Elissa didn’t take her eyes off the pastor. The softness she had once known in his gaze was gone. Now, he seemed different—someone she had never truly known.

— Start from the very beginning, — she said firmly.

Gabriel ran his hand over the cover of the old book, as if weighing whether he should continue. Then he spoke.

— Far beyond the kingdom, past forests and mountains uncharted in books, there are places where the night never yields to the day. There, in the shadows, an ancient evil was born. Vampires are not just creatures of darkness. They were human… once.

Elissa held her breath.

— Once?

Gabriel slowly nodded.

— Long ago, they made their choice. They craved immortality, power… But every gift comes with a price. Their souls burned away in their thirst for blood. They became what they are now.

Elissa hesitated.

— You speak as if you saw it yourself.

Gabriel lifted his gaze sharply.

— I have seen more than I should have.

— And what exactly have you seen?

The pastor was silent for a long moment. Then, slowly, he said:

— I was among them.

A chill ran through Elissa’s body.

— Among them?

— I was… one of them.

Silence hung between them.

— That’s impossible, — she whispered.

— It is possible, — Gabriel replied calmly. — And now you know my secret.

Elissa took a step back, struggling to grasp what she had just heard.

— But you… you don’t…

— Don’t look like them? — He smiled sadly. — Because I chose a different path.

She stared at him, but now, she could no longer see him as the same man.

— You were a vampire?

— Yes, — he said quietly. — But now, I am something else.

Elissa shook her head, unable to believe it.

— How?

— I found a way to halt the curse, but not to break it. I am neither alive nor dead. I exist between those worlds.

She tried to piece her thoughts together.

— So… you became a hunter?

Gabriel nodded.

— I have devoted my life to destroying those who still drink blood, who still kill.

Elissa clenched her fingers.

— Raphael.

Gabriel’s gaze sharpened.

— You must not trust him.

— You say he’s dangerous, but you were once the same as him.

— I chose another path, — Gabriel said firmly. — He did not.

Elissa recalled her conversation with Raphael that night. His smirk. His confidence.

— You want to kill him?

— If I must.

A spark of defiance flared in her chest.

— He saved me.

— Perhaps because it suited him, — Gabriel crossed his arms. — Vampires never do anything without reason.

— And you? You were one of them too.

Gabriel didn’t avert his gaze.

— Do you know how many years it took me to change my nature?

Elissa fell silent.

The pastor stepped closer.

— I know you’re lost, princess. But you must understand: you are playing with darkness, and it will consume you.

— Or I will consume it, — she said softly.

He studied her intently.

— Then you are already lost.

Elissa took a deep breath.

— No. I just want to know the truth.

Gabriel shook his head.

— Then seek it. But remember: when the time comes, you will have to choose.

— Choose?

— Between light and darkness. Between life and the curse. Between him… and me.

Elissa felt her heart skip a beat.

— You want me to choose?

— Sooner or later, you will have to.

She looked at him, and for the first time in her life, she didn’t know what to say.

— You asked for the truth, princess, — Gabriel said quietly. — Now, you have a choice.

Elissa turned toward the window, where the morning sun shone.

But inside her, the night remained.