Raverine wore a black hoodie and loose denim jeans. He even bought an anonymous mask so that he could hide his whole face from the sellers. The only hidden weapon he has is his punches, kicks, and the tiny and slim knife he hid. The knife doesn’t really look like a knife, more like a flexible blade wrapped around his belt.
He used his black Kawasaki Ninja H2 motorbike instead of his car. It was faster and better than his sedan car in case the trading won't end well. Instead of stopping in front of the building, he hid his motorcycle five meters away from it where he could easily jump on it and ride away from the place. He went down from his motorbike after parking it a meter away from a rusty bob wire. He took off his black helmet and covered his face with the Anonymous mask. He lifted his gaze and saw a hanging poster on top of the building.
"To Future… Cecil building..." he muttered to himself and exhaled deeply.
The upper floors of the building w
“Sir, believe me, I have sufficient evidence on my claim. Just hear me out.” Ember circled around her desk and walked by the Chief’s side. She heard Chief groan, implying that he wants Ember to stop talking but Ember went on with her explanation. The information she has on her hand is sound but if she were to mention her sister’s name on this, it would mean a lot of trouble so that detail is out. “A suspect name Sullivan Machoss will be selling an illegal product at the abandoned construction of Cecil building tonight. The product was smuggled from Portland to the capital city. I got this information from someone I know in the capital city police department, who is working on this smuggling case as well.”“Detective Ember...” Chief Wills sighed and patted her shoulders, "I don't need to send my boys to raid some trading of an illegal product, you say. I mean... you can't even state the name of the product. Surely, a picture of t
Ember turned her motorcycle's engine off after parking it near the road and withdrew her gun before walking towards the fence surrounding the Cecil building. Ember gripped her gun between her hands and positioned it below her. Careful she must be as she walks on a ground occupied by crushed stones that could create unwanted noises and must not be caught. A black motorbike standing behind a rustic bob wire caught her attention and approached it with light steps on her feet. She inserted her hand into her pocket and held her camera. She opened the back camera and removed the flash and sound of it. She took a picture of the motorbike's plate number and body.When she was done with taking pictures for evidence, she then hid her camera and quickly crouched when she heard someone walking nearby. She prepared herself and held her gun leveling her eyes. The night was dark enough to conceal her shadow and figure. Little to no light was emitting around. She controlled her breathing and
Pox went to his desk and turned on his computer. Ember followed him and stared down at the screen of his computer. Pox opened the documents and clicked a file entitled 'DD'. Pox sat on his chair while Ember is standing behind him.Pox inhaled. "Okay, so basically, DD is a doughnut shop, which means Dunkin' Doughnut," Pox said, sounding so proud of his discovery. He looked behind and stared at Ember’s frowned face.Ember shut her eyes and open them to glare at Pox. "Are you? Are you playing with me, Pox?" Ember exhaled. “Do you think that’s the evidence? A doughnut?” Ember pointed to his screen.Pox gulped before answering, "No..." Ember groaned and sat on a chair beside Pox. Ember crossed her arms on top of his desk and rested her head on top of it. “Well, you were so stressed about this ‘DD’ so I tried to look up for it.”“And you think that whatever the internet presents to you is good evidence. Wher
Her blood. It has a metallic odor. The once cold blood blazed in warmth and desire. Raverine kept thinking about how he finally found it. The human who took hold of his cravings. The mature clean-blooded human had been wafting by Raverine's nose the entire time, oblivious to how tasty it would be beneath the human skin through the human flesh.His trembling hands clutched his motor handle tightly, attempting to blur the words that disoriented his vision and mind. His mind was only filled with irrational thoughts. Thoughts that reveal his true vampire nature.It's madness. When he smelled the tiniest burst of that woman's blood out of her shoulder, it felt like he had a severe fever. His eyes would show how thirsty he was if he wasn't wearing his mask. He nearly turned into a monster that moment, with bright red glowing around his night-like pupil.If he was not able to control himself then he would not hesitate to pierce his poisonous fang and suck out that woma
Raverine stayed late in his restaurant, he cleaned the kitchen as he kept thinking about how he will approach the clean-blooded human without harming or intoxicating her. In circles, Raverine is trying to come up with a realistic plan but it all comes down to persuasion and lies.Raverine went to the back of the kitchen to smoke a little while. Smoking helps him think, and he thought it would only take him one smoke but two wasn’t even enough. But he had to leave now and make a move. Once the final smoke was puffed out of his mouth, he rubbed the butt of the cigar to the wall. He wiped his hand on his pants and was about to open the door.But his hand stopped from twisting the door knob open and slowly turn around to the shadows watching him in the same alley where he smoked.Raverine smirked and brushed his hair up. “Did I just wake up the vampires from their coffins?”“We are always awake…” the man hiding in the shadow said then snickered. “Quite proud of you, bird.”The voice echoe
