Veins of Desire

CHAPTER 12

Wendy felt the cold metal trailing on her skin. The four men were proud as they had captured her. They held her dearly, showing Martin that they had gotten her. "Don't move, or else she'll die!"

Martin's attention went from the chief to the man holding Wendy. In that brief moment, the chief stood up and took both arms behind him as if arresting him.

It wasn't the first time for Wendy to got in trouble. She was held captive several times, but she would always have her way of getting away. The smirk on her face did not fade, and she even closed her eyes, cherishing her meeting with the metal dagger that was supposed to threaten her.

"You're all stupid!" Wendy shouted, and at the same time, she used her elbow to kick the man's groin behind her. Because of her movement, the man's weapon wounded her throat, but she did not mind it. And since Martin had already anticipated Wendy's movement, he had synchronized his attack along with her.

From being held by the chief, Martin was now the one holding him down. His feet were pressing his face down on the ground. "Ah! Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I am just following orders!"

Martin shook his head. "Sorry, we're just fighting for something here." Just as he was about to decapitate his head, a swift air moved, the light went on again after a split second, and the bloody scene lay bare before them.

The splash of blood was around the living room. The floor was bathing with blood, and it reeked of metal everywhere. The whole place was a mess as if someone had just ransacked it, looking for gold.

Eleven heads were rolling around, and their bodies were slowly fading. While Martin and Wendy were both shocked by what happened. It all happened so fast that their eyes could not catch up. How come all the vampires about to arrest them were lying lifelessly on the floor.

Like a slow motion in television, when Martin had adjusted himself, he saw the being who ended the four remaining vampires. His eyes glimmered with hope for a moment, and he felt like all his blood had left his body. Why wouldn't he? He just saw Xavier holding Haliya's body and was about to cut off her head.

Haliya's vision was blurry since she was thrown at the wall. She hadn't even gotten up, and her head was spinning. She could hear some shoutings and groanings, but everything was so chaotic. It was dark, and only when the lights turned on again did she realize she could still witness what was happening. She had enough blood since yesterday, and she was just starting to take in all the information she received, yet she was there, on the cold floor, with a bunch of questions in her head again.

The moment that the light turned on and Haliya's eyesight adjusted, a man suddenly came near her, holding her head. It was not something romantic or dreamy; the place was horrendous, and what just happened was horrifying. But it was the most beautiful pair of eyes that Haliya had seen. She got used to red eyes recently, but the red eyes that were looking directly at her, examining her, was different from everyone that she had seen. She felt the cold fingers wrapped around her neck and the man's hesitation while deciding whether to kill her or let her go.

Haliya couldn't speak. It seemed like her heartbeat had stopped, and the time froze. Even her breathing halted as she waited for what would happen to her.

"Don't!" Wendy shouted, making everyone come back to their senses. She moved at once, stopping Xavier from killing Haliya. "She's with us," she quickly explained, removing his hands around her neck.

Xavier's arrival brought comfort and safety to Wendy and Martin. They were glad to finally see him after being away for months.

Before standing up, Xavier stared at Haliya. He was wondering who she was and why she was there. They have alliances, of course. But she was someone he hadn't seen before or knew. He got up and shook off the dust in his clothes. "We don't have time; let's clean up and leave this place at once."

Martin nodded. Just as usual, he started moving, dragging the lifeless bodies around in a pile. At the same time, Wendy began to remove the bodies' hearts. When Martin was done, he cleaned every item stained with blood.

As this was happening, Haliya was just watching. Everything seemed normal, and everyone was moving accordingly, like they had done it a hundred times. She couldn't move an inch. She was baffled and scared, but she did not cry.

Xavier looked at Haliya. Martin had already told him what happened to her and why she was with them. He was curious, too, since he did not have any idea what she was and why she was still alive. They were halfway done cleaning. "Move aside," he instructed her as he took the door on top of her.

Haliya did not move an inch. Only when Xavier had removed the door on top of her did she realize how heavy it was. Her eyes widened when all the headless bodies began to fade like dust taken by the wind when their hearts were removed. A sudden lightning struck her mind, making her remember what the man with curly hair told her. She then confirmed that a way to kill a vampire is to remove their heads and smash their hearts.

"Our case was dismissed. They did not even accept our petition," Xavier informed Wendy and Martin as they gathered around a table. Everything was fixed as if nothing bloody had happened earlier. The door was fixed, and everything tainted with blood was gone. "You were invited to the meeting because they already know your purpose in the hospital. They wanted to know who else was with you, so they used the two of you as bait. They outsmarted us this time."

Xavier had explained his disappearance. He was trying to bring an appeal to the Elites. However, they were not listening to them. It was their first step in the plan to take legal action. In spite of that, they were always dismissed, and their governing system did not even look at them.

Martin looked at Wendy, then shifted his eyes to look at Haliya. "We did the right thing by bringing her here. After all, she did not ruin our plan." Wendy rolled her eyes and gave Haliya a glare.

While the three were talking about their next step, Haliya was just sitting on the couch. She was not herself, and she felt light and disoriented. She could smell the faint scent of blood coming from all the bloodshed earlier, and she suddenly felt hungry. Slowly, she gathered her strength and held onto the nearest arms to her. Before she could even speak, her body collapsed, and her eyelids closed.