Sakura woke to fire.
But this time, there was no calm, no peace—only agony. Her body felt as though it were being torn apart, each nerve firing with an unrelenting burn. Every inch of her skin felt as though it were melting, charring, turning to ash. She couldn't move. She couldn't scream. The pain was beyond anything she had ever known, and it seemed to go on forever.
She wasn't dying, though. She could tell that much. Her heart, her pulse—those things no longer existed. The pain was something else. Something worse.
It wasn't just her body that was changing. Everything about her was shifting, unraveling, and then coming back together in a form she couldn't yet comprehend.
Through the agony, the R.O.B.'s voice echoed in her mind, a haunting whisper that barely broke through the haze of her transformation. You are no longer human. You are one of them. A predator. A vampire.
The fire roared inside her. The thirst—the hunger—was unbearable, unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was a gnawing emptiness deep within, clawing at her insides like a beast wanting to break free. And in the distance, she could sense it—blood. Fresh, warm, living blood.
But it was too much. It wasn't just the pain. It wasn't just the transformation. It was this hunger. This need.
Then, a shadow appeared above her, dark and looming. She could barely see through her haze, but when her eyes locked onto the figure before her, she froze.
A woman. Pale skin, sharp features. Her eyes were glowing red, a dangerous shade, a color that made the thirst inside Sakura burn even fiercer.
The woman leaned over her with a cold, almost predatory expression. "You're awake," she said, her voice sharp, venomous. "Good."
Sakura tried to speak, to make some sense of what was happening, but the only sound that left her mouth was a low, desperate growl. Her throat was dry, burning.
The woman's eyes narrowed as she looked at Sakura, calculating. "I'm Victoria," she said, her voice dripping with disdain. "And I'm not here to coddle you. You're a newborn. Hungry. And you're about to find out exactly what that means."
Sakura felt a surge of strength course through her body, but it wasn't enough to push through the frenzy of her thirst. She could smell the blood now, sharper, clearer. She could hear the pulse of life just beyond the tree line.
Victoria took a step back, looking at her with a twisted smile. "Don't bother trying to fight it. You can't. Not now. You'll kill before you think, and that's the way it is."
Sakura's gaze snapped to the ground, where she could see the figure of a human—just a shadow, but a human nonetheless. Her heartbeat was a rhythmic thud, a sound that seemed to mock her, knowing just how badly she wanted to rip her apart.
Without thinking, her body moved.
She darted forward faster than she had ever thought possible. The hunger took over, and before she could comprehend the motion, her fangs sank into the human's neck. The warm blood flooded her senses, and it was all she could do to stop herself from tearing the person apart. It was too much. The blood, the warmth—it felt like heaven and hell all at once.
Sakura drank greedily, the liquid rushing down her throat like the sweetest elixir, as if her very existence had been waiting for this moment. She didn't care about who this person was or what had happened to them. All that mattered was the blood. Her instincts, raw and feral, had taken control.
The human's struggles slowed as the blood drained away, and Sakura could taste the life fading. It tasted bitter, but also deeply satisfying. She could feel the fire inside her receding, but it was only temporary. The thirst would return soon, even stronger than before.
When she finally pulled away, she was trembling, her entire body humming with power. The human crumpled to the ground, lifeless. The taste of their blood still lingered on her tongue, a haunting reminder of what she had just done.
For a long moment, Sakura stood there, staring down at the corpse she had just created. Horror began to seep into her mind, a wave of realization crashing over her. What have I done?
Her breath, if she still had one, would have caught in her throat. The full weight of the act pressed down on her, and she felt... wrong. This wasn't who she was, wasn't what she had imagined. The person she had been—who she had been—was now gone.
She had killed.
Victoria, who had watched the whole thing with an almost detached gaze, finally spoke, her voice colder than ever. "That's how it is. That's the price. You need to feed or you'll starve. You need to kill or you'll go mad."
Sakura's hands trembled as she wiped the blood from her lips, still feeling the horror of the act echoing through her. She could barely bring herself to look at the lifeless body at her feet. I'm no longer human.
Victoria stepped closer, her gaze still unreadable. "You'll get used to it. You'll learn that feeding like this isn't just an impulse. It's necessary. The hunger is a part of us now. And you'll never forget the taste."
The anger that had been simmering beneath her cold exterior seemed to flare for a moment. "I've lost everything, and I don't care what happens to you. So don't stand there feeling sorry for yourself. You killed. You'll do it again."
Sakura swallowed hard, feeling the weight of her new existence crush her. She was no longer the person she had been. The kindness, the sweetness—it had all been erased by the fire of this new life. And the worst part? She didn't even know who she was anymore.
But as much as she wanted to deny it, one truth gnawed at her. She had killed. And she was going to need to do it again. And again. To survive.
Victoria's laugh was low and dark. "Welcome to the world of vampires, sweetheart. This is what we are now."
Sakura didn't respond. She simply stared at the body before her, her chest tightening with the weight of what had happened. She had taken life. She had destroyed. And in doing so, she had created something far more terrifying than she had ever imagined.
Her mind screamed for something to hold onto, but there was nothing left. Only the thirst. Only the hunger.