My Stepmom Is A Vampire & Her Entire Bloodline Wants To Breed Me

Chapter 198: The Red Zone

Maria and Diane secured the restrained staff member carefully, tightening the bindings until his frantic movements slowed into shallow, panicked breaths.

Whatever fear gripped him now felt far more genuine than before, raw and uncontrolled. Maria couldn’t shake the sense that everything surrounding this place was wrong, false, or even fabricated.

The spiders, the endless corpses, the grotesque mouth embedded in the wall...

"We’re not seriously trusting what he said, right?" Maria asked quietly, glancing back at the trembling man.

Diane nodded without hesitation. "No. We don’t."

She scanned the room again, eyes sharp and calculating. "We’ll search this place ourselves, but that lift isn’t our option."

Her gaze shifted upward toward the massive tube running through the ceiling. "I can try to fly up there. If it’s accessible, I’ll carry you."

Maria’s eyes widened slightly. "You can grow wings? Like Lady Crow?"

Diane nodded, though her expression tightened. "I’ve been training. I wanted to make my Bloodstyle more effective in combat."

She paused, as if something heavier sat behind those words, then shook her head.

"Forget it. Let’s focus."

They split briefly to inspect the area more thoroughly, tapping along the floor, running their hands against the walls, listening for hollow echoes or irregular vibrations that might betray a hidden door or mechanism.

They checked corners, seams, and structural joints, but found nothing. No hatches. No hidden panels. Just the lingering stench of death and a toxic atmosphere thick with residual corruption from discarded vampire bodies.

Eventually, they regrouped at the center of the room. Their expressions mirrored each other, frustration mixed with growing dread. Without speaking, both of them tilted their heads upward.

The upper end of the tube vanished into darkness, its interior completely black. Whether it was sealed shut or simply led into an unlit floor above, neither of them could tell. Either way, it was the only unexplored path left.

"I’ll go first," Diane said, already bracing herself. "If it’s open, I’ll come back for you."

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. A strained groan escaped her lips as her posture shifted unnaturally. Her back arched, bones pushing grotesquely beneath her skin as if trying to tear their way out. Then they did.

Skeletal wings burst free, unfolding in segments, intricate and sharp, their frames quickly filled with thin, red muscle fibers. They resembled bat wings, but far more complex, engineered rather than natural.

Sweat streamed down Diane’s temples as she lifted herself into the air, wings beating carefully as she ascended toward the darkness above the tube, like a closed door.

When she reached it, her scythe flashed, striking against the surface with force meant to shatter reinforced steel.

The impact rang sharply, but the door did not move. She struck again, harder this time, then again, but the structure remained stubbornly sealed.

Diane hovered there for a moment, jaw clenched, before slowly descending back down, the truth settling between them with grim certainty. Whatever lay above, they weren’t meant to reach it this way.

It was as if the entire system had simply stopped responding.

Diane descended and yanked the cloth from the staff member’s mouth, her patience gone.

"What the hell is going on? Why is it closed?"

The man gulped, his voice shaking as he answered, "Th-there’s an emergency lockdown. Look at the lamp above the lift. It’s red. When that happens, almost everything is sealed."

Maria glanced toward the lift and cursed under her breath. "Shit. Did we trigger it?"

The man shook his head rapidly. "No, I swear. I didn’t do anything."

And judging by the silence in the area, neither had they. There were no guards rushing in, no alarms blaring. Whatever caused this, it didn’t start here.

"It must be Seamus and Dylan, they are here...," Diane muttered. "Bianca, can you confirm?" Maria asked, her voice tight.

There was no response.

Maria frowned and pulled the doll from her pocket. The glass eyes that normally glowed with a soft golden light were completely dark. Cold dread settled in her stomach.

"We’re disconnected from her," Maria whispered.

Diane exhaled slowly. "I expected that. This place really is like Corvane Manor."

Her thoughts drifted back to what Seamus had told her, about his time there, about the house itself.

"The manor is alive," he had said. "It’s a domain formed by the souls of children. It can reshape itself, create illusions, and manifest monsters. Everything inside serves the will of the House. It’s a nightmare."

