Bride Of The Night

Chapter 9

### **Chapter 9: Into the Abyss**

Lana stood at the edge of the world, though she didn't know it at the time. The cool night air swirled around her, biting at her skin as if reminding her that the world she had once known was slipping away, lost beneath layers of darkness and deception. The moonlight bathed the forest clearing in an ethereal glow, casting shadows that seemed to writhe like living things.

It was all so overwhelming.

She could feel it—the pull of something ancient, something immense, deep within her. The power coursing through her veins, thrumming in time with her pulse—if she still had one. The hunger was still there, a constant ache that threatened to take over everything. But it wasn't just the hunger anymore. It was the weight of *everything*—the responsibilities, the expectations, the fear.

The fear of becoming someone she didn't recognize.

"Lana." Ian's voice broke through her thoughts, gentle yet firm. "You can't keep running from it."

She didn't turn to face him immediately. The words were true—she knew that. But she wasn't ready to face what he was saying. Not yet.

She wasn't ready to face what she was becoming.

Ian stepped into her line of sight, his gaze unreadable, but his concern was clear. The vampire who had taken her in, the one who had promised to guide her through this world, now stood before her, his arms crossed in a sign of quiet resolve.

"We've been through this," he said, his voice more serious than usual. "You can't hide from your power, Lana. It's a part of you now. You have to learn to control it."

Her breath caught in her throat. The temptation was still there—the craving for blood, for power, for control. But that temptation felt like a chain around her neck, pulling her toward a future she didn't want, but was powerless to stop. "I don't want to be like them. Like those monsters who just *take* without thought. I can't—"

"You're not a monster," Ian interjected, stepping closer. His eyes softened, and for a moment, Lana saw the same gentle soul she had first met in him. "But you can't run from what you are. Not forever. Eventually, it will catch up to you, and when it does, it will break you. You're stronger than this. But you need to make a choice."

Lana clenched her fists at her sides, struggling to keep herself composed. "I'm not strong. I'm *lost*."

Ian reached out, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. His touch was cool, but steady—reassuring. "You're not lost. You just need to understand that everything you've been taught, everything you've known, is about to change. And you need to decide if you can live with that change."

She didn't know how to answer. The choice wasn't just between feeding and abstaining. It wasn't just about *controlling* the hunger. It was about who she would become, and whether or not she could survive it.

A voice, cold and commanding, cut through the moment.

"You're still in denial."

Lana froze. She knew that voice. It had been haunting her thoughts ever since the night Morpheus had turned her. The king—the ancient being who had bound himself to her, who had created this connection between them that neither of them could escape.

Morpheus stepped into the clearing, his form appearing almost out of nowhere, like a shadow stretching into the moonlight. He was as imposing as ever, the aura around him suffocating in its power. His violet eyes locked onto hers, his gaze intense and full of an ancient knowledge that Lana couldn't begin to understand.

"I'm not in denial," she shot back, though she wasn't entirely sure if that was true.

"Yes, you are." Morpheus's voice was as smooth and dark as velvet, but there was a sharpness to it that made her blood run cold. "You've tasted the power. You've tasted the blood. And yet, you hesitate."

"I'm not going to turn into some mindless killer," Lana snapped, her fangs flashing in the dim light.

Morpheus didn't flinch. He simply smiled, but there was no humor in it. It was the kind of smile a predator gives when it knows it has already won.

"You won't. Not if you *learn* to control yourself. But you can't run from the truth any longer, Lana. You *are* a creature of darkness now. And that darkness will consume you if you let it."

Lana's heart—if she could still call it that—thudded painfully in her chest. She wanted to scream, to lash out, but the overwhelming weight of Morpheus's words held her in place.

"Then why did you do this to me?" she demanded, stepping toward him. "Why turn me into something like *this*? Something that can't control itself?"

Morpheus stepped closer as well, his presence so commanding that it made her feel small. "Because you are more than you realize, Lana. You are more than just a vampire. You are the *first*. You were chosen for a reason."

Lana's breath hitched. "Chosen? By *who*?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he seemed to study her, his violet eyes gleaming in the dim light. "It's not important, yet. But it will be. Everything about you, everything you've become, has a purpose. You will learn what that purpose is in time. But first, you must embrace it."

"I don't want to embrace this," Lana whispered, shaking her head. "I don't want to become like you."

Morpheus chuckled softly, but there was no warmth in it. "You already have, in many ways. You just haven't accepted it."

Ian's voice interrupted before things could spiral further. "Enough, Morpheus."

The king turned his gaze to Ian, but the quiet authority in Ian's voice seemed to soften the tension between them, if only slightly. "She's not ready for this. And pushing her won't help. She needs time."

"Time is a luxury none of us have," Morpheus replied, his tone sharp, though he didn't seem angry. "You've given her too much of it already. She's wasting it."

Lana turned to Ian, her eyes pleading. "What do I do? How do I control this... this *monster* inside of me?"

Ian stepped forward and took her hands gently in his. His touch was warm, and grounding. "You start by accepting it. You are not a monster, Lana. Not as long as you choose to fight it. But it has to be your choice. You can't keep hiding from what you are."

Lana swallowed hard, her mind a whirl of confusion, doubt, and fear. Her connection to Morpheus, to the power surging inside of her, was both exhilarating and terrifying. She wanted to control it, to control *herself*, but it felt impossible.

"And if I can't control it?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"If you can't," Ian said, his voice unwavering, "then we will help you. But you have to make the choice. You have to fight it. Or you'll become the monster you fear."

For a long moment, Lana stood there, the weight of his words sinking deep into her. She could feel the hunger clawing at her once more, but now, beneath it, she felt something else. Something cold. A connection. A bond. To Morpheus. To Ian. To everything she had become.

And for the first time since she had been turned, Lana wasn't sure what she wanted anymore.

But there was no going back now.

"You're not alone in this," Ian said quietly as if sensing her inner turmoil. "We're with you. Every step of the way."

Lana closed her eyes, trying to breathe through the fear, the desire, the power. But all she could feel was the crushing weight of her own uncertainty.

She had crossed the line.

There was no turning back.

---