(BLUE’S POV)
After the day I killed the deer…
Jeremy and Sofia came back the next night.
And the night after that.
And the night after that.
At first, I thought it was temporary.
I assumed they were just making sure I didn’t lose control and become the very monster I feared.
But then it became a routine.
Every single evening, just after the heat of the sun from my metal prison faded and turned cold, the heavy door to my room would open with that same familiar creak, and Jeremy would walk in carrying dinner.
Dinner, in this case, meant a terrified animal.
Sometimes it was a rabbit.
Sometimes a goat.
Once it was even a wild boar that should have taken both Jeremy and Sofia to drag inside but Jeremy somehow carried it alone without breaking a sweat.
Each time they would place the animal near the bed and step back.
They never said, “Drink.”
They never had to.
My body already knew what to do.
The thirst always arrived first.
That burning sensation crawling down my throat like fire ants.
Then the hunger.
Then the smell.
God… the smell.
The moment an animal entered the room, its scent exploded in my nose like fireworks.
Warm blood.
Living flesh.
Beating heart.
It drove me insane every time.
At first, I fought it, I tried to resist.
I tried to hold onto the person I used to be.
The kind human who never hurt a soul and loved animals dearly.
But eventually the thirst always won.
And when it did…
I fed.
The first few nights were messy.
Embarrassing.
Horrifying even.
Afterwards I would sit there staring at the lifeless body while shame twisted in my stomach.
Jeremy never judged me.
Sofia never looked disgusted.
Instead they would stay by my side talking and keeping me company while my mind slowly settled again.
One night, after I finished feeding on a rabbit, Sofia sat on a wooden crate near the wall while Jeremy cleaned the floor.
“Yes,” Sofia was saying, “but most vampires prefer human blood.
Animal blood keeps them alive, but it isn’t as satisfying.”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Fantastic,” I muttered bitterly.
“So I’m basically living on the monster’s version of stale bread.”
Jeremy chuckled from across the room.
“That’s one way to look at it.”
I glared at him.
“You’re enjoying this way too much.” He shrugged casually.
“You’re adjusting surprisingly well for someone who turned less than two weeks ago.”
“Adjusting?” I scoffed.
I lifted my silver-burned wrists slightly.
“I’m chained to a bed drinking goats for dinner.”
Sofia tilted her head.
“Technically that one was a rabbit.” I stared at her and she smiled back sweetly.
“Details.” she added.
Despite everything… I almost laughed.
Note the word almost.
Days blurred into nights, or maybe it was the other way around—I couldn’t keep track anymore.
Living in perpetual darkness does that to you.
The only way I marked time was by the faint shift in the air when Jeremy or Sofia slipped in with another “meal,” or by the way the candle stubs burned down to nothing.
Everything else just… melted together.
They still wouldn’t let me out of the room.
The heavy silver chains stayed locked around my wrists and ankles, cold and unforgiving, never loosening even a fraction.
And they still hadn’t told me what the hell they actually were.
That secret gnawed at me worse than the thirst ever had.
One evening—after I’d drained the last warm drops from a small deer they’d brought me—I finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Jeremy,” I said, voice rough from disuse.
He looked up from where he was wiping his hands on a rag, and his eyes lit up the second he heard his name, like it was the best sound in the world.
“Yes, son?” That small, easy smile of his tugged at the corner of his mouth.
I swallowed.
“What are you?”
The room went dead quiet.
Sofia froze mid-motion, the small knife she used to prep the animals hovering over the table.
Jeremy leaned back against the stone wall, arms loose at his sides.
“That,” he said, calm as ever, “is a complicated question.”
I let out a sharp breath.
“Which means you’re dodging it.
Again.”
Sofia sighed softly, the kind of sigh that carried years of patience.
“Blue…”
“You told me you weren’t human,” I pushed on, the words spilling out faster now.
“But you’re obviously not vampires either.
I’ve seen you eat bread, for crying out loud.
Real bread.
With butter.
You walk around in daylight like it’s just another Tuesday.
You don’t smell like blood.
And back when I was still… me… you two used to visit my family all the time.
Never once tried to bite anyone.
Never hurt a soul.”
Jeremy crossed his arms, rubbing his chin like he was actually considering my detective work.
“When you lay it out like that…”
Sofia elbowed him lightly.
“Jeremy.”
“Right, right.” He met my eyes again, that steady gaze of his never wavering.
“We’ll explain everything eventually.”
“Eventually when?”
“In due time.”
I groaned loud enough to echo off the walls and let my head thunk back against the pillow.
“You two are the worst secret-keepers in history.
I swear.”
Jeremy just grinned, wide and unapologetic.
“You’ll survive, kid.
Promise.”
And that was how it went for another two weeks—maybe longer?
I lost count.
The same routine.
Same chains.
Same half-answers that left me staring at the ceiling until my eyes burned.
But something strange started shifting inside me.