Standing there now, Diane believed it. The corpses, the staff, even the rooms themselves could be nothing more than manifestations.

Illusions born from hatred, sacrifice, and lingering souls. But illusion or not, the danger was real.

"We still have to use the lift," Diane said finally.

Maria tightened her grip on the gun. "I’m ready. I won’t slow you down."

They approached the lift together. When Maria pressed the button, the ding sounded far too loud in the silence, making both of them flinch.

The doors slid open, revealing the same interior as before, yet something about it felt wrong, like a familiar place turned hostile.

They stepped inside and selected a floor two levels above. The lift ascended smoothly for a few seconds, then stopped abruptly and the door opened as the only thing welcoming them was just darkness.

Both women raised their weapons.

A thin strand fell from above. At first, Maria thought it was a wire. Then she realized it wasn’t a thread at all.

It was a spider web.

They looked up instinctively.

Eight eyes stared back at them, reflecting their own fear just before the massive body dropped. The impact was heavy, crushing the air from Diane’s lungs as her scythe slipped from her grip and vanished across the floor.

Pain and pressure crushed her muscles. Diane reacted on instinct, tearing a bone sword from her arm and plunging it into the creature’s body.

The spider shrieked violently, thrashing as she carved through its abdomen, ignoring the blood coating her hands. She ripped the blade free and hurled the twitching corpse aside to find that Maria wasn’t inside the lift at all.

"Maria!" she shouted to the darkness in front of her.

No answer.

Panic exploded in her chest. "Maria!"

"Mmph—Diane!"

Then the floor suddenly lit up. Diane sees Maria wrapped tightly in thick layers of webbing, her body cocooned as the enormous spider dragged her across the floor with terrifying speed.

The creature disappeared around the corner in an instant, taking Maria with it.

"Fuck!" Diane sprinted after them, but it was too late. The spider was gone.

She skidded to a halt as the environment around her changed again. The hallway ahead turned a vivid, violent red, as though soaked in blood. The light pulsed, making her skin crawl.

Diane clenched her teeth. "No. Maria comes first."

She followed the trail into the darkness, chasing the direction the spider vanished. The corridor ahead was pitch black, broken only by a distant red light blinking faintly in the far end. She could barely see anything at all.

Still, she didn’t stop.

Without hesitation, Diane ran straight into the darkness.

But when she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the hallway. She stood in a surveillance room.

Screens covered the walls from floor to ceiling, each one showing a different part of the Red Zone.

Her breath caught as she recognized what they displayed. Seamus was on one screen, bloodied fighting the armed personnel.

Dylan appeared on another, barely visible through shadows as he battled his way through something massive and misshapen.

And then there was Maria. Maria was on a screen surrounded by thick spider cocoons, her body bound and suspended, waiting like prey stored for later. Diane’s chest tightened painfully.

She turned sharply as he could feel a presence behind her, weapon already raised, and found herself facing a young man with silver hair and striking golden eyes.

He wore a pristine lab coat, thin glasses perched on his nose, delicate chains hanging from the frames like jewelry.

His posture was relaxed, confident, and entirely unbothered by the blade aimed at him.

"Lady Diane," he said smoothly, his voice calm and cultured. "It’s terribly rude to enter without an invitation. Had you asked, I would have guided you properly into the Red Zone."

Her grip tightened. "Who are you? How did you even know me" she demanded. "Which House do you belong to?"

He tilted his head slightly, as if amused by the question. "After everything you’ve seen? The spiders, the webs, the way this place breathes?" He shrugged lightly. "Surely the answer is obvious."

Her eyes narrowed, fury surging. "Latros," she hissed. "You’re Latros. Stop this farce and let Maria go."

He smiled and bowed with flawless aristocratic grace. "Mark Latros, at your service."

"So it’s really you, your Covenant breaking the old oath!"

Mark laughed, "what old oath? We never follow it in the first place. The strong won’t linger with the weak and helpless." His eyes narrowed.

Straightening, his gaze turned clinical. "But tell me, my lady, why burden yourself over someone so insignificant?"