Silence pressed in around them, so thick it felt alive.
David barely noticed the dirt floor scraping his knees. He held Priya in shaking arms, trying to slow his breathing. The flashlight lay on its side nearby, beam flickering wildly across the walls like a dying campfire.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
There was nothing to say.
The Vault was open.
He'd watched it happen. Watched that thing—that impossible, shifting nightmare—rise from its prison and break the chains meant to hold it forever. Watched it kill the werewolf like an insect. Swat the vampire aside like trash. Then just… vanish into the tunnels.
Its laughter still echoed in his skull.
"David…"
Priya's voice was small, strangled with tears.
He blinked and realized he was squeezing her too tight. He loosened his arms, pulling back just enough to see her face streaked with grime and blood.
Her eyes were wide, unfocused.
"We're dead," she whispered.
"No."
"They'll come for us. The clans. Both of them. You saw what we did. You opened it."
David's jaw clenched so hard it hurt. "We didn't open it. It was already cracking. We just… finished it."
"That's not better."
He pushed her gently until she was sitting up. He wiped a smear of blood from her cheek with his thumb. "Hey. Look at me."
She met his eyes, blinking fast.
"We're not dying here," he said.
He tried to sound sure. He wasn't.
Priya nodded slowly, like she wanted to believe him.
A faint groan came from across the chamber.
David tensed, snatching the flashlight. He swung the beam around.
The vampire lay crumpled at the far wall, broken but not dead. His coat was shredded, bone poking through pale skin at the shoulder. One of his fangs lay on the floor near him.
But he was alive. Barely.
He coughed blood and laughed wetly. "Congratulations, humans. You doomed us all."
David stood, knife ready. "Shut up."
The vampire wheezed. "You don't even know what you let out, do you?"
David swallowed. He remembered the thing's voice.
Your blood called me here. Thank you.
He lowered the knife slightly.
"What is it?" he asked.
The vampire spat out a broken tooth. "It's old. Older than us. Older than you. Older than this damn Vault. It was sealed before your kind learned to crawl. Before we drank blood to live. Before the first werewolf howled at the moon."
Priya shivered.
David felt bile in his throat.
The vampire met his eyes, fury burning even in his ruin. "We kept it buried. That's what the Accord was for. That's why we stopped fighting each other for one goddamn moment in history. To keep it down."
David's fingers clenched on the knife.
"You want to blame someone?" the vampire rasped. "Look in the mirror."
David almost lunged at him. Almost buried the blade in his chest just to shut him up.
But he didn't.
He lowered the knife and turned away.
"Priya. Help me up."
She blinked. "What?"
"We're leaving."
"Leaving?" She laughed once, high and hysterical. "Where? How? We're in a Vault."
David swung the light around the walls. Symbols crawled away from the beam. Shadows danced like living things. But one passage was wider than the rest, lined with steps carved in worn stone.
"There," he said.
Priya didn't move.
David grabbed her wrist. "We're not waiting here to die."
She swallowed, nodded, and got to her feet.
David turned back to the vampire.
"Get up."
The creature just stared at him, broken and defeated.
David hesitated. Then he sighed and grabbed his good arm, hauling him up.
The vampire winced. "I should kill you for this."
"You can try," David muttered. "Later."
Together they limped toward the steps.
The staircase went up forever.
It spiraled through stone slick with old blood. Voices whispered from the walls. Come back. Stay. It's warm here.
David ignored them.
His legs trembled with exhaustion. His shoulder burned. Priya was crying softly, every footstep a prayer.
Behind them, the vampire muttered curses in languages David didn't know.
At last they reached the top.
A heavy iron door waited.
David pressed his shoulder against it. It groaned open, scraping stone.
Cold wind hit them like a slap.
They stumbled into the night.
They were outside.
The forest was deathly quiet. The Blood Moon still hung low, staining everything crimson.
Priya collapsed on the grass, sobbing with relief.
David fell to his knees beside her, gulping icy air.
The vampire slumped against a tree, cradling his broken arm.
They sat there for a long moment.
Then Priya's head jerked up.
"Listen."
David held his breath.
Rustling. Footsteps.
They weren't alone.
Shapes moved between the trees—dark, graceful, predatory.
Eyes gleamed in the moonlight.
Vampires.
Dozens of them.
Their leader emerged slowly, tall and regal in a long black coat. His hair was silver, eyes the color of old blood. He carried himself like a king surveying peasants.
His gaze swept over them with disgust.
"Lucien," the wounded vampire rasped.
The elder's eyes flicked to him. "Marik. You're a disgrace."
Marik spat blood. "They opened it."
Lucien's gaze sharpened, settling on David.
"You," he said softly.
David swallowed. He didn't dare stand.
Lucien moved forward with impossible speed, grabbing David's throat and hauling him to his feet.
"You worthless mortal. Do you have any idea what you've done?"
David gagged, trying to pry his fingers away.
Priya screamed, scrambling to help. Lucien shoved her back without even looking.
Marik wheezed, "He doesn't know. None of them know."
Lucien leaned close. His fangs brushed David's ear.
"You've unleashed an extinction. Not just for you. For us."
David choked. "It… it was cracking anyway…"
Lucien's eyes were pits of hell. "Spare me. The Vault held for millennia. You broke it."
He squeezed tighter.
Priya shrieked, "Stop!"
Marik tried to rise but collapsed with a sob of pain.
Something howled in the distance.
A new howl.
Deeper. Hungrier.
Everyone froze.
Lucien turned his head slightly, listening.
The howling was joined by another. And another.
The forest trembled.
Lucien released David, letting him fall to the grass.
He turned to his clan, voice cold as the grave.
"Form up. Defensive positions."
Marik managed a laugh. "Too late."
The first shape broke from the trees.
It wasn't a werewolf. Not exactly.
It was taller. Wronger. Its fur was black as pitch, but its skin moved underneath like something trying to crawl free. Its jaws split too wide, revealing fangs within fangs. Eyes burned with red light.
It roared, voice layered with dozens of others.
THANK YOU FOR FREEING US.
Dozens more followed it from the trees.
The vampire clan drew weapons, blades of silver and obsidian.
Lucien snarled, fangs bared.
"Nightkin abominations," he spat.
He glanced at David.
"This is on you."
Then he turned, issuing orders.
"Kill them all."
The clearing exploded in chaos.
David rolled away as one of the things lunged at him, claws slashing deep grooves in the grass. He swung his knife wildly, catching it in the eye. It shrieked and fell back, black ichor spraying.
Priya grabbed him, pulling him to his feet.
"We have to run!"
He didn't argue.
They fled through the trees as vampires and monsters clashed behind them. The screams were inhuman. The smell of blood and burned flesh filled the air.
They didn't look back.
They ran until their lungs burned.
When they finally collapsed by a black stream, David turned to Priya.
"We're not done," he gasped.
She sobbed. "What can we do?"
He wiped his mouth with a shaking hand.
"Find out what that thing is. How to kill it."
Priya let out a hollow laugh.
"Kill it?"
David's eyes hardened.
"Yeah," he said. "Because if we don't? No one survives this."
Thunder rolled overhead. The Blood Moon shone down, unblinking.
The hunt had begun.