Chapter 36: The Death of a Princess

I walked into the house and stopped immediately.

For a moment, I simply stood there, staring.

Back home, I had seen pictures of houses like this — in magazines, even in movies — but seeing it in person was completely different. The ceilings were impossibly high, the walls smooth and polished, decorated with paintings and soft golden lights. The floors shone like glass beneath my feet. Everything looked clean, perfect, almost unreal.

It felt strange.

Like stepping into a world that was never meant for someone like me.

My eyes moved slowly around the room, taking everything in, when suddenly something the dead man at the entrance caught my attention.

The man lay there, completely still.

My eyes locked onto him instantly.

The smell of blood reached me before my mind could think. Hunger surged through me like fire. Without hesitation, I walked toward him and bent down beside the body, my fangs already beginning to slide out.

I was just about to feed when a voice shouted behind me.

“Timi: No! You can't do that!”

Before I could react, strong hands grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the corpse. I struggled against him, confused and irritated.

“Why not?” I protested.

Timi looked at me seriously.

“We don't feed on the dead, their blood is like rotten food, you wouldn't eat rotten food would you?” he said firmly. “Don't worry. You'll get to feed soon.”

He paused, then softened his voice slightly.

“Come with me.”

Before I could argue again, he grabbed my hand and began leading me through the house. We walked down a long hallway until we stopped in front of a door. He opened it and stepped aside.

It was a bathroom.

The room was bright and clean, with white tiles covering the walls and floor. Everything looked polished and unfamiliar.

Timi guided me to the center of the room and pointed above my head.

I looked up.

“What is that?” I asked.

“That,” he said, “is a shower fixture. Water comes from it.”

Then he pointed to a round metal knob on the wall.

“You turn this switch and the water will pour out.”

He then walked to the door and showed me the small lock.

“Turn this to lock the door behind me.”

I nodded slowly, still taking everything in.

Then he stepped outside and closed the door.

For a moment I just stood there, looking around the strange room. After a few seconds, I walked to the door and turned the lock like he had shown me.

Then I began removing the oversized shirt and the long trousers.

Once I was done, I stepped beneath the shower fixture and carefully turned the knob.

Suddenly water burst out and splashed over my body.

I gasped and quickly turned it off.

I stared at the fixture for a moment before slowly turning the knob again. This time the water flowed gently, falling over my shoulders and down my body.

I just stood there under it.

The warmth of the water felt strange… but comforting.

After a while my eyes landed on a small bar sitting on a dish beside the wall.

I reached over and picked it up.

Soap.

I turned the water off and began rubbing the bar across my arms, shoulders, and skin. When I was done, I placed it back and turned the shower on again.

Then I began scrubbing my body more aggressively, as if trying to wash something deeper than dirt away.

Suddenly the memories came.

My family.

My home.

My friends.

Everything I had lost.

My chest tightened and my hands stopped moving.

Tears mixed with the water running down my face.

I cried quietly under the shower for a long time, the water washing away the soap and the pain that refused to leave my chest.

Eventually, the crying slowed.

My breathing steadied.

I turned the shower off.

The room became silent again except for the faint dripping of water.

I found a soft towel hanging nearby and used it to dry my body carefully. Then I wrapped it around myself.

After taking one last look around the strange room, I walked to the door, unlocked it, and stepped out.

When I stepped out of the hallway and back into the living room, I noticed that everyone had cleaned up and changed.

Daniel stood in front of a long mirror near the wall, wearing a black hoodie, turning slightly from side to side as he checked himself out.

Timi was in the kitchen area wearing a grey sweatshirt, half of his body buried inside the dead man's refrigerator as he searched through it.

But Juliet wasn’t there.

My eyes drifted toward the front door.

The dead man was gone.

Only a dark stain of dried blood remained on the floor where his body had been.

Daniel noticed me and turned away from the mirror. He walked toward me, his hands tucked casually into the pocket of his hoodie.

“I’m not sure if there are any female clothes in this house,” he said.

I shrugged lightly.

“That’s not a problem. I can just wear what you're wearing.”

He studied me for a second, then nodded.

“Come with me.”

We walked past the kitchen. Timi suddenly lifted his head out of the refrigerator and looked straight at me.

“Are you good?” he asked.

Something inside me snapped.

“Stop asking me that,” I said sharply. “I'm not a kid.”

Without waiting for a response, I kept walking.

Daniel led me down another hallway and opened a door.

This time it was a bedroom.

He walked straight to the closet and began pulling out different clothes, tossing them onto the bed one after another.

Shirts. Hoodies. Pants.

After a moment he paused, then pulled out a red hoodie and held it up in front of me.

“This should be your size, right?”

I nodded.

He then turned back to the bed and dug through the pile before pulling out a pair of black shorts.

“What do you think?”

I didn’t feel like talking much, so I just nodded again.

He handed the clothes to me and walked toward the door.

He stepped outside, but just before closing it he turned back.

“Ayara… I know you’re probably sick of hearing this… but are you okay?”

He leaned against the doorframe slightly.

“Because we basically dragged you out of your world without even asking.”

I looked at him and smiled softly.

“Don’t worry about it, Daniel,” I said. “This is what I wanted… remember?”

“Freedom.”

I paused for a moment.

“I just didn’t know it would come at such a price.”

Then I shrugged slightly.

“But I’ll get over it.”

“I have eternity.”

Daniel smiled back at me gently.

Then he nodded and closed the door.

The room fell silent.

I removed the towel wrapped around my body and put on the clothes Daniel had picked out for me.

When I was done, I stood in front of the mirror beside the closet.

I stared at my reflection.

For a long time.

I barely recognized the person looking back at me.

If I’m no longer a princess…

Then who am I?

Slowly, I ran my fingers through my long blue hair.

That’s when I noticed a small door in the corner of the room.

Curious, I walked over and opened it.

It was another bathroom.

Inside, on the sink, sat a small black container.

I picked it up and read the label.

Black Hair Dye.

A strange thought formed in my mind almost instantly.

I need a new identity.

Because the old Ayara…

was dead.

Without thinking further, I removed the hoodie again and opened the container. I carefully began applying the dye to my hair, making sure every strand was covered.

Then I sat there.

Waiting.

After a few minutes, a burning sensation started creeping across my scalp.

“That’s probably enough,” I muttered to myself.

I leaned forward and washed the dye out.

When I looked up into the mirror again…

My hair was no longer blue.

It was dark.

Black as night.

I grabbed a towel and dried my hair carefully before putting the hoodie back on.

Then I walked back into the living room.

Juliet had returned.

The moment they all looked at me, their expressions changed.

Surprise.

Timi leaned back slightly, studying my face.

Daniel blinked.

“Wow,” he said. “You’re a brunette now.”

“It actually looks good on you.”

Juliet tilted her head and smiled.

“We look like sisters now.”

I smiled back.

“You think?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

Timi clapped his hands once, breaking the moment.

“Alright, alright,” he said. “Since we’re all ready… and it’s almost midnight…”

He grinned slightly.

“Let’s head out.”

“Where to?” I asked.

He looked straight at me.

“You haven’t fed for hours.”

“And you’re hungry.”

Then his smile widened.

“So let’s go out and hunt.”

“Tonight…”

“We feed as a pack.”

For a moment we all looked at each other.

Then we smiled.

And together, we headed out into the night.