Veins of Desire

CHAPTER 8

Martin and Wendy were troubled. They were underground, far from Johnsen Hospital, one of their hideouts, and the nearest place they could go before anyone else in the organization could trace them. Aside from their cover being blown up and Sally already dead, they helped the commoner who witnessed it. They just ruined a long plan.

Wendy was agitated, and Martin kept his cool, contemplating whether they did a good thing or everything will turn against them. "Calm down. We'll resolve this," Martin said, trying to calm Wendy.

"How can I f*****g calm down when Henderson showed up at the hospital and talked to us! He basically told us about killing Sally when he called us into that meeting! We're in an old underground base with the nosy girl, and we do not know if she will live! Plus, Xavier was not responding to any of our messages," Wendy answered, almost out of breath. "What we are doing is vital for our existence. I cannot just let some random girl ruin everything. This is so wrong; maybe we should have just killed her already so she won't be any use to anyone," she added as she puffed a cigarette.

Martin shook his head. They were going in circles. Wendy was hesitant but still saved Haliya; now, she kept mumbling they should have done otherwise. Honestly, he didn't know what to do as well. But Haliya had caught his attention, and he knew he might be something useful for them. Although their plan was already ruined, he knew that Xavier could do something about it and plan their next move effectively. They just had to trust Xavier and move as far as they could from the hospital in the meantime.

The base had a completely small facility. A small refrigerator run by a power supply generator was still working. There were dim lights, some arsenals found beneath the table at the mini kitchen, one room, and a living area where meetings were mostly held.

"We should be safe here in the meantime. Once Xavier contacted us, then we would have our next move," Martin sighed. Before Wendy could respond, they heard Haliya's loud voice.

…

Haliya remembered seeing Sally's head roll down in front of her. She vaguely remembered the face of the man who caused it. But she clearly remembered her fear when facing her anticipated death.

After wiping her face with the bed cover, Haliya stood up. She knew something was wrong. Firstly, she didn't know where she was. Secondly, she felt very heavy and light at the same time. Thirdly, she witnessed something horrible, and she was sure as hell that it was not a dream. Heaven knows how much she wanted that to be just a dream, but she knew it wasn't. And she confirmed it when someone suddenly opened the door, and two figures startled her.

"Where am I?" It was the first question that left Haliya's mouth. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Are Ella and Sally dead?" She held the wall and felt like she had lost her balance after all the inquiries she threw at the two people standing before her.

Wendy couldn't believe that the woman she thought would die was now asking her loads of questions. She was agitated! Quickly, she almost attacked Haliya, but Martin quickly reacted and instantly stopped her. "You don't know how much you ruined our whole plan!" Wendy sneered, having her shoulders gripped tightly by Martin.

Confused, Haliya looked at Martin. She witnessed a murder and woke up in a dark room, and now she was accused of ruining somebody's plans. It was not a great day. Definitely not. If it was all real or just a hallucination, Haliya didn't know anymore. In addition, her dream disturbed her. That nightmare was more fearful than the reality she had witnessed. Hell! Both were fearful, and neither of those was good for her.

Haliya held onto the bed tightly. "Did you know what happened to Ella? Or to Sally?" She hadn't recovered from everything when she realized something. Her eyes were suddenly filled with horror. She stood up once again, eyeing the only door behind Martin and Wendy.

"Are you… Are you the same as Sally? Are you real?"

Wendy scoffed, "Yes, that's it. You should be worried more about yourself."

Meanwhile, Martin was trying to keep Wendy in her right mind. "Do not scare her," he whispered. "Or I'll shut you up in any way I can," he threatened her. But it didn't sound the way he wanted it to be, more like a flirty statement for Wendy's ears.

Haliya had read several books about vampires, mythologies, underworld creatures, and folklore. Of course, her mother told her stories every night, which included fairy tales. And since she believed them when she was a kid, she also believed in unwanted creatures and feared them like The Grinch, The Slender Man, the shapeshifters, and blood-sucking creatures that blend as human beings. As she grew up, she learned that life wasn't a fairy tale, so she learned not to believe them anymore and bury her fears of frightening creatures. The only fear that had left her was her fear of not fulfilling her dream to become a nurse, and the only fairy tale she was asking for was a stable life for her and her mother.

To shake off her nervousness, Haliya chuckled. "You're not what I think you are, right?"

Martin kept his hands inside his pocket. Wendy shrugged, not really wanting to say anything to Haliya. Although it was dark, Martin could clearly see Haliya's condition. He noticed that the wound on her neck was slowly healing, and the purple venom inside her was starting to move faster. The purple venom seemed to give a glow to her body as it raved through her blood vessels.

The interest he had in Haliya immediately increased. Martin knew she was something. It was his first time to see such a venom reaction to someone's body, and for her to survive was another amusing thing.

"We are exactly what you think we are."