EIRA'S POV
I didn't know why I was crying so much.
Why did it hurt this badly?
How could someone be so stone-hearted? How could he feel nothing when it was his girlfriend... his own child he was hurting?
And the worst part?
Why did it hurt more than anger?
I had been so stupid.
So blind.
I had believed that somewhere inside him, there was goodness.
Something human.
Something real.
But there was nothing.
Only emptiness.
And now...
I didn't want to see his face ever again.
Not even in my worst nightmare.
A loud howl echoed through the forest.
I froze.
I looked around.
My breath caught.
I was in the forest.
What?
How had I even gotten here?
My chest tightened with panic.
I shouldn't be here.
I needed to leave.
I turned to run.
Then the howl came again.
Closer.
Heavier.
It seemed to crawl beneath my skin, vibrating through my bones.
I started running.
My breath tore through my throat.
My heart slammed against my ribs so violently that it hurt.
The sound followed me, twisting my fear into something unbearable.
Something...
Something was running behind me.
Then—
Another deafening howl shattered the night.
I turned.
"AHHH!"
I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut.
But when I opened them—
It wasn't a beast.
It was—
A bus.
Only inches away from crushing me.
Time stopped.
But a hand had stopped it.
A hand...
Holding death itself back.
Shaking violently, I turned my head.
Adrian.
"Are you mad?!"
His voice exploded through the night as he yanked me away from the road.
"Oh, God! Where do these idiots come from nowadays?"
The driver cursed as he slammed on the brakes.
Adrian dragged me toward the edge of the road.
My knees almost gave out.
My chest wouldn't obey me.
I couldn't breathe properly.
I had almost died.
Again.
"What the hell were you doing here?!" he shouted, fury burning in his eyes. "What if I hadn't come in time? Do you even realize you were seconds away from being gone?"
"I-I'm sorry," I stammered, my voice shaking uncontrollably. "I heard that sound... I got scared... I didn't even realize when I ran here."
My voice broke.
"We should leave."
"Wait..."
My trembling eyes locked onto him.
"How did you stop it?"
His expression remained cold.
"I didn't stop it."
"I saw it. With my own eyes! You stopped that bus—with your hand!"
"You're in shock."
"I know what I—"
"Do I look like Superman to you?!" he snapped. "You're lucky the driver hit the brakes in time."
I stared at him.
He didn't even flinch.
No explanation.
No emotion.
Nothing.
As though what I had just witnessed had never happened.
Before I could respond, his phone rang.
He answered immediately.
"Hello."
A pause.
"I'll be there in the morning."
He ended the call.
Claira.
That name stabbed something inside me again.
Of course.
Even now.
Even after that girl.
Even after everything.
"I can go on my own," I muttered bitterly, swallowing the lump in my throat. "You don't need to worry about me."
"I don't care about you," he said sharply. "But I can't leave you here at this hour."
Then why?
Why did it always feel like he appeared whenever I was about to break?
"Let's go."
"I said it's fine. I'll call a cab or—"
"Let's go."
His voice dropped into a dangerous growl.
He grabbed my hand.
"Leave my hand, Adrian!"
I struggled against his grip, tears rising without permission.
"Leave!"
He didn't.
"I said leave!"
My voice echoed through the darkness.
Finally, his fingers loosened.
He released me.
His jaw clenched as though he were forcing himself to remain composed.
I wiped my tears and forced myself to stand straight.
"I know exactly what type of person you are."
He said nothing.
His face remained completely emotionless, as though my words couldn't touch him.
As though nothing I said mattered.
"I can't believe myself..." My voice trembled. "I was so stupid to think there was any goodness in you."
He kept staring at me.
Unmoved.
Unresponsive.
"How can you be this cruel?" I whispered. "You tried to hurt your own girlfriend... your own child!"
He looked away.
Cold again.
Untouchable.
As if my words meant nothing to him.
I swallowed hard.
"You know everyone hates you."
His eyes slowly returned to mine.
I continued, my voice breaking.
"You wanted everyone to hate you, didn't you?"
Something changed in his expression.
Barely.
But I saw it.
He stepped closer.
Then closer.
Until there was almost no space between us.
His gaze locked directly onto mine.
"Do you hate me now, Eira?"
The question was quiet.
Too quiet.
