Therese couldn't remember how long she stood there, trembling, her body thrumming with a powerful energy she couldn't control. Every breath felt like a struggle, as though she was fighting against something deep within her. Her senses were sharp—too sharp—and the world around her became more vivid with every passing second. The faint hum of electricity from the lights above, the faint rustle of paper on the desk, and, most dangerously, the rhythmic thudding of Elias's heart.
Her gaze flicked toward him, and her vision sharpened, the edges of the room blurring as the pulse of his blood beckoned. It was impossible to ignore.
Elias was still backing away, his hand pressed against the desk as if to steady himself. His face was pale, and his wide eyes darted between her and the door, but he didn't move to leave. He was too entranced by her presence. Too scared, perhaps, to do anything but wait for her next move.
"You're not a monster," Elias finally said, his voice shaky but attempting to be reassuring. "This... this is just a misunderstanding. I didn't mean to turn you into—"
"You didn't mean to?!" Therese cut him off, her voice raw and tinged with anger. "You didn't mean to? Do you have any idea what you've done to me?"
Her hands balled into fists, nails digging into her palms as she tried to fight the overwhelming thirst. The hunger surged again, wild and ravenous, like a beast clawing its way to the surface. She had to get away from him. She had to leave before she did something she would regret.
But her feet wouldn't move.
The thirst was too much. The pull toward him was too strong.
Elias took a hesitant step forward, his eyes softening with a mixture of fear and pity. "I can help you. I didn't realize… I didn't know you'd be like this. But you're not alone. I can—"
"No!" Therese's voice rose, harsh and dangerous, as she stepped back. "You don't understand. I don't want your help. I want you to undo this. Turn me back. Do whatever you have to do. Just make it stop!"
But Elias was shaking his head. "I don't know how to undo it, Therese. I don't even know what I did. I only... I only wanted to understand."
Therese could feel her fangs elongating, sharp and cruel as they filled her mouth. The sight of Elias's neck, the vein pulsing under his skin, made her stomach lurch with an uncontrollable need. The hunger was overwhelming, a dark desire that consumed her thoughts. It clouded her mind, pushing everything else aside, leaving only the thirst for blood.
Her vision darkened as her body moved without her command. She took a step toward him, her senses blurring into a singular, focused desire. Her lips parted, her breath coming in shallow gasps, and in that moment, she was no longer Therese Vausen—no longer the girl who had lived a simple, quiet life.
She was something else. Something hungry.
Elias's pulse quickened as he noticed her approach. "Therese, please, listen to me," he said, his voice tinged with panic. "I didn't mean to turn you into this... I never wanted you to be like this."
But Therese could no longer hear his words. Her instincts screamed at her to feed, to sink her fangs into the flesh of the man who had unwittingly brought her into this nightmare.
Her breath hitched, and before she could stop herself, she lunged.
But in that moment, everything stopped.
A voice—clear, sharp, and piercing—cut through the haze of hunger. "Don't."
Therese froze mid-step, her body rigid, the heat of her desire still blazing within her. She blinked, confused, as the voice echoed in her mind. It wasn't Elias's voice. It wasn't anyone she knew.
The room seemed to blur for a moment as the world around her warped, distorting into shapes and shadows. She staggered back, disoriented, as the voice returned.
"Don't let it control you."
Therese's knees buckled, and she collapsed to the floor, clutching her head as the words reverberated in her mind. The hunger was still there, clawing at her, but the voice was louder—stronger. It filled her thoughts with an unfamiliar calm.
She gasped, the air suddenly feeling thicker, heavier. She looked up to find Elias watching her, his eyes wide with confusion.
"What... what's happening to you?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Therese didn't know. She didn't understand what was going on. She had been alive for mere moments, and already she was losing control. She could feel the blood pumping through Elias's veins as though it were calling to her, urging her to finish what she had started.
But the voice—a deep, ancient voice—kept speaking to her, guiding her.
"It's not too late," it whispered. "You are not lost. You are being reborn."
Therese's breath steadied as she held her head, trying to push the overwhelming feelings out of her mind. "Reborn?" she repeated, her voice trembling. "What does that mean?"
The voice didn't answer, but the sensation it left behind was like a distant memory of something she should have known. She felt the fire of anger and loss burn deep in her chest—burn hotter than the thirst that now gripped her. It was familiar. She had felt it before.
She looked at Elias, his eyes full of fear and pity, and something inside her broke. Not from the hunger, but from the weight of what had been done to her. What had been stolen.
"What do I do now?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Elias hesitated, then stepped closer, his hands raised in a gesture of peace. "We find a way to control it. I don't know how... but we'll figure this out. Together."
Therese's gaze flickered to the door, then back to him. The hunger still clawed at her, but it wasn't just the thirst for blood anymore. It was the thirst for justice, for answers, for revenge. Whoever had wronged her, whoever had cast her into the darkness, had no idea what they had unleashed.
She stood up, shaking off the lingering dizziness. "I need to know what happened to me. I need to know who did this."
Elias nodded, his face hardening with determination. "I will help you, Therese. But we have to do this carefully. We need to understand what you've become. And why you were preserved for so long."
But Therese wasn't listening anymore. She had already begun to see the pieces fall into place—the fragments of her past life that were slowly returning to her. Faces she didn't recognize, names she couldn't remember... but the feeling of betrayal? That was something she could never forget.
"I'll find the answers," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "And when I do, I will make them pay."