III. IN THE MIDNIGHT

I was still there when that vampire left us. William walked up to me. He grabbed my shoulders, checked for wounds on my neck. 

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Your hand?”

“Don’t think about it. It’ll heal later.”

That’s a lie. I can’t even move my own right hand. My wrist feels crushed. I don’t want to look weak in front of him. I honestly hate the pitiful gaze of others. 

“Why did you give up? William who I know won’t give up like that.” 

“I can’t let you die. Don’t you understand?”

“My life doesn’t matter. Our mission must be a top priority.”

He just kept quiet, not responding to what I said. He walked up to get his gun, which he threw before. Then, he come back to me. His hands caressed my face gently. I like his touch, which calms me down a bit.

“Listen. I’m the leader of this team. You’re part of my responsibility. So is Claire. Do you think... I can let you die in front of my own eyes?”

“Soldiers are not afraid to die.”

“You--"

He turned his back, “I’ve got the box. We’re back. Our work is done--“

“No. We still have one more mission, right?” I asked while trying to fix my wrist.

‘Damn it. It hurts.’

William glared, couldn’t believe it. “Don’t you see how your hand are? Let’s go back.”

“My left hand is still moving. Don’t worry.”

“Ara, stop denying me.”

“If you don’t want to do it, let me finish them.”

“Tch. Wait!” exclaimed the man while taking off his servant’s suit.

William ripped off the bottom of the black T-shirt he was wearing. Then he wrapped a wound around my neck with that thing. He knew it was useless trying to persuade me to go back without killing that bloodthirsty creature over there.

“Promise me you won’t get hurt again.”

“I promise, Captain. I’ll be careful.”

“All right. H-06, do you hear me?”

“Yes, Captain. H-06 here,” replied Claire

“Close all exits.”

“Aye, Sir!” replied Claire excitedly from the control room.

Her hands were busy dancing over the keyboard, “Roger, all access has locked.”

“Good job.”

Then, I held a blade with my left hand. We both stopped in front of the driveway to the warehouse. Suddenly all the pairs of eyes were looking at us, or rather towards my neck. I think the smell of my blood is quite interesting to them.

The eyes of the vampires immediately turn red, and fangs appear from the corners of their lips. The hiss they put out made me smile.

‘That’s good. Come on, show me your true colors.’

Terrified men run for the exits. They all panicked because the doors couldn’t open. I wanted to tell them I was just taking care of vampires here, but there was no time to do it.

“You want to compete with me, Captain? Let’s see who can get the highest points,” I said while twirling a sword in my hand.

“Are you challenging me? It is a joke?”

“Häagen Dazs?”

“Deal.”

William pulled out his silver gun. We’re wearing front-back formations. Trust each other’s backs. Those vampires started attacking both of us at the same time. I pointed my slash and prick at them. In one slash, three vampires split up and turned to black ash. A loud bang of music accompanied our hunt tonight. 

One vampire threw a medium-sized beer bottle at me. I quickly twisted my body and kicked the bottle until it broke. Fragments of the bottle stuck to the bodies of the vampires right in front of me. They moan in pain.

“That must have hurt,” I murmured quietly.

‘BANG!’

William shot them right in the head. The vampires instantly turn to ashes along with their shattered heads. The effect of our special weapons is the same. Although the weapons used got different results depending on the skill and physical strength of the user.

“30 ... 34 ....” I said while counting every vampire I’ve killed.

“H-06, do you want to join us?”

“I’m busy here, too, Captain!” replied Claire.

My body automatically avoids any attacks from approaching vampires. Their starving faces make me even more eager to destroy them.

Fifteen minutes passed. There’s only a few vampires left who want to escape from us. We fill the first floor with black ash covering the entire room.

“Where are you going to run?”

My hand took the gun from the belt and tried to aim at the vampire’s head, which was clawing through a steel door near to the two of us.

“Say goodbye to your eternal world.”

I haven’t pulled the trigger yet, William casually preceded me. I look at him. The man chuckled quietly and stuck out his tongue, teasing me. I squealed angrily while putting my gun back.

‘Can I kill this man?’

“You’re taking too long, Ara.” he commented.

“He was mine, and you killed him. It’s not fair.”

“On the second floor, right, there’s still a lot of--“

“I’ll be there first.”

“Hey--“

I jumped up to the second floor without using the stairs. Both my legs floated for a few seconds in the air. Then, my hand gripped the iron fence and pulled my body over the fence boundary. This martial arts skill is useful.

