Chapter 180: Vampire Luna
The Butcher stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around slowly, his dark eyes locking onto me through the dim light of the corridor. He looked down at the bright red tomato sauce and stray noodles dripping down the back of his dark tunic, but his weathered face remained completely unbothered, showing not a single trace of anger. Without uttering a word, he whirled back around, placed a firm hand on Ava’s shoulder, and continued walking down the hallway until their shadows disappeared into the darkness, leaving me completely alone.
My head felt like it was going to explode into a million pieces. A wave of utter disbelief washed over me, making my chest heave for air. One moment I was sitting at the table trying to find answers, and the next, everything in my life had suddenly turned upside down in the blink of an eye. How on earth could Ava agree to lock me in this dark hole so quickly? How could my best friend side with a strange old man she had just met hours ago?
Driven by pure panic and rising fury, I rushed over to the iron bars. I shoved my boots into the narrow gaps between the lower metal rings, climbing my way up the cage door like a frantic animal. I grabbed the top bars with both hands, using every ounce of my supernatural strength to shake the metal back and forth with violent force. I strained, pulled, and slammed my entire weight against it over and over, but the frame didn't give even a single millimeter. It became terrifyingly clear that the old hunter had specifically built this reinforced cage to hold bloodthirsty vampires—it was far too strong for me to break.
Dropping back down to the wooden floorboards, I took several steps backward to give myself running room. I gritted my teeth, narrowed my eyes, and charged forward like an enraged bull, throwing my shoulder and elbow hard into the center of the cage door.
CLANG!
The heavy iron echoed loudly, but the door remained completely frozen in place. The only thing that moved was my own body, rebounding violently off the cold metal. A sharp, blinding pain shot through my shoulder joint as the impact rattled my bones. Ignoring the agonizing throb, I backed up to the far wall once more, lowered my head, and launched myself forward with relentless, driving force, slamming my ankle straight into the iron latch.
CRACK!
A sickening pop echoed through the small room, and an unbearable wave of agony exploded through my leg. It felt as though the bone in my ankle had completely snapped under the sheer pressure, sending me stumbling sideways onto the floor.
Yet, I refused to yield to the pain. Driven by unhinged desperation, I dragged myself up using the wall and began kicking the door furiously with my good leg. I kicked and kicked until my muscles burned and my lungs screamed for oxygen, but my violent strikes did nothing more than create a deafening metallic noise that filled the dark room.
My strength finally failed me. Exhausted, battered, and broken, I collapsed onto the cold, dusty floorboards, curling my legs into my chest as hot tears burst from my eyes. I sobbed uncontrollably, crying my absolute heart out until my throat felt completely raw.
It felt as though my entire world was spinning wildly out of control. I couldn't even make sense of my own thoughts anymore. My mind felt completely unhinged, as if I were heavily intoxicated or under the influence of some dangerous, disorienting drug.
A sharp, throbbing headache ignited behind my forehead, pulsing violently as if someone were repeatedly striking a heavy iron hammer against the inside of my skull. The dark room began to sway back and forth in front of me, the iron bars of the cage blurring and twisting into strange shapes as my vision wobbled—though I knew deep down it was just my own eyes spinning out of focus.
To make matters worse, the small room was utterly filthy, covered in thick layers of grime and dust that made my skin crawl with intense irritation. A terrible itching sensation spread across my entire body, making me feel dirty and uncomfortable in a space that felt ten times worse than the broken toilet at my aunt's house.
The entire world around me began to fade into a dark, dizzying blur. I fought with every last drop of willpower left in my body to keep myself sitting upright, forcing my heavy eyelids to stay open against the darkness creeping into the corners of my vision. But my exhausted body simply gave out. My muscles went completely limp, my eyes closed against my will, and I slumped sideways onto the hard floor, passing out into to
tal darkness.