"No, don’t ask. You already know." Elijah stopped Allen before he could ask. He was sure that his blood servant caught Alice’s scent in him when he came back, but he was too awkward to even ask. Allen cleared his throat, "I’m... just surprised. I mean, you loathed that woman. But-" He cut himself simply because he knew that he shouldn’t ask. He wouldn’t even have to if it was any other person— literally anyone else.But it was the person he was supposed to kill. "What would happen now, then?" Allen had to ask. As much as he hated it, his master’s life depends on Alice. If she dies in Elijah’s hands, the latter also dies as a human. And if Elijah fails to do so, he will lose his chance to die as a human.Each option was equally bad for Elijah, but the other was good for Allen.His master shakes his head, "Honestly, I don’t know anymore. I was determined to finish this. At least I thought I was, but with her, there was something very different. I don’t see her as that woman who cursed
“My whole body aches. I need a month vacation after this…” Alice heard Art complains as they gather to the headquarters. She looked around and she hasn’t seen everyone gathered like this in a while. The only time she sees all the hunters being gathered is during the quarterly assembly. There's a lot of people but Alice was sure that there were still a lot missing. She figured that they either injured and is in the hospital or they already quit because of how dangerous their job was getting. Alice was starting to wonder if the trainees are already considered quitting too. It’s the proof that the situation was getting more out of hand and she is pissed that she couldn't do anything despite being aware of what was happening."Alice, how are you?" Alice's train of thought were cut by Carl's question."Homicidal." She answered without any second thought.Carl smiled, quite the opposite of what she was expecting."You're back to usual I see." He couldn't stop smiling which confused Alice e
"So you want me to access the organization's database and try to find a pureblood?" Karina summarized the entirety of Alice's request, which sounded more like rambling. "Exactly. That wouldn’t be hard for you, right? You're good at this. You found Gardenia when they all couldn't." This time, Alice sounded like a scammer who was trying to convince Karina to buy something that was entirely overpriced. Karina is starting to consider backing out the more Alice tries so hard to convince her. Karina looked at Alice with a straight face, "the last time I tried that to find out about your past, I was found out within minutes. That's how fast they are. I’m talented, but I can’t easily block off a whole team of geniuses. You know that the organization only gets the best of the best for that department." Alice's shoulder dropped with disappointment. Just when she thought the woman could help her. She was about to complain that Karina wasn’t as helpful as she thought but halted when she spoke a
"Don’t you dare leave me." Karina held Alice’s sleeves tightly after they had arrived near where Karina found Elijah. One move, and she will definitely rip Alice's clothes. "Just stay here, please. The headquarters doesn’t need another dead hunter!" Karina glared at her, "Do you think they would be pleased that I just let you get killed then!? Purebloods are on a different level, but I still have my pride as a hunter." Alice glanced at the house. The vampire probably knew that she was around already. "Thirty minutes. Give me as much. If you haven’t seen me get out by then, get away as far as possible." Alice got out of the car. She would have tied Karina or rendered her unconscious, but she didn’t have much time. She went straight to the given address and pressed the doorbell. She waited, but no vampire came out. "This damn vampire." She pressed the doorbell non-stop until the gates finally opened. Alice glanced at Karina’s car, which was parked nearby. Fortunately, the woman ha
Allen kept his head low after the hunter left, "I’m sorry. I couldn’t control myself. But that woman is so annoying. How could she order you around? She doesn't even have a sense of shame." He couldn’t stop himself from complaining. "Calm down. You're getting angry again." Louise was panicking. He is afraid that Elijah will get angry as well. He hasn't witnessed it personally yet, but Allen told him that Elijah was really terrifying when he was truly angry. Elijah shook his head, "It doesn’t matter. Settle down, you two." He can’t think straight with all the noise. Allen meekly sat on the couch, followed by Louise, "Sorry." They spoke in unison. "Stay where you are and stay quiet." Elijah ordered them and went straight to his room. He's got to reflect on things first before he acts, and he can’t do that with his servants yammering. Louise heaved a sigh, "This is getting more complicated, but why am I being punished as well?" It was unfair for him. He didn't do anything bad. "St
"This is odd." Carl pointed out as he roamed his area of assignment. He was riding on his motorcycle, as he had three areas covered to compensate for the people that still had to recover in the hospital. Most hunters don't go alone, but due to the scarcity of people, he decided to split up with his current partner to cover more ground. Just yesterday, he had already seen a vampire the moment he stepped into his area of assignment. But he has been roaming for half an hour, and there has barely been a vampire around. Was it possible that they had already killed everyone else? But it was impossible. "Stats for Areas Eleven to Twenty." He asked for the areas near him, just in case his area is the only one like this. Either the vampires are suddenly gone or the unusual disappearance of vampires is only happening in his area. The latter was most probable, hence his demand for the report. He heard a small amount of static from the earpiece, then a voice say, "Only two were found and exterm
