Camarilla | z.zy ✓

CHAPTER 16

'A 31 year old doctor has been traumatized by the attack of an apparent vampire while on her property.' the news lady in the morning announced.

'What? That's Dr. Carnie.' Mia's mother said when she walked into the living room, whisking a crapes mixture in a glass bowl.

Zhenyuan also recognized her as Dr. Carnie, while Mia was completely enthralled by the news.

Dr. Carnie was now talking about what had happened, and Mia's mother assumed she probably wouldn't be coming to work for the following days. She looked like she was still in shock.

'Well if that's the case, when will the government close schools or something? It's not safe.' Mia said fearfully.

'Don't worry, you go with me remember? I'll protect you.' he assured her.

'You can't protect me from vampires.' Mia answered the obvious, rubbing her temples.

'Anyway, the good news is there's been no vampire appearances this side of town. I'm sure vampires don't want old people's blood since that's 90% of the population at this side.' Zhenyuan stated.

'Hmm I hope so. I'm still not convinced until the official health officials acknowledge these vampires though.' Mia's mother returned to the kitchen.

'Let's go.' Zhenyuan told Mia, and the two of them left the house. They met along with Jungwon and walked to school together like they did every morning.

...

'Dr. Carnie would never lie. I've met her several times at the hospital and she's so serious. She wouldn't make this up.' Yaowen told his friends.

Zhenyuan walked in the classroom with his two friends and took a seat in his usual spot, while everyone else also went over to their seats.

'Hey, if vampires actually exist, do you think Jungwon really wasn't lying that he didn't kill his parents?' Haoxiang whispered to Yaowen.

'No way, I still think he did it.'

There was so much chatter in the classroom, and the fact that the teacher was delaying gave the students more time to talk about what was all over the news that morning.

Zhenyuan leaned his head on his desk in thought and closed his eyes. The entire story about vampires was disturbing. Ever since he saw that blood in the sink, he didn't want to hear anything about these vampires.

'Ow,' one of the girls who sat to his right said. Zhenyuan ignored her, realizing it was probably none of his business. As much as he tried to ignore it, he was drawn in to something that smelled very alluring. He wanted to keep his head on the desk, but he found himself sitting up and looking towards the direction of the bewitching scent.

He was met by the girl at his left wiping her blood off her finger with toilet paper. She had probably pricked herself accidentally. She awkwardly smiled at him, even though she noticed that his eyes were set on her finger and not on her face.

He looked up to her. 'I'm sorry about that small injury.'

'It's okay.' She answered.

Zhenyuan lied back on the desk quickly. How was it that he was somewhat able to smell blood and found it an alluring smell? This was exactly the same thing he had felt when he had pushed Mia to the wall, and why was his blood dark-colored and cold? Why didn't he particularly enjoy human food? Stop it Zhenyuan, you're not a vampire. He thought to himself.

'If anyone in this class had to be a vampire, it would be Zhenyuan.' One of the girls said, and Zhenyuan felt shock. Did they know even before he did?

'Yes I know, because vampires are so sexy and he is too.'

Zhenyuan sighed in relief at their explanation. So they didn't know anything. That was much luckier than he thought. He didn't want to overthink anything. It was impossible for him to be one of them.

...

'Zhenyuan!' Yaxuan walked over to him when most of the students have gone to lunch break. 'Are you not going for lunch?'

'No I don't feel hungry.' well, it was more like he didn't like the food at school, but that was an easier way to say it.

'Okay. I'm going to pick up my little brother from daycare. I would sure use some company if you're okay with it. We'll be back before classes start.'

Zhenyuan didn't feel like walking around, but once again, he couldn't find it in himself to say no. 'Wait, if you're here, Mia is having lunch alone with Jungwon?'

'Yeah, anything the matter?'

Zhenyuan thought over how he had to protect Mia especially from Jungwon, but he had realized Jungwon was not as dangerous as everyone claimed. Zhenyuan 100% believed the story that Jungwon was actually framed by a vampire, so he decided it was okay leaving them alone.

'No. Let's go,' he finally answered.

The two of them left the classroom and eventually left the campus. Even though Zhenyuan looked agitated, Yaxuan hadn't really noticed anything. Instead, he kept talking and Zhenyuan would try his best to reply to his stories. The sun was hot that afternoon, so he had started to sweat quite a bit.

'And after this, we're going to drop him at my mom's work, not home. So you don't have to worry about going too far.' Yaxuan informed him.

As the two of them passed the street near an alley, while Yaxuan was still non-stop talking, Zhenyuan was taken aback when someone grabbed him and pulled him in the alley. He wasn't very far into the alley, but he was still shocked by what had just happened.

'What's the deal man!?' Zhenyuan asked the man in front of him who had just grabbed him. He looked completely unfamiliar, but that wasn't something he wasn't used to. He didn't know most of the people in the city anyway, but for this man to pull him in the alley way, he must have somewhat known him it seemed.

'When are you going to save us?' the man asked desperately.

'Huh?' Zhenyuan widened his eyes in confusion. 'I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean.'

'We don't have much time. We can't keep living like this...'

'Hey!' Yaxuan said as he walked over to the two. He had finally realized that Zhenyuan was not with him and he was talking to himself, so he turned back and looked for him. 'Leave him alone, you're scaring him.'

Zhenyuan was surprised by Yaxuan's courage. Usually, he was very timid and soft. Whenever they spoke about scary topics, he was the one who was most afraid.

'Excuse me?' The man asked Yaxuan in surprise. Zhenyuan didn't know this man, but he didn't seem like a bad person.

'You heard me, you're scaring him.' Yaxuan grabbed Zhenyuan's arm. 'Let's go.'

Zhenyuan looked at the man who was still standing there as Yaxuan dragged him away from the scene. He wanted to know what the man meant, but it was probably silly of him to ask. Besides, he was too overwhelmed to do that.

'Who is that guy?' Zhenyuan asked Yaxuan who had lived in the city longer, or at least had his memory.

'He's an insane guy who says random stuff...all he does is prey on people.'

Zhenyuan wondered why it was him, and why he had pulled him at the moment when he was so restless and deep in thought. But he couldn't tell Yaxuan that, in fact he couldn't tell anyone.

As the two continued to walk, their cellphones beeped at the same time. Zhenyuan was the first to take out his cellphone, and noticed that a screenshot had been posted on the group: 3 suspected vampires have been captured this morning.