The day was already turning a little dark. As Katie and Gadreel walked down the halls of the Sunny Apartment Complex, they suddenly ran into a young woman. The young woman immediately turned her face to the other side, but that didn't stop Katie from letting out a big smile and calling out her name.

“Hey Chloe! What’s up!”

“Uh...hey Katie! Good evening.” The young woman muttered. It was clear she was displeased to see Katie, but she nonetheless acted as polite as possible. “How are things going?”

“Oh, you would not believe the day we had!” Katie replied with an exaggerated voice. “No, for real though. I can tell you, but there’s no way you’ll believe it.”

Her eyes scanned across the young woman with interest. Chloe, made a little uncomfortable by the gaze, slowly backed off. “Hmmm...I’m sorry, Katie, but I’ve got some work to do. I’ll talk to you later!”

With that said, she quickly turned around and retreated into her own room and shut the door.

Tilting her head in an adorable way, Katie led the way back into her room. As she closed the door, Gadreel finally spoke up.

“Katie, I know you want to have your fun, but the situation here is really getting more and more out of hand.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, opened an app, and showed something to Katie.

Just like he feared, this only made Katie smile.

“Katie…”

“Yep, I’m counting on that.”

“Do you have any idea how…”

“I don’t, but I look forward to finding out.”

Gadreel was about to say something else, but the fierce look Katie tossed him made him wisely shut his mouth. In a sense, Katie was more dangerous than any monster in the world. She had the power of a god and the mind of the devil. She could smile at you one moment and gut you alive the next. Yet, Gadreel needed her.

The room was a little silent as the two of them finally had the chance to go over the prize they collected. Gadreel found this part extremely satisfying as he went through the pile and tried to use his experience to identify them. Of course, the bottle of beer he started pouring down his throat made the process even better.

“Let’s see...this seems to be some sort of ancient Aztec artifact. I think it is the host to some sort of curse.” He shrugged as he tossed the ancient wooden trinket to Katie. “Don’t get so excited, my friend. It can kill a few people at most...and it will take ages during that. It’s useless to us.”

“Oh, how disappointing.” Katie sighed and crushed the wooden trinket with ease. A faint scream echoed through the room. The brunette was satisfied for a brief moment...until she realized she destroyed a relic that could be worth millions. “Uh...any chance there’s a time machine in that pile?”

“Nope.”

As Katie started banging her head against the wall, Gadreel continued his search.

“This seems to be...a prize from the Dark Pantheon? Wow. I believe it’s the claw of one of their summoned beasts. A good smith can turn this into a blade or something. May be valuable.”

“What’s this? Oh right, that must be the trinket with the Demon sealed inside. We can kill it...or better, free it and then kill it. I’m sure you’ll enjoy that. Or we can sell it to someone who can enslave the Demon. I don’t know what category this Demon belongs to, but it’s definitely not a pushover.”

“And this...look at that! A pack of Soul Stones.” Gadreel added before Katie could ask. “Soul Stones are these, well, stones. They are forged with human souls as the raw material. They are a popular type of currency in Hell. Demons love them, and so do a lot of supernatural beings.”

“And what exactly do they do?” Katie raised her eyebrows, her interest raised. “Can I eat it?”

Gadreel looked down on the bag of stones that were as big as a tennis ball. “Some beings eat it, but unless you want to choke yourself to death...anyway, my point is, most entities use these stones by breaking them and absorbing them with their powers. These Soul Stones can toughen up the souls of their users. They’re beneficial to anything with a soul. Of course, if you use too many of them, you may be driven mad. These are made of human souls, after all, and if you use too many of them at once, your body may no longer be yours.”

He proceeded to toss the bag to Katie. Soul Stones were good, but Angels didn't have souls, and it would take so much more than a handful of human souls to replenish the celestial grace of Angels. These Stones were mostly useless to him.

Katie caught the bag. She reached inside and pulled out one of the Stones. Slowly, she tried to crush the Stone with her bare hands. It wasn’t easy. Katie could rip open a tank with her hands, but it took her twenty seconds of exerting pressure before the Stone finally started to crack. Finally, Katie crushed the Stone into countless tiny pieces.

Once the Stone was broken, Katie felt something entering her body, and for a moment, she found herself in a dark parking lot. The pain on her chest brought her gaze down to the bullet hole in her heart.

And then, she was back in that apartment room.

“Most of the Soul Stones are made with dead people. As such, as a side effect, the users of the Soul Stones tend to get a glimpse of some of their deepest and darkest memories. Use too many of these Stones at once, and you may have trouble telling the difference between them and you.”

Katie stretched her arms before looking down at her hands. With a single groan, a brown Branch Blade covered her right forearm. “I don’t feel anything different.”

“Well, your powers don’t really correspond to the strength of your soul. If you’re a psychic or a mage, you’ll be benefited more directly.” Gadreel shrugged.

Losing interest, Katie tossed the bag of Soul Stones to the side. Her attention quickly shifted to the glass bottle on the table. The Vampire Count essence.

“So, Gadreel my friend,” Katie picked up the glass bottle. “ever seen anyone use the vampire essence?”

Gadreel took another drink of his beer.

“I know the basics. As far as I’ve heard, using the essence of a vampire requires a former ritual. The more powerful the essence, the more complicated the ritual is. This should be a Vampire Count, so...”

