All Chapters of After the Mark: Chapter 41
- Chapter 50
88 chapters
FOURTY ONE: Coffin Maker
With that, he turned around and headed back into the house like we had just finished taking out regular trash. I grabbed the metal can to carry it—but the heat shot straight through my palms. “Ah—shit!” I quickly dropped it. The metal was still burning hot from the fire. Muttering under my breath, I carried it into the garage instead and looked around until I found a filthy rag on the floor. Wrapping it around my hands, I lifted the can again and carried it out toward the front yard. At the curb, there was a regular plastic trash bin. I tipped the can over. The grey ashes poured out like sand, disappearing into the bin. Pierre. Reduced to nothing more than dust in a matter of hours. I shook the last bits out, set the metal can aside, and dusted off my hands. Then I headed back inside the house. The moment I stepped into the living room, I stopped. Everything had been cleaned. The plastic cups were gone. The bottles were gone. The stains, the mess, the
CHAPTER FOURTY TWO: Francis
“But that’s impossible,” Timi said as we walked down the streets of Paris.Morning traffic had started to fill the roads, and the sidewalks were beginning to crowd with people heading to work. To them, we were just another group of tourists wandering through the city.“Why do you say that?” Ayara asked, glancing at Timi.Timi shoved his hands into his pockets as we walked.“Because he’s not a pureblood,” he said. “He’s French.”I frowned.“So?”Timi looked at me like it was obvious.“Pureblood vampires guard their bloodlines carefully,” he said. “Most of them are centuries old. They rarely turn humans, and when they do, it’s never random.”“But what if a pureblood turned him?” I said.Timi shook his head.“We’re very selective about who we turn,” he replied. “If someone recklessly turns the wrong person, it can lead to serious punishment.”His words made me glance at Juliet.She was walking beside me, quiet.If that was true… then turning me must have been a huge risk.For a moment ou
CHAPTER FOURTY THREE: The Host of Paris
Knock. Knock.At first the sound reached me like a distant echo, dull and muffled through the heavy darkness of sleep.Then it came again.Knock. Knock.Louder this time.My eyes snapped open.“Daniel? Are you okay?”The voice came from outside the coffin.I realized my body was drenched in sweat. My chest rose and fell heavily as if I had been running for miles.For a moment I just lay there, staring into the darkness above me.Then I pushed the lid open.The hinges creaked softly as cold air rushed in.I sat up and climbed out of the coffin.Ayara was standing nearby, watching me with concern.“Were you having a bad dream?” she asked.I wiped the sweat from my forehead.“I… don’t remember,” I said honestly.Whatever I had been dreaming about had already slipped away.I walked past her and went straight to the fridge. My throat felt dry and tight.I grabbed a bottle of water, twisted the cap off, and drained it in one long gulp.The cold water slid down my throat and into my stomach.
FOURTY FOUR: A Vampire's Origin
“Bon soir, my dear friends. It’s very nice to see you again.”Francis spoke smoothly, the same polite smile resting on his lips—but his eyes remained cold, watchful.Timi inclined his head slightly.“Thank you for inviting us,” he said calmly. “But may we ask why?”Francis leaned back in his chair, folding his hands together.“I simply thought,” he said lightly, “that you were new vampires in my city… and that you might appreciate a little guidance.”His pale eyes moved slowly from one of us to the other.“And I must admit,” he added, “I was a bit curious.”His gaze lingered on me for a moment.“How you are able to withstand the sun.”The room fell quiet.“So tell me,” he continued, leaning forward slightly with clear curiosity, “how exactly do you manage it?”None of us spoke immediately.We glanced at each other briefly.Then I leaned back in my chair.“Why don’t you tell us how you do it first?” I said.Francis tilted his head slightly.“I asked first.”I shrugged.“We don’t feel v
CHAPTER FOURTY FIVE: The Witch in the Field
Francis’ eyes followed my gaze toward the hallway.“What is it?” he asked calmly. “What’s going on?”I hesitated for a moment before answering.“One of the girls,” I said slowly, “she’s our neighbor.”Francis raised an eyebrow.“And?”“She’s also… a friend of ours.”For a moment Francis simply stared at me.Then he gave a small shrug.“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he said lightly. “It’s perfectly fine.”I shook my head slightly.“No… it’s not that simple.”His expression shifted just a little.“It’s risky,” I continued. “She lives with her uncle. And he’s already starting to become suspicious of us.”For the first time since we arrived, Francis’ smile faded slightly.The room felt colder.Then he tilted his head slowly.“Do you think I’m some sort of monster?”His voice was calm, but there was a sharp edge beneath it.I raised my hands slightly.“That’s not what I meant.”Francis cut me off immediately.“I was literally telling you a few seconds ago,” he said, his tone tightening, “t
