2 - Her Portrait

The young woman hummed to herself as she walked with a skip to her step. So far, she has been enjoying her stay here in the human world. She grinned to herself, glad that she had pestered the crown prince relentlessly to assign certain duties to her.

It took her one horrible prank against the crown prince regarding a certain mermaid princess under the influence of love potion to proclaim her love for him. Causing rumours of marriage within the vampires and the mermaids to spread. It had taken the crown prince countless sleepless nights to fix the mess that she had created.

To her defense, it was nothing but a little persuasion and a little push of the mermaid princess' true feelings regarding the crown prince of the vampires.

It was no secret amongst the court that the eldest daughter of House Dominique was quite a prankster. As punishment, she was sent to a faraway land to investigate certain suspicious matters.

Said land was the human world, of course. But no one needs to know about that.

The nobles at the court must be drowning in happiness right now, finally managing to get rid of Lady Dominique with the help of the crown prince himself. Some say that her punishment was well deserved even when she belongs to a highly respected House.

Little did they know her punishment was total paradise for her. She had learned and saw many things here in this world that it had erased her boredom—the cause of her mischief. It was such a shame that other vampires were trying to destroy this world.

Vampires who had migrated in the human world dabbled in the arts of greed, consuming something that they shouldn't. Disrespecting the sacred act that they swore to the Goddess Alina in exchange for peace.

On her stay, she had seen vampires tearing flesh of humans, drinking greedily, the act so horribly awful and barbaric that she couldn't fathom how such an act was connected to the sacred bond of her own world.

She herself hadn't tried any human blood despite how curious she was. Always remembering her noble upbringing, the special lesson migrated inside young vampire minds since they were a toddler.

To the vampires of Celestia, drinking blood was a sacred act only shared by those with bonded names or those who are connected by marriage.

Drinking blood was a sacred act for the vampires in Celestia because they hadn't had the need to drink blood in order to feed or survive. The Goddess Alina had made sure that the vampires she once saved will continue to live peacefully without worry in the world. Choosing instead to point their gifts towards something beautiful instead of destroying.

It was why she couldn't help but wonder why some vampires chose to oppose the will the Goddess left behind. Following the path of destruction, they chose to attack the human world and let their greed consume them to an uncontrollable degree.

So far, she had observed that those who drank human blood would be able to enhance their abilities and affinities.

It was still no match for the Celestes, yet it didn't change the fact that they had become stronger.

But the most pressing matter for now, other than the fact that there are vampires attacking this world, is that somehow, someway or another, said vampires were able to cross the border.

The border that separates Celestia from the Vampire World.

A border no one should be able to access other than Alina's Guardians.

She frowned, noticing someone following her. Unlike the previous once set to trail after her, this one was different. She tilted her head to the side, glancing briefly at the woman with long brown locks with glasses who pretended to read a book.

She could smell blood coming off of her.

It was strange, but considering it was a matter that didn't concern her, she stored the information at the back of her mind.

She was quite disappointed to know that the person after her today wasn't Cain. Ever since meeting him, she had known right away that he was special. There was something off about him that she couldn't put her finger on.

One thing to note was that upon laying her sight on him, she was hit with an unexplainable feeling of nostalgia. Cain had long raven locks that reached his shoulder, messy bangs brushing above golden eyes—distinctively, in the back of her mind, she recalled the light that had once enveloped Celestia's dark skies. The light that was now gone to them forever. Other than that, she felt like she had seen him somewhere before, or that he looked like someone she had once known.

She couldn't put her finger on it.

The vampire sighed, stopping on her tracks. "Oh well, no use parading myself here when you aren't around. Guess I'll just look for you."

She disappeared from sight. Wanting to see the man named Cain once again. There was an unexplainable pull towards him that drains her senses, it was a strange feeling of wanting to be closer to him, to bask in his presence.

It was like light.

Desiring light.

Samantha stood up immediately when the woman was no longer in sight. She had lost her target the way Cain lost her a few days ago. She let out a frustrated huff. Annoyed by how slippery the vampire can get.

I said thanks to the waitress as she placed my food on the table. Deciding to dine after running errands for the house. Eating a spoonful of chocolate cake, I hummed to myself as I fetched my sketchbook. Deciding to pass time by drawing.

