Witnessing the entire event, Maya stared at the person before her in shock, momentarily forgetting her original reason for being there.

For a brief moment, she wondered who was in front of her.

This was a side of Elena she had never seen before. Watching her best friend—killing someone…

It appeared that Elena was more than accustomed to the 'kill-or-be-killed' situation. She even seemed to derive a certain pleasure from it. A gleam in her eyes suggested she was getting a twisted kick out of her victory, while life drained from the vampire's body.

Through this sequence of events, Elena had done some violent and unsettling things, but none of them compared to this last killing blow. The first vampire walked off from a stab wound to the chest like it was an unpleasant but mild setback. But this… There was a definite finality to it.

Maya instinctively activated her Soul Vision and saw that the soulless, empty vessel had somehow become 'emptier'. An empty shell crumbling apart. Maya didn't wish to know. She even avoided looking at Elena's soul since she died in fear of what she was going to see. However, now there was no going back. Maya saw the soul makeup of an undead creature.

'Is this how Elena is now—empty, without a soul?'

A small, frightening thought appeared in her mind, considering the possibility of Elena being a monster after all. This all came too naturally for Elena.

As Elena stood up and glanced at Maya, she was struck by the shock reflected in her friend's eyes. It was as if only then did she remember Maya's presence.

Any trace of the chilling satisfaction that had previously danced in her eyes dissipated instantly. In her best friend's eyes, Elena saw something that she had never expected to see—fear.

Fear of her.

Suddenly, she was back to reality, aware of what she had just done and how gruesome it looked from an outsider's perspective. Her hand quivered as she attempted to wipe the blood from her chin with her already bloodied sleeve.

Maya jumped, startled by the cough and sound of gargling blood the vampire stuck in the tree made.

"They weren't alone. Reinforcements are on the way," Anastasia's solemn omnipresent voice came from an unclear direction.

"There are more coming," Maya uttered, putting her fear aside to warn Elena.

Elena was already staring into the darkness as if something was there.

"RUN!" she ordered with urgency.

Overwhelmed by a sudden surge of adrenaline, Maya overcame her weak knees and threw herself into a sprint. The thought of going through this ordeal again was unbearable, but she had to navigate around the massive cliff wall. She was running for her life, leaving Elena behind, uncertain if she was following in her footsteps.

A barrier lay on one side, and the lurking vampires on the other. Trembling with fear of vampires intercepting her path, Maya clung to her hope, reassuring herself that she would see another day. It just couldn't end this way.

As she ran, the towering, jagged cliff wall gradually receded in height until it abruptly reached its end. With quick, logical thinking, she decided to put the cliff walls between herself and the vampires, altering her course accordingly.

Just as a semblance of safety began to settle in her mind, she was abruptly ambushed.

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Strong, unyielding hands seized her jacket, forcefully wrenching her off her course and into an unforgiving rock wall.

Her mouth gaped open. A stifled scream was trapped within her lungs as the air was knocked out of her by the harsh impact against the hard surface.

One forceful arm pressed down on her collarbone, pinning her in place, while she could feel a sharp, pointed object against her sternum through the layers of her clothing.

The figure who had seized her was a tall young man, his face looming just inches from hers. Bathed in the soft glow of the moonlight, his captivating ice-grey eyes made her forget she was breathless from running for her life.

As their eyes locked, his widened in surprise, while the rest of his features were concealed behind a thick face mask.

'He can't bite through that.'

For an unclear reason, he seemed astounded. The pressure across her collarbone ceased as he removed his arm to pull down the face mask to speak.

"You're not a vampire," a deep, pleasant voice with a British accent came from him, as he stared, baffled by her presence, as though she was the first human he'd ever seen.

Maya was thrown off by his statement, unsure whether it was a question or an observation. From what she could tell, he didn't seem to be a vampire either.

"Y-yes. No. I mean, I'm not," she stumbled over her words.

Her heart pounded as he studied her with his enigmatic eyes, puzzled. It appeared as if he wanted to say something, but his expression abruptly hardened as he swiftly recomposed himself, his attention shifting to a threat beyond his field of view.

"GET YOUR FILTHY, FUCKING HANDS OFF HER!"

The command thundered from behind. Elena had finally caught up, charging towards them with fierce determination. She skipped negotiations and went straight for the attack.

Her target was his shoulder blade, but she never reached it. He simply shifted to the side, catching her wrist as it went past him and elbowed her in the throat with the other arm, staggering her.

Twisting her hand as he turned to face her, he snatched her weapon away and aimed to deliver a deadly blow of his own. It was then that it occurred to Maya that the pointy thing was, in fact, a sword.

The moment his eyes fell on Elena, two conflicting facts became apparent. She was unmistakably a vampire—her face smeared with blood, sharp fangs visible—yet the weapon he'd just wrested from her grip was a stake, stained with that same blood.

However, the momentary cause of hesitation was nearly instantly overruled, and Maya knew that was all she was going to get to act before he plunged that blade into Elena's heart.

Without thinking, in the very next instant, Maya found herself right in between them, facing the cold, lethal blade that sought to claim Elena's life.

Maya shut her eyes, bracing herself, having realized she'd positioned herself right in its fated path. The moonlight's glint reflecting on its unfamiliar, patterned dark metal was the last thing she saw.

But then… nothing.

"Are you out of your bloody mind!?" his voice snapped as he grabbed her by the jacket, shaking apprehensively.

'He… he stopped…'

The mere thought of that in the moment of no turning back seemed even less comprehensible. However, the fact that he nearly hurt her was apparent from his reaction.

Maya felt Elena trying to pull on her as a hand with another knife from Elena's seemingly endless supply emerged next to her ear, pointing it at his face.

Out of patience, he swiftly knocked Elena's knife aside and wrenched her grip from Maya. From Maya's perspective, Elena seemed to dangle helplessly in his effortless hold as he twisted her away, distancing her from Maya. It was like a forceful dance, his movements calculated to keep Maya from entangling herself between them.

However, Maya stubbornly clung to his arm. Even Elena seemed frustrated, knowing it was only by Maya's meddling that her existence was being prolonged. She was no match for him.

"Who the fuck is this guy??" Elena groused, having managed to slip out of his grip with her hand still slick with blood.

It didn't mean much as he was dead set on ending her.

"Tell him you're a Prima," Anastasia's sudden words added to the confusion. "You can trust him."

It was unclear why she would conclude that. However, Maya, believing in her, in an instant decided it was worth a shot.

"Cease this now, else you incur the wrath of a Spirit Bender!" Maya's voice rang out, turning Anastasia's whispered advice into a potent threat, her desperation adding a raw edge to her words.

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