“What is the meaning of this, Hirano?”

A thick file comes slamming down onto the desk, skidding over to where Shizuka patiently stands. She picks it up and flips through it, even though she already knows what it is.

It’s a damages report – a summary of all the casualties of Research Sector Fifteen; an obscure laboratory on the outskirts of town where research on new methods to combat demons is conducted. Despite being guarded by trained ANGEL operatives, it was raided and destroyed a few nights ago by an unknown force.

“We’re working on it, Sir,” she responds.

The man before her is not to be questioned. He is their absolute leader, the one most suited to the burdening task of keeping everything operating smoothly – James Hector, the head of ANGEL.

“We’ve set up pupil tests around all the major congregations of people, as well as customs and security along the border of the district. If there are any vampires among us, we’ll find them.”

“It’s clearly not working,” Hector growls. “Where’s your resident demon hunter? He of all people would know the area best, including any potential vampire lairs.”

“He’s… missing in action,” Shizuka reluctantly says. “We lost contact with him during the massacre at the mall.”

She can almost hear Hector’s teeth grinding in his head. “I’m sending all operatives from the surrounding regions to help. We need to contain this threat, before it spills out into the public.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Leave now. I will call for you later.”

Shizuka bows and exits the room. As soon as the doors close behind her and she’s a fair distance away, she slams her fist against the wall.

“Damn it…”

She knows her efforts have been fruitless. The vampires have clearly been hiding from them for a long time, and wouldn’t be foolish enough to give themselves away so late in the game.

But why? Why now? Something must have happened.

She takes out her phone and dials a number. It rings for a while, before finally connecting.

“The service you have requested is unavailable-“

She cancels it and almost throws it down in frustration. She can only assume the worst – that Bran Lietmann is dead.

***

“Is there anything else you need?” the nurse asks, after changing Barry’s bandages.

“You,” he winks suggestively.

The woman shoots him a scowl and hastily finishes packing up her equipment.

“Wait! I’m just fooling with ya,” he cries, but jerks in pain as he turns his head too far. He can only sigh as the nurse disappears through the doorway.

He’s incredibly lucky. If it weren’t for ANGEL’s ‘Doctor’, one of the few possessing a Divine Edge with healing properties, his shoulder would’ve been beyond recovery. Hell, if it weren’t for his own quick thinking, he would have died of blood loss.

I survived a fall from the rooftop of the shopping mall.

He still can’t quite wrap his mind around it. Even if it was more like falling from two storeys multiple times, the fact is that he survived. Just thinking about the crimson lance is causing his bandaged shoulder to itch.

Just as Barry’s about to reach for the television remote, the door opens and a big-breasted Asian woman walks in.

“Don’tcha know how to knock?” he grumbles.

Shizuka doesn’t respond and stops next to the big man. The smell of tobacco slowly invades the room.

“Barry. What exactly happened in the mall?” she demands.

“Straight to the point, eh?” he says. “Where’s my ‘Get Well’ present?”

“’Get Well’ present? What do you want?”

Barry smirks. “How about you lemme cop a feel-“

He suddenly groans as a sharp pressure comes down on his injured shoulder.

“H-Hey! Watch it, you friggin’ chink!”

“I’m Japanese, not Chinese.”

“Alright, alright! Calm your tits, I was just foolin’!”

The pressure is lifted from his shoulder and his ragged breathing stabilizes. Barry lets out another sigh.

“There’s a really strong vampire,” he begins. “I fought him on the rooftop. Had a Divine Edge and all – and quite a powerful one too. I could barely keep up with it.”

“Do you know its name?” Shizuka interrogates. “Anything that might give away its identity?”

“A crimson spear,” he replies. “Blood-red armour to match. I dunno how to describe it, but… the aura of his soul felt primeval.”

Something flickers in Shizuka’s eyes, but Barry can’t see from his position on the bed.

“Anything else?”

