CRIMSON NOCTURNE

CHAPTER 18: To England

Time flowed like a river, relentless and indifferent, and before Yi Fei knew it, he had been on the European continent for nearly two months. Two months of sleeping in strange hotels, eating food that never tasted quite right, and waking each morning with the same hollow ache in his chest. During that time, he had served as Van Helsing's muscle on a handful of jobs — dispatching a few minor vampires who had made the mistake of preying on the wrong humans. But not a single piece of news about Chen Jing had crossed his path. The impatience had been building in his chest like a pressure cooker, and it finally exploded after a routine vampire-hunting mission in Italy.

Yi Fei kicked aside the last vampire corpse, its body still twitching from the force of his stomp, and whirled on Van Helsing. "Van Helsing! Two months! We've just been taking small jobs, killing random small-time vampires that mean nothing, while Chen Jing is still out there somewhere — alive or dead, I don't even know!"

Van Helsing shot him a sideways glance and clicked his tongue with obvious annoyance. "You think finding Chen Jing doesn't cost money? You think information comes free? If we didn't take these jobs, we couldn't even afford raw meat, let alone bribe the right people for answers." Seeing that Yi Fei was about to argue further, he cut him off with a raised hand. "Alright, don't worry. I've had your situation on my mind the whole time. But let's be real here — even if we found Chen Jing tomorrow, what could you actually do? Could you fight your way through the vampires holding her and take her back? You couldn't even beat Bloody Mary. If you don't train seriously, you'll never see her again. Well, unless you both die. Then you'd meet in the afterlife."

Yi Fei had been ready to shout, to rage, to demand more — but Van Helsing's words hit him like a bucket of ice water. Everything he said was right. Even if they found Chen Jing tomorrow, he'd just get beaten again, maybe killed this time. "Van Helsing, I want to become stronger. Do you know how?"

"Me? How would I know? I'm not the Wolf God." Van Helsing shrugged with exaggerated helplessness. "But I do know someone who might be able to teach you a thing or two. For now, just follow along and make some money, and when we've got enough, I'll take you to him."

"..." Yi Fei couldn't shake the feeling that he was being used as free labor. But what choice did he have? He was trapped between his own inadequacy and the desperate need to improve.

Van Helsing looked over the last sheet in his hand and snapped his fingers with renewed energy. "Hey, Yi Fei, you said you wanted a big job, right? Here it is. Once this one's done, we'll go straight to that guy who can teach you how to fight."

Yi Fei leaned over and read the sheet: "Find and kill 'Camilla.' Last sighting: outskirts of London. Witness reported a woman transforming into a black panther and disappearing into the woods."

"Who's Camilla?" Yi Fei asked, frowning at the unfamiliar name.

Van Helsing rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh my god. One half of the most powerful hunter duo — the 'Silver Meteor' — doesn't even know who Camilla is. You really need to read more books."

"Give me a break. Where would I learn about stuff like this in a normal school?"

Having teased him enough, Van Helsing gestured for Yi Fei to follow him as he began to explain. "It's an old vampire legend. Camilla is a beautiful young woman with the power to shapeshift. Her preferred method is to befriend a young girl, then drink her blood. She claims the taste of blood from a betrayed friend is especially exquisite — something about the flavor of betrayal. The modern Camilla is similar to the legend, though they say she's less patient. Instead of going through the whole friendship ritual, she now just drains pairs of close friends directly."

They reached Van Helsing's car and climbed in. Van Helsing started the engine and pulled onto the road. "According to the Vampire Hunter Association's files, we know she can shapeshift and is apparently very skilled with fire magic. Beyond that, the details are frustratingly unclear." He flipped through the folder one-handed while steering. "The mission difficulty is rated four stars — pretty dangerous. The bounty is fifteen million euros..."

"H-how much were our other jobs paying?" Yi Fei was stunned by the number.

"Oh, we've been doing pretty well. Minimum a few hundred thousand per job." Van Helsing tossed the folder carelessly into the back seat.

"Where's all the money going, then?"

"Uh... well, that's a long story." Van Helsing realized he had said too much and let out a forced, theatrical laugh that fooled no one.

"Hmph." If Yi Fei had known about this sooner, he might have cursed him out properly. But he knew deep down that Van Helsing was dragging out these small jobs to buy time — time for Yi Fei to heal, to train, to prepare for what was coming. So he let the small stuff slide. He wasn't going to use all his share of the money anyway.

Van Helsing stole a glance at Yi Fei and, seeing that he wasn't angry, let out a long, relieved sigh. "Yi Fei, let's find a nice place to relax for a night. Good food, good drink. We'll head to London tomorrow morning."

"You're the boss..."

And with that, the two nocturnal creatures vanished into the night, the roar of the engine fading into the darkness.

* * *

Two days later, a man in full American cowboy attire — Van Helsing — and a young man in a crisp white suit — Yi Fei — appeared at the London airport, drawing stares from every direction.

From a block away, you could hear Yi Fei complaining. "What the hell are you wearing? Walking next to you is embarrassing! People are looking at us like we're a circus act!"

"Oh, my dear boy, you don't know fashion. I asked around extensively to find out what's trending in London right now." Van Helsing waggled a finger at Yi Fei while simultaneously flashing a wink at every passing woman, most of whom quickened their pace.

Yi Fei watched in dismay as every nearby girl fled from Van Helsing's advances. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Were all vampire hunters this utterly insane?

Finally escaping the airport, Van Helsing settled down a bit in the taxi, and Yi Fei breathed a long, grateful sigh of relief.

* * *

At the hotel, after dropping off their luggage, they decided to head out and scout the local supernatural scene.

"Uh, are you really going out dressed like that?" Yi Fei couldn't hold back when he saw that Van Helsing had no intention of changing.

"Hmm? Is there a problem with my outfit?"

"Then I'm not going with you. I'll explore on my own."

"Oh? Are you afraid I'll outshine you so completely that you'll die of heartbreak and embarrassment?" Van Helsing roared with laughter, drawing odd looks from the hotel staff.

Unable to take it anymore, Yi Fei sighed deeply. "I'm afraid people will think I just picked someone up from the asylum."

"..."

In the end, Van Helsing dragged Yi Fei out without changing a single article of clothing.

"Let's check out the 'Vampire' bar first," Van Helsing announced.

"'Vampire'? There's one here with that name too?" Yi Fei was genuinely surprised.

"It's a global chain. Every major city with a significant vampire population has one." Once again amused by Yi Fei's ignorance, Van Helsing hailed a taxi.

Half an hour later, Yi Fei had been waiting outside the bar long enough to grow thoroughly impatient. Finally, Van Helsing emerged, wiping his mouth. "Any good news?"

"Burp... yeah." Van Helsing let out a long, beery belch and seemed in remarkably high spirits. He walked alongside Yi Fei as they moved away from the bar. "All the local vampires hate this Camilla character. Word is she stole something precious from Lord Dracula himself — something that grants immense power to whoever holds it. A few vampires who went after her ended up dead, their bodies torn to unrecognizable pieces."

"..." Yi Fei struggled to see how this qualified as good news. "Does any of this actually help us find her?"

"Of course it does. Anyone being hunted by vampires is going to hide where there are no vampires." Van Helsing grinned with obvious self-satisfaction. "And there's only one place in the world with absolutely no vampires."

"The cathedral!" Yi Fei caught on immediately.

Van Helsing nodded approvingly. "Not bad. You're not entirely hopeless. Come on, let's head back and prepare. Tonight, we're visiting St. Paul's Cathedral."

[END OF CHAPTER 18]