Chapter 5 - Dark Energy

~ MELANIE’S POV ~

“Melanie!” Hopper called my name after I arrived at our meeting spot. The rest of the Dark Knights members were waiting for me.

There were six of us in total—six broken souls who had all fallen victim to the cruelty of vampires and witches.

We were the only ones who knew that such creatures existed. And because we didn’t want to be labeled as fools , we kept this part of us a secret from everyone, including our loved ones.

Bryan and his family had no idea I was a monster hunter. I kept him completely in the dark, letting him believe I had finally accepted the official story—that a rabid, venomous animal had torn my parents apart ten years ago.

He thought I had let go of the past, that moving back into my childhood home was just my way of keeping my parents’ memory alive. And while that was partially true, my real reason for moving out of the Dawson estate was simple: freedom.

I needed to be able to slip out into the night with the Dark Knights without anyone asking where I was going.

I always felt guilty lying to him and his parents because, even without being told, I knew they loved and cared for me, especially Bryan.

He was the kind of boyfriend any girl in her right mind would want as her partner, but it was better he didn’t know what I did when he wasn’t looking.

I couldn’t drag him into this blood-soaked underworld. Hunting monsters was a suicide mission, but it was a risk I was willing to take a million times over if it meant getting vengeance for my mother and father.

“What took you so long? Do you think you’re some kind of princess that we all have to wait around for?” Cora hissed.

“She’s only five minutes late, Cora. Give it a rest,” Calvin interceded, giving me a supportive nod.

“Five minutes or not, she still kept us waiting,” Cora snapped, folding her arms across her chest with a scowl.

It was no secret that Cora and I loathed each other. I hadn’t started the feud, but from the moment I joined the Dark Knights as its sixth and final member, she had made it her personal mission to make me look bad in front of the others.

She and Calvin had founded the group alongside Hopper.

Later on, Ivan and Zoey were recruited, followed finally by me.

While Cora and Zoey’s families had been slaughtered by dark witches, Calvin and Ivan shared my burning hatred for vampires. Calvin’s older brother had been drained dry by a bloodsucking vampire, and Ivan’s mother had suffered the exact same grim fate as my parents.

As for Hopper… none of us truly knew what these monsters had taken from him. We only knew that we were all victims of their wickedness.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” I said, keeping my tone steady. “Something came up at home and I had to handle it.”

“Right… because you’re the only one here with problems, aren’t you?” Cora rolled her eyes dramatically.

I forced myself to ignore her, turning my gaze directly to our leader. “I really am sorry, Hopper.”

“It’s fine, Melanie,” Hopper replied. “But what delayed you?”

“My boyfriend came over. He insisted on taking me to dinner before I could leave.”

I had been fully geared up and ready to slip out the door when Bryan showed up unannounced. I couldn’t turn him down since I turned him down the last time, and the last thing I wanted was for Bryan to suspect me.

“Your boyfriend?” Cora scoffed loudly, letting out a bitter laugh. “So you kept us waiting because you were playing house with your little college boy? Wow. I guess your love life is way more important than getting justice for your dead parents.”

“That’s not true. You don’t know a damn thing about my life!”

“It sure looks that way from where I’m standing,” Cora taunted, taking a step forward. “I bet your parents are rolling in their graves right now, utterly disappointed in you.”

“What did you just say?!” I roared, lunging toward her, but Calvin instantly caught my arm and yanked me back.

“Easy, Melanie,” Calvin muttered. “Don’t let her get under your skin. You know how she is.”

“Cora, apologize to Melanie right now,” Hopper commanded, his icy eyes locking onto her.

Cora froze, her jaw tightening in disbelief. “What? Why should I?!”

“Because you crossed the line,” Calvin chimed in firmly. “Melanie wants revenge just as badly as you do, Cora. Don’t question her loyalty.”

“I won’t ask you again, Cora,” Hopper warned.

Cora glared at me before she forced out a tight, bitter sentence. “I’m sorry.”

It was blatantly fake, but I didn’t care about her hollow apology anyway. I pulled my arm out of Calvin’s grip and focused back on the mission.

“Hopper, are we completely sure we’ll find vampires at this location tonight?” I asked.

“I’m sure we will. Vampires tend to gather there,” Hopper replied.

“If we’re able to get one vampire, I’m sure we’ll be able to fish out the rest,” Ivan added, resting a hand on the hilt of his weapon.

“And the witches, too,” Zoey put in, her eyes flashing with a desperate heat. “Vampires and dark witches deal with each other constantly. Capturing one vampire might lead me directly to the witch who murdered my family.”

“What kind of place are we dealing with?” I asked.

“An abandoned, secluded mansion on the edge of the woods,” Hopper replied. “I did a perimeter sweep last night with my tracking device. The dark energy radiating off that place was suffocating. It’s crawling with them.”

A cold, lethal calm washed over me. I reached down to my waist, pulling out my polished silver dagger and a set of hand-carved wooden stakes, double-checking their weight in my hands.

I wasn’t leaving that mansion without a vampire’s blood on my hands.