The news of their unusual encounter immediately spread among the hunters. Alice remained silent about what she knew, even when Karina was glaring at her like she would grab her by the neck anytime soon. The woman could try, but Alice wouldn't pass along a good time to beat Karina."The only possible explanation I could think of is that they were ordered by the vampire who turned them to stay in that place. It’s probably a pureblood too. Turned vampires could barely control their newborns either. Purebloods are still a mystery to us despite all the efforts." Johan answered after Arianne approached him to ask about his opinion. "So this cements the belief that this was a pureblood’s doing…" Klaver mumbled. There was silence after. It was the first thing they assumed, but a huge part of them wishes that they were just greatly mistaken and that this is just an attempt to make a vampire army out of some sort of syndicate. It would have been a lot easier if that were at least the case. They
The sun was hidden by dark clouds. This amount of sunlight would have still killed Allen a few months ago. Allen knew that the day he could walk under the sunlight would eventually come, but he didn’t expect that it would come almost at random. At first, the sunlight still stings a bit, but the more he exposes himself to the sun, the more it becomes bearable. He extended his hand, looking at his skin that was directly exposed to sunlight. Allen promised himself that once he could do this, he would do his best to support Elijah like his master did for all the years he couldn’t get out for half the day. But he’s creating more problems for Elijah because of his temper. "I'm so useless..." He mumbled and started walking away. Allen should have been back at their home after Elijah told him to go back. His master had been sweeping all the possible hideouts of newborn vampires. He wanted to help, at least after he pissed him off when all Elijah asked for was a few moments of peace. Unfort
"Why are we called here?" Klaver asked as he arrived late and had no idea why they were called by Black Lotus again. Karina shrugged, "Not sure. Maybe we’ll get a new mission?" They all went inside Clarisse’s office with anticipation. None of them did anything wrong lately, so they were confident that they were not here to be scolded by their head. Clarisse took a moment to look at each of them. They even held a birthday party for Alice and Carl the other day. She saw how happy they were. It’s just a shame that Alice couldn’t live as a human, even if their circumstances had already changed. "Did we mess up again? Please don’t tell me we’d have to attend trainee classes again." Art spoke up after he couldn’t take the silence anymore. She smiled, "No. Unless you did something else I wasn’t aware of." "We haven’t broken any rules… lately." Carl promptly answered as he was tired of being reprimanded. She pointed at the envelope Alice left for her group, "I called you guys to give yo
"You need to feed." Elijah kept looking at Alice. She was pale as she refused to drink any human blood. Louise continued to alternately look at Alice and Elijah. Alice was his enemy one moment, and now she appears in their house as a vampire. She demanded to join Elijah in fighting off the purebloods, which Louise still thinks is a suicide mission, but he has no abilities to stop his master or Alice. "I’m still Alice, and my hunter pride is still intact. I’ve been alive longer than you think. I could handle this." She simply refuses to drink human blood, even if everything in her is screaming to feed. Unfortunately, even a human soul couldn’t maintain her body as a human. Her body naturally went back to its natural form right after her mind fully awakened. Her abilities came back to her almost immediately. "Why are you insisting on coming anyway?" Elijah doesn’t know how he would treat Alice now. He remembers everything, along with all the feelings that he shared with Alathea. They
"Alice, Alice, wake up." Elijah had already gotten the location from Black Lotus and also received the blood flowers he requested. He was on his way to the given location when he felt a very ominous feeling. Instead, he rushed his way towards Alice’s house and found her unconscious with the charm he had gifted her on the ground. He checked if she was still breathing before lifting her towards the bed. Elijah has been trying to wake him up for five minutes straight, but to no avail. By experience, she looked like she was remembering her memories again. He doubts that the doctors would find anything wrong if he brought her to the hospital. "Alice!" He exclaimed and finally opened her eyes, and Elijah saw her eyes turn red, as of a vampire. She gasped and lifted herself from the bed. Elijah was staring at her with complete shock in his eyes. "Who the hell turned you into a vampire?!" There was fear in his eyes. He had killed all of her past lives, but now that he didn’t have to kill h
