Into The Night

The forest stretched in endless shadows, trees twisting like skeletal fingers against the night sky. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and old magic—the kind of magic that only the dead could recognize.

Kikidori walked in silence, the darkness wrapping around him like a second skin. His boots crunched over ancient leaves, past broken gravestones buried under the roots of trees that had outlived empires.

The forest of the undead.

Few creatures dared to enter this place. Fewer still walked it as freely as he did.

He passed by ghosts—pale figures drifting between the trees, whispering secrets from centuries past. Their hollow eyes followed him, their lips moving, but no sound reached his ears.

A wraith crouched atop a gnarled branch, its elongated fingers digging into the bark. It hissed as he passed, its hollow chest rising and falling as if struggling to remember what breathing felt like.

Kikidori ignored it. Wraiths were hungry things, but even they knew better than to cross a vampire.

Further ahead, a goblin-like creature scurried out of a burrow, its green eyes gleaming. It grinned, jagged teeth flashing in the moonlight. "Well, well, look who's out for a stroll."

Kikidori barely spared it a glance. "Keep talking, and I'll make sure you never talk again."

The goblin chuckled, but it shrank back into the shadows. Smart.

Everything in this forest knew Kikidori. Feared him. Respected him.

But tonight, he was the one with questions.

Why were the werewolves attacking?

For centuries, vampires and werewolves had been… if not friends, at least not enemies. They had an understanding.

Stay out of our way, and we'll stay out of yours.

Simple.

But now?

Now they were hunting vampires like it was a goddamn sport.

And that—that was new.

Kikidori ran a hand through his dark hair, his expression unreadable as he walked deeper into the trees.

If werewolves were coming after them, then something had changed.

Something broke the truce.

And whatever it was?

It was big.

Something moved in the shadows ahead.

Kikidori stopped.

He narrowed his eyes.

The forest went still.

The goblin from before scurried deeper into its burrow. The wraiths vanished. Even the ghosts seemed to pull away, their whispers fading.

And that's when Kikidori knew.

He wasn't alone.

The hunt wasn't over.

The End of Chapter 5.