CHAPTER FOURTY SIX: The Witch"s Bloodline
We walked the rest of the way to the cabin in complete silence.The closer we got, the clearer the yellow light inside became. The small wooden structure looked old, its walls weathered by time. The single window glowed faintly, and the surrounding field seemed unnaturally quiet.When we finally reached the cabin, Francis stepped up onto the small wooden porch.A lantern hung from a hook on the roof above the door.Francis reached up and took it down.The soft flame inside flickered, casting moving shadows across his face.Then he turned around and held the lantern out toward Timi.Timi frowned slightly.“Why are you giving that to me?”Francis tilted his head a little.“Come now,” he said calmly. “You know what you need to do.”Timi didn’t move.He simply stared at the lantern.The wind brushed lightly through the grass behind us.Francis’ expression remained patient.“Don’t you want to know,” he said slowly, “how I know everything I know about you?”The lantern thin flame flickered
CHAPTER FOURTY SEVEN: Chains of Time
“So where have you been all our lives?” I asked, sitting on one of the wooden chairs in the living room, trying to keep my voice steady even though my heart was racing.Timi sat beside her on the old, long sofa, his presence a quiet anchor. Daniel and Ayara had taken a place near the fireplace, the flickering flames casting shadows across their faces. Francis knelt at the hearth, replacing the burnt wood with fresh logs, the crackling of the fire filling the otherwise tense silence.Waje—our grandmother—sat calmly across from us. Her gaze was steady, almost unreadable, and for a moment, I wondered if she had been expecting us all along.She folded her hands in her lap and said softly, “It’s quite a story.”I swallowed and leaned forward slightly. “Well,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt, “we’re all ears.”The room fell into a heavy silence, only the fire’s gentle crackle filling the space, as we waited for her to begin.Waje’s eyes grew distant as she began, her voice low bu
CHAPTER FOURTY EIGHT: Dhimpir Awakening
“You’re resigning?” my doctor repeated, clearly surprised. I could understand his reaction. For the past eight years, I had been the top surgeon in this hospital. My reputation spoke for itself. The Governor of Oyo State was my personal client, and I was dating the hospital director’s daughter. From the outside, my life looked perfect. In this hospital, everyone either wanted to be me… or be with me. But leaving was inevitable. It always was. I was actually supposed to stay two more years. Ten years—that was the limit I had set for myself in any profession. After that, I would move on and start over somewhere else, in another life, another career. It was the only way I knew how to distract myself from the horror of my true nature. For a while, the routine worked. But it never lasted for long.I still needed to leave before anyone began to notice the one thing I could never explain—that I never seemed to age. Eight years was already pushing it. Sooner or later, someone wo
CHAPTER FOURTY NINE: The Son of Adesina
I arrived home shortly after dusk. I pushed the gate open and drove into the compound, the tires crunching softly against the gravel before I parked the car. The house stood quietly under the fading light, the familiar structure looking almost indifferent to my return. I stepped out of the car, grabbed the box from the passenger seat, and walked inside. The moment I entered, I placed the box on the table in the living room. The house was silent… except for a faint noise coming from deeper inside. A dragging sound. Chains shifting against the floor. I removed my lab coat and tossed it onto the couch without much thought. The noise came again. My prisoner was awake… trying to move around in the room where I had chained him. I ignored it for the moment and walked into the bathroom. The warm water from the shower washed away the long day at the hospital, the scent of antiseptic and blood fading from my skin. After a few minutes, I stepped out, dried myself, and went int
CHAPTER FIFTY: Price of Betrayal
After my encounter with the hunters, I didn’t move immediately.I stayed hidden for an entire day, watching, listening, waiting. Hunters were patient creatures, and the foolish ones never lived long. If they were tracking me, they would expect me to run.So I didn’t.I remained in the same area, observing the streets, the rooftops, the people passing by. Nothing unusual. No lingering scent of silver weapons, no strange eyes watching from the distance, no quiet footsteps following mine.By the end of the day, I was certain of one thing.They weren’t on my trail.That was when I decided to move.Now I sat in the back of a taxi, staring out the window as the city passed by. Cars crawled through traffic, street vendors shouted to passing pedestrians, and the afternoon sun hung high above the buildings.The driver said nothing, and neither did I.A few minutes later the taxi pulled over in front of a tall hotel building.“This is it,” the driver said.I paid him, stepped out of the car, an