Veins of Desire

CHAPTER 7

Martin and Wendy stopped making out. They fixed themselves, casually left the blood bank room, and roamed around to look for Haliya, who was looking for Sally. They suddenly had the feeling that Haliya would be in trouble.

They learned through the last meeting that Sally had to be removed from the hospital. As an accomplice of Sally, they informed her about it, but Sally didn't leave the hospital and chose to meet her fate. She said sacrifices had to be made and that it was already her time. "Maybe, I can talk it out to them," she said to the two. "They will suspect more people if I will leave. They chose who will attend that meeting; they are onto something," she added.

Martin and Wendy knew why they were at that hospital. It was not because they were immunohematologists, but to know the movement of the sick organization they were trying to get rid of. It was their mission, and Sally was the first one to be at that hospital under that organization.

"s**t. I am sure that Ella is dead. Why is she even looking for her?" Wendy asked as she rolled her eyes. "She was so stupid. I swear her curiosity would kill her! And where the hell is Sally?"

"You know how they do things here," Martin reiterated. The organization wasn't moving until recently. There were many missing patients, and yet the hospital was quiet about it. Blood donation drives were continuous as well, although there was much-stored blood already. Martin and Wendy knew something was up, but they were not certain about it, so they couldn't leave the hospital yet, even though it was dangerous. It is their job as spies.

"I hate this. I have had a bad feeling about her ever since!" Wendy said, walking faster than Martin. But he stopped her.

"You're moving undeniably faster than normal," Martin whispered to Wendy in her ear. He held her left hand and walked with her.

Suddenly embarrassed, Wendy walked at a slower pace. "Where do you think she will be?" She looked at Martin's cold hands that were holding hers.

Martin raised his brow. "Parking lot. Certainly," he said. Why? Since their investigation, people leaving the parking lot do not return any more. Even if there were missing reports, the hospital was trying to cover for them, saying that the patient had died. They were still figuring out how and why this was happening.

"Damn the system and f**k the elites," Wendy remarked, making Martin hush her.

Exactly the time they reached the parking lot, ambulances came rushing, and the smell of blood hovered in their noses. There was a sudden lust in them, but they tried their best to stop themselves from having the urge to drink blood. They were in the hospital for a long time, they adapted well, and as a result, they do not go haywire about it anymore.

The smell of blood mixed in the air, but one blood stood out for Martin and Wendy. They looked at each other, realizing they smelled the same aromatic blood. Blood had different scents and different tastes. It's one way to know someone's identity. And for the first time since they existed, Martin and Wendy got confused by the blood they smelled. It was not like anyone's blood!

In a flash, Wendy was already in front of unconscious Haliya. There was a faint smell of different blood they could smell, but they found only Haliya. They had an idea what had happened, but they were rattled after tracing that the sweet scent had come from Haliya.

"What should we do?" asked Martin. He was looking around, checking if eyes were watching them.

"s**t!" Wendy said, walking closer to Haliya. She saw the marks on her neck and shook her head. "She's not gonna die, is she?" She touched the scar on Haliya's neck and watched the purple venom slowly travel through her body from it.

"Should we help her?" Martin innocently asked. He was unsure and was certain that someone was already watching them. They had to leave. Immediately. Or else someone in the hospital who had smelled Haliya's blood would go around and look for her.

…

In a dream, Haliya was running toward someone. There was a faint voice of a man asking for her. She knew the voice was familiar, yet she did not know who the person was. The voice was urging her to come near him. Even though she was afraid, she kept running to see the man. But every step she took became harder and harder each time. And every step caused her blood to continuously drop.

When Haliya looked at her feet for a split second, a sudden mirror rose from the bloody floor. The huge mirror was in front of her, showing a reflection of a monster! She could still hear the man's faint voice, but her focus was on the image in front of her. She wondered about the reflection and looked at her back only to see an unending darkness. When she looked back at the mirror and tried to move her right hand, the same hand of the monster with scaly arms and long nails also moved.

Haliya had gotten an idea that the reflection was her, yet, she wanted to confirm it over and over again. She moved her head from side to side and saw that the head of the monster with fangs and red eyes also moved. Haliya screamed in fear! She tried to move her body again, only to realize she was paralyzed.

The screaming sound echoed in the void where Haliya was. It was so loud! Until the voices didn't only come from her. There was even a burst of laughter and a sweet voice that was whispering near her ear. The voice all came together until it turned into a screeching sound and a deafening silence.

Haliya woke up from her dream, panting. She felt dizzy. It was like someone had just hit her in the head hard, and now she couldn't get up. She felt hot. Aside from that, she felt like her neck were numb, and her whole body felt so different.

When Haliya opened her eyes, the first thing that she noticed was the unusual room and unusual smell. She couldn't grasp what had happened in the meantime, and when she did, she suddenly started vomiting.