What's Your Name?

"The vampire attacks have been increasing lately." Simon sighed, massaging his temples.

My gaze met with Leah's across the room, a knowing look on her face.

"If only we can get a lead with the vampires." Simon placed a folder on the table. "Here are the files I managed to get from Luis containing informations about the vampires we have identified so far."

Cyrus' head perked up from laying on the sofa, "What about them? Are they causing ruckus once again?"

"No, I just thought we should familiarize with them and their mannerisms."

"What's there to know?" Leah questioned from the kitchen, "The organization has already list up everything we should know about vampires."

"Well don't you think factions exist on their community too? There might be good or bad vampires out there." Simon said with a shrug.

Leah frowned, "Are you still going on about that? Even after the various attacks they inflicted upon everyone?"

I looked down on my lap, Simon have the tendency to care about both humans and vampires. Perhaps because of his curious nature as a scientist that he has interest to anything peculiar including me.

"Just think about it," He tried convincing us once again, he had tried numerous times already but I was the only one who seems to agree with him sometimes. The rest of my teammates shows open hostility towards the vampires, I mean why wouldn't you if you were in their shoes.

"We can compromise with the vampires and make a deal beneficial for both parties."

"And how wil you make that work?" Cyrus asked, amused.

"By this," He patted the file on the table, "We sort out which vampires belongs to who and what factions they are in."

"How do you even make sure they have factions?" I asked.

"You guys didn't hear about the report that came in?" Simon shook his head at us, as if disappointed that we were slacking off on our job.

"Marius' team successfully captured a vampire at the third ward. They had starved it for days and used blood to entice it to talk. The vampire had admitted about a hierarchy in their Kingdom, however he didn't belong to them, he is a part of a different faction. If my guess is right, this faction opposes the nobility and want powers for themselves."

"So the report is the basis of your idea."

"Bingo!" He clapped his hands, "Correct as usual Leah!"

"Now that you mention, it's been five years since the vampires started attacking humanity. We didn't know about their existence until recently." Cyrus sat up, now immersed in our discussion.

"We have to know if the nobility of the vampire kingdom align with our interest or not. Are they purposely turning a blind eye on this, or do they have other motives?" Simon looked at all of us in the eyes one by one, "We have to know about what's going on in the other side."

"That's why I prepared a new mission for all of you."

I stood up straight, tense from his next words. "There has been a vampire sighting recently of a young woman, about your age. This vampire is quite peculiar, she doesn't attack the humans merely observing them, often times blending in with the crowd. She acts like its her first time being here, and it probably is."

Simon took something out from his inner pocket, it was a picture of a young woman with silver hair and snow like skin. "This vampire is different from the others, she have dark eyes instead of crimson, this is why it is easy for her to blend in with the crowd."

"Your mission is to successfully capture this vampire and perhaps we can make a deal. If everything goes well we will plant a mole in their kingdom, and this girl is the key to our plans."

I listened quietly to Simon, my eyes glued on the woman's picture, she oddly resembled someone.

Not long after that, Simon left with a few reminders and things that we should do for the mission. Leah gritted her teeth while glaring at the door where Professor had previously left.

"This is all just pure bullshit. Treaty with the vampires? Really?" Leah wasn't able to hold it in any longer and lashed out.

"What makes him think that there are good vampires out there? They are all just a bunch of bloodsuckers anyways! Those monsters doesn't even know the word compassion!" She paced out back and fort.

"But don't you think this vampire look a little different from the others?" Cyrus asked as he held the picture in the air.

Leah's obvious dislike for the vampires was evident on her face as she scoffed at the picture. "I doubt it, in the end they are all the same anyways."

I pursed my lips. I don't think vampires were all bad, it wasn't fair to label them all in the same category just because some of their fellow vampires attacked us, if Simon's theory was true, of course. But I didn't really have any say in the matter, for I wasn't personally victimized by the vampires so I have no right to disregard Leah's anger or anyone else's.

"So what are we gonna do about the mission?" I questioned when Leah seemed to calm down for moment.

She sighed, no matter how against she was with Simon's idea she was still the leader of our group, therefore she has to set aside her personal feelings and act rationally for the mission. "We don't know how accurate the reports are, so for now we should observe her for a while."

"I'll set up two teams to tail on her for a few days." She pointed towards me and Cyrus.

"Cain will follow her in the morning while Cyrus is after dark. Be on stand by while the other person follows. Sam and Luis on the next day. Is that cool with you two?"

I nodded my head.

"Cain and I will have it covered!"

After that, Leah said she'll inform both Luis and Sam about the mission while I retired back to my room.