Barry shakes his head, a movement that causes another twinge of pain in his shoulder. “The bugger impaled me and sent me flying down through the building. I think I passed out after I broke the third floor.”

He sees Shizuka nod out of the corner of his eye. “Thank you for your help, Barry.”

“Call me Baz.”

She stands up and leaves. He’s just about convinced that he’s alone in the room again when he hears her footsteps reverse to stop by the doorway.

“Get well soon, Barry. We need you – or rather, District Fourteen needs you back ASAP.”

***

The door opens on the third knock, and an elderly woman with a kind face peers through. Alice is still too busy looking up at the house to notice. Well, you can’t really blame her – after all, she probably hasn’t seen many country houses like this before, having lived in a city for her whole life.

“Oh, you must be Ashley’s friends!” she exclaims. “Romeo and Juliet, was it?”

“Bran and Alice,” I correct. Where did Romeo and Juliet come from?

“Ah, that’s right,” she murmurs. “Your story reminded me so much of them that I must have subconsciously renamed you in my mind.”

The door widens a little further and an old, balding man appears by the woman’s side. Now that I think about it, I can see features of both Ashley and Leo in their grandparents’ faces.

“Don’t mind her,” he says. “She’s getting a bit forgetful these days.”

“Thank you so much for having us,” I say. “We’re very grateful, uh… Sir? Mr. Bowen?”

“Just call us Bob and Betty,” he smiles. “We don’t really mind. Now are you going to stand there out in the sun, or are you going to come in?”

I bow. “Alright. Pardon the intrusion.”

Grabbing Alice, we step into the old but well-furnished house. I can immediately tell that this structure has withstood many generations, just from the feel and atmosphere of the place. It’s obviously been well taken care of, and will continue to shelter generations to come.

“It’s been so long since we’ve had kids living here,” Betty sighs. “How are Ashley and Leo doing now? The last time I saw them, they were still shorter than me.”

I look at her small figure, slightly shrunken with age. They must have still been in primary school at that height.

“They’ve both grown,” I say, struggling not to add ‘in more ways than one’. “Ashley’s become quite a beauty. As for Leo…”

I feel a chilling glare coming from Alice as I say this, but I’m more concerned about how much of their grandson’s personality I should reveal.

Well, I guess he came through for me in the end.

“…Leo’s doing pretty well too. Studies hard, a good sportsman, popular with the ladies.”

It took all the self-control I could muster to not snort or laugh at the ‘sportsman’ part.

“Betty, I’m going back to the fields,” Bob calls. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Alright, dear.”

He nods at us and heads through the living room towards the back door. Despite being as aged as his spouse, he still possesses a sturdy frame and wiry muscles. It’s the body of a farmer, a man who has been working for almost his whole life. Betty also looks reasonably strong and healthy, but it’s clear who does the majority of the work on the farm. It’s not surprising after all – they both grew up in an age where women were housewives who tended to the children and the home.

“Now, if you’ll just follow me up the stairs, I’ll show you your room.”

My foot almost slips as I take the first step. “Room?”

“I’m afraid all our other rooms are filled up with junk,” Betty sighs. “I keep telling Bob to throw some of his rubbish out, but he’s adamant. I guess a lot of the stuff reminds him of the good old days.”

She stops to give me a wink. “If we kept you two in separate rooms, you’d just sneak out in the middle of the night anyway.”

“Wh-What!? We’d never!”

I turn back to Alice for confirmation, but she keeps quiet.

“Oi! Say something!”

“I need Bran to keep watch over me.”

“Don’t say things that can be misinterpreted!”

My face burns in embarrassment. I’m sure she really just means that in case we get discovered, we’ll have a better fighting chance if we’re together. But did she really have to say it that way?

“Ah, it must be good to be young,” Betty smiles, watching our interaction. “Enjoy it while you can. The longer you’re together, the more you lose that heart-racy feeling. That’s when a lot of couples fall apart.”

