Chapter 68: Chapter 66

“Ahh, Venice. Queen of the Adriatic. The Floating City. A young, dashing boy meets a beautiful, dainty local girl, and they take a romantic gondola through the tranquil canals, lit only by the sunset.”
“...He’s gone delusional.”
“Verily.”

Mitra laughed dementedly as his eyes seemed blinded by the fantasy he had created. Much to his dismay, as they were not visiting as tourists they had opted to walk along the canalside rather than take the more romantic route, and after seeing countless couples snuggled together passing them leisurely in the water, he had begun to retreat into the recesses of his mind.

Wang Bao patted him on the shoulder gently as a consolation, but the act only seemed to tear him from his beautiful dream, and as the vision slowly drifted away only to be replaced by reality once more, the young man cried out in despair.

“DAMN IT ALL!! I swore I would only come here for my honeymoon! How the hell did we end up in such a place for a mission!?”
“...Honeymoon? You’ve never even had a girlfriend.”
“SHUT IT! Don’t you all think this is insane as well!? I thought you-know-what’s couldn’t cross running water, and now there’s supposed to be one living HERE!?”
“Ahem. From my extensive research, such rumours are believed to be false.”

Though he couldn’t quite control his voice through his rage, Mitra at least avoided shouting about vampires at the top of his lungs. Subtlety wasn’t the group's strong suit by any means, but calling attention to the fact they were searching for an incognito vampire would be moronic.

With the church having a strong influence in the city, the four had been given free lodging at quite a luxurious hotel nearby. It was a nice gesture, but had only served to annoy Mitra more, as he knew he couldn’t enjoy the situation they were placed in while there was still a job to do - even lounging around for a day could run the risk of another innocent person falling victim to a vampire attack.

The information they had been provided for the case was minimal, as there had only been two reports of missing people that were now believed to be casualties, and the linchpin that suggested that the cause was a vampire was the testimony of a drunken tourist who had survived an attempted attack when the assailant had been interrupted. In many cases, it would be hard to accept such a witness, but the church wasn’t taking any chances.

They had apparently been attacked on their way back from a bar on the western side of the city, and with the other disappearances being notable barflies as well, there were the makings of a trend forming. As for whether it was a coincidence or not - they would find out very soon.

“This is so stupid. We’ve visited every bar on the west end three times over. At what point are we going to accept we won’t find anything by repeating the same process?”
“Will you shut up about it already? You’re being even more annoying than usual.”
“Oh that’s rich, why don’t you just accept that your plan didn’t work already so we can move on?”

Akil and Wang Bao slowed their pace and gave each other a glance. The two siblings argued constantly, but it was rare to see them really show their fangs towards one another, and things weren’t looking good.

Hema kicked at her brother’s shin in response to his comment, but he pulled out of the way just in time. Clicking her tongue in frustration, she squared up against him as they stared each other down in the middle of the street.

“You are trying to lecture me? When did you ever come up with a plan, huh? Instead of just whining all the time, try actually putting some effort in.”
“As if you’d ever listen to a plan I came up with! No, it always has to go Hema’s way, all because you throw a fit whenever someone disagrees with you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry?”

The bickering had begun to spiral out of control, and the two of them were causing quite a scene as passersby started crossing to avoid the commotion. It had been a long day without any progress, and they were nearly out of time in the day to continue their search, so tensions were running high.

“You think I want this role? You think I don’t want to just goof off like you always do? I always have to clean up your messes, with you constantly acting like a spoilt child who never takes responsibility for their actions!”
“Responsibility!? They’re only my messes because whenever you do something wrong, you blame it on me anyway! So tell me, who really needs to learn to take responsibility!?”

The crowd that had started to gather around them whispered lightly, but the twins didn’t listen. They had become so involved in their argument that all they cared about was who was ‘right’ in the end, and it was only when they happened to give exasperated looks towards their friends that they realised the situation they were in.

“...Have it your way Mitra. If you think you have all the answers, how about you come up with the plan for tomorrow, and I’ll just complain constantly about how it isn’t working.”
“Whatever. I don’t need you to tell me what to do. I can manage just fine on my own.”
“Oh, I bet.”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”

With a synchronised ‘hmph!’ the two turned on their heels and walked away from each other. Hema headed east towards the direction of the hotel they were staying, while Mitra headed further west, likely out of spite.

Now left between a rock and a hard place, Wang Bao and Akil shared a sigh and split up to follow each of the siblings.

“Don’t bother! Go soothe her ego, she needs it more than me!”

…Seemingly knowing this outcome was coming, Mitra shouted back over his shoulder at Wang Bao, who reluctantly gave up, and joined Akil once more in trailing Hema. Both of the twins were stubborn to a fault, so their only hope was that Mitra would come to his senses soon enough and return to the hotel without getting himself in trouble.

As he disappeared around the corner out of sight, his friends mouthed a silent prayer for his safety.

******

“Can you believe her!? Always looking down on me as if she’s so perfect. So what if I pipe up and complain sometimes - at least I’m trying to keep her in check!”
“You poor thing… it must be hard needing to deal with someone like that all the time.”

