Trapped

A heavy silence settled between us, thick with unspoken horrors.

Sara's words hung in the air like a death sentence.

We're all just waiting to be claimed.

I couldn't breathe.

Couldn't think.

Because she was right.

This wasn't just a school. It wasn't even a prison. It was a hunting ground. A place where humans were nothing more than cattle, their blood and bodies a resource to be used at the pleasure of the monsters lurking in the shadows.

And now, I was one of them.

One of the marked.

I pressed a hand to my neck, to the two tiny puncture wounds that still ached, my skin raw and sensitive. It wasn't just the bite that made me feel weak. It was the power behind it. The way Blaze had sunk his fangs in without hesitation, without concern.

I had felt my life slipping away, my blood flowing from me in warm, slow streams.

And he had enjoyed it.

I clenched my jaw, bile rising in my throat.