Mia’s decision

Chapter 4: The Surrender (Mia’s POV)

The trees loomed like skeletal hands clawing at the sky, their branches snagging my sweater as I stumbled through the dark. My glasses fogged with every panicked breath, my chest tight and aching from running. Chloe’s scream—sharp, then melting into that awful, needy moan—still echoed in my head, driving me forward even as my legs burned. I’d lost her. I’d lost Riley. The mansion was a trap, and Viktor… he wasn’t human. I knew that now, deep in my bones, but knowing didn’t help. The air twisted around me, the path looping back no matter how far I ran, until the porch lights flickered into view again, mocking me.

I stopped, hands on my knees, gasping. My sweater hung off one shoulder, torn from the railing, and my hair stuck to my sweaty neck. The night was too quiet—no crickets, no wind—just the faint, rhythmic thud of something inside the house. My stomach churned. I didn’t want to go back, but where else could I go? The woods wouldn’t let me escape; the house wouldn’t let me leave. I was a mouse in a maze, and the cat was waiting.

The front door hung open, a gaping maw spilling candlelight onto the porch. That sound—low, wet, punctuated by soft gasps—drew me closer, my sneakers silent on the warped boards. I shouldn’t have looked. I should’ve turned and run again, even if it was pointless. But I peeked through the crack, and my breath caught, a cold fist squeezing my heart.

Chloe was there, sprawled across the velvet chaise where Riley had been. Her crop top was gone, tossed aside, her bare skin glowing in the flickering light. Riley knelt over her, her leather jacket discarded, her shirt unbuttoned to reveal the curve of her breasts. She was biting Chloe’s shoulder, fangs buried deep, her lips smeared with blood as she sucked slow and deliberate. Chloe arched beneath her, a keening moan spilling from her throat, her blonde ponytail tangled and wild. Her leggings were shoved down to her knees, and Viktor loomed behind her, his pale hands roaming her body—petting, stroking, possessive. One hand cupped her breast, thumb circling her nipple until it peaked, while the other slid between her thighs, fingers moving in a rhythm that made her hips buck.

“Oh—yes, please,” Chloe whimpered, her voice thick and sultry, nothing like the bubbly girl I knew. Riley pulled back, licking blood from her lips, and grinned—a feral, hungry thing—before kissing Chloe hard, their tongues tangling in a messy, **** clash. Viktor’s growl rumbled through the room, his amber eyes glinting as he pressed himself against Chloe’s back, his arousal obvious through his tight pants as he ground against her.

I should’ve screamed. I should’ve felt sick. But my body betrayed me—my skin flushed, a shiver racing down my spine, settling low and warm. My glasses slipped further, and I pushed them up with trembling fingers, unable to tear my eyes away. They were… beautiful, in a twisted, terrifying way. Alive with something I didn’t understand, something that tugged at me despite the fear clawing my chest.

Then Viktor’s head snapped up, his gaze locking onto mine through the door. Riley followed, her dark eyes gleaming, and Chloe—sweet, silly Chloe—turned her head, her lips parted in a lazy, blood-streaked smile. “Mia,” she purred, her voice a velvet hook sinking into me. “Come play.”

My heart stuttered. I took a step back, my sneakers catching on the porch, but Viktor was already moving—slow, deliberate, a predator who knew his prey had nowhere to run. Riley stood too, her hips swaying as she wiped Chloe’s blood from her chin, and Chloe giggled, stretching languidly like a cat in heat. They were coming for me. I knew it. And deep down, I knew I couldn’t stop it.

I sank to my knees, the fight draining out of me like water through a sieve. My sweater pooled around me, too big, too heavy, and I clutched it anyway, a flimsy shield against what was coming. I’d read enough books—vampires, monsters, dark fates—to know how this ended. Resistance was a fairy tale. The house wouldn’t let me go, and neither would they. My breath hitched, a sob catching in my throat, but it wasn’t just fear anymore. There was something else—resignation, yes, but also a flicker of curiosity, a shameful heat I couldn’t name.

Viktor reached me first, towering over me, his cape brushing my legs as he crouched. His fingers tilted my chin up, cool against my fevered skin, and his eyes burned into mine—molten, inescapable. “No more running, little one,” he murmured, his voice a caress that sank into my marrow. “You’re ours now.”

Riley knelt beside him, her hand sliding up my arm, peeling the sweater back to expose my shoulder. “You’ll like it, Mia,” she whispered, her breath hot against my ear. “I promise.” Chloe crawled over, her movements liquid and predatory, and pressed herself against my other side, her fingers tracing my collarbone with a giggle.

I closed my eyes, a tear slipping down my cheek, but I didn’t pull away. I couldn’t. The air thrummed with their heat, their hunger, and as Viktor’s lips brushed my neck—teasing, promising—I let go. My fate was sealed, and in that moment, I accepted it—not with hope, but with a quiet, trembling surrender to the dark.