The black van cruised silently through the dense thickets, its matte surface blending with the shadows of the overgrown forest. Elliot sat in the passenger seat, still trembling. His thoughts were a blur—his parents, the blood, the monsters… and the man driving beside him, silent, unreadable, but somehow familiar.
They finally arrived at a wide clearing where a massive dome-shaped structure towered above the trees. It looked like it didn't belong—steel and tech embedded in the middle of nature's chaos.
Vos stepped out first, his heavy boots crunching on dry leaves. Elliot hesitated, but followed, still dazed.
Vos placed his palm on a panel at the dome's entrance. A blue beam scanned his hand and a smooth, metallic voice echoed:
> "Welcome back, Master Vos."
The thick steel door split open with a hiss. As they walked inside, soft lights lit up the interior of the dome—revealing a sleek laboratory carved with symbols, old tech, and a vast wall covered in screens and schematics.
Vos finally broke the silence.
> "Kid... do you really understand what happened back there?"
Elliot swallowed hard. "You saved my life…"
Vos stopped, turned, and looked him dead in the eyes.
> "Yes. I saved your life. But what you saw… that's the reality of the world now. Vampires don't hide in shadows anymore. They dominate. And humanity is on the edge."
Elliot looked down, fists clenched.
Vos walked over to a sealed chamber and unlocked it. Inside was a pulsating red core, connected to wires and glowing with energy. The room dimmed slightly as the core's light pulsed.
> "This… is Bloodform," Vos said. "An experiment I created after the military failed to stop the vampire plague. They called it madness. They called it suicide. They banned it… and exiled me."
Elliot stared, confused. "What does it do?"
> "It rewrites the human body with electron soul energy," Vos said. "Fusing strength with emotion… pain with purpose. It doesn't make you a vampire. It doesn't make you human either. It makes you… a weapon."
Elliot backed away slightly, fear creeping into his eyes.
> "I don't want to be a monster."
Vos kneeled down to his level.
> "You're not a monster, Elliot. You're a survivor. Like I once was. And I saw something in you that day… something I saw in myself a long time ago."
He stood and reached out toward the Bloodform core.
> "You can walk away from this. I won't stop you. But if you want revenge… if you want to protect others from suffering the same fate—you have to accept what the world has become. And become what the world needs."
Elliot looked up, eyes filled with tears, grief, and something else—resolve.
He stepped forward.
And chose his path