I’m about to argue that we’re in no way a ‘couple’ until I remember the whole basis behind them allowing us to stay here.

Of course. So that’s why she was acting like that. Alice only said what she did to keep up the pretense. I’m ashamed that I almost tore down the lie so carefully put in place by letting my irrationality get the better of me.

“We’ll never fall apart,” I firmly say. “I’ll stay with you forever, Alice.”

Alice’s eyes widen. How’s that for pretense? To add to the integrity of my act, I grasp her hand in my own. She doesn’t do anything for a moment – then, I feel a slight squeeze in return.

“Here you are,” Betty says, stopping before an old, faded door. “This used to be where Leo and Ashley stayed, and their mother before them. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

She smiles at the sight of our clasped hands. “There’s a lock on the door too. Just thought I’d let you know.”

With those words, she goes back down the stairs. I can feel my ears burning.

“Alright, let’s get this sorted out,” I say, dropping her hand immediately as soon as Betty leaves our sight.

I gently push open the door and step inside. It’s surprisingly well-maintained – they must regularly clean it up and vacuum it, because there’s almost no dust to be seen. A single bed lies to the side, and there’s a desk next to it with some other pieces of furniture which probably haven’t been used in a while.

“I guess I’ll take the floor,” I mutter.

“The bed looks like it can fit us both,” Alice replies.

“Are you insane?” I cry. “We can’t sleep together! What if-“

“We’re supposed to be a couple, aren’t we? Isn’t that what couples do?”

I freeze mid-sentence.

“They wouldn’t check on us in the middle of the night, would they?”

An uneasy silence floats between us. It’s unlikely, but any unusual sounds in the night could well lead them to do just that. I also have no idea what they’d do if they found out we weren’t in fact lovers, but here for some other reason. We only have one shot at this – we can’t risk things going wrong.

My eyes drift towards the lock on the door.

“Couldn’t we just lock the door? Then they wouldn’t be able to-”

As I say this, I realize locking the door comes with its own problems. There’s no doubt that from any outside perspective, if a door was locked and there was a boy and a girl alone in a room behind that door… only one thing could be happening.

I don’t think I’d be able to face them in the morning if that were to happen.

“We’ll sort this out later,” I growl. “For now, we should unpack what little belongings we have.”

***

The day passes quickly. After lunch, we go back up to our rooms and start planning out what we’ll do. It’s decided that we’ll visit town the next morning in search of work. For now, we take some time to familiarize ourselves with the house and its surroundings.

There’s also the issue of our ‘thirst.’

“Are there any updates on the situation at Ashbrook?” Alice asks, as we stride further away from the farm.

“I’m pretty sure Ashley would contact me if anything happens,” I reply. “For now, we should just focus on the task at hand.”

The house is almost behind us. A few moments later, it completely disappears beneath the horizon.

“Ready?” I ask.

Alice nods, and we both take off.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to stretch my legs properly. Running at a light pace, we race across the road at the speed of a galloping horse towards the wilderness. Our aim for now is to find a source of non-human blood which we can feed on to last us for the duration of our stay.

“How’s the shoulder, by the way?” I ask, above the roar of the wind.

Alice seems to have healed up fine since the high speed car chase and the massacre, but I’m sure the wound extends beneath skin-level. After all, her broken shoulder was held out of position for quite a while to stop her regeneration – surely, such damage couldn’t have healed so quickly.

“It’s almost done,” she replies, not even losing her breath. “It still hurts a little when I swing my arm, but after tonight it should be completely healed.”

“That’s a relief,” I say, and I mean it. The sooner she’s back to full strength, the sooner we can start thinking about returning to Ashbrook to fight.

We lose ourselves in the rhythm of our feet, and it’s only when the sun is beginning to sink back into the sky that I realize we still haven’t picked up any traces of wildlife.

“We should have waited until night,” I mutter.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Alice replies. “Sneaking out in the middle of the night doesn’t look good no matter how you look at it.”

“True that.”

