The arrogant laughter beside Sophie's ear came to an abrupt halt, replaced by a muffled grunt of pain. At the same time, the force restraining her arms and legs disappeared.
Seizing the precious moment of regained freedom, Sophie scrambled forward on all fours, throwing herself away from the source of danger. She tumbled five or six meters before curling up in the corner with her arms wrapped around herself. Only then did she curiously turn her head to see what had happened.
At the far end of the corridor stood two identical faces wearing completely different expressions.
Alec and Jane had returned together.
Both of them carried something in their hands as they walked toward the man lying on the ground.
"Demetri! I was just about to warn you. How are you feeling?" Alec reached down and grabbed Demetri's arm, intending to pull him up. Jane's gift of pain had only been used briefly, and after seeing Sophie escape, she no longer bothered making things difficult for him. "Why aren't you moving? Sister, you were a little too harsh just now."
Jane denied it. "It only hurt a little. Consider it a lesson for talking behind people's backs." To support her claim, she added, "He didn't even scream."
"My heart is what's hurting." Demetri stared blankly into space, his voice taking on an exaggerated, tearful tone. "Jane, you actually stood up for this little brat! Who was it we chased all over the place just two days ago? Don't tell me that after I was gone for only two days, you two really found yourselves another sister?"
Alec saw straight through the act. Increasing the strength in his grip, he hauled Demetri to his feet. "You deserved that, mate. If my sister and I really had a third sibling, I'd recommend you be the extra brother instead. Stop being jealous. We'll go hunting in Florence tonight."
Curled up in the corner, Sophie watched them tease each other with effortless familiarity. Although only five or six meters physically separated them, the relationship between Sophie and the three of them felt more like two patches of shadow divided by sunlight, existing in entirely different worlds.
She had always belonged to a world that was hers alone.
It had never been the same as theirs.
Jane was the first to end the playful insults. She took one of the items from Alec's hands and slowly walked toward Sophie.
Leaving the patch of shadow where she had been standing, she crossed through the sunlight.
Wherever the light touched her, she seemed dazzling.
Meeting Sophie's dim gaze, Jane stepped beneath the wall where Sophie had hidden herself from reality.
She stepped into the only shadow that belonged solely to Sophie.
Jane couldn't understand the complicated emotions reflected in Sophie's eyes. Thinking as nothing more than a sixteen-year-old girl, she simply praised her.
"You were obedient. These are your rewards."
Without waiting for a response, Jane casually tore open the package in her hands.
A rich, sweet scent instantly escaped.
In that moment, Sophie's entire body and soul were overwhelmed by it.
Shadows.
Light.
Aro.
Fabio.
None of it mattered anymore.
There was only one desire left inside her soul.
Blood.
Sophie's red eyes seemed ready to drip blood themselves as scarlet engulfed her entire world. Without even realizing it, she lunged at Jane with astonishing speed, roaring as she snatched away the blood bag in Jane's hand. Her sharp fangs grazed Jane's palm, leaving behind a shallow cut.
Jane's eyes darkened for a moment.
In the end, however, she let it go.
Sophie tore open the blood bag with her teeth.
The dark-red blood flooded into her mouth.
The agony in her throat, which had felt as though she were swallowing burning iron, instantly transformed into the refreshing sensation of drinking icy seawater after unbearable thirst.
For the first time since her transformation...
Sophie felt genuine happiness.
The moment the blood entered her body, every trace of pain and restlessness vanished.
That only deepened her obsession with its taste.
She drained the entire blood bag before her lost reason slowly returned.
Strictly speaking, this was only the second time she had "eaten" since becoming a vampire.
Once emptied, the blood bag collapsed flat, no longer containing the liquid that had made it irresistible.
Watching the little fledgling obediently finish her meal, Jane nodded in satisfaction before asking with genuine interest, "Want another one? Newborns have enormous appetites."
Alec promptly handed over another chilled blood bag. The vampires' body temperatures were so low that the bag still retained the icy coldness of the storage room.
Sophie drank three bags of blood in succession.
The burning pain had disappeared completely.
Yet the craving remained endless.
"That's enough." Jane stopped her.
"If you want to continue drinking blood, then according to our agreement, you'll have to prove your worth."
Sophie licked the remaining red liquid from her lips.
Now that her mind had regained its clarity, she found herself unable to understand any of this.
Suppressing the bloodlust surging inside her, she asked quietly,
"Why do I have to drink blood? What am I now? Am... am I still alive?"
"Hmph. What a stupid question." Jane lacked the patience for lengthy explanations. "After draining a living person dry and drinking three bags of blood, what exactly do you think you are?"
Sophie desperately searched through what little memory she still possessed before answering uncertainly,
"Batman?"
American comic books had yet to spread into the ancient Italian castle. Having never encountered modern popular culture, Jane was left speechless.
"I refuse to let us be compared to such lowly creatures as bats!"
Sophie dearly wanted to explain that Batman, Gotham City's richest man Bruce Wayne, was actually human.
"Our world grants you a far nobler identity." Jane lowered herself to explain. "You are one of the Blood Clan."
Demetri added from the side, "Among humans, we're usually called vampires or Dukes of the Night."
"The Volturi are the royal family of the vampire world."
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