John knelt on the cold earth by the riverbank, his body screaming with agony, frantically shaking Elena. "Come on, Elena, get up," he pleaded, his voice thin and raw.
Elena remained utterly unresponsive. She offered no movement, no sound, no sign that her powerful vampire body was beginning its rapid healing. The dark, viscous blood continued to leak sluggishly from the deep, jagged wound on her left shoulder. Overwhelmed by fear, John's hand flew to his storage ring, retrieving a piece of clean linen cloth. He pressed it against her shoulder to cover the hideous bite, his gaze fixed on the shattered trees where Jones had fallen. Without allowing a single thought of panic to take root, he scooped Elena up, carrying her limp weight, and started running.
He sprinted desperately, plunging deeper into the forest, convinced that the indestructible Jones would recover and resume his pursuit at any moment. John glanced back constantly, his vision swimming with pain, but the woods offered only a swirling green and brown curtain. The deeper he ran, the thicker and more aggressive the forest became; the trees pressed in close, and tangled vines snagged at his clothing. He ran aimlessly, driven only by the primal need for distance.
He ran for nearly three unbroken, agonizing hours, his lungs burning and his body operating purely on adrenaline. His flight finally ended when he stumbled upon a small, clear water stream. As he slumped, catching his ragged breath, he looked up and spotted a dark, recessed opening set into the hillside: a cave. Perfect.
He needed a safe harbor—a place to rest and tend to Elena, whose life now depended on him. He moved inside the mouth of the cave. It was pitch black, but after a few moments, the subtle, developing power in his hybrid eyes engaged. His vision swiftly adjusted to the dark, allowing him to navigate the unknown, rocky interior with ease.
He moved to the deepest, most concealed recess of the cave, a dry ledge of cold stone. He gently laid Elena down and, with agonizing care, removed the makeshift cloth bandage from her shoulder.
The sight filled him with chilling concern. While the surface cuts and bruises from the fight were already fading—a testament to her vampire resilience—the werewolf bite remained deep, ragged, and horribly unhealed. The flesh around the puncture marks was a sickly, purplish colour, and the flow of blood was slow and unnaturally thick.
"What is going on?" John whispered, his face etched with genuine fear. The injury was defying her vampire physiology.
"Maybe if Elena drinks some blood, then her wounds would probably heal," he mused, reaching into his ring again. He retrieved a plastic bottle filled with blood and carefully poured a small amount past her lips, coaxing her to swallow. He waited, his eyes glued to the wound, but the minutes stretched into a tense silence. No change occurred. The wound did not close. "What is going on?" he repeated, the question now a terrifying realization that they were facing an injury beyond his comprehension.
====
Meanwhile, in the forest three hours behind them, Jones finally managed to force his body to move. He had been utterly immobilized, every muscle refusing to obey, confirming that John's hastily used dagger was coated with a potent, paralyzing neurotoxin that had successfully suppressed his superior werewolf healing factor.
When he finally clawed himself upright, every bone in his shattered chest screamed from the combined trauma of Thomas's punch and Elena's desperate kick. He immediately sensed his prey was long gone. Jones knelt, ignoring the searing pain, and lowered his massive nose to the ground. He began to smell the earth, meticulously following the faint, fading scent trail—a mixture of John's fear, Elena's unique vampire musk, and their lost blood.
However, as he tracked, the sky above turned a menacing, ominous gray. The atmosphere grew heavy and stifling, and moments later, the heavens broke. A massive, cold rain began to fall in sheets, immediately saturating the forest floor.
"Great, just great," Jones snarled, the sound a low, bitter growl that was swallowed effortlessly by the deafening downpour.
The rain was his immediate, infuriating enemy now. A torrential force, it would swiftly and completely wash away the scent trail, turning the wide, dense forest into a trackless, scentless maze. The three hours of forced rest had given the Crimson boy a crucial head start, and the sudden change in weather had just guaranteed John's temporary freedom. The hunter's window for an easy kill had closed.
====
Thomas Crimson finally stumbled onto the grounds of the castle sometime later, a grotesque spectacle. His clothes were soaked with rain and saturated with blood. Reina, nearby, gasped as she saw him. His worst wounds were still visibly present, but the less severe slashes were already beginning the slow, stubborn process of healing.
"What happened?" Reina cried, rushing to his side.
"Someone attacked us." Thomas recounted the horrific ambush, his voice strained and weak. Reina immediately delivered the chilling information to Anna and Leonidas Crimson in the main hall.
"Who would dare attack our family?" Anna demanded, her voice sharp with aristocratic rage.
"Leonidas, we need to go find John. Now."
Leonidas remained seated, his face etched with a deeper worry than mere attack. He looked grimly at his wife. "Anna, there is probably a chance that the boy is dead by now."
Tears of pure fury welled in Anna's eyes. "Don't you dare!"
Leonidas slammed his hand down onto the table with a sound that cracked through the tension. "Anna, you have to think! The enemy probably planned this! They want us to send most of our men into the forest, where they would probably kill them all, or they want us to strip our defenses and then attack us when we are at our weakest! This is a strategic trap!"
"Leonidas, what about the promise you made to our daughter? Do you even remember?" Anna pleaded, invoking the memory of John's mother.
"Of course, I remember! But the forest is enormous, and it would take a legion of men to cover enough ground to find one boy."
