Chapter 5: Blood That Answers
940 Words
I didn’t sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I felt it, that pull. Like something in my veins was listening for a call only it could hear.
The moonlight spilling through my curtains felt heavier than before, almost tangible. It pressed against my skin, cool and sharp, and for the first time in my life… it didn’t hurt.
That terrified me more than the wolves.
I sat up in bed, heart pounding slow and steady, too steady. The house was silent, but I could hear things, my dad’s breathing down the hall, the hum of electricity in the walls, a car passing three streets away.
This wasn’t normal.
I swung my legs off the bed, gripping the edge of the mattress. My nails dug into the fabric.
Too deep.
I yanked my hand back, staring. Four thin slashes marred the quilt.
I hadn’t felt myself do it.
“Sophia.”
Alex’s voice came from the doorway, low, cautious.
I looked up fast. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough,” he said. His gaze flicked to the torn fabric, then back to my face. “You’re changing.”
“I don’t want to,” I whispered.
He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “I know.”
That was the worst part. He knew. And he wasn’t afraid of me.
“Your dad told me more,” he said. “About your mother.”
I hugged my arms around myself. “Did he tell you she lied to me my whole life?”
“He told me she was trying to keep you alive.”
My throat tightened. “At what cost?”
Alex didn’t answer. Instead, he said, “There’s a hierarchy among vampires.”
I looked up sharply. “Hierarchy?”
“Yes. Covens. Elders. Rulers.” His jaw clenched. “And then there are legends.”
I swallowed. “Legends like me?”
“Legends like the Alpha Vampire,” he said quietly.
The word settled over me like a crown I didn’t ask for.
“That’s not real,” I said weakly.
Alex met my eyes. “The wolves thought so.”
A sudden wave of dizziness hit me. I gasped, gripping the bed as heat flooded my body, then cold. My vision blurred, sharpened, blurred again.
“Sophia,” Alex said, instantly at my side. He caught me before I fell.
My hand fisted in his shirt. His warmth grounded me, but it also did something else, something dangerous.
My senses flared.
I could hear his heartbeat.
Strong. Fast.
The sound made something inside me ache.
“Alex,” I whispered. “Something’s wrong.”
“I know,” he said, tension in every muscle. “Look at me.”
I tried.
But the room tilted, shadows stretching unnaturally long. The air felt thick, buzzing with energy. My teeth ached.
Hungry.
The realization slammed into me so hard I pulled away.
“No,” I said, panic flooding my voice. “No, no...”
Alex froze.
“You’re hungry,” he said carefully.
“I would never...” My voice broke. “I’m not a monster.”
He didn’t flinch. “You’re not.”
“You don’t know that!”
“I do,” he said firmly. “Because monsters don’t fight themselves like this.”
My breathing came fast and shallow. My skin felt too tight, like it wanted to tear open.
Alex took a step back, giving me space. “Sophia, listen to me. You’re not going to hurt anyone. I won’t let that happen.”
“And if you can’t stop me?” I asked.
His eyes flashed gold for half a second.
“Then you’ll have to try very hard,” he said.
That shouldn’t have comforted me.
It did.
I sank onto the bed, burying my face in my hands. “I don’t want this power. I don’t want them hunting me. I don’t want...” My voice dropped. “I don’t want to lose myself.”
Alex sat beside me, careful, close but not touching.
“You won’t,” he said. “Not if you learn control.”
“And who’s supposed to teach me?” I asked bitterly. “Vampire school?”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “There are people who would help you.”
“People who would cage me,” I shot back.
His expression darkened. “That’s why we don’t tell them yet.”
I looked at him sharply. “We?”
He met my gaze, unflinching. “You’re not facing this alone.”
My heart twisted painfully. “Alex… your kind and mine...”
“...are enemies,” he finished. “I know.”
Silence stretched between us, heavy with everything we weren’t saying.
Outside, clouds drifted across the moon.
And somewhere far away, I felt it, a pull answering a pull.
Blood calling to blood.
Alex went still. “Do you feel that?”
I nodded slowly. “Like… someone’s listening.”
His jaw tightened. “That’s not good.”
Before I could ask why, a sharp pain sliced through my wrist. I cried out, clutching it as a thin line of blood welled up.
The sight of it made my head spin.
Alex sucked in a breath, eyes darkening.
“Sophia,” he said tightly, “don’t look at it.”
I tried.
But my body didn’t listen.
The blood shimmered in the moonlight, and something ancient inside me answered.
Somewhere in the distance, something powerful stirred awake.
And I knew, with terrifying certainty that this was only the beginning.
- Writer
