I used to be Oliver’s cherished little canary, a delicate human he kept like a prized jewel in his sprawling vampire castle, locked away high above the world. Until the day he brought another girl home, Laura.

She was human too, but her bloodline was different. She’s dangerous. Her parents were elite vampire hunters.

I remembered the moment clearly, when he gently stroked my hair, his touch tender, but his words sharp and cruel.

“Train her. Make her the lowest of servants.”

Out of pity, I spared her the humiliation he intended. I gave Laura nothing more than simple chores like serving tea and sweeping hallways.

But that wasn’t enough. He took the golden key from around my neck, the symbol of my status as the castle’s mistress and slipped it into his pocket.

“Can’t you handle that yourself?” he asked with a chilling smile. “Lazy kitten. You need to be taught a lesson.”

On my birthday, he promised me nine surprises. I waited alone in a cold and empty room until dawn. But what I received instead were Laura’s moans of pleasure echoing through the halls.

Nine times.

The next day, emboldened by his favor, Laura dared to trespass into the vampire forbidden grounds. I thought he would finally be angry with her. But it was me who bore the consequences.

He summoned the entire vampire court for a grand banquet.

The punishment? A game of hide-and-seek.

But the prey wasn’t Laura. It was me.

——

I remembered how he held Laura so gently on his lap and then his gaze shifted, finding me across the ballroom. That gaze was like winter, unforgiving and cold.

“Serena,” he said, voice like frost, “who gave you the right to send her into the forbidden grounds?”

I stared at him in disbelief. “She went of her own will. Oliver, I didn’t-”

He cut me off with a single cruel laugh.

“I’ve warned you before. The forbidden grounds are sacred, guarded by statues of the vampire Ancestor. Any human who steps foot there uninvited becomes a blood slave. Their fate is sealed the moment they cross that threshold. drained dry by the noble sentinels.”

“You really think Laura would march to her death by herself?” His lips twisted. “Such a pathetic lie. And you dare speak it aloud?”

My vision blurred as I looked at him, this cruel and cold man. This prince I had once loved.

I remembered the day he knelt before me, his pride stripped away, sincerity in every line of his face. He had placed the golden key into my palm, his fingers trembling like it meant everything. “Serena,” he had whispered, “I’ve had all the riches in this world. But only your heart makes me feel alive.”

He was the one who had handed Laura over to me. The one who ordered me to make her a servant.

But when I showed her mercy, he only narrowed his eyes.

“Can’t do it yourself? Lazy kitten. You need to be punished.”

And so, he stripped away everything. My key, my title, my place at his side.

Now I sat behind cold iron bars in a beast cage, surrounded by nobles who once bowed to me. Their red eyes gleamed in the darkness, not with reverence but hunger.

“Serena has such a rare scent,” one of them sneered, licking his lips. “If the prince hadn’t kept her so close, I’d have tasted her long ago…both her blood and her body.”

“I’ve been drunk on her scent for ages,” another murmured. “And now the hunt begins. Every vampire for themselves.”

“When I catch her,” a third growled, “I’ll tear straight into her carotid. Closest to the heart. That’s where the blood’s sweetest.”

Their words wrapped around me like chains. My hands trembled. My heart pounded like a war drum.

Oliver didn’t even look at me.

He simply raised his wine glass, a cruel smile curling on his lips.

“Let the hunt begin,” he said. “Enjoy the game.”

As the ancient clock struck three, the iron cage creaked open.

All the vampires stood upright, their eerie red eyes fixed on the ten of us human girls trembling beneath the grand chandelier. It was as if a dozen crimson lanterns had suddenly ignited in the dark, each one burning with hunger, menace and cruelty.

The sand in the hourglass trickled down quickly, we were given only five minutes to run.

But in a castle this vast, its corridors endless, its halls echoing with shadows, how far could we humans possibly flee?

Vampires are born with supernatural senses, especially their sense of smell. No matter how well we concealed ourselves, our scent would lead them straight to us like bloodhounds to a feast.

Worse yet, Oliver had allowed low-ranking vampires to participate in the hunt.

These creatures had no sense of fullness, no restraint. Once they caught their prey, they’d drain them dry.

This wasn’t a game.

It was a massacre dressed as sport.

In the midst of chaos, the old butler couldn't help but plead with Oliver, his voice low and anxious.

“Your Majesty, will you be hunting Miss Serena as well?”

Oliver’s voice was nonchalant, as if the question bored him, “No. I have other filth to deal with. Serena is still my woman. Those bastards daring to covet her. I’ll deal with them myself, one by one.”

The butler let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Then shall we remove Miss Serena from the game? Or would you like me to assign someone to secretly protect her?”

“No need,” Oliver said lazily.

“She bears my mark. As long as she hides and stays out of sight, no one will be able to trace her scent or locate her.”

He paused for a moment and I saw a flicker of guilt flash in his eyes maybe remembering how I had trembled just before the hunt began. But it vanished just as quickly as it came.

“If I hadn’t arrived in time at the forbidden grounds,” he added coldly, “Laura would’ve become the guards’ dinner. This hunt is a small punishment, a lesson for Serena, to let her feel a taste of the fear and helplessness Laura went through. Hopefully, she’ll learn to behave from now on.”

At that very moment, I was stumbling through the castle’s long corridors.

