2025-11-14 02:43:15Diego dangled in the night, suspended by the firm grip of a powerful arm. Wind whipped around him, tearing at his hair and clothes as the city blurred beneath them.
His senses screamed, every instinct urging him to fight, to flee, to sink his fangs into whatever would let him break free. He looked up,and met the piercing, glacial eyes of Leo. His elder brother. “Leo…” Diego breathed, surprise and disbelief knotting in his chest. Leo’s face was carved with cold resolve, the moonlight glinting off his sharp features. “You shouldn’t have thought you could hide, little brother,” he said evenly, his grip unyielding. “I’ve found you. And now… you’re coming with me.” Below, on the street, Lucian Vale snarled, his coat snapping in the wind. He stepped toward the edge of the building, rifle gleaming with silver under the moon. “Not so fast,” the hunter hissed. “You’re mine, boy! No one, no thing, escapes me!” Leo’s gaze flicked downward, expression unreadable. “too slow,” he muttered with faint disdain. “Persistent.” Before Lucian could aim, Leo vaulted effortlessly to the next rooftop, dragging Diego with him. Their shadows streaked across the skyline, blending with the darkness. Lucian raised his weapon, tracking the blur. “Damn it…” he growled, watching the red signal on his wrist tracker pulse faster, then vanish. “He’s fast. But he’ll tire. They all do.” He fired once,a silver round, but it ricocheted off the metal frame of an old billboard. The shockwave rattled through the night. Then, from the corner of his vision, movement, Leo descending upon him with feral speed. The clash was instant and brutal. Lucian rolled to the side, slicing upward with a silver-edged blade, catching Leo across the forearm. Leo hissed, his fangs flashing, then kicked the hunter backward into a ventilation unit. “You talk too much,” Leo said coldly. Lucian smirked, blood trickling from his temple. “And you bleed too easily.” Before Leo could strike again, Lucian fired a flash grenade, blinding light bursting across the rooftop. they jump from roof to roof, fought until Lucian got injured, and manage to run, his voice carried by the wind: “I’ll be back, boy! Don’t think this is the end!” The city fell silent once more. Only the sound of the wind and Leo’s steady breathing filled the air. Diego stepped back warily, eyes darting from the broken rail to his brother. “You didn’t have to fight him,” he said, voice low. Leo flexed his injured arm, the wound already closing. “when I heard someone was fallowing you from one of father's men, I had to act fast before he kills. You know what kind of person Father is, he’ll do anything to bring you back.” He's already been mocked by the higher up, saying his younger son, was afraid at the sight of blood. He looked toward the dark horizon. “Lewis and I were both sent to find you. I’ve been tracking the hunter’s trail for days, waiting to see who he was after. Luckily, I came just in time.” “Lucian Vale,” he added quietly. “The most dangerous vampire hunter alive. His family and ours… have hated each other for centuries.” Diego clenched his fists. “I don’t care about that. I don’t want to be part of the Monaghan family anymore.” Leo sighed, the faintest trace of emotion crossing his face. “Oh, Diego… still stubborn as ever.” He turned his gaze toward the small, glowing house in the distance, the one Diego had begun to call home. “Look on the other side. That family you care about, their lives are now in danger. you better put your act together and stop acting childish and come back home. You think Lucian will stop hunting once he loses your scent? You’ve dragged them into our war.” Diego’s jaw tightened. “Why are you even helping me?” “Because I understand,” Leo said quietly. “I know what it means to want freedom. I’ve been pretending to be the perfect son for too long.” to be what father wanted me to be. He looked at Diego with something almost human in his eyes. “But I’m sorry, Diego… you’re coming with me tonight.” you have no choice, think about that family. Diego looked back toward the house,its windows glowing faintly in the dark, a fragile beacon of peace. His voice cracked as he spoke. “Give me three days,” hew said. “Just three days to say goodbye. Then you can come take me back to Father.” Leo was silent for a long moment. The wind howled between them, carrying the faint sounds of the city, a car horn in the distance, a dog barking somewhere far below. His eyes narrowed slightly, studying Diego’s face, the defiance in his tone mixed with something else, pain. “Three days,” Leo repeated, his voice low. “You think Father will wait that long?” Diego didn’t answer. He just stared at the house glowing softly across the neighborhood, the place where he’d first felt something close to peace. Finally, Leo sighed, lowering his gaze. “You always had a way of making things complicated.” He turned away, stepping toward the edge of the rooftop. “Fine. Three days. But after that, Diego…” His voice dropped to a cold whisper. “If you’re not ready to come back, I’ll drag you home myself.” Before Diego could speak, Leo vanished, dissolving into the night wind, leaving nothing but the faint echo of his departure. Diego stood alone beneath the stars, the city lights reflecting in his eyes. The hunter was out there, he will come back. His father was waiting. And now his brother had given him a deadline. Three days. Three days to say goodbye to the only life that ever felt real, three days before his brother came for him again. He whispered into the quiet, almost to himself. “Three days… then everything ends.” The night answered only with silence.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
QUIET THINGS THAT DON'T BREAK
