When Mallory awoke the next morning, she noticed the bed beside her was empty. Pushing herself upright, she glanced around for Hadeon, but he was nowhere to be found. Just as she turned to the bedside to reach for a glass of water, her eyes landed on a neatly folded note resting there.
'I will be downstairs, annoying and belittling the deserving.'
"You didn't have to leave a note for that," Mallory murmured, her gaze lingering on the message.
Once she finished getting ready, she moved towards the door, but her eyes fell on the boundary of salt laid meticulously around the room. A grim reminder of the protective measure against any lurking ghouls.
Yesterday, in a moment of impulsivity, she asked to be turned into a vampire. Now, the weight of that decision felt even more daunting than before. She would be the creature who had killed her relatives. Yet, deep down, she clung to the hope that she could be different, that she could forge her own path and not become like most of them.
