why did it feel so different?
A face she’d never seen before…
Nova groaned, running her hand over her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the haze.
What was going on with her?
The bright numbers of her clock glared back at her in the dark.
12:00.
She watched the last number tick over.
12:01.
Midnight. On her sixteenth birthday.
She gasped, shooting her hand out and grabbing for the clock, only to accidentally knock the glass of water off her bedside table, sending it careening to the floor and shattering on impact.
Despite the explosion of glass at her feet, Nova couldn’t tear her eyes away from the clock.
No. No, no, no. This wasn’t possible.
Was it?
She couldn’t have—
Could she?
No. No. Souldreams weren’t real. She was sure of it. There was no way that that’s what that had been. None!
But what else could it have been?
She was sure she’d never seen that boy before. Red was a staple colour of her people, but none of them dared to put it in their hair. In Sunnyside, the only colours anyone ever dyed their hair were various shades of blonde, yellow and gold. She was sure that if anyone were walking around with bright red hair, they would have jumped out in her memory.
But if she hadn’t ever seen his face before, how could she have seen him in her dreams? Everybody knew that your brain only had the power to recycle faces in dreams, not to invent people completely from scratch. So, who was he? And why was she seeing him in her head?
“Nova!” Her dad threw open the door to her bedroom. “Are you alright? I heard something break.”
“I’m fine, Dad,” she assured him, forcing herself to blink and look away from the clock, putting it down and making a show of rubbing at her eyes tiredly. “I accidentally knocked over my water. I’ll clean it up; you should go back to bed.”
“Nonsense,” her dad waved his hand, turning away, “We can’t have you cutting yourself before you lead your first ever training session, birthday girl.”
Right. Her birthday.
Her sixteenth birthday.
The day she was finally old enough to be made a captain. And. The day of the stories. Just like the legends.
Nova shook her head, trying to force the thoughts out of her head. So, what? She’d had a dream at midnight on her sixteenth birthday. That didn’t mean it had to have been a souldream. It was probably just a coincidence… right?
She worried her lip.
“Go back to bed, sweetie,” her dad returned with a dustpan, broom and a towel, flicking on the light as he entered. “We need you well rested and chipper, tomorrow.”
She did as she was told, pulling her legs up and tucking them back under the covers.
“Hey, Dad?” She spoke up, watching as he first dabbed at the spill to soak up most of the water, before sweeping the glass into the pan. “Can I ask you something kind of stupid?”
“Of course, Sunbeam,” he set the dustpan down when done, and sat on the end of her bed. “Is everything alright? Nervous about tomorrow?”
“It’s not that,” Nova shook her head. “I had this—” she cut herself off. Did she really want to have this conversation with her dad of all people?
It was one thing when her mum was around. Nova had always been able to go to her about anything. Whenever she sat up in the middle of the night crying over her bare skin, every time one of her classmates received their soulwords, it had always been her mum who comforted her, soothing her cries with promises of someone great waiting for her.
Now that she was gone, Nova couldn’t help but think that maybe her dad was relieved that she hadn’t gotten her words yet.
Her eyes shot down to the greyed-out words on the inside of his wrist.
They’d never talked about it. Not since…
“Do you believe in souldreams?” The words came out in a rush.
“Souldreams?” Her dad tilted his head, an amused smile on his face. “Nova, you know those were just a silly legend. A mistranslation from the old texts. Daywalkers have soulwords, not dreams.”
Her heart caught in her throat. That was what he’d always said.
And she’d believed him, until now. But suddenly she wasn’t so sure.
“But—” the words caught— “what about those people in town who claimed to have them?”
They were few are far between, but still enough to keep the rumours alive.
Souldreams. When an unmarked person saw a face they’d never seen. Only at midnight on their sixteenth birthday.
Her mum had believed in them. She’d said that it was the universe’s way of making up for how far away their soulmate was. Something that gave them hope that they would find their person one day. That they were just on a different schedule from everyone else.
After all, in a world where every child knew that a single exchanged word with a stranger could leave them marked and bonded for life, kids went out of their way to talk to everyone. A majority of her classmates had already found their soulmates by the time they entered middle school, let alone high school.
Nova was one of the last few who remained unmarked.
Her father’s position as the Commander of Sunnyside led people to assume that maybe her soulmate lived in another kingdom. Brightville, or Fireburgh, maybe. Or somewhere even further. Somewhere, they’d yet to develop a reliable communication with. A new, completely different branched community of their daywalker ancestors.
“Nova,” her dad’s hand on her knee made her jump, “those people in town, they’re just—” he paused, clearly trying to find the right words.
He was trying not to call them crazy. Delusional.