"So, you are going to do nothing? Is that what you are saying?" Anna challenged, her voice dangerously quiet. Leonidas met her gaze but offered no reply.
"Then I will go there myself." Anna moved toward the door, but Leonidas moved faster, his hand clamping down on her arm.
"You will not go anywhere, you hear me," he commanded, his authority absolute. He released her and strode out of the room.
In the corridor, Leonidas instantly called for one of his most trusted knights. "Lava, tell all the men to stay alert and secure the castle. And no one is to let my wife leave this castle."
"Yes, my lord," Lava said, immediately turning to follow the order.
Anna, left alone, was consumed by rage and desperation. She paced the room, her thoughts racing, trying to find a plan to save her grandson. "Reina," she called softly.
"Yes, my lady, how may I be of service."
Anna moved close to her, her voice dropping to a low, intense whisper. "Your second son, Caden, is one of the best trackers we have. I want you to secretly go underground and awake him from his slumber."
Reina gasped, the command shocking her to the core, but she quickly composed herself. She closed her eyes and nodded. "My lady, what if John is dead?"
Anna's command was fierce and final. "Then I want to see his body for myself! Now go."
====
Reina moved through the hidden passages beneath the castle, slipping past the guards without a whisper of sound, her loyalty to Lady Anna overriding all other orders. She arrived in the cavernous underground vault, a cold, silent space lined with rows of ancient coffins. Inside these obsidian boxes lay countless vampires, placed in deep, restorative slumber, waiting for the critical time when their specialized skills would be required.
Reina went directly to her second son, Caden's, coffin. With a low, metallic groan, she slid the lid open and gazed down at her son. Caden lay perfectly still, his skin pale and smooth as marble, the picture of peaceful sleep. She couldn't help but bend down, planting a soft, loving kiss on his forehead.
"Hello, my sweet baby," she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. "It's time for you to wake up."
She pulled out a small, ceremonial knife and quickly cut open her own wrist. She positioned herself over the coffin, allowing the rich, dark flow of her blood—the lifeblood of a mother—to drip and pool into her son's mouth.
The transformation was gradual. After approximately forty-five minutes, a flicker of pink colour began to form on Caden's pale face, chasing away the gray stillness of his prolonged slumber. Slowly, almost reverently, he opened his eyes. They were deep pools of crimson, focusing immediately on the beautiful, concerned face above him.
"Hello, Mother," Caden's voice was a low, clear rumble, unused to sound. "It's been a long time since I've seen your lovely face."
He rose from the coffin. Reina immediately pulled him into a fierce, tight hug. "My dear boy, Mother loves you so dearly."
"Why did you awaken me, Mother?" Caden asked, his posture already sharp and alert, the long sleep falling away instantly.
Reina cupped his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. "Mother has a mission for you, my Caden."
When Caden and his mother reached her private quarters, he saw that everything had been anticipated and prepared. Laid out on a large wooden table was his gear: four throwing knives sheathed in black leather, a gleaming, razor-sharp samurai sword, a lightweight black hooded coat paired with functional black shirts, leather boots, and pants.
"Caden, your grandmother—Lady Anna—asked me to wake you from your slumber," Reina explained, getting straight to the point. "She wants you to go into the Endless Forest to find your cousin, John. He, Thomas, and one of the maids were brutally attacked by a mysterious man."
Caden crossed his powerful arms, a frown creasing his brow as he processed the information. He couldn't recall a cousin by that name. "Who is this John, Mother?"
"Oh… I forgot to tell you that your aunt Angeline came back after so many years, and she has a son who is currently fourteen years of age," Reina explained, the exposition quick and necessary. "He only arrived here recently and has already encountered one unfortunate event, and now this. He is not raised like you; he is not used to violence or our world. I trained him for a couple of months, but I do not know if it is enough to help him survive in a situation like this."
Caden looked at his mother's worried expression. "I can see, Mother, that you care deeply about this boy. He must be special. So, what exactly must I do?"
"You must go and find out if he is still alive and, if so, bring him back safely," Reina stressed, her voice firm. "However, if you find that he is dead, then you must retrieve his body and bring it back to the castle."
"What about Father or Grandfather? What did they say?" Caden asked.
Reina turned, walking slowly to the window, avoiding his direct gaze. "To be honest, your grandfather does not like his new grandson very much. He refuses to send men, as he thinks we will be attacked if we sent out too many men to search for John. We don't know if his assessment is true, but if it is, we don't know who the enemy is or how powerful they are. Furthermore, your father is currently on a mission, and we don't know when he will return."
Caden immediately walked to his mother's side, his earlier questions answered by the gravity of the family's predicament. He had no more logistical inquiries, only one vital detail. "What does John look like?"
Reina turned back, touching Caden's forehead with her index finger. A subtle ripple of energy passed between them, and she transferred a sharp, clear image of John's face directly into Caden's mind.
With the mission accepted and his target visualized, Caden immediately began to equip himself, swiftly donning the prepared gear and securing the weapons to his body. "I will leave immediately then."
As Caden reached the door, his mother's voice called out, laced with a plea he rarely heard. "Caden!"
Caden paused, opening the door just enough to turn his head and meet her worried eyes.
"Come back safe," Reina said.
Caden offered no words, only a firm nod of acknowledgement. He slipped through the doorway and disappeared instantly, melting into the shadows as if he had never been there at all.