Therese couldn't stop trembling as she stared at the pendant in the dirt before her. The world around her seemed to blur, and the weight of the memories that surged within her was too much to bear. She had seen this pendant before. She had worn it—around her neck, close to her heart—during her past life. It had been a part of her, something she cherished, something that had tied her to the world she had once known.
But those memories were painful. They were a cruel reminder of what had been taken from her. Betrayal. Death. A life that had been torn away by forces beyond her understanding.
She reached down, her fingers trembling as she picked up the pendant, feeling the cool metal against her skin. The symbols carved into it were unfamiliar, yet intimately known. It felt as if her soul recognized them, like they held the key to something deeper—something hidden beneath the surface of this new existence.
"What is that?" Elias's voice broke through the haze of her thoughts. He stood beside her, his eyes wide with concern, but there was an edge of confusion in his voice, too. "What did you just remember?"
Therese didn't answer immediately. She couldn't find the words. Instead, she just clutched the pendant in her hand, her nails digging into the cold surface as the memories continued to flood her mind.
There had been a time, long ago, when she had been a different person. A time before her death. Before she had become this... this creature. She had been someone with power, someone who had been deeply entwined with the world around her. A leader, perhaps? But it wasn't just power that filled her memories. There had been love, too. And loss. A loss that had cost her everything.
"Therese…" Elias's voice was softer now, almost cautious. "You've been through something. I can see it. But you need to tell me what's happening."
The words were almost too much to process. Her body trembled as she fought to keep herself grounded, to maintain some semblance of control. But the hunger—the constant, gnawing thirst for blood—was still there, lurking just beneath the surface, ready to consume her. She couldn't let it take over again. Not now, not when she was so close to unlocking the secrets of her past.
"I…" Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she paused, trying to steady her breathing. "I was someone else. I remember now. I was important. Powerful. But it was taken from me. I… I was betrayed."
Elias looked at her with wide eyes, his brow furrowed. "Betrayed? By who?"
Therese's mind raced. She could almost see their faces, feel their presence like ghosts from a past life. But the details were fuzzy, elusive. The memories slipped through her fingers like sand. All she had left were fragments. Faces without names. Events without clarity.
"I don't know," she whispered. "But I was killed. Someone… someone wanted me dead, and they succeeded."
Elias's hand instinctively reached out, but Therese flinched, pulling back. She wasn't ready for comfort, not yet. The pain of her past life was too fresh, too raw, and she didn't want anyone to see how much it hurt.
"But how is this possible?" Elias asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "You're alive. You should be dead. I found you, Therese. You were preserved in that tomb for centuries. How is any of this even real?"
Therese looked at him, her expression hardening. She didn't have answers. She didn't even know how she was still here, in this new body. All she knew was that she was alive again, reborn as something else. Something dangerous. Something that couldn't go back to the life she had once known.
The voice returned, filling her mind once again with its cold command.
*Find the ones who wronged you.*
Therese gasped, her eyes widening. The voice—it wasn't just a whisper now. It was insistent, demanding. And it was clear. It wanted her to do something. To seek vengeance. To find the people who had betrayed her.
"I have to go," she said suddenly, standing up and brushing the dirt from her hands. The weight of the pendant around her neck felt heavier now, like a burden she couldn't escape. "I have to find them."
"Find who?" Elias's voice was laced with confusion. "You don't even know who they are, Therese. How can you—"
"I'll remember," she interrupted, her eyes narrowing as she stared into the night. The moonlight bathed the graveyard in an eerie glow, casting long shadows across the tombstones. "The truth is in my past. And I will find it. I will find them."
Elias took a step back, clearly alarmed. "Therese, you can't just go off searching for answers like this. You don't even know what you're dealing with. You're not the same as you were before. You're—"
"I'm not the same, Elias," she said, her voice low and steady. "But I'm still me. I still have my memories. I still have my will. And that's enough."
Without another word, she turned and started walking away, the pendant still clutched tightly in her hand. Elias stood frozen for a moment, staring after her, before he quickly ran to catch up.
"Wait!" he called out, his voice a mixture of frustration and concern. "I'm not letting you do this alone, Therese. I don't know what's happening, but I'm not going to let you walk into danger by yourself. We need to figure this out together."
Therese stopped, her back to him. She could feel the pull of the past, the pull of the truth, beckoning her forward. But she didn't want to be alone in this. She knew that she needed answers, and maybe Elias could help her—though she didn't entirely trust him.
For now, he would be her guide. At least until she could uncover the truth.
"Fine," she said after a long pause, her voice colder than before. "You can come. But stay out of my way. This is something I have to do."
And so, together, they walked into the unknown, the weight of the past and the future bearing down on them. Therese didn't know what they would find—or if they'd even survive the journey—but one thing was certain: her path had been set. And nothing would stop her from discovering the truth.