"Sorry, we will not be with you on this mission," Mark said, dejected while the group was walking home after school. "Just we promised each other that we would protect you, dammit!"
"It's fine, Mark," Sephiram reassured him. "Anissa will not be in the mission as well. I will tell her once I get home." Anissa did not attend school that day since she was still nauseous during the trip to the Western District and couldn't get out of her bed since morning.
"She's not feeling well today, isn't she?" Ian asked. "Hope she recovers soon."
"I should stop by the herbal store today to buy some herbs that relieve nausea. Mom said that she was lacking the ingredients for the medicine she was creating."
"Damn, you have a mother as an herbalist, huh? I was shocked that you didn't take that career." Mark looked at Sephiram in admiration.
"I was practicing making herbal medicine sure, but I wanted to protect this city by fighting the outside threat," Sephiram remembered that he almost destroyed their greenhouse when he was young because he was mixing the wrong ingredients. His mother and brother began worrying about him and reprimanding him afterward. Since then, he has been making medicine when his mother was around. "Besides, me making medicine when alone feels like I'm making explosions."
The city in the late afternoon is bustling with transports who are going in or out of their activities on the whole day. The orange sky welcomes the arrival of the night as shops begin to close and open to welcome their patrons.
"Well then, I'll be going now," Ian said as they were in the intersection area. Four directions lead to different areas and Ian took the northeast direction. "See you at school tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow!" The two remaining boys waved at their friend as they saw him depart. They continued walking until they crossed the other side.
"Then, I'll be heading out now," Sephiram said as he and Mark crossed the other side of the road. "See you soon."
"See ya!"
Sephiram continued to walk the familiar road towards the herbal store. The street is teeming with people who are either going to work or going home. Others are entering shops to buy something for them or to entertain themselves. Vendors shout to passing people to buy their products while the smell of food is lingering in the air coming from food stalls to attract hungry customers.
He stops at the store that has a garden-themed ambiance. The doorbell hanging above the door chimed as he opened the door and let himself in. The store has a variety of herbal leaves that are placed in pots and there are packs of herbs placed on shelves.
The owner, who is an elderly aged woman saw him and greeted him with a smile. "Ah, Sephiram dear, welcome. How could I help you today?"
"I'm here to buy some herbs that relieve nausea," Sephiram said as he went to the counter then he rummaged through his pocket and took out a piece of paper. He gave the paper to the owner. "Here's the list of the herbs that mother needed. Apologies for the sudden request earlier."
"It's fine, my dear." The owner reassures him and then looks at what was listed on the paper he gave to her. "Oh, we have all of these in stock. I'll be back to get there." The doorbell chimed again as another customer went in. "Welcome, customer." Sephiram turned his head around and was shocked as he saw Krishna walking towards the counter.
"You're here as well?" Sephiram asked him.
"Yes. I'm buying some herbs for insomnia." Krishna responded. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to the owner as well. The owner looks at the other list and tells them to wait for a while.
When the old lady was out of sight, Krishna looked at Sephiram and asked: "You can't sleep?"
Krishna shook his head. "One of our maids complained that she can't sleep due to bad dreams so as her master, I want to do something for her. How about you?"
"Anissa's not well so I have to buy herbs for her medicine."
"I see." It was then the owner showed up with two bags of assorted herbs and placed these on the counter desk.
"Thank you for waiting. This bag is for nausea," she said as she was referring to the bag on the left. "And these for insomnia." She referred to the other bag and then looked at Krishna. "Make sure that you follow the instructions indicated in the bag on how to make the herbal tea for insomnia. If the symptoms persist, I suggest you should seek help from the professional."
"I'll do that," Krishna said as he took the bag. "Shall we walk home together?" he asked Sephiram
"But your home is in the Western District, right?"
"I have a rented space near your district. It is very near to your home, so it is convenient for me to go to school from there."
"Oh." The two leave the store and walk further to the quieter part of the district. As they walked, the orange sky slowly transformed into a dark blue sky, announcing the arrival of the night. The streetlight began to flicker until its lights went on to guide the travelers to their destination safely.
"Krishna. Can I ask a question?" Sephiram began to start a conversation.
"Go on."
"Your father once told me before that the Briar Rose is one of the weapons that you took while fleeing from the Vampire God's forces, I am right?"
"You're correct. Haven't you read the journal that my father gave to you?"
"I haven't read the entire journal, but speaking of that, there is a letter attached to the journal. Did you read the letter first before translating it along with the journal?"
Krishna stopped in his tracks and looked at Sephiram with confusion on his face. "What letter?"
"The letter from Lena Smee. The letter was in a piece of folded paper pinned between the pages." He answered. "Did you guys put in there?"
He ponders thus. He knew that before they translated the journal, they made sure that there were no papers attached or damaged on the original journal. "We checked on the original journal once and there is no folded paper attached on every page."
"Weird." Sephiram was also confused too. Even Krisha can't answer his question too. 'Then that letter magically appeared in the journal without us knowing?' he thought to himself.
