### Chapter 3: The Unseen Enemy
The days blurred together after the woman left. I hardly slept, and when I did, my dreams were filled with images of monsters—creatures with eyes like molten gold, eyes like the beast that had first entered my cabin. They would stare at me, waiting, until I woke up drenched in sweat, heart pounding in my chest.
I tried to focus on the task at hand: learn how to control the monsters. But the more I attempted to connect with them, the more elusive the power seemed. The creature that had followed me—whom I had named Nightshade, for its dark fur and glowing eyes—remained outside, watching from the edge of the forest. It would obey when I gave simple commands, but I felt no deeper connection, no true understanding of what I could make it do.
Then one night, as the sun sank below the horizon, something changed.
Nightshade was pacing at the edge of the trees, its gaze fixed on something far off in the distance. My pulse quickened. It was acting strangely, agitated. For the first time since I'd met it, I felt… *uneasy*.
I stepped outside, and the creature immediately stopped pacing, its gaze snapping to me. But its usual obedience was gone. Instead, there was something wild in its eyes. Something untamed.
"Nightshade?" I called softly, my voice trembling. "What's wrong?"
The creature growled, its muscles tensing as it lowered its head. The ground beneath me seemed to hum with a low vibration, and I suddenly felt like I was being watched—not just by Nightshade, but by something *else*.
The wind shifted, carrying with it a chilling scent I couldn't place. It was familiar, but not in a good way. Something dangerous.
I turned back toward the cabin, but as I did, I heard a sound from behind me. It was low, like a whisper, but carried on the wind. And then, as if summoned by my thoughts, a shadow moved at the edge of the trees.
"Get inside!" I shouted to Nightshade, but it didn't move. It just stared ahead, unblinking.
Another shadow emerged—larger this time, with gleaming eyes. But it wasn't just one. It was *many*. A pack of monsters, their forms dark and shifting, their eyes glowing like burning embers.
Nightshade bared its teeth, growling in a way that sent a shiver down my spine. It was as if it were challenging the pack. The creatures in front of me were much bigger, more ferocious than the one I had tamed.
I reached for the hunting knife at my side, but as I did, a voice echoed through the air—soft, familiar, almost haunting.
"Do you think you're the only one?"
I froze. The voice was unmistakable.
It was my father.
A figure stepped from the shadows, and I recognized him immediately. But it wasn't the father I had known. His eyes glowed with the same unnatural light that the monsters had, and his features were twisted, like a shadow of his former self.
"Dad?" My voice cracked, the word slipping from my lips in disbelief.
He smiled, but it wasn't a smile I recognized. It was a grim, empty expression that sent a chill down my spine.
"I've been waiting for you, Dominic," he said, his voice no longer weak or frail. It was strong, commanding, as if the man standing before me wasn't the same person who had died in my arms.
"But you're—"
"Dead?" he finished for me. "Yes. But that's the beauty of this power. Death isn't the end. Not for us."
I backed away slowly, shaking my head. "What are you talking about?"
The pack of monsters shifted, closing in. Nightshade growled low in its throat but didn't advance.
"These creatures, they were never meant to be controlled," my father continued. "They were meant to be used. And you, Dominic… you're the key."
"What do you want from me?" I demanded, panic rising in my chest.
He stepped forward, his eyes locking onto mine. "I want you to embrace your true nature. I want you to take your place among them. Your mother, your ancestors—they all knew the truth. You're not just some child with a gift. You are the heir to a power greater than anything you've ever imagined."
The world around me spun. My father, the man I thought I had lost forever, was standing before me, and he wasn't the person I had known. He was… something else. Something monstrous.
The pack of creatures howled, their eerie cries filling the night air. I could feel their presence, their hunger.
"I won't join you," I said, trying to steady my breathing. "I won't let you control me."
He laughed—a dark, hollow sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "You don't have a choice, Dominic. This is your birthright."
Before I could react, the monsters lunged forward, and Nightshade stood its ground, blocking them. It howled in a fierce battle cry, and I felt a sudden surge of power—the connection between me and the beast suddenly stronger than I could have imagined.
I didn't know how or why, but something in me snapped. With a surge of energy, I shouted, "Stop!"
For a moment, everything was still. The monsters froze, their eyes locked onto me, awaiting my next command. But then my father stepped forward, his form shifting in the moonlight.
"You can't control them, Dominic," he said, his voice low, almost pitying. "Not all of them."
And just like that, the ground beneath me cracked open, and the monsters surged forward again, this time with unstoppable force. The world around me went black.