I let my eyes roam, trying to take inspiration in my surroundings, not knowing what to draw. From the corner of my eye, I caught something silvery in color. It immediately reminded me of her—the vampire, her name was Rei. I frowned, Team Leah had been tracking her these past few days, so far nothing suspicious came up. She lets herself know if she wants to, disappearing in a blink of an eye when she doesn't want to get noticed.

My gaze settled on a tree, distinctly remembering her presence in the park, sitting on the bench, a captivating peacefulness on her features as she stared in wonder upon the humans surrounding her.

I didn't realize when my hand had started moving. Before I knew it, I was already drawing her profile that seemed to be engraved inside my head.

"It's beautiful." A breathy voice sounded near my ears. I jerked away, head snapping to the side, only to meet amused midnight eyes.

My eyes widened, glancing wildly at the place. I didn't take into consideration bumping into her when I decided to run errands earlier. If I recalled correctly, Samantha was in charge of tracking her today, so why was she here? I tried searching for Samantha over her shoulder, but with no luck I couldn't spot her.

I pursed my lips, "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged, "I was just passing by." She sat across from me, "If you're looking for that woman she's not around."

So she did know she was still being trailed.

She reached for my sketchbook, midnight eyes trailing after the lines. The top of my ears heated up, realizing that she was looking at my drawing of her—of all people.

I moved to grab it away from her, she swiftly avoided my hands with precise movements making my eyes widen.

"I didn't know I was this pretty to your eyes. Yes, I've been regarded as one of the most beautiful women back home, but nothing compared to how you portrayed my portrait here." She clutched my sketchbook to her chest, a smile tugging at her lips. "Can I keep it?"

"If it means you are leaving me alone, then by all means—take it."

She rolled her eyes at my remark, nevertheless, she tore the piece of paper and tucked it away safely into the pockets of her dress. She was wearing a midnight blue dress today.

"Is this good?" She pointed at my coffee. Not waiting for my words of confirmation, she reached out and took a sip, making me watch her brazenly. "It is good! What is this?"

I gaped at her, "Have you no sign of decency?"

"Of course, I have. I'm just deciding not to use it right now. Who knows when I'll be able to get away from such actions like this again?" This time, she took a bite of my chocolate cake, humming in delight.

I shook my head at her brazenness, "You know what? Let's get this over with, what do you want, vampire?"

She scowled at me. "I have a name, Cain. So call me by my name."

This woman is unbelievable. We're on a first name basis now?

"Whatever. What are you here for, Rei? Surely, you didn't come here just to bother me."

"It's because you weren't the one tailing me today."

I gave her a blank stare. Letting her know I wasn't buying any of her bullshit.

"Hn. You're good, you got me. Usually, men would swoon and fall at my feet with just a couple of flattery words."

"If it hadn't escaped your notice, we aren't really on good terms. You're my enemy, as I am yours."

She smirked, "I like that," She sipped my cup of coffee once again. "But you're not really my enemy though. None of you are. Unless you go and make yourself one." Her midnight eyes flashed white. I blinked, thinking the sudden change in color in her irises were a trick of the light.

Rei let out a sigh, "Look, as much as I like my impromptu vacation here in the human world, I really need to get a move on with my duty. I need you to convince the Professor to accept my proposal."

I raised a brow, "And why should I do that? What's in it for you."

It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

"I'd be benefitting here as much as you guys are. I came here to put a stop to these vampire attacks. Get to the bottom of it and figure out a way to stop them. Make them come back to Celestia. In order to do that, I need information. And which better way to get information regarding the vampires than the Hunger Organization itself?"

"I still don't see how it benefits you."

"Can't you just accept my proposal? I'll deal with the vampires and get them out of your hair, the humans could go back to their own merry ways and deal with your own problem, while we vampires deal with ours."

"How can I know you aren't into some conspiracy to take down the Hunter Organization, or planning to take over the rampaging vampires?"

She rolled her eyes, skimming through the pages of my sketchbook. "Trust me, I have better things to do than conquer the world or some shit." She paused, "Oh my god, can you believe I just said the word 'shit' out loud without getting reprimanded?" Her midnight eyes shined with mirth, "I just did it again! Wouldn't you know, this is kinda fun. Shit. Shit. *Shit*."

