From the darkness, Harry slowly opened his eyes.
The park appeared before him once again.
Orange leaves drifted through the cold air while sunlight filtered softly through the trees above. The same empty bench rested beneath him, and for a moment, the peaceful scenery almost made him forget everything that had happened.
Almost.
His crimson eyes searched around cautiously before he slowly stood up from the bench.
"Am I in another dream...?"
A quiet laugh reached his ears.
Harry turned his head.
Sophia stood nearby beneath the swaying trees, her pale hair moving gently with the autumn wind.
"Oh yeah..." Harry muttered while rubbing his forehead. "Between dreams and memories."
"Our dreams are shaped from memories we once had," she said calmly. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Harry frowned slightly.
"So what am I doing here?"
She tilted her head.
"Have you already forgotten?"
Harry paused.
Then the memory hit him.
The blood.
The fangs.
The pain.
His eyes widened.
"So... you were actually a vampire?"
Sophia sighed quietly as if the answer was obvious.
"It's not that hard to process."
"So vampires exist?"
"It's called the Triangle of Myth."
Harry blinked.
"A what?"
Sophia slowly raised her hand, drawing an invisible triangle through the air.
"At the top stand vampires. Beneath them are werewolves. At the very bottom are zombies."
Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
She continued.
"Vampires possess speed, strength, shapeshifting, and abilities beyond human understanding. Werewolves lack many of those traits. Zombies are the weakest of them all."
Harry stared at her before letting out a dry laugh.
"So I learn all this fantasy nonsense only after dying. Great timing."
He looked around at the endless peaceful park.
"And honestly... for heaven, this place looks disappointing."
Sophia crossed her arms.
"Were you even listening? You became a vampire."
Harry's expression darkened.
"But didn't you call me a zombie?"
His voice lowered.
"Which means I really did die on that bridge..."
A chill ran through him.
"And I already know you were there with me."
"You're wrong."
Harry blinked.
"What?"
"I wasn't with you on that bridge."
"Oh... then it was Elara."
"Wrong again."
Harry stepped closer.
"Then who was it?"
For the first time, Sophia's expression became serious.
"You became a vampire. Or something close to one."
The wind around them slowly weakened.
"Which means you can still walk through your past."
Harry frowned.
"Walk through wha..."
Suddenly, his vision distorted.
The park blurred away.
The sounds disappeared.
Even the wind vanished.
Only Sophia's voice remained.
"You're still alive. You can't die yet."
Harry's eyes shot open.
He woke up violently, gasping for air.
Pain immediately spread through the left side of his body.
Bandages covered his chest and shoulder, stained with faint traces of dried blood. He found himself lying inside a massive bed surrounded by golden walls illuminated by sunlight pouring through tall windows.
The room looked luxurious beyond belief.
A polished desk stood near the window. Paintings decorated the walls. Candles rested beside silver ornaments despite the daylight filling the room.
Harry slowly sat up.
"Where the hell am I...?"
The sound of a door opening made his entire body tense.
Fear instantly took over.
Without thinking, he slid off the bed and hid underneath it.
The door creaked open.
A maid entered the room quietly.
She had black hair with a reddish tint covering part of one eye, while her crimson eyes calmly scanned the room.
"Good morning, sir. Miss Sophia is waiting for you downstairs."
Harry stayed completely silent beneath the bed.
The maid sighed softly.
"Moving around with those injuries will only worsen your condition. I will inform the madam that you have awakened."
"WAIT!"
His cracked voice echoed from beneath the bed.
The maid paused.
"Is there a problem, sir?"
Harry swallowed nervously.
"W-Where am I?"
"Dracula Castle."
Harry's face went pale.
"S-Stop with this bullshit..." His breathing became uneven. "Please... just let me go home..."
The maid remained calm.
"I understand your distress, sir. However, that is impossible while Miss Sophia's present remains broken."
"P-Please..." Harry whispered shakily. "I just want to go home..."
Footsteps echoed from outside the room.
Another voice interrupted.
"Elowen Sable. What are you doing here?"
The maid straightened slightly.
"I was informing our guest that Miss Sophia is waiting downstairs."
"You may leave now. I'll handle this."
"Yes, ma'am."
The maid quietly exited the room.
Silence filled the air.
Then the unknown voice spoke again.
"You can come out now."
Harry slowly peeked his head out from beneath the bed.
An orange haired girl stood there smiling gently at him. Freckles rested across her face, and unlike Sophia's unnatural pale skin, hers looked warm and alive. Her blue eyes carried a calming softness.
She wore the same maid uniform as the other woman.
Harry slowly crawled out.
"Don't be afraid," she said warmly. "We only want to help you return home. But first, we need to talk about what happened."
She pulled a chair beside the desk and sat down carefully.
"I can wait until you feel comfortable."
Harry remained tense for a while before finally standing up properly.
"There we go," she said with a brighter smile. "See? Not so bad."
She placed a hand against her chest politely.
"My name is Kaelira Virell. It's nice to meet you."
Harry stared at her nervously.
"Why am I here...? What do you people even want from me?"
Kaelira's expression softened slightly.
"Well... Sophia's present was destroyed."
"You're still not answering me."
"I know."
Her voice stayed gentle.
"But you're the only one who can leave this place."
Harry froze.
"What...?"
"Even as a vampire, you can still walk beneath sunlight."
Harry pointed weakly at himself.