Mitra huffed as he took a deep swig of his beer. His anger at his sister still flared up, but more than anything his feelings were hurt from being treated as nothing more than a nuisance.

At least, there was a silver lining. As he had stormed off to the nearest bar to vent about his woes (having memorised their locations from visiting so many times in the day), a young girl entered after him and caught his eye. She had overheard the argument on the streets, and as he had left in the same direction she was heading anyway, she ended up following him into the building.

“What can I do? She’s family. Even when we were kids, everyone saw me as the troublesome one. ‘Mitra, stop messing around in class!’. ‘Mitra, why can’t you behave like your sister!?’... I just wish for once they would stop seeing me as some idiot who doesn’t know what he’s doing…”
“Aww… You poor thing…”

Her hand softly touched his arm as he looked over at her in surprise. Her rosy red lips parted gently as she smiled at him, and her sultry eyes fluttered. With soft, flaxen hair and a cute face, she had a simple charm, but there was something more to her demeanour that tugged at his heartstrings.

“I want… I want a chance to prove myself. To show that I can really do it, you know?”
“Of course! And I believe that you can - you seem so passionate, and strong. You could do anything you wanted.”
“You really think so..?”
“I do! Here… let me get you another drink…”

As she waved for another round for the both of them, she coyly slid her stool closer to his, and her soft fingers traced his arm once again. Mitra blushed deeply from her touch, and as he had been taking large gulps of his drink already, his head was starting to feel a little fuzzy.

“I really… shouldn’t. I have an important job to do here…”
“Oh? What do you do for work?”
“It’s- err, it’s private. I can’t really say…”

She batted her eyelids at him and giggled sweetly.

“Don’t be so shy~, I won’t bite…Unless you ask me to.”
“A-Ahh… uhhh…”

She grew more assertive with her flirting, and her hand made its way along his arm until she held the back of his hand. Still frozen in place from her sudden movements, he struggled to form the words to say, and as she leaned her shoulder against his he could feel his heartbeat pounding wildly.

Despite his good looks and constant claims of seeking romance, this was a first for him, and he was truly stumped. His mind went blank, and as he went into autopilot, time passed quickly.

By the next time he noticed, sunset had long since come and gone, and it was only as he happened to glance out into the darkness outside that he realised how dangerous of a situation he was in.

“Oh no… I have to go. I’m sorry, but I have to go now.”
“Huh..? You’re leaving..?”

The girl was stuck closely to his body now, and her arm wrapped around his waist as she looked at him with pleading upturned eyes. He could feel a thick fog in his head as he desperately tried to think straight, and his eyebrows furrowed deeply as he groaned.

“Ugh… It isn’t safe here. I have to get back to my hotel.”
“It isn’t safe? But… then how will I get home?”

He blinked dumbly at her as she gripped the back of his shirt tightly. Her eyes were wide and dewy, and even while his brain was struggling to keep up with his thoughts, he could tell she was expecting more from him. If the vampire truly was targeting vulnerable people on the way home from drinking, then surely either of them walking alone would make an easy target.

“I… I can take you… home.”
“Oh~, thank you - you’re my hero…”

Her fingers travelled up his back and played gently with his hair as he looked deeply into her eyes, feeling unable to tear himself away. This was what he had always wanted, but it still came as a surprise to him just how hypnotic love truly was.

The room was almost entirely empty as he stumbled out through the door he had entered some hours before, and the once-busy streets were quiet. Even after travelling through this area during the day, now that he looked at it once again, it all seemed so foreign to him, and he wasn’t truly sure of which direction his hotel would even be.

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Luckily for him, the girl he had been with propped him up at his side, and with her slender arms wrapped tightly around him, she guided them towards her home. She was clearly very familiar with the area as they took several alleys and side paths while she chatted coquettishly with him.

“You’re so strong… I can feel your chest muscles even through your clothes.”
“Right… I… I exercise a lot…”
“Do you need to be strong for your job?”
“Yes… Somewhat…”

His eyes felt heavy as they trudged onwards, but the words tumbled from his mouth nonetheless. He wasn’t too sure of what exactly he was saying, but the words felt right at the time, and as they ducked into another isolated path, she gave him an impish smile.

“Hunting vampires must be difficult work.”
“That’s right… it’s dangerous too…”
“Hehe~, you think so?”

Suddenly, she pulled him to one side and held him up against the wall. The strength contained within her dainty features caught him off guard, and as she intertwined her legs between his, he felt his heart pound like a drum.

“What..? What are you…”
“Don’t bother struggling. It’s too late for you, anyway.”
“What do you… mean?”
“I just love toying around with pathetic little creatures like you. Even so, I honestly thought a hunter would be more of a challenge, you know?”

Mitra’s eyes glazed over as he tilted his head slightly in confusion. His mouth closed as he looked at the girl before him; her eyes glowing yellow as she panted in excitement.

“Oh, don’t bother screaming - not like you could manage it anyway in such a state. You were a fun plaything, for a while.”
“...”

