Silence. Thick, suffocating, absolute. A void stretched endlessly around her, weightless and without form. Then...
A whisper.
[Rebooting system...]
A flicker of something foreign curled at the edges of Selene's mind. Cold. Mechanical. Invasive. She reached for thought, for sensation, only to be drowned in nothingness.
[Initializing new directive...]
A breath. Sharp. Wrong. Her lungs expanded, though she felt no need for air. Sensation crashed over her, raw and unbearable; her body jerking as it snapped back into existence.
Heat prickled her skin, yet she wasn't warm. Her fingers twitched, her nerves electric with foreign awareness. Something pulsed beneath the surface, deep in her bones, thrumming with unnatural energy.
She wasn't dead.
Her eyes shot open. Light exploded in her vision, searing into her skull. The world around her was too much; too vivid, too sharp, every detail cutting into her senses like a blade.
The damp scent of stone, the faintest hum of electricity in the walls, the distant echo of footsteps, sounds she shouldn't be able to hear now roared in her skull.
Her heart wasn't beating.
She staggered upright, gasping for breath she didn't need.
Cold air licked at her skin, but she didn't shiver. Her breath came too evenly, her movements too fluid. Everything about her body felt off, as though she had been reassembled into something that wasn't quite human.
A shadow shifted at the edge of her vision.
Selene whirled around to face it, her movements too fast. Her head snapped toward the figure in the corner, every detail of his form imprinting in an instant; broad shoulders wrapped in dark fabric, gloved hands resting idly at his sides, silver eyes gleaming beneath the low light.
Lucian Valcrest.
The name slammed into her like a bullet, memory colliding with reality. She knew that face. That cold, unreadable gaze. He had been there when she fell. When the blade sank into her gut. When the darkness swallowed her whole.
"What-" Her voice cracked, hoarse and raw. "What have you done to me?"
Lucian didn't move. He simply tilted his head, the motion slow and deliberate. The flickering torches carved shadows across his features; an ethereal beauty that seemed almost otherworldly. His midnight hair gleamed under the dim light, contrasting with the less dark fabric of his attire.
"You're awake," he murmured. "Good."
Selene pushed off the warm bed beneath her, legs trembling beneath her weight. Too much. Everything was too much.
Her vision swam and the floor seemed further away than it should have been, her limbs lighter yet stronger. Her fingers curled against her palm, feeling the unnatural precision in the movement.
Something cold slithered through her mind. A whisper. A presence not her own.
[Status: Active.]
She flinched with fright and her pulse should have spiked, but there was no rhythm beneath her ribs. Only silence.
Lucian took a step closer.
Instinct screamed at her to move, to fight, but before she could think, her body had already reacted. She swung, aiming straight for his face.
He caught her wrist effortlessly.
Pain flared, sharp and cold, radiating up her arm. Not human pain. Something other. The moment their skin met, a jolt of energy surged through her; a recognition, a tether, something binding them in ways she didn't understand.
Lucian's grip remained firm, unyielding, his expression unmoved. "You already know," he said quietly.
Selene wrenched herself free, staggering back. "No," she snapped. "I don't."
Lucian exhaled through his nose, his gaze steady. "Then let me make it clear." He took another step forward, closing the distance she had created. "You are no longer human, Selene."
The words crashed into her with the force of a speeding truck, it felt like a bucket of ice had been dumped on her body.
Her stomach twisted violently. Her chest rose and fell, but there was no heartbeat, no burn of exertion, nothing to anchor her to the body she had once known.
No. No, this wasn't real. It couldn't be real.
"You're lying."
Lucian's expression didn't waver. "You belong to us now."
Rage ignited in her chest, white-hot and all-consuming. Belong? Like hell she did.
She turned on her heel and ran.
Her body moved faster than she anticipated, the world blurring at the edges. The chamber stretched before her, the open doorway beckoning. She could make it.
Then it hit her.
Agony, raw and unbearable, coiled deep within her core. A hunger so violent it stole the air from her lungs.
Her knees buckled, her vision darkening. The scent of something sweet, something rich, flooded her senses-
Blood.
A growl tore from her throat before she could stop it. The hunger clawed at her insides, a force beyond reason.
Lucian crouched beside her, his voice calm, almost bored. "You can try to run," he murmured, "but you won't make it far."
Selene's vision swayed. She could barely focus, barely think over the gnawing void inside her. Every fiber of her being screamed for relief, for blood.
Lucian watched her, his silver eyes impassive. But there was something else there, beneath the surface.
Amusement.
And something far more dangerous.
"You'll learn soon enough." He whispered, his lips grazing her ear as he did so.