"Won't you shut up!" I quickly hushed her, noticing a few heads turned in our direction by her crude words.

She giggled, whispering shit one last time before settling down. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Anyways, back to the matter at hand. I'm serious about this. If your organization won't help me, I'll just find another way to get what I want. And trust me, you would not want to deal with the mess." She snorted at herself, "I'm not sure why you're making this harder for yourselves when I'm showing you the easy way out. Once I get to the bottom of this, I promise you, within my true name, the vampires would never cross the border ever again." Rei shrugged, "I'd find a way to seal it away permanently or something."

I furrowed my brows, "Wait, what border?"

"You know," she motioned her hand around, as if it should mean something. "The border that separates our world from yours. Don't you know that? That's such a common knowledge, geez."

"No. No, I don't." I gritted out, "And it's most definitely not common knowledge. Pardon me, but it wasn't until recently that we knew vampires existed."

She paused, "Oh."

This time, I did roll my eyes, "Yeah, *oh*."

Rei frowned, "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know. I thought it was weird that humans didn't have abilities of their own but I thought it just had something to do with the strange devices all over the place. The thing you call technology."

I tilted my head to the side, "What? You don't have technology on—" I gestured towards her, "Wherever it is you came from—"

"—Celestia,"

"—How do you even live without it?"

She opened her mouth to respond. It suddenly dawned on me that I was sitting inside a cafe, eating cake and drinking coffee with a vampire of all people. Having a—civilized conversing of all things.

I raised my palm, stopping her from speaking. "You know what, it doesn't matter."

"Rude." She mumbled underneath her breath.

"Look, I gotta go." I took away my sketchbook from hers, "...I'll consider your words. I'll have a word with Simon. Whatever it is that you plan on doing, I suggest you tread cautiously. Don't take whatever chance we decide to give you for granted."

I didn't have to say anything to Simon, he would've accepted her proposal anyways. But after conversing with her, I couldn't detect any kind of malice in her words and actions. It would be foolish to trust her, but I was willing to give it a chance.

If she ever did go back on her words, shame on her for destroying the only chance she'll ever get.

As if knowing what I was trying to point across. Rei slowly nodded her head. "I get it. Thanks for considering, Cain. I won't do anything until I get your response."

I left the cafe without a word, feeling her burning gaze behind my back all the while.

As I came back home, I was immediately greeted by the tense atmosphere of my teammates. I sat the groceries down at the table, “What’s wrong?”

Luis scowled at me over the screen of his computer. “Where have you been?”

I shot a pointed look towards the table where I placed the groceries. Before I could ask what his problem was, I had to avoid bumping into Leah who came into the room in a flurry.

Samantha sighed, running her hand through her hair as she joined us in the kitchen. “I lost sight of her.”

"About that-”

“What are you all doing?" Leah snapped as she rounded around the corner, “Didn’t you get the notice? We’re going out on a mission.”

I frowned, “A mission? Out of the blue? I haven’t received anything.” I checked my phone, sure enough, there was nothing.

"We were included in a last minute raid. That’s probably why.” Luis supplied, staring intently at his screen. We’ll be on standby, just in case something happens.”

"We are also under strict orders not to intervene." Leah scowled at the words. “It’s as if they don’t trust us.”

Samantha snorted, “They probably don’t.”

“Hey, have some confidence for yourself. You’re the beloved grandfather of the President.” Cyrus teased as he joined us, fully equipped with his mission gear.

I went upstairs, downing on my own uniform. I opened my drawer filled with ordinary weapons. I reached for my usual go to equipment-a dagger and a pistol. It wouldn't do any much damage, but a damage is still a defect.

I tied my hair back, making sure it didn't get in the way. I passed by the dresser where I had put the cetas, contemplating for a minute if I should bring it along with me. It’s not like it would do anything useful within my hands, so I probably shouldn’t.

Not long after, the team and I went to the organization. We were stationed around the back, our purpose in the raid wasn’t as special as the other teams, so we weren't really needed.

