I should've kept walking.
Should've never turned back.
But his voice keeps echoing in my mind.
"Then let yourself want."
It's the most dangerous thing anyone's ever said to me.
And I'm a vampire.
I've heard a lot of dangerous things.
The city is starting to stir. I watch it from a rooftop, the cold wind slicing through the holes in my coat. I haven't fed in six days.
The hunger burns now. It's no longer a whisper—it's claws in my throat, needles behind my eyes.
But I can't do it.
Not after being with him.
Not after hearing his heartbeat.
I close my eyes.
I see Ren's face again. The way he looked at me—not with fear, not even with pity. But with belief. Like he thought I could still be something other than what I am.
He doesn't understand.
Vampires don't get saved.
We just survive.
Until we can't.
I leap from the rooftop.
My boots hit the wet alley pavement with a slap. Rats scatter. A man slumps unconscious nearby. I can smell the alcohol on him, the rot in his blood.
I walk past him.
I can't take from the sick.
I can't take from the weak.
I can't take from—
anyone.
Not anymore.
My fingers tremble as I slide down the brick wall and sink into the shadows. My fangs pulse behind my lips, throbbing. I press the heel of my palm to my chest, trying to breathe like I used to when I was human.
But the truth is: I'm not hungry for blood right now.
Not only.
I'm hungry for him.
For warmth.
For the way his voice softened when he said my name. The way his eyes didn't flinch from mine. The way he reached out—not away.
He made me remember I used to want things.
Before I became this.
Footsteps.
I tense.
They're too light to be a threat.
I smell her before I see her.
The sister.
Kyouko Tsurugi.
She's across the street, just beyond the chapel ruins.
Looking around.
She knows.
She's hunting me—not with blades this time, but with suspicion.
Good.
She should.
Because I am still a monster.
And if I stay near Ren—
I'll become worse.
The wind changes again. I smell blood—but not human.
It's old. Foul. Wrong.
Not me. Not mine.
Something else.
No... someone else.
And just like that, the hunger is gone. Replaced by something colder. Something sharper.
Danger.
We're not alone.
Ren is being watched.
And I'm done watching from the dark.