Chapter 63 63

Chapter 63 63

Dahlia escorted me all the way to the front door. The girl stood there without saying a word, simply watching my every movement as I put on my jacket and slung the worn-out bag over my shoulder. Her fingers were tightly interlaced in front of her body—a habit that always surfaced whenever she was anxious.
“I’ll wait for you until you get home,” she said softly. Her lips tried to form a smile, but the worry in her eyes was impossible to hide.
I stepped closer and gently brushed aside a few strands of hair that had fallen across her forehead.
“Don’t wait up for me.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll get sleepy.”
“I won’t be able to sleep if you’re not back yet.”
Her words warmed my chest and made it feel tight at the same time. Back at Crimsonveil Palace, Dahlia had never said anything like that. We were always surrounded by servants, guards, and family. There had never been any fear of losing each other.
Now everything had changed.
The world I had chosen had forced me to become the only person my little sister could rely on.
I gently stroked her head.
“If you really can’t sleep, read the book I bought you yesterday.”
Dahlia let out a long breath before finally giving a small nod.
“Okay.”
I looked at her for a few seconds longer.
“Don’t open the door for anyone.”
“I remember.”
“If you hear strange noises ..”
“I won’t go out.”
“If someone calls your name—”
“I’ll stay quiet.”
Only after hearing her answers did I feel a little more at ease.
The apartment hallway always felt colder as night approached. The peeling, dull paint along the walls revealed the old cement underneath. A yellowish lamp hung crookedly from the ceiling, flickering lazily every few seconds as if it, too, was exhausted from keeping this rundown building alive.
I started walking down the corridor.
After just a few steps, the smell of coffee that had been reheated for too long drifted out from one of the units, followed by the scent of slightly burnt toast and the loud sound of a television.
“…police have once again closed access to the eastern port area after a body was discovered early this morning.”
My steps slowed unconsciously. Not out of curiosity, but because my body reacted faster than my mind. The newscaster’s voice seemed to pull my full attention even before I could decide to listen.
My heart beat heavily once.
The female newscaster’s voice continued to flow from behind the apartment door that was slightly ajar.
“The victim was found by a cleaning worker around five in the morning. As of now, the victim’s identity is still being withheld.”
I turned my head without thinking.
The bluish glow from the television screen lit up the small living room filled with old furniture. A man in his sixties sat in a recliner, cradling a cup of coffee. Near the window, his wife was folding clothes, though her eyes occasionally drifted to the news.
On the screen, yellow police tape cordoned off an old warehouse.
I recognized the place.
The eastern port.
It was only a few kilometers from Raven.
“…investigators have not yet revealed the exact cause of death. However, according to sources close to the investigation, the victim suffered extreme blood loss.”
My hand reflexively gripped the strap of my bag.
Extreme blood loss.
My chest suddenly felt tight.
That wasn’t a term humans normally used.
No doctor would conclude something like that before the autopsy results came back.
The old woman clicked her tongue softly.
“Poor thing.”
Her husband nodded without taking his eyes off the TV.
“This city has changed.”
“Do you really think there’s a serial killer?”
The old man lifted his coffee cup, blew on it for a moment, then muttered quietly.
“I’ve lived in this building for almost thirty years.”
He glanced at the screen.
“There’s never been news like this before.”
The woman stopped folding clothes.
“I didn’t even dare go to the store alone last night.”
“You’re just a scaredy-cat.”
“It’s not about being scared.”
She shook her head slowly.
“I just have a bad feeling. Three victims in one week.” She shook her head again. “All of them were found almost completely drained of blood.”
My heart beat faster.
The third victim.
I swallowed.
It wasn’t me.
I hadn’t hunted since that night.
So who?
The old man chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood.
“Maybe the reporters are just exaggerating.”
The woman didn’t laugh along.
Instead, she hugged her own arms.
“I don’t know why…” she said quietly, “but lately I always feel like someone is standing outside the window every night.”
That sentence made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Not because I believed in human intuition.
But because my own instincts were telling me the same thing.
I turned my face away.
Better to leave now.
The longer I stood there, the greater the chance they would notice I was listening to their conversation.
But just as I moved my foot, the sound of a door hinge creaked again.
“Miss.”
I stopped.
The old woman smiled kindly when our eyes met. Behind the fine wrinkles on her face, her gaze held a warmth that reminded me of the old servants back at Crimsonveil.
“Are you heading to work?”
“Yes.”
My answer was short, but she didn’t seem bothered.
“Working night shifts must be exhausting.”
She glanced at the television once more before looking back at me.
“If you can, try to get home before it gets too late.”
I followed her gaze.
The TV screen now showed a deliberately blurred photo of the victim.
At the bottom corner, a large headline filled the broadcast:
THIRD VICTIM FOUND IN A STATE OF EXTREME BLOOD LOSS. POLICE HAVE YET TO FIND ANY LEADS.
“These days are so strange,” the woman continued with a sigh. “In the past, people were only afraid of robbers.”
She smiled faintly, though the smile never truly reached her eyes.
“Now it feels…” She paused for a moment, as if searching for the right words. “Like something is lurking when the sun goes down.”
I stared at her for a few seconds.
The sentence was simple.
Yet without her realizing it, every word struck me right where I wanted to hide the most.
I forced a smile.
“I hope the police catch them soon.”
“I hope so too.”
The woman nodded slowly and closed her door again.
The sound of the television gradually faded behind the wall.
The hallway fell silent once more.
I stood frozen for several moments, my gaze empty, fixed on the cracked floor in front of my feet.
