She heard him. And she saw the strings below — dozens of gray ones going dark. Snapping. Fading. The vampire woman in the chair felt it too. Her red eyes widened. All her connections gone in a second. Anger rose from her as teeth like daggers came from her mouth.
"What did he just...?"
Sarah didn't answer. She was already moving toward the window. Fire escape. She climbed down fast, boots hitting metal rungs. Behind her, the woman stood. But she didn't follow. The red strings above her — the ones going higher — pulled taut. Like someone upstairs was tugging a leash.
She's being called away, Sarah realized.
She didn't wait to see what answered.
Sarah dropped the last few feet and landed next to him. He catches with for one second he activated his unmovable. Water soaked her boots. The ground was covered in ash and... pieces.
She looked around. "You did all this?"
Kínitos nodded. Weak. He dropped the hose. His hands were pale. "Unstoppable. On the water." He managed a half-smile. "Turns out that's pretty strong."
Sarah grabbed his arm. "Can you walk?"
"Yeah. Just... tired." He replied sweets beating down his face.
They started moving. Away from the building. Away from the neighborhood.
Behind them, the five-story building stood dark. But on the top floor — a light turned on. Red. Glowing.
And a new set of strings — thicker than before — stretched out from the roof. Following them.
Not attacking. Just... watching.
Sarah pulled Kínitos faster.
"Don't look back," she said. As they gained distance from the hotel.
The red-eyed woman stood at the broken window. Her red strings still stretched upward, but she ignored them for now. She watched two figures disappear down the dark street.
"They got away," she thought to herself
She clicked her tongue. Then she turned.
A vampire stood in the doorway. Tall. Not skinny like the puppeteer. Built. Thick calves. Arms like tree trunks. Six feet of muscle and bad intentions. His eyes were yellow, not red.
"They're leaving," the woman said.
"I know." The big vampire stepped into the room. Behind him, something growled. Low. Deep. A bear—but wrong. Its fur was matted, patches of bone showing. Eyes glowing red. Saliva dripping from teeth that didn't belong in any normal animal.
Vampire bear.
Next to it, a third figure. Human-shaped. But its skin was rotting in some places, pale in others. Zombie and vampire mixed. A hybrid. It twitched.
"We need to handle them," the woman said.
The big vampire cracked his neck. "Handle them how?"
"They killed the errand boy. Took out my ground soldiers. The boy with blue energy—he used something… That energy just ripped them apart ." She pointed at the window. "Water cut through my children like nothing."
The big vampire smiled. "Oh really? I'd like to see that."
He stepped onto the ledge. The vampire bear padded next to him, sniffing the air. The hybrid twitched and followed.
The big vampire put two fingers to his lips.
And whistled. Loud. Sharp. The sound cut through the night like a blade.
The bear didn't wait. It jumped.
Four stories down. Landed on all fours—concrete cracked under its weight. Then it started running. Fast. Too fast for something that size.
The big vampire jumped after it. Landed crouched. Stood up slowly. The hybrid dropped down behind him, landing silent.
They ran. Following the bear. Following Sarah and Kínitos.
They'd made it three blocks.
Sarah's legs burned. Kínitos was limping—his fall into the trash can had messed up his ankle. But they kept moving.
Then Sarah heard it.
Footsteps. Heavy. But not human. Not vampire either. Something big.
She looked back.
A shape in the darkness. Low to the ground. Running on all fours. Closing fast.
"Kínitos," she said. "Run."
He looked back. "What the hell is that?"
The shape got closer. Streetlight caught its face. Bear. But wrong. Red eyes. Foaming mouth. And behind it—two more shapes. One big and tall. One twitching and wrong.
Sarah grabbed Kínitos's arm. "Faster!"
They turned a corner. Alley. Chain-link fence at the end. Kínitos boosted her over. She landed hard. He climbed after her. His ankle screamed. He bit down on the pain.
The bear hit the fence.
The chain-link buckled. Bent. But didn't break. The bear snarled, clawing at the metal.
Sarah and Kínitos ran.
Behind them, the big vampire reached the fence. He grabbed the bear by the scruff—pulled it back.
"Let them run," he said. "We'll catch them."
He smiled in the dark.
"They can't run forever."