“Confused,” he eventually said. “It’s just some overactive people’s brains trying to find a way to justify the fact that they haven’t been marked yet. They’re not real dreams, sweetheart.”
“Right.” She felt numb. She didn’t know what she’d expected him to say. She knew that he didn’t believe in souldreams.
“Oh, honey,” his voice took on a certain tone of pity that he knew she hated but still used far too often. “Were you expecting to have a souldream? Because you haven’t gotten your words yet?”
Her voice got stuck. Did he really think she was that torn up over the lack of markings on her body? Maybe she had been when she was eight years old, but she was fift—sixteen now!
“Because, you know, sweets,” he shifted to sit closer to her, “you’ll find your other half one day. Your mother and I didn’t find each other until we were both eighteen. I know it’s,” he paused, “uncommon these days. To happen that late. But I promise it will happen for you. Someday. The fact that it hasn’t just means you’re not ready yet.”
She knew that. Of course, she knew all that. It was the same speech her mother had given her almost every night when she was a child.
And she knew that her parents had both been what they called “late matchers.”
Her mother had told her the story of their meeting hundreds of times. Of how she’d dropped her books right in the middle of the hallway, on her first day at Daylight College, her first day in Sunnyside, right in front of her father, who’d stepped on one and gone ass-up right in front of her.
“Holy stars! Are you okay?” Her mother had cried, rushing to help him up.
“Holy stars, you’re beautiful.” Had been the response.
Then the tingling had happened.
She’d always described it as a sharp prickling, something being dragged along the skin, followed quickly by a burn akin to holding your own flame against your skin. Not painful, but intense, nonetheless.
Those words had been marked into each other’s wrists from that moment on.
So unplanned. So imperfect. So raw. So real.
That was exactly the kind of connection that Nova had wanted to make with someone, one day.
Still wanted to make. Dreams or no.
The majority of her classmates’ soulwords were simple. A mix of hey’s, hi’s, hello’s and nice to meet you’s.
That was what happened when kids actively sought out their soulwords to the extent that had become the norm. The few people who made it until middle school before getting their words usually wound up with nicer ones, but largely still boring.
Nova always wondered what her words would be. What would they look like? Would they be similar to her parents? The loopy golden writing, the tiny font?
She couldn’t wait to find out.
And if they happened with the boy from her dream?
Her heart stuttered.
She could live with that. After all, he was pretty cute, in a kind of dangerous and edgy way.
He was different from the people in Sunnyside. Different from anyone she’d ever met in the real world. She liked that.
Whether he was real or not was the only question.
Her dad remained silent, the question clear in his eyes, and Nova struggled to remember what he’d asked.
“I guess so,” she spoke slowly. He’d asked if she’d been expecting to have a souldream. If only he knew. “It’s stupid, forget I said anything.”
“It’s not stupid, sweetie.” He shook his head. “It’s okay that you were expecting one and didn’t get one. You’ll get your words one day, and when you’re with that person, all this waiting will have been worth it. I promise.” He kissed her on the head. “Now, go back to sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
“Good night, Dad.” She didn’t acknowledge the rest of his words. She just wouldn’t tell anyone about her possible, maybe, souldream. That was safer. Maybe if she ever met someone who’d had one, she’d tell them. Someday.
But until then, she could keep it to herself.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“It’s you.” The words slipped out of Nova’s mouth unbidden.
The boy from her maybe-a-souldream. The boy from the dozens of dreams that stemmed from the one.
He was real. And he was right in front of her. The same slicked-back red and black hair. The same dark eyes, shining bright with curiosity and spirit.
“It’s you.” He echoed, eyes locked on her and her alone, despite the face-off happening all around them.
Nova’s ears burned as she felt her father’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t force herself to look away from the boy.
The space just below her collarbone was on fire. The phantom feeling of something sharp being dragged along her skin, followed by a soft burn.
It was just like her mother had described.
There was no mistaking it.
No writing her dreams off as just that. Not anymore.
Her soulmate.
She didn’t need to lift back her shrug to know that those two words, “it’s you,” had just been engraved on her skin. Marked and stamped, where they would remain for the rest of her life. She couldn’t wait to see them.
Her soulwords. Finally.
Her soulmate.
Her soulmate was a vampire.
In hindsight, it was so obvious. She should have known from the moment she’d laid eyes on him in her dream. His red streaks, a staple in vampire fashion dating all the way back to their history books of the old war. His eyes, so dark a brown that they were almost black. His grin, wild and untamed. The dangerous, edgy energy about him.
Of course, her soulmate was a vampire.
It definitely explained how she’d gone sixteen years never meeting him.
She knew she’d been silent for too long when her father straightened, taking an almost imperceptible step and putting himself between her and the vampire.