After standing motionless in the hallway for a while, I finally forced my feet to move again.
There was no point in dwelling on the news.
Whatever was happening in this city, I still had to work. I needed money to pay the rent, buy food for Dahlia, and slowly save up so that one day we could leave this place without having to rely on anyone’s pity.
I walked down the apartment stairs until I reached the ground floor. The cold night air greeted me the moment I pushed open the building door. The streets were beginning to fill with lights. Rows of shops turned on their signs one by one, while vehicles passed by without ever truly stopping.
Human cities always seemed most alive when the sun had set.
How ironic.
It was precisely at times like this that the monsters began to wake up.
I slipped both hands into my jacket pockets and walked along the sidewalk. My steps were calm, but my senses worked far harder than usual.
Laughter from a pub across the street.
The clinking of glasses.
The aroma of grilled meat from a restaurant at the corner.
All of it blended together with the one scent I found hardest to ignore.
Blood.
Hundreds of heartbeats pulsed around me, each with its own rhythm. Some raced because someone was running to catch a bus. Some were slow and steady, belonging to an elderly couple walking hand in hand. Others beat irregularly because a drunk man was laughing too loudly with his friends.
I lowered my head.
Don’t think about it.
Don’t listen.
Don’t smell it.
I had reminded myself countless times.
The more I saw them as prey, the harder it became to hold onto my humanity.
At the end of the street, a red light brought vehicles to a stop in a line. Several pedestrians began crossing. I joined them.
A small child holding a balloon shaped like the moon turned to look at me.
His round eyes blinked several times.
“Mommy.”
He tugged at the hem of the woman’s coat beside him.
“Look. That big sister is pretty.”
The woman followed her child’s pointing finger and smiled at me.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
I returned a polite smile and continued walking.
That simple comment should have meant nothing.
Yet for some reason, the image of my mother suddenly flashed through my mind.
She used to smile like that too.
Gentle.
Warm.
As if there was nothing in this world to be afraid of.
My steps slowed.
I quickly pushed the memory away.
Missing home would only make me weaker.
Crimsonveil was no longer a place I could call home.
Not after I ran away.
Not after I rejected the marriage arranged by the entire clan elders.
A police siren suddenly wailed from behind.
Two patrol cars sped past, heading toward the port.
I turned to watch the vehicles until their blue lights disappeared around the corner.
The port again.
My unease grew stronger.
Raven stood in a narrow alley almost hidden between two old buildings. From the outside, it looked like any ordinary underground club. There was no large sign. No flashy lights.
Just a black iron door with a dim red lamp above it.
Two large men stood guard at the entrance.
One of them nodded when he saw me.
“Good evening, Elena.”
I gave a small nod.
“Evening.”
The name Elena still sounded foreign every time someone called me by it. But after the past few months, I had learned to turn my head without hesitation.
Elysian had to remain dead.
At least in the eyes of the human world.
As soon as the iron door opened, the pounding music filled my ears.
Dim lights danced across the ceiling.
Dozens of humans filled the dance floor, unaware that not everyone in the room had a heartbeat.
I walked past them toward the back corridor.
The farther I moved from the main room, the more the music faded, replaced by the conversations of workers preparing for the night.
Raven stood behind a long wooden table, checking several sheets of reports.
He hadn’t noticed me yet.
A faint crease was visible between his brows.
Unusual.
Raven rarely showed that kind of expression.
“Is something wrong?”
My voice made him look up.
His gaze immediately shifted to me, and he let out a long breath.
“I was hoping you’d take the night off.”
I frowned.
“That’s not something you usually say.”
Raven closed the folder in his hands and leaned against the table.
“The police came again.”
“Because of the news earlier?”
He nodded slowly.
“They asked the same questions.”
“About what?”
“About late-night customers. About strangers. About someone who might have taken victims to the port.”
I fell silent.
Raven watched me for a moment before continuing.
“Luckily, they didn’t dig too deep.”
“Are they suspicious of you?”
“Not yet.”
His answer was brief.
But I knew there was something he was deliberately not saying.
I had known Raven long enough to read even the smallest changes in his face.
“What else?”
He didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he opened a desk drawer, took out a brown envelope, and slid it gently toward me.
“Read it.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside were several sheets of local newspapers.
All of them had the same front-page headline.
Victims without blood.
The third victim.
Investigation expanded.
But that wasn’t what made me stop breathing.
In the corner of one of the photos was a faint, almost invisible shadow.
Someone standing on the roof of the warehouse.
Too far away to be recognized.
Just a black silhouette.
But…
For some reason, my instincts screamed.
That wasn’t human.
Raven noticed the change in my expression.
“You feel it too.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“Something isn’t right.”
The room suddenly felt quieter.
Even the pounding music from outside seemed to disappear.
Raven folded his arms across his chest.
For a few seconds, he simply looked at me, as if deciding whether he should say something or not.
When he finally spoke, his voice was much softer than before.
“Ely.”
He rarely called me by that name.
Usually it was just Elena.
“That wasn’t how you hunt.”
I froze.
Raven shook his head slowly.
“I know you.”
His gaze held no accusation.
Only certainty.
“You might be stubborn. You might be reckless. But you would never leave bodies like that.”
I didn’t know why, but those simple words eased the weight in my chest a little.
At least…
There was still someone in this city who believed in me.
But that relief only lasted a few seconds.
Because right after that, Raven said something that made every hair on my body stand on end.
“If it wasn’t you…”
He turned toward the dark corridor door.
“Then there’s another vampire hunting in my territory.”