The forest didn't feel empty.
It felt like it was watching us.
Moonlight slipped through the branches as we moved deeper between the trees—quiet, careful, trained. This wasn't a walk. This was a hunt. Reports said a vampire had crossed the border tonight, and borders were where mistakes happened.
I tightened my grip and forced my breathing to slow.
Focus, Ela.
That's what they taught me. Fear gets you killed. Hesitation gets others killed.
"Spacing," Arnav whispered, his voice barely louder than the wind.
I adjusted my step without looking back. Sofia stayed close on my left, her presence steady, grounding. We had done this before. Too many times.
The forest suddenly went quiet.
Not the peaceful kind.
The wrong kind.
I felt it before I saw it.
A movement—no, a shadow—slid between two trees ahead. It wasn't fast. It wasn't slow either. It moved like it didn't belong to gravity.
My pulse spiked.
"There," I breathed.
Sofia's fingers brushed my sleeve. "I see it."
The shadow stopped.
For one stretched second, the world froze. I had the strangest feeling that whatever it was… knew we were there.
Arnav shifted behind us. "Don't rush."
But my feet were already moving.
I stepped closer, heart pounding so loudly I was sure it could hear me. The air felt colder here, heavier, pressing against my skin. Every lesson, every warning echoed in my head.
Vampires manipulate. Vampires lie. Vampires kill.
This one had taken something from me.
At least, that's what I believed.
The shadow lifted.
Not back.
Not sideways.
Up.
It rose into the trees, disappearing between the branches like smoke pulled by the night.
"What—" Sofia gasped.
I stared at the empty space it left behind. No sound. No trace. Just the echo of something that shouldn't exist.
"That wasn't human," Arnav said quietly.
No one argued.
I swallowed, my hands trembling despite myself. I hated that part—the doubt creeping in, messing with my certainty.
"We track," I said, forcing control back into my voice.
We moved again, slower now. Every snapped twig made my muscles tense. Every flicker of shadow looked alive. The forest felt different, like it was hiding something from us on purpose.
Sofia leaned closer. "Ela… something feels off."
I knew.
I felt it too.
This wasn't a normal hunt.
A branch cracked behind us.
I spun around, heart in my throat—
nothing.
Just trees. Just darkness.
But the feeling stayed.
You're not alone.
I clenched my jaw. I couldn't afford fear. Not tonight. Not when I was this close to answers I'd been chasing for years.
We reached a clearing, moonlight spilling over the ground like silver. I stepped forward—
And froze.
Something was carved into the dirt.
A symbol.
Old. Sharp. Familiar in a way that made my chest tighten.
Arnav crouched beside it. "This isn't vampire work."
My breath caught. "Then whose is it?"
No one answered.
The forest shifted, leaves rustling though there was no wind. I felt eyes on my back again—stronger this time.
Watching.
Waiting.
Whatever we were hunting…
it wasn't done with us.
And for the first time since stepping into the forest, a terrifying thought slipped past my defenses—
What if everything I believed was wrong?