Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The First Turn
The system notification appeared before Lucian could act.
╔═══════════════════════╗
║ ⚠ BLOODLINE ANALYSIS ⚠ ║
║ Target: Rose Chevalier ║
║ Current State: Half-Zombie / ║
║ Half-Human Mutation ║
║ Vampiric Conversion: NOT RECOMMENDED ║
║ Reason: Subject’s biology is currently in a delicate equilibrium between human and zombie states.║
║Introducing Ancient Vampire bloodline into this system could destabilize the balance entirely. ║
║Result would be unpredictable — possible outcomes include death, complete mutation, or total biological collapse. ║
║ Conclusion: Subject is stable. ║
║ No intervention required. ║
╚════════════════════════╝
Lucian stared at the notification.
No need to turn Rose. She’s safe.
He exhaled slowly and looked at the girl leaning against his back. Her breathing was shallow but steady, the grey discoloration on her calf no longer spreading. The Bastion bloodline had won its war. She was stuck in between — neither fully human nor fully zombie — but she was *alive*.
Carefully, Lucian guided Rose to a chair and rested her head against the backrest. Her eyes fluttered but didn’t open.
Then he turned to Ryan.
"Ryan. We need to talk."
Ryan looked up from Clara’s bedside, his face haggard, eyes red-rimmed. "What is it?"
Lucian met his gaze directly.
"I’m a vampire."
Silence.
Ryan blinked. Then he let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "What?"
"I’m a vampire, Ryan. That’s what I am. That’s why I can manipulate blood. That’s why sunlight burns me. That’s why I survived having my heart stopped."
Ryan stared at him. The laugh died on his lips.
"You’re... serious."
"Yes."
Ryan’s expression shifted — shock, confusion, then something harder. "Then you know what those things did to us. You know what—"
"I can turn Clara into a vampire."
The words hung in the air like a grenade with the pin pulled.
Ryan’s face went white.
"You are not fucking turning my sister."
"Ryan, listen—"
"No! You listen!" Ryan was on his feet now, fists clenched, voice rising. "Do you have any idea how we became orphans? Those motherfuckers killed our only parent. Our *father*. I didn’t really believe they existed until what you just told me. I always thought I must have been seeing things since—" He stopped. His jaw tightened. "Thank fucking God my sister wasn’t home that day. I will find another way to save her, but it ain’t turning her into one of those motherfuckers."
Lucian’s expression softened.
"I’m sorry. I didn’t know." He paused. "But I also had a similar past. My father and mother died to vampires. I don’t care how I became a vampire, but I will use every fucking thing in me — any means — to kill all of those motherfuckers." His voice hardened. "But how long do you think Clara has? At least Rose is now a half zombie and—"
"A half *what*?"
"Half zombie. Half human. But she’s safe due to her bloodline." Lucian stepped closer, his voice dropping. "Now, Ryan, please. We don’t have much time."
"I fucking said *no*."
Lucian looked at him.
"Then I’m sorry."
Scarlet Threads erupted from Lucian’s palms.
They moved faster than Ryan could react — thick cables of hardened blood wrapping around his wrists, his ankles, his torso, slamming him against the wall before he could even raise his hands. The threads pinned him spread-eagle, tight enough to restrict movement but not tight enough to cut off circulation.
Ryan struggled. His mana flared — ice forming around his bindings, trying to crack them — but Mid Neophyte cultivation was nothing against S-rank Blood Manipulation. The threads didn’t budge.
"LUCIAN! If you turn her, I will fucking kill you! You hear me?! I’ll *kill* you!"
Lucian closed the door behind him.
Ryan’s screams followed him up the stairs, muffled by the wood, then fading as Lucian reached the second floor.
---
Clara lay on the bed.
She looked worse than before. The grey had spread from her shoulder down her arm, across her chest, creeping up her neck. Her blonde hair was damp with sweat, plastered to her pale face. Her breathing was shallow, irregular — the sound of a body losing its war.
Lucian sat on the edge of the mattress.
He reached out and pushed the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. His fingers were gentle — a strange softness.
He smiled.
"I’m really sorry. But this is the only way out."
He raised his left hand to his mouth and bit down on his own fingertip. The fangs punctured the skin easily, and blood welled up — dark, rich, thrumming with the power of the Ancient Vampire bloodline.
Three drops fell into Clara’s open mouth.
Then Lucian leaned down.
His fangs sank into her neck.
Clara’s unconscious body arched slightly, and a soft moan escaped her lips. Lucian drank slowly, carefully, pulling her human blood out while his own blood worked its way through her system.
The grey veins on her skin began to recede.
The process took three minutes. When Lucian pulled back, Clara’s body was completely still. Her skin had changed — the grey was gone, replaced by a pallor that was almost luminous. Her lips were pale pink. Her blonde hair seemed brighter against her white skin.
And two small fangs had grown in her upper jaw.
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then Clara’s eyes snapped open.
She sat up straight — a sharp, sudden movement, spine rigid, head turning with inhuman precision. Her eyes were no longer the ice-blue that Lucian knew. They glowed crimson.
She looked at him.
The system chimed.
╔═════════════════════════╗
║ ★ FIRST VAMPIRIC CONVERSION║
║ ★ COMPLETE ★ ║
║ Host has successfully turned his first vampire.║
║ New Vampire: Clara Duncan ║
║ Race: Vampire (Turned) ║
║ Bloodline: Ancient Vampire ║
║ (Fragment — derived from host) ║
║ Seal Progress: N/A ║
║ (Turned vampires do not ║
║ inherit seal system). She will evolve alongside host ║
║ REWARD: +10,000 System Credits ║
║ CURRENT CREDITS: 16,200 SC ║
╚═════════════════════════╝
Clara’s crimson eyes stared into Lucian’s.
"Lucian," she said. Her voice was different — deeper, with a resonant quality that hadn’t been there before. "What... what did you do to me?"
He smiled.
"I saved your life."
---