This place, once a home I roamed freely, now felt like a haunted trap. Every door I passed loomed like a gaping abyss, ready to swallow me whole.

The heavy tolling of the clock rang out again, each chime like a death knell.

With no other option, I threw open the nearest door and curled up inside a dusty wardrobe, heart pounding in terror.

Shrill screams pierced the air, closer and closer.

Maybe it was paranoia, but I could swear I smelled blood in the air, even from my hiding place.

Then.

Creak.

The door opened.

I clenched my jaw, shut my eyes, bracing for death.

But the vampire who entered only sniffed the air suspiciously at the threshold then, disappointed, turned and left.

I didn’t know why he hadn’t detected my scent, but if I could hold on just one more minute, the hunt would be over, and I’d survive.

Just as a fragile thread of hope bloomed in my chest but suddenly the wardrobe door was flung open.

Laura’s sweet smile filled my vision and a chill ran down my spine.

“Found you, Serena,” she said softly.

My throat tightened, like an invisible hand had gripped it. I couldn’t make a sound.

Having witnessed Laura’s madness and cruelty firsthand, I feared her far more than any vampire.

Just yesterday, I had warned her, “Oliver said any human who enters the forbidden grounds will die. Don’t go.”

But she had only sneered. “Rules are chains for people like you. I’ll make everyone in this castle see who Oliver truly belongs to.”

Not long after, her terrified screams echoed from within the forbidden zone.

Oliver appeared in a flash, his rage thunderous as he dragged her out.

“Butler,” he had growled, “someone broke the rules. Prepare the castle. Tomorrow, we host a hunting feast!”

Back then, I thought Laura had sealed her doom.

I was wrong.

But the one being offered up as a blood slave for the vampires’ amusement today wasn’t her.

It was me.

While I was still frozen in shock, Laura had already sliced open her wrist with a small blade.

The scent of blood spread rapidly, stirring every vampire in the castle into a frenzy.

They surged in our direction, unable to resist the lure.

But faster than all of them was Oliver.

He rushed in and cradled Laura in his arms, his voice tender and full of concern.

“Who hurt you?”

Though the question was directed at her, his eyes cold as ice were locked on me.

Tears streamed down Laura’s face before she even spoke. “We’re both human. I just couldn’t stand seeing the other girls slaughtered. Oliver, I only wanted them to live. I never thought Sister Serena would refuse my kindness. And even-”

She paused, voice trembling with guilt.

“Please don’t blame her. I shouldn’t have come into this room. I was just meddling.”

Oliver’s face frosted over completely.

“It’s not your fault. It’s Serena, cruel and ungrateful as always.”

He didn’t even give me the chance to defend myself. Instead, he slashed open the skin on my arms and legs with his own hands.

As crimson blood trailed down my pale skin, I saw something flicker in his blood-red eyes, a flash of something feral, barely restrained.

It felt as though a dagger had carved into my heart over and over again.

“Oliver,” I choked out, “The hunt is over. Do you really want me dead that badly?”

My voice was hoarse, full of despair.

His gaze darkened. “Serena, the crime you’ve committed against Laura is unforgivable. If you die, it's no more than you deserve.”

And in that moment, the final ember of hope I had guarded so closely died.

The man I once loved no longer existed.

“Oliver, you brought me back to this castle because you loved me. If you no longer do then let me go.”

He froze. Annoyance flickered in his eyes, and frustration tightened his brows. “Your blood is… special. To vampires, it’s an irresistible lure. Without my protection, you’ll die the moment you step outside.”

“If you insist on leaving,” he said after a pause, “I won’t stop you. But only if you’re lucky enough to walk out of this castle alive.”

I staggered forward, each step tugging at my open wounds. Blood dripped behind me, marking a trail of pain.

I hadn’t even made it halfway down the corridor before I collapsed, too weak to move.

From both ends of the hallway, shadows began to emerge, twisted, hunched figures that bore no resemblance to the elegance vampires were known for.

Under the moonlight, I could see their grotesque grins, mouths stretching to their ears, filled with jagged, saw-like teeth.

Low-ranking vampires.

Ravenous.

Desperate.

They leered at me like wolves eyeing a bleeding lamb.

Panicked, desperate, I did the only thing I could. I screamed the only name that might save me.

“Oliver! Help me!”

A wave of invisible force surged through the corridor. The vampires visibly flinched and stumbled backward, whimpering, retreating into the shadows as if something greater than them had stepped into the space.

I had barely begun to breathe again when a delicate voice cut through the tension.

“Oliver, my head hurts so much. I lost so much blood. Am I going to die?”

It was Laura.

Her soft sob shattered the air.

And just like that, the invisible pressure lifted.

The low-ranking vampires snarled and lunged for me all at once, like starving beasts unleashed.

Pain stabbed through me, my neck, arms, and legs assaulted by sharp fangs. I threw my head back in agony, ears ringing with a deafening buzz.

All I could hear was the revolting sound of them gulping down my blood, greedy, wet, inhuman.

My lips and teeth trembled uncontrollably. The cold of blood loss seeped into my bones, and my consciousness began to slip.

And just when I thought the end had come.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows split the air.

The vampires feeding on me froze mid-bite, silver arrows piercing their skulls.

They didn’t even have time to scream before turning to ash, still locked in their parasitic pose.