Reincarnated Soul

Six : Betrayal

CONTINUATION…

The fire crackles, its orange glow dancing in the darkness of the forest. Owls hoot, their eerie calls slicing through the silence, while the wind whispers through the leaves, adding to the haunting atmosphere.

I stand hidden, cloaked in shadow, my dark coat pulled low over my face to shield my identity. I can feel the weight of the moment pressing down on me. Cassandra doesn’t know I’m here—at least, not yet. Even though she’s blindfolded, I can’t shake the fear that at any moment, she’ll recognize me. The uncertainty gnaws at me.

“I don’t care about your throne or your power! He’s my everything, I do not need anything else. Tell me where he is!”

Her words pierce the air, and with them, a fury swells in my chest. I clench my fist, my nails digging into my palm. What is it about that mortal? Why does she love him so much? Why is she willing to risk everything for someone so weak, so insignificant? Her life is hanging in the balance, and yet all she can think of is Dylan.

“Very well… He’s at the edge of a cliff. It’s for you to figure out which one, but I assume you’re too weak to find him. In that case, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. A mortal woman, wounded, waits in the forest. Feed on her, regain your strength, and only then may you save him.”

The words hang in the air, thick with deception. I know it’s all a lie.

There is no woman waiting in the forest. There is no mortal in danger. And there certainly isn’t a man hanging on the edge of a cliff. It’s all a ruse, a game to break her.

But the truth stabs at me. My heart aches as I watch her, my mind screaming for her to see through the deception. I am here, standing in the shadows, silently betraying her. The pain in my chest tightens, a knot I can’t undo. I’m just a spectator, helpless as she falls deeper into the trap, about to shatter her heart without even knowing I’m the one who helped set the stage.

“What are you talking about?” she asks, confusion and desperation lacing her voice.

“Oh, my dear child, you’ll understand soon enough,” the queen mocked, her voice dripping with malice. The words cut through the night air, sharp and cruel. "Consider this a test," she continued, her gaze daring Cassandra to defy her. “Prove your love—or reveal your weakness.”

The silence that followed was suffocating, heavy with the weight of her words. I could feel it in Cassandra’s point of view—the hesitation, the inner struggle. She was no longer the same vampire I had once known. Since meeting Dylan, she had become... softer. More compassionate. Especially towards humans. And I hated it. She wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Compassion? Weakness.

Dylan was clouding her judgment, pulling her further from her true nature. Keeping her from the power she could wield, the strength she was born with.

That bastard, Dylan.

The queen’s eyes darkened, impatient with Cassandra’s silence. She wasn’t about to wait for her to decide.

“Make no mistake, Cassandra,” she whispered, her voice dripping with mockery. “If you fail, it is you who will doom him. The choice is yours—but the consequences, they’re mine to orchestrate.”. Then after that, she transformed into a bat, her wings slicing through the air like a predator.

The two guards followed suit, morphing into their bat forms and leaving Cassandra behind, alone. But I stayed. I couldn’t leave now. I had a job to do. I had to make sure Dylan didn’t escape. I had to make sure the plan succeeded.

I flew for what felt like an eternity, scanning the area where the Queen might have left him, my eyes sharp as a hawk’s.

And then I saw him. Dylan.

Weak, and wounded, while wearing a seemingly woman’s dress, and with a bag tied around his head. His hands were bound, and I knew his mouth was covered too. He wouldn’t be able to scream for help. He wouldn’t be able to do anything.

I approached slowly, each step deliberate, my presence cloaked in the shadows of the night. My anger simmered beneath the surface, a mix of envy and fury twisting inside me like a coiled serpent. He didn’t deserve her—not her love, not her devotion. And yet, he had everything I wanted but could never have.

The moment he heard my footsteps, he froze, his body tensing as if sensing the danger that loomed closer. His breaths came shallow and uneven, the sound of fear evident even in the silence. The sight of him, so vulnerable, so powerless, only stoked the fire of my resentment.

