HIS WICKED SALVATION: HIS ONLY WEAKNESS

Something was off about Ken. He’d been restless for days now—more distant than usual, snappy with Elsa, glued to his phone like it held answers to the universe. He barely left his room, barely looked at her. Maybe it was his crypto again. Probably lost a big bet, but how much had he even put into it to act this way? Ken wasn’t usually the type to spiral. But this time... it was different. Darker. Elsa had learned to keep her distance when he was like this. Still, even last night, she'd caught him watching her—eyes lingering like he thought it might be the last time he’d see her. Her alarm blared, slicing through the silence. Thinking time was over. Elsa sighed and smacked the rusty clock beside her bed. Another shift was calling. Another day of pretending everything was normal when nothing ever was. Let’s rewind a bit. Elsa was one of the Zeniles—half-bloods. Part creature, part human. The ultimate taboo in a world where humans and creatures were forbidden from mixing. She and a few others had escaped from the El’fer Kingdom, slipping into the human world like shadows with nowhere to go. King Valtor Mortlake ruled over the Zeniles with a cruel hand, using the women for his twisted pleasure. Elsa couldn’t stand it. So she ran—with friends who shared her fire. Not all of them made it out alive. But she did. And now? Hiding. Working petty jobs to feed the survivors. Eddy got lucky—landed a gig at a company where the boss fell for his charm and decided good-looking men were good for business. Pan didn’t talk about what he did. And Ken? Ken threw money at crypto and gambling like a lifeline. When he lost, like today, he unraveled. “Elsa!” Reed’s voice shot up from downstairs. “Shut that damn alarm off! It’s murder!” She scrambled to obey, hitting the button and biting her lip. No one messed with Reed. Not since Eden—his brother—died during their escape. Tying her hair back, she grabbed her towel and trudged downstairs to shower. Something felt off today. Her energy was low. Her bones ached. Usually, she was a ball of fire—moving, working, fighting. But today? She could barely drag herself forward. They were behind on rent. Again. Pan had joked about eating their landlady to avoid paying and marrying her daughter to inherit the building. Elsa had laughed so hard, her ribs hurt. After her shower, she realized—of course—she hadn’t brought clothes. She slipped back into her old ones, ready to head upstairs and change before dashing off to work. She was humming Ghost by Ed Sheeran under her breath, droplets of water sliding down her back, when she heard it—voices, muffled but tense. Arguing. The boys again? “You crazy bastard!” Jake’s voice snapped through the air. “I didn’t know! How could I know they were vampires and—” A loud slap cracked through the silence. Elsa reached the top of the stairs, pausing just around the corner. They hadn’t seen her. “You think you can explain this?” Reed growled. “How are you gonna face her brother? How, you son of a b***h?!” Elsa blinked. Her heart stuttered. Wait. Her? Her brother? Ken started sobbing. Reed’s hand clamped around his throat, rage spilling out of him like fire. “You fix this,” Reed snarled. “I don’t care if it kills you—” Pan caught sight of Elsa at the door and quickly elbowed Reed. Reed turned. Froze. His grip loosened, and Ken crumpled to the floor, gasping, neck already reddening. “What... what’s going on?” Elsa asked, her voice small. Eyes scanned the room—tense, grave, guilty. No one would meet her gaze. Ken fell to his knees. “Please,” he cried, “Elsa, I didn’t mean to—please, forgive me—” Jake’s fist crashed into his face before he could finish. “Shut the f*ck up,” Jake barked. “You think she’ll forgive you?!” Elsa stepped back, heart pounding. She didn’t know what was happening, but it was spiraling. “Stop it!” she shouted. “Stop hitting him!” “You don’t even know what he did,” Reed growled, chest heaving, fists trembling. Behind her, a voice spoke up. “Ay, another animal fight?” It was Ryan—Elsa’s brother. The only blood she had left. He leaned lazily against the wall, eyeing the chaos. “Why’s Ken the punching bag today?” Elsa stared at the people she called family. And she knew—everything was about to fall apart. Ryan stepped forward not noticing the seriousness of the room. “Woah. Reed, I can’t believe you’re actually into this,” he said as he entered, dropping a basket of apples onto the nearest table. “Eddy’s treat. Said to drop these off.” He turned to face the group—and finally noticed the tension. The bruised Ken. The rage on Reed’s face. Pan’s clenched fists. Ryan’s smirk faded, but not before he teased, “So, why