Chapter 3 — Blood Moon Rising
The night was never supposed to look like this.
A red moon hovered above the clouds, bleeding across the sky, its light spilling over the trembling city. The wind howled as if the earth itself were warning everyone to run.
Sirens screamed. Streets cracked open. The world had entered its judgment night.
Riven stood on the rooftop of his school, his black jacket torn and blood running down his hand. His crimson eyes flickered faintly — not from pain, but from something… awakening.
Down below, chaos ruled. People were running, crying, and screaming as corpses clawed their way out from beneath the concrete.
It was the Blood Moon Eclipse.
And it had chosen him.
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"RIVEN! GET DOWN!"
Kael shouted from the street, gripping a metal pipe, swinging it with ferocity as a rotting creature lunged toward him. The thing's mouth gaped open, eyes glowing faintly green.
Riven leaped from the rooftop, landing beside his best friend. "What the hell are these things?!"
Kael slammed another zombie back. "They're not supposed to exist, bro!"
Before Riven could reply, a piercing scream tore through the sky — not human, not even close.
From the shadows of the clouds, dark-winged figures began descending. Their eyes burned crimson, their pale skin reflecting the blood moon's glow. Fangs glinted like blades.
Vampires.
They weren't myths.
They were home.
---
The Crimson Realm had opened.
Through the rift in the sky, thousands of them poured down — soldiers of night, their armor black as death, carrying weapons that shimmered with dark runes. The vampires didn't attack the humans first; instead, they descended upon the zombies, slicing through them with impossible speed.
Riven and Kael froze, watching the creatures fight each other. Blood splattered across the street — red against green.
For a second, humanity's enemies were fighting each other.
"Why… why are they fighting the zombies?" Kael gasped.
Riven's vision blurred. Something burned in his chest, a whisper echoing through his mind:
> "When the Blood Moon rises… the blood within you shall awaken."
His heart pounded like thunder. He clutched his chest, screaming in agony as his veins turned black, glowing faintly red beneath his skin. His reflection in a broken car mirror showed his pupils splitting into a predator's gaze.
Kael ran to him. "RIVEN! What's happening to you?!"
Riven fell to his knees. "The moon… it's calling me…"
---
A vampire general descended from the sky, landing gracefully behind them. His voice was cold as ice.
"So… the prophecy was true. The Bloodborn has awakened."
Riven looked up, barely breathing. "Who… are you?"
The vampire smiled. "Your kind. Your blood. Your destiny."
In that instant, Kael grabbed a shattered piece of metal and swung it at the general — but the vampire caught it effortlessly, eyes flickering toward him.
"You… the second soul. The rot within your blood sleeps, but not for long."
Kael froze. "What the hell are you talking about?!"
The vampire's smirk widened — then a massive explosion shook the street. Dozens of zombies burst out from the cracked ground, swarming everything.
Humans screamed as fangs and claws filled the air. The vampires retaliated, slashing, burning, and tearing through the undead. The war had begun.
---
Riven stood, his aura flickering between human and monster. The vampire general extended his hand.
"Come with us, young Bloodborn. Your reign begins tonight."
Riven stared, eyes filled with confusion and rage. "If you think I'll join you after what you've done to this world — then you're wrong."
The vampire hissed. "You can't deny what you are."
Riven's veins pulsed, his fangs extending slightly. He could feel power — ancient, intoxicating — begging to be unleashed. But behind him, Kael was fighting for his life, blood dripping from his arm, surrounded by zombies that didn't stop.
He couldn't abandon him.
Riven roared, channeling the red fire bursting inside him. The ground cracked beneath his feet. He vanished in a blur — and punched the vampire general straight through a bus.
"Then I'll rewrite my fate!" he shouted.
---
The vampire got up, snarling. "So be it, King of Blood."
Riven didn't understand those words yet — but his power was growing, spreading like wildfire.
Meanwhile, Kael, bleeding heavily, felt something crawling beneath his skin. His veins turned greenish-black, his eyes flickering an eerie hue. A voice whispered in his head:
> "Rot… decay… rise…"
He screamed, collapsing to the ground as his body began to shift — not into death, but into something undying.
The curse had found both of them.
---
By midnight, the city was gone.
Flames devoured buildings, blood filled the rivers, and the moon hung lower, redder, almost pulsing like a heart.
Vampires dominated the sky. Zombies consumed the streets.
And in the heart of the chaos — two friends stood on opposite sides of destiny.
Riven, his crimson aura swirling around him like wings.
Kael, kneeling in the dirt, his flesh healing, rotting, healing again — the first of the evolved undead.
Neither of them wanted this.
But the prophecy had already begun.
> "Two chosen from the same blood shall lead the eternal war.
One will embrace the blood.
The other, the rot."
And above it all, the Blood Moon smiled — crimson and cruel.
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