The mansion, once a refuge of silence and dust, had become a coffin.
Outside, the blizzard was no longer just weather; it was a solid white wall, burying the ground-floor windows and sealing the doors shut. The wind howled like a living entity, smothering any sound that might come from beyond. There was no way out. The roads were impassable, the car buried, and visibility nonexistent.
Inside, the claustrophobia was physical. The air felt thin, heavy with the stench of fear radiating from Natalie and Kara.
Alice dragged a massive oak wardrobe in front of the main door. The furniture screeched across the floor, but she didn't stop until the solid wood blocked the entrance completely.
"This won't hold her forever," Alice whispered, turning to the others. "But it will slow her down."
Natalie sat on the floor, hugging her knees, shaking uncontrollably. The shock of the revelation still locked her tongue.
"She… she's your sister," Natalie stammered, eyes glassy. "She was going to kill me. She was going to drain me like juice."
Kara knelt beside her friend, gripping her icy hands. "We're safe in here, Nat. Alice locked everything."
"Locked?" Natalie let out a hysterical laugh. "Kara, she ripped a tree out of the ground! You think a lock will stop that?"
Suddenly, the noise stopped.
The pounding on the door ceased. The lullaby Rose had been humming outside vanished.
The sudden silence was worse than the noise.
"Where is she?" Kara asked, slowly standing.
Alice raised a hand, demanding absolute silence. She tilted her head, black eyes scanning the ceiling and walls, searching for the faintest vibration. "She stopped moving."
"She left?" Natalie asked, a thread of hope in her voice.
Alice shook her head, face tense. "Rose never quits a game when she's winning. She's testing the perimeter. Looking for a weakness."
CRACK.
The sound came from above. Not the door. Not the ground-floor windows.
The roof.
Heavy footsteps on snow-covered tiles. Then claws scraping against the stone chimney.
Alice's face went pale. "The third-floor terrace. I forgot to lock the balcony door."
"Let's go up and lock it!" Kara said, rushing toward the stairs.
"No!" Alice grabbed her arm. "It's too late. If she's on the roof, she's already found a way in. Stay here. I'll hunt her."
"You can't leave us alone!" Natalie screamed, panic overtaking her.
"If you stay together, it's easier for her to corner all of you. Hide in the library. Lock the door. Don't open it for anyone except me."
Alice didn't wait for an answer. She sprinted up the stairs, vanishing into the darkness of the upper hallway.
Kara and Natalie ran to the ground-floor library. They slammed the heavy door shut and turned the ancient key in the lock. The room was vast, filled with towering shelves that formed a maze of shadows. The only light came from the dying embers in the fireplace.
"This is a nightmare," Natalie whimpered, pressing her back to the door. "Vampires. They don't exist. This can't be real."
"Nat, listen—" Kara tried to calm her, but the sound of something falling upstairs made them both freeze.
A dull thud. Then silence.
"Alice?" Kara called softly.
No answer.
Then a cold draft swept into the library. The remaining candles on the table flickered and went out.
Kara looked toward the fireplace.
The chimney.
It was open.
"Kara…" Natalie whispered, pointing toward the darkest corner of the room, behind a shelf of Russian classics.
There was a silhouette there.
It wasn't Alice.
"Hello, little mice," Rose's voice echoed, coming from everywhere at once. Had she come down the chimney? Or slipped in before they locked the door? It didn't matter.
She was inside.
Kara grabbed the iron poker from the fireplace, her hands slick with sweat. "Stay away from her, Rose!"
Rose stepped out of the shadows. She was barefoot, her white dress stained with mud and melting snow, blonde hair plastered to her face. She looked like a specter.
"So brave…" Rose smiled at Kara, but her eyes, glowing crimson, locked onto Natalie. "But I didn't come for you, Kara. You belong to Alice. I came to retrieve my toy that ran away."
Rose raised her hand toward Natalie. She didn't touch her — just made a subtle motion with her fingers. "Come here, Natalie."
Natalie, trembling behind Kara, stopped shaking. Her body went rigid. Her eyes, once filled with terror, went empty, unfocused.
"No…" Natalie tried to say, but her feet moved on their own. She stepped out from behind Kara's protection.
"Nat! Don't go!" Kara reached for her, but Rose hissed — an animal sound — and with a flick of her hand, hurled Kara across the room with telekinetic force.
Kara slammed into a bookshelf and collapsed, the air knocked from her lungs. Dazed, she tried to get up, watching the scene unfold in slow motion.
Natalie walked toward Rose, arms limp at her sides, like a puppet.
"That's it… good girl," Rose purred.
The vampire cupped Natalie's face with both hands, brushing her thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away a tear. "Don't cry. It'll be quick. And sweet."
Rose tilted Natalie's head to the side, exposing the soft, pulsing skin of her neck.
"You have such a loud heart…" Rose whispered, lips grazing the carotid artery.
Natalie closed her eyes, letting out a shaky sigh as the hypnosis crushed her survival instinct.
Rose opened her mouth. Her fangs gleamed in the dim light. She was about to tear Natalie's throat open.
"ROSE!"
The shout came from above.
Alice didn't use the door. She shattered the railing of the library mezzanine and leapt down, crashing directly into her sister.
The impact was devastating. Alice and Rose rolled across the floor, smashing tables and lamps.
Caught off guard, Rose released Natalie, who collapsed to the ground, blinking as the trance broke and she began screaming in terror.
Alice was on top of Rose, snarling, her hands clawed as she tried to pin her sister's arms. But Rose was strong — fed and insane. She kicked Alice in the chest, sending her flying into the stone fireplace.
Rose sprang to her feet, laughing, blood streaming from a gash on her forehead. "You're slow, Alice! Love has made you weak!"
Alice didn't answer. Her gaze fell on the iron poker Kara had dropped — but iron wasn't enough. Her eyes shifted to the remains of an antique wooden chair shattered in the fight.
She grabbed one of the chair's legs. The end was splintered, sharp.
Rose charged to kill.
Alice didn't retreat. She slid under Rose's attack and, in a brutal upward motion, drove the improvised wooden stake into Rose's side.
The sound was nauseating.
Wood tearing through flesh.
Rose screamed — not a human sound, but a shrill, piercing howl of pain and shock. She staggered back, clutching the chunk of wood buried in her body. The wound smoked, the wood's natural venom burning her immortal flesh.
"You bitch!" Rose screamed, coughing up black blood. "You tried to kill me!"
Alice rose to her feet, breathing hard, eyes black. She grabbed another piece of wood. "Get out of my house. Now. Or the next one goes through your heart."
Rose looked at the wound, then at Alice, and finally at Natalie and Kara huddled in the corner. The hatred in her eyes was palpable —but the pain was worse. She knew that injured like this, she wouldn't win a second round against a furious Alice.
"This isn't over," Rose hissed.
She sprinted toward the library window. Without slowing, she leapt. The glass exploded into a thousand shards as Rose vanished into the white storm outside, leaving behind a trail of dark blood in the snow and a gaping hole in the mansion's defenses.
Freezing wind and snow poured into the room through the shattered window.
Alice dropped the wood, her hands shaking violently. She turned to the two girls.
Natalie was curled into a fetal position, sobbing hysterically. Kara, pale, crawled over to wrap her arms around her.
They were alive.
But the house was no longer a refuge.
It was a broken cage.
And the monster was still out there —bleeding, waiting.