The vampire who was staring at Nova just as intently, yet to even blink—or close his mouth—since his eyes had locked with hers.
“Do you two know each other?”
Her father peered at her, and she had to force herself to straighten, finally tearing her eyes away from the boy. Her soulmate.
Her movement must have finally snapped him from his daze as well, as she watched from her peripheral as he finally broke his stare to—gawk at his hand? Weird…
“No, father,” she forced calmness into her voice, despite how much she wanted to scream. She’d had a souldream. And now he was standing in front of her. She’d gotten her soulwords. Found her soulmate. And he was a vampire! “I was mistaken.” Her collarbone grew hot at the lie, as if the words situated there were trying to make sure she knew how untrue the statement was.
She half expected them to start shining through the fabric of her clothes in indignation.
She could tell that he wasn’t completely convinced, as he narrowed his eyes at her, trying to inspect her for her tells. She had always been the worst liar.
She dared not blink or even breathe.
Lucky for her—and her lungs—the vampire eldress shattered the silence that had gathered over their peoples.
“Daywalkers! Leave this space now! It is our time to harvest from the orchard!” She commanded, standing tall. “You can come back tomorrow and gather what is left!”
“Not a chance, vampire!” Her father turned back to the woman. “You will pick the orchards clean and leave our supplies depleted!”
“Then you can come back in a month, when there is new fruit!”
“We were here first!” Ray cried, rallying the young daywalkers.
“Isn’t it about time you all got back to your beds? Wouldn’t want you to be caught out after sunset!” A young vampire stepped forward, hissing at him and flashing her fangs. “We all know you daywalkers can’t handle the dark.” She smirked, eyes still glowing.
“Shouldn’t you be hiding from the sun for another few hours?” Ray put on a brave face, but her tough act had clearly freaked him out, and Nova saw the flash of his fire gauntlet as he prepared to ready a solar flare.
Nova’s eyes skimmed over the crowd. This was bad. Vampires and daywalkers fighting over the bloodfruit was common, of course, but seriously, what were the chances that they’d both rock up here at the same time?
Could it be that their city’s orchard was in as bad a state as theirs was?
Still, she knew for a fact that her people had more than enough fruit left over from the last harvest to make it another few weeks, if needed. They could easily back off this time, let the vampires have this harvest and come back when the trees were lush again. But her people would never do that. Their pride was too great. Especially when it came to the vampires.
Her eyes landed on the boy from her dreams.
He was looking around, too, seeming just as nervous about a firefight as she was.
Their eyes locked, and a jolt went down her spine.
They had to fix this. Had to find a way to settle both sides. Otherwise, she’d never get a chance to talk to him. Her soulmate.
“Screw this,” the girl from earlier stepped forward again. “Get out of my way, I’m flying over.”
Nova’s breath caught as the girl spread her arms; the change in the wind was instant as it swirled around her.
No! She couldn’t!
The vampires hadn’t been there when they’d discovered the force field. She’d be killed!
“Wait!” Nova cried, rushing forward. She picked up a pinecone and hurled it at the top of the gate as hard as she could.
Sparks flew instantly as the seed exploded on impact.
It landed back at the foot of the gate, a charred husk.
“Nova! Why did you warn the vampire?” Her father snapped at her.
“Because I don’t want them to die!” She glared back at him, holding firm.
She didn’t care how much vampires and daywalkers hated each other; she wasn’t about to stand back and watch someone, a teenager just like her, seriously hurt themselves when she knew there was something she could do about it.
“But they’re our enemies!”
“I don’t care!” She snapped, throwing her hands up. “I will not stand by and let you hurt someone just because they’re different from us. Besides, they need to find the keys too. We might be able to help each other.”
“Wait. Keys?”
Nova’s heart leapt into her throat as her vampire stepped forward. Only to flush at the thought. Her vampire? Where had that come from?
“The gate is locked,” she faced him, trying to ignore the heat flooding under her skin. “We need three keys to unlock it, but we don’t know what they are.”
“Oh.” He blinked at her owlishly.
“Nova!” Her father scolded her, but she ignored him, eyes on the vampire as he stepped forward.
“Can I?” He gestured at the gate, and Nova nodded, stepping aside for him.
The rest of the young daywalkers near her did the same, naturally following her lead—or perhaps just not wanting to be near the vampire— and let the vampire approach the gate, though Ray and a few others did not look happy about it.
“Gather.” The vampire read aloud, frowning at the word. “What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure,” Nova stepped closer to him. “I’ve never seen those rings before, either. Maybe it’s a location? It wants us to gather wherever that is—"
“And that’s where the key will be hidden!” His eyes lit up as he finished her sentence, turning back to face her.
Nova’s heart stuttered in her chest.
