"Aww, is this the first thing you ever have greeted me on this gorgeous evening?" Yuri sarcastically said that to me as I snarled at him. "Well, you're correct, Anna. I'm just following you and your vampire companion here and send out the coordinates to my squad. If you came here to rescue the civilians inside the warehouse, you're out of luck."
"What?" As he spoke those words, I could hear violence inside the warehouse. Kouga 'tsked' to him before standing up. "It seems like we've been outsmarted, Anna."
"What do you mean?"
"He used himself as bait to distract us so that his squad mates would go to the warehouse to rescue the civilians."
Great, just great. I decided to run towards the warehouse, but Yuri saw this and shot another batch of arrows to block my path.
"Oops, my hand slipped." Is this guy doing this on purpose!?
Just as I was about to jump up and beat his shitty grin face with my fist, his female companion suddenly appeared beside him. Where was she?
"Mission complete," she said to Yuri. "The civilians are safe, and the vampires are vanquished. The rest of the squad will handle the cleanup and safely escort the civilians out of this place."
"Good. Let's leave this place before the authorities arrive." Yuri smiled at her, then he looked at us. "It seems like we've win this time. Better luck next time, SECTA agent Anna."
And by doing so, they disappeared into thin air. Kouga and I stood there frozen for a few minutes until I lost it.
"THE HELL?" I was enraged like a five-year-old child throwing a big tantrum. The audacity of that four eyes! "THIS IS THE NTH TIME THEY STEAL OUR TARGET IN FRONT OF OUR FACES! I HAD ENOUGH OF THEM!"
"Did they always do this all the time?" Kouga asked me as I burst out all my anger on no one.
"They're always like this!" I screamed, stomping my foot in anger. "Every time there is an incident involving vampires, they always arrive at the scene first; and if we arrive there first, they will use a distraction so they will kill our targets behind our backs!"
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the rivalry between our organization and ESEH, killing the most vampires, like who will win first in a car race. We've been like this forever, and they were disrupting our work. I don't know how this started, but according to my dad, it is always the same: stealing our targets and getting all the credit for themselves.
And they had the audacity to call themselves professionals! Whatever they did was steal our targets for their own credit and pride, dammit!
"Let them be off for now." Kouga said as he turned away to leave. "The night is still young, and you must be tired of all the fighting and shouting."
"What will you suggest to me, old man?"
"I heard one of the places in the Easter District that was untouched by the vampires earlier has a variety of foods to choose from. I want to buy some of their sweet delicacies since I'm hungry from all the fighting tonight."
The heck? Vampires eating sweet delicacies? That's new. "I thought you only drank blood."
"That's only applicable to lower-rank vampires," he explained. "We higher ranks, including our king, only eat sweets as an alternative food source; unless we want to forge a blood contract with a human."
"Huh, there is no way we are going to forge a blood contract with you," I retorted as he began to walk away.
Kouga stopped his tracks while turning his head to look at me for a second before averting his gaze and continue to walk away. "Wait for me!"
*
I munched on my hamburger in anger as the two of us sat on one of the benches in the food court. Wow, even in the wee hours, many people still flock to buy some food after an hour of shopping. Then again, this is a night market, so they are open even in the early morning.
"Feeling better?" Kouga asked me as he ate his food, which was a sweet strawberry shortcake anyway.
"Not quite." I chewed my food slowly, then sipped my soda.
"I suggest that you need a contingency plan in case these people try to steal your targets," he said as he ate his cake. I looked at him, baffled. "Because of what happened today, you wouldn't be able to save the child's father thanks to their intervention."
I felt guilty about what he said. Luckily, before we went here, I checked on the mother and daughter and was relieved to see the father alive. Of course, they thanked me even though I didn't save him.
"At least I saved both his wife and child from those vampires, and that's enough for me." I set down my half-eaten burger on the table and sighed. "By the way," I changed the topic to forget what Yuri did to us earlier. "You said to me earlier about you guys eating sweets as an alternative source. Can you explain to me how it works for you guys?"
Kouga set his fork down on the paper plate and looked me in the eyes. "Let's just say that the taste of sweet foods is the same as blood," he explained calmly. "But human blood is still the superior source of food. The reason we ate sweets was to suppress our Vampire Arts and keep them under control."
"Vampire Arts? Do you mean the petals that you produced from your blood earlier are also Vampire Arts?" My curiosity got me interested, old man.
"What you have seen earlier is an ability of ours called 'Vampire Arts'. Each vampire has unique abilities, which, depending on the vampire's powers, can cause death and destruction if left unchecked. The more human blood that a vampire consumes, the stronger his Vampire Arts gets. Sometimes, it leads to the point that it causes the vampire to go berserk."
"So, to suppress that Vampire Arts, you need to eat sweets as an alternative?"
"Yes."
"That's absurd," I said. "That makes you guys weaker. I mean, have you guys tried another source of blood, like animal blood?"
"It makes us feel sick."
"Okay, how about foods other than sweets?"
"It depends on our tolerance for those. In my case, I don't handle foods with a strong odor."
"So, you can eat other foods asides from sweets." I opened another hamburger and shoved it in his mouth, but he only pushed the food gently with his hand.
"Dammit!" I pouted as he got a tissue and wiped it on his mouth.
"And for your information," he added. "I also don't like greasy foods."