Pox wondered what brought that Scavenger’s Hut chef-owner, Sir Agustine, into their department and looking for Ember. Then Pox remembered that Ember went to visit his restaurant after she visited Mrs. Grace Jeggins’ apartment. Perhaps Ember got something from that guy that may help solve the death of Nella Jeggins.Pox immediately called Ember to inform her about it. With just one ring, Ember instantly picked up the phone.“Ember! I got—”But before Pox could complete his sentence, a boisterous noise from the Ember’s end wrecked Pox’s eardrums. Pox pulled his phone away from his ears and cussed.“Ah, shit… What was that, Pox?” Ember whispered and Pox heard her shushing the people making the noise. “What’s up, Pox?” Ember said, this time it’s louder than earlier.Pox scratched the back of his ear and groaned. “What was that, Ember? That was so sharp and damn so loud, almost made me deaf. What’s going on there?”Ember cursed under her breath and answered, “The cacophony of Satan’s angel
It’s Sunday, the sun is shining at its best. In history, vampires were known to fear the sun for it burns their skin and slowly melts their flesh but that was just a stupid belief written by someone who saw how vampires turned into ashes when exposed to radioactive chemicals. Or perhaps, someone wrote about this when burning people alive was one of the cruelest punishments centuries ago.But no matter where these different and superficial vampire stories came from, the vampires coexisting with the citizens of Pinephil don’t mind the humans’ tell-tales. It’s best to keep the people ignorant and fool the humans into believing that vampires do burn when exposed to sunlight. Raverine took off his black sunglass and exhaled deeply. Today is the death anniversary of Raverine’s parents. The doctor who announced the death of Raverine’s father, Edmond Agustine, asserted that he died out of illness but Raverine strongly believes that he was killed. As for Raverine’s mother, Jelita Agustine, th
An hour later, Raverine woke up in his restaurant’s office. His vision was blurry and his face kept throbbing. Raverine felt a little dizzy when he slowly tries to shake himself awake. Raverine groaned and wrapped his hands around his head. He cursed under his breath and shut his eyes close. He tried to stand up but he failed and, allow his body to rest more.But his device beeped all of sudden. Raverine forced himself to look at the device and sighed. “What a fool…” Raverine mumbled and groaned when he touched his cheek.Raverine planned this all out. Raverine had to act weak so that the coward Calil would walk close to him. And once that happens, Raverine placed a tracking device on his shoe before Raverine got knocked out.Raverine swiftly hid the device when Hiro knocked on his office door. “Come in,” Raverine said.“Chef, how are you? A black van just dropped you from the back door of the kitchen. Who beat you up?” Hiro asked.Raverine shook his head. “Calil…” Raverine answered a
Uncle Felix started the engine and drove out of the hospital’s parking lot. He adjusted the rear mirror until he could clearly see his niece tailing behind them driving Raverine’s black sedan car. Then he felt Raverine’s questions fuming out of his ears, Uncle Felix let out a chuckle when Raverine realized that he had been staring at him for almost a minute.“He was wounded when he rushed inside the hospital which was still under renovation, he thought that maybe he could steal and tried to scare the nightshift employees—tough boy. Then because I was a military doctor so they sent him to me, thinking I could handle him well without dying first. It was long ago, I am sure Skotieno has forgotten that I was his doctor for a week when he rested in the hospital.”“I am not sure about that,” Raverine said, “But I am certain that he has a good memory for remembering such things. He spent a week, he must’ve remembered you.”Uncle Felix smiled and resumed, “Anyway… He was badly beaten up that
“What happened in Vorkuta?” Ember asked again but Uncle couldn’t find the right words to utter and answer her right away. It was as if Uncle Felix had gone into a traumatic relapse. Ember already knew a little of what happened in that experiment in Vorkuta but what surprised her the most was her Uncle’s knowledge about it but they still chose to keep it a secret from her, so she played dumb this time to extract the story from her uncle.Uncle Felix removed his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and sat down. He began explaining, “I have grown to forget about this but I guess the past will always haunt those who witnessed it. Forgive me, I was taken back by a memory when I went inside the bombed facility where they experimented on smuggled babies.”Ember and Raverine looked at each other, and then Ember said, “What did you see Uncle?”“Well, everything was burnt to the ground but images were preserved. Bodies of infants are decapitated, dissected, and close-up shots of their veins
Another knock and finally the men outside of Uncle Felix’s office made their identity known. They said that they are the security guards of this hospital. Uncle Felix released the tension from his shoulders and so did everyone inide the office. The three of them—Ember, K, and Raverine calmed down and stood behind Uncle Felix. However, Raverine can still smell that badly hidden scent of a familiar kind from those men outside, he is sure of it. Uncle Felix signaled the three of them to move out of sight as he was about to open the door ajar.“Yes? How may I help you?” Uncle Felix asked with his usual work tone.“Doctor, sorry to disturb you but a skunk was spotted around the hospital…”“A skunk?” K murmured to herself in disbelief. Who reports such thing to the staff and residents here? A skunk, K was shaking her head in amusement.“Skunk, you say?”“Yes, Doctor. Just to notify you that he might come inside your office, so please do lock your windows and door while we secure the place.
