Footsteps echoed through the silent corridor, growing closer, sharper, until they stopped right outside Evan’s cell.

  “As you wished, I’m here. Anything you want to say?”

  Liam Zhao’s voice drifted in from the other side of the door. He peered through the small viewing window but didn’t see Evan anywhere.

  Evan was crouched in the blind spot beside the door, pressed tightly into the corner. He didn’t look toward the window at all. With Liam’s memories in his head, he knew Liam carried a Second?Tier Relic — the Wailing Skull.

  A single moment of eye contact could kill him.

  Relics were remnants of evolved creatures whose abilities lingered in their bones or organs after death, forming items with supernatural power.

  A Second?Tier Relic came from a two?time evolved Chrysalis?tier lifeform. The Wailing Skull specialized in mental attacks — more than enough to kill Evan instantly.

  Evan knew Liam had come to kill him. In fact, he had forced Liam to come. If Liam didn’t show up, Evan had no chance of escaping.

  This body of his carried all of Liam’s skills. Liam hadn’t completed his first evolution yet, but he had absorbed two vials of extract and gained two basic abilities. Useful, but not strong enough to kill Evan through a reinforced alloy door.

  So Liam had to rely on external tools — like the Wailing Skull. And probably something else.

  Just as Evan expected, Liam stood outside gripping an animal skull in one hand, its hollow eye sockets aimed directly at the window. If Evan’s face appeared there, he’d be hit with a lethal psychic blast.

  But Liam didn’t notice the pale face pressed against the window of the cell behind him… Nor the pair of blood?red eyes staring from the cell beside it.

  When Evan still didn’t show himself, Liam spoke again.

  “You forced me to come here, yet you won’t speak or show your face. What exactly do you want?”

  His other hand slipped into his pocket, fingers brushing a small glass vial filled with compressed yellow toxin.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Liam was ruthless. If the Wailing Skull failed, he planned to use poison gas. In a sealed cell, Evan would die instantly.

  But poison was messy. It left traces. And if it leaked into other cells, it could kill more inmates.

  Liam didn’t care about the inmates — but his father, Elias Zhao, had only secured this visit by claiming he wanted to bring his son a final meal and offering the warden generous benefits. Ironhold normally forbade visitation.

  The warden had even ordered the surveillance feed replaced to avoid leaving evidence of rule?breaking.

  If too many prisoners died, even the warden couldn’t cover it up.

  Liam’s patience thinned. He had only fifteen minutes. If Evan didn’t show himself soon, he’d release the poison.

  He could not allow Evan to survive until morning.

  Finally, Evan spoke.

  “I just think the innocent deserve salvation… and the guilty deserve punishment.”

  Liam chuckled. Exactly what he expected — a desperate plea for mercy.

  Though he did notice Evan’s speech sounded slightly slurred. He didn’t think much of it.

  “If you want to live, I do have a way,” Liam said, voice dripping with false sympathy. “Come closer. I’ll explain.”

  “Alright.”

  Evan lowered his gaze, cheeks puffed slightly, something hidden in his mouth. He slowly moved toward the window.

  Liam slid open the metal shutter and subtly shifted the Wailing Skull back, hiding it from view.

  Evan kept his eyes on the floor. One step from the window, he shut them completely.

  A sharp scent hit his nose — perfume. Strange. Liam never wore perfume.

  No time to think.

  Evan lunged forward and spat a mouthful of blood through the window.

  At that exact moment, a piercing psychic scream exploded in his mind. Terror washed over him, his body trembling, his thoughts blurring.

  Even with his eyes closed, the Wailing Skull’s mental attack struck him — but closing his eyes had weakened it enough for him to survive.

  Meanwhile, the blood Evan spat twisted mid?air, condensing into a blood arrow that shot straight toward Liam’s throat.

  The Vampire’s blood?manipulation ability — weaponizing fresh blood.

  Evan had bitten his lip earlier, storing a mouthful of blood for this moment.

  Liam never saw it coming. He staggered back, but too late — the blood arrow pierced through his mask, entered through his nose, and drove straight into his brain.

  Blood sprayed everywhere.

  Liam collapsed with a heavy thud, the Wailing Skull rolling from his hand.

  Evan gasped for breath, shaking off the lingering psychic shock. His face was pale, but he was alive.

  And the attack had triggered something else — More memories unlocked. The sealed month of missing memories burst open in his mind.

  No wonder the Zhao father and son blocked them… Even a quick glance told Evan they were troublesome.

  “Sort it out later. First, escape.”

  He looked out the window.

  Liam Zhao lay dead. Very dead.

  But all the blood on the floor… was gone.

  Streams of blood lifted from Liam’s corpse, flowing toward the Vampire’s cell. Evan heard a low, ecstatic moan from next door.

  Of course — the Vampire was feeding.

  Then Evan felt a warm trickle at his lips. His bitten wound was bleeding again — fast. The blood floated from his mouth toward the Vampire’s cell as well.

  The Vampire chuckled darkly.

  “Thanks for the escape plan, kid. But your part in the story is over. Now be a good boy… and die.”