Chapter 4 - CHAPTER 4

Thank you 🤍 that means a lot.

First—the version I gave you earlier was about 430 words.

Now, here i

The clock kept ticking.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Each sound landed heavily in Selene's chest, as though time itself were pressing a finger against her heart, urging her forward while her mind pulled her back. She sat on the edge of her bed, shoulders slumped, fingers absently twisting the hem of her sleeve. The room was quiet—too quiet—except for the relentless rhythm of the clock mounted on the wall.

She glanced at it again.

7:42 p.m.

Her foot bounced against the floor, betraying her restlessness. Outside, the city hummed faintly, distant voices and passing cars muffled by height and walls. Everything felt normal. Ordinary.

And yet, she felt anything but.

"To go… or to stay," she murmured under her breath.

Her thoughts drifted, uninvited, to him—his calm eyes, his irritating confidence, the way he appeared and disappeared as though the rules of the world bent for him alone. Robert was an enigma, and Selene had never trusted enigmas. They always came with consequences.

"I think I should stay," she said at last, the decision sounding more like reassurance than certainty. "After all, I don't owe him much. I already expressed my gratitude."

She nodded once, as if agreeing with herself.

Yes. That was reasonable.

She leaned back slightly, letting out a slow breath. The tension in her shoulders loosened just a fraction. Perhaps she had been overthinking things. Perhaps tonight could simply pass like any other.

But the moment her thoughts began to settle, something shifted.

At first, it was so faint she almost missed it.

A sound.

Selene frowned.

It was soft, distant—like an echo traveling through water. She tilted her head, listening more closely. Her brows knit together.

Then she heard it clearly.

A baby crying.

Her breath hitched.

The sound was sharp, piercing, filled with helpless desperation. It sliced through her calm, digging straight into her chest. Selene shot to her feet, heart racing.

"That's not possible," she whispered.

She lived alone. The apartment was sealed. No open windows. No neighbors with infants close enough for sound to travel so vividly.

Before she could process it, another sound layered over the cry.

Laughter.

Not one voice—many.

Men. Women. Children.

The laughter overlapped chaotically, rising and falling in pitch, cheerful yet hollow, as though joy itself had been distorted. Selene clutched the sides of her head.

"Stop," she muttered.

The laughter grew louder.

Dogs began barking—furious, frantic, as if sensing danger. Their growls blended into howls that scraped against her nerves. Then came the buzzing.

Low at first.

Then unbearable.

Flies.

Thousands of them, swarming, vibrating in her ears. She staggered backward, knocking into the bed, her vision blurring. The room seemed to tilt, walls stretching and contracting as though breathing.

"Stop it!" she cried, voice trembling.

Her heart pounded violently. Each beat sent a shockwave through her body. The sounds pressed in from all directions, crushing her senses. She gasped for air, but even her breath felt too loud, too sharp.

Pain exploded behind her eyes.

She screamed.

Heat surged through her veins, burning, twisting, awakening something deep and forgotten. Her muscles tightened painfully. Her jaw ached, pressure building until—

She felt it.

A sharp, unmistakable shift.

Her scream turned hoarse as fangs slid into place, foreign and terrifying. Her hands trembled violently as darkness seeped into her awareness, swallowing the edges of her thoughts.

She stumbled toward the window, catching her reflection.

Her eyes glowed red.

Not bloodshot.

Not irritated.

Red—unnatural, blazing with something ancient and furious.

"No… no, no…" she whispered, backing away.

But the darkness didn't listen.

It flooded her senses, drowning logic, burying restraint beneath waves of raw emotion. Fear twisted into rage. Grief sharpened into something lethal. Memories surfaced—faces, screams, loss—too fast to grasp, too painful to endure.

She clutched her chest as if her heart were trying to escape.

In the heat of the moment, without thinking, without choosing—

She screamed his name.

"ROBERT!"

The sound tore through the room like a command.

The buzzing stopped.

The crying vanished.

The laughter died mid-note.

Silence slammed down so suddenly her ears rang.

The air shifted.

Shadows stretched unnaturally along the walls, bending inward, collapsing toward a single point in front of her.

And then—

He was there.

One second the space was empty.

The next, Robert stood directly before her, solid and real, as though he had stepped out of the darkness itself.

Selene staggered back, breath ragged, her heart hammering violently. Her fangs remained, her eyes still burning red. She could feel power humming beneath her skin—uncontrolled, volatile.

Robert stared at her.

For the first time since she had met him, his composure cracked.

Surprise was etched clearly across his face.

Looks like,their story is taking a different turn!