✨ Chapter 17 – The Lab Beneath the Roots**
The stone steps spiraled downward, swallowed by darkness so heavy it seemed alive.
Ariana's light floated above her palm, casting silver shadows on the ancient walls.
Kai walked in front of her.
Zane behind her.
Rylan and Calen flanking the rear.
No one spoke.
Their footsteps echoed softly, the air growing colder and denser the deeper they went.
Ariana shivered.
"The air… it feels strange."
Kai nodded.
"It's old magic. No one's disturbed this place in decades."
"Correction," Zane said quietly.
"Almost no one."
Ariana swallowed hard.
---
## **The Underground Lab**
The staircase finally opened into a wide chamber.
Ariana's breath hitched.
She had expected dust, ruins, and broken stones.
Instead—
It looked like a forgotten scientific lab.
Ancient stone tables lined with:
* rusted instruments
* cracked vials
* faded diagrams
* skeletal remains of equipment
* and old blood samples sealed in amber-like containers
Rylan let out a low whistle.
"This… is disturbing."
Calen touched a table gently.
Ice crackled across its surface, revealing faint inscriptions beneath the grime.
"These symbols… they're medical runes," Calen said.
"For stabilizing tissue. Preserving blood."
Ariana's stomach flipped.
She turned toward the far wall—
and froze.
A giant circular emblem was carved into the stone.
**The Blood Seal.**
The same symbol from the vampire DNA diagram.
The same one on the stone marker above.
Her heart raced.
"This lab is where it started," she whispered.
"Where Dark Vampires were originally modified."
Zane nodded.
"Before the species went extinct."
Kai stepped closer to her.
"But someone revived the process."
---
## **Something New**
Calen suddenly hissed.
"Guys. Over here."
They rushed to his side.
On a far table—
someone had cleared dust away recently.
Very recently.
Rylan swore under his breath.
"Fresh prints."
Zane touched the surface lightly.
"They're… warm."
Ariana felt chills crawl up her spine.
"So someone has been here. After all these years."
Kai scanned the room thoughtfully.
"We need to be careful. They might still be around."
Ariana shook her head.
"No. I think they ran when the barrier alarm activated."
"Why do you think so?" Rylan asked.
Ariana pointed to the floor at the center of the room.
Footprints.
Trailing toward the exit tunnel—
**not human footprints.**
Not wolf.
Not shifter.
Not vampire.
Zane leaned down, eyes wide.
"These are… lab boots. The kind researchers use in sterile environments."
Ariana frowned.
"They're big. Probably an adult. But the stride is—"
Kai finished quietly:
"—not rushed. Not panicked. Whoever was here walked out calmly."
Ariana's heart thudded.
"So they weren't afraid of us."
Zane's voice dropped.
"They weren't afraid of anything."
---
## **The Metal Cylinder**
Rylan suddenly lifted a strange object from under a fallen cloth.
It was a metal cylinder.
Modern.
Clean.
Not ancient at all.
Ariana gasped.
"This is new!"
Kai took it carefully.
Zane examined it.
"No marks. No inscriptions. No magic traces."
Calen squinted.
"Wait…"
He tapped the base with his ice-coated fingertip.
A small panel slid open—
revealing a shimmering white fluid.
Ariana leaned closer, breath trembling.
"Is that…?"
Zane nodded.
"Yes. Extracted vampire essence."
Ariana took a step back.
"Someone is collecting Dark Vampire samples."
Kai's expression hardened.
"And using this lab to modify them."
Calen added softly:
"But that means it wasn't the academy. This isn't Elmwood equipment."
Rylan frowned.
"So who?"
Ariana scanned the room slowly.
Old runes…
New tools…
Ancient seals…
Modern containers…
A fusion of two timelines that didn't belong together.
Her wolf stirred uneasily.
"We're missing something."
Kai stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Ariana pointed to a cracked slab of stone behind an old workbench.
A wall panel.
Zane touched the edge.
"It's loose."
Kai pushed lightly—
**and the whole slab shifted, revealing a hidden compartment.**
Inside was a single scroll.
Ariana's breath caught.
She reached for it carefully, unrolling the ancient parchment—
and the moment she saw the symbol at the top, she froze.
Her voice trembled.
"This… symbol… it's from the Old Order."
Zane stepped forward sharply.
"But the Old Order died out centuries ago."
Kai frowned.
"Not all of them."
Ariana's voice dropped to a whisper.
"This scroll… is a record of the first Dark Vampire experiments."
Calen whistled.
"Talk about history."
Ariana kept reading, mouth going dry.
"They mention… a group. A faction."
Rylan leaned over her shoulder.
"What group?"
Ariana turned the scroll toward them.
A single word was written at the top.
Bold.
Powerful.
Dreadful.
**"REBIRTH."**
Kai whispered it.
"Rebirth."
Ariana felt her stomach twist.
"That's the name of the faction that modified the last Dark Vampires… and now they're active again."
Zane looked at the tunnel entrance.
"They didn't hide here by accident."
Calen added, "Someone chose this lab for a reason."
Rylan cracked his knuckles.
"And we want to know why."
Ariana swallowed hard as she looked around the room.
The remnants of ancient science.
The traces of modern tampering.
The symbol of a forgotten faction.
All connected.
All pointing to one truth:
**Dark Vampires were never extinct.**
They were being rebuilt.
And Rebirth had returned.