I was feeling a little uneasy about the mission. It has been quite a few weeks since our group received any missions, and that was due to our poor performance. The Hunter Organization was made by the government after the frequent attacks of the vampires. They had to take quick actions against these enemies so they commissioned well known mercenary from the black market and soldiers from the military.

After that, people who were to victims to the attacks started gathering, and the organization recruited them. Orphans who had nowhere to go to where entered in the Hunters Special Program where they trained the next generation to be Vampire Hunters.

The hunters were classified into groups. In my case, I belonged to Leah's group. Unfortunately we are at the very bottom of the roup ranking due to our continuos failed missions. The better you perform your duties, the higher danger risk are given, and that means higher rewards.

The reason why we aren't discriminated that bad at the organization yet is because of Professor Simon, the head of the Vampire Research Investigation took us under his protection. Not only that but Luis and Samantha were personally taking part in the research when they aren't in missions.

Add the part where Simon is my legal guardian in there too.

I was always at the center of envy in the organization due to the fact that he was my guardian. The VRI department is where our weapons against the vampires were being made. Naturally, everyone thinks I've got first dibs on the newly made weapons just because I have connection.

Oddly enough, I was the only one here in this whole place couldn't use a cetas — weapons that are made from a vampire's core, or in other words, their heart.

No matter what I do, I didn't have any affinity with the cetas. Simon once joked around that maybe I was light, and since vampires are dark creatures I didn't have any compatibility with their heart.

When I try to use any type of cetas, my hands always get blisters from the burn. The cetas were extremely hot in my hands, but when I asked Cyrus and the others how they can use their cetas without getting burned, they had said that cetas weren't supposed to burn you and that it should feel like a normal weapon.

So the problem was definitely from me, not only that I couldn't even synchronize with the cetas. Since cetas are a vampire's core, what resides in it are naturally their affinity since they were born. But I couldn't even control any of those.

Besides my strange partnership with the cetas, I heal unusually fast too. Whenever I get wounded, it wouldn't even last a second until the wound has closed up.

I let out a sigh as I fell back on the bed. I couldn't continue like this, there was so many defaults when it comes to me. At this point our team could land in serious trouble if I didn't get my shit together. That's why, for the mission tomorrow I would make sure of our success no matter what happens.

It was the least I could do for everyone.

The next day, I pulled my hood over my head as I followed the woman with silver hair at the mall. If I didn't know any better I would've mistaken her for a human. Her mannerism over all was very elegant, in human standards she would've been the daughter of a very rich businessman. She blended in with the people very easily, even waving back at the child who had called her a pretty princess while passing by.

I often caught myself staring whenever her lips raised into a smile. Lucky for me, I was alone so I could suffer in embarrassment on my own. If Cyrus was here he would've teased me nonstop for having a silly crush. Leah would probably chastise me for falling for their trap, while saying that it was probably another trick up their sleeves.

But I knew it wasn't like that, my admiration was mostly a passing moment. I haven't forgotten the fact that she was an enemy and that she was extremely beautiful.

I can feel my cheeks warming up when I noticed where my thoughts were going once again. When I glanced back at her, she had sat down on the bench. Fingers pushing back silver strands behind her ears as she silently chuckled to herself, as if finding something extremely funny.

I snapped my eyes away when I felt small hands pulling at my pants. When I looked down, a little girl with big amethyst eyes were looking up at me. "Mister, can you help me?"

My heart melted in an instant, I was weak against children.

"What can I help you with?" I knelt down near her level so she could face me without straining her neck.

"I lost my big brother. Help me find him."

I was torn on what to do, I want to help her but I'm in a middle of a mission, I couldn't go back on my words last night after swearing I'll make sure the mission was a success. I glanced sideways towards the woman's direction, my eyes widened when I couldn't see her from where she sat earlier. Panic immediately creeped in when I couldn't find her. Shit, did I lost sight of the target a few hours into the mission? What about our success?

"Mister?" The girl called out again.

I sighed, no matter how important it was to caught sight of the target again, I couldn't just leave her here.

"Where did you last saw your brother?" I asked gently.

"Near the park."

I silently shed tears in my head, I'm sorry Leah, it seems like I'll ruin our missions again. I promise I'll make it up to you.

"Well then, what's your name?"

"Almira."

"Take my hand, Almira. So you wouldn't get lost again and let's find your brother together."

Amira nodded her head and reached out for my hand when someone suddenly held her wrist. "Oh no, little girl. You shouldn't follow anyone you don't know that easily. Didn't your brother taught you not to follow strangers?"

I almost jumped off my skin when I realized the person I was tailing earlier was suddenly in front of me. I stood there, frozen in shock as her silver hair fluttered, her dark midnight eyes connected with mine. An amused smirk on her red lips.