That was where Katie cut in. Rituals? As in robes and prayers and other bullshit? She didn't have time for something that boring!

“And what if I am feeling a little more...unorthodox?” She saw the confusion in Gadreel’s eyes. “What I mean is...what will happen if I drink it?”

Of course you want to drink the blood of a vampire… “I don’t know about you, but if ordinary people drink that, the essence will scorch through their teeth and jaws...maybe it’ll burn a path down? It’ll be really nasty...and you’ve chugged it already. Of course.”

“Oh yeah…” Katie quietly set the empty glass bottle on the table. She could feel the blood burning as it dripped down her throat. Strangely, it seemed to have disappeared once it was fully inside her body.

For a second, nothing happened. That was until Katie let out a small shriek. Powers of unbelievable scale erupted inside of her body, transforming her blood and bone alike. Branches forced their way out of her skin, creating a horrifyingly bloody sight as they merged with the powers of the vampire.

Gadreel took a few steps back and observed the scene in silence.

Red blood stained the floor. Katie’s blood. The transformation process was anything but pleasant. This was the second time Katie was transformed by outside forces. The first time was all the way back when Kameron put the supernatural Mu plant inside Katie in an effort to turn her into a minion to help him track down Mira. The plant rooted and grew, making Katie a supernatural combatant, but Kameron was never able to control her.

Ever since then, the pain suffered by Katie amplified the seed significantly, along with her speed and strength.

This time, Katie ingested the Vampire Count essence willingly. Compared to the Mu seed, the essence was a lot more powerful and dominant. It quickly took over the seed inside Katie. Infecting it. Enhancing it.

It didn't take long before the brown branches extending out of Katie turned as red as blood. Gadreel had to admit the scarlet color looked a lot better compared to the dull brown the branches used to be. As always, she cared about colors and aesthetics a lot more than she should.

Of course, the changes were a lot more than just the aesthetics. The enhancements to the combat side this change brought required more experiments.

Suddenly, with little warning, a puff of red smoke exploded at where Katie was. The next second, Katie reappeared two meters away, her leg smashing a wooden chair into bits.

“Ok…” Katie said quietly, pushing the words through her clenched teeth. “How does that even work? What was thart? Teleportation?”

“Yeah, vampires can do that.” Gadreel shrugged, not that surprised by what he just witnessed. “It’s sort of their natural gift. One of their gifts, anyway. Along with supernatural speed and strength. Oh, and blood magic.”

Katie didn't know if her speed or strength got any more supernatural, but she did have an idea with the blood magic. She slowly raised her hand, and the blood on the ground lifted into the air. They formed into the shape of an arrow and pierced into another wooden chair, slicing right through with little resistance.

If it was a man on the other side, he wouldn’t end up any better than the chair.

“Most vampires need hard work and talent alike to master blood magic.” Gadreel explained, silently calculating how much the chairs were worth. “But the owner of the essence you absorbed is too high up in the food chain. Blood magic is in his blood. That’s why you can use the magic easily without a day of training. If the vampires out there find out what's happening here, they'll be so jealous.”

He suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, and the strength of your soul also plays into you using magic and how long you can use it without exhausting yourself. The Soul Stones should come in handy now.”

“The spells are impressive, but I still prefer hand-to-hand combat.” These were great news, but Katie merely shrugged. The pain was starting to wear off. A pity. Without another word, she turned and walked into the bathroom. After closing the door, she stripped down and looked at herself in the mirror.

Despite the blood on her skin, Katie’s skin was soft and spotless. She had incurred more injuries in the last year than most soldiers would in their lifetime, but at the end of the day, even the slightest scars healed themselves. When all was said and done, she still looked young and innocent, which was the complete opposite of what she truly was.

She was as deadly as she was pretty, and as cute as she was sadistic.

Katie brushed through her hair again. Her eyes keenly landed on the tip of her hair strands, which have adopted a scarlet scheme during the bloody mutation. Most of her hair was still dark, but the tips have become red. This added a new sense of wildness to her appearance.

Satisfied, Katie controlled the blood on her skin with her newly gained powers, formed them into a blood dagger, and cut it through her chest.

In another room in the Sunny Apartment Complex, Chloe made her way into the bathroom. She was obviously distraught. Even as her hand reached out and turned on the lights, Chloe found herself staring into the mirror.

The reflection in the mirror stared right back at her.

And then, the reflection smiled. Blood dripped out of her eyes.

Chloe’s eyes widened. A cry of horror left her mouth as she raised her fist and punched the mirror. The glass shattered, and the glass shards cut through her skin. But before Chloe could take a breath of relief, the mirror was returned to its previous form, perfectly nice and shiny. And the injuries on Chloe’s hands were nowhere to be seen.

“No. No...no!” Chloe screamed before punching the mirror once again. The same thing as before happened. The mirror broke. The mirror returned. After countless times of repeating the same cycle, Chloe finally gave up. The young woman took a few steps back before collapsing on the ground. Her hands clutched onto her head, as if that could protect her from the horror she was in.

“Please...please! Just let me go! What do you want from me? Why are you doing this to me? Who...who even are you?”

The reflection didn't answer. It just kept on smiling. Distinctly, Chloe fell asleep in front of the mirror. By the time she woke up, the night was over, and another day awaited her.

And the cycle continued.