Chapter 19 Who could the Vampire be?

A smile flickered across Jacob's face as he lay on his bed and contemplated the trials to come. Tomorrow, he and his team would conquer the virtual realm in round two.

*Dling!!!!*

Just about an hour into their sleep, the peaceful silence of the night was shattered by the piercing ring of a loud ball. The sound cut through their dreams, jolting Jacob and Ray awake from their slumber.

Disoriented and still half-asleep, they rubbed their eyes and tried to make sense of the sudden disturbance.

As their groggy vision cleared, they caught sight of Adam stumbling into the room, his clothes disheveled and his face marked with signs of a fierce struggle. Concern etched on their faces, Jacob and Ray immediately bombarded Adam with questions.

"What's happening? What was that noise?" Jacob's voice quivered with worry, his mind racing to comprehend the situation.

Ray, too, was quick to inquire, "And Adam, why do you look all messed up? Have you been in a fight?"

Adam, his lips tightly sealed, simply stood there, his gaze fixed on the door. It was then that a thunderous knock echoed through the door, reverberating against the walls, followed by the urgent voice of a man from outside.

-"Everybody come outside now!!" the male voice ordered.

The three friends exchanged anxious glances, a silent understanding passing between them. Something sinister was unfolding, and they had stumbled right into the heart of it.

With trepidation and curiosity intertwining in their minds, they mustered the courage to approach the door.

They opened the door, and in the hallway they found students standing outside each their doors and a group of four Sergeant surrounding something on the floor.

They took a beep to see what it was, they were met with a sight that chilled them to the core.

They discovered a lifeless body sprawled motionless on the cold, tiled floor. The figure, dressed in a nightwear, lay surrounded by a pool of congealed blood that painted a macabre tableau.

Gasps caught in their throats as the trio's eyes widened in horror.

Jacob took a hesitant step forward, his voice trembling as he whispered, "Is... is he...?"

Ray, his face pale and eyes wide, could only manage a barely audible response, "I... I don't know. I think so."

Adam, who had been silent since their encounter, nodded solemnly, his expression somber and uncharacteristically grave.

As they drew even closer, the full extent of the tragedy became evident. The victim's vacant eyes stared into the distance, betraying no secrets of the final moments that had led to their demise. Two deep marks were visible on the victim's neck and blood continuously dripping down.

Whispers of questions hung on the students' lips, but fear and respect for the Sergeants kept them from uttering a single word.

One of the Sergeant turned to one of the students that was standing near the body. It was a girl and she seemed to be affected by the death.

-"This is your roommate right?" the Sergeant asked.

-"Y... Ye..yes," the girl replied, her voice cracking.

-"What happened to her? Who did this."

The girl didn't pay any response to the sergeant's questions, as her body kept shaking from fear.

-"Hey! Hey! Listen, if you don't help us we won't be able to find the one responsible, Don't you want to get justice for your friend? Or did you do this to her?" the Sergeant inquired.

These last words of the Sergeant triggered the student and she began to speak.

-"No, sir, I swear it was not my doing," the student pleaded, their voice trembling with fear.

"We were tucked away in our room, ready to go to bed, " the student continued. "But then, we heard a peculiar symphony of whispers like someone was talking at our doorstep."

With a quiver in her voice, the student went on, "I advised her to disregard the ethereal voices, to pay them no heed. But her curiosity proved insurmountable; she insisted on venturing forth to unveil who it was. "

As the door swung open, a sinister figure descended from the ceiling, unleashing a sudden onslaught upon her. The student's eyes welled with tears as she struggled to convey the torment that had transpired.

"He possessed an otherworldly strength, sir as if a demon had possessed his mortal frame," the student recounted, her hands trembling. "Veins, elongated and pulsating, protruded from his flesh, snaking across his form. It was these venomous tendrils that he wielded like livewire lashings, shocking her very lifeblood."

"Desperation clawed at my heart as I witnessed her suffering. I tried to summon assistance, to cry out for aid, but my voice wasn't loud enough. "

"At that moment, the figure turned his attention to me, a malicious grin contorting his face. With an unrelenting force, he thrust me aside, my skull colliding with the wall. The pain engulfed me, stealing away my consciousness, and darkness filled my sight."

The student's voice faltered, her gaze fixed on the Sergeant's somber countenances. A deep silence followed, enveloping the hallway as the weight of their tale settled upon the hearts of those who listened.

-"Ok! You head to the nurse to get yourself treated, we will find whoever this is," the Sergeant assured the student.

The Sergeant turned to the crowd of students standing in the hallway.

-"We have a matter at hand, there has been a murder here, and the corporate, we don't know yet. Even our cameras couldn't see who it was but from the look of things, we have a 'Down-worlder' amongst us," the Sergeant added.

-"A vampire be careful who you call your friend, it might be anyone, and we promise to get revenge for this but for now lock your doors, be careful, be vigilant."

The Sergeants took the girl's body and left the hallway.

"This is some messed up shit," Adam said finally coming out of his silence.

"Yeah! But what did the Sergeant mean by the 'Down-wolder' that's my first time hearing such a term," Jacob asked

"Wait you really don't know the meaning of 'Down-worlder', Ray replied.