"This sister is worried about your safety, so I will come along until you meet your brother. To make sure this big brother doesn't do anything bad."

I paled at her words, I suddenly remembered the little girl Almira and how her wrist was still in the woman's hands. This person was a vampire, the embodiment of danger and Almira was exposed to the risk of the vampire attacking her.

I'm now caught in this dilemma, in front of me was the strange vampire who can easily pass as a human, other than that she hadn't shown any signs of attacking yet. I didn't know when she'll change her behavior, other than that I couldn't even use my cetas at its best, I doubt I'd win against a vampire without my teammates.

On the other hand, accompanying Almira with the vampire was also a win win situation for me. I could observe her more closely and know more valuable information about her. Other than that, Simon also said that he wanted to form a contract with one of the Vampire's faction. Depending on this woman's personality I can figure out if there was any chance for bargain.

"What do you say, Mister?" She smiled knowingly, as if she knew what was going on inside my head.

I reluctantly nodded my head. I glanced towards Almira, "The pretty miss will also help you find your brother. If anything happens I will protect you."

The vampire probably knew it was a threat to her, she couldn't have approached me without any ulterior motive. Damn it, when did she find out I was tailing her?

The woman's smile widened at my words, what the hell was so amusing?

Almira was a little confused by what I said but nevertheless held both our hand. We guided her together outside the mall towards the back where she last saw her brother. We walked around for a while, with me being hyper alert by the person near me.

The sun has almost set and we still didn't caught any sight of Almira's brother. She was getting tired so we sat down by the bench. Over all, the vampire didn't try any malicious act and acted perfectly fine like a human that she almost fooled me a couple of times.

Almira leaned her head on the vampire's arm, making me tense as she fell asleep. This innocent soul didn't know she was leaning against a vampire who sucked blood to survive, and the woman didn't even bat an eye towards Almira. I sat there stiffly not knowing what to do, the little girl can be the vampire's hostage against me but on the other hand it was what was keeping her in place.

"What business do you have with me? You've been following me since early morning."

I glanced at her from the corner of my eyes. "You know why."

"Is it because I'm a vampire?"

I stared at her with shock, this woman had openly admitted that she was a vampire. Didn't she know she can get caught by what she's doing?!

The woman looked surprise with my reaction, she then later on let out a laugh as if I was amusing to her. Her laughter made me feel embarrassed and I looked away. I was reminded once again about this woman's ethereal beauty despite being a vampire. I don't think any human can compare to her.

"You can relax. I've never attacked humans nor drank their blood before. I'm not here to cause havoc."

I raised my brow at her, "Then why are you here for?"

"To investigate the sudden cause of vampires attacking humanity."

"Why?" I questioned, my voice skeptical.

She grinned as if she totally expected me to not believe her words. "If you answer one of my questions I'll answer one of yours." She offered, her midnight eyes strangely bright.

I considered it for a second, it wasn't a bad offer, and a part of our mission was to gain information. Besides, if I can understand this vampire better I might be able to figure her out, and gain her trust at the mean time so we can capture her easily.

"I'll answer depending on your question."

She shrugged, as if it didn't matter. "What's your name?" The vampire asked with curious eyes.

I looked at her weirdly. Why was she asking the most dumb questions? She could've been asking about important details as if why I knew she was a vampire and other matters. Yet, she wanted to know my name?

Nevertheless, I answered. It wasn't my lose anyways. "I'm Cain."

"Cain." She tested it out on her lips a few times, and then, she smiled brightly that I was blinded. "It's a pretty name. I'll remember it well."

I shook my head so I wouldn't get distracted from what's important. "Now answer my question. Are you and the vampires thats been attacking us working together?"

"I told you, I was here to investigate why the other vampires were attacking this side. I'm under a royal order to put a stop to it."

"So someone from your side has ordered to stop the attacks? Why now? Why didn't you do it earlier? Five years has passed since the attacks started so why are your side taking action at this time?"

"Woah, woah." She shook her hands no, "One question at a time Cain. I've already answered one of yours. If you want to know more then perhaps the next time we meet I'll tell you."

In an instant she launched herself towards me, I flinched away and closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact, but it never came. When I opened my eyes silver smoke remained and no trace of the woman was left as if she was never here in the first place.

I clicked my tongue, dissatisfied. Nevertheless, I had gotten relevant information for the organization. One thing was for sure. The vampire earlier and the vampire attacks didn't have any connection, so Simon's guess was probably right.

It was important to find that vampire and talk to her again.

While I was walking with Almira towards a restaurant to buy her dinner, we had encountered her older brother who has been worried sick for her.

Later that night, all I could think about was silver strands and dark midnight eyes.

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