Chapter 225 225

Chapter 225 225
The van door slammed shut, sealing Angela in darkness.

The smell of gasoline and rust filled her lungs. Her wrists were bound tightly behind her back, rope biting into her skin. Something coarse scratched her cheek, a rough sack tied over her head. She twisted, kicking, trying to scream, but the gag muffled her cries into weak, desperate sounds.

The engine roared.

They were moving.

Her heart pounded so violently it felt as if it would tear through her ribs. Every bump in the road sent jolts through her spine. She tried to steady her breathing, tried to think, but terror clouded everything.

Where were they taking her?

Why?

Minutes stretched into eternity before the vehicle finally slowed.

Gravel crunched beneath the tires.

The engine died.

Silence.

Then voices.

Male. Rough. Unfamiliar.

The back doors opened. Cold night air rushed in, carrying the metallic scent of rain-soaked steel and oil. Hands grabbed her arms and dragged her out. Her shoes scraped across concrete.

A hollow echo surrounded her.

A warehouse.

She struggled harder now, panic surging. Her breath came in sharp bursts through the gag as they forced her forward.

Then they stopped.

Rough fingers yanked the sack from her head. Harsh white light stabbed her eyes. She squeezed them shut before slowly forcing them open.

And froze.

Standing in front of her was Daniel.

Beside him stood Alexa, arms folded, lips curved into a cold, satisfied smile.

Around them loomed several men: thick-armed, expressionless, hired muscle.

Angela’s breath shattered into a sob.

“Why?” she cried through the gag as one of the men ripped it away.

Her voice trembled violently. “Why would you do this?”

Daniel sighed, almost regretful. “Remember our last conversation?” he said calmly. “I told you not to blame me for what happens next.”

Angela stared at him in disbelief, tears streaming down her face.

“I don’t joke when it comes to my daughter,” he continued, gesturing toward Alexa. “Anyone who interferes with her life… anyone who tries to destroy her future…” His gaze hardened. “…becomes an enemy.”

Alexa’s smile sharpened.

Daniel took a step closer. “We had something real, Angela. Something that could have grown into more. But you ruined it.” His voice dropped. “If you had simply kept your daughter under control… things might have been different.”

Angela shook her head, trembling. “This is insane… Daniel, please…”

He ignored her.

“Now,” he said coldly, “I will use you to destroy your daughter’s empire. And you will watch it crumble.”

Angela’s knees nearly gave out. “You can’t do this,” she whispered.

Daniel leaned closer.

“Watch me.”

Suddenly—

BANG.

A violent metallic crash echoed from somewhere outside the warehouse.

The kidnappers stiffened.

Another sound followed, scraping metal… something heavy dragging across concrete.

The men exchanged uneasy glances.

Daniel frowned. “We weren’t followed.”

A loud thud slammed against the far loading door.

Dust shook loose from the rafters.

Angela’s breath hitched.

Something was moving outside. Something powerful. Something not human.

One of the men swallowed. “Boss… there’s no one scheduled to be here.”

Then came a low, reverberating impact against the steel doors, not loud, but deep… like a force pressing inward.

Alexa’s confident smile faltered.

Angela felt it before she understood it.

A cold, ancient presence creeping through the air.

The lights flickered.

And the warehouse doors began to bend inward.

Something had found her.

______
Angela had never believed in monsters.

Not in ghosts. Not in demons. Certainly not in vampires.

Until that moment.

The warehouse doors did not burst open the way they did in films. There was no explosion. No dramatic collapse.

They simply buckled inward.

Steel groaned like it was being crushed by invisible hands. The metal warped, folded, and then split apart with a scream of tortured hinges.

Cold air swept in.

And figures stepped through the opening.

They looked… normal.

Men in dark suits. Pale. Elegant. Comically calm amid the chaos. Their movements were smooth, unhurried, almost aristocratic.

Angela’s heart hammered wildly as they advanced.

One of the kidnappers raised his gun. “Stop right there!”

The strangers did not stop.

Gunfire erupted.

The sound exploded through the warehouse, sharp, deafening cracks.

But the bullets never landed.

The figures moved.

Not fast.

Not even visible.

They were simply there, one moment across the room, the next directly in front of the gunmen.

A scream tore through the air.

One kidnapper dropped his weapon as something invisible struck him. He collapsed before he hit the ground.

Another tried to fire again, a blur of motion, and he was lifted off his feet and hurled across the concrete like a rag doll.

Angela’s breath stopped.

This was not possible.

This was not real.

Men were falling around her before they could even react. Weapons clattered uselessly to the floor. Strength, speed, precision, the attackers moved with inhuman efficiency, dismantling resistance in seconds.

A body dropped near her feet.

She could not scream.

Could not breathe.

Could not think.

Her entire body trembled violently as she watched the impossible unfold.

Daniel stumbled backward. “What the hell is this?!”

Alexa clutched his arm, panic replacing her earlier confidence. “Dad—”

One of the pale men turned toward them.

His eyes glinted in the harsh warehouse light, cold, ancient, emotionless.

Daniel tried to run.

He didn’t get far.

The figure was suddenly in front of him.

Daniel froze, his mouth open in a soundless plea.

Moments later, he crumpled to the ground.

Alexa screamed,  a raw, terrified sound that echoed through the warehouse before another shadow moved, swift and merciless.

Then silence fell, thick and final.

Bodies lay scattered across the concrete floor.

The pale strangers stood among them like silent judges.

Angela’s vision blurred.

Her mind could not comprehend what she had just witnessed.

Her teeth chattered uncontrollably. Her entire body shook so violently she thought her bones might shatter.

“What… what are you…?” she whispered, though no sound truly formed.

One of them turned toward her.

His gaze was not cruel.

It was calculating. Assessing. Possessive.

Angela’s heart lurched.

The last thing she saw was the figure stepping closer, his voice calm and chillingly composed:

“Now we have one of them.”

Darkness swallowed her as shock claimed her body.

She collapsed into unconsciousness.

Strong arms caught her before she hit the ground.

Another voice spoke from the shadows:

“She will be useful.”

A pause.

“We will use her… to lure the rest.”

The broken warehouse fell silent once more.

And in the stillness, the night closed in around them.