Chapter 53

Chloe’s POV

Darkness.

It swallows me whole. Endless, suffocating, so thick it feels like it’s pressing against my skin. No light, no sound—just the echo of my own thoughts bouncing inside my head.

Is this death?

If it is, then everything I’ve ever been told was a lie. There’s no golden light waiting. No warm voices calling me home. Just emptiness. And the cold… God, the cold. It’s inside me, gnawing at my bones, making me feel like I’m not even human anymore.

My chest tightens. I wrap my arms around myself, though it does nothing. I feel so small, like a child lost in the woods.

And then the memories come.

Not in pieces this time, not blurred like the dreams I forced myself to believe. They come sharp, cutting, real.

The cinema.

That night I pretended never happened, the night I told myself over and over was just a nightmare. Elizabeth, Vanessa, and I had laughed our way inside, clutching popcorn, teasing each other about who screamed the loudest at horror movies. It should have been fun. It should have been safe.

But then—they came. Shadows that weren’t shadows. Eyes too bright. Teeth too sharp. And blood. My blood.

I’d buried it. Forced it down. Told myself monsters didn’t exist, that I’d imagined the whole thing because the truth was too terrifying to live with. But here, in this cold nothingness, I can’t lie to myself anymore.

They’re real.

And Adam…

God, Adam. His smile, his voice—it was like he’d stepped out of a dream. I thought he saw me. Not the “princess” of this town, not the girl everyone expected to shine just because of her family name. Just me.

But it was all wrong.

He fed on me. Again and again. Stole my blood, stole my will, stole my memories. He made me forget every time, until I didn’t even know what was real anymore. The warmth I thought I felt around him—it wasn’t mine. It was his manipulation, his compulsion, twisting me into something I wasn’t.

And now the spell is broken. I remember it all. Every drop he took. Every time I felt weak and couldn’t explain why. Every lie.

I hate him.

But the one who truly ended me wasn’t Adam.

It was Bella.

Her silver eyes glitter like shards of ice in my mind. That smile—the one that said she already won before I even knew I was playing. She told me she had something for me. Something from Adam. And like the fool I’ve always been, desperate for answers, I followed her.

I see her teeth, feel the slice of pain, hear the sound of my own heartbeat slowing until—nothing.

That’s how I got here.

And now, I’m left alone in this void, hating myself for being so gullible. Hating them for making me a victim.

But then—

Voices.

They pierce the silence, sharp and clear. Not distant echoes, but real. Familiar.

Vanessa.

Elizabeth.

Their voices wrap around me like lifelines. But there are others too. Damon. Elijah. Cold, steady, dangerous voices threading into the chaos.

My body jolts.

I gasp—air flooding my lungs. My chest heaves as though I’ve been drowning for hours, and I claw my way back into the world.

My eyes snap open.

And everything is wrong.

The hospital lights are blinding, stabbing into my skull like knives. The beeping of machines, the shuffle of feet outside the room, the steady thrum of heartbeats—it’s all too loud, overwhelming, crashing against me until I can barely think.

My skin burns. My throat aches. I feel starving.

Elizabeth and Vanessa rush to me, their faces blotched with tears, their eyes wide with hope. Relief pours off them like sunlight, but it’s not comforting—it’s suffocating, because I can hear the blood rushing through their veins, smell the salt of their tears.

“Chloe!” Elizabeth grabs my hand, squeezing it like she’s afraid I’ll slip away again. “Oh my God, you’re awake. You’re really awake.”

Vanessa leans over me, her voice trembling. “You scared the hell out of us. You—don’t ever do that again, okay? Please.”

But Damon’s voice slices through, cool and sharp. “Don’t get too close.”

I snap my gaze to him. His dark eyes study me like I’m a puzzle he’s already solved. His tone isn’t cruel, but it’s detached, like I’m not a person at all—just a problem he knows how to handle.

My chest tightens. My arms jerk. That’s when I realize—

I’m tied down.

Leather straps bite into my wrists and ankles, pinning me to the bed like some wild animal. Panic slams through me.

“What—what the hell is this?!” My voice cracks, too loud, too raw. I thrash against the restraints, but they don’t give an inch. “Why am I strapped down? Let me go! Get me out of this!”

Elizabeth leans closer, desperation etched across her face. “Chloe, please, it’s okay. You’re safe now. Just—just stay calm.”

“Safe?” I laugh, broken and breathless. “Nothing about this is safe! I—I died, Liz! She killed me! Bella—she—” My voice catches, my throat burning as the memory rips out of me.

“You’re not dead,” Vanessa says firmly, though her voice shakes. She grabs my hand, pressing it between both of hers. “You’re right here with us. You’re alive. I swear.”

Alive.

But I don’t feel alive.

My veins burn, my teeth ache, and the hunger—it’s unbearable. The scent of Vanessa’s skin overwhelms me. She smells so sweet, like the only thing that can fix this emptiness tearing me apart.

I can see the pulse in her neck, steady and strong. I can hear it, thudding like a drum.

And before I even realize it, I yank her closer.

Her gasp fills the room. Elizabeth shouts my name.

But I can’t stop. The hunger is a monster inside me, screaming louder than reason. My lips part, my teeth aching, my vision narrowing until all I see is that vein—ripe, waiting, perfect.

Vanessa whispers, “Chloe, no—”

I lunge.

And then—

Snap.

Agony flashes through me, white-hot, and the world slams into darkness once again.