A sharp gasp tore from Adel's throat as she tried controlling her new self.
Her chest was open, air rushing into her lungs. But something was wrong. The cold bit at her skin in a way it never had before. The cave was silent, except for the rhythmic thumping, one heartbeat, but it wasn't hers.
Slowly, her vision sharpened. The scent of blood thickened, intoxicating, overwhelming. She turned her head, eyes locking onto Rico, who was cradling a small, swaddled bundle.
She tried to move, but her limbs felt new like she was learning how to use them for the first time. A deep hunger dawned at her insides, an emptiness she couldn't describe. Then, memories began appearing to her. Memories of pain, birth. The cold embrace of death. But she was alive again.
Her fingers trembled as she touched her throat, her hand too, expecting to feel the wound that had torn her apart, but there was nothing. Just smooth, perfect skin.
Her breath hitched. "Rico...?" At the sound of her voice, Rico's head snapped up. Relief flooded his eyes. He looked exhausted, but the moment he saw her awake, his entire body sagged as if a great weight had been lifted.
"You're alive." He said with a smile, calmly with a feeling of happiness. The word tasted wrong. She wasn't alive. She was something else.
Her fingers dug into the cold dirt beneath her. "What did you do?"
Rico swallowed hard, setting Matteo down on the cave's softest patch of ground. The baby moved but remained asleep. "I couldn't lose you, Adel, I needed to save you the best way I could."
She knew. She didn't need to ask. The truth burned through her. He had turned her.
Adel's body trembled, not from fear, but from something deeper. Loss.
She wasn't human anymore. Her heart clenched. Everything, the warmth of the sun, the way her skin used to glow in the light, the simple joys of being human, everything was gone.
Her breathing grew erratic. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling nothing. No heartbeat. No warmth.
Rico reached for her, but she recoiled.
"You took everything from me," she whispered.
Rico flinched, pain flickering across his face. "I saved you."
Adel stared at him, feeling something inside her fracture. A storm raged within her, grief and fury twisting together. But before she could speak, something outside the cave shifted.
A low growl. Rico's head snapped toward the entrance. "They found us."
Adel barely had time to process the words before the shadows outside the cave moved.
They were Kobo's hunt men, and Adel's instincts screamed. Her body responded before she could think. She shot to her feet, her movements impossibly fast, her senses sharper than ever. The scent of the hunters' blood flooded her nostrils, and for the first time, it smelled... appealing.
Rico grabbed his child and yanked Adel's hand. "We have to go. Now!"
She hesitated for only a second. Then, with one last glance at the moonlit cave, she followed him into the darkness.
So many years had passed since the incident. The city was nothing like the forest. It smelled of steel, gasoline, and human sweat. Lights buzzed in the streets, drowning the night in a constant glow.
Adel pulled the hood of her coat lower over her face.
Living as humans was an illusion. A carefully crafted lie. She and Rico had forged new identities, blending into a world that wasn't theirs. Their existence was a performance. They rented an apartment, lived in disguise, and played the role of a married couple with a human child.
Her eyes flicked to her seven-year-old boy seated across from her at the small kitchen table. His dark curls fell over his face as he toyed with his cereal. He was quiet, too quiet.
Then, he looked up. "Mom, my teeth hurt."
Adel's breath caught as she watched Matteo open his mouth slightly, revealing sharp, pearl-white fangs pressing against his lower lip. They were small but unmistakable.
Adel forced herself to stay calm. She met Rico's eyes across the room. He had noticed too. Rico set down his newspaper. "It's just growing pains," he said lightly. "Like when kids lose their baby teeth."
Matteo frowned. "But none of my friends have these." He poked one of his fangs with a small finger.
Adel forced a smile. "Everyone is different, sweetheart. Maybe you're just special."
Matteo beamed at that, his childlike innocence washing away the concern in his golden eyes.
Adel and Rico exchanged a look as Matteo turned back to his cereal. They were lying to him. To them, It was safer this way.
At age sixteen, Matteo's screams echoed through the house. Adel and Rico rushed into his room. He was curled in the corner, his hands covered in blood.
Adel's stomach twisted. "Matteo!"
He looked up, his golden eyes wide with terror. "I hurt them."
Adel knelt beside him, gripping his shoulders. "Who?"
"My friends. They were teasing me, and I…." He choked on his words, his body trembling. "I got angry. I didn't mean to. But I felt… something. And then they were bleeding."
Adel's breath caught. His hands. His nails were sharper, his fangs fully grown.
Matteo was no longer just a boy. "You never told me," he whispered, voice breaking. "What am I?"
Adel felt her heart crack. Rico knelt beside her. "Matteo..."
But Matteo jerked away. His eyes flashed red for the first time.
"Don't!" he shouted. "Don't lie to me!" The air in the room thickened, charged with something dark. Adel reached for him, but Matteo backed away.
"You made me a monster. You knew I was a monster. You've always known"
Adel's throat tightened. "No, you're not baby"
"Then what am I?" His voice was raw. "I hurt them. I tasted their blood and what hurts me most is that I liked it." He said again in so much agony.
Adel had no words. Matteo's gaze darted between his parents, betrayal burning in his eyes. Then, without another word, he bolted.
"Matteo!" Adel screamed in tears. But he was gone. The night swallowed him whole.
It had always been Adel's plan to keep this cursed secret from him, but now their boy was gone.
Rico clenched his jaw, his hands trembling. "We have to find him before someone else does."
Adel stared at the door, fear clawing at her insides… for some reason, she felt in her that it would be the last time in a long time they'd see him, because, for the first time, Matteo knew the truth.