Veins of Desire

CHAPTER 6

You know when you were about to witness a murder, and you just stood there like a post because, in the first place, you didn't know what to do, and what you saw made you question reality? That was what Haliya felt the moment she saw blood raining from somewhere, and some drops of it even hit her in the face. She was confused and afraid, her heart beating so fast, her feet glued at that exact moment.

Sally didn't expect what would happen; she trusted the person, although she knew the possibility of getting killed. She felt the sharp fangs on her skin, and the next thing she heard was the cracking sound of her neck. It all went fast. Yet, because she was not fully decapitated, her consciousness remained. Her eyes widened, feeling the blood coming out of her, and the mischievous smile of the man in front of her made her mad.

"We know what you’ve been doing," the man said, holding her head so it won't fall off. Blood continued to sprinkle like her body was a hose, and the cars were flowers she had to water.

"Just end me," Sally replied, feeling the cold hand on the side of her cheek.

"With pleasure, since we won't be needing you anymore."

Haliya didn't hear the entire conversation, but she was sure as hell that she saw blood, fangs, and Sally's head almost falling off her body through a reflection from a car. She covered her mouth when she gasped, afraid that the person Sally met would hear her. And she wasn't wrong. Haliya took a step back and fell to the ground, bruising herself. Although she was more than a meter away, the mysterious man heard Haliya gasp. He felt another presence and smelled a different kind of blood. Blood that is so enticing, so aromatic, so different from the smell of the blood he had sensed from the hospital. Although it was raining, the smell of that blood stood out.

"You brought a gift for me?" The man asked Sally, getting thrilled.

Sally didn't know that someone was there and that it was Haliya. She couldn't smell blood, although she was still who she was before, minus some qualities she was proud not to have anymore. She knew it was the end of her life, but if she could still save that one intruder, she would. Sally may appear cold and was literally cold, but she wasn't like any of the rest of them.

"The mess you made here will be really hard to clean. One body was enough before a commoner sees you, or your higher-ups will surely get mad at you," Sally said, striking a conversation to prolong her agony and give the 'commoner' more time to escape.

Haliya couldn't move. What was worse was, when she could move her feet, she walked closer to see what was happening. Trembling, she saw Sally's head almost falling off her body. She stuttered, thinking that the blood sprinkled over the parking lot was Sally's. She was so focused on her that she failed to notice the man holding Sally. And when she did, her mind went blank, unable to process that the woman she was looking for was now in front of her, almost dead.

The mysterious man swiftly moved, leaving Sally. But Sally tried her best to stop the man and shouted at Haliya, "Run!"

Haliya didn't know what had gotten into her, but she ran as fast as she could. It was her signal, her waking call. It was like her mind suddenly functioned, her blood rushed through her veins, and her brain finally communicated with her muscles to run. And so she did. She ran as fast as she could.

It was thrilling, at least for the mysterious man. It was his first time smelling such blood, and now he was drooling over like a dog. His fangs became even longer, and his eyes slowly turned red. His pale face became even paler. His quick movement prevented Haliya from running far away from him.

It was chaos. Not only for Haliya but also the whole hospital, as many ambulances came with patients gasping for air, screaming for help, and slowly dying. Not far from the hospital, a bus with forty passengers met an accident because of a faulty brake. Some of the passengers were brought to a public hospital while some of them were sent to Johnsen Hospital as they were the ones who needed immediate help and they have the worst cases.

Haliya heard the sound of ambulances and saw the busy emergency room. And before she could even set her eyes back on the murder scene, the man was already an inch away from her. Dumbfounded, she stood very still as if it would make her disappear from the man's view. She couldn't look at him while he sniffed her scent, admiring her perfect long soft black hair and touching her delicate neck.

It was electrifying. The touches of the man made Haliya gasp. Aside from the coldness of the man's hands, it was the first time a man stood very close to her. She couldn't blink, and her throat felt dry.

"You… You killed Sally…." Haliya finally said. The man smirked, unable to hide his desire to put his fangs on her neck and suck her dry, leave her in an ambulance, clean his mess, and then leave happily with a stomach full.

"I did. But I doubt that she's already dead. You see, I haven't completely removed her head and smashed her heart," he said in the most playful way as if he did not take away someone's life.

Haliya knew that the man was dangerous, and any second now, she would be in the same fate as Sally. "Wh-What are you? Wh-what do…" If it was her death already, Haliya at least wanted to know who she was dealing with or what creature were he and Sally. Why did he have to remove her head to consider her dead? She knew. Of course, she knew what they were. But she wanted to confirm it because those creatures were just mere fictional characters the last time she knew.

"What is the point of telling you if you will die now?"

Haliya felt a cold hand on her neck and a finger that traced her lips. Still, she couldn't look at him. She closed her eyes, wanting to scream, but she couldn't. Everyone was busy, and she knew no one would pay attention to her even if she shouted. There were no CCTV cameras around, and even if there were, she doubted that someone would come to rescue her.

"Should I keep you?" The man quietly said, thinking. So, he brought Haliya through her neck and swiftly came back to where Sally was.

Sally couldn't move anymore. The flesh of her head is barely attached to her body. She was just holding it, so it won't fall. She knew it was her end already. But she was planning to die alone and not with the staff of the hospital.

Curiosity was the characteristic that Sally hated about Haliya. She thought the kid was nice as she told her about her dream to become a nurse at that hospital. Now, it will be her end as well. She watched the man bring Haliya in front of her.

"Spare her," she coldly said, which didn't affect the man.

The man smirked. "See, she is still alive," he said to Haliya.

The day felt already long for Haliya. All she wanted to do was to find out if Ella was fine through Sally; now, her curiosity had brought her to unimaginable things. She couldn't believe that Sally was still alive in her situation and now she was being held captive by an unknown man.

Haliya felt like she would throw up. She was not afraid of blood and had been readying herself to worse-case scenarios because she wanted to be a nurse. She watched too many brutal videos and surgery operations and was used to the smell of blood. She was so used that she grew to love it. But at that moment, it was different. She felt like her head was spinning and couldn't hear anything. The last thing she witnessed was Sally's rolling head towards her, the smirk of the mysterious man, and a stinging pain on the side of her neck.