Bloodlines Legacy Arc 1 Eternal Night

Chapter 6: The Reporter's Curiosity

Olivia Brooks jolted awake with a start, the blaring sound of her phone alarm cutting through the quiet of her small apartment. Her eyes shot open, and for a split second, she was disoriented. Then the realization hit her like a freight train.

"Shit, I'm late!" she yelled, scrambling out of bed in a tangled mess of sheets and limbs. She grabbed her phone, squinting at the screen. It was 9:15 a.m., and she was supposed to be at the office for the morning editorial meeting by 9:00.

In a flurry of panicked movement, Olivia raced through her apartment, snatching up random pieces of clothing from the floor. She tugged on a pair of jeans and threw a hoodie over her nightgown, barely registering what she was wearing as she shoved her feet into mismatched shoes. Her multicolored hair, a blend of purple, pink, and blue, was sticking out in wild directions, but there was no time to tame it.

"Of all the days to oversleep," she muttered to herself, frantically pulling her hair into its usual messy ponytail as she shoved a notebook into her bag. She raced out the door, already mentally preparing for the lecture she was going to get from her boss.

Olivia's small apartment was just a ten-minute walk from the newsroom, but today it felt like the longest sprint of her life. She dodged pedestrians, cursed under her breath at slow walkers, and ran across crosswalks with reckless abandon. By the time she reached the entrance of Global Insight News, she was out of breath, her heart pounding in her chest.

The moment she stepped into the bustling newsroom, she could feel the eyes of her coworkers on her, some amused, others indifferent. She knew how she looked—half-dressed, her nightgown peeking out from beneath her hoodie, her shoes clearly mismatched. But she didn't have time to care.

She burst into the conference room just as the morning meeting was wrapping up, her cheeks flushed from the mad dash. At the head of the table, the chief editor, Mr. Mathers, a tall, gray-haired man with a perpetual scowl, glared at her.

"Brooks, you're late!" he barked, his voice loud enough to make Olivia wince.

"I—uh—overslept," she stammered, trying to catch her breath. "But I'm here now."

Mathers crossed his arms, shaking his head in disappointment. "This is the third time this month. You're slipping, Brooks."

Olivia opened her mouth to argue, but Mathers cut her off, his voice sharp and unforgiving. "You know what? Forget it. I was going to put you on the mayor's latest scandal, but since you can't seem to show up on time, I'm giving it to Grant."

Olivia's stomach dropped. "Wait, Mathers, I—"

But he wasn't listening. He had already moved on, his attention shifting to the next reporter in the room. Olivia stood there, her frustration mounting as she watched Ethan Grant, her rival and old college friend, shoot her a smug smile from across the room.

She clenched her fists, biting back a retort. There was no point in arguing with Mathers now—he had already made up his mind. With a heavy sigh, Olivia slunk out of the conference room, feeling the sting of disappointment in her chest.

As she made her way to her desk, her mind raced. She had been working at Global Insight News for nearly five years, clawing her way up from intern to full-time reporter. She was used to chasing big stories, digging deep for the truth, but lately, things had been slipping. The pandemic had thrown everything off balance, and her own drive seemed to be fading with the chaos around her.

She dropped her bag on her desk and slumped into her chair, groaning in frustration. "Great. Just great."

Her desk was a cluttered mess, papers and notes strewn everywhere, half-empty coffee cups stacked haphazardly on the edge. She kicked open the bottom drawer and fished out the spare change of clothes she always kept for emergencies like this one. Slipping off the nightgown and hoodie, she quickly changed into a pair of dark jeans and a graphic tee, hoping to salvage at least a shred of dignity.

As she tugged her hair back into a slightly neater ponytail, she noticed a small manila envelope sitting on the corner of her desk. It hadn't been there earlier.

Frowning, Olivia picked it up. The envelope was plain, unmarked, and sealed. No address, no sender information. Just her name scrawled across the front in block letters: OLIVIA BROOKS.

Her brow furrowed as she turned the envelope over in her hands. "What the hell is this?"

Just then, a figure brushed past her desk—a mailman she hadn't seen before, wearing a cap pulled low over his eyes. Olivia looked up, ready to ask him who had delivered the envelope, but he was already gone, disappearing into the crowd of people in the newsroom.

She stared at the envelope for a moment longer before carefully tearing it open. Inside was a slim file folder, and as she pulled it out, a chill ran down her spine. The contents were neatly organized—crime scene photos, autopsy reports, and witness statements, all detailing the recent string of mysterious deaths across the city.

Olivia's eyes widened as she flipped through the pages. The victims were all young, healthy, and seemingly drained of blood, their bodies left in strange, contorted positions. Each report noted the same thing: no signs of trauma, no obvious cause of death.

Her journalistic instincts kicked in immediately. This was strange. Really strange.

But the most unsettling part? There was no indication of where the file had come from. No sender, no source, nothing. Just the chilling details of deaths that had the air of something far more sinister than what the reports suggested.

Olivia's heart raced as she leaned back in her chair, her mind swirling with questions. Who had sent her this? And more importantly, why?

She glanced around the newsroom, half-expecting someone to be watching her, but no one paid her any attention. Everyone was too caught up in their own assignments, their own stories.

Olivia looked down at the file again, her curiosity piqued. Whatever this was, it felt like the beginning of something big. Bigger than the mayor's scandal, bigger

than anything she'd covered before. And if she could crack this case open, it could be the story that finally put her on the map.

A slow smile crept across her face as she tucked the file away in her bag, her mind already racing with possibilities.

"Looks like I've got my own big story," she muttered to herself, her excitement growing.

As she typed out a few quick notes on her computer, Olivia's eyes gleamed with determination. She had no idea what she was getting into, but one thing was certain—she wasn't going to let this mystery slip through her fingers.