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CHAPTER 34

Author: Pure Ink
last update Last Updated: 2025-12-18 18:56:14

WILLOW'S POV

I couldn't sleep. Again.

Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in that room. The one with the mahogany table and the crystal chandelier and the family that wanted us dead.

Walter was asleep in the bed across from mine, his breathing steady and even. But I could feel his dreams. The nightmares that plagued him every night since we died. The weight of guilt that never left him.

Twin intuition, people called it when we were alive. But it was more than that. We could feel each other's emotions like they were our own. His pain was my pain. His fear was my fear. And his guilt, God, his guilt was crushing.

I got up quietly and walked to the window. Dracula's Castle grounds stretched into the artificial night, peaceful in a way that felt wrong given everything we'd been through.

Twenty rounds. We'd survived twenty rounds of this nightmare before joining Axel's team. Twenty worlds of death and horror and betrayal. And through it all, Walter and I had one rule: survive together
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  • The Art Of Dying    CHAPTER 47

    MIA'S POVWe ran through the Abattoir's maze of catwalks, the woman, Sarah, had finally told us her name was Sarah, stumbling between Marcus and Brady. Behind us, the Hunter Units gave chase, their mechanical legs clanging against metal with rhythmic precision."There!" Walter pointed ahead. A service door marked with maintenance symbols. "That might lead to the lower levels!""Or it might lead to more processing stations," Willow countered."Only one way to find out!"We crashed through the door. It opened into a narrow stairwell that spiraled downward into darkness. The emergency lights here were dimmer, flickering, creating shadows that moved like living things."Down," Axel ordered. "Fast."We descended. The stairs seemed endless. My legs burned and my lungs ached. And worst of all, I could feel my power trying to surface. Trying to help but every time I reached for it, it slipped away like water through my fingers.The memory loss had broken something fundamental. Dracula had wa

  • The Art Of Dying    CHAPTER 46

    AXEL'S POVThe howling grew louder. Whatever the Hunter Units were, they were closing in fast."Move!" I urged, leading the team deeper into the corridor. The walls were metal, riveted and industrial, covered in grime and something that looked disturbingly like dried blood. Red emergency lights pulsed overhead, making everything feel like we were inside a dying heart.The corridor opened into a larger space, a catwalk overlooking the main processing floor. And what we saw there made even Walter stop dead.The Abattoir wasn't just a name. It was a description.Below us stretched a massive factory floor, easily the size of several city blocks. Conveyor belts crisscrossed the space like veins, all leading toward massive machines that dominated the landscape. These weren't the mechanical arms that had chased us. These were something worse. Processing stations. Each one the size of a building, with massive grinding gears, compression chambers, and what looked like extraction equipment.And

  • The Art Of Dying    CHAPTER 45

    MIA'S POVThe eastern gate of Dracula's castle was ancient. Massive iron doors carved with symbols that predated language, set into stone walls that had withstood centuries of whatever passed for weather in this eternal night. We stood before them in full combat gear, weapons strapped to every available surface, supplies distributed among us with military precision.I felt wrong. Too heavy with the weight of blades and vials and protective gear. But also too light, like I was about to float away into nothing. The contradiction was making my head spin.Or maybe that was just fear."Everyone ready?" Axel asked, his voice steady despite everything.We nodded. None of us were ready. How could we be? But we were as prepared as we'd ever be.The castle staff had gathered to see us off. Vampire servants who'd helped during training. Shadow masters who'd taught Erina. Even some of the lesser vampires who'd initially wanted to eat us had shown up, looking almost respectful.Mickey stepped for

  • The Art Of Dying    CHAPTER 44

    AXEL'S POVMorning came too quickly. One moment I was holding Mia, listening to her breathe, and the next someone was shaking my shoulder."Wake up," Dracula said. "You have preparations to make."I blinked awake. Around me, the others were stirring. Brady groaned and immediately regretted every life choice that had led to drinking vampire wine. Marcus looked like death warmed over which, given that we were all dead, was saying something."What time is it?" Willow asked, rubbing her eyes."Five hours until your window closes. The administrators are already mobilizing. I can feel them testing my defenses. Probing for weaknesses." Dracula surveyed our hungover group with something that might have been amusement. "Get up. Eat. Arm yourselves. You leave in four hours."We dragged ourselves to the dining hall. Someone, probably Dracula's servants had prepared a massive breakfast. Real food, not the usual castle fare. Eggs. Bread. Fruit. Things that tasted like memories of being alive."Ea

  • The Art Of Dying    CHAPTER 43

    MIA'S POVAfter studying the maps until my eyes burned and my brain felt like it might leak out of my ears, Brady made an announcement that surprised exactly no one who'd gotten to know him."We're going to die tomorrow," he said cheerfully. "Probably horribly. So tonight? Tonight we celebrate.""Celebrate what?" Walter asked dryly. "Our impending doom?""Exactly! When else are we going to get the chance?" Brady was already moving through the war room, gathering everyone. "Come on. One last night before we throw ourselves into three consecutive suicide missions. Who's with me?"I expected Walter to shut him down. Expected Dracula to forbid it. Expected someone to be the responsible adult.Instead, Willow smiled. "Why the hell not? We've earned it.""The alcohol is in the east wine cellar," Dracula said, not even looking up from the maps. "Third shelf from the bottom. The vampire wine. Don't drink more than two glasses unless you want to hallucinate your own death.""Noted!" Brady was

  • The Art Of Dying    CHAPTER 42

    AXEL'S POVDracula's war room was something pulled straight from a nightmare tactician's fever dream. The chamber was circular, vast, with walls covered in maps and charts and diagrams that seemed to shift and change when you weren't looking directly at them, like they had minds of their own. The ceiling disappeared into darkness so complete it felt like the void itself was watching us from above. And in the center of it all stood a massive three-dimensional projection—a holographic map of the entire Soul Recycle Program system, each world rendered in perfect detail, floating in space like miniature planets in a twisted solar system.Every world we'd survived was there, glowing softly. Dracula's Castle with its gothic spires. The Siren's Valley with its moving water. The Sandman's Sandbox, cracked and glitching where Mia had damaged it. The Crimson Hunt with its blood-red light. Dozens more we hadn't seen yet, each one a new nightmare waiting to consume us. And at the very center of

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