"Listen up!" Jade called for everyone's attention. "The 8th ward raid is something we've been preparing for months. I won't tolerate any failures. Marius’ team will be at the center of the raid. We will support them from the sidelines." He gave all of us a stern glance before ordering to move out.

The raid had six teams working together including us, we remained behind as the other teams started moving for the bus.

Since we had both Luis and Samantha on our team, who outside of missions practically belong to the science department, we were naturally moving along with the monitoring team under Jade.

Jade stopped in front of me, "Stay back and be cautious. The mission will be over before you know it so you don't really have to participate."

He patted my shoulder, reminding me once again of my incompetence with using the cetas. I was notorious within the organization because of my inability. Insults like these weren’t unusual.

The whole party moved quickly, soon enough, we were at the 8th ward. Everyone stealthily surrounded the area. The warehouse in front of us belonged to a successful businessman. According to the files, he had such a good public image and clear record that one wouldn't have suspected that he was nurturing vampires under his wing.

Leah, Cyrus and I stood outside the van to look out while Jade, Luis and Sam remained inside to monitor each team's movements.

Marius was leading the operation so nothing bad should happen.

"Target found."

I heard Marius’ voice from the earrings that I wore. A device Simon had invented under his belt. It was the organization's way of communicating efficiently without anything getting in the way while fighting at the same time without worrying about anything. An earring wouldn't be too suspicious either.

"Commence operation." Jade ordered through the earpiece, the other teams moved quickly without hesitation.

The woman swung her feet back and forth on the bench as she gazed wistfully at the dark skies. The night reminded her of home, and home is where comfort is. She closed her eyes, basking in the cold sting of the night air. She sighed as the swinging stopped, leaning back, she felt a different kind of tingle on her skin.

"What could they be doing?" She mused to herself, head turning towards a certain direction.

Cold wind blew past her, rustling her silver hair. She smelt something familiar in the air.

Midnight eyes flashed white, her lips setting into a smirk. "Now this is the smell I'll never forget. What are a bunch of vampires huddled together doing over there?"

She stood up and brushed the nonexistent wrinkles on her dress. "Guess it's worth checking out since I'm not doing anything." She paused for a second, contemplating. "Ah, but that would go against what I said to him wouldn't it?"

She took a moment to decide, momentarily shrugging. "It's not like I'll intervene, I'm just going to check."

In a blink of an eye the woman disappeared, on where she stood was the remnants of mist in her wake.

The woman jumped over buildings as high as she could, a grin on her face. It was fun moving around like this, it reminded her of her childhood where she used to jump over trees while sneaking out on her lessons.

She stopped at the rooftop of one of the buildings outside the place where vampires were gathered. She frowned when she saw movement around the surrounding forest, she smelt two strange scents.

One was the odd smell of wisteria coming from the humans moving below her and one was the alluring scent that she had learned to associate with mornings, the scent of fresh air when the light would bask the darkness with its comforting glow. It was the scent that had drawn her attention to him on the first day she saw him, and it was mysteriously doing it again, easily helping her identify him amidst the crowd.

"You're here…" She murmured underneath her breath.

The woman moved to sit at the edge as she watched what the humans were planning to do. She did say she wasn't going to intervene—unless there were drastic measures, of course.

The Hunter Organization is a group of people who were after the vampires causing havoc in this world. She admired how the humans were able to hold out against a vampire without having any affinity. How they managed that, she could only fathom.

Could humans even kill a vampire?

She crossed her legs and rested her chin at the back of her hand, for now she'll observe how these hunters 'hunt' a vampire. Both groups were under suspicion. The vampire and the organization. Sure, she had proposed an alliance with the organization, but it was only to gather information and her own way of keeping an eye on them. It was not camaraderie. Besides, someone had caught her attention within their ranks.

She chuckled internally, '*Are you seeing this crown prince? For once, I'm having fun for your cause*.'

Her head perked up when more vampires arrived in the scene, and one of them specially stood out among the rest. This vampire didn't have the smell of wisteria but something else.

Something dark and sinister.

The humans beneath her started moving without noticing the arrival of other vampires. They moved in groups, the first team to enter immediately overwhelmed the surprised vampires inside. The woman noted the strong individuals of that group, next she looked closely at the weapons in their hands.