"M-Me?"
Kaelira laughed softly.
"Yes, sir."
She stood up before offering him her hand.
"That's why Sophia wants to speak with you downstairs."
Harry followed her through the massive halls of the castle.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
His body trembled with exhaustion.
Kaelira quickly noticed.
"Oh dear... here."
Before Harry could react, she carefully lifted him onto her back.
"W-What are you doing?!"
"Sorry," she said apologetically. "But you looked ready to faint."
Harry awkwardly held onto her shoulders while she carried him down the enormous staircase.
White marble stairs reflected the golden sunlight pouring through the giant windows. Red rugs stretched endlessly across the floor while paintings, chandeliers, candles, and silver decorations covered every corner of the castle.
The place looked ancient.
Almost unreal.
"How long was I asleep...?"
Kaelira thought for a moment.
"I can't say exactly."
Her expression darkened slightly.
"The night hasn't come for seventy two hours."
Harry's eyes widened.
"What?"
"We've been trapped in daylight this entire time."
She looked ahead quietly.
"Everyone here has started losing their sense of time."
Then she smiled again.
"But now that you're here, everything will be alright. That's my promise."
Harry didn't respond.
He only tightened his grip slightly as his exhausted eyes slowly drifted around the castle.
Eventually, they arrived at a massive dining hall.
At the far end of the long table sat Sophia.
She looked furious.
Beside her stood Elowen, while a tall brown haired woman remained silently near the wall. An older man with tied back hair, a beard, and sharp blue eyes observed Harry carefully from the shadows.
Kaelira gently placed Harry into a chair.
Then the others slowly left the room one by one alongside the old man.
Soon, only Harry and Sophia remained.
The silence between them felt suffocating.
Sophia rested her chin against her fingers while staring directly into his eyes.
"So let's start from the beginning."
Her cold voice echoed through the hall.
"Before you lost your memories, you were standing on that bridge with a girl. Then you fell."
Harry looked down nervously at his feet.
"Y-Yeah..."
"The police assumed the girl pushed you. But due to the lack of evidence, they closed the case and labeled it as suicide."
Harry clenched his hands tightly.
"Lilith told me someone else was there with me..." he whispered shakily. "I still can't stop thinking about it."
The moment Sophia heard that name, her expression darkened.
"Lilith?"
Harry immediately noticed the change in her tone.
"Y-Yes..."
"Who exactly is Lilith?"
"S-She's the woman I live with."
Sophia leaned forward slightly.
"And what kind of person is she?"
Harry blinked nervously.
"What do you mean?"
"How does she treat you? What does she look like? What is your relationship with her?"
Harry hesitated before answering.
"She's... strange."
He lowered his eyes.
"We barely talk. All my relatives refused to take me in after the accident, so I ended up moving here instead of staying in Gujo."
Sophia's eyes narrowed.
"So your family is from Gujo."
"Y-Yes."
"And how exactly is Lilith strange?"
Harry swallowed.
"She told me she's the only person I'll ever need."
The room grew quieter.
"And she never asks me where I go or what I do."
Sophia slowly rested her fingers against her chin, thinking carefully.
"I understand."
Her Cristal eyes lifted towards harry.
Harry's heartbeat immediately rose.
After a long silence, Sophia finally spoke again.
"You know... being both a zombie and a vampire is extremely unusual."
Harry stiffened.
"But let me ask you this."
She leaned back slightly.
"When you first arrived at school, did you meet anyone before your classmates? Anyone at all?"
Harry thought for a moment.
"There was a girl named Lina Haddad."
Sophia's eyes sharpened instantly.
"Then it's probably her."
Harry blinked.
"What?"
"The girl who was with you on that bridge."
Harry's face lost color.
"W-Wait... her...? But she can't be..."
Sophia interrupted him calmly.
"Why would someone outside your school approach you otherwise?"
Harry's breathing became uneven.
"T-That doesn't make sense... she's human... and I'm..."
His voice cracked.
"A vampire...?"
Sophia sighed quietly.
"Unfortunately, I can't leave this prison myself."
Harry looked up suddenly.
"Prison?"
She stared toward the bright sunlight pouring through the windows.
"Still haven't figured it out?"
Harry stayed silent.
"Time has stopped."
His eyes widened.
"W-Why?"
"Because you broke my present."
Harry frowned immediately.
"You keep saying that. What even is a present?"
Sophia leaned back in her chair.
"It's a gift vampires receive after turning."
Harry blinked.
"So I have one too?"
"Probably."
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"But unlike mine and my sisters', yours didn't manifest physically."
Harry looked confused.
"I don't understand any of this."
"You are a vampire who can walk beneath the sun."
Her voice became quieter.
"And that's probably the reason you're still alive."
Harry stared at her speechless.
Sophia slowly stood from her chair.
"I need you to free us from this prison."
Harry shook his head immediately.
"How? I don't know how to make vampires walk in sunlight."
She sounded irritated already.
"But perhaps my sister will figure something out."
Harry hesitated.
"Then how can I be both a zombie and a vampire?"
"You can't."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"You're either one or the other."
"But..."
Sophia suddenly slammed her hand against the table.
"Oh my god, shut up already. You're giving me a headache with all your questions."
Harry immediately gulped.
Sophia pointed toward the door.
"Stand up."
Her Cristal eyes glowed faintly.
"We have business to deal with."