CHAPTER VIII
"The Forest of Shadows"
Nexa's point of view
The night was pitch black, and the dense forest loomed like a living creature—breathing, whispering, watching. This was no ordinary forest. It was the same deadly woodland where, after sundown, the werewolves were known to hunt… ruthlessly. The air was thick with danger, the kind that presses down on your chest and makes your skin crawl. And there I stood, an unfamiliar girl beside me — Riru, still holding my hand, though I had almost forgotten.
I wasn't scared of the forest. No. What terrified me more was the storm inside me — the unbearable mix of rage and pain churning in my chest, clawing to escape. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to vanish. But I did none of those. Instead, I stood in silence, trying to keep the dam from bursting.
Riru looked at me gently and said, "I'm a detective, Nexa. In my profession, I've had to lie to my family more times than I can count. And my parents get angry too — sometimes really angry. But that doesn't mean they don't love me."
Her voice was soft, almost pleading — like she truly believed that love still existed in such twisted forms.
I hid my tears behind the black sunglasses still resting on my face. My voice came out hollow, like something inside me had broken. "Riru… your parents love you. Maybe most people in this world are lucky enough to have parents who love them. But not me. My parents—" I paused, clenching my fists, "—they see me as nothing but a burden. Something they've been trying to erase their whole lives. They don't love me. They never did."
Riru opened her mouth, searching for words, trying to comfort me. "That's not true, Nexa. Maybe they're just angry now. Give them time. They'll come around. They'll try to reach out to you."
I turned to her, my eyes burning with a fire I could barely control. "Did your parents ever gather the entire world — nobles, elites, strangers — and humiliate you in front of them? Did they ever slap you for not being enough? For not shining bright enough for their polished reputation?"
Her lips parted slightly, but she didn't speak. She couldn't. Because even she knew what had happened to me tonight wasn't love. It was cruelty wearing the mask of status.
The silence between us deepened, only the rustling of leaves and distant howls filling the air now.
And in that moment… something inside me snapped.
An unexplainable darkness crept into my thoughts. Twisted. Cold. Dangerous.
I felt the raw urge to destroy. To let out the fury I'd been swallowing my whole life. My blood was boiling and my heart screamed for justice — or revenge — I couldn't tell the difference anymore. My thoughts spiraled.
Why not kill someone?
The voice in my head whispered, low and venomous.
No one knows she's with me. No one would ever find her. Not in this forest. Not tonight.
I glanced at Riru — calm, gentle Riru, who only meant well.
Would the world even care if she disappeared?
A terrible idea slithered through my mind.
Why not her?
But even in my anger — somewhere deep beneath the chaos — I still held her hand.
Even as the darkness surged inside me, her fingers were still wrapped around mine.
And maybe that tiny connection… that fragile human touch… was the only thing stopping me from becoming the monster they believed I was.
But the night wasn't over yet.
And neither was the storm inside me.
"The Edge of Control"
I was still lost in the chaos of my own mind — consumed by a storm of rage and heartbreak. My thoughts had begun to spiral again, darker and sharper this time. I kept wondering how I could silence this pain inside me. How could I make it stop — this ache, this betrayal, this feeling of not being wanted?
And then… my hand unconsciously began moving toward the secret knife hidden beneath the folds of my jacket. A special blade — one only I knew about — forged not just from steel but from years of suppressed anger. My heart thudded violently in my chest. My fingers brushed against the cold handle. I could almost feel the weight of it in my palm… and the relief that might come after.
I was ready.
Fully, completely ready to kill.
To kill Riru.
She, who was just trying to help.
She, who didn't know the monster she was holding hands with.
She, who was moments away from becoming my first victim.
But just as my hand closed in on the knife, I felt hers grasp mine — tight, firm, sudden.
"Nexa!" she gasped, eyes wide. Before I could react, she yanked me forward and started running — dragging me with her through the thick forest.
"What the hell are you doing?" I shouted, startled, my hand now away from the weapon.
She didn't stop. "There's something out there!" she cried breathlessly. "Some dangerous creature — I don't know what kind, and I don't want to find out. We have to run!"
My heart skipped. I hadn't heard anything. I had been too focused — too caught in my own bloodlust. But as she pulled me through the tangled underbrush, a part of me — cold and cruel — thought:
How lucky you are, Riru.
The gods are on your side tonight.
But for how long?
Because I still wasn't sure if I wanted her to live.
Suddenly, I stopped running. I tore my hand away from hers, letting her stumble forward alone. My eyes narrowed, my senses sharpening. I activated my enhanced hearing — a gift I rarely used — and honed in on the faint, heavy growl echoing through the trees.
There was something out there. Something big. And angry.
And maybe… useful.
"I'll take care of this," I muttered to myself, stepping away from Riru without another word.
Without turning back, I charged toward the sound with inhuman speed, leaves and dirt kicking up behind me. I didn't care if Riru stayed behind, or if she screamed for me to stop. She wasn't my responsibility.
Not anymore.
Not ever.
She was just a shadow I had dragged into my night.
And I had left her in that pitch-dark forest — alone.
Just like I had always been.
"A Glimpse of the Unseen Heart"
It didn't take me long to track the creature whose growls had echoed through the darkness. I moved swiftly, cutting through the thick shadows of the forest like a phantom, my senses razor-sharp and focused. My footsteps made no sound; I was a silent predator, hungry for something — anything — to devour.
But as I reached the source of the sound…
I stopped.
My breath caught.
And I instinctively stepped back, folding my powers inward, silencing even the wind around me.
What I saw in front of me wasn't a monster…
It was a moment of life.
There — under the silvery-blue shimmer of the moonlight — a female Dracula was giving birth. Her face, though twisted in pain, held an otherworldly grace. Her eyes shimmered with tears, not of sorrow, but of fierce, raw love. Beside her knelt her partner — her mate, her husband — trembling, unsure, helpless. The strength in his body was useless now, because what his beloved needed wasn't power… it was comfort.
And he, despite everything, was trying to give her just that.
I stood frozen, my thoughts splintering.
How can I kill a mother?
How can I strike down someone who is bringing life into this cruel world — a world that has always taken more than it gives?
And the father… he wasn't threatening. He wasn't a warrior. He was just a scared partner praying for the safety of his family.
The blade in my coat suddenly felt heavy. Wrong.
My breath trembled.
And then, from behind me, I heard soft footsteps — light, careful…
Riru.
Of course.
She had followed me.
She saw what I saw, and instead of fear, a gentle determination lit up her face. Without hesitation, she moved forward — toward the very beings I had considered destroying. Not to fight, but to help.
She knelt beside the struggling Dracula mother and whispered soothing words. She took the trembling father's hand in hers, guiding him gently to her side. Her voice was calm, her presence steady. She didn't care that they were creatures of the night — blood-drinkers, feared by all. She only saw the humanity in them. The vulnerability. The family.
And in that moment… I saw Riru differently.
Not as a foolish girl who had accidentally wandered into my story.
But as someone who saw life where I only saw darkness.
As someone who healed while I… broke things.
She wasn't just trying to help them.
She was showing me something too.
But I wasn't ready to admit it.
Not yet.
I stayed hidden in the shadows — silently watching — as a baby cried its first cry under a haunted moon…
And for once, I didn't feel the need to run.
Or kill.
Or destroy.
I just… stood there.
And felt.
To be continue....