- Blood (0 units)
’Certainly didn’t expect that to be that sensual...’
’Being a vampire cos with odd perks, huh...’
Corven let out a quiet laugh to himself, the sound dry and low, drifting into the blood-scented air like smoke.
Then his gaze fell back on the spawn—no, not a spawn anymore.
Sothing more.
Sothing awakened.
He could sense it in her aura, in the subtle shift of her posture, in the way her glowing eyes now held the faintest flicker of thought.
If he was to make use of her—if she was going to be his kin—then he needed to understand her. Not just as a creature, but as a person.
He stepped closer and gently guided her hand into his. Cold fingers slowly ward under his touch. He began walking, leading her in a slow, asured pace around the graveyard, letting her muscles rember motion, letting instinct rebuild routine.
"So," Corven began, voice smooth but inquisitive, "what’s your na?"
The newly reborn vampire stumbled slightly but followed, her eyes scanning the field of death around them—upturned soil, shattered tombstones, the lifeless corpses of lesser undead twitching in their final monts of agony.
"I... I don’t know. Everything is a blur to ," she replied after a pause, her voice quiet and cracked like old parchnt. Yet her gaze was fixated—not on the carnage, but on Corven’s neck. The spot where her fangs had pierced him. Her tongue flicked over her lips, unconsciously, reverently.
"So no na," Corven mused. "But do you rember anything else? A hobby? A skill? Sothing you used to like? Desire?"
They continued pacing, weaving slowly through a tapestry of death—bloodied dirt, shattered bones, discarded corpses strewn like broken offerings across the graveyard. It was a twisted stage for such a gentle conversation.
She hesitated. "I’m not sure... but I think I used to like... roses?"
The word sounded foreign on her tongue, like a mory dragged from deep beneath ice.
Corven’s brows lifted. "Roses, huh?" He glanced sideways at her, a small smile playing on his lips. "Then I’ll call you Rose. Sounds fine to ."
He chuckled, leading them out of the graveyard’s haunted periter. He wasn’t about to waste energy cleaning up the ss—soone else could do that. The caretakers. Or the fools who dared enter.
He had other things to do.
Other people to protect.
After all, he’d made a promise—to a mother and her daughter. Innocents, kind souls in a cursed world. He would repay them, at least.
That much of his humanity still remained intact.
For others?
Who knew.
Rose said nothing as they stepped off the dirt path, their footsteps muffled by the mossy forest floor. The canopy above stretched wide, branches veiling the sky like skeletal fingers. Moonlight spilled through the cracks in silver beams, casting ethereal patterns across their skin.
And then she spoke, soft as silk.
"Rose...? I think it sounds lovely."
She smiled—gently, shyly—her lips still tinged red with remnants of his blood. But there was warmth there now. Awareness. A flicker of who she once was.
Corven turned his head toward her, his crimson eyes catching the moonlight like shards of rubies. "You’re taking all this... surprisingly well."
A quiet smile tugged at his mouth.
Two creatures of the night, sire and progeny, wandering beneath the stars. No longer just monster and spawn. But sothing approaching kinship. Sothing approaching... choice.
’It has to be another side effect of vampirism... becoming more comfortable with the one who turned you,’ he thought.
’But I still haven’t confird that...’
Then Rose tilted her head, eyes narrowing slightly in curiosity. "And what do we do now?"
A simple question.
But one that carried weight.
Because in this mont, she was following him—whether through instinct, trust, or the tether of shared blood. The future would decide what she beca. But this first step?
This step belonged to him.
Corven laughed—a dry, amused sound tinged with sothing more wistful than triumphant.
He still had one motivation: to atone. For the family whose peace he shattered when he killed their husband and father. He had power now, yes. An undead army, a new companion, strength coursing through every vein.
But that didn’t erase the guilt.
Nor the hunger for sothing more.
The thrill of the hunt. The sweetness of blood. The creation of kin.
His instincts as a vampire were awakening. Slowly, thodically, peeling away the last remnants of the man he used to be.
But not all of it.
Not yet.
So, with a grin tugging at his lips, he made up his mind.
"Well," he said, sweeping her into his arms with fluid ease. "Let’s find out, shall we?"
Rose gasped in surprise as her feet left the ground, arms instinctively wrapping around his neck. "W-Where are we going?"
Corven chuckled, a low sound that reverberated in his chest. "Not sure yet. But wherever it is... it’s better than standing still."
He wasn’t even certain if he had permission to keep living this way. To keep calling himself sothing human.
But he knew this:
He wasn’t ready to abandon that sliver of humanity left inside him.
Not yet.
Not until he knew what kind of monster he was becoming.
And not until he could answer her question—for her sake as much as his own.
Together, they vanished into the forest shadows, a fledgling vampire cradled in her sire’s arms, under a silver moon that watched them with cold, ancient eyes.
The hunt, the future, and the question of purpose awaited them.
But for now—there was only the path ahead.
And each other.
Reviews
All reviews (0)