“I’m sorry, Dylan. We need to do this, for her own good,” I whispered, my voice cold, as I closed the distance between us.

And then, I punched him. Hard. The impact of my fist hitting his stomach was like a release of everything I had been holding inside.

It felt good, in a twisted way, to finally take out my rage on him. I could see the pain in his posture, how the blow crippled him, and I relished it.

“Don’t worry,” I sneered, stepping closer. “I’ll take care of her when you’re gone.”

I drove my foot into his head with brutal force, sending him crashing to the ground. His knees struck the dirt with a sickening, bone-jarring thud. The impact tore into his legs, leaving them lacerated and bloodied from the unforgiving surface.

How I truly wished Cassandra had never met you, Dylan.

I was ready to deliver another blow, the anger boiling in my veins, when suddenly, I heard it. A rustle in the distance.

Footsteps. Cassandra. She was near.

In an instant, I transformed into a bat, my wings slicing through the air with lethal precision. I flew up into the cover of the tree, concealing myself in the shadows, blending into the branches. I watched, hidden by the thick canopy of leaves, my heart pounding in my chest.

Minutes passed, yet they felt like an eternity. Every second stretched out, each one pulling me deeper into the dark suspense that held me captive. My nerves were on fire, every inch of me taut with tension. And then, finally, I saw her—Cassandra.

She was stumbling, disoriented, as if the world itself was spinning around her. Her steps were slow, unsteady, each one taking her closer to him. Dylan’s broken body lay there, and for a moment, she hesitated. I could see it in her eyes—the conflict. She was torn. Should she do it? Should she cross that line?

But in the end, it didn’t matter. She believed she was choosing Dylan over the life of the woman standing before her, unaware that they were one and the same.

She grabbed him, pulling him to her with a desperate urgency, as though nothing else mattered. She didn’t even try to remove the bag from his head, and she didn’t need to, and she should not.

Her voice came in soft whispers, words I couldn’t much understand, as she pressed him to her. Then, without a second thought, her fangs sank into his flesh. The sound of them piercing his skin—a sickening, visceral c***k—ripped through the stillness of the night.

My heart twisted painfully in my chest, a mix of guilt and satisfaction warring within me. The weight of what I’d done pressed down, heavy and unrelenting. I had betrayed Cassandra, led her into this cruel trap, and yet… I couldn’t deny the dark triumph curling in the corners of my mind.

In that moment, she fed. The bloodlust that had burned inside her was finally satisfied, and I knew—she had craved this, especially with her in this state. The plan had succeeded.

Dylan struggled, his hands weakly gripping her, but it was futile. I saw the fight drain from him, his movements growing slower, weaker. His strength was ebbing away, and as I watched, I felt the finality of it settle deep inside me.

Then, silence.

The life left him—his body went limp, a ragdoll in her arms. I felt it, that moment when his blood stopped flowing, when the last vestiges of life left his broken form.

Dylan was gone.

No mortal could survive the venom of the heir. No one could withstand the lethal power of her bite—her fangs sank like molten metal, burning away everything in its path. It was over.

In finality, the mortal who had stolen her heart was no more. As much as it pained me to see Cassandra suffer, a part of me reveled in the fact that he would never come between us again.

Cassandra... she hadn’t even realized it was him yet. She had no idea that the one she loved—the one she sacrificed everything for—was gone, erased in an instant by her own hands.

I took one last look at her, standing over his lifeless body. Her bloodlust was now sated, she didn’t notice me. She didn’t sense my presence. And with a cold, hollow finality, I slipped from the branch and disappeared into the night, leaving her.

And then after a few moments, I heard it.

A loud, anguished cry.

Cassandra.

It seemed she had finally realized the truth—the one she had bitten and killed was him.

The sound of her pain rang through the forest, raw and soul-shattering. As if the very earth mourned with her, the heavens opened. Rain began to pour, heavy and cold, drenching everything in its wake.

It was as though the world itself wept for what had just been lost—for what I had just taken from her.