The world was gone.

Or at least, the world as you had once known it. Cities had crumbled, the streets overrun with creatures that lurked in the shadows. The sky was painted in permanent dusk, smoke rising from fires that had burned out long ago. Humans weren’t citizens anymore. They were prey.

And the predators? They ruled.

Vampires had taken everything—power, control, life itself. But they hadn’t taken her.

“Elena,” you whispered, pressing your back against the cold concrete wall of an abandoned building. Your heart pounded, not just from the danger that lurked outside, but from the weight of what you had to do next.

She crouched beside you, her brown eyes sharper now, harder. The girl who used to fight for everyone, who believed in saving people, was still in there somewhere. But survival had made her ruthless.

“We can’t stay here,” she murmured. “They’re tracking us.”

You knew. You had heard the echoes of their laughter in the night, the way they whispered about hunting for sport. They would find you soon.

Elena turned to you, her face illuminated by the faint glow of the burning city beyond. There was blood on her sleeve—not hers.

You swallowed hard. “We’re outnumbered.”

“When has that ever stopped us?”

She smiled then, small and fleeting, but real.

You had lost everything—your home, your family, the future you once dreamed of. But she was still here. Elena was still here.

She grabbed your hand, squeezing tight. “As long as I have you, I have something to live for.”

And that was enough.

Even at the end of the world.