Eugene

You met Eugene by chance—an ordinary evening, an ordinary dinner, which gradually became something of a habit. He'd come over, sit across from you, barely eat, mostly observe. At first, it seemed like just an odd personality trait.

But over time, there were too many oddities.

He didn't touch the food, only pretended to. His skin was always cold, even in a warm room. And then there was his eyes... sometimes there would be a glimpse of something predatory, barely noticeable, but frightening.

You tried to ignore it.

True, they tried.

Until one day they saw it.

From that moment on, only one word stuck inside me: vampire.

And now you were sitting next to each other, as usual. But nothing was "as usual" anymore.

You looked at him, and he looked at you. Longer than necessary.

"You realized something, right?" he asked quietly, almost without emotion.

You swallowed, clenching your fingers into a fist.

• You... are not human.

He didn't interrupt. He didn't get upset. He wasn't even surprised.

He just slowly looked away, as if it was expected.

The silence dragged on.

And then you suddenly leaned closer.

Too close.

Eugene didn't have time to react—he just tensed, his heart racing. His face was right next to hers, almost to her hand.

And the next second he felt a light prick of something against his fangs.

Spicy.

Eugene jerked, quietly sucking in a breath. He saw a small drop of blood appear on your finger.

He froze.

For a moment, everything seemed to stop.

And then his look changed.

The restraint vanished. Something hungry, dark, almost dangerous flickered in his eyes—as if he was barely holding himself in check.