The Vampire Who Remembered Me

The Thing Beneath

The roar echoed through the tunnels with enough force to rattle the ground beneath Lena’s feet. Dust drifted from the ceiling in pale clouds, coating the dark fabric of Silver Eye’s coat as the entire underground passage trembled around them. Somewhere deeper below the city, something enormous moved again, followed by the grinding sound of ancient stone shifting against stone.

Lena stared at the vampires around her. Every one of them looked afraid. The vampire pinned against the wall by Amias had gone completely still, whatever arrogance he possessed moments earlier replaced by visible unease.

“That seal wasn’t supposed to weaken for another decade,” someone whispered farther down the tunnel.

Another voice answered sharply, “Lower your voice.”

Silver Eyes released the vampire with a shove strong enough to send him stumbling backward. His expression remained calm, but Lena could see tension settling beneath it now, hardening the sharp lines of his face.

The roar came again. It was closer this time, and she felt it inside her chest.

“What was that?” she asked before she could stop herself.

No one answered. Silver Eyes’ gaze shifted toward her slowly, and the strange intensity in his eyes returned. Lena hated how aware she suddenly became of his nearness, of the cold radiating from him, of the rainwater still clinging to his dark hair, of the dangerous stillness in the way he carried himself.

Nothing about him felt human. And yet he was the only thing standing between her and the others. One of the vampires farther down the tunnel stepped forward. Unlike the others, he looked young, though Lena suspected appearances meant very little in this world.

“She saw too much,” he said carefully, watching Silver Eyes. “You know the law.”

Silver Eyes’ voice turned colder. “I’m aware of the law.”

“Then kill her.”

The words hit Lena like ice water. Several of the vampires remained silent, but none looked surprised by the suggestion.

Of course, they weren’t surprised. She knew their existence. That alone probably made her dangerous. Lena took an instinctive step backward, and Silver Eyes noticed immediately.

Something unreadable flickered across his expression before disappearing just as quickly.

“No,” he said.

The single word fell heavily into the tunnel.

The younger vampire frowned slightly. “Amias—”

“I said no.”

Silence stretched again. Even without understanding their hierarchy, Lena could feel authority in the way the others reacted to Amias. She could feel reluctance and restraint. Maybe fear. But not obedience. Not entirely.

A woman emerged from the shadows farther behind the group, and Lena felt her stomach tighten immediately. She was beautiful in a severe, dangerous way, with dark hair braided tightly over one shoulder and pale eyes that seemed almost colorless beneath the candlelight spilling from the chamber beyond. Unlike the others, she wore no expression at all.

Her gaze landed on Lena. Then narrowed slightly.

“Well,” she said softly, “that explains the scent.”

Lena stiffened. The woman approached with slow elegance, her black boots silent against the stone floor. Something about her movements reminded Lena of a blade sliding free from its sheath, controlled, precise, lethal.

“She smells wrong,” the woman continued. “Human, but not entirely.”

A murmur spread quietly among the others. Amias stepped subtly between them and Lena.

The woman arched a brow. “Protective already? That’s unlike you.”

“I’m handling it.”

“You’re hesitating.”

For the first time, irritation flashed openly across Amias’s face. “Yvette.”

So that was her name.

Yvette studied him for another moment before her pale gaze shifted back toward Lena. Unlike the others, there was no hunger in her expression. Only curiosity. And somehow, that frightened Lena more.

Another tremor shook the tunnel violently. A deep cracking sound echoed somewhere beneath them. The vampires reacted instantly this time. Several turned toward the chamber behind them while others exchanged uneasy looks.

“The seal is weakening faster,” one muttered.

“That’s impossible.”

“No,” Yvette said quietly, still watching Lena. “It isn’t.”

The words sent another chill through the tunnel.

Lena looked between them anxiously. “Can someone please tell me what’s happening?”

Amias finally faced her fully. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then he said, “You shouldn’t have come down here.”

“That’s your explanation?”

“You were warned.”

“I heard screaming!”

“And now you understand why humans are forbidden from places like this.”

Anger briefly cut through Lena’s fear. “Forbidden? You people were about to kill someone!”

The younger vampire laughed softly. “Only one?”

Amias shot him a sharp look that silenced him immediately.

Lena’s pulse pounded harder. Every second she remained underground made this nightmare feel more real, more impossible to wake from.

She looked directly at Amias. “What are you?”

The question lingered heavily in the air. Amias held her gaze for several long seconds before answering.

“You already know.”

No denial. Something inside Lena twisted painfully at hearing it spoken without words.

Vampires.

Real vampires. And somehow that was not even the most terrifying part. The most terrifying part was him beecause despite everything screaming at her to run, some deeper instinct kept pulling her attention back toward him. Toward those silver eyes that looked at her as though he were trying to solve a mystery buried somewhere inside his own mind.

Yvette noticed. Lena realized it the moment the woman’s expression sharpened almost imperceptibly.

Interesting, that look seemed to say. Very interesting.

A sudden scream echoed from the chamber behind them. This one was not human. The sound twisted unnaturally through the tunnels, filled with agony and rage. Immediately afterward came another massive impact.

Stone cracked. The floor lurched violently beneath them, and several vampires cursed.

Amias turned sharply toward the chamber. “How many guardians are below the cathedral?”

“Three,” someone answered.

“Four,” another corrected nervously. “Unless the western barrier collapsed.”

Yvette’s face darkened slightly. “If the barrier failed, we have bigger problems than the human.”

The human. Lena hated how small the phrase made her feel.

Another roar exploded beneath the earth. This time, the lights inside the chamber flickered wildly before dying altogether. A few vampires moved instantly, their eyes glowing faintly in the blackness like predators hidden beneath water.

Lena’s breath caught. Then, a hand closed gently around her wrist. She nearly gasped before realizing it was Amias.

“Stay close to me,” he said quietly near her ear.

The darkness somehow made his voice worse. More intimate. More dangerous.

Farther down the tunnel, someone whispered, “Something’s coming up.”

A low scraping sound followed. It was slow. Heavy. Deliberate. Like claws dragging across stone. Every vampire in the tunnel went completely silent. Even the arrogant ones. Lena strained her eyes toward the darkness ahead, but could see almost nothing beyond shifting shadows and faint candlelight from the distant chamber.

Then she saw it. A shape moving at the far end of the corridor. Itw as too large and too unnatural. It crawled rather than walked, its limbs bending at angles that made Lena’s stomach turn. Thin, elongated fingers scraped against the tunnel walls as it pulled itself forward with horrifying slowness.

Its skin looked pale gray beneath the darkness, stretched tightly over something skeletal and wrong.

And its eyes—

Dear God.

Its eyes were human. They were terrified, broken, and hungry.

“Hollowed,” Yvette said under her breath.

The creature lifted its head suddenly. Its nostrils flared. Then it looked directly at Lena.

The reaction was instant. Every part of the creature changed at once. Its mouth split into a grin far too wide for its face, revealing rows of jagged teeth stained dark with old blood. A horrible choking sound escaped its throat, somewhere between laughter and sobbing.

Then it whispered:

“She’s back.”

The tunnel fell silent. Lena’s blood turned to ice as she realized the creature wasn’t looking at her like a stranger. It was looking at her like it recognized her.