THE UNIQUE LUNA

CHAPTER 3: DONNA AND DRAKE

After Louis and Joe whispered their last words, I stayed. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. My body refused to respond. I just sat there, clutching their hands, feeling the faint warmth fade beneath my fingers. Their breathing was shallow, fragile, like tiny waves on a storm-tossed sea, barely there, barely alive. Their skin, once full of life, had turned a ghostly pale. And I could feel it—slowly, inexorably—life slipping away.

I leaned closer, pressing my forehead against Louis’s arm. “Louis… Joe… I’m so sorry,” I whispered. My voice cracked as hot tears streamed down my cheeks, smearing onto their hands. “I should have protected you. I should have… I—please… rest now…”

But the world didn’t listen.

First Louis went. A soft exhale, almost peaceful. And then nothing. My hand stayed over his chest, feeling the emptiness where his heartbeat had been. And then Joe. Seconds later, fading like smoke from a dying fire.

“No… no… stay with me!” I screamed, my hands clutching their lifeless forms as sobs shook my body. My voice echoed across the cold, empty room, but it didn’t reach them. It never would.

And then… silence.

Not the comforting silence of peace, but a hollow, screaming void that pressed against my chest. My heart had been ripped out, replaced by something unreal. Something numb. My vision blurred, and the world tilted around me. I had failed them. I couldn’t save them.

And soon… Nina. Bella. They would come next.

I didn’t want to think about it, but the dread settled like ice in my veins. I couldn’t stop it. I was powerless.

A creak broke through my spiraling thoughts. The door opened. And as I knew it would, Alexei stepped inside, calm as if he had been waiting for this very moment.

“Freya,” he said, his voice smooth, too calm, almost surgical. “Come with me. You can’t cling to the dead forever. I’ll transfer you to another room.”

“No! I won’t leave them!” I shrieked, my voice raw, hoarse, trembling with rage and grief. “They deserve a proper burial!”

He didn’t answer. He simply moved forward, his hand clamping around my arm. His strength was inhuman. I struggled, kicking, screaming, clawing at him, but it was useless. He dragged me across the hall like I weighed nothing and threw me into a new room. The door slammed behind me, cutting off my connection to them entirely.

I sank to the floor, clutching my arm where he had grabbed me, trembling violently. My heart pounded, and the sobs came again, a tidal wave of grief and helplessness.

Then I saw them. Two figures, pale and still, watching me. A man and a woman. Their presence made my skin crawl. Something about them was… different.

Alexei’s lips curved into a cruel smile. “You recognize them?”

I shook my head, fear tightening around my chest like a vice.

“They are… special,” he continued, his voice smooth and cold. “I extract their blood for my experiments. Lucky for you, Freya, you are my final specimen.”

Final. Specimen. The words hit me like a hammer. My stomach twisted, bile rising, as panic and fury coursed through me. I lunged toward the woman, trying to protect her, but Alexei was faster. His hand gripped her wrist, and he extracted her blood effortlessly. She didn’t scream. She couldn’t. My fists pounded the walls, my voice raw from screaming, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered in this room except fear, and pain, and helplessness.

“Damn it!” I shouted, voice breaking. “Go to hell, Alexei!”

Then, silence. Heavy, suffocating silence.

I sank further, wrapping my arms around myself, shaking. My mind couldn’t process the horror. The grief. The rage.

And then—a soft voice.

“Hey… are you okay?”

I looked up. The man had stepped closer, calm, gentle, watching me with concern. The woman stood beside him, her eyes soft, not cruel, not cold. She reached for my hands.

“I… I don’t know,” I admitted, voice barely more than a whisper. “My friends… they’re dead. I can’t stop thinking about them.”

They exchanged glances, silently communicating something I couldn’t hear but could feel. Then the woman spoke, her fingers holding mine firmly.

“Don’t blame yourself,” she said softly. “Everything that’s happened… there’s a reason. And this—this might be your chance.”

I shook my head, trying to hold back tears. “I’m scared,” I whispered. “I don’t even know if I can survive this… or escape.”

The man stepped closer, steady, grounding. “You can. You will. The Alpha—Donna’s mate—will come. When he does, you’ll have your opportunity.”

“Mate?” I echoed. My mind snapped to images of werewolf novels, of destined love, of a protector who would come no matter what.

Donna, the female, flushed faintly. “Yes. He’s destined to find me. It’s… inevitable.”

I swallowed hard, feeling a pang of envy, of hopeless longing twist in my chest. If only… if only Louis had survived.

The man shook his head. “I don’t have a mate. Vampires don’t search for soulmates. We search for… eternal companions.”

“Eternal companions?” I asked, uneasy.

“Humans we feed on,” he said simply.

I shivered. “That’s… horrifying.”

“They’re not all like that,” Donna said quickly. “Some of us live differently. We coexist with humans… without hurting them.”

I nodded slowly, though my unease didn’t fade.

Then the man’s eyes burned with a quiet fury. “But Alexei… he will be the first to die if I get the chance. I’ll drain every drop of blood from him.”

“I’ll help,” Donna said fiercely, teeth flashing in a grim smile. “I can’t wait to tear him apart.”

I pictured it in my mind—Alexei, reduced to nothing. My stomach twisted, but a small spark ignited inside me. A spark of hope. Of rebellion.

Maybe… if these creatures could fight him, if they could survive him… then maybe I could too.

Maybe… I could survive this hell.