Selene's body trembled, her breath coming in ragged gasps, but it did nothing to steady her. The hunger was overwhelming, more than just a sensation, it was a force, an entity gnawing at the core of her being, relentless and insatiable.
She gritted her teeth, digging her nails into her palm. The pain barely registered.
No.
She refused.
She would not become one of them.
Lucian remained crouched beside her, watching with unnerving stillness. His silver gaze flickered over her form, studying every twitch, every tremor, as if calculating the exact moment she would break.
"Fighting it won't change what you are now," he murmured.
Selene snapped her head up, fury flashing in her crystal blue eyes. "I'm not—"
The words died in her throat as she felt the pressure of fangs pressing against her bottom lips.
Lucian had moved. In the span of a heartbeat.
No, faster than that; he was no longer crouching beside her but standing at full height, towering over her. His presence was suffocating, an unnatural weight pressing down on her very existence.
"I suggest you don't finish that sentence," he said, his voice as smooth as silk, yet laced with something sharper. "Lying to yourself won't undo what's already been done."
Selene's fingers curled into fists. She tried to push herself up, but the hunger coiled tighter, burning through her limbs like wildfire. She hated this feeling; the weakness, the vulnerability.
The dependency.
Her stomach twisted violently, the scent of blood thick in the air. Her throat ached, dry and raw, a gnawing emptiness clawing at her ribs.
Every part of her screamed to take, to feed, to consume.
But that would mean surrender.
Lucian exhaled softly, his expression unreadable. "You won't last long like this," he said, his voice maddeningly calm. "The hunger only worsens when you resist."
Selene clenched her jaw, breathing hard.
Then, slowly, he reached into his coat.
Her muscles tensed, instinct screaming at her to react; to strike, to flee, but she remained frozen, every sense locked onto the object he withdrew.
A silver flask.
He unscrewed the cap, and instantly, the scent hit her.
Copper. Thick. Sweet. The unmistakable perfume of blood.
Selene's breath hitched.
Lucian tilted the flask slightly, just enough for her to see the deep crimson liquid sloshing inside. "Drink," he commanded.
Her body lurched forward before she could stop herself.
She barely caught herself in time, her arms shaking as she fought against the instinct clawing its way up her throat.
No.
Not like this.
Lucian raised an eyebrow. "Impressive," he mused. "Most newborns wouldn't have lasted this long before tearing it from my hands."
Selene glared up at him, her nails digging into the stone floor. "Go to hell."
Lucian chuckled, a dark, velvety sound. "We're already there, darling."
Then, before she could react, he was beside her again, so fast she barely registered the movement.
He was faster, stronger and more experienced than her.
A gloved hand grabbed her chin, tilting her face upward.
Selene snarled, but the moment his fingers pressed against her skin, a fresh wave of power surged through her. Cold and commanding, yet oddly... familiar. A pull, a connection, like a thread wrapped around her very soul.
Lucian's voice dipped lower. "You will drink," he said, his tone soft but absolute. "Or the hunger will consume you. Your choice."
Selene's chest heaved. Her lips parted, the scent of blood overwhelming every rational thought.
But then,
A memory.
Fire. Smoke. The screams of the dying. A promise whispered into the night.
"I will never become one of them."
She didn't quite understand what she saw but it was enough to fuel her,
Rage snapped through her veins, burning hotter than the hunger.
With a snarl, she lunged; not for the flask, but for him.
Lucian barely shifted as she struck. In a blur, he caught her wrist mid-air, twisting it behind her back. She kicked out, aiming for his ribs, but he sidestepped effortlessly, maneuvering her with an almost lazy precision.
Selene gasped, her own momentum sending her crashing against his chest.
Lucian's lips barely parted as he murmured, "Wrong move."
Then, without warning, he twisted her arm, flipping her onto her back with terrifying ease.
The impact sent a shock through her spine, but before she could scramble up, Lucian was already there, pinning her wrists to the cool surface of the floor.
His face hovered just above hers, silver eyes gleaming like liquid mercury.
Selene thrashed, but his grip was ironclad.
"Still fighting," he observed, voice a murmur of amusement. "Good. I prefer my projects with a little spirit."
Selene bared her teeth. "I am not your project."
Lucian tilted his head, his expression unreadable. Then; so suddenly that it made her breath hitch, he smiled.
Not cruel. Not mocking.
Something else.
Something dangerous.
"I suppose we'll see about that," he whispered.
And just like that, the world tilted.
Selene's vision blurred, the hunger striking harder, deeper, an unbearable agony twisting through her core.
Lucian leaned closer, his voice barely a whisper.
"You will drink, Selene."
Her body betrayed her.
Her lips parted.
The hunger roared.
And darkness swallowed her whole.