CHAPTER 39

CHAPTER 39

"Okay, miss. We are not into illegal things here. And even how pretty you are, we won't do it for you." The boss stated directly as soon as she closed the door behind her. She glanced around. The small room was full of car and motor parts. He went behind the transparent cabinet and propped his elbows on the top.

She sauntered closer. "My favor is far from anything illegal. I just want you to keep my big bike safe, as well as this backpack of mine." She tugged at the straps to present it. "I'll pay you a deposit and the second half when I return."

"Why would you leave them in this shop? Aren't you afraid we would steal from you?"

"I know that, but I think you won't. I don't trust you. I'm just taking chances." With that, she placed the flowers at the side, and she fished her pocket for some bills. She put the payment on the glass top.

He followed her movement, and his face snapped back to her when he saw the amount. "That much?" His mouth was agape. She gave him a hundred bucks.

"And another half when I come back." She's amused by the man's reaction. Of course, money can easily do the work. That's why she had to give out even if she reminded herself to control her spending.

"Deal." He had a big grin on his face as he grabbed the cash and offered her his hand for the backpack.

She took off the bag and handed it to him. His hand fell instantly. She caught it in a blink before it landed on the glass countertop. The weight might crack the thing or, worse, break it.

"This thing is quite heavy." The man exclaimed from the sudden weight. Now that he had expected it, he lifted it on his own and withdrew her grip to let him handle the thing. He transferred it to his table at the far corner. "How the hell did you manage to carry that around? Your back must have hurt from the heavy load." He commented when he came back to face her.

"I was travelling so I got used to it." She presented him with her motor keys. "Keep them safe and secure. I remember everything inside my bag, even how they were placed and what was in its pockets. I'll return as soon as possible. I'll be going then." She didn't wait for him to say anything else. She grabbed her bouquet, turned around, and walked out the door.

His men raised their necks to her again, but she didn't spare them any glance. She continued walking to the side of the road.

Cars were passing by, and some even slowed down and opened their windows. They were asking if she needed a lift. She's been walking for minutes already. She just wanted to get out of anyone's sight from the busy street near the border of the city proper before entering the forest on her right side. The road only had a two-way lane. Across her was another set of trees, but it didn't lead up to a mountain.

When she was far enough from people's vision, she changed her route and took the path to her right, where an opening of the tall greeneries greeted her. But before stepping foot inside, she paused and raised her head to scan the surroundings. Her eyes gradually roamed around. This was the same place where she came out from escaping her supposed captors. The trees haven't changed despite all the weather it has gone through. It was also around this month when it happened. The date of her parent's death was a week ago.

Her breath hitched as her chest started to constrict. She had been breathing through her lips. Her quick, shallow intake of the air felt painful as her eyes started to sting from varied emotions. The stem of the end of the bouquet she was holding made a crunching sound. Swallowing hard, she shook her head to get a grip on herself and took a deep breath. She exhaled loudly. Only at the entrance. She hasn't even taken a step yet, but she's already cracking.

Melisca groaned and bit her lips to gather herself. She took her black mask inside the pocket of her leather jacket and wore it on her face. Glad that she still remembered to be cautious, especially when trees were involved.

She started to take a step. Each was heavy, along with her heart. The dried leaves and pieces of branches made a crisp sound under her trail. She just thought of it now. It's nearly 5:00 pm. It would be dark soon. She decided to hurry up, so she kicked off on her wolf speed. She passed by some animals, and that alerted them to get back to their holes to hide.

The same breeze started to hit her masked face as she blinked back the memories that wanted to emerge. It was like they were chasing after her, haunting her on the same ground. But this time she was going towards it instead of sprinting away. She had to clear her mind not to stumble on her track.

Then she halted on her trail. Her heart was beating faster as she just sensed something. Or rather someone in the area. Holding her breath, careful not to make any movement, for it can be loud enough for the other being. She was still halfway to her destination. The adrenaline rush she felt somehow numbed her senses as she focused on not letting her memories break her in the middle of the run. So now this happened that someone was around and only noticed it now. She groaned inwardly in her being mindless of the surroundings.

