𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 ➻ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧

𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲

THE RAIN WAS RELENTLESS IN SEATTLE RECENTLY, hammering against the city with no sign of stopping. Riley stood under the awning of a rundown coffee shop, his silhouette barely visible in the misty, fog-covered streets. His gaze lingered on the retro-styled neon lights that flickered due to age through the haze, casting a cold artificial glow across the wet sidewalk. He hadn't intended to be here tonight, but when Victoria called, there was only one response.

He hadn't known what he was getting into when she found him, just a kid with too many questions and a thirst for power. His memories of Anastasia were distant now—fuzzy glimpses of summers spent in a sleepy little town where time moved slowly as rain poured, where she would come to visit her grandmother. He had followed her then, not in any predatory way, but in the way young boys followed girls they had little understanding of. She had always been untouchable, out of his reach, but he didn't mind. Her presence had been enough to lift his spirits every day.

It wasn't until after his transformation that everything changed.

Victoria had taken him in, twisted his desires, turned his world upside down. He wasn't the same kid anymore. The moment she had sunk her teeth into him, ripping his human life apart, he became a part of something much darker. The girl he had once admired from afar was long gone, just a distant memory of a time before everything became an endless cycle of violence, hunting, and bloodlust the life that typically followed for a vampire.

He heard her footsteps before he saw her. The click of her heels she now wore, the familiar scent of her—the cold, sharp scent that always made his skin crawl with unease despite the allure she attempted to give off.

Victoria.

She was still as striking as ever, her fiery red hair wet from the rain, a predatory smile playing at the corners of her lips as she approached. The moonlight caught her features just enough for Riley to see the calculating gleam in her eyes.

"You're late," he muttered, not bothering to turn toward her. His voice was flat, betraying none of the turmoil that churned in his mind.

Victoria laughed softly, the sound rich with amusement. "Always so serious, Riley. You should lighten up. We're on the brink of something... exciting, don't you think?" Her eyes lit up with a mischievous vixenous glint

"I didn't sign up for this." His words were quiet, but there was a hardness to them, as if he was trying to convince himself more than her. He glanced sideways at her, eyes narrowing. "I'm not your pawn in this war you're trying to wage."

Victoria stepped closer, the space between them shrinking as she tilted her head, studying him with interest. "You were never a pawn my sweet Riley. Not to me," she said, her voice laced with something darker. "You were my choice, Riley. I gave you this gift. I gave you eternity. All of it, for you to take. Power. Influence. And now, you're playing the martyr. How boring."

Riley clenched his fists at his sides, biting back the urge to lash out. He wasn't sure if it was anger or the haunting memories of who he used to be that fuelled him. She had changed everything, turned him into something he could barely recognize. His thoughts flickered back to Anastasia for a brief moment—the girl he once knew, the girl who was still a part of him in some forgotten corner of his mind.

"Stop playing your games, Victoria. You know why I'm here."

Victoria's eyes gleamed as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. "Oh, I know, Riley. I know exactly what you want. You're looking for redemption. You want something more than this—more than being my tool. But here's the thing." She leaned in closer, her voice almost a whisper. "There's no redemption for you, not anymore. You're in this now, whether you like it or not."

Riley's lips curled into a sneer. "You really think I care about redemption?"

"Not redemption," she corrected, her eyes darkening. "But power. Control. You want to feel something again, don't you? The way you used to feel... alive. You're lost, Riley. Just like everyone else who's ever crossed my path."

She paused, letting her words hang in the air, and then she smiled, cruel and predatory. "You're not just hunting down your past. You're hunting down the one thing you can't outrun. Her."

"I've seen her, Anastasia Von Blyssen, she's pretty." Victoria toyed, her crimson eyes glistening with a deeper meaning. "For a human." Her face seemed to light up as she noticed the slightest twitch of Riley's features. "So fragile—so easy to break."

His heart skipped at the mention of Anastasia's name, and the rain, which had been a constant since he arrived, now felt like a weight upon him. It was the first time anyone had spoken her name so plainly in years. She was still a ghost of his past, haunting him from the Summers he had enjoyed, and here he was—standing on the precipice of a war that had somehow found itself involving her and her now vampire-contaminated soul, whether he liked it or not.

"I don't need you to remind me," Riley said, his voice low, controlled. "And I don't need your army of newborns. If I'm going to do this, if I'm going to get rid of them, I'll do it on my own terms."

Victoria took a slow step back, crossing her arms as she surveyed him with a mix of amusement and irritation. "You don't get to make demands, Riley. Not anymore. You've seen what they're capable of—the newborns. The ones we've created to tear down what's left of that Swan girl's life. The Cullens. The ones that drove Anastasia to near death, the ones you seek to take revenge on... For her. How sweet"

Riley's expression faltered for a brief moment. He couldn't help but feel something stirring in him at the mention of the Cullens, of jealousy, of hatred.

"They're not my biggest concern," he muttered, but even as he said it, he knew it wasn't true.

Victoria seemed to sense the shift in him. She smirked, tilting her head to the side. "You don't have to help me. But mark my words, Riley—if you want to be a part of something bigger, you're going to have to make a choice. You can keep running from your past, but then keep running back, or you can embrace what you are now."

Riley didn't answer. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the rain-soaked street, the distant lights of the city blinking in the gloom. Somewhere out there, Anastasia was still a part of the world he had left behind. And maybe, just maybe, there was a part of him that couldn't shake the feeling that she had a role to play in all of this.

"I don't need to choose," he said finally, his voice quiet, resolute. "I'll do this on my own."

Victoria let out a small, cynical laugh. "We'll see about that."

And with that, she was gone, swallowed by the rain and the darkness of the city, leaving Riley to wrestle with his thoughts.

Alone once more.