aren’t you stopping them, Angel Elsa? Aren’t you the peacekeeper?” That was Ryan. The joker in every storm. But when he got mad, the world held its breath. His gaze shifted, brows furrowing as he took in the room’s grim atmosphere. “Elsa? What’s wrong?” Elsa opened her mouth, unsure how to begin—when Reed cut her off. “They’ve found us,” he said sharply. “We leave tomorrow morning.” Ryan blinked. “Who found us?” “King Valtor,” Reed replied. “Or worse—his bloodhounds.” Ryan let out a bitter laugh. “Damn wizard freak. That bastard’s got eyes everywhere.” Elsa glanced at Ken. He looked like guilt personified. She didn’t believe it was just that. Something else was being held back. “So what’s with the mob-style beatdown?” Ryan asked, eyeing the battered Ken. “Just ‘cause he’s the weakest doesn’t mean—” “It’s not just that,” Jake interrupted, his voice low and sharp. “It’s vampires. That i***t sold us out.” Jake threw a pointed glance at Elsa. “He sold Elsa. For a million.” Time stopped. Elsa felt her knees weaken. Her throat tightened. Pain stabbed her neck like a ghost wound. Pan reached out to stop Jake, but he pushed on. “And all that money? Gone. Lost in his pathetic crypto gambling.” “What?” Ryan whispered, his voice hollow with disbelief. “Enough, Jake,” Reed warned. Elsa couldn’t speak. Her mind flashed to nightmares—Valtor’s grip, the screams of the dying, Eden’s last breath. She didn’t need this. Ryan straightened slowly, his gaze sharpening, eyes locked on Ken. The calm before the storm. “I swear I didn’t know this would happen,” Ken gasped out, still kneeling. “I never thought they could trace it back to us. Elsa, please—” Ryan lunged forward, but Elsa grabbed his arm. “Let it go,” she whispered. Her legs trembled, her soul cracked, but she held on. “I’m not going anywhere until I kill him, Elssy,” Ryan said, his voice low and deadly. He yanked his arm free—but Elsa grabbed him again, harder this time. “Stop it,” she snapped, voice shaking. “We leave. Just like Reed said. Stop trying to make it worse.” Her eyes never met theirs. If they saw the tears, she’d break. “No way,” Ryan hissed. “I’m going to kill him now and send his damn corpse back to El’fer.” “Stop, Ryan! Just STOP!” Her voice cracked. The tears fell freely now, hot and furious. “The damage is done. You think killing him will fix this? You think they’ll take his dead body in exchange for me?” She pointed at Ken. “It won’t solve anything! It’s just vengeance—rage, nothing more!” Ryan opened his mouth to argue, but Elsa turned to Reed instead. “We pack up. We leave first thing in the morning. Don’t force him…” Her gaze fell on Ken. “If he wants to come, let him.” “Elssy—” “I’m going to work. I’m already late.” Her voice was dead. Hollow. She turned to leave, needing the privacy to fall apart. But Ryan grabbed her arm. “I can’t let you leave. No one leaves tonight.” “But—” “I’ll kill him if you step out that door,” Ryan said calmly, nodding toward Ken. Elsa stared at him, stunned. Then, silently, she yanked her arm away, skin tearing in the process. Blood ran down her wrist. She didn’t stop. She walked straight to her room and slammed the door shut. --- Inside the four walls of her room, she sank to the floor. They would never be safe. Not with Valtor hunting them. Not with betrayal among them. Not with fear suffocating every plan they made. She looked at the small gash Ryan’s grip had left. It was already healing. Just like everything else had been forced to. But could you heal betrayal? She remembered Eden—Reed’s brother, dead during the escape. Sam, who they’d never confirmed was truly gone. So many losses. So much blood. And now… now they had to run again. Where would they even go? It had taken months just to build a fragile life here. Starting over somewhere else? It could take years. If they survived that long. --- Downstairs, Reed traced a line down a worn map. “We move to Texas,” he said, his voice heavy. “It’s far, but it’s the best option we’ve got. It’ll take weeks to get there, maybe longer.” He sighed, pausing at the edge of the paper. “Vampires on Earth aren’t like the ones in El’fer. These ones blend in. They watch. They’re lethal. And they don’t forget.” Pan moved to the phone as Reed turned to him. “Call Eddy. Tell him what’s happened. He needs to be ready.” Pan nodded and stepped away. Reed sat beside Ryan, who hadn’t spoken a word. His jaw worked as if chewing on rage, his eyes still locked on the door Ken had disappeared behind. Reed cleared his throat. “I know... it's unexpected,” he said quietly. “But we have to keep moving. For Elsa. For the rest of us.” Ryan didn’t reply. But the war in his eyes was far from over. “We aren't going to leave him behind,” Eddy said quietly. “We did that to Sam. We still regret it…” “I’m not going to regret anything,” Ryan snapped, cutting him off. “In fact, I will regret it if I don’t kill him.” He turned fully to Reed, gaze sharp, jaw tight. “Don’t you think it’s weird? Who puts a person—a human being—as collateral for a damn loan? Don’t you think it should’ve raised some alarm?” “Ryan—” Reed started. “No, Reed. Listen to me,” Ryan pushed on. “He said it was ‘only females.’ Didn’t that sound off to him? That didn’t strike him as suspicious?” He exhaled heavily, frustration boiling in his voice. “Ken’s different. He’s half-vampire. You remember—he was the only one with Sam before he disappeared…” “We’re going together,” Reed said firmly, cutting him off. “Wherever we go, we all go. So I suggest you bury whatever suspicions you’re holding on to. We’re not letting them take her. Elsa’s family. We all are.” Ryan opened his mouth, but this time, he let it go. He leaned back against the wall, eyes burning with quiet anger. “Pan’s briefing Eddy now,” Reed added. “You know how Eddy’s going to react.” Ryan snorted. “He’s going to kill him.” Eddy, Elsa, and Ryan were close. Blood couldn’t have made it stronger. And Eddy—he didn’t play games when it came to Elsa. “He’s not going to take kindly to someone messing with his sister,” Ryan muttered. “We have to avoid that,” Reed said. “You’re going to have to stop him, Ryan. I know you want to end Ken, but Elsa doesn’t. Respect that.” He gave Ryan’s shoulder a pat, managing a faint smile. “Besides, you’re stronger. You’ll be the one carrying the heavy stuff.” With that, Reed stood and left the room. --- Elsa dreamed again. Sam. Eden. And now… Ken. She saw Ken feeding on her own dead body. Then he turned to her—eyes blood-red, fangs bared—and lunged. She woke up gasping, drenched in sweat. Her room was dark, but everything in it felt alive. The furniture loomed like silhouettes of the dead—Sam and Eden, twisted and reaching. She swung her legs off the bed, her skin clammy. Anything felt better than staying in here. She opened the door carefully; everyone was a light sleeper. She didn’t want to wake them. She thought of Eddy when he got home. He had been livid—more beast than man. Unlike Ryan, Eddy didn’t calm when Elsa spoke. He had actually broken into Ken’s room on his way from work through the window, fists flying, fury unleashed. It took the whole group to pull him off. Ryan hadn’t intervened. In fact, Ryan just stood there—watching—like he was waiting for someone else to do what he couldn’t. Eventually, the decision was made: Ken made a mistake, a terrible one—but a mistake. And he would not be punished for it. Not now Her head pounded again. The headaches had become frequent. Texas. That move was going to be hell. She slipped quietly out the front door and headed toward the playground. The cold night air brushed her skin as she made her way to the bench, sitting with her legs crossed, mind spinning. She remembered that time—how she thought she heard Sam’s voice calling her name. But they didn’t let her go back. Said it was too dangerous. She wondered now: was it her fault Sam didn’t make it? She’d confessed that to Eddy once. He told her she hadn’t done anything wrong. That maybe her mind had tricked her because it wanted Sam to be alive. But that didn’t make her feel any better. Elsa leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The trees swayed. Fireflies danced. The night was still, and for once, quiet. Then—footsteps. She snapped her head up, ready to fight. “It’s me,” said a voice gently. Pan stepped into view, hands up in surrender, smiling. “Pan?” she asked, scanning behind him. “Where are you coming from?” “Couldn’t sleep,” he said simply. “You think I’d sleep like a baby after all that?” He plopped down beside her on the bench. “They made a big fuss over this,” Elsa said, keeping her voice light. Pan chuckled. “Honestly? If it was me, I’d have killed him.” “No, you wouldn’t,” Elsa replied with a faint smile. “You’re not like them. You might act tough, but your heart’s different.” Pan gave her a sideways glance, a playful laugh. “What makes you think that?” “Well,” she grinned, “you’d just stop talking to him forever.” He laughed again, quieter this time. The moment settled into a soft silence as they both stared up at the stars. “I get why they did it, you don't have to tell me,” Elsa said finally looking at the stars. “They don’t want to lose anyone else.” Pan turned to her, surprised. “I thought you were upset at them.” “I’m not,” she shrugged. “So why are you here?" He asked "I guess..." She shrugged her shoulder "I needed some space.”