The kiss was like a shock to the system, a sudden, violent burst of sensation that cut through the fog in my mind. For a moment, all I could feel was him-his mouth on mine, his cold breath mixing with mine, his hand gripping the back of my neck, holding me in place. It was fierce and desperate, like he was trying to pull me back from the edge of something.
I wanted to push him away. I wanted to slap him, to tell him how wrong it was. But I couldn't. Because I could feel it somehow working. The haze started to lift, the pull loosening its hold on my mind. The world around me sharpened, the shadows receding, and suddenly I was aware of everything-the rough stone wall against my back, the scent of his skin.
Phoenix pulled back just slightly, his breath hot against my mouth. "I release you." He whispered, his voice low and urgent. "Focus on me, let go of everything else."
I gasped for air, my head spinning, but I do as he says. I focused on him-on the way his fingers dug into my skin, on the intensity in his eyes, on the way his lips pressed against mine like he was trying to breath life back into me. Slowly, the pull faded, the compulsion to turn back losing its grip. My thoughts were my own again.
A wave of nausea rolled over me, and I doubled over, gripping the wall beside me to steady myself. I blinked, trying to clear the fog that clung stubbornly to the edges of my mind. My head felt like it was full of cotton, thick and dense, and every thought I tried to catch slipped through my fingers like sand. My body felt sluggish, heavy, like I'd been asleep for hours and just now woke up to find the world completely unfamiliar.
"Jane?"
I jerked upright and met Phoenix' eyes. And that's when the anger immediately flooded in. My pulse pounded in my ears as the realisation slammed into me all at once. I remembered now. I remembered his voice, that commanding tone he used to control me, and how my body had gone slack from his words. How he'd hypnotised me.
I shoved Phoenix away, my hand connecting with his chest, and he stumbled back, his eyes widening in surprise. "What the hell was that!?" I shouted, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "You think you can just...just do that!?"
He caught his balance, a grimace tugging at his lips. "It wasn't exactly a joyful experience for me either. But in case you didn't notice, I just saved you. Again."
"Saved me?" I scoffed, but my heart was still racing, my mind still spinning from the kiss. "You call that saving my life? Kissing me? You're a-"
"A vampire. Yes, I am aware." He finished. "And again, hated it."
"What did you do to me?" I demanded, stepping towards him, my heart pounding with every word. "And do not lie."
His face hardened slightly, but he didn't move. "You were under my spell. I was...simply undoing it."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Under your spell? What you mean to say is that you hypnotised me."
He shrugged. "I did what I had to do."
"What you had to do?" I scoffed, a bitter, sharp sound that echoed off the walls. "You didn't have to do anything, Phoenix!"
"I'm still waiting for your gratitude." He uttered.
My eyes widened. "My gratitude? You will be waiting forever until you hear the words, 'thank you' coming out of my mouth again. You made me feel like I wasn't in control of my own body!"
Phoenix exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. "I thought I was doing the right thing by sending you home. Away from harm's way."
"The place I once called home, can no longer be called that. My mother is dead. I have no home." I spat.
Phoenix exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable. "Jane..."
I could feel my hands shaking, the rage thrumming through my veins like fire. Every memory of being under his control-of that strange fog taking over my mind, of my body moving without my consent-comes rushing back, and it was too much. Far too much.
"But you!" I hissed, my voice trembling with fury. "You had no right to mess with my head like that!"
"Lilith was coming for you." He said simply, his voice calm but firm.
"Coming for me-" I almost choked on the words, my hands curling into fists at my sides. "You don't get to decide-"
"It wasn't a decision." He cut in, his eyes flashing. "It was a necessity. You don't understand what you're dealing with."
"Oh, don't even try that." I spat, stepping closer. "You do things purely for your own benefit. You care for no one but yourself. It wasn't about me, and my safety, was it? It never is. No, it was about you. It's always about you, Phoenix."
He flinched, and for a second, I thought I saw a flicker of something like guilt in his eyes. But it was gone before I could be sure. "I saved your life, human. If I hadn't sent you home, you'd be dead. I did what I had to do to protect you. Lilith would've stopped at nothing until she had that amulet."
I felt a cold laugh rise in my throat, but it tasted bitter on my tongue. "Protect me? You think this is protection? Taking away my free will when it's already been taken by your kind. Without vampires such as yourself and these laws, my mother would still be alive." My voice cracked, the anger giving away to something more fragile, something more vulnerable. "You don't get to take away my choices because you think it is best for me."
His jaw tightened, and he took a small step towards me, his voice low, careful. "Jane, I wasn't trying to control you. I was trying to keep you alive. If you'd just let me explain-"
I didn't want to hear it. I couldn't hear it. The rage flared up again, hot and binding, and before I knew what I was doing, my hand flew out, hard and fast.
The sound of the slap was deafening in the silence.
Phoenix' head snapped to the side, the force of it taking him by surprise. For a second, everything was still-frozen in the aftermath of the blow. My hand stung where it connected with his cheek, and I could feel my heart racing, the blood roaring in my ears. I didn't even think. I just reacted.
He turned slowly back to me, his face unreadable, a red mark blooming on his pale skin. His eyes locked onto mine, and for the first time, I saw something like real hurt there. Real anger. His lips part, but he said nothing. He just stared at me, the tension between us thick enough to choke on.
I wanted to feel triumph. Triumph for finally getting through to him, by making him see what he'd done. But all I felt was the weight of it, pressing down on my chest.
For a long, heavy moment, neither of us spoke. The slap hung in the air between us like a physical thing, a boundary I'd crossed, one that we couldn't come back from. Phoenix lifted a hand to his face, touching the spot where my palm had met his cheek, his fingers brushing the reddened skin.
"You think this is just about power, about me controlling you, but you don't see what it truly is I'm trying to protect you from." He said, his voice low, rough with emotion. "You have no idea what Lilith is capable of-what she's already done to humans like you."
I shook my head, refusing to let his words sink in, refusing to feel any sympathy for him right now. "I don't care." I said, my voice shaking with the intensity of it. "This is war."
"Jane-"
"I'm going to kill them." I said, my voice steady, resolute. "Every last one of you. Every vampire, every bloodsucker that thinks they can take from me without consequence will feel my wrath. I'm going to hunt you down, one by one, until there's none of you left."
"You don't understand what you're saying." Phoenix said, his voice low, almost like a whisper.
"I understand perfectly." I snapped. "I've lived in your world long enough. I've seen what vampires do. What they are. And I'm not going to stand by and allow your kind to wreak havoc any longer. I do not care if I must fight alone. I don't care if it kills me. I'm going to end this war one way or another."
"You will get yourself killed, and I won't be there to save you this time." Phoenix gaze hardened. "You won't win this war."
"Then, I will die fighting." I said, my voice cold and hard. "I would rather die on my feet than live like a servant for the rest of my life. I'd rather die knowing I took as many of your kind with me as I could."
He reached out, grabbing my arm. "This is the grief talking. You're angry, you're hurt-"
I wrenched my arm out of his grasp, glaring up at him. "You don't know anything about me." I said, my voice trembling with fury. "You never wanted to know me. And now? Now, you're just like the rest of them."
He stood there, staring down at me, his face a mask of something I couldn't read. But I didn't wait for him to respond. I didn't care what he had to say anymore.
Without another word, I turned my back on him, on all of it, and walked towards the door. My heart was pounding, my body shaking, but my mind was clear. Clearer than it had ever been.
I was done being afraid.
I was done being a victim.
From this moment on, every vampire I came across will know that they weren't the hunters anymore.
I was.
And I will have my vengeance.