William followed me down the stairs. I tried to hold back the laughter of seeing our team leader seem to take his breath. The stamina of the two of us is clearly different.

“Let’s break down these doors.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“I’ll take the right.”

“Okay.”

We stood in front of each door of the room that we were going to enter. William gave me the code with a finger count. I nodded after the count of three. I can feel the aura of vampires coming out of the room in front of me.

We both kicked both doors down at the same time. Then step into the room. My blue eyes caught a vampire who has intercourse with a woman in the bed. I immediately raised my gun and shot the vampire in the head. In a second, the man turns to ashes. It surprised the woman in front of him.

“Get dressed and go downstairs. When we finish, we will open the door.”

She just nodded quietly. I’m going out of the room and break into the next room. Empty. Then I walked out to see William, who had also just come out of the room in front of me.

“How is it?” asked the man.

“Second room’s clear, Captain.”

“Many rooms are empty today. Come on, let’s keep going!”

“All right.”

I’m standing in front of the next room. The dark aura envelops the room with number ‘04’. I replaced the gun with my sword. That aura is almost the same as the vampire who broke my right hand earlier. I’m sure that I can’t handle it alone.

I kicked that door down and stepped carefully into the room. The naked woman’s body was lying stiff on a king-size white bed. I walked closer. The corpse’s eyes were scudding, almost out of place. It’s like she just saw something terrible. Her skin is shrinking. Her pretty face turned out to be like a granny. It looks more like a human skull wrapped in skin.

“You—”

I turned towards the source of the sound. A handsome man in a plain white shirt sits on a maroon couch. A smile appeared on the man’s lips when he looked at me.

“Are you ‘The Legend of Sword’ that’s talked about?” he continued.

“The Legend—What do you mean?”

“Pftt—it’s just a little rabbit that’s been bothering us.” He shook his head, “hmm, unbelievable.”

“....”

“Look, a dumber human like you can never beat us.”

“Are you God? We must destroy arrogant creatures.”

“In your dreams, Bunny.”

My hand clenched firmly to see that man laughing loudly. They're out-of-bounds snobbery makes me sick.

“Uh, what is this? You’ve met my brother. I’m surprised. Why he didn’t kill you, bunny?”

The tall man in the blink of an eye disappears from his place. He now stands right in front of me. The smirk on his lips makes me get goosebumps. This man is terrible.

“You’re cute. Sorry, but I’m more interested with sexy women. Too bad your chest is flat--“

I threw my sword straight at the man. He quickly dodged by leaning his athletic body backwards. My sword ended up sticking perfectly into the wall and causing some cracks there.

“We’re just getting started, and you’re like this? Wow, awesome!” the man said with a standing ovation.

“Shut your fucking mouth up. Comeback!”

The sword vibrated and automatically returned to me. The man dodged a second time. I immediately caught my sword and pointed it at the heart of the man in front of him. He shrugs his shoulder, doesn’t care.

“Now I know why my brother let go of his hunt.”

“Your brother? You mean that bastard?”

“That’s right. He’s my brother, Louis Kingsley. What did you call him? Bastard? Pftt—”

I saw him holding back his laughter. I frowned, I don’t understand. Did I just say something funny? I don’t think so. 

“You really are something. Ah, I wanted to see Louis face when he heard being called ‘bastard’ by a girl.”

“Prince Louis?” I murmured quietly.

‘Damn. So that guy was the heir to the vampire throne kingdom?! The crown prince is notoriously cruel and cold-blooded. I don’t believe I meet him in this sucking place.’

I’m still glaring at the man in front of me. Evan just chuckled slowly at me, wielding a sword around his neck.

“Relax, I will not hurt you.”

My forehead frowned to hear what he had said. I really don’t understand what this guy’s talking about. 

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been marked by my brother, Bunny. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you playing much longer. I have to go now. Good luck~”

‘Marked? What does that mean?’

The man disappeared from my sight. I don’t know why I suddenly feel dizzy. My knees are limp, unable to sustain my weight. I forced myself to get out of the room, even though the floor in front of him was spinning around. My hand clutched the door handle firmly.

“Ara!”

I vaguely saw William running closer. The man with dark brown mane was holding my body, which about to fall. His gigantic hands patted me on the cheek slowly.

“Are you okay? Hey, Ara! Answer me. Don’t scare me.”

“I’m felt sleepy, Will.”

‘I can feel it. Something inside me is trying to get out. But… What’s that?’

***