Divided

Vampire

Hiiiii:D

Third POV

Everyone freezes, their attention snapping toward him as a chill fills the room.

And then, as if on cue, the stillness is broken.

"No! No!" Caterina screams, her body jerking upright with violent force. Her eyes are wild, pupils dilated, her breath coming in frantic gasps as she pushes herself away from Xander, her limbs trembling with panic.

She scans the room, her frantic gaze darting over everyone in a desperate search for someone. "Where is she!? Where is my mom!?" Her voice cracks as tears begin to well in her eyes, her breath coming in jagged sobs.

Her gaze lands on Celeste, and the room grows eerily silent. The air feels charged, as if time itself has paused in the wake of her sudden outburst.

"You!" Caterina screams, her finger pointing accusatorily at Celeste. The words are sharp, cutting through the tension like a knife.

Celeste's expression remains calm, almost eerily so, but there's a flicker of something in her eyes—something not quite anger, but perhaps resignation. She doesn't flinch. She doesn't react. She simply stands there, unshaken.

The rest of the room watches, stunned, as the atmosphere shifts from one of confusion to sheer disbelief. They all know that something isn't right. That the anger, the pain in Caterina's eyes, is more than just grief. It's confusion. She's lost. She's broken. And, in her panic, she's made a grand mistake.

"How could you!" Caterina cries, her voice high-pitched, filled with a raw, wounded fury. Her chest heaves as the realization sets in—Celeste is standing in front of her, and in the chaos of her mind, her grief blinds her to the truth. She's forgotten the delicate details, the differences between Celeste and Cadenza.

The others, still reeling from the shock of Caterina's outburst, exchange uncertain glances, unsure of what to say or do. The tension is clear, as if the room is holding its breath, waiting for something to shift. For an explanation, for a response.

But Celeste's face doesn't change. Her calmness only adds to the confusion, as if the storm of emotions swirling around them doesn't touch her at all.

"That's not Cadenza, Cat," Ajia says softly, her voice barely a whisper as she steps toward Caterina, reaching for her shoulder in an attempt to offer comfort.

But Caterina jerks away, eyes flashing with a wild panic. "Don't touch me!" she snaps, her voice laced with such venom that Ajia stumbles back, startled.

Caterina's hands fly to her head, clutching her hair as though trying to hold herself together. "I'm not me... I don't know what happened to me!" Her voice breaks, the sobs racking her body as the realization—if she can call it that—begins to sink in.

"I d-died," she says through a strangled gasp, her words coming out jagged, as though she's trying to convince herself that this isn't real. Her hands grip her hair tighter, her fingers digging into her scalp as though to keep her from spiraling into madness.

"How am I back?" Her voice trembles, barely more than a whisper, but the agony behind it is suffocating. She doesn't even seem to notice the slow, painful shift within her—how her once human features now betray a darkness, the subtle red hue seeping into her eyes.

Tzan approaches Ajia, his face twisted with guilt. He's unsure of what to say, how to make this better. How could he? How could any of them?

"What did I do to deserve this!?" Caterina's voice cracks, her gaze turning once again to Celeste, but this time there's no accusation in her eyes. Only anguish. She crumbles, emotionally undone, her cries so raw they seem to echo through the room. And yet, Celeste stands—still, unbroken, an eerie calm in the center of the storm.