Sanctified Hunger

Mikaela never asked to be turned. Once a devout woman of unshakable faith, her life was stolen and rewritten in blood. Now a vampire, cursed to the night and torn from her divine tether, she wanders the world not as a monster, but as a sinner desperate for grace. Each night, after sunset, she walks barefoot to the church. The holy ground sears her feet. The cross singes her skin. Still, she kneels at the altar, rosary clutched tight, whispering prayers through the smoke of her own burning flesh. She does not pray for salvation—only for purpose. For penance. For a way back. When a vampire hunter finds her one night, trembling beneath the stained glass, he raises his weapon. It is his calling to end her. But the sight of a vampire on holy ground—smoking, burning, weeping—and begging not for mercy, but for guidance… It makes him hesitate. And that hesitation changes everything.