A/N: 02.04.20

I sent my applications to a really prestigious place that I've been working years to get into. I can't believe this is my last chance to get in...

I'm praying with all my heart that I get it 😭 You guys don't know the Hell I've been through for this.

Results will be out in May and ahh the suspense is killing me...

Sorry for the mini-life update 😅

Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

(I know I keep changing the cover, I haven't found one that satisfies me entirely yet ;-;)

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Astrid was sent to the emergency room while Noé was taken to a private one. Noah and Micka were told that it was way past curfew and that they should return back to their dorms. No matter how much they persisted, the doctors refused to give them any details on Astrid's condition. They had no other choice but to return to their rooms.

The next day, they both skipped class and headed straight to the hospital.

"You have to approach the doctors subtly."

"I am subtle," Micka argued, angrily kicking a rock in front of him. Noah raised his brows.

"Micka, you are everything but subtle."

He chortled. "Preposterous!"

Noah held back an eye roll. "You grabbed the doctor by his lab coat and shook him senseless yesterday," Noah deadpanned, who had to rip Micka off of one of the doctors with the help of two other nurses.

"He wasn't answering my questions!"

They continued to bicker until finally arriving at the hospital. Micka eyed the doctor who he had tackled yesterday. "Oi! You!"

The doctor's head snapped towards him, letting out a short gasp and jumping in fear when he saw Micka. Before he could run away, Micka caught him by the arm and pushed him against the wall.

"You better start talking," he ordered through gritted teeth. "Is Astrid alive?"

"Y-Yes, she's alive."

"Will she be okay?"

The doctor didn't answer and Micka's muscles tensed.

"Micka, calm down," Noah ordered, quickly pulling his best friend away from the poor doctor. "Can you tell us what happened to Astrid?"

Skeptical, the doctor looked around him to make sure that none of his colleagues were nearby. He wasn't supposed to be giving any information to other students unless they were relatives. Considering the fact that they were both white boys and Astrid Asian, he could tell that they weren't anywhere near related.

"She was bit by an insect."

"Okay," Micka grumbled impatiently. "What kind of insect are we talking about here? A mosquito, a spider, a fucking fruit fly...?"

"We don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Aren't you paid to know this stuff? Or is your lab coat nothing but for show?"

"We haven't been able to identify the insect," the doctor went on. "But we have been able to identify some of the chemicals in the venom."

Venom?

"The venom has a cytotoxin that leads to the destruction of human muscle tissue, it's like a sodium channel blocker. And the phosphodiesterases-"

Micka turned towards Noah. "Is this supposed to be English?"

The doctor cleared his voice.

"If you want to skip the details, Astrid will experience high fevers and won't be able to move her body."

"But you can cure her, right?" Noah asked slowly.

The doctor took off his glasses with a grievous look on his face. "I'm sorry boys."

Noah's and Micka's heart dropped the second they heard his answer. Micka was about to argue, but Noah grabbed his arm and stopped him. He looked at the doctor.

He clenched his jaw. "Can we go in and see her?"

The doctor scratched the nape of his neck before letting out a small sigh.

"10 minutes," he said. "Follow me."

Noah and Micka followed the doctor silently. They walked down the white hall, the smell of medicine and death making them shiver. The doctor stopped in front of a door and used a white card to open it, letting them in. Astrid was lying on a white bed, her face as pale as snow. There were plastic cords inserted into her forearm, attaching IV's and a heart monitor. She stared dejectedly at the ceiling, her tired eyes only showing a portion of the pain crawling through her body.

"Astrid?" Noah murmured. She turned her head to the side, her eyes widening.

"Well, if it isn't Mockah," she chuckled weakly before coughing.

"You look terrible," Micka mumbled bluntly. Astrid rolled her eyes.

"And I feel terrible," she admitted. "Hey, do you know where my camera is? I couldn't find it when I woke up."

Noah and Micka shared a glance.

"Yeah, I took it with me last night," Micka answered.

"Good, there are a lot of important pictures in there. Make sure to send all the files to Geo and Carl, okay?" she said. "They've been pestering me about not giving them enough evidence. What about you Noah? Did you find anything useful last night?"

Noah wanted to tell Astrid about Nyx's plan, but decided that it was best if he didn't bring it up right now.

"I'll tell you about it some other time," he whispered, worried.

"Did Micka tell you how we found Noé? Speaking of which, is he okay?" Astrid's voice quickened and she continued asking questions, ignoring the stern look on Noah's and Micka's face. "Oh, and the nurses brought a basket of fresh fruit for me this morning. If you want some-"

"You don't have to pretend," Micka cut her off, trying to keep his voice composed. "You can tell us if it hurts."

Astrid bit her lower lip, her eyes falling to the bedsheets. A piercing silence filled the room. Suddenly, she put her arm over her eyes to hide her face and she took in a shaky breath.

"I don't want to die," she whispered, her breathing ragged.

Micka clenched his jaw, swallowing the lump in his voice. You won't," he said. "I promise."

The doctor came in and told the boys that they had to leave. Micka was about to protest but Noah gave his arm a small squeeze, shaking his head.

They quietly left the room and the doctor walked them back to the main entrance.

"We need to save Astrid," Micka whispered. "There has to be some kind of cure. Anything."

"Micka-"

"What about we turn her into a duck? That can work, right?"