Humans either worshiped or feared them. They called them gods, not knowing that their belief was the one that strengthened them. At the same time, losing belief in creatures like her greatly weakens them. The more people forget about them, the sooner they cease to exist. She has existed for thousands of years. Time was fleeting, and so many things have changed over time. Her existence was fueled, not by belief but by fear. No one knows what she truly was, unlike other "gods" that humans have encountered. Instead, she was born out of fear of the unknown. It morphed in her over time until she developed a taste for human blood. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t stop what she had become, like all the monsters they had imagined. Before she knew it, she became a creature that survived on human blood and fear, and yet she still fights for her own instincts whenever she can. Alathea, or at least that is what she calls herself at the present time, quickly walked on a shade to protect herself
"Why am I called at such an ungodly hour?" She complained as she entered Clarisse’s office. Black Lotus didn’t tell her the reason why she was hailed, but she hoped that it was for a great purpose. "Alice, why are you here early?" Carl asked with curious eyes. "I was called by Black Lotus. Why are you here too?" She threw back the question. Carl pointed at Clarisse’s office, "She called me too. What is up? She didn’t tell me what this was about." Alice didn’t answer and walked ahead. She was now certain that it wasn’t about Elijah. Carl wouldn’t be called if it was. "Wait for me!" He exclaimed and caught up. They both entered the office and were welcomed by on of Clarisse’s secretary. She pointed at the door, "She’s been expecting you. Feel free to head inside." Alice immediately figured out that something was happening. Still, she went ahead and opened the door. "Happy birthday!" She heard party poppers and confetti flying over her and Carl. Alice looked at them with utter co
Alice went home with a heavy heart. She had had a bad feeling since earlier. It has been a bit peaceful after the incident of them being ambushed by the old gang members of their old enemy, but deep inside her, she knew that something bad would happen. She dismissed the worry, wishing that it was just her being paranoid. Elijah already killed the newborns but the pureblood who turned the humans was still alive. "Two of them were thrown in a dumpster, and the other one was just left on the streets." She recalled the report she heard earlier. Three of their hunters were killed relentlessly by different vampires, whom she assumes were pureblood vampires. The hunters that were disposed of in the dumpster like trash were killed by a woman, while the other one was killed by another vampire. None of them were the purebloods she saw last time, but they all thought the same after seeing the footage of how the hunters were killed. It was impossible that it had been done by a newborn vampire.
Allen let out an annoyed groan after he had just pulled Louise out of the scene when he saw hunters hovering near them. Louise was still out of it because of the high of the bloodlust still rushing to every fiber of his being. "What was happening?" Louise asked. His voice is deeper than usual, but he is slowly gaining consciousness about what is happening. He clicked his tongue, "Idiot. You almost got killed. Wipe that blood off your mouth." Louise’s eyes widened, and he felt more sober after what he heard. He touched his face and realized that Allen was right about the blood on his lips. There was something about blood that the vampire’s body was constantly craving; no matter how much they consumed, it would never be enough. That is why he doesn’t even realize that he is covered in blood as his body casually hangs on for that connection. He promptly wiped his mouth clean and used all the concentration he had to calm himself. They couldn’t walk around with his eyes glowing, and he
"Why are you all here?" Alice complained after seeing the rest of her old team. Art laughed awkwardly. "You didn’t check the notice again, didn’t you?" "What was it about?" She didn’t deny it at all. It was true that she didn’t bother reading it. Carl shakes his head. He was starting to wonder how Alice hadn’t gotten herself into any danger because of her carelessness. "We were set out as a group again. Because of what happened yesterday, we were advised to be careful just in case they were planning any group attacks." Kate was the one who explained the situation. Alice frowned and was about to leave, but Karina quickly managed to stop her. "Anyone is expected to follow the notice, and was told that anyone who would abandon their group will be suspended indefinitely. I think Black Lotus added that part just for you." Alice’s smile was oozing with sarcasm, but she had no choice but to follow them around. It took them an hour to find a vampire, and it wasn’t even a newborn. Elijah
She practiced her aim and poured her heart out while running. This time, she got the rest she wanted, and no one randomly appeared to bother her training. There were trainees who saw her, but no one dared approach her. She realized that they were put into self-training because there were no availability of trainers. It has never happened before when she was still training. If one of their trainers wasn’t around, there would always be someone who would step up to help. They never got to idle like that, and it somehow worried her. She shook her head. "What would be our future with these kids?" Alice couldn’t help but sigh after watching them from a short distance. She wasn’t expecting everyone to have perfect aim, but they were just bad. Alice couldn’t take it anymore and finally stepped up to help them. They all tensed up when Alice suddenly approached them, but she quickly told them that she simply couldn’t take watching them. "Skills are useless if your stance sucks. You’ll always