The city was breathing in silence.
Streetlights blinked through the fog like half-open eyes, and the wind carried the metallic scent of rain mixed with something darker — the faint trace of blood that Sandra couldn't stop sensing anymore.
She walked alone across the bridge that led to the upper district of Noxbridge. Cars passed beside her, engines humming like distant beasts. To anyone watching, she looked like an ordinary student on her way home after a late class. But inside, something was wrong — something was growing.
Her heartbeat was too loud. Every light hurt her eyes. The city's pulse felt synchronized with her own, like every vein in the world was whispering to her.
You're not human anymore.
She tried to ignore that voice. It wasn't real. It couldn't be. But when she caught her reflection in the puddle near her feet, she froze. Her eyes — for a brief instant — glowed faint red.
She stumbled back, gasping.
Then she heard footsteps. Calm, deliberate, echoing behind her.
"Running away from yourself, Sandra?"
Raven's voice. Smooth, low, unsettlingly calm.
She turned sharply. He was standing near the bridge railing, half his face hidden beneath the shadow of his coat's collar. His dark hair was damp, and his eyes — those impossible crimson eyes — were fixed on her, unreadable.
"Don't," she said, backing away. "Don't come any closer."
Raven tilted his head. "You think I'm the danger here?"
Her anger flared. "You killed that boy!"
He didn't deny it. "I saved you."
"You call that saving? He was begging for help—"
"He was gone," Raven cut her off, his tone sharp. "That thing wasn't human anymore. He would've torn you apart."
Sandra's jaw tightened. "And what am I now?"
Raven's silence was heavier than words. The wind pushed between them, swirling the mist like smoke from a dying fire.
"You're alive," he finally said. "But that comes with a price."
Sandra laughed bitterly. "You mean your curse?"
Raven's eyes flickered. "It's not mine anymore. It's ours."
The word hit her like a blade. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "I'm not like you. I can fight it."
He stepped closer, his boots splashing in the puddles. "You can delay it. But not deny it."
"I'll find a way!" she shouted, her voice cracking.
Raven sighed — not out of frustration, but out of something that almost sounded like grief. "I used to believe that too."
Sandra stared at him. "What happened to you, Raven?"
For the first time, his mask slipped. His voice softened, haunted. "A long time ago, I tried to save someone. I failed. She became a monster. And I…" He looked at his own hands, flexing them slowly. "I became her executioner."
The silence that followed was unbearable. Sandra could hear her own blood rushing in her ears.
She wanted to hate him — the killer, the monster, the liar — but his eyes held a sorrow so deep it tore through her defenses.
Then she felt it — the faint pull in her veins again, a hunger crawling up from her chest. Her lips trembled. "What's happening to me?"
Raven's gaze sharpened. "When did you last eat?"
"I'm not hungry," she lied.
He stepped closer, his tone low and firm. "That's not the kind of hunger I mean."
Her vision blurred. The world tilted. Every heartbeat around her — even his — was thunder in her skull. She clutched her head, gasping.
"Make it stop," she pleaded.
Raven was beside her in an instant, his hand gripping her shoulder. "Breathe. Focus on my voice."
But she wasn't hearing him anymore. She was hearing the sound of blood. His pulse — steady, rhythmic — calling to her like music.
Her fangs slid down before she realized it.
"Raven…" she gasped.
He didn't move. "Do it," he said quietly.
She looked up, horrified. "What?"
"If you don't feed, you'll die."
"No! I won't—"
"Then you'll lose control and kill someone else."
His tone was cold, but his eyes weren't. There was no mockery, no cruelty — only acceptance.
He raised his wrist and pressed it against her lips. "Take it. It's better you learn control now than destroy yourself later."
Sandra stared at him, trembling. "You're insane."
"Maybe," he said softly. "But I'm still alive."
Her resistance crumbled. The scent hit her — metallic, warm, intoxicating. The hunger broke through her mind like a wave.
Her lips touched his skin.
Then she bit.
The taste of his blood flooded her senses. It was unlike anything — sweet and bitter, burning and soothing. The world spun, her heart raced, her body trembled. For a moment, it felt like dying and awakening at the same time.
Raven's hand tightened on her shoulder, steady but not forceful. His expression didn't change, though his jaw clenched slightly.
When she finally pulled away, she stumbled back, her eyes wide with horror.
"What have I done?" she whispered.
Raven's voice was calm. "You survived."
She wiped her mouth, tears mixing with rain. "You made me a monster."
"No," he said, stepping closer. "I gave you a choice. You took it."
Sandra shook her head, her breath ragged. "I didn't want this."
"Neither did I," Raven murmured.
The tension hung like a noose. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rolled. The first drops of rain fell, washing the blood from her lips.
Raven turned toward the skyline, where the lights of Noxbridge glowed beneath the storm. "This city feeds on its own sins," he said quietly. "You just joined the feast."
Sandra followed his gaze, numb, hollow, yet strangely alive. "What happens now?"
He looked at her — not as a victim, not as an enemy, but as something new.
"Now," he said, "you learn to survive before the others find you."
"The others?"
"The ones who'll sense what you are," Raven explained. "You carry something old in your blood, Sandra. Something every clan will want — or fear."
Her heart skipped. "What are you talking about?"
"The mark," Raven said, his voice barely a whisper. "You're not an ordinary fledgling. You're part of a Bloodline that shouldn't exist."
The wind howled through the bridge rails. Sandra's breath caught. "Then what am I?"
Raven met her eyes. "A Bloodmarked. The Veil's lost heir."
Before she could question further, headlights flashed behind them. A black car approached slowly, too silent, too deliberate.
Raven's expression hardened instantly. "We're not alone."
Sandra turned. The car stopped mid-bridge. Three figures stepped out — dressed in dark coats, their eyes reflecting silver under the streetlights.
"Who are they?" she whispered.
Raven's tone was grim. "The Order of the Veil. They've found us sooner than I thought."
He stepped forward, placing himself between Sandra and the newcomers.
The tallest one — a man with a silver cane — smiled faintly. "Raven Hale. Still playing the guardian, I see."
"Stay out of this, Malric," Raven growled.
Malric's gaze shifted to Sandra. "Ah, so this is the girl. The half-turned one. You should've let her die. Now she'll bring chaos upon all of us."
Sandra's stomach twisted. "What does he mean?"
Raven didn't answer. He grabbed her arm. "Run."
But Malric was faster. His cane struck the ground, releasing a pulse of light that cracked the air. Raven shielded Sandra just in time — the force throwing them both back against the railing.
She gasped as the metal bent beneath them.
Raven's voice was fierce now. "Go! I'll hold them off!"
"I'm not leaving you!" she cried.
"Do as I say, Sandra!"
Tears blurred her vision. "You saved me twice — don't make me watch you die."
Raven looked at her, and for the first time, there was warmth in his eyes. "Then live. That's all I need."
Before she could protest again, he pushed her over the railing.
The world turned into a blur of rain and mist as she fell into the river below.
Her scream echoed through the night.
Raven turned to face Malric and the others, eyes burning crimson. "You shouldn't have come."
The silver-eyed man smiled. "We never left."
The bridge exploded into chaos.