The thirst… that savage, screaming thing that had owned me since the night I died… it finally loosened its grip.
It didn’t vanish—nah, it was still there, a low, constant whisper in the back of my skull—but it wasn’t clawing at my throat anymore.
I could think straight.
I could hold a conversation without feeling like I might lunge at the nearest heartbeat.
For the first time since waking up like this, I felt almost… human again.
Or whatever the vampire version of that was.
Then, about a week later, Jeremy walked in one evening and studied me for a long beat, head tilted like he was reading something written on my face.
“You look calmer,” he said.
“I feel calmer,” I admitted, surprised by how true it sounded.
Sofia leaned against the far wall, arms folded.
“Any violent urges?”
“Besides the usual?” Jeremy smirked, shooting me a wink.
I thought about it—really thought—then shook my head.
“No.
Not like before.”
Jeremy nodded slowly, something satisfied flickering across his features.
“Good.” He stepped forward, and my eyes widened when his hands went straight to the chains.
“Wait,” I breathed, voice suddenly shaky.
He paused, fingers still on the lock.
“Something wrong?”
“You’re… you’re actually taking them off?”
“Yeah.” Simple as that.
My heart—dead as Sofia had sworn it was—did this weird little flip anyway, like it remembered what it used to do.
I knew it was impossible, but the flutter was there all the same.
“But… what if I lose it?” I asked, the words cracking a little.
“What if I go feral the second I’m free?”
Jeremy gave me that confident, unshakable smile of his—the one that made you believe the world could burn and he’d just stroll through the flames.
“Then Sofia will tackle you.”
Sofia flexed one arm with dramatic flair, muscles popping like she’d been waiting her whole life for this exact moment.
“Been practicing my form just for you, kid.”
I stared at both of them, half-laughing, half-terrified.
“You two are actually insane.”
Jeremy didn’t argue.
He just unlocked the shackles.
The moment the silver chains clattered to the floor, a rush slammed through me—hot, electric, alive.
Relief flooded every vein first, sweet and dizzying.
Then came the power, raw and humming under my skin like a storm waking up.
And finally, freedom.
My muscles felt lighter, looser, like someone had cut every weight I’d been carrying since the night I died.
I flexed my wrists slowly, staring at the faint red marks where the chains had been.
“No burning,” I murmured.
“Silver doesn’t hurt vampires too much,” Jeremy explained.
“Only when it restricts their energy.”
Sofia tilted her head.
“How do you feel?”
I stood up carefully.
For the first time since waking up in that room.
The ground felt… different.
Solid.
Alive.
“I feel…”
I clenched my fists.
“Strong.”
Jeremy smiled.
“Good.”
Then he said the words I had been waiting weeks to hear.
“Because tonight… you’re coming outside.”
“Wait.
What?” I blinked.”Outside?”
Jeremy nodded.
“Yes.”
“Like… outside outside?” I asked again.
Because it felt to good to be true.
Sofia laughed.
“Yes, Blue.
Outside outside.”
I stared at the door.
For weeks that door had been the edge of my world.
“You’re serious?”
Jeremy softly grabbed my hand.
“Very.”
I rushed toward the door but he pulled me back slightly and held up a finger.
“I have one rule.” he said.
I stopped.
“What rule?”
He looked me straight in the eye.
“Remember, you can never go out during the day.”
My excitement faded slightly.
“Why?” I asked in a whiny tone even though they had told me why several times.
Sofia answered anyways, softly.
“Because sunlight kills vampires, Blue.”
The words still landed like a stone even though I had heard them say it before.
I honestly didn’t know what I was expecting to hear from her this time around.
Jeremy nodded.
“Burns them to ash.”
I swallowed slowly.
“So that’s it.
For the rest of my life?”
“What?” Jeremy asked.
“No more sunlight.” No more warm mornings.
No more golden fields.
No more watching the sun rise.
Jeremy rested a hand on my shoulder.
“I know it’s hard, Son.”
I looked down.
“But it’s your new reality.” he added.
I sighed.
“Well… that’s fucked up.”
Sofia laughed.
“Language.”
“I’m a vampire now,” I said flatly.
“I think I’ve earned the right to say ‘fucked up.'”
Jeremy chuckled.
“Fair enough.” Then he opened the door.
“Come on.”
And for the first time since dying… I stepped outside again.
The forest at night was beautiful.
Moonlight poured through the trees like silver rain.
The air, trees and earth smelled alive.
Every leaf.
Every animal.
Every drop of water.
With my new senses I could hear everything.
Owls.
Foxes.
Tiny insects crawling through the grass.
It was overwhelming.
But also incredible.
Jeremy watched my expression.
“Pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
I nodded slowly.
“I can hear a squirrel breathing.”
Sofia smiled.
“Welcome to vampire senses.”
Then Jeremy said something that changed everything.
“Run.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“I said run.
Feel free.” he repeated.
I looked at him for a second longer then shrugged.
