The night felt heavier.
---
The streets had quieted… but not peacefully.
Fires still burned.
Smoke drifted through the air.
Distant screams echoed—faint now.
Almost gone.
---
Elena stood still.
Her breathing uneven.
Her body weaker than before.
---
The fight…
The vampires…
The infected…
It had taken too much.
---
Her vision blurred again.
This time longer.
---
> "You can't keep going like this," Turichie said. "You're starving."
---
Elena didn't answer.
---
She already knew.
---
A heartbeat.
Then another.
Then dozens.
---
Too loud.
Too close.
---
Her head dropped slightly.
Her fangs extended slowly.
---
> "No…" she whispered. "Not like this…"
---
Her legs weakened.
She dropped to one knee.
---
The world tilted.
---
> "If you collapse now… you die," Turichie said. "This isn't a choice anymore."
---
Elena's hands trembled.
---
She remembered everything.
Her mother.
Her brother.
The way they looked at her.
---
> "If I drink from someone…" she whispered, "I'll lose myself…"
---
> "No," Turichie said quietly. "You'll lose yourself if you refuse to live."
---
Silence.
---
Elena slowly stood up again.
---
Her eyes moved.
Searching.
---
Not for people.
---
For something else.
---
Then—
She saw it.
---
A dog.
Injured.
Barely moving.
Breathing weakly near the side of the road.
---
Her steps slowed.
Careful.
---
She knelt beside it.
---
The dog looked at her.
Afraid.
But too weak to move.
---
Elena's hand hovered above it.
Shaking.
---
> "I'm sorry…" she whispered.
---
Her fangs lowered.
Slowly.
Carefully.
---
She closed her eyes—
And bit.
---
No rush.
No tearing.
No losing control.
---
Just enough.
---
The warmth filled her instantly.
Her strength returned.
Her vision cleared.
---
She pulled back immediately.
---
The dog… still breathed.
Weak.
But alive.
---
Elena stared at it.
Her chest rising.
---
> "It's alive…" she whispered.
---
Silence.
For a moment.
---
Then—
> "You stopped yourself…" Turichie said.
---
> "I didn't want to kill it."
---
> "Interesting…"
---
Elena stood up slowly.
---
Her strength had returned.
Not fully.
But enough.
---
Her eyes sharpened again.
---
> "I don't have to become like them…" she said quietly.
---
> "No," Turichie replied. "But it will always be harder."
---
The wind moved again.
Soft.
Cold.
---
Then—
Elena froze.
---
A new presence.
---
Not infected.
Not weak.
---
Familiar.
---
Her eyes narrowed.
---
> "He's back…" she whispered.
---
From the end of the street—
A figure stepped forward.
---
The old man.
---
But this time—
He wasn't smiling.
---
His eyes were darker.
Colder.
---
Behind him—
More figures appeared.
---
Vampires.
---
Not one.
Not two.
---
Many.
---
> "You're learning," he said slowly. "But you're too late."
---
Elena's expression hardened.
> "What did you do?"
---
He stepped forward.
---
> "I didn't wait like you."
---
Behind him—
The vampires moved.
---
Their eyes unstable.
Hungry.
---
> "While you were protecting…"
A pause.
---
> "I was building."
---
Elena's heart dropped.
---
The street stood still.
---
Fire on one side.
Shadows on the other.
---
And in the middle—
Elena.
---
Alone.
---
But not weak anymore.
---
Her wings slowly spread.
---
Her eyes glowed under the red moon.
---
> "Then I'll stop you."
---
The old man smiled again.
---
> "Try."
---
End of Chapter 22
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