CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The ground shook so violently that I lost my balance. Before I could grab onto anything, the earth split open beneath my feet.
I fell.
The darkness swallowed me whole.
Am I really going to die this time?
That was the only thought in my mind as the wind whipped past my ears. But after a few seconds, the feeling changed. I wasn't falling anymore—I was being pulled, dragged through a pitch-black void like a vortex trying to spit me out.
And then—
I jolted awake.
My lungs burned as if I hadn't breathed in hours. I gasped loudly, clutching my chest. Everything was dark, silent. When my eyes adjusted, I saw someone lying beside me.
My dad.
It looked like he hadn't left my side since I collapsed.
A bitter ache squeezed my chest.
Even now… I still couldn't accept that the same man sleeping beside me had killed my mother and my sister. I didn't even know how to feel about him anymore.
Then something sharp poked my leg.
I slipped my hand into my pocket.
My eyes widened.
Wolfmort fruit.
It wasn't a dream.
It was real.
Before I could process it, a sharp pain tore through my body. My skin began drying out, peeling. The veins around my neck darkened to black. My breath hitched, my body trembling uncontrollably.
The poison was reacting.
I staggered to my feet, barely able to breathe. Every step felt like carrying a thousand pounds. I pushed the door open, hoping the cold air would help—
But the second I stepped outside, something slammed into my face.
A punch.
I crashed onto the floor, choking and dizzy.
My father jolted awake inside.
"Luna!" he roared.
His body twisted, bones snapping and reshaping. In seconds, he shifted into his wolf form—his blue fur glowing like the ocean under moonlight. He lunged at the attacker, claws slashing.
For a moment, he actually had the upper hand—
Until the air turned cold.
A wave of bats materialized out of thin air, forming a shadowy figure.
A man stepped out of the swirling darkness and, with a single kick, sent my father flying. He hit a tree so hard it snapped in half.
The sound was loud enough that neighbors woke up, doors clicking open.
But before anyone could step outside, the shadowed man sliced his palm.
A red vortex expanded from his blood.
The entire world froze.
Time… stopped.
Every neighbor who attempted to leave their house suddenly stood still, eyes empty, bodies unmoving.
And me?
I couldn't move either.
My legs shook violently as I tried to fight it. Tears mixed with blood, dripping down my face.
"Dad…" I whispered, powerless.
The figure walked through the still air like he owned it. His skin was pale—almost frozen. His ears were pointed, fangs glinting under the moonlight.
A vampire.
My father lay on the ground, shifting back into human form—too injured to maintain the wolf.
But he still forced himself to stand.
He threw a punch.
The man dodged effortlessly and ripped his arm clean off.
I screamed, voice cracking.
"Dad!"
He tried again with his other arm.
That one was torn off too.
He fell to his knees, groaning in agony.
Blood soaked the soil.
The vampire wiped his hands with a white handkerchief before tossing it aside.
"Forgive the late-night intrusion, Miss Luna," he said with a polite bow. "My name is Klaus."
My jaw clenched. "What do you want, Klaus?"
He smiled. "It has come to my attention that you are in possession of an Astex token. I came to propose a deal."
" A deal?" I hissed, "This is what you call a deal?". coughing blood. " What is this power"
He chuckled softly. "This?" He lifted his hand, and the crushing pressure around us intensified, forcing me downward. "This is simply my domain."
I didn't know what a domain was—but it felt like my entire body was being crushed alive.
"Let's make this simple," Klaus continued. He walked back to my father and grabbed his head by the hair, lifting it slightly. "Give me the token, and I will spare both of your lives. Refuse, and I kill him… then you."
Panic stabbed through me.
"I—I don't have it," I cried. "But I can get—"
"Wrong answer, Luna."
"No—wait—!"
My father lifted his bloody head, barely conscious and smiled.
"I will always love—"
His sentence never finished.
Klaus twisted my father's neck, something inside me shattered so violently I felt it in my bones.
His head flew.
And in those frozen seconds, the world slowed to a sickening crawl.
I saw everything.
The dull moonlight reflecting in his lifeless eyes.
The blood sprayed into the air like a red mist.
The fear still etched on his face—fear he tried to hide from me until his last breath.
The mouth that had whispered "I will always love—" hanging open, unfinished forever.
A sound tore out of me—a sound I didn't even know I could make.
Half scream.
Half agony.
Half soul being ripped apart.
"Dad… Dad…"
The word tasted like blood and heartbreak.
I reached for him even though I couldn't move.
I reached as if touching him could rewrite death.
But he was gone.
And something dark awakened inside me.
My vision blurred with tears and rage as I stared up at him—this monster who talked like a gentleman while drowning the world in blood.
"You think this is over?" I whispered, voice shaking, but not from fear.
From something deeper. Something burning.
I lifted my head, every nerve screaming, but I forced the words out.
"Listen to me, Klaus."
My voice grew louder, raw, and shaking with pure wrath.
"I don't care who you are. I don't care what clan you come from. I don't care what power you think you have."
A tear slid down my cheek—but it wasn't weak.
It was war.
"If I don't die here tonight, I will destroy you. I will end you. I will erase your entire clan from the earth. Everyone and everything you love will burn."
His eyes widened for a heartbeat.
"I swear—with my blood… with my pain… with my father's last breath—
I will make you FEEL everything you just made me feel."
My voice cracked into a scream.
"I'll kill you!! Do you hear me? I'll be the last thing you ever see!"
And for the first time…
Klaus stepped back.
Because he felt it.
The promise.
The truth.
The monster he had just awakened.
For the first time, Klaus flinched.
Actual fear flickered in his eyes.
He didn't like that.
He lost his calm.
In a blink, he lunged at me.
I shoved my hand into my pocket with the last bit of strength I had—
My fingers closed around the wolfmort fruit.
I swallowed it.
Just as his hand pierced through my chest.
Pain exploded everywhere. But Klaus wasn't satisfied—
He stomped on me, again and again, bone after bone shattering under his foot.
Even when my body went still… he continued.
Only when his rage faded did he stop.
Breathing calmly again, he wiped his hands with a fresh handkerchief and tossed it onto my corpse.
"Let's go," he said coldly.
And with that, he vanished into thin air—taking Dylan's men with him.
Leaving my broken dead body bleeding into the cold night.
But if only he knew what awaited him…
he would have burned my body while still he had the chance.