Cure

The sound of loud whips filled the room as Bobby considerately covered Adelaide's eyes with his own scarred hands filled with calluses.

He had gotten those injuries when Levon had cruelly experimented how fast he would heal once wounded.

Bobby winced from the harsh slapping noises against Hazel's tiny back. His arms tensed to keep himself from trembling to not aggravate the young girl who shivered in terror.

Hazel's white, unblemished back was soon decorated with messy slashes like an uncontrolled artist who couldn't decide how to draw the perfect line.

Seconds, minutes and more time had passed. However, Levon showed no signs of stopping with the barely conscious Hazel coughing streaks of blood in between his hits. Levon was filled with hysterical rage as he slowly calmed down with every stroke of blood oozing out from Hazel's flesh.

"Don't," Adelaide screamed at the top of her lungs when she couldn't stop hearing Hazel's agony.

Hazel couldn't clench his teeth anymore as he screamed in pain and anguish. His fists were clenched to help bare the stinging nature of his flesh being torn apart. He felt his existence was being broken into tiny pieces while his head throbbed which swung his vision into circles.

"Please don't beat him," She desperately grabbed one of his legs while shaking off Bobby's hold on her.

"Will you be willing to be his replacement?" Levon beamed with clear evil intentions.

Instead of continuing to beat the boring Hazel, he turned his attention to the weak girl who aimed to protect Hazel with her small trembling arms. He raised his arms to whip the next amusing prey who gave a rebellious stare instead of shrinking back like the other weaklings.

However, Hazel pushed Adelaide out of the way with his little remaining strength while ferociously growling at Levon. He lifted an eyebrow from the fine entertainment from the half-conscious boy in front of him.

'If he wants to be crippled, why deny his offer?' Levon decided to fix his target back to Hazel.

Levon's anger was mostly washed away from Hazel's cries and screams. He found his normal self returning to him in time to remember that he couldn't kill the boy due to his parentage. But that didn't mean he had to return him completely the way he was.

It would be easier to cripple the boy to make him more obedient and then use an elixir later on to heal his injuries before he leaves. This boy had only caused loads of trouble once he had landed here. Who knew if this was just the beginning to the problems he would bring?

He smirked at the helpless children who laid in front of him. He had always enjoyed being the one in power. Other times, he had to follow the orders of the golden ghoul like he was a slave. No ghoul was exempt from his commands unless they wanted an early death.

"Levon, we need more backup," Jorge burst into the room.

"Aren't you about finished here anyways?" He jutted out his hip while mocking the helpless children.

"Tch!" Levon spitted on the ground.

Hazel sighed in relief as both Levon and Jorge left the room. He wasn't sure he would be able to take any more hits before turning into his vampire form where his restorative abilities were faster.

"Hazel!" Adelaide ran towards him while tears welled up in her pure eyes.

She observed the long slashes on his back, arms and legs that would certainly leave hideous scars in the future. However, she forgot she wasn't in a much better position than Hazel.

Once the trigger was gone, the adrenaline that fueled her body was gone. Her weaker, helpless state returned as she felt more nauseous than ever.

She felt her body wavering as Hazel caught her from slamming onto the ground with his bony arms. None of the children were properly fed once they were abducted. Maybe it was to prevent the children from having any unnecessary energy that would cause more headaches for the ghouls.

The children were fed the bare minimum here to stay alive with the watery soup and rotten bread. It would strain the ghoul's finances to properly feed all the 'orphans'. Fortunately, Hazel had fed on the rich Lamia blood which would help him recover faster once he entered his vampire form.

His priority was to find the cure in the golden ghoul's room. He tapped the air to pull out the map of the dirty orphanage.

He sighed when the bedroom of the golden ghoul was on the opposite side of the orphanage from where he was now. It was going to be hard to get to the other side when the ghouls were more alert from the recent attack.

He slapped himself on his cheek as he resolved himself to open the surprisingly unlocked door.

"Stay here," Hazel ordered the faint Adelaide.

Bobby nodded to show he would take care of her as he struggled to lift her onto Hazel's bed. This would be a favor that Hazel would have to return in the future.

Hazel creeped around the hallways while stealthily hiding from the increased number of security. He instantly noticed the ghouls were being more diligent with their duties as they scanned the area like their eyes would pop out. The cameras surveyed most of the orphanage while the ghouls covered the potential blind spots.

He would have to make the decision to transform into a vampire now or later when the chance of getting discovered was higher with each passing second.

'Transform," Hazel whispered as a small child was no longer to be seen.

In the place of a small child, a full-fledged vampire stood with its injuries recovering at a quick speed. By the time Hazel was near the room with his careful movements, his wounds were nicely healed to the point that no scars remained.

'Isn't this way too easy?' Hazel entered the room from opening the window.

The window had no locks like the other rooms in the building. It made no sense that a cure would be left so guarded. It was almost like the cure was a trap to capture the rampant vampire they were desperately looking for.

He started opening all the drawers and cabinets to find that they were all empty. The only place it could be was under the bed at this rate.

There was no point in silently rummaging for the cure in the room as it would waste a vast amount of time when he didn't know when the golden ghoul would come back.

Meanwhile, Madrick smelled the horrible stench of a vampire in his room. He almost pinched his nose to get rid of the dreadful smell before abandoning his plans to return to his room.

'Can it be this easy?' Madrick viciously smiled.

He purposely left his room unlocked and easy to enter to trap that terrible vampire. He never knew the vampire would fall into his plans so easily. From the reports given by the ghouls in the sewers, the vampire seemed smarter than that.

He didn't know the reason why the vampire seemed to be obsessed with that weak young girl who seemed more useless by every passing second. If not for his obsession, he would have thrown that pathetic girl for the fishes to eat.

The cure was easy to obtain and could be accessible by most supernaturals who were in the community unless they were dirt poor in poverty.

He pulled out his pistol while declaring his presence to the vampire by kicking the door open. However, all he saw was a weak toddler who tried to hide the tiny bottle of slobbering liquid in a crystal bottle behind his back.

Madrick didn't need another headache roaming around the building. Especially the one with the highest possible ransom on his head. He sighed as he picked up the child by grabbing onto the collar like a rugged doll.

"To the basement you go," He threw Hazel into the room with no sunlight in the basement.

Strangely, the child showed no fear that came with most of the crying children once they were pushed into the room. It was like the toddler didn't notice the dried blood on the walls as he appeared way too calm.

But Madrick didn't have the time to deal with that. He had to capture the vampire that murdered his subordinates in the sewers. Thanks to that, he was suffering from the lack of servants.

When the locks clunked, and clinked, Hazel knew he was trapped. The cure would be pointless without having Adelaide even able to take it.

He nervously paced around the room while trying to think of ways to have Adelaide come join him.