Chapter 4 – The Bite of Crimson Hunger

Lerra stood rooted to the spot, her back pressed against the cold stone wall of the corridor. The storm outside still howled like a beast, rain slamming against the tall windows, thunder splitting the sky open. But inside these walls, the danger was far closer, far more terrifying. Her lungs felt tight, as though she had forgotten how to breathe. She hadn’t even blinked. She hadn’t moved an inch.

All she had wanted tonight was for the rain to stop so she could go home. But in the span of a heartbeat, her life had been twisted into something else entirely.

Professor Zaid.

Cassis.

They weren’t just men. Not simply her professor and his colleague. No, the veil had been torn away—these were creatures from the shadows of myths, the whispered legends that everyone dismissed as stories told in fear. Vampires. Monsters. Beings who weren’t supposed to exist.

And yet here they were. Flesh and blood. Breathing. Watching. Fighting over her.

Her throat went dry, the weight of the realization crashing into her like a tidal wave. How? Why me? She didn’t know. She couldn’t understand. But one truth glared at her with crimson hunger: it was already too late to step back into the ordinary world she once knew.

Zaid’s eyes blazed like burning coals, veins faintly dark against his pale skin as hunger devoured him from the inside. He shoved Cassis aside, his movements trembling but merciless, like a starving predator driven past the edge of reason. Every step he took toward her was heavy with need, every breath laced with unbearable restraint that threatened to snap at any moment.

Her body screamed to run, but her legs betrayed her. Frozen. Trembling. Trapped in place as he closed the distance.

Closer.

Closer—

Until she could feel his breath brushing her lips, cold yet strangely intoxicating.

And then—he bit her.

Not her throat as the stories said. Not her wrist or shoulder. But her lips.

His fangs grazed first, sharp enough to make her body jolt, then sank in with a softness that shocked her more than the pain. The sting was sharp, yes, but fleeting, drowned almost immediately by the rush of heat that spread through her veins. A small drop of blood welled, spilling into his mouth.

The taste hit him instantly.

Zaid shuddered. His body trembled against hers as the metallic sweetness spread across his tongue, burning down his throat and seeping into his veins like fire and ecstasy all at once. The hunger that had screamed within him quieted, little by little, as though her blood was weaving chains around the beast inside him.

The storm outside raged on without mercy, but within him, for the first time tonight, calm began to settle. The chaos in his chest, the madness in his head—all of it dimmed beneath the taste of her.

His lips moved against hers with a desperation that frightened her, part kiss, part bite, his grip trembling as he drank slowly, savoring every trace of her blood. For him, it wasn’t just survival—it was something deeper. Something dangerous. Something addictive.

For her, it was overwhelming.

Her heart hammered so violently she thought it might burst. Her knees weakened, her hands trembled against his chest, yet she couldn’t summon the strength to shove him away. The pain was there, yes, but mingled with it was something she couldn’t explain. Fear. Shock. And beneath it all—an unspoken pull she hated herself for feeling.

At last, his crimson eyes flickered. The wildness receded, the raw beast slowly retreating into the shadows of his mind. The storm in his body was quieting, dragged back inch by inch until the man beneath—the professor she recognized—broke through again.

And then realization struck.

He froze. His fangs slipped away from her lips, leaving them burning, stinging, tender. His eyes widened, horror flickering across his face as if he had just awakened from a nightmare.

“No…” His voice cracked, hoarse, laced with self-loathing. His hands shoved her back almost violently, as though she were fire that burned him.

Lerra stumbled, nearly losing her balance as she backed into the wall. Her hand flew to her mouth, her fingertips brushing the sting, the wet trace of blood. Her lips felt raw, hot, trembling from the violation she hadn’t been able to stop.

Zaid staggered backward, his chest heaving with ragged breaths. His hands clawed through his midnight-black hair, pulling at it, desperate to ground himself, desperate to tear away the guilt suffocating him. His sharp jaw clenched as his expression twisted, raw torment written across his face.

“What… what am I doing here?” he muttered, his voice breaking into a whisper, thick with disgust for himself.

Lerra’s vision blurred with unshed tears. Her body shook from head to toe, not just from the fear but from the intensity of what had just happened. The bite was shallow, barely a scratch, yet it carried more weight than any wound she had ever known.

Her heart thundered in her chest, refusing to slow. She touched her lips again, the faint sting still there. And despite her fear, despite the horror clawing at her mind, she couldn’t forget the strange pull she had felt in that terrifying moment.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. And yet…

Something deep inside whispered that she had just been marked forever.

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