Night had fallen heavily over the mansion as Rasen, restless and exhausted, closed an ancient book on legends of nocturnal creatures. Once, those stories had fascinated him—beings condemned to live in shadows, feeding on the living. Now, they felt like cruel mirrors of his own existence.
With a sigh heavy with irony, he placed the book back into the cabinet. His chest, etched with burning symbols that pulsed beneath his skin, ached with an unfamiliar pain—a sign of the transformation drawing near. He stepped into the garden seeking air, haunted by words that Cristal had spoken.
"With you by my side, nothing feels wrong," he whispered softly, as if repeating them could bring comfort.
But reality stalked him like a relentless predator. His body yearned for something he could no longer suppress—a dark, violent, primal hunger.
Cristal was there that night. Her presence had always been a fragile truce in his broken soul, a reminder of what it meant to be human. When she found him in the garden, her eyes searched his with the kind of tenderness only she could offer.
"You don't have to carry this alone, Rasen. Let me help you."
Her voice was gentle, yet filled with quiet resolve. Cristal approached, brushing his face with her fingertips, trying to soothe the storm behind his gaze. Rasen, torn between his need to protect her and the urge devouring him, pulled her into his arms.
"Cristal…" he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. "How can you trust me so much?"
She didn't answer with words. Her lips met his in a kiss that began tenderly, but quickly turned into a whirlwind of passion and desperation.
Rasen held her tightly, as if he could etch her into his being. The warmth of their bodies clashed with the night's cold, and when Cristal whispered his name, his humanity crumbled under the weight of a desire that was no longer entirely human.
"I can't…" Rasen gasped, pulling away suddenly, fighting against the darkness rising within him.
But Cristal stopped him, placing her hand over his chest—right where the burning symbols glowed intensely.
"I'm here, Rasen. You don't have to fight this alone."
Rasen could hold back no longer. In a visceral impulse, he sank his fangs into her neck. Her blood—warm, vibrant—flooded his senses with life, and at the same time, pulled him deeper into the abyss.
Cristal gasped, clinging to him, a mix of pain and surrender. The bite was fierce, overwhelming, but she didn't retreat.
"Rasen… slow down…" she whispered, her hands moving down his back in an effort to anchor him to reality.
Finally, Rasen pulled away, his lips stained crimson, his eyes filled with remorse.
"I'm sorry…" he said, voice breaking, cradling her like she might vanish if he let go.
Cristal, weak but steady, reached up to caress his cheek with a faint smile.
"I love you, Rasen. No matter what happens, I'll always stay with you."
But then he said words that shattered the moment:
"Promise me you'll never bear my child."
Cristal looked at him, confused and wounded.
"Why would you ask me that?" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes.
Rasen looked away, unable to face the pain he'd just inflicted.
"Because I won't condemn you—or anyone—to the darkness inside me."
Cristal, with a love that defied reason, took his hands in hers.
"If that's what you need to be at peace, I'll promise. But know this, Rasen—I'm not afraid. I love you, and together we'll find a way through this."
Her words pierced the armor around his heart. His response was a breath drowned in his own despair.
"I love you, Cristal… more than I can ever say. That's why I ask this of you."
He realized then—he couldn't keep her close without risking her destruction. Each time he surrendered to his impulses, a piece of his humanity slipped away. His fangs, his hunger, the raw emotions consuming him… each one was a chain binding them to a cruel fate.
With unsteady steps, he crossed the room, distancing himself from Cristal and what remained of his humanity. At the door, he turned one last time. Her eyes pleaded for him to stay—but he knew that to stay would be their undoing.
Each step away from her fractured his soul further, but only in the distance could he protect the one thing that still gave him a reason to fight: her light.
"I can't let my darkness consume her."
The room fell into dense silence, broken only by Cristal's ragged breathing. Clutching the blanket still warm with his presence, she whispered into the emptiness:
"Rasen… even if you run, I'll always find you."
That night, Rasen made a choice. He climbed to the mansion's unused tower and sealed every door and window. He chained his wrists and ankles, locking himself in self-inflicted torment.
"This is for her," he whispered as the shackles bound him.
Hours passed in agonizing silence. His body, carved with dark symbols, twisted under a force that threatened to rip away what was left of his humanity. Rasen's screams echoed against stone walls—a desperate sound of a soul at war with itself.
Cristal, ignoring Lionel's warnings, reached the tower. The stench of despair hit her like a slap, but she didn't flinch. There, in the center of the room, was Rasen—chained, writhing, overtaken by a struggle she couldn't fully comprehend. The marks on his body burned under the dim light, and his eyes, dark and blood-red, revealed how far his transformation had gone.
"Rasen… I'm here," she said, her voice trembling but firm.
At the sight of her, Rasen's face twisted in a mix of relief and terror. His red-stained gaze flickered with recognition—but also with fear.
"Get out… I can't… I can't control it," he growled, straining against the chains that held him.
Cristal stepped forward, undeterred. She placed her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to meet her eyes.
"I won't leave you. If you fight—then we fight together."
Her words pierced the darkness surrounding him.
And for a fleeting second—Rasen felt like he could breathe again.