Ember didn’t bother asking what was happening inside Raverine’s head or the texts he’d been receiving before they left the cabin. After Raverine has a phone call from his restaurant employee or maybe someone else he doesn’t want Ember to know, he looks more like a criminal now than before their first encounter. His aura emitted an ominous feeling that changed the atmosphere between him and Ember. Raverone’s iced cold eyes melted to reveal his burning lust to kill. Ember looked away, she can’t tiptoe around him so she’ll act like Raverine’s sudden shift of mood is nothing but a child’s tantrum.K was the first to leave the cabin and drive back to their hometown. K said she will inform Uncle Felix first about their plans then she’ll go back to their must-be anxious Mother. The December family and their close-knit community are oblivious yet of the situation that Ember has put them and the supernatural presence of vampires that surrounds them. Who knows, Ember surmised, that more of thes
“Raver? Are you nuts? What’s going on? Why did you leave Hiro and your team here all by themselves, working their asses and having to face Calil’s nuisance.”Raverine was too stunned to speak. He pressed the bridge of his nose and tightened his hold on his phone. All he could do was groan over the phone, frustration flooded his mind and there was no way of getting it all out immediately. Why, out of the blue, would Calil visit the restaurant—Raverine mumbled to himself—Calil has never been the one to publicize his hate toward his enemies, not even toward Raverine. Throughout his existence, that double-faced son of the Devil will never reveal his dark side to the public to keep his hands clean. Raverine knew something was wrong with Calil’s actions. Diego scoffed and went on to blame Raverine for what happened to his management and the restaurant. Although the after-effect of Calil’s actions has yet to spur the mass media and vampires of all kinds, Diego is worried about the next time
“Let’s reel back from the start,” K said, crossed her arms, and leaned back on the couch.The rustle of leaves blown by the wind outside the cabin gently laid to silence. The cabin turned into a vacuum for a little while, waiting for something to happen. Raverine ducked his head and rubbed his nape. Ember was the first to move and utter a word.“Before this web of tail-chasing and mask-hunting events, our department was bombarded with cases of missing persons and smuggling. You know that K, right?”K gave a subtle nod. “That’s why I told you that the smuggling cases weren’t transacted through the city, but it could be somewhere in the desert mountains.”“Yeah,” Ember continued, “Most of these cases went cold and if we look closely, there’s a similar pattern in demographics and location in these cases. I wanted to resolve it properly so I weaved all the pieces of information from these cold cases which even led me back to the illegal smuggling cases I handled. Eventually, I picked up t
Ember rushed to meet K from the gate and prepared herself to dodge K’s attack in case K threw a fit at her and blew her with a punch in the stomach—she would think she deserved half of the pain though. K is leaning against her dark blue motorbike while chewing something. A celery? Ember questioned in her mind. It is indeed a celery that K has been chewing to calm her. K’s brows have never been buried into her glabella and her arms are tightly crossed beneath her chest. K approached Ember and spit the celery before Ember could come closer to her.Both of the sisters greeted each other with a tight hug. K patted Ember’s back and pulled her out of the embrace to get a better look at her face. Ember heaved out a sigh of relief.“I thought I could call you ‘sister’, but it’s better to use the ‘little sister’ once more. How careless were you, this time?” K began to berate Ember. “I would’ve understood if you got into a bloody fight but to drag the family into your mess. Ember, I taught you
Nightmares, thunder, and rain. In my sleep, all that is happening is occurring in a fast motion—the past, the present, and even the future move in a blur. There’s no story to follow in this dream of mine, it’s not a nightmare either. All I can see is the red and blue lights flashing before my eyes and the long noise of police sirens wrecking my eardrums. The incoherent, indistinct words whispered to me as I asked around the people in my dreams. My eyes opened abruptly. I awoke, not because of the dream I had that I could vividly feel and remember, but at the sound of breathing—soft and warm. His skin brushed against my skin. He is cold, awfully cold that his body will soon start crystallizing. Raverine huffed, then buried his forehead in my shoulder.“You are so warm,” he mumbled and snuggled his body closer to me.His feet were dangling on the other side of the sofa and his upper body managed to steal a good space, pushing me to sink deep into the cushion.“Get the fuck off of me,” I
I woke up and felt hungry when I smelled good food wafting around the place. I rubbed my face and caught a glimpse of Raverine’s back from the kitchen. He’s wearing an apron, probably making the breakfast that’s why the place smells like an expensive diner. I let out a low sigh and sit up straight on the couch, my eyes are still half-open.“Hey, morning,” Raverine greeted without turning around to face me.“Yeah, morning,” I replied, my voice is a little groggy.I yawned and stretched my body muscles before fixing my hair and opening my eyes completely. Once I was wide awake, a lot of papers scattered atop the small table stunned me. I grabbed a few of them and scanned their content. Most of the documents are the profiles of influential people and government officials. One document caught my attention and it’s the profile data of a presidential candidate this year. So, this person must be one of them, the vampires of Die Dark Clan. I heard Raverine coming towards me, so I placed the d