Not Safe

Chapter 8

Elara collapsed.

For a moment, Daniel didn't move.

His eyes remained fixed on his daughter.

He wanted to reach for her, but his hand stopped halfway.

The memory of what had happened earlier was still fresh.

The moment his fingers touched Elara's skin, the burning sensation had shot through his hand. The pain had been sharp enough to make him pull away immediately.

He wasn't afraid of her.

He was afraid of hurting her.

Amelia noticed his hesitation.

Without saying anything, she stepped forward and carefully lifted Elara from the floor.

She placed her gently on the bed and adjusted her head against the pillow before pulling the blanket over her.

Then silence filled the room.

Neither of them knew what to say.

Daniel stared at Elara.

Amelia stared at her too.

Both of them were trying to understand what they had just witnessed.

Finally, Daniel broke the silence.

"Is this going to happen frequently?"

Amelia didn't answer.

Her eyes remained on Elara.

The truth was, she didn't know.

And admitting that felt almost unbearable.

She had spent eighteen years imagining the moment she would finally get her daughter back. She had imagined knowing what to do. She had imagined protecting Elara from everything that could hurt her.

But now that the moment had finally come, Amelia realized something frightening.

She didn't understand what was happening either.

She didn't want to disappoint Daniel.

More importantly, she didn't want Elara to wake up and discover that the woman claiming to be her mother had no answers.

After a few seconds, Amelia finally spoke.

"You should get some rest."

Daniel looked at her.

"And tend to your wound."

His gaze dropped to his injured hand.

Amelia still hadn't taken her eyes off Elara.

"I'll watch her."

Daniel studied her face.

There was something behind those words.

Amelia needed to be alone with her daughter.

He understood.

After everything she had lost, he couldn't deny her that.

"All right."

He turned and walked toward the door.

Before leaving, he looked back once more.

Elara hadn't moved.

Daniel quietly closed the door behind him.

Amelia waited until his footsteps disappeared down the hallway.

Only then did she allow herself to breathe.

She walked closer to the bed and sat beside Elara.

For the first time, there was no one watching her.

No Hunters.

No scientists.

No guards.

No one waiting for her to reveal something.

Just her daughter.

Amelia reached out and gently brushed Elara's hair away from her face.

Her fingers trembled.

She remembered another room.

Another bed.

Another time.

Elara had been so small then.

She had just been born.

And Amelia had been trapped in a cold cell with bright lights shining above her day and night.

Giving birth to Elara had taken a toll on her yet, they had taken her blood repeatedly.

Tested it.

Studied it.

They were obsessed with understanding what made her different.

And it seemed like her birth in that cold cell had done nothing but increase their interest;

It had become something much darker.

They brought Elara to her every few days.

Sometimes Amelia was too weak to stand when they brought the baby in.

Sometimes she could barely keep her eyes open.

But the moment she saw her daughter, something inside her came alive.

The scientists had always watched closely.

They were waiting for one thing.

They wanted Amelia to drink from Elara.

They believed her instincts would eventually overpower her.

They thought hunger would win.

It never did.

Not once.

Even when Amelia was starving.

Even when her senses began to fade after months of confinement.

Even when she could barely move.

She refused.

She would hold her daughter close and fight every instinct inside her.

She would rather die than hurt her.

Amelia's fists clenched as the memories returned.

They had underestimated her.

She had always been stronger than they thought.

Amelia was a pure-blooded vampire.

The last of her kind.

And that fact had made her valuable.

The humans had spent years trying to understand vampires.

They wanted their strength.

Their speed.

Their healing.

Their heightened senses.

They wanted to reproduce those abilities in humans.

The facility had been one of their attempts.

They experimented with human genetics.

They altered blood.

They tested different mutations.

They had made progress.

But something was always wrong.

The results were unstable.

The powers never developed properly.

Then Elara was born.

A child whose existence challenged everything they thought they understood.

They believed her blood could finally give them what they wanted.

The perfect combination.

A way to give humans the abilities vampires possessed without turning them into vampires.

But the facility wasn't only interested in creating powers.

They had developed ways to hurt vampires too.

Ways to restrain them.

Ways to weaken them.

Ways to kill those who refused to cooperate.

Some vampires had submitted to humans.

Others had chosen to work with them.

Amelia could never understand it.

How could creatures who had lived hidden among humans for centuries willingly become their servants?

But not every vampire followed the same rules.

The supernatural world had rules of its own.

There were vampires who lived quietly among humans.

Vampires who obeyed those rules.

Vampires who obtained blood without hunting people.

And then there were the ones who had gone rogue.

They were different.

Dangerous.

The kind even other vampires feared.

Humans knew very little about the creatures living among them.

And perhaps that was exactly how the supernatural world prefer it.

The facility was different.

It had been hidden.

Illegal.

The person behind it had never shown their face.

Amelia had never discovered who truly owned it.