A few birds are flying off into the distance, the only creatures we’ve seen so far.

“If only we could fly,” I murmur.

“Are you stupid?”

Alice bends down and picks up a rock. In one swift motion, she hurls it into the distance. There’s a thud and one of the dark shapes drops out of the sky. She races off towards it, and from what I can see manages to catch it.

I slowly make my way towards where the bird fell. Alice isn’t wasting any time – she’s already digging in, making sure not to spill a single drop of blood. Seeing her like this reminds me of our first encounter – all that’s missing are the swings and the snow.

“Save some for me,” I call out.

She quickly finishes up and tosses the carcass at me. I catch it, blinking as a few droplets of blood fly into my eye.

“Done?”

She nods and begins to head back. I look at the hole in the bird’s chest where the stone penetrated, and also where Alice pressed her lips against to feed. There’s enough blood left to last for a day or two. I’m not exactly starving for it, but I can’t say I don’t want to drink up.

It’s just…

“Hurry up,” she calls from behind me. “We don’t have all day.”

I wonder… if I drink from this, does it count as an indirect kiss?

“I’m going to leave you behind.”

I quickly press my lips to the wound and drink. Only a kid would get caught up over something like this. The dry feeling in the back of my throat subsides to a slight tingling, and a feeling of satisfaction takes over me.

“Coming!”

***

I’m at the edge of a lake. It’s not an ordinary lake, but a lake of pure red – a lake of blood. The overwhelming smell almost washes my self-control away – but something else stops it.

There are two figures in the middle of the lake. They’re flailing about wildly, struggling to swim in the viscous liquid. I realize that I can move, and begin to wander forward in a mix of hunger and curiousity.

After I’ve taken a few steps, I realize that I know those two figures – quite well, in fact.

Judith and my mother are drowning in the lake of blood.

My mind immediately clears and I rush over to them – but all of a sudden the ground around me explodes, and humanoid figures rise from the ground like zombies. Their blood red eyes tell me that I’m dealing with vampires. I draw Nightfall and fight, cleaving through them left and right in an attempt to reach my family, but each time I strike one down more rise to take their place.

There are too many.

In the distance, I see Shizuka, Barry and more members of ANGEL. They’re just watching me, not doing anything else. Just standing there. I want to cry out for help, but if I break my focus for just a second, I will die.

Each step I take forward, I have to take two back. Each vampire I kill, two more sprout from the ground. I’m fighting an uphill battle.

Then, my mother completely sinks beneath the surface of the pool, leaving only Judith behind.

***

My eyes open, and I find myself staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling of Bob and Betty’s house. My entire body is drenched in sweat, and Nightfall is clenched tightly in my hand. I quickly dismiss it, breathing out a sigh of relief.

It was a dream. Of course it was a dream. Yet, something about it tells me I shouldn’t completely dismiss it yet. After all, isn’t there a saying about dreams representing the deep subconscious?

It’s still the middle of the night, and I’m not thinking clearly. I roll over and am about to close my eyes when something stops me.

Why is Alice sleeping next to me!?

Despite our discussion, I’d decided to sleep on the floor. In fact, when I closed my eyes, she was still on the bed, presumably already asleep.

So, why is she here on the ground with me?

I sigh. Maybe she rolled off.

Climbing to my feet, I air out my soaked nightshirt before grabbing her blankets and draping them over her curled up figure. I freeze for a moment, captivated by her snoozing expression, and swallow. Why do I feel so nervous?

Could it be that I like Alice?

“…Bran…”

I hear her soft voice clearly, and my heart skips a beat. Is she awake? No, she’s still breathing too deeply for that. Does that mean she’s dreaming?

“Bran…”

For some reason, the way she said it made it sound erotic. My mind runs away with possibilities of what she’s seeing behind those closed eyelids.

“…pass the pepper…”

I resist the urge to slap myself and quietly lie down on the bed. If she’s not going to use it, I will.