The machines' sound was slow and steady; the room smelled of cheap disinfectant.
There, sitting on a bed too big for her frail body, was her mother, Carmila Ricci, who turned 44 this year; the disease had robbed her of her strength, but not her grace. Her skin was still soft, her brown hair fell like a river over her shoulders, and her green eyes sparkled with the same intensity as before.
Despite her illness, her beauty remained intact; as he recalled, she hadn't changed at all.
Lucien remembered that, before she fell ill, she was pretty popular with politicians, businesspeople, and even celebrities, and that luxury cars would park in front of her house.
He never understood why his mother chose his father: a drug addict and alcoholic who made their lives miserable. What on earth did they see in that piece of trash?
He sighed, putting his father out of his mind, and hesitantly approached his mother's bed.
"Son... It's not too late to come," she said with a slight cough and then continued, "Hmm... how strange, are you really my son or are you a failed product of a super soldier experiment?" She looked at him, confused.
"What do you mean by 'a failed product'?" Lucien raised an eyebrow and smiled amusedly as he sat down. "You wouldn't say that about someone who became a gorgeous model."
"Even though I'm your mother, I'm not going to lie to you." She snorted and smiled mischievously. "What kind of model suffers from chronic anemia and is still a virgin today?"
"But at least I'm still handsome." He smiled happily, as if his beauty had taken away his virginity.
"Of course you're handsome; you look like me." Carmila shrugged proudly and looked at Selene. "Can you tell me who that beauty accompanying you is?" she asked curiously, looking Selene up and down.
"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce you." Lucien points at her. "This is Selene Kalt."
"Hello, nice to meet you, I'm Selene." Selene greets her calmly.
Carmila looked at Selene... then at Lucien... then at Selene again, repeating the process as if comparing before-and-after photos of cosmetic surgery. Finally, she snapped her fingers. "Aha. Your change is thanks to her, right?"
"Hmm... Yes," he confirms, because it's true: if it weren't for Selene, he wouldn't have become a vampire, so yes, his change is due to her.
"Oh my God!" Carmila covered her mouth with her hands as if she had just seen Brad Pitt walk into the room. "You finally got a boyfriend! Kyaa! Cough, cough! I wish your father were here to hear about this!"
"Mom, don't overexert yourself," Lucien said, concerned, and then his expression turned serious. "And don't mention that bastard." His eyes threatened to turn red as blood, but he held back.
She smiled sadly, not wanting to bring up the subject. "Now you're going to tell me what really happened to you. Don't give me that nonsense about puberty," she asked seriously, looking him in the eyes, red.
"..." Lucien fell silent, not knowing what to say. Lie to her? No, she wouldn't believe him. Or say, "Mom, I became a vampire..."
No, that would only worry her, and her health is very delicate. 'Damn it, what do I tell her? I can't just drop that bomb on her like it's nothing.' His mind was a mess.
"To hell with it, no, I'm not going to think about this anymore," she decided, looking at her mother with a serious expression. "I'll tell you everything when the time comes."
Carmila nodded and, with a mischievous smile, looked at Selene: "What do you think, dear? Sit down, I want to hear in great detail how you met my son."
"We met at work," Selene replied, sitting down next to Lucien. "I thought he was nice... although he is quite questionable."
"Yes, that's what you didn't know about him when he was little." Carmila laughed as she remembered. "Once he came crying because he said his 'member' wasn't growing. Imagine that! Hahaha~."
Lucien almost choked. "Mom! Why do you always tell that story?"
"It was hilarious," she insisted, as if not telling him would be sacrilegious. "I think he had seen a cartoon of a boy with a straw hat that stretched like rubber... and thought it was rubber too. He tried to stretch it. Spoiler alert: it didn't work. Hahaha~ cough, cough."
Selene let out a mischievous giggle and looked at him as if she had found pure gold. "Heh. It seems like you're opening Pandora's box. Tell me, Carmila, what other mischief did Lucien get up to when he was little?"
Lucien looked at her with all the dignity he had left. "Please, Mom... at least let Selene respect me a little."
Contrary to what he expected, Carmila laughed even harder.
...
"Your mother is quite funny," Selene remarked. She thought she had cancer; she was very cheerful.
That surprises her a little because to be like that, you need determination.
"Yes, she's always been like that, but especially today, it seems that your presence was a great help." Lucien looks at the lights of the buildings and the advertisements.
It had been a long time since he had seen her so cheerful. When he visited her, she appeared cheerful, but he could see the sadness and worry in her eyes... But today, he did not see that look in her eyes; she was genuinely enjoying herself.
"Well, I'll leave it there for today. It's been a rather eventful evening," Selene said with a slight smile. She had seen more than she expected and was already eager to tell Kaitlyn every detail of what had happened.
Lucien nodded silently. Exhaustion weighed heavily on his shoulders, and although he tried to maintain his composure, his body demanded rest. He needed a bed. He needed to disconnect from everything.
They both started walking, blending back into the crowd that was still buzzing around them. Several glances turned toward them: curious, intrigued, even confused. Some whispered to each other, wondering whether they were models from a new agency or famous faces they hadn't recognized yet.
Selene, as if none of that mattered to her, continued walking with a confident stride. Lucien, at her side, took a deep breath: finally, the night was coming to an end.
And although to everyone present they looked like just two attractive figures walking away among the crowd, only they knew what had happened that night.
...
On the 104th floor of a skyscraper, behind a huge window, the city was a mosaic of lights.
A beautiful woman with long silver hair and a curvy body that would be the envy of any model sat on a very modern-looking king-size bed.
"It seems you took your time, didn't you, Mayla?" said the beautiful woman, watching Mayla arrive.
"Lady Arlene, I was delayed because I have been investigating several things," Mayla replied respectfully.
"What information did you obtain that took you so long?" Arlene crosses her legs sensually.
"My Lady, it seems that a group has been sent to investigate the mystery of MR9. The cultists are gathering in one place, as if they had been summoned, and the Inquisition has sent three Oracles."
Arlene frowned; she could smell trouble a mile away.
"And you haven't gotten any more information?"
Mayla nods: "A vampire named Loic has stolen an important object from the Inquisition and is being hunted down."
"I see..." Arlene is lost in thought for a moment and then asks again, "And how is the human who became a vampire?"
Soon, Mayla begins to tell Arlene about the newly born vampire, Lucien Ricci.