She heightened her senses more to know in which direction she felt the other's presence. It's another werewolf. Wait. No. It's not a werewolf, but another supernatural being as her instincts felt it. She turned to her right, and that's when she heard a faint thumping heartbeat from far ahead. She jumped to the nearest tree to somehow hide herself even though whoever it was knew that she was there.

Peeking in that direction, she used her vision. It's a woman, stumbling at one of the trees as she was catching her breath, panting heavily. She zoomed on her face, her eyes a faded red.

Melisca's eyes widened. It's a vampire. How seldom of her to cross paths with one of them. The woman kept looking behind and she moved to another tree at an incredible speed but she seemed out of strength already.

She's weakening. Melisca flinched as red eyes met hers. The woman saw her. She quickly withdrew her peeping head.

"Human." She heard a voice, gasping. It was from the woman. She looked at her again as her curiosity got the better of her safety. The vampire was at another tree again. Falling to her knees, she plucked out a syringe behind her right shoulder and trashed it to the ground.

Was it the same syringe from the hunters?

"Blood." The girl was trying hard to stand and they locked eyes again. "To survive." Was she aiming at her? Oh, no. Her blood might finish her off instantly for she's not a pure human. Vampires drinking blood from other supernatural were poisonous to them. They could only drink from mortal creatures. Animals and humans.

She decided to flee from the scene. Not wanting to let her have a sip. She also doesn't want to fight the bloodsucker. It would only be a waste of energy for the woman was at the door's death already.

But she recalled the syringe. Were hunters chasing after that vampire? The girl kept looking behind.

Melisca was already a few meters away from where she hid earlier. She kept hearing the girl's grunts, wanting to survive. She contemplated from where she was standing still. Thinking she shouldn't get involved she heard another two sets of heartbeats and footsteps.

She hid from the clear path and jumped to a huge tree to block herself again. She stuck her head out and saw two hunters a few distance from the girl's hiding position. Two men were carrying a gun-like weapon but the bullets were sharp needles. They were looking around for the vampire.

"Just die already. You're too weak to survive anyway." The younger one shouted. Birds scampered away from the loud noise.

"Shut up. You might lure another being." The older of the two reprimanded.

Melisca stared at the mature man. Some wrinkles were visible on his face. And he looked familiar to her. His raspy voice echoed in her ears. Her mind shifted to her mother's death scene. Then she looked back to the younger version of him walking at the front.

"Ain't that better then, dad?" The man kept pointing the weapon everywhere he turned to.

"The sun was setting. We should get out of here so we need to find that bloodsucker to make sure she's dead."

So, they were father and son combo. That's why they looked alike.

Melisca couldn't stop her lips from quirking up. What luck she got. What a very good luck the vampire had brought to her. For that, she decided to help.

She used her speed to get to the vampire first before the two men. The woman flinched and her red eyes started to fade as they widened in her sudden appearance. She's on one knee before her.

The girl panted hard and struggled to reach for her. "Blood." Her hoarse voice was clear enough for her. Melisca nudged the girl with a little bit of strength to lean on the bark of the huge tree. She gestured for her to stay silent. They stared at each other for a second. Red eyes to yellow, blood to the sun.

The girl thought Melisca was human, but upon seeing her eyes, she knew it was the end of her for there wasn't any human blood she could drink to fight off the poison of the needle that struck her. She gathered what was left in her strength and held the masked girl's wrist from the hand that pushed her to lean back.

"Run." She mumbled weakly. "Poisoned." She was grunting every word. "Needles."

Melisca was surprised by what she heard. The girl wanted her to run to save herself. That made her smile. She placed the flowers on the ground beside the vampire. Her ears picked up the nearing footsteps, the men were getting closer.

"You want human blood? I will give you blood." Her eyes started to burn to a brighter yellow as she could see from the reflection of the girl's eyes. The excitement made them glow as the sun. "But not mine." She grabbed a dagger from one of her boots and stood up.