*
The Chief only sighed as he was done reading my after-report. It was a nice morning, and I was standing there, waiting for what he would say to me. He put down the report on his desk and looked at me seriously. "Despite the fact that ESEH killed the majority of the vampires inside the warehouse, there are no casualties this time, and since General Igarashi is accompanying you in your mission, you were able to save the civilians in a nick of time."
"But my concern is that the ESEH agents are always stealing our target and getting all the credits," I complained. Of course, I won't forgive them for stealing our targets, especially Yuri. The next time I see him, I'll punch him in the face. "Chief, this can't go on forever! Do we have any plans to stop them?" I pleaded.
"Unfortunately, Anna, we don't." the Chief sighed. Like me, he is tired of the same old dance but want to make peace instead. "ESEH's been angry at us for a long time because we are siding with the vampires. In their eyes, we are traitors to humankind, and us killing vampires was only a front, mind you."
"So, they are doing this, so that the people won't trust us?" I said angrily, "Go ahead, then!"
"I advise you not to provoke them, Anna," the Chief said sternly. "Let them be for now. If you don't have any more reports, you may leave now."
I was dejected. Seriously, what ESEH did gave me a lot of headaches. "Thanks, Chief. I'll take my leave now."
*
I decided to take a stroll in the HQ gardens to calm my anger. Some of the flowers planted are now blooming beautifully because they are in season, and most of the employees are taking a break from long hours at work.
I sat on the bench and twiddled my thumb between my fingers. Patrick is still on his mission, and Lena is in the weapons department, currently busy making high-grade weapons; so I'm alone and have no one to talk to.
"This day sucks," I said aloud.
"Then why don't you tell me what's on your mind lately?"
I jolted and almost fell to my seat as Albert sat beside me. Wait, the sun was blazing hot, so how did he not get burned to ash?
"Kouga told me what happened on your last mission." He said in a calm and soothing voice. Now that reminds me, his voice makes me calm down instantly. "I can help if you want someone to talk to."
I told him what happened on my last mission in detail. He listened to me attentively and nodded when he agreed with me. "Anna," he said after I finished telling him. "Like General Igarashi and your Chief said, let them be."
"Not you too," I whined. "I thought you understand my situation."
"Yes, I understand you and all, but my question is: did those agents experienced seeing their loved ones being killed by vampires; or having their loved ones transformed into vampires, forcing them to kill?"
I was stunned by his sudden question. I never thought of that, as I was only focused on the mission and the reputation of our organization that I disregard the thoughts of the other.
"Remember this: every human has their own opinion about us. Just because we are different from you doesn't mean that we are evil. His Majesty knew and understood the opinions humans have about us. All he ever wanted was a world of coexistence between our races, and this organization is the living proof of that testament. And we have feelings too, like human beings do. If they want to kill us, so be it."
Albert spoke like a true noble, accepting all the criticism and harsh opinions about his race, but why wasn't he appointed by the Vampire King as his successor? I was amazed on how he says those words in a calm tone, despite knowing the risk of showing himself to someone like the ESEH agents.
But my curiosity still stands on why he hasn't being burned into ash yet.
"By the way," I spoke. "How on earth did you keep yourself intact?"
He tilts his head in confusion. "I mean, how did you not turn to ash?" I rephrase my question. "You're a vampire, right?"
He realized my concern and smiled at me. "We are not your typical vampires, Anna," he said. "We noble-blooded vampires are immune to the sun. The same goes for holy artifacts, although that hurts us a little."
"Eh?"
*
A few weeks later.
"Anna, are you done?" Mom called me from below when I was adjusting the hem of my red dress. I looked in the mirror one last time before I headed out.
Today is the day of our mission to assist Lord Albert in the Gala. A few weeks ago, I concluded that I shouldn't worry about ESEH's activities and should focus on the mission. The following missions after that were a success, and there was no single ESEH agent in sight.
Maybe I was overdramatic too much.
I went down the stairs and saw Mom and Dad waiting for me.
"WAAHHH! My daughter is so pretty in that dress!" My mom looked at me in awe. She's a woman in her forties, and I must say, I inherited her reddish blond hair and beauty.
Dad is a man between his forties and fifties, and he is a strict but caring person. He approached me, took my hand, and firmly grasped it. "Anna, be careful on your way to the Gala," he said. "Make sure to keep an eye on your surroundings and protect Lord Albert with your life."
I nodded in response. "Yes, Dad. I won't let you down."
He let me go, and I walked towards the door, where a car was waiting for me outside. As I opened the door, Patrick and Lena waved at me inside the car.
"Are your weapons in good shape?" Mom asked one last time.
"Don't worry, Mom, it's in the back of the car, and of course, it is in good shape."
"Take care of my daughter, Patrick," Dad said. "Oh, and Lena too."
"Of course, Uncle Dan," Patrick replied. "We restrain her if she is doing something idiotic."
"Hey!" I entered the car and shut the door off. "I'll be going now!"
Mom and Dad waved at me as the car revved its engine and proceeded to drive to its destination. I sighed and looked at Patrick, who was driving the vehicle.
"Are Lord Albert and Kouga already in the gala?"
"They are still in the HQ, preparing. We need to pick them up too before heading there."
I opened my device and looked at the contents indicated on the screen. "So, our mission is to escort Lord Albert Lilitus to the Gala until it concludes. We must be on guard in case there is a vampire attack."
Lena and Patrick nodded at me. "Let's get this mission commerce!"