But whoever they were had enough power and influence to keep something like that hidden for years.

Amelia's hand slowly moved through Elara's hair.

And then she smiled.

It was a small, trembling smile.

It was almost impossible to believe she was finally touching her baby again.

After eighteen years.

Her eyes burned.

A tear slipped down her cheek.

She quickly wiped it away.

Years of torture had taught Amelia how to hide her emotions.

How to survive pain without showing weakness.

How to remain calm when everything inside her was breaking.

But none of those lessons mattered now.

Not with Elara lying in front of her.

Not when she finally had the daughter they had taken away.

Amelia leaned closer.

"You're really here."

Her voice cracked.

She gently rubbed Elara's hair again.

Then she noticed something.

Elara stirred.

Amelia immediately straightened.

The girl's fingers moved slightly against the blanket.

Her breathing changed.

Her body temperature, which had been unusually high, was beginning to return to normal.

Amelia watched carefully.

But Elara didn't wake.

She simply settled back into sleep.

Amelia let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

She remained beside her.

And she didn't leave.

The Next Morning

Sunlight filtered through the curtains.

Elara still hadn't woken.

Amelia was still sitting beside her.

She hadn't left her side once throughout the night.

She had cleaned Elara carefully, wiping away the sweat that had gathered on her skin and making sure there were no visible injuries.

Apart from the exhaustion, Elara looked almost completely normal.

As if she were simply sleeping.

That frightened Amelia more than she wanted to admit.

She placed the back of her hand against Elara's forehead.

Normal.

Her breathing was steady.

Her heartbeat was steady.

Everything appeared normal.

Yet she wouldn't wake.

The door opened quietly.

Daniel stepped inside.

His injured hand had been cleaned and wrapped.

He looked exhausted.

His eyes immediately went to Elara.

"Still nothing?"

Amelia shook her head.

"No."

Daniel walked closer.

He stared at Elara for several seconds.

He had spent the entire night worrying.

And now, seeing her still unconscious, the fear returned.

He looked at Amelia.

"You really don't know what's happening?"

Amelia lowered her eyes.

"No."

The admission was quiet.

"I don't."

Daniel exhaled slowly.

Somehow, hearing Amelia say it made him feel even worse.

If she didn't know what was happening to Elara, then who did?

He looked toward the clock.

"We should get her something to eat when she wakes."

He stepped out of the room and headed downstairs.

Amelia remained beside Elara for another few minutes before following him.

Daniel was already in the kitchen.

He opened the refrigerator.

Nothing useful.

He checked the cupboards.

Almost empty.

He opened another one.

Nothing.

Daniel stared at the shelves.

"Great."

He rubbed his face.

They had spent so much time running that nobody had thought about something as simple as food.

He had no choice but to return to the room where Elara lay still unconscious.

"We need food," he said.

Amelia blinked.

For a second, she genuinely looked confused.

Then she remembered.

Daniel was human.

Of course he needed food.

She could go days without eating.

Food wasn't what her body truly depended on.

Blood was.

The thought made her pause.

Her eyes shifted toward the hallway.

Toward Elara.

A strange possibility entered her mind.

She immediately pushed it away.

Then it returned.

What if that was the problem?

Elara had been unconscious for hours.

Her body had gone through something Amelia had never seen before.

The awakening.

The pain.

The golden light.

The burning touch.

Maybe Elara's body was trying to adapt.

Maybe she was weak because she needed something.

Something Amelia knew very well.

Blood.

Amelia's expression changed.

"Daniel."

He looked at her.

"What?"

"I think she might need blood."

Daniel stared at her.

"No."

The answer came so quickly that Amelia almost stepped back.

"You don't know that."

"I do."

Daniel shook his head.

"Elara has never had blood."

Amelia frowned.

"Never?"

"Not that kind."

He paused.

"Not once in eighteen years."

Amelia's thoughts raced.

"She has to have eaten meat."

Daniel gave her a strange look.

"She doesn't even like meat."

Amelia went completely still.

"What?"

"She's always hated it."

He leaned against the counter.

"Chicken. Beef. Anything like that. She barely touches them."

Amelia stared at him.

That was strange.

Very strange.

Her eyes slowly narrowed.

She remembered the experiments.

The blood tests.

The way the scientists had studied her own biology.

The way they had spoken about Elara as if she were something they had been waiting for.

Could it really be possible?

Had Elara's vampire side been dormant all these years?

And if it had...

Why hadn't she ever needed blood?

Daniel interrupted her thoughts.

"Amelia."

She looked at him.

"We are not giving her blood."

His voice was firm.

"Not unless we know that's what she needs."

Amelia didn't argue.

She simply looked toward the hallway.

Because deep down, she was beginning to wonder if they had misunderstood Elara from the very beginning.

Maybe her weakness wasn't a sign that something was wrong.

Maybe it was a sign that something inside her was finally asking for what it had been missing.

Blood.