The chamber echoed with the slow, wet dripping of blood. Seraphine Vale stood motionless, the dagger still embedded in flesh. The body beneath her shuddered, exhaled, and went still.
Selene Nocturna tilted her head, watching the scene unfold with wicked amusement. The grin smeared across her bloodstained lips widened, revealing blackened gums and sharp, gleaming teeth.
"How do you feel, little one?" she asked, her voice syrupy and venomous.
Seraphine didn't answer. Her hand was trembling. The warmth of Edric's lifeblood coated her fingers, trickling down to her wrist.
Her breath was ragged, erratic.
Something inside her cracked.
Selene stepped closer, the scent of decay and old herbs clinging to her robes. She placed a delicate hand under Seraphine's chin, lifting it. Their eyes met—one filled with hollow horror, the other brimming with ecstatic hunger.
"You've taken your first step, dear. Doesn't it feel liberating?"
Seraphine's lips parted. Words tried to escape, but all she could manage was a shallow breath.
Selene's grin widened even more—too wide, inhumanly so. The corners of her mouth stretched, her split lips peeling apart further. Blood dribbled down her chin, staining her throat, but she did not seem to mind.
"Oh, darling…" She laughed, soft at first, then rising into something shrill and joyous.
Seraphine jerked back, horror flashing through her pale eyes. That laugh—it was consuming, endless. The shadows in the room twitched, curling towards their mistress like eager hands.
Selene's fingers traced the air, weaving an invisible spell.
The corpse at Seraphine's feet twitched.
A strangled gasp left Seraphine's lips as Edric's eyes fluttered open. No longer the clear blue she had once known—but milk-white, clouded with rot.
His body convulsed, his mouth ripped open in an agonized, silent scream.
Selene watched, her body trembling with delight.
"Ah, yes… the second breath. It is always such a delight to witness."
Seraphine staggered back as Edric's reanimated form dragged itself up, his arms shaking, his mouth gaping in agony. His body was not whole. It was merely a vessel now—a thing bound by Selene's will.
"Why…?" Seraphine choked, stepping back, her boots smearing across the blood-soaked floor.
Selene tilted her head, mockingly innocent.
"Why?" she echoed. "Because, my dear, I did not give you a choice."
Seraphine's chest heaved. Something within her burned—anger, grief, something unnameable.
"You belong to me now. Accept it."
The reanimated corpse of Edric lunged forward, its hands outstretched.
Seraphine barely had time to scream.