Page 50 of Map of Pain
He’dused these same techniques on vampire nests, never on humans. The tacticswereidentical—methodical, efficient, designed to terrorize survivors. Hendersondrilled him on reading blood spatter patterns.Focus on the facts.Don’t think about who these peoplewere.
The main community hall revealed the full extent of the massacre. Bodies arranged in a semi-circle, positioned deliberately. Some showed signs of torture—fingernails removed, precision cuts along major muscle groups.Othershadbeen dispatched efficiently with single gunshot wounds to the head.
Nick’s breathing remained steady as he surveyed the scene, but his handsstarted trembling.Thesewerepeople. Living people with names and families and—
Stop.Analyze.Process.File it away.
Gasolinehadbeen poured over specific areas, small controlled burns rather than a full inferno. Another Society signature—enough fire to destroy evidence but not enough to attract immediate emergency response.
“Sometimes, Nicholas, the message matters more than the body count.”Henderson’s voice echoed in his memory, and Nick felt sick.
Theseweren’tcombat deaths. Thiswaspunishment. Intimidation. The same techniques drilledinto him during training, now applied to innocent people.
“This is my fault,”he whispered, the clinical detachment cracking like ice.“Theywerelooking for me. These people died because the Societyishunting me.”
Stay focused,the hunter insisted.Guilt gets you killed.
But he wouldn’t be silenced.Look what youwerepart of. Look what you helped create.
Luka moved through the carnage with grim focus, his nostrils flaring as he tracked scents only he could detect. His shoulders tensed, hands curled into fists. Nickhadnever seen this kind of focused intensity from him—not even during their hospital escape.
“They’re looking for me,”Nick said quietly, forcing his voice to stay level.“Thiswaspunishment, but also interrogation.”
Luka’s movements grew more urgent as he followed the blood trail down a narrow hallway. Nick matched his pace, providing tactical support while his stomach boiled.
The familiar oppressive silence felt calculated. Nickhadbeen on the other side of this equation too many times—the Society would sometimes leave a single operative behind after a cleansing operation, positioned to eliminate anyone who came looking for survivors.
“Patience, Nicholas. The sympathizers always return for their friends. Wait for the stragglers.”
How many times did I do this to vampire communities?How many nests did I help destroy because they dared to build families together?
A soft, strangled noise from Luka pulled Nick from the spiral of self-recrimination. The vampirestopped at a small office entrance, his entire body rigid, eyes fixed on something inside.
The smell hit Nick first—burnt flesh and gasoline. Something that made bile rise in his throat. Two bodies lay intertwined in the center of the office floor. The smaller one—a young woman with dark hair—curled protectively around the larger figure. Her arms encircled what remained of a male torso, her face pressed against an empty chest cavity. The male bodyhadbeen beheaded and the severed head placed on a nearby desk, facing the embracing bodies. Scorch marks radiated outward from the pair.
“Haley,“Luka mouthed, and small, devastating squeak escaped his throat.
Nick stared at the scene, his mind trying to process what hewasseeing. The woman’s body showed defensive wounds—deep lacerations on her forearms, broken fingernails. Shefought hard. But her final position told a different story. Shehadn’tbeen trying to escape. Shehadchosento embrace the vampire as they died.
“She died with him,”Nick observed, voice thick.“Was that Alexei?”
Luka nodded once, sharp and pained, then sank to his knees at the threshold. His shoulders shook with silent grief. In all their time together, Nickhadn’t seen Luka lose composure. The vampire’s griefwasraw, unguarded—nothing like the controlled responses Nick expected from a predator.
The Society’s message couldn’t have been clearer. This deliberate tableau of human and vampire locked in a final embrace wasdesignedto disgust and horrify. To showcase the“perversion”of humans who sided with monsters.
But Nick didn’t feel disgust. Looking at Haley’s body wrapped around Alexei’s remains, he saw something the Societytold him couldn’t exist—genuine love between human and vampire. The kind worth dying for. The kind that saidI won’t let you die alone.
And suddenly, every justification theyhadever given him crumbled to dust.
The hunter tried to reassert itself—Compromised.Stockholm syndrome. Theseweremonsters and collaborators—
No.
Theywerepeople. They loved each other. And we murdered them for it.
The hunter’s voice faltered, weakened, and then retreated deep into the background. Not gone, but muffled—like a radio turned down to audible static.
Nick felt the retreat in every atom of his body. That voicehadbeen his constant commander for years, providing orders even when everything else fell apart.
