Consciousness returned to Leng Wei gradually. First came the cold of the stone floor. Then, the smell of sweat, blood, and despair enveloped him. He opened his eyes to the dimness of a crowded cell. His wrist was on fire. Where the crimson summons mark had been, there was now an ugly new brand—a stylized letter "F", burned so deep it seemed to reach the bone.
"F+... Defective... But alive..." — fragments of memory flashed through his mind. "Wang Jie... Where is Wang Jie?"
He scanned the cell frantically. Among twenty other emaciated teenagers, there was no familiar face. His friend had been sent to another sector—for "Dust." They had been separated.
When he tried to stand, a sharp pain in his side made him groan. His ribs, broken during the stampede at the square. But after a few hours, the pain strangely dulled. He touched his side carefully—the swelling had gone down, leaving only a yellow bruise.
"It can't be..." He probed the healing wound. "Is this... the blood? That cursed blood?"
The thought sickened him. The same power that had killed his father and cursed his mother was now slowly awakening within him.
The door slammed open. A half-blood overseer stood in the doorway, whip in hand.
"Wake up, scum! Welcome to F-Sector!" His voice dripped with cruel delight. "You are property of the Night Tribe. Your lives are worthless. Remember that."
They were herded into a courtyard bathed in the crimson light of artificial "suns." The camp consisted of wretched barracks surrounded by electrified wire. The air itself smelled of fear and death.
During roll call, a true vampire approached. Young, with cold silver eyes. His gaze swept over the line of slaves and settled on Leng Wei.
"Interesting..." He stepped closer. "You're... different. I can sense it."
Leng Wei lowered his eyes, feeling goosebumps crawl down his spine. He feels it... He feels my blood...
The vampire ran a curious finger over the brand on Leng Wei's wrist.
"F+... Curious." He smiled. "Let's see how long you last."
That night in the barracks, Leng Wei couldn't sleep. Pain, hunger, and fear churned inside him. But the worst was yet to come.
He began to feel them.
Not their thoughts, but their... moods. Through the walls, waves of contempt, boredom, and hunger from the vampire guards pressed against his mind. It was a distant hum that gave him a headache.
"What's wrong with me?" He covered his ears, but it didn't help. And through the static, a faint, barely audible Voice whispered:
"Awaken..."
In the morning, they were driven to clear rubble. The half-blood overseer assigned Leng Wei the most dangerous job—hauling stones beneath an unstable wall.
"Move it, trash!" The overseer's whip cracked against Leng Wei's back.
At that moment, the wall above them groaned. A huge block of stone broke loose, falling straight for Leng Wei. He froze, powerless to move.
At the last second, another slave shoved him—a boy of about seventeen, face just as terrified. The stone crashed down centimeters away.
"Be careful..." the boy whispered. "Here, we look out for each other."
The overseer watched them with a twisted grin.
"Almost got a show! Try harder next time, bastard."
That evening in the barracks, the same boy introduced himself.
"I'm Li. You're new, right?" He pointed to his own brand. "Been here a week. Stick with me—makes you a less tempting target."
Leng Wei nodded silently. For the first time in what felt like forever, he felt a flicker of hope.
Final Scenes:
As they prepared for sleep, the same vampire overseer passed by the barracks. He paused at the door and spoke softly, for Leng Wei's ears alone:
"Amusing... Newcomers usually don't survive their first day. We'll be watching you, little man."
Leng Wei understood—he was under scrutiny now. Every mistake could be his last. And yet, for the first time, he felt not just fear, but a steely resolve.
"I will survive... For Mother... For revenge..." — the thought etched itself into his mind.
The following days blurred into an endless cycle of grueling labor and humiliation. Li became a true ally. He'd already learned the camp's routines and the overseers' habits.
"See the one with the scar?" Li whispered during work, nodding toward a tall half-blood. "He hits for show. But the short one... He's a real sadist. Stay away from him."
Leng Wei silently memorized every detail—every vulnerability in the security, every loophole in the schedule.
"I must survive... Mom... I will return to you."
One day, Leng Wei cut his hand on a sharp stone. The wound was deep, blood flowing freely. The overseer who saw it just sneered:
"Bleed out, defective. Save us some food."
But by evening, the wound had strangely closed. Not completely, but enough to stop the bleeding. Li looked at his hand in surprise.
"You... heal fast."
Leng Wei said nothing. He was afraid to even consider the reason.
That night, the "voices" grew louder. Through the wall, he could catch fragments of the guards' thoughts, not just their moods:
"...bored... when's this shift over..."
"...smells of fear... so sweet..."
"...the new one... strange... smells different..."
Leng Wei pressed into his thin mattress, trying to block out the noise in his head. But the more he resisted, the clearer the voices became.
In the morning, the vampire overseer with the silver eyes approached him again.
"Your hand," he ordered.
Leng Wei slowly extended his hand with the nearly healed cut. The overseer examined it closely.
"Interesting." His eyes narrowed. "Very interesting. Ordinary humans don't heal like that."
He released the hand and walked away, but Leng Wei felt the weight of surveillance intensify.
That evening, Li secretly brought extra food—a piece of dried bread and some cheese.
"Here." He passed it to Leng Wei. "You worked well today. Didn't give that bastard a reason to beat you."
For the first time in a long while, Leng Wei felt a spark of warmth. Perhaps even in hell, a shred of humanity could be found.
Before sleep, Leng Wei stared at his brand in the dim light. It no longer hurt physically, but it burned in his mind.
They suspect something... But they don't understand what yet. He clenched his fists. I must be more careful. I must hide all the strangeness.
He looked at the sleeping Li, then at the bars on the window. The voice in his head whispered something elusive, but Leng Wei had learned to ignore it now.
I will survive. I will learn to live here. And then... then I will find a way to change everything.
For the first time since arriving at the camp, his eyes held not fear, but cold determination.