Chapter 26
763 Words
SLAM—
Mia jolted upright in her bed.
Her breath tore from her lungs as she looked around wildly.
Sunlight poured through the balcony, soft and golden, casting gentle halos across the room.
Real.
Solid.
Normal.
Her heart pounded.
Too fast.
Too hard.
She pressed a hand to her chest, trying to steady herself.
“What… was that…”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
She became aware slowly—
Of the sheets.
Of her body.
Of the fact that—
She wasn’t dressed.
Her breath hitched.
Her eyes scanned the room quickly.
Clothes—
Gone.
Not on the floor.
Not anywhere.
Her mind raced.
How did I—
When did I—
Nothing made sense.
Her skin still tingled faintly.
That same heat lingering beneath the surface.
But quieter now.
Waiting.
Mia pulled the sheets tighter around herself, her thoughts spiraling.
Victor.
The voice.
The place.
The truth—
Or whatever version of it she had just been shown.
“You are what remains.”
Her stomach dropped.
“No…” she whispered.
Because if that was true—
Then whatever she was becoming…
Wasn’t just different.
It was something the world had never seen before.
And something—
Was counting on it.
VICTOR:
Victor woke with a violent inhale.
Cold surged through his body—
Then snapped tight under control.
He sat upright instantly, the room around him dim, untouched by the early morning light just beginning to rise outside.
But it wasn’t the room that mattered.
It was what he had just felt.
His jaw clenched.
His hand gripped the edge of the bed—
And frost spread instantly across the wood, cracking outward in sharp, jagged lines before he forced it to stop.
“…Mia.”
Her name left him before he could stop it.
Low.
Rough.
Uncontrolled.
That alone told him everything he needed to know.
Something had happened.
Not small.
Not subtle.
He had felt it—
Every second of it.
The pull.
The shift.
The moment something inside her opened.
Victor swung his legs over the side of the bed, already moving before his mind fully caught up.
Because instinct had taken over.
And instinct—
Never lied.
The hallway outside his room was quiet.
Too quiet for a house this full.
But Victor didn’t slow.
Didn’t hesitate.
Each step carried him forward with purpose, his body already responding to something deeper than thought.
The connection wasn’t like before.
It wasn’t distant.
It wasn’t faint.
It was—
Alive.
Threaded through him like something that had always been there… finally tightening.
Pulling.
Calling.
His chest tightened slightly as it guided him through the halls.
Turn.
Left.
Forward.
Again.
He didn’t question it.
Because he knew where it was leading him.
Mia’s door.
Victor stopped in front of it.
Still.
Silent.
But not calm.
His breathing was steady—but beneath it, something else burned.
Not hunger.
Not exactly.
Something sharper.
Something deeper.
A need.
Not to feed.
Not to claim.
But to be near.
To confirm—
That she was real.
That what he felt hadn’t just been something in his head.
His hand lifted slightly.
Hovering near the door.
Not knocking.
Not yet.
Because something on the other side—
Shifted.
Soft.
Subtle.
But unmistakable.
Victor’s eyes darkened slightly.
“She felt it too,” he murmured.
Of course she did.
Whatever that was—
It hadn’t just reached her.
It had connected them.
And that—
That was not supposed to happen.
He exhaled slowly, forcing control back into place.
Because whatever this was—
He couldn’t let it control him.
Not yet.
Not until he understood it.
But his body didn’t fully listen.
Because even now—
Standing just outside her door—
That pull intensified.
Stronger.
Closer.
Like the space between them wasn’t enough.
Like it wanted—
More.
Victor’s fingers curled slightly at his side.
His jaw tightened.
“This is a problem,” he muttered.
But he didn’t move.
Didn’t walk away.
Because despite everything—
Logic.
Training.
Control—
He stayed.
Right there.
Outside her door.
Waiting.
Watching.
And for the first time in his life—
Not entirely in control of what came next.
MIA:
Inside the room—
Mia sat frozen in her bed, the sheets pulled tightly around her.
Her breath still uneven.
Her mind still racing.
And suddenly—
She felt it.
That same thread.
That same pull.
Closer now.
Right outside.
Her head turned slowly toward the door.
Her heart skipping once—
Hard.
Because she knew.
Without seeing.
Without hearing.
Victor was there.
- Writer
