✨ Chapter 18 – The Faction of Rebirth
The name on the scroll echoed through Ariana's mind long after the paper was rolled back up.
**REBIRTH.**
Something ancient.
Something forbidden.
Something that didn't care for laws, safety, or limits.
A group that believed in one thing:
**Resurrecting power that should remain dead.**
Ariana felt her wolf press against her ribcage, uneasy and restless. It paced inside her, its presence sharp, warning, anxious.
Kai noticed immediately.
He moved closer, pressing a steadying hand against her back.
"Ariana," he murmured, "your breathing changed."
"I'm fine," she whispered, though her trembling hands said otherwise. "It's just—my wolf doesn't like that word. Rebirth. It feels… wrong."
Zane stepped forward, his expression unreadable.
"Then trust that instinct. Wolves react to threats long before humans do."
Rylan grunted. "Mine reacts to food before threats."
Calen rolled his eyes. "Focus, flame-brain."
Ariana offered a tiny smile, despite the tension. Their bickering, strangely, grounded her.
Kai took the scroll from her hands and tucked it into his coat.
"We need to get this back to the academy. Quietly. Before the wrong person figures out we found it."
"Who would be 'the wrong person'?" Ariana asked.
Zane replied without hesitation.
"Anyone."
Ariana swallowed.
She didn't like that answer.
---
## **The Climb Back Up**
The group moved back toward the stone staircase. The underground lab's air was stale, heavy with old metallic smells and dust that clung to Ariana's throat.
It felt like stepping out of a tomb.
Kai led the way, moving silently up the steps. His posture was tense but controlled — every sense alert.
Ariana followed close behind him, her light orb floating above them. It flickered slightly, a sign she'd used a lot of magic today.
Zane walked behind her, eyes scanning every shadow.
And Rylan and Calen brought up the rear, the fire and frost between them ready for any threat.
But the danger they'd expected didn't appear.
No movement.
No breathing.
No rustling from unseen corners.
The lab was silent.
Too silent.
Ariana shivered.
She kept imagining someone watching from the darkness. Someone who had used this lab just hours before.
Someone who might come back.
By the time they reached the top of the staircase, Ariana exhaled sharply with relief. The night air outside felt colder, fresher—alive.
Kai helped her climb over the last stone step.
"You okay?" he asked again.
Ariana nodded. "Yeah. Just… it's a lot."
Rylan thumped her shoulder gently. "You handled it better than most people would."
Calen smirked. "Better than *he* would." He pointed at Rylan.
"Hey!" Rylan protested.
Zane sighed. "Let's focus on survival before we resume your sibling rivalry."
Ariana chuckled weakly.
But the relief didn't last long.
Because the moment they stepped away from the stone marker, Ariana's wolf stiffened inside her like a drawn bowstring.
Her breath hitched.
"Ariana?" Kai whispered, instantly beside her.
She touched her chest with trembling fingers.
"My wolf… she's trying to warn me again."
Calen frowned. "Warn you about what? The lab?"
"No," Ariana whispered. "About… above. Up here."
The forest rustled with a quiet breeze.
But nothing moved.
Nothing approached.
Nothing chased.
And yet—
Something felt wrong.
Zane's eyes narrowed. "She might be picking up the lingering echo of the lab's magic."
Ariana shook her head firmly.
"No. This is different. This is… someone watching from far away. Too far to see. But close enough to sense."
Kai stiffened beside her.
"Where?"
Ariana closed her eyes and tried to focus.
But the wolf retreated.
Vanishing deep inside her again.
Ariana gasped. "She backed away. She won't show me."
Kai placed both hands on her shoulders.
"Then we don't push her. You're tired."
Ariana nodded, but her pulse hammered.
Her wolf had never warned her and then retreated like that.
Something was out there.
Something was paying attention.
---
## **Back to the Academy**
It took them twenty minutes to sneak back inside Elmwood Academy. They slipped through shadows, followed Zane's mind-sense to avoid patrolling staff, and used the twins' favorite route atop the outer wall.
By the time they reached their soundproof investigation room, Ariana felt drained.
But the moment the door sealed behind them, her energy lifted as adrenaline took over.
Kai spread the scroll across the central table.
Ariana's handwritten notes were scattered around it.
The stone rubbing from the lab's emblem.
The DNA diagram.
The list of vampire modifications.
And now —
the ancient scroll from the hidden chamber.
The evidence formed an uncomfortable map.
Calen sat on the table edge, arms crossed. "So… what now?"
Zane stepped forward.
"We study the scroll. It might mention who led Rebirth, who funded them, or why they wanted Dark Vampires in the first place."
Rylan cracked his knuckles.
"And maybe where they're hiding now."
But Ariana leaned over the scroll, frowning deeply.
"This symbol," she said, tracing the half-moon with her finger. "It appears twice here… and three times in my copied notes. That's not coincidence."
Kai nodded.
"It's a signature. A calling card."
Zane hummed.
"Or an identity mark."
Ariana swallowed.
"Like a clan symbol?"
"Or a family symbol," Zane corrected.
Ariana's heart lurched.
"A bloodline?"
He nodded once.
Kai stiffened.
"Are you suggesting someone from a powerful bloodline created the modified vampires?"
Zane met his eyes.
"Yes. And not just any bloodline."
He tapped the scroll.
"This mark is only used by ancient families."
Calen muttered, "Great. So instead of a secret monster cult, we have a noble house gone rogue."
Zane corrected him.
"Not a noble house. A hidden one. One that erased itself from modern history."
Ariana felt her breath lodge in her throat.
"You're saying Rebirth… was founded by a family no one remembers?"
Kai gently squeezed her shoulder.
"Whoever they are, we'll find them. Together."
Ariana nodded slowly.
But her wolf gave one last whisper in her mind—
soft, low, troubled.
**"Blood calls to blood."**
Ariana stiffened.
Kai saw it instantly.
"What did she say?"
Ariana swallowed hard.
"She… thinks the family who started Rebirth… might still be alive."
Silence.
Then Rylan exhaled sharply.
"Well, that's terrifying."
Calen nodded. "A functioning psychopath family. Fantastic."
Zane's eyes sharpened.
"And they are modifying Dark Vampires again."
Ariana whispered:
"We're running out of time, aren't we?"
Kai's voice was steady, strong, unwavering.
"But we're not alone."
He looked at each member of the Pillars.
Then at Ariana.
"We face them together."
Ariana's heart steadied.
Because suddenly she knew something.
Rebirth wasn't just returning.
They were preparing.
For what?
Her wolf whispered the answer:
**"War."**