# BLOOD AND MOONLIGHT ## *A Werewolf Horror Romance Serial*# CHAPTER 1: THE HUNTERS' MARK
The village of Blackthorn had survived for three centuries by obeying one simple rule: lock your doors when the moon bleeds red.
Elena Marchetti no longer believed in rules.
She stood at the edge of the forest, her lantern casting a trembling circle of light against the ancient pines. Behind her, the village slept—trusting in their iron locks and blessed thresholds. Ahead, the woods breathed. Dark. Alive. Waiting.
"Dr. Marchetti." The voice came from her left. Old Man Hemlock, leaning on his cane, his face carved from the same weathered bark as the trees he was named after. "You go in there again, you won't come out."
Elena didn't turn. "That's what they said last week."
"They were wrong last week." Hemlock took a shuddering step closer. "They won't be wrong forever."
She should have thanked him for the concern. Should have nodded, smiled her doctor's smile—the one that said I know what I'm doing even when she absolutely did not. But Elena was tired of pretending. Three months since she'd arrived in Blackthorn, taking over the practice from old Dr. Morris who'd "retired south" according to the villagers. Three months of treating fevers and setting bones and delivering babies. Three months of listening to whispered warnings about the forest and the things that lived in it.
Three months since her sister disappeared into these same woods.
"Go home, Hemlock." She stepped past the treeline. "I'll be back before dawn."
The lantern light swallowed her whole.
The path was one she'd memorized in daylight—a game trail that wound past the old Miller property, forked at the lightning-struck oak, then descended into the ravine where search parties had found Lydia's scarf three months ago. Elena had walked it fifty times. Fifty-one, now.
She moved quickly, efficiently. The .45 caliber pistol tucked into her waistband was a recent addition. Dr. Morris had left it in his desk drawer, along with a note that read: For emergencies. You'll know when.
Elena hadn't known. Not then. But she'd kept the gun anyway.
The ravine opened before her like a wound in the earth. At its bottom, moonlight pooled in the creek that ran through Blackthorn all the way to the sea. Lydia's scarf had been found caught on a branch near the water's edge, torn but clean. No blood. No sign of struggle. Just—gone.
Elena descended slowly, her boots slipping on dew-wet leaves. The lantern swung, casting dancing shadows that made her heart stutter with every flicker.
You're a doctor, she reminded herself. You don't believe in monsters.
But the village did. The village had always believed.
She reached the creek and knelt, setting the lantern beside her. The water ran clear and cold, moonlight fracturing on its surface. Lydia had been here. Elena felt it in her bones—that strange, wordless certainty that comes from sharing blood with someone. Twin blood.
Something moved in the darkness behind her.
Elena didn't breathe. Didn't turn. Her hand moved slowly, incrementally, toward the gun at her waist.
The movement stopped.
She waited. Counted her heartbeats—one, two, three, four, five—
A twig snapped. Close. Too close.
Elena spun, gun raised, lantern swinging—
And found nothing.
Just trees. Just shadows. Just the endless, watching dark.
But on the ground at her feet, where there had been only leaves a moment before, lay a single object. Elena picked it up with trembling fingers.
A silver locket. Engraved with two names:
Elena & Lydia
Forever tied
Her sister's locket. The one she'd worn every day since their fifteenth birthday. The one Elena had given her.
"Lydia?" The name escaped her lips before she could stop it. "Lydia!"
The forest answered with silence.
Elena clutched the locket to her chest, her medical training screaming at her to calm down, assess rationally, look for evidence. But she couldn't. Because the locket was warm. Warm as a living body. Warm as if someone had just been wearing it.
She turned it over. On the back, engraved in the same delicate script, was a message that hadn't been there before:
HE LIVES IN THE BLOOD
Thank you for reading Chapter 1 of "Blood and Moonlight"! This is an original horror romance serial created exclusively for Steemit.
📖 What's this story about?
A small-town doctor searching for her missing sister. A cursed werewolf who remembers his humanity. A forbidden love that could destroy them both—or save everything.