She had mused how a human could possibly kill a vampire, various options had run inside her head, but no amount of thinking would have prepared her for the sight she saw.

'*So that's how you were able to kill one of us*.'

She finally figured out where the strange smell was coming from. It was the hearts of vampires that they were using to kill other vampires.

The woman pursed her lips, upset that a vampire's corpse was being used in that way. It was disrespectful to the deceased to be used like that after death, especially when it was the hearts that the humans were using.

A vampire's heart was the core of their very being and affinity.

It surprised her that these humans were able to use the dormant affinities in the hearts. Once a vampire has died, their powers die along with them, yet these people were using those powers without problems.

It seemed like the Hunter Organization was more dangerous than she thought.

Soon after, a group of people started coming in and destroyed the vampires, unaware of the awaiting ambush for them. It wasn't long till the odd one moved and faced off with the first group of humans.

The odd vampire's movements were completely different from the ones she was used to, there was no doubt about it, something strange was going on at this side too. They were unnaturally strong for an average vampire, coming close with those who had natural affinities. Although without a doubt, she was still stronger.

It was a different kind of power boost to those vampires who had drank human blood. The strength was similar, but somehow this vampire was stronger. She wasn't even sure herself if the vampire had yet to consume blood or already has.

It didn't take long for the humans to realize that there were more vampires than they thought, and that the odd one had completely overwhelmed the first group leading the attack. The strongest of the humans were injured by an unexpected attack. The odd one took the opportunity to launch itself towards the faltering human and bit his arm, drinking his blood.

She winced, there goes her speculation if he had drunk or not.

She shook her head to snap herself from getting distracted. The humans simultaneously attacked the odd one but he showed no signs of budging from the human he was drinking from.

A sudden movement from the corner of her eyes caught her attention, three humans were moving out towards the direction of the odd vampire. She was surprised to see Cain being one of those people.

Her brows furrowed, he shouldn't go there, the odd vampire was too strong for them to handle. He will definitely get hurt if he continues forward.

Not liking that thought, the vampire moved from her spot.

The raid had been going well until a moment ago until a sudden news of an ambush, changing the approximate numbers for the raid. Marius' team had encountered a vampire that was out of our expectations and was in immediate danger.

Jade had immediately ordered a retreat but Marius' team was suddenly caught in a dilemma, they couldn't move away that easily with the vampires on their way.

I tensed when I heard the other hunters panicking over the earpiece, something dangerous had happened over their side.

"Shit!" Jade cursed. "Marius is being held by a vampire, if we don't do anything he's gonna suck him dry!"

"Send out my team to rescue Marius," Luis suddenly said. "They're good at protecting they won't **** this up."

Cyrus and I glanced at each other. Leah nodded with encouragement. "We can do it."

Jade sighed, "There's nothing I can do in this situation anyways. Immediately rescue Marius and order the other teams to retreat. This operation is way more than we can handle."

Leah was the one on the lead as we ran after her, sweat dripped down my face, feeling anxious if we could really rescue the other teams in this situation.

A loud explosion caught our attention, the top of the warehouse was destroyed as smoke filled in. We quickened our pace, nervous that something out of our league had happened again.

I stopped on my tracks once we were in, the ground was covered in blood from the obvious fight that broke out with the hunters and vampires. Majority of the motionless bodies on the ground were from the vampire's side. Thankfully, none of the other hunters were injured that badly apart from minor scratches.

Amidst all of this, there was a woman at the center wearing a purple dress. Her long white hair fluttered behind her back, her slender arm raised above her head as she held someone high in the air by the neck. My breath caught inside my throat as the man struggled in her grasp, blood smudged on the side of his lips as if he had been drinking.

If my speculation is right, the vampire in the woman's grasp must be the one who had injured Marius, who was now heavily bleeding on the floor.

“It's Marius!” Cyrus pointed towards the limp man slumped on the floor beside the woman. Her palm clutched at the back of his uniform. Marius looked extremely pale, he had lost a lot of blood and his arm showed badly torn flesh, I can only wince at the pain he must be feeling at the moment to the point that he had passed out.

