The tear in space did not remain quiet for long.
What had begun as a thin, fractured line in the air soon widened with a slow, dragging motion, as though something on the other side was forcing its way through, stretching the very fabric of the world with deliberate strength. The edges of the tear trembled, flickering between existence and collapse, until the darkness within it deepened and grew heavy enough to feel.
Then—
Something stepped out.
It was a vampire.
Not in the way the Moonshade family knew themselves.
Not in the way their elders carried presence or their ancestors held dignity.
This was something else entirely.
The moment his foot touched the ground, the world changed.
The sky turned red.
Not gradually.
Not gently.
It was as if someone had taken a brush dipped in blood and dragged it across the heavens in a single motion, staining everything above with a deep crimson glow that pulsed faintly like a living thing.
The air thickened.