“Okay.”
So I ran.
At least…
I thought I ran.
But the moment my foot touched the ground, the world exploded into motion.
The trees blurred past me.
The wind roared in my ears.
The ground flew beneath my feet like a river.
I stopped abruptly.
Or tried to.
Instead I slammed into a tree.
CRACK.
The trunk split.
I stared at it.
“…Oops.”
Behind me, Sofia laughed so hard she almost fell over.
Jeremy walked up casually.
“Super strength,” he said.
“Also something you’ll want to control.”
I stared at my hands.
“I broke a tree.”
“Yes.”
“I BROKE A TREE.”
Jeremy patted my shoulder.
“You’ll get used to it.”
For the next three weeks, every single night dragged us back into the forest like it was calling our names.
And every single night, I ran.
Faster.
Farther.
Stronger.
The trees blurred into streaks of black and silver under the moonlight.
My legs ate up the ground like it owed me something.
I learned I could see in total darkness like it was bright noon—every leaf edge sharp, every shadow crisp.
I learned I could pick up the soft crunch of a rabbit’s heartbeat from a mile away, or the whisper of wind through branches two ridges over.
I learned I could hoist fallen logs the size of small cars and toss them aside like they were kindling.
But one thing kept messing with my head.
No matter how hard I pushed, no matter how far I tore through the woods… Jeremy and Sofia always caught up.
Every damn time.
One night I really let loose.
I sprinted flat-out for nearly two miles, lungs burning even though I didn’t need to breathe, feet barely touching the earth.
When I finally skidded to a stop in a small clearing, chest heaving out of habit, I bent over with my hands on my knees and grinned into the dark.
Thirty seconds later—thirty freaking seconds—Jeremy stepped out from behind a tree like he’d been waiting there the whole time.
Not even breathing hard.
Just standing there, relaxed, arms loose at his sides, that easy grin already spreading across his face.
“How,” I panted, still half-laughing in disbelief, “do you even do that?!”
He shrugged one massive shoulder.
“Practice.”
“That is NOT practice!” I threw my arms out wide.
“That’s cheating.
You’re cheating.
I was gone.
I was a ghost.”
Sofia dropped down from a branch above us, landing light as a cat, her boots barely whispering against the moss.
She dusted her hands off and shot me a proud little smile.
“You’re getting faster, though.
Noticeably faster.”
I narrowed my eyes at both of them, suspicion curling in my gut like smoke.
“You two are definitely not human.”
Jeremy nodded once, like I’d just stated the obvious weather report.
“Correct.”
“And you’re not vampires.”
Sofia’s smile turned mysterious, the kind that said she was enjoying this way too much.
“Also correct.”
I threw my hands up toward the sky.
“Then what the hell are you?!”
Jeremy tilted his head back and pointed up at the fat, glowing moon hanging between the branches.
“You’ll know soon.”
I groaned so loud it echoed off the trees.
“I hate that answer.
I hate it so much.”
But they didn’t stop there.
Between the runs, they taught me everything else that mattered.
One night Jeremy crouched beside me in the underbrush, finger pressed to the dirt.
“What do you see?”
I squinted at the faint impressions.
“Footprints… two people?”
“Three.” He tapped a barely-there scuff I’d missed.
“Always look deeper.
The ground remembers more than you think.”
Sofia taught me how to vanish.
She had me stand perfectly still while the wind moved around us.
“Imagine your presence is a flame,” she murmured.
“Now bury it.
Deep.
Until even the forest forgets you’re there.”
I focused hard, pulling everything inward until the night itself seemed to go quieter around me.
Sofia tilted her head, nostrils flaring once, then smiled.
“Good.
I can barely smell you now.”
Jeremy took me further.
He didn’t just teach me to hunt rabbits and deer—he taught me to hunt predators.
Wolves.
Mountain lions.
Things that could tear a normal person apart.
“Always assume someone stronger than you is out there,” he said one night, voice low and serious as we stalked a pair of glowing eyes through the pines.
“That mindset keeps you alive longer than any fang or claw ever will.”
Night after night, mile after mile, something inside me started to change.
The monster I’d woken up as—the one that had felt like nothing but hunger and rage—began to fade.
In its place grew something sharper.
Something deliberate.
Something powerful.
I wasn’t just surviving anymore.
I was becoming.
But that one burning question still haunted me, refusing to let go.
One night we finally slowed down and dropped onto a fallen log beneath a canopy of ancient trees, the moon painting everything in cool blue light.
I stared at the two of them for a long moment, then asked again, quieter this time.
“Jeremy.”
He looked over, eyebrows raised.
“Yeah?”
“What are you and Sofia, really?”
He glanced sideways at her.
She gave him the tiniest nod, like they’d been waiting for this exact second.
Then Jeremy turned back to me, that calm, steady smile settling on his face—the one that always made me feel like the world could end tomorrow and he’d still have a plan.
“You’re almost ready to know.”