"She hates ducks," Noah reminded him. "She'll kill us if we do that to her."

"She'll be dead if we don't!"

"Turning her into a duck isn't an option," Noah imposed, knowing how Astrid felt about vampires. She hated them and watched her friends die because of them. Noah would feel the same if a vampire had killed Micka. He would never get over the trauma and admired how well Astrid coped with it.

"Turning her into a duck is the only option!" Micka hissed. The doctor walking in front glanced towards the boys bickering about ducks before shaking his head.

He didn't even bother asking.

The boys thanked the doctor before leaving the hospital.

"We'll find another way," Noah said, trying to calm Micka.

"Sure, why don't we ask some evil witch who'll brew us a remedy in her magical pot!" Micka spat. Noah stopped in his pace and grabbed Micka by the shoulders, shaking him gently.

"Micka, stop hiding your feelings behind sarcasm," he said, knowing his best friend's coping mechanism.

Micka looked away, clenching his jaw before letting out a small sigh of defeat.

"She's our friend," he murmured. "We can't let her die.'

Noah wondered if Astrid really was only but a 'friend' to Micka, but now wasn't the time to be asking those type of questions.

"Maybe someone can help us."

Micka's eyes sparked, knowing exactly who he was referring to.

***

Issa was heading to the school's convenient store to buy some of his favorite snacks, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, midget!" Micka shouted. Issa spun around, his eyes widening when he saw Micka standing a few meters from him with a sardonic grin.

He gulped, feeling like déjà vu.

"EEP!" Issa shrieked, running for his dear life. Micka charged straight at him like an angry bull.

"Micka! What did we say about being subtle?!" Cried Noah in despair, running after them.

Micka tackled Issa to the grass who screamed and shouted for his dear life while Micka pinned him to the ground.

Noah caught up to them and pulled Micka away. Issa quickly used his elbows to crawl away, patting his body to make sure that all his limbs were still intact.

"I'm so sorry-" but Issa interrupted Noah.

"No!" he shouted. "You don't tackle someone TWICE and tell them that you're sorry!" Issa then pointed his finger at Micka. "You monster!"

"Oh, don't be a drama queen," he interjected. Noah quickly covered Micka's mouth with his hand.

"Issa, we need your help," Noah said.

"I'm not speaking unless I get an apology," Issa huffed.

"We're sorry, we really are."

Issa shook his head.

"I'm talking about the monster who almost BROKE MY ARM."

They both turned towards Micka who blinked blankly.

"Hm? What'chu say?"

Issa rolled his eyes.

"I'm leaving," he stated, getting up and brushing the blades of grass off his bum. Noah turned towards Micka.

"Go apologize," he hissed under his breath.

"Apolo- What? No sir, we don't do that here."

"You tackled him twice and threatened to kill his baby!"

"And it was hilarious," Micka snorted.

"Astrid's life is on the line," Noah whisper-shouted. The smile on Micka's lips vanished and he sighed, running an annoyed hand through his hair. He turned towards Issa.

"Issa! Hey, Issa, wait up!"

Issa stopped in his steps and turned towards him.

"Look, I'm sorrow for tackling you."

Issa paused. "You what?"

"I said I'm sorrow," he repeated.

"You're... Sorrow?"

"Fine," Micka huffed. "I'm suh-ray."

Issa narrowed his eyes into two slits.

"No? Okay, how about I'm sriracha," Micka suggested. Issa turned on his heel and headed to the convenient store, his chin held high.

"Okay, fine! I'm sorry," Micka shouted, choking on his pride.

Issa stopped with a cheeky grin.

"Astrid is dying and we need your help."

"She what?!"

Noah explained the situation and Issa frowned.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know if there's a cure for her. My knowledge of the supernatural stops at vampires."

"We were hoping that Roman might know one." Issa was the only one who Roman would tell.

"Even if he does, he wouldn't tell me. I told you, he doesn't like getting me involved."

Micka narrowed his eyes.

"Don't you ever get tired of playing dumb?" He snapped. "Do you even know the extent he goes to just to protect you?" He demanded. Noah had told him about what he heard last night and how Roman betrayed Aleksei because Nyx threatened to hurt him. "And you're just standing there acting oblivious? Why don't you stop playing dumb and start getting involved? I mean, look at Noah! I bet he's seen more sides of Aleksei than you of Roman!"

Protect me? Issa's brows creased as Micka's words sunk in.

"Forget it, I don't have time to give relationship advice right now. Come on Noah, let's go."

But as they were about to leave, Issa spoke up. "Alright," he squeaked. "I'll ask Roman. And Micka?"

Issa looked towards him and tightened his hands.

It was thanks to the brutally honest boy standing in front of him that realization hit him. All this time he thought that he was doing Roman a favor by staying silent, but Micka was right. Staying oblivious and only seeing a portion of who Roman was, wasn't true friendship.

Issa's gaze fell, shy. "Thanks."

They watched as Issa entered the convenient store.

"What just happened?" Noah asked blankly. Micka rubbed the tip of his nose, hiding a smile.

"It's called being subtle," he shrugged. "You should try it some time."

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A/N: Please don't forget to leave a vote! Unpopular opinion: I think Astrid is a strong ass character.

Who's you favorite character in this book so far? And why?

P.s: It's the beginning of April, for those who join my Patreon, WLTVO will have another update spree this month!