God, he was pretty. And that voice.
“You’re really smart,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, looking nervous.
“Thanks,” Nova blushed, ducking her head to hide the colour.
“Well, we’re gonna find wherever that is first!” Ray jumped in, effectively ruining the moment. “That key is ours, vampire freak!” He stepped between Nova and the boy.
“As if,” the girl from earlier jumped in again, smacking Ray’s hand away.
“Yeah, we’re gonna find all three keys, and this harvest is gonna be all ours. Right, Vera?” Another young vampire stepped forward, leaning an arm on the girl’s shoulder and offering her a fist bump.
“Right,” she nodded, turning back to Ray. “You should just run home while you still have blood left in your body.” Her eyes lit up, and she bared her fangs again.
Nova stepped back, watching as tension continued to grow between the young vampires and daywalkers.
A glance back at her dad proved him to be arguing with the vampire eldress, something about breaking their schedule, even though she knew they had done the same.
Her eyes shot back to the boy of her dreams.
He was already looking at her.
She felt like she could read the look in his eyes, knowing exactly what he was thinking despite not even knowing his name.
Was this because of the soulbond they shared? Did vampires even have soulmates?
He raised a brow at her, and Nova straightened, nodding her head.
They would team up. Stop their people from fighting. Find the keys together and split this harvest evenly among their people.
It was the only way.
All she needed was something to get everyone’s attention.
She held up a palm, focusing on her fire-gauntlet and summoning a solar flare. She let the flare grow before tossing it up in the air. It quickly exploded into a blast of fireworks over the heads of the crowd.
She tried to ignore the awe on the vampire’s face.
“Everybody! Listen!” She called, as all eyes in the clearing snapped to her, half of the crowd fearful and the other half miffed. “We have a proposal!”
“Yeah!” The vampire spoke up, moving to stand next to her. “We have to work together to open the gate!”
“Why should we trust you?” Ray heckled but stopped when Nova levelled her glare at him.
“It’s not about trust, it’s about teamwork!” She straightened her back. “Dad,” she turned to the man, “when we got here, we had no idea what this clue meant. But together,” she gestured between herself and the vampire, “we have an actual, real hint! We need their help to find the keys. I know it!”
“We’ll work together to find the keys,” the vampire laid a hand on her shoulder, and sparks shot from that point through her whole body. “We’ll unlock the gate and then split the harvest.”
“Now hold on—” her dad stepped forward, but Nova didn’t back down.
“Please, Dad,” she implored him. “You always say that you want me to step up. To prove that I’ll be a good leader to our people one day. Give me a shot. I know that we can do this!” She felt the vampire’s gaze burning into the side of her head, but forced her eyes to remain on her dad.
“Come on, aunty,” the vampire stepped up next. “You’re always telling me to take things more seriously. Well, now I am. How can I prove myself to you if you never give me the chance?”
Nova held her breath.
Would it work? Would the adults listen to them?
Or would they be so blinded by their pride and their ancient hatred for one another that they’d do something stupid, like start a war between their people?
She kept her eyes on her dad, refusing to be the first one to blink.
She meant what she’d said. The vampire being her soulmate definitely added to her need for their people to put aside their differences and get along, but Nova was sure she’d have fought for this anyway.
A chance for peace between their people.
A chance for less fear in Sunnyside.
An end to their ever-growing hunger.
She saw the moment her dad’s resolve crumbled.
“I’ll be the first to accept their terms.” He stepped forward. “Nova, I’m trusting you to do this. If we don’t get at least half of the fruit of this harvest, we’ll have to ration what we have remaining. Our people will suffer. Are you willing to risk it? To trust these vampires? Are you willing to stake your future leadership on it?”
Right. No pressure.
“I am,” she held her head up high.
“Fine then,” the vampire eldress folded her arms. “I’ll agree as well then. What is your first plan of action, Victor?”
Victor. So that was his name. It suited him.
“First plan of action is,” his eyes shot around nervously. “Camp!” He exclaimed suddenly, pointing up at a sign on a large tree. “A group of volunteers from each side will join us—” Nova’s heart leapt at the use of the word us— “at camp, and we’ll stay there until we’ve found all three keys.”
“Right,” Nova nodded along, his enthusiasm rubbing off on her. “Then, as soon as we open the gate, we’ll send word, and the harvest will be on!” She cheered, and some young daywalkers joined her. “For all of us,” she smiled at the vampire beside her.
“Right,” he grinned brightly, and Nova’s heart skipped again. “We got this.”
He was actually kind of enchanting, if she was honest with herself. Beautiful in a way no vampire ever should be. Charming, and funny, and kind in ways that Nova didn’t think possible for a teenage boy.
“We got this.” She agreed, smiling back at him.