I stared at him.
"Everyone does."
His jaw tightened.
"Everyone hates you now."
Suddenly, his hand closed around my arm.
He pulled me toward him.
My breath caught.
"Hate me."
His voice was low.
"Adrian—"
"Hate me, Eira."
His grip tightened.
"Go on."
His eyes burned into mine.
"Hate me."
I tried to pull away.
"Let go."
"Everyone hates me."
His voice cracked for the briefest second.
"That's what I wanted."
He pulled me closer.
"So why can't you hate me?"
My heart pounded.
"You are hurting me."
The words came out barely above a whisper.
He froze.
His gaze dropped to his hand around my arm.
For a moment, something unreadable crossed his face.
Then, slowly...
He released me.
I stepped backward.
He didn't follow.
For a moment, we simply stared at each other.
His face became unreadable again.
Cold.
Distant.
As though the moment had never happened.
"Come with me," he said quietly.
I had nothing left inside me.
"...Where's your car?" I whispered.
He didn't answer.
He simply turned and walked away.
And somehow...
I followed.
Not because I trusted him.
Not because I forgave him.
But because I no longer had the strength to keep fighting with him—or with myself.
The ride back was suffocating.
Silence didn't feel empty.
It felt heavy, as though it were crushing my lungs.
I stared through the window, refusing to look at him.
But his words kept echoing inside my head.
Do you hate me now, Eira?
I clenched my hands.
When we reached the hostel, I stepped out without a word.
I didn't look back.
Because if I did...
I didn't know what would hurt more—
Hating him...
Or realizing I couldn't fully hate him.
ADRIAN'S POV
She still couldn't hate me.
I had seen the disgust in her eyes.
Real disgust.
But beneath it, there was still something she couldn't silence.
And I knew it.
I had wanted her to despise me.
I had wanted her to see only the monster I had forced myself to become.
Instead, she had looked at me with tears in her eyes, and somehow that hurt more than hatred ever could.
I wasn't human.
I shouldn't feel this way.
I had spent centuries learning how to bury emotions.
How to silence weakness.
How to become someone nothing could touch.
Yet her tears...
Her voice saying, You are hurting me...
They had reached places inside me I had believed were long dead.
I sat on the sofa, a glass filled with blood resting loosely in my hand.
I stared into it without seeing it.
She didn't understand me.
She wasn't supposed to.
The less she knew, the safer she would be.
I closed my eyes.
Her face appeared immediately.
The tears.
The pain.
The accusation in her eyes.
My fingers tightened around the glass.
I had spent centuries building walls around myself.
Eira had somehow found every crack.
I wanted her far from me.
Safe from the darkness that followed me.
If she hated me, perhaps she would finally stop looking for the man beneath the monster.
Perhaps she would stop trying to find something in me that no longer existed.
Or at least, that was what I kept telling myself.
A sudden, furious pounding tore through the silence.
I looked up sharply.
Before I could respond, the door burst open.
Drek stormed inside.
"You idiot! Where were you? I've been searching for you everywhere!"
I took another slow sip.
"What happened?"
My voice was flat.
Drek's face was twisted with fury.
"Do you remember the Sarijiya tribe?"
My expression hardened.
Before I could answer, he continued.
"They're dead."
My fingers stopped moving.
"Someone killed them."
"What?"
The glass shattered in my hand.
Blood spilled across my fingers.
For a heartbeat, I couldn't move.
Then something ancient and vicious awakened inside me.
I was on my feet before Drek could say another word.
I bolted from the cave.
Drek followed closely behind.
The forest blurred around us as I ran.
My speed increased with every step.
My chest burned.
Not from exhaustion.
From fury.
Cold.
Sharp.
Merciless.
The Sarijiya tribe.
They were the ones who had helped us find Dawson.
They had saved Mike's life when other vampires attacked him.
They had never harmed humans.
To them, drinking human blood was a sin.
They had lived by that belief for generations.
And now...
They were gone.
Every one of them.
I clenched my fists as the forest tore past me.
Someone had wiped out an entire tribe.
Someone had crossed a line that could never be undone.
I would find them.
I would uncover every name, every reason, every hand responsible.
And when I did...
There would be nowhere for them to hide.
No mercy.
No escape.
Only consequences.
The night had chosen its prey.