SSS Awakening: Rebirth of the Strongest Vampire God-Chapter 24: Did you miss me?

Damon froze. The woman stood there, hand still resting on the doorknob, posture too still, too poised. Her head slowly turned over her shoulder, and her eyes—those sharp, usually aloof eyes—now looked distant, unfocused, as if staring through him instead of at him.

"I need to give you blood," she repeated, voice even softer now.

Damon rose to his feet, heart pounding in his ears. "What... did you just say?"

She blinked, then blinked again, the fog in her gaze starting to clear. She looked confused, like someone waking up mid-sentence. "What? Did I say something?"

Damon's eyes widened but he quickly shook his head. "I thought you said you lost your apartment keys."

Her brows drew together. "I... I don't think so?" Her voice wavered. "I don't know. That's weird. I feel weird. I will talk to you later. I need to eat and get some sleep."

She slipped out before he could say another word, the door closing with a soft click.

Damon stood there for a full minute, unmoving as his mind replayed the words over and over.

"I need to give you blood."

She'd said it. Clear as day. Not slurred. Not muttered. Not imagined. And then—poof—gone from her memory like it had never happened.

He sat down slowly, his legs heavy, his thoughts heavier. He needed to fucking log back into the game and have a good talk with Bloodreign. He needed answers now.

Thanks to the little nap, he only needed to wait a couple more hours to be able to log back into the game. The servers opened at 5pm sharp.

In the meantime he continued browsing the internet for any weird or suspicious news. He also checked on his friend but Mark had already messaged him with a rain check, saying that he was busy and something had come up.

Now that he thought about it, it was around this time Mark had become extremely busy all of a sudden and had picked up many side jobs to hustle as much cash as he could. He never really thought about it before but now he wondered why his friend suddenly started burning himself out like that.

Back then, Damon had chalked it up to Mark being broke or trying to save up for something important. Maybe some family emergency, maybe a loan to pay off. Whatever it was, he wouldn't allow Mark to suffer this time.

He badly wanted to repay all those fuckers who backstabbed him but more than that he wanted to stand by the guy who was there for him when no one else was.

Today he needed to figure out this bullshit that was going on but tomorrow he would have a proper chat with Mark and once and for all see what was happening with his friend. He owed him that much—hell, he owed him more than that.

Damon glanced at the clock. An hour and forty minutes left. He tried to order some food and eat but even his favorite go-to comfort meal tasted like ass now. He drank some cold water and took a cold shower, none of which seemed to help.

Cursing in frustration he downed the last bit of cold coffee sitting on his desk and he froze. Fuck! He never expected this but coffee tasted amazing for his tongue.

The moment the bitter liquid hit his tongue, the pounding in his head eased slightly. The gnawing hunger dulled—not vanished, but backed off just enough for him to breathe.

He stared at the empty mug in disbelief, then slowly set it down. "What the hell...?" he muttered, licking his lips. The aftertaste was richer than it had any right to be. It almost reminded him of how blood had tasted—less intense, sure, but in the same ballpark.

He eyed the machine on his counter like it was some sacred relic. "You might be my new best friend," he muttered, already brewing another cup.

And with the clock ticking down to 5PM, a fresh cup of coffee in his stomach, and a thousand questions storming his mind, Damon settled in. It was time to get back into the game and get some damned answers.

He laid on the bed, wore the helmet and switched it on and the next second he was once again back in the outskirts of the Niera city. The first thing he did was...

"Bloodreign!" Damn called for the damned weapon spirit. "Bloodreign! Come out now! You could have given me a headsup, don't you think?"

"Wow. Someone's cranky," the familiar voice appeared, followed by a sweet giggle. "Did you miss me that much, Damon?"

Damon let out a long, exasperated breath. "You think this is funny?" he snapped. "You could've told me that I would be waking up as a monster! That I'd start craving blood!

Bloodreign chuckled again. "Huh? Are you dumb or what? Didn't you know powers from the blessed lands transferred to the real world??"

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"No. I did not." Damon hissed.

The woman simply laughed. "I guess now you know."

"I almost killed someone!" Damon growled, hands clenched into fists. "You think that's funny too?"

Eh? The sword spirit now sounded genuinely confused. "Why are you so squeamish over a single kill? The multiverse is a place where only the strong survive and you become strong by forging a path of blood and corpses."

"Don't patronize me," he snapped. "You could've warned me. Hell, you should've! Instead, I wake up with fangs in someone's neck and no goddamn clue what's happening. Fine. Leave that." This line of questioning was not really helpful. He had other things to worry about now.

"What do I do now? How do I control my thirst? Animal blood should work right? How often do you think I need to consume blood?"