Sometimes The truth should be a choice

The night stretched on, thick with the scent of damp earth and unseen danger. Anne stood in the clearing, her breaths measured, though the hunger still gnawed at her insides. Adam's presence was a fragile lifeline, but she could not let herself depend on him. Not when she knew what she was becoming.

"Can you stand?" Adam asked.

Anne exhaled sharply, nodding. She pushed herself to her feet, muscles aching from the internal war she had been fighting. The fire in her veins had settled, but the whisper of hunger lingered at the edge of her mind, waiting. Watching.

Then, the air shifted.

Anne felt it before she heard it. A presence—a cold, familiar weight pressing against her senses. The wind carried a scent she recognized too well.

Vampires.

Adam tensed, sensing the change in her stance. "What is it?"

Before she could answer, shadows emerged from the trees. Three figures, cloaked in darkness, their movements fluid as mist. Their eyes gleamed like distant stars, unnatural and sharp.

Anne's instincts screamed, but she held her ground. These weren't feral beasts. No, these were something far worse.

"Dragire," one of them murmured, his voice silk and steel.

The leader stepped forward, his fangs glinting beneath the moonlight. He was older than the others, his presence commanding. "I knew your kind would return," he mused. "Though I never expected it to be through you."

Anne's fingers curled into fists. "Who are you?"

A slow, cruel smile spread across his lips. "A reminder of what you truly are."

Her pulse quickened, but she did not move. She could feel the weight of Adam's stare, his silent question hanging between them.

"I don't want trouble," she said evenly.

The vampire laughed, low and cold. "You were born as trouble, Dragire. An anomaly. A mistake. A weapon."

Anne's breath hitched, her mother's hidden truths echoing in her mind. She did not let her mask slip.

"I won't go with you," she said firmly.

The vampire tilted his head. "Oh, child. You think you have a choice?"

In a blur of motion, he lunged.

Anne moved without thinking, her body reacting before her mind could catch up. Fire roared to life in her veins, and for the first time, she did not fight it.

She embraced it.