Bloodbound

The city slept beneath a blanket of rain.
Streetlights flickered, painting long, ghostly shadows across the alley walls as Raven walked alone, her boots splashing through puddles that shimmered like spilled ink.

It wasn't the first time she'd run from home - and it probably wouldn't be the last.
Her stepmother's words still burned in her ears. Her so-called friends' laughter still echoed from earlier that day. Tonight, she just wanted silence.

But the night had other plans.

A whisper drifted through the air - soft, almost human.
She froze, scanning the darkness between the narrow brick walls.
"Hello?" Her voice trembled. "Who's there?"

No answer. Only the sound of dripping water and her own heartbeat.

Then she saw it - a figure stepping out of the shadows, tall and still as death itself.
For a heartbeat, she thought she saw his eyes - silver, cold, and impossibly beautiful.

"Go home," the stranger murmured, voice low and dangerous.

Raven took a shaky step back. "I- I don't even know you."

He tilted his head slightly, something unreadable flickering behind his gaze. "That's exactly why you should go."

But before she could move, a second figure darted from the darkness - faster than her eyes could follow. Pain exploded in her neck. Her scream broke the night.

Then, silence.
Her world faded to black.

When Raven opened her eyes again, everything had changed.
The air smelled sharper, alive. Her skin tingled. The heartbeat she heard wasn't her own.
She wasn't breathing.
She wasn't human.

And standing above her was the same man from the alley - Dante. His eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, a haunting mix of sorrow and fire.

"Welcome back," he whispered. "You're one of us now."

Raven's lips parted, but no sound came out.
She didn't understand what he meant-
until she saw the blood on his hands.