They didn't exit. Didn't pierce through. They simply… disappeared inside her, swallowed by whatever she'd become.
But the blood came.
Thick, viscous black blood poured from the wounds, spreading across her skin like ink spilling from broken bottles. It dripped onto the floor in heavy drops, forming dark pools that seemed to pulse with unnatural life.
Ray's breath caught in his throat. His hands gripped her arms, feeling the wetness, the wrongness of it all. "Esme… God, *Esme*…"
She didn't make a sound. Didn't cry out. Didn't even flinch.
The gunfire continued—relentless, merciless. More bullets tore into her, each one adding to the growing pool of black blood spreading beneath them. Her body jerked with each impact, but her grip on Ray never loosened.
She held him. Protected him. Even as she bled.
Even as she died.
The officer's voice cut through the chaos, cold and calculating. "Keep firing! Don't let either of them leave alive!"
