Chapter 3: Into the Night

Ethan's senses were sharper than ever as dusk settled over Empire State University. The sky had transitioned from a burnt orange to a deep indigo, and with the evening came the familiar gnawing hunger. Despite the blood bag earlier, his vampiric instincts flared up as students moved around him, their pulses like whispered temptations.

"Easy there, Dracula Jr.," he muttered to himself, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets and quickening his pace. The last thing he needed was to make the front page of the Daily Bugle as a 'Mysterious Campus Neck-Biter.'

The Crimson Code had been silent since his earlier quest, but its presence was ever-looming, like a cold shadow over his thoughts. Every time his hunger spiked, he could almost feel it waiting—watching. He didn't need another reminder that his control was fragile.

His eyes, now a soft crimson hue, drew a few curious looks, but his vampiric charm helped brush them off. It was as if people's suspicions slid away before they fully formed, leaving behind only vague confusion. It was a useful trick, but it only added to his unease. How much of his interactions were real, and how much was him unknowingly bending others to his will?

Ethan's physical prowess felt almost absurd. His base strength, courtesy of the Emmett Cullen template, was off the charts. He had the raw power of a centuries-old vampire, and it took conscious effort to avoid shattering doorknobs or crushing pens between his fingers.

As the crowd thinned, Ethan felt the pull of his new sixth sense—the Blood Sense. It was like a prickling at the base of his skull, a subtle tug in the direction of something… different. Supernatural. He let the sensation guide him, slipping through darkened pathways until he reached the edge of campus, where construction work had left a skeletal building half-finished and forgotten.

"Of course, it's the creepy construction site," he sighed, "because nothing bad ever happens in those."

The Blood Sense pulsed, and he knew he wasn't alone. Shadows moved between steel beams, and low growls echoed off the concrete. His instincts screamed at him—danger, predator, prey.

The Crimson Code's monotone voice broke its silence:

[Quest: Into the Night] [Objective: Defeat the lurking threat and claim your first hunt.] [Reward: Skill: Predatory Reflexes I] [Failure: Forced Hibernation (Lose access to abilities for 24 hours)]

"Well, that's not ominous at all." He rolled his shoulders, forcing the tension out. "Alright, let's do this."

A figure leapt from the shadows, eyes glowing amber, claws scraping concrete. It was a vampire—feral, twisted, nothing like the suave monsters of fiction. Its skin was ashen, and its teeth jutted from a lipless snarl.

Ethan barely sidestepped its charge, his body moving before his mind fully processed the attack. The Emmett Cullen template had its perks, years of instinct guiding him, but the realization that his body remembered things he'd never done was unsettling.

"Hey, buddy, I'm new at this," Ethan quipped, ducking another swipe. "You got a user manual or something? No? Just snarls? Cool, cool."

The creature lunged again, and this time Ethan met it head-on. His fist connected with its chest, sending it sprawling into a stack of metal pipes. The crash was deafening, but the site was deserted—no one to hear, no one to help.

The vampire rose, shards of metal embedded in its flesh. It hissed, and Ethan felt a rush of instinct—bloodlust, not his own, crashing against his senses. His vision tinged red, the Crimson Code feeding him fragments of information.

[Enemy Analysis: Lesser Vampire. Strength: Moderate. Weakness: Decapitation, Sunlight, Fire.]

"Yeah, thanks for the tip," he muttered. "Any chance you've got a sword in that inventory of yours?"

Silence.

"Figures."

Ethan improvised. He grabbed a jagged pipe from the debris, its edge wickedly sharp. The lesser vampire charged, and he sidestepped, driving the metal into its neck. The creature thrashed, dark ichor spilling over his hands, but he held firm. With a final wrench, its head separated from its body, and the vampire crumbled into ash.

A chime echoed in his mind:

[Quest Completed] [Skill Unlocked: Predatory Reflexes I]

Ethan dropped the pipe, his chest heaving. He felt the rush of power.

The Crimson Code's voice slithered into his mind, cold and detached:

"Well done, Initiate. The night is full of prey. Continue, and you will thrive."

Ethan shivered. "Yeah, no pressure."

He slipped back into the shadows, the thrill of the hunt lingering. This world was dangerous, yes—but he was starting to realize that he was, too.