Mitra leaned his head back against the cold wall and exhaled lightly. He could barely recognise his own thoughts through his stupor, but as he closed his eyes, he inhaled one more time through his nose.

…And whipped his head forwards as fast as he could.

*CRACK*

“KRAA-! You little fucker!”
“Ouuuch!”

The vampire reeled backwards and dropped him to the floor, where he crumpled limply. Her cute button nose had been crushed by the force of his sudden headbutt, and she snarled viciously towards him as her pretty face twisted into an inhuman horror.

Mitra himself immediately regretted the move, even if it had saved his life. Using his head as a literal weapon was a stupid idea, as he now had a big red mark on his forehead from the violent smash, and while he still couldn’t think or see clearly, he now had a splitting headache to boot.

“How dare you! Die in agony, you pathetic worm!”

*BOOM*

As he lay dazed on the ground, the vampire raised her arm above her head and tried to bring it down upon him. Her soft fingers that played with his hair had become razor-like daggers as they plunged downwards, but just before they reached him, the creature was blown away by a wave of gold, sending her sprawling through the darkness.

With her beautifully gilded bracelets jingling as she swung her arms, Hema launched another attack before the vampire could recover, pressing the monster into the ground once again. She strolled past her brother as if he weren’t there, with Wang Bao following behind her, and only Akil stopped to pick Mitra up from his sorry state.

“I trust you are unharmed?”
“My head feels like it’s about to explode… but otherwise I’m good.”
“Excellent. Do not tarry, your ability is needed.”
“I know, I know.”

Mitra rubbed his eyes with a groan and stepped towards the sound of rabid growling and gnashing of teeth. His other hand held the wall for a moment to steady his steps, but he was quickly regaining consciousness.

“Will you hurry it up already!?”
“Give me a break, I’m coming! Alright… Rama, grant me your bow!”

After a lot of blinking and shaking his head, his eyesight finally returned to him. As he reached into the sky to grasp his beautifully glimmering bow and arrow, he saw that at the end of the alleyway, the vampire was fully restrained against the floor by Wang Bao’s enormous golden palm, and the once gorgeous girl he flirted with was now a grotesque monster.

“No! Don’t shoot! We can do anything you want, anything you desire if you just let me go!”
“Haa…”

Seeing that it stood no chance, it begged for its life, but when it held him in a similar position mere moments before it was engorged in the feeling of power. The effect of the charm hadn’t entirely worn off yet as it had been applied so thoroughly, but it wasn’t enough to stay his hand, and he pulled back the string of his bow.

“WAI-”

*Twang*

The arrow flew true, and the demon fell silent.

As the monster turned to dust before their eyes, they all shared similarly relieved glances, and Mitra slumped against the nearby wall with a groan.

“Ugh… Conrad really wasn’t kidding. That charm is no joke.”
“Hmph. I’ll bet the beers you downed while you were chatting away didn’t help either.”
“How stupid do you think I am? Of course they were non-alcoholic, especially after what happened in Marlbourne.”

Seeing him still holding the fresh bruise on his forehead, Hema approached her brother slowly. He looked to be in pain, but had performed his role admirably, and everything had worked out perfectly in the end.

“...”
“O-Ow! Damn!”

With a silent fury, she gave him a harsh boot to the shin, and now he held one hand on his aching head and the other on his throbbing leg.

“That’s for being too mean earlier on.”
“S-Shit, it hurtsss! Look… I’m sorry. Even if we needed to make it believable, I went too far.”
“Yeah, you did. Still… So did I.”

After giving a heavy huff and dealing an appropriate punishment, Hema’s eyes softened.

“Mitra, your plan was stupid, dangerous, and probably just involved you wanting to take your chances and get chatted up by a pretty girl. But it worked. I’m sorry if it feels like I doubt your ability.”
“Yeah… yeah. Thanks, sis, for cleaning up after me once again.”
“Seriously! You made us wait out there for hours, watching you flirt! You’re lucky I didn’t leave you to get eaten!”

The argument on the street wasn’t fake, but it wasn’t exactly real either. The group had realised that after visiting each bar and finding no clues, it was highly likely that the vampire wasn’t waiting in the bars themselves, but using them as a place to find prey - and that meant the four of them would be highly suspicious with all their sniffing around.

All of the victims so far had been young men who were alone. While Akil and Wang Bao also fit the criteria, they were far less suited for the role than Mitra, who after spinning up such a commotion on the street, very publicly entered the danger zone unattended.

Vampires were arrogant creatures - it was rare for them to leave town once they knew they were being hunted unless they truly thought they were outmatched. Showing such a sorry display would lower the demon’s guard, and from there, all Mitra had to do was play the lonely soul desperate for attention.

How much of his night was a cunning deception, and how much of it was truly how he felt, only he would know - and he planned on keeping it that way.

“I’ll fetch you an ice pack… or two. Let’s head back.”
“Sounds good to me…”
“Indeed. Let us depart.”

Wang Bao gave a slight smile and a hearty thumbs up as he helped lift Mitra to his feet once more, and after a successful mission, Bravo team made their way back to their hotel under the light of the stars.

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