[A/N: Chapter 5~7 now available for early access on Patreon ~]
Raven's figure plummeted through the sky, each inhuman leap devouring vast distances.
She soared from rooftop to rooftop, the full moon casting their forms as fleeting, dark silhouettes against the cloudless night.
Every stride felt effortless to her.
Every landing sent them further across the sleeping city, as if the streets and alleys beneath didn't exist at all.
Val forced himself to think of nothing else but holding on.
Tightly.
Desperately.
His knuckles whitened against the folds of her cloak.
His expression had gone pale.
Those deep-blue eyes—once cold, now wide and unsettled—kept drifting over the dizzying gaps she crossed with ease.
By now, the truth had rooted itself in his mind.
She wasn't human.
Couldn't be.
Her white hair, her uncanny strength, the way she moved… all of it was steeped in a mystique that made his pulse quicken for reasons beyond fear.
But then—
What was she?
The question rose unbidden, clawing at him as the ground stretched far, far below.
The wind up here was sharp, biting, cold enough to sting his skin.
And as his mind brushed against an answer—an answer that chilled him more than the wind ever could—he bit it back.
He didn't dare speak it aloud.
Didn't dare test whether the fear was truth.
So instead, he locked it away—sealing it deep inside his mind where it would remain nothing more than a thought.
Fortunately, a distraction came quickly, pulling Val from his spiraling thoughts and from the dizzying height yawning beneath them. Unfortunately, it was not the kind he would have welcomed.
As Raven launched into another powerful leap, a sharp, tearing whistle split the night. Something fast—deadly—ripped through the air in a blink, homing in on them.
A blinding blast detonated just shy of their path. The air convulsed with a thunderous roar as a shockwave slammed into them, ripping the two straight out of the sky.
Wind howled in Val's ears, shrill as a wail, as they plummeted. Raven hit the next rooftop hard, the impact sending their world tumbling, spinning in a blur of shattering momentum.
Val rolled out of Raven's grasp, slamming shoulder-first into the unyielding concrete. Air punched from his lungs in a ragged gasp. His vision swam, edges tinged red beneath the cold, starless night. Even remembering how to breathe seemed momentarily impossible.
He grovelled on the rooftop, muscles trembling under the aftershock. His ears still rang from the earlier blast, a hollow, piercing whine that swallowed all other sound.
Before he could find his bearings, a sudden force yanked him upward.
The spot where he'd been crouched erupted in a violent explosion less than a second later, tearing a gaping wound into the rooftop.
The shockwave surged behind them like an ocean tide. Raven clutched Val close, her face fierce, violet eyes glinting with a dangerous red.
But they were too close—far too close. Even spared the direct blast, the force battered them, sending Raven spinning off-balance. They tumbled through the air, stripped of all control, plummeting off the shattered rooftop.
A heartbeat later, the window of the next building gave way beneath them. Glass erupted outward in a glittering storm, scattering into the night like shards of ice.
The fragments bounced harmlessly from Raven's skin, her cloak snapping around Val in a dark, protective fold.
They struck the wooden floor hard. The impact jarred through Val's bones as they rolled to a stop. Another groan escaped him—weak, involuntary.
His senses felt overturned, scattered like pieces on a chessboard mid-game. He hadn't even recovered from the first explosion before the second had come for them.
"Quickly."
Raven's voice cut through the ringing in Val's ears—sharp, urgent, and carrying an undercurrent of something darker… a subtle, predatory edge.
Her grip was unyielding as she hauled him upright. Thanks to her cloak's protection, not a shard of glass had cut him, but his body felt battered and leaden. His legs especially were stiff and unresponsive, like roots sunk deep into the floor.
Even if he'd wanted to resist, there was no strength left to draw on. Raven's pull was firm, yet unsettlingly gentle—like a parent dragging a dazed child from danger. Val couldn't even muster a curse; his body simply followed, unthinking.
She guided him through a doorway and down a narrow flight of stairs. Each step landed heavy, echoing in the enclosed dark. The sound was a thunderclap in the stillness, and yet… no one came.
The passage was silent. Dead silent. The stillness pressed in, thick as earth over a grave.
Two explosions—loud enough to wake the dead—and no sign of life. No windows lighting up, no voices calling out, no footsteps hurrying closer. Outside, the night remained still. The moon hung cold and uncaring.
It was as if the world beyond them had simply… vanished.
"We can't keep running," Raven murmured, voice low but tight. "There's not much time before they find us here."
Raven led Val down into what looked like an underground cellar—more basement than bunker—its corners lit by a few dim lamps that cast long, wavering shadows on the damp walls. The wooden stairs groaned under their combined weight. Without so much as a glance at him, Raven pushed the door shut behind them in one swift motion, though they both knew it wouldn't matter.
What good was a flimsy wooden door against what was coming?
"You still haven't explained anything clearly," Val rasped.
He slid down until he was sitting on the cold, splintered floorboards, breath ragged, every nerve in his body screaming. Pain pulsed through him with each heartbeat, his head lolling as he fought to keep it upright.
"Who exactly are we running from?" he asked hoarsely. "These… Executioners—who exactly are they?"
Raven turned around, her violet eyes sweeping over Val's battered figure, lingering for a heartbeat too long as a flash of aching worry flickered in their depths. Her gaze was sharp, yet shadowed—like she was already weighing the danger ahead against the fragile state he was in.
"Not who," she said at last, her voice low and deliberate. "What."
Val frowned, confusion flickering across his face. "What?"
"Vampires."
The word fell between them like a stone dropped into deep water.
Val froze, the syllables echoing in his mind, unraveling something primal inside him. He choked on his next breath, the half-formed words dying in his throat. A strange, icy tremor gripped him, starting at the base of his spine and crawling upward until it spilled across his shoulders. Within seconds, an inexplicable chill had seeped into his bones, drenching his back wholly in a film of sticky, cold sweat.
And then—he caught it. The scent. Heavy and sweet, metallic and wrong. An intoxicating smell of blood saturated the air, clinging to every breath he took, turning the night itself into something sharp and predatory.