The woman turned her gaze towards us, without letting go of the vampire she threw Marius towards our direction, Cyrus scrambled to catch him in his arms.

“What..?” Leah bewilderedly glanced back and forth towards the woman whose face was covered in a—was that a mask made of ice?—and towards Marius. The strange woman had thrown Marius aside like a rag doll without much care in the world, other than the appalling situation everyone was in, her immense strength was something to take note of. No one who isn't normal could casually throw a grown man aside while simultaneously suspending a trashing vampire by the neck up in the air—a vampire who had just drank blood at that.

Not only that, but there was something mesmerizing by the way she stood there so effortlessly elegant. The woman had an aura of grace and confidence on the way she carried herself.

Who was this woman? Why was she here? I eyed her figure, slim and curvy at all the right places. Her arms, despite the slender look on them, held precise strength that could rival a vampire's. She herself was unfazed by the threatening glare the vampire in her hand was throwing at her, nor the growling of the surrounding enemies. Perhaps she was one of them? Was that it? Did they have a feud in the middle of turning the tables against us?

More vampires started pouring in, all of them showing clear hostility to the intruders. “How dare you..!” One of the vampires moved forward, his red eyes glaring at the woman.

It was an adult vampire.

The woman barely glanced at the vampire, she tightened her hand around the struggling man’s neck as they both looked down on each other. The man wrapped his hand on the slender arm, her silvery white irises widened behind the mask, in a second the man was flying away from her. I winced when the man bounced a couple of times from the hard throw before managing to get a hold of himself.

He slowly stood up, wiping the blood on his mouth. The man’s eyes were dull red, strangely different from other vampire eyes.

The woman silently stared at her arm. “I see now…”

My head shot up towards her direction. That voice…! There was no mistaking it, it was the voice of the vampire we've been tasked to follow. It was her—the vampire Rei. I stared at her with baffled eyes, is it truly her? But her appearance looked different from the one I saw earlier today at the cafe. The woman before me had snow white hair—not silver. Her irises were white, unlike the midnight eyes I came to associate with her. If it really was Rei, what the hell was she doing here? Why was she with them? She gave her word not to do anything until Simon gave back his answer, and yet…

“I was originally just going to watch...but after seeing revelations one after another I can’t let this be.” Her white eyes slithered towards my direction. Hearing the voice for a second time, there was no doubt about it. I wouldn't mistake that melodic sound for someone else. Her words registered inside my head, she was explaining what she was here, despite what we had agreed on earlier. She raised her arm and licked the purple liquid dripping down from where she was grabbed earlier. “...Poison.”

The vampire from earlier moved forward once again, “Who do you think you are? Do you seriously think you can handle a pack of vampires on your own?” The man boasted, blatantly looking down at Rei. He then turned his head towards us. “I’ll be making sure you puny humans won’t leave this place alive. This will teach you a lesson not to go against an enemy out of your caliber.” He laughed maniacally.

She confidently called out to him, amused by his words. “Who will be teaching who now?”

Before any of us could see what happened, blood burst out of every vampire in the area, their chest pierced with sharp icicles of ice, the crimson color trailed down the blue spear. “W-What..?” The man stared at his chest with bewildered eyes, coughing up blood.

Leah took a few steps back. “Shit!”

“What’s going on?!” Luis inquired worriedly.

“There's a vampire here with an unusual affinity! N-Nothing like we've encountered before. She killed every vampire in an instant!” Leah shakingly reported under her breath.

The vampire with dull red eyes narrowly missed the icicle that came for him. “This… a Celeste?” His eyes shook while staring at the woman.

“Hm? I’m surprised you know. Had a little history lesson? You shouldn't have bothered, considering you are made artificially."

My breath hitched at my throat, realizing her words.

An artificial vampire.

“I wonder who told you that? Well, it doesn't matter since I’ll be capturing you.” She shrugged as if it was just a passing matter. “But before that…”, she turned towards us, and in an instant a snowstorm came crushing in our direction.

“I need to get rid of you all."

(A/N: I like the way this came out. Nothing changed much other than the first part of the chapter. This is a combined chapter for both two and three, making it an appropriate length which is what I was trying to achieve.)

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