The training hall was silent, the weight of blood and breath thick in the air. Joshua's eyes glowed a feral green, madness surging through his veins like wildfire. His claws extended, glistening with the blood of his own kind. With a brutal roar, he lunged at Julia, arm cocked back for a piercing strike aimed directly at her face.
But James moved faster.
The young vampire grabbed Joshua's arm with both hands, stopping the deadly thrust. Their eyes locked, green fury against crimson nobility.
"Let go!" Joshua snarled.
With a sharp jerk, he flung James off him like a ragdoll.
"I'M NOT INTO THAT GAY STUFF!" Joshua shouted, wild and reckless, his voice trembling with rage and instability.
James stumbled backward and in an instant, Joshua struck again, this time with a vertical slash aimed for James's neck. But Jonathan jumped in between, intercepting the blow.
Steel met flesh. Jonathan was thrown back with the sheer force of the blow, crashing into James and sending both tumbling to the floor. Blood trickled down Jonathan's arm.
Lying on top of the unconscious James, Jonathan looked at his wound, breathing heavily. "Joshua… you actually tried to kill him."
"He's a noble vampire. He would've survived." Joshua turned back toward Julia, his voice growing cold again. "Now, back to business."
He clenched his clawed fist and stepped forward, but Blanchette appeared between them. Tears streamed down her face as she cupped his cheeks with both hands.
"Joshua…" she whispered.
Joshua blinked, momentarily disarmed.
Blanchette's eyes quivered as she stared at his monstrous face, his glowing eyes and bared fangs. "Why are you doing this?"
"I'm protecting you," he murmured, holding her waist gently. "Don't cry, my love."
"I never asked you to do this," Blanchette sobbed. "Why are you becoming… a monster?"
Her knees gave out as she dropped to the floor, crying into her hands. Joshua stood over her in stunned silence before collapsing onto the floor himself, staring at nothing.
A monster.
I'm a monster.
We are a monster.
Pain like knives tore through his skull. Joshua clutched his head, rose shakily, and stumbled away, running without direction through the halls.
Jonathan stood and barked orders, "Tiffany. Heal them."
Tiffany silently moved to Julia and James, placing her glowing hands over their wounds. Slowly, the cuts closed. The two newcomers looked to one another, fear in their eyes.
"We do not speak of what happened today," Jonathan said grimly. "Joshua is not well. If any of you breathe a word of this… I will make you regret it."
The threat in his voice was unmistakable.
Tiffany finished healing Jonathan and turned to escort James and Julia to their quarters.
Jonathan walked to where Blanchette still sat. He rested a hand on her trembling shoulder.
Blanchette looked up, eyes desperate for answers.
Jonathan sighed, his voice heavy. "I broke him."
"What?" she whispered.
"I… killed Amy on purpose," Jonathan confessed. "She was going to take her own life if Joshua rejected her. So I orchestrated a fake date… and sent werewolves to attack. They tore her apart in front of him. I thought if she died smiling, it'd be better than dying alone. But I broke him instead."
Blanchette stared at him, horrified. Fury surged through her.
"You ruined him… because you couldn't be a father?" she seethed.
He barely had time to register the rage before her fist cracked against his jaw. He hit the floor hard, dazed. Blanchette climbed on top of him and began pummeling him, blow after blow.
"F**k your daughter!" she screamed, each word punctuated by another strike. Blood splattered across the marble floor until Jonathan lay unconscious, his face mangled and unrecognizable.
Standing over him, breath heaving, Blanchette wiped her bloodied hands on a handkerchief.
Joshua… I didn't understand. But I will now. Even if the world turns against you, I won't. Because I love you.
Joshua tore through the castle, trapped in a cycle of shifting and reverting, snarling and weeping. In his frenzy, he slammed into someone and fell hard to the floor.
"Joshua?" Merlin's voice called. She knelt beside him.
But he swatted her hand away.
"I'm a monster," he gasped, over and over. "The monster is me… I'm the monster…"
Then he ran again, vanishing into the darkening halls.
Blanchette came sprinting, panic in her voice. "Where is he?"
Merlin pointed. "The training ground."
Blanchette didn't wait.
The courtyard was cast in shadows. Night had fallen. Joshua knelt with his sword gripped tightly, the blade's point pressed to his chest. Tears streamed down his face.
"I am a monster," he whispered. "She said it. She said it… It's true."
With a cry of despair, he began to drive the blade into his chest...
"STOP!"
Blanchette's voice rang out as she lunged forward, grabbing the blade with both hands. Blood poured down her palms.
Joshua looked up in shock. "Why would you…?"
"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "You're not a monster, Joshua. You're the man I love."
He let go of the sword. She dropped it too and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly as he wept into her shoulder.
"I don't deserve you," he choked.
"I'm not leaving you," she whispered. "Not now. Not ever."
Later that night, they lay under the moonlight. Joshua's head rested on her lap as she stroked his hair.
"Promise me," she said gently, "you'll learn to control your power. That you won't let it consume you."
"I promise," Joshua whispered, eyes soft with sincerity. "I'll become the man you'll be proud to love."
Blanchette smiled and leaned down to kiss him, their lips meeting under the stars, the moon casting its silver blessing upon them both.
And for the first time in days, the monster inside Joshua was silent.