They continued walking without diverging to the topic further until minutes later, Krishna turned left while Sephiram walked straight.
He realizes that his companion changed direction. "Wait, that's where your home is?"
"Of course," Krishna answered in a deadpan tone. "I use this road as a shortcut."
"Oh."
"This is where we separate our ways. Be careful on your way home." Then he continued walking.
Sephiram was alone now on the road while looking in the direction Krishna took. He continued walking straight as night fully emerged in the sky. The surroundings felt a bit quieter, as residents were preparing for their nightly private lives. Some kids return home after school, jumping excitedly at their parents asking what the dinner for the night is, or couples waiting for their other half to come home so that they will eat dinner together.
While Sephiram passed through one of the streetlights posted, a hooded man emerged from hiding behind the streetlights and began to follow him. The guy followed Sephiram without making any noise as the latter took a right turn. The man's bloodshot eyes looked at him like a hunter following his prey, waiting to strike.
Sephiram suddenly felt that he was being followed. He never turned his head to look behind, fearing that the person behind him would do something up to no good. His hands began to tremble violently, and he was sweating nervously while thinking about his next course of action but shook his head mentally as there was no time to think about what to do.
Without hesitation, he began to run. He turned his head around and found that the man behind him began to chase him like a wild hyena. He looked away, focusing on the road in front of him while thinking of ways to lose his pursuer. He turned left, ending up in the alleyway thinking that the man lost him, but after a while he felt someone grab his arm violently, twisting it behind his back as the hooded man caught him from behind. The sudden attack dropped his belongings on the ground.
"Let go!" He shouted at the man while struggling to let go of the man's hold, but the man twisted the hold of his arm further, causing him to hiss in pain.
"Don't move and don't make any noise." The man behind him breathing heavily like he was a hungry animal. Sephiram froze as the man began to take off his necktie then unfasten the two buttons of his shirt with his free hand and proceeded to pull the shirt off on his one shoulder.
The shoulder with the mark on it.
"Let go of me, you freak!" Sephiram felt that he was about to get violated and struggled violently, thrashing his feet off the ground but the man still gripped his hand even harder, causing him to scream in pain.
The man leaned his mouth against his victim's neck, and Sephiram felt its breath, giving him shivers. Why had it felt so cold? "I need to feed."
Feed.
Realizing that the man behind him is a vampire, Sephiram mentally casts a holy fireball with his free hand and shoves it in the man's face. The man began to howl in pain as he let go of his victim to cover his face with his both hands, but it was too late as the fire engulfed him.
Sephiram turned around and dropped himself to the ground in shock while looking at the vampire being burned alive, letting out a loud bloodcurdling scream as the flames scorched at his skin and face, revealing its fang and ugly appearance at the shocked student never realizing that heavy footsteps approached behind him.
"What happened here?" Sephiram looked behind as the bodyguards assigned by the president arrived at the scene. They looked at the burning vampire for one second and they drew out their weapons and dispersed.
"Search the area. Maybe there are others nearby! Don't let them get away!" The cacophony of the bodyguards can be heard from the surroundings as one of them assists Sephiram to stand up. He looks at the scene in front of him for the last time, as the man slowly disintegrates into ash as the flames have done their deed.
*
"There is a vampire in that area?" Zirconia repeated at his bodyguard on the other line. "How's Sephiram?"
"He is okay, sir." The voice on the other line replied. "We hurriedly escorted him back home and we searched the entire area afterward. Luckily, there were no civilians at the time of the attack and there are no more vampires in sight." There was silence on the other line. "Any further instructions, sir?"
"I will send some soldiers to patrol the area at night. Continue to guard Sephiram until further notice."
"Yes sir!" Zirconia hangs up the phone, Rick stands beside him, playing with a pen.
"How on earth did those vampires enter the area?" Zirconia pondered as he turned on his comms. "Send a messenger to the patrol unit on the border and ask if there is suspicious activity around the area. We will not overlook this any longer."
"Sir, I think it is best to expedite the subjugation mission as soon as possible," Rick suggested as he saw the president turn off his comms.
"You're correct, Rick." Zirconia agreed. "This incident today proves to us that the vampires are now making their move. One of them now enters the city without being detected by our patrol units, but what if an army of them entered the city?"
The people outside the city stop what they are doing and see the soldiers taking on patrol by surprise, telling the people to go home early due to a crime that happened around the area, which is a cover-up story by Zirconia.
"We won't let the citizens of this city know that vampires are entering our haven."
The Dark Stars inside their concentration camp began to hold a meeting on their next course of action.
"We will kill the vampires outside before more of them will enter the city and cause chaos."
Vladimir and his companions gathered for a meeting on their own in their camper bus, discussing their ideas and suggestions.
"As the president of Libertas,"
Ms. Davis hugged her son in worry, tears streaming in her eyes as one of the bodyguards told her what happened. Sephiram only leans to his mother's warm embrace, traumatized by what happened.
"I must keep her citizens safe."