Sooha’s eyes flitted from one boy to the next, trying to reconcile the playful, sometimes mischievous friends she had known with the ancient beings they truly were. Solon, with his calm demeanor, had spoken with a depth of sorrow that she had never seen before. Heli’s usual cheerfulness now seemed like a mask, hiding the pain of their shared past. 

“I... I don’t know what to say,” Sooha finally whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “All this time, you’ve been...” 

“Vampires,” Shion finished for her, his expression softening. “We didn’t want you to find out like this, but there was no other way. You needed to know the truth.” 

Sooha nodded slowly, trying to wrap her mind around everything she had learned. “Why now? Why did you decide to tell me?” 

The boys exchanged glances before Heli spoke up. “Because you’re important to us, Sooha. We didn’t want to keep secrets from you anymore. And with everything that’s been happening... we thought it was time.” 

Sooha’s mind flashed back to the strange events of the past few days—the nightmares, the sudden attacks, her newfound strength. It was all connected, she realized, to the world they had kept hidden from her. “Does this have anything to do with the Blood Altar?” she asked, the name suddenly surfacing in her memory. 

The boys exchanged puzzled glances. "The Blood Altar?" Heli repeated, confusion evident in his voice. 

"We’ve never heard of it," Jaan admitted. "What is it?" 

Sooha hesitated, realizing that they were just as in the dark about it as she was. "I... I don’t know," she said finally. "I saw it mentioned in a journal, but I don't know what it means either." 

The room fell silent, the mystery of the Blood Altar hanging over them like a dark cloud. Sooha could sense that this was just the beginning, that there was much more to uncover. But for now, she felt a deep connection with the boys, a bond forged in the shared understanding of their past. 

And as the night wore on, she knew that whatever came next, they would face it together.