"Can you feel it? Can you feel how your heart beats? How the power pulses through your veins? It's the monster inside you. Allow it out, allow it to take control. Don't fight it, live with it. Only the vampire in you can make you powerful. If you reject it for too long, you will die. Die like a pitiful human, Beatrice. You can't die, you must return to me. You must show me it." Her voice echoed inside the darkness, soft yet commanding.

Show you what? What do you want from me, you old hag? I'm not your puppet. I won't serve you. I'm free. I'm not an animal like you. I am… I—

I froze. The power inside me was moving, flowing through my body like molten fire. It filled the emptiness inside me, repairing, feeding, rebuilding what was broken. Even though I couldn't see anything, I felt every part of it, every pulse. It was too strong, too real, too alive.

It was hard to deny that I wasn't what she said I was. That I wasn't the monster she claimed.

Shit.

I tried to open my heavy eyes, but they didn't listen. I could only feel the arrows inside me sliding out one by one, pushed away by the pulse of my body. The pain dulled, replaced by something hotter, stranger. I was losing control. To what, I didn't know. It was already a miracle that I was still alive.

The time in this world kept tearing apart everything I once believed. All that medical knowledge I had clung to meant less and less with every passing day. Nothing made sense here. Not the way the body worked. Not the way blood could become food, or how consuming it could heal instead of kill. The logic of my past life had no place in this one. All that remained was instinct, and the regenerative power that tied me to Beelzebub.

And Lyssandra… that demon, that hateful villainess. I want to kill you. I want to watch you fall, you old hag, you monster, you murderer.

"That's you as well." The voice cut through the darkness, low and sharp, answering the thoughts I hadn't spoken. "Your hands. Are they clean? Look at them… Look at them, Beatrice."

My eyes snapped open. My arms moved before I could stop them, raising my hands into the dim light. Blood covered them completely, smeared from wrist to fingertip. It wasn't mine. I knew that smell too well. It was sweet, thick, and intoxicating. But the scent was fading, losing its warmth, its spark.

Fresh blood is the best…

The thought came unbidden, slicing through my mind like lightning in a storm. I didn't want it there. I didn't choose it. But it was mine.

Blood. I love blood.

Shit. I love to kill. Haha. I love it. Why? That is not me. That is her influence. I must not think of murder. I must get to Elira and kill that piece of shit. Ah. No. No kill. Kill. No. Kill.

I want to rip his heart out and drink his blood as it drips down my lips for touching what belongs to me.

No. Those are not my thoughts. No. It is tempting. I am losing it. I am losing my humanity. I am a monster if I accept this. What then?

"Then you will gain power, Beatrice, dear." Her laughter slid into my head, sweet as honey and sharp as bone. It pulled at the last of my will. The sound of Beelzebub chewing filled the air, wet little squeals that made my stomach clench. He was born from me, from the system. He was a piece of me. We were both monsters.

Elira. She accepts that monster. She… she is everything I have. I cannot let her suffer. I cannot let her be taken.

So I will be a monster. I accept it.

Ting.

Something inside my brain exploded. The sound slammed through me like a train hitting the brakes, like a balloon bursting inside my skull.

Heat poured into my veins, searing and heavy, pushing against my very essence.

"Squee!" Beelzebub shrieked, a high, wet sound that filled the forest. The brilliant blue sky went red in my eyes. Everything turned red. The world became blood.

Sniff. Sniff.

My nose twitched. Something vile and sweet crawled through the air, a scent coming from the east, around four o'clock.

Sniff. Sniff.

So sweet. Something there was delicious, syrup and iron. I could feel the golden juices. Elira.

"Hahaha. Elira, my Elira. I smell you." A grin split my face, wide as the sky. Every muscle tightened. Ecstasy hit me like a blade. "Ahhhnn..." Pleasure rolled through me so sharp I moaned. I pushed up from the ground, jumping to my feet. Arrows scattered at my boots. My blood smeared the forest floor. The flames breathed with me. Each inhale and exhale minced through the smoke.

[Danger! System Anomaly detected! The host's mental state: DANGEROUSLY UNSTABLE!]

My grin widened. I tilted my head and read the warning like an insult.

"Really? I'm unstable? Ha ha ha." Laughter spilled out of me, ugly and bright. I pressed a hand to my stomach. Beelzebub leapt onto my shoulder and made little chewing sounds. His tiny body hummed with the same hunger.

"Then I will be the craziest bitch you ever met, system. Show me unstable. I will not be weak." I flapped my wings. The wind took me toward the scent of Elira and whoever stole her. My eyes were wide, my smile sharp. I wanted to kill so bad it burned. "Ahh... Death. Granting it is the best."

In that moment, I knew what I was. Maybe a part of me was already cracked back in my old life, but this world had opened the shard wide. Everything unfair could be fixed with death. Bullies, liars, the ones who spat at us, I'd kill them, and the ache would stop. Blood was power. Blood was life. If drowning in it kept Elira safe, then I would drown gladly.

A shadow stepped into my sight. "E-L-I-R-A," I purred, voice low and soft. "I'm here to take you back." I kissed the air, tasting copper and promise, imagining how I would tear that man limb from limb for touching her.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.