NOVEL WEB Chapter 14: A Night That Knows My Name
1 ◇ Cold Forest, Warmer Hands
The forest was silent.
Not peaceful silent—*eerie* silent. The kind of silence that presses against your chest like an invisible hand, just enough to remind you that something unseen is watching.
Snowflakes tumbled gently from above, glowing faintly under the pale moon. Our breaths fogged in the cold air, but Yuria didn't shiver. She just kept walking ahead—silent, calm, focused. I followed closely behind, boots crunching over frozen soil.
She was holding my hand again.
It was strange.
Not because it was warm.
But because **I could feel** her pulse.
> "Yuria…" I whispered. "Your hand… it feels different."
She stopped. Her lips parted slightly, like she was going to say something. But then, she looked away.
> "That bus… wasn't normal," she said, her voice barely audible. "It was a spiritual vessel. It temporarily… suppressed my nature."
> "You mean…"
> "I'm more human than vampire right now."
She said it like it was a curse.
But to me—it was the first time I truly felt her fingers wrap around mine like she needed me.
---
### 2 ◇ The Echoes Beneath the Roots
As we kept walking, we reached a strange clearing. Trees twisted overhead like spiraling veins. In the middle stood a stone archway—half buried in ice, overgrown with moss and vines. It looked like it had been forgotten for centuries.
And yet… I felt something.
My chest tightened.
Like the air remembered my name before I could.
> "This place…" I whispered. "It feels familiar."
Yuria stared at the arch for a long moment.
> "This was once a shrine," she said. "To the Moon Queen. A goddess worshiped by vampire bloodlines before the curse corrupted them."
> "Did you… ever come here before?"
> "No," she answered, walking slowly toward it. "But my dreams often bring me here."
The moment she stepped beneath the archway, the vines shifted.
And from the roots below… voices began to whisper.
Not loud.
Not words.
Just… the sound of *being remembered*.
---
### 3 ◇ Her First Memory of Me
She sat on the edge of the frozen altar stone, brushing snow from its surface. The moonlight painted her hair silver-white, like threads spun from starlight.
> "Ren," she said suddenly. "Do you want to know the truth?"
> "About what?"
> "About the first time I saw you."
I blinked.
> "You mean when you bit me?"
She shook her head slowly.
> "No… I mean before that."
I felt a chill. Not from the cold, but from her voice.
> "I saw you months before," she continued. "Every night… when I stood at the clock tower to keep watch, I saw this boy walking alone past midnight. Always at the same time. Always with his head down. Never noticed me."
My lips parted slightly.
> "So… you were watching me?"
> "I told myself I was just hungry. That I was studying prey. But the truth is…"
She turned toward me, eyes glowing faintly red.
> "I was lonely. And you looked lonelier than I felt."
I didn't know what to say.
That night she bit me, I thought she was just a monster.
But maybe I was wrong.
Maybe… she was the only one who saw me when I was invisible to everyone else.
---
### 4 ◇ The Howl That Cut the Sky
A sudden gust blew through the forest, nearly knocking me off balance. The trees groaned.
And then… a sound.
A low, guttural growl that echoed across the clearing.
> "Get behind me," Yuria whispered.
Before I could move, the shadows twisted.
From between the trees, a tall figure stepped forward. Long black robes. Pale gray mask carved like a wolf's snarl. Red markings bled down from the eye sockets.
> "An Inquisitor," Yuria muttered.
I'd never seen her freeze before.
But now… her fingers trembled.
> "So the rumors were true," the masked figure spoke. "The Crimson-Bitten has chosen a host. How disappointing."
His voice was distorted—inhuman. It reverberated like it came from inside my own mind.
> "Stay back," Yuria growled, stepping in front of me.
> "You've lost your strength," the figure hissed. "Your purity fades. You're half-human now. Weak."
He lunged.
But I didn't hide.
I stepped forward beside her.
> "Then you'll have to deal with both of us."
For a brief second, I saw her look at me in shock.
And maybe… admiration.
---
### 5 ◇ Bond Written in Blood
The fight wasn't fair.
Yuria moved fast—faster than anyone I'd ever seen. Her nails turned sharp. Her eyes glowed like fire. But the Inquisitor… he was inhuman. His blade wasn't metal. It was shadow. Every swing screamed through the air like a curse.
> "Don't let him touch you!" she shouted.
But I already had.
The blade scraped across my arm.
Pain bloomed instantly—like ice and fire mixed inside my veins.
> "REN!"
I stumbled back, vision blurry.
Yuria screamed—and something inside her snapped.
Her body ignited in crimson light, her aura exploding like moonlight set on fire.
With one final strike, she shattered the Inquisitor's blade—and his body collapsed into ash, swallowed by his own shadows.
---
### 6 ◇ The Scar That Didn't Fade
I woke up moments later, leaning against a tree. Snow was falling again.
Yuria was beside me, wrapping cloth around my bleeding arm.
> "You're lucky it didn't go deeper," she whispered. "If it had cut the vein…"
> "Then what?"
> "You'd be like me," she said. "Cursed. Bound to blood. Half-turned. A creature between life and undeath."
I looked at her. Her face was too close.
But I didn't pull away.
> "And would that be so bad?" I asked softly.
> "Yes," she said. "Because you still have light. Don't let it go."
She stood, brushing snow from her coat.
> "Come on. We need to move. That wasn't the last of them."
As I got up, I noticed the scar beginning to form along my arm.
A thin black line—twisting like a rune.
It pulsed, faintly.
Maybe the curse hadn't taken me fully.
But it had touched me.
And some part of me knew…
> *I was already changing.