The room was too clean.Diego sat on the edge of the bed, hands resting flat on his thighs, spine straight the way Dominic had taught him. Even alone, his body held the posture. Control first. Always.The walls were pale stone, unmarred by decoration. No windows, only a recessed panel that adjusted light according to schedules he hadn’t chosen. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic and metal, a neutral scent meant to calm, to erase.It didn’t.Something inside him kept reaching—then stopping short, like fingers brushing glass.He closed his eyes.Breathing in. Counting. Breathing out.It worked. Mostly.But memory didn’t listen to discipline.The Evans’ kitchen came back to him without warning, the clatter of a spoon dropped into a sink, the hum of an old refrigerator that complained more than it cooled. The way the floor creaked near the back door. The smell of burnt toast on mornings when no one was really paying attention.Claire’s laugh. Too loud. Too sudden. The way it burst o
UNLEASHED, NOT UNBOUND
Lewis stood at the edge of the chamber.The Underworld did not resemble a city so much as a body—layered, pulsing, alive in ways the surface could never understand. Sound traveled differently here. So did fear.The feral vampires waited.They filled every level of the space, gathered on iron walkways and concrete ledges, crouched in shadows and open corridors alike. Hundreds of them. Some old enough to remember the Monaghan name before it meant domination. Others so recently turned that their hunger still outpaced their thoughts.None of them moved.Lewis had broken that instinct out of them months ago.“Dominic will respond,” the Unknown Man said. “He always does.”Lewis didn’t look at him. His attention remained fixed on the central display—a map not of streets, but of influence. Territory. Lines of obedience glowing faintly across the city.“Of course he will,” Lewis said. “That’s the point.”He stepped forward, boots echoing once. The ferals reacted instantly—backs straightening,
DEAD ZONES
The call came in just before sunrise.Detective Mira Alvarez was already awake, sitting at the small kitchen table in her apartment, coffee untouched, files spread out like a losing hand. She’d stopped pretending sleep was an option weeks ago. Not since the bodies started turning up wrong.Her phone buzzed.She didn’t look at the screen before answering.“Alvarez.”“We’ve got another one,” dispatch said. “Warehouse district. Dockside. You’re closest.”Mira closed her eyes for half a second.“On my way.”The warehouse smelled like iron and salt and something sour that didn’t belong near water.Police lights painted the corrugated metal walls red and blue, but the colors didn’t warm the place. They never did anymore. Too many scenes like this. Too many nights where the city felt hollowed out.Detective James Rowan ducked under the tape as Mira approached.“You’re late,” he said.“You’re early,” she replied.He handed her gloves. “You’re not going to like this one.”She put them on anyw
BLIND ANGLES
The city kept moving.People crossed streets. Trains ran on time. Screens flashed headlines that meant nothing to the ones who mattered. Routine wrapped itself around the city like armor, convincing everyone that structure meant safety.Dominic Monaghan returned to his study without a word to anyone. The door sealed behind him with a muted click, shutting out the rest of the mansion.Raphael’s voice still lingered in his mind—not loud, not threatening.Worse.Certain.Dominic set his phone down slowly as systems recalibrated around him. Security feeds shifted. Patrol routes updated. Surveillance priority lists reordered themselves in quiet obedience. Names surfaced on internal displays—old ones. Forgotten ones.Blood that believed it was owed something.“Find him,” Dominic said quietly into the room. “I don’t care where he’s been hiding.”The system acknowledged at once.Raphael had always been dangerous—not because he was reckless, but because he understood restraint. Because he kn
GATHERING PRESSURE
The city kept moving.People crossed streets. Trains ran on time. Screens flashed headlines that meant nothing to the ones who mattered.Dominic Monaghan returned to his study without a word to anyone.The door sealed behind him with a muted click.Raphael’s voice still lingered in his mind—not loud, not threatening. Worse.Certain.Dominic set his phone down slowly, eyes narrowing as systems recalibrated around him. Security feeds shifted. Patrol routes updated. Names surfaced on internal lists—old ones. Forgotten ones.Blood that believed it was owed something.“Find him,” Dominic said quietly into the room. “I don’t care where he’s been hiding.”The system acknowledged.Raphael had always been dangerous—not because he was reckless, but because he understood restraint. Because he knew when not to move.And now he had.Dominic’s jaw tightened.Too many pressure points were activating at once.That never happened by accident.Leo stood alone in the main hall long after Dominic disapp
PRESSURE POINTS
Morning crept into the city like a cautious intruder.Not sunlight—movement.Traffic resumed in careful waves. Office lights flickered on floor by floor. People stepped back into routines they trusted would protect them. The illusion of normalcy slid into place with practiced ease.From the upper level of the Monaghan mansion, Dominic Monaghan watched it all unfold.The glass walls of his private observation gallery reflected the city back at itself—orderly, structured, obedient. From here, the streets looked like arteries feeding a body he had built and maintained for decades.Alive because he allowed it to be.“Status,” Dominic said without turning.Behind him, screens adjusted instantly. Data flowed—security reports, financial movements, internal communications. Nothing alarming. Nothing obvious.That, more than anything, irritated him.“All systems operational,” a voice replied through the wall interface. “No breaches. No external threats detected.”Dominic clasped his hands beh
