Blood Halo: Comic!Miguel O'Hara x OC Imagine

Old Dead Roses

   I'm so shocking tired, Jesus... I need some air, way from this paperwork... I strech up myself and look at my watch, it's 4:55 PM. My worktime is almost over, I can take some air before I go home.
   I walk out of my lab and go to the living area, and there's Van Helsing smoking. She turns back to me and says:
   - Good afternoon, Miguel...
   - Good afternoon - I respond as I lean against the wall. What a day... All I want is get home and be hold by Selene's arms. Gosh, it has been a while since I last felt like this, it fells like I'm floating without the fear of falling... I sigh.
   - Is something wrong, Miguel? - Henrietta asks me, bringing me back to reality - are worried about work or anything similar?
   - No, it's something personal... - I respond.
   - Hum... Family or relationship issues? - she takes a drag of her cigarette.
   - No, no, I just miss someone... A girl I like...
   - I see... - she seems a bit sad now.
   - Henrietta, have you ever fell in love?
   - Once... - she looks away - we were both teenagers and in love, he promised me his heart and the world, but when my illness started to give me wrinkles, seems like he was just another man... - she takes a deep breath - I don't think you'll ever understand this, but once I was no longer beautiful or fertile, all my value was gone... - she takes another drag from her cigarette.
   Everyone is afraid of aging, specially women...
   - I see... - I mumble.
   - And you? Have you ever fell in love before this girl?
   - I did, twice... One I was a... Completely jerk with her and the other one... Left me...
   - Damn, that must have been tough, hopefully this time will be better.
   - I hope so... - I sigh.
   - And did you receive my report? - she takes one last drag from her cigarette and throws it way, I look at my watch, and there's the report, I nod - Good... We're making good progress so far.
   - Great... - now I'm wondering... - sorry for asking, but which specie is the bats you use?
   - Desmodus... Rotundus - she seems a bit nervous... She turns around - See you tomorrow - she walks away and my watch rings. Time to get home.

* * *

   At least now I'm very far from Mamba's territory, I don't think they're big enough to cover Manhattan or Downtown as well. But still, there's the Public Eye... Damn... Trouble seems to look for me. As jump though the buildings of Downtown, I hear someone screaming, a loud pain scream, I follow the sound and I end up in dark and dirty road, the smell burns my nostrils and there're a bunch of Public Eye officers around something, and next to them, their flying metal horses. I have to be careful this time, I've a bad reputation with them already...
   I create a sniper and start shooting all the vehicles non-stop, reloading the gun a few times, until they start to look like a sieve. The officers turn around to see the destruction I did, I grab a mirror fragment and enter it. I stay there until I think they're gone and get out of the mirror, they really are.
   I teleport to where they were surrounding something before and I see a guy bleeding with a big hole on his belly, even his organs are coming out of that bloody hole. He seems to be still alive. I come closer to him, kneeling down next to his head, he looks at me and asks:
   - W-who are you..?
   - That's not important - I replie - what happened to you..?
   - P-public Eye... - he replies with a weak husk voice - they don't let anyone sleep in these roads, so they wake them up with pain... I didn't have many options yesterday, so I had to do it, and that was my last night...
   - Oh... Is there anything I can do? Anyone I can call?
   - Don't even think about calling the ambulance, I wouldn't live enough to pay the debt if they agreed to help someone without a health insurance like me... I just don't wanna be buried as a pauper in a shallow d-ditch...
   - What's your name?
   - A-Alejandro Santana... - he smiles weakly - you're an angel... - the life slowly fades away from his eyes, the sparkle is gone, the light is gone... Damn... So many deaths I can't avoid, I just can watch... But I'll give Alejandro a place he can rest...
   I close his eyes, hold the body in my arms and go look for a place where I can burry him. But the ground is all concrete, it will be hard to find a earth floor... I wonder how he ended up like this, he history behind the name that would be forgotten... He won't truly die, I'll remember him, so he won't truly die...
   After a while, I end up in front of an enormous gray wall, I teleport to above the wall and on the oder side there's a cemetery. Perfect. I teleport to the ground, find a spot with no graves, put the body on my side, create a shovel and dig him a grave. After I finish digging it, I put his hands in a X shape across his chest and put him inside the hole.
   I look around and see some small white stones next to lilies on the ground, I go grab one stone and two lilies, create a very hard knife and clove his name in the stone. I put one lily inside the grave, above Alejandro's chest, and put back the dirt in the hole, covering the body. After I finish, I put the stone and the other lily above the stirred earth and stare at the improvised grave.
   - Rest in peace, Alejandro... - I say - Wherever you are, I hope you're good...
   I walk away, around the other graves. Damn, that was... Very tough... It's worse when the person is in the verge of dieing and you cannot do anything about it, but I think I dealt better with this time than the zoo corpses... You get used to the horrors of the world when they happen in front of you constantly, unfortunately. At least I still have the willing to help others while they're alive and didn't isolate myself in a lonely shell only caring about my problems...
   Now I noticed all graves kinda look like the same, all the tombstones are just squere-shaped white stones with the names on it, and the enormous wall isn't a wall, it's a bunch of other graves stacked on top of each other like metal bricks with the names on it. Still, no personality at all.
   I look at some roses on some graves, they're a bit darker, almost crimson, but still really pretty, they remind me of Miguel's eyes... Those beautiful eyes which make me feel alive... I grab one rose from each grave, making a bouquet with them, I take a page from my sketchbook and warp it around the roses. I even create a wire to warp it around the paper around the roses and make a link.
   He'll love it.

* * *

   Hum... Something is off... The specie of bats that Henrietta says she uses aren't known for living too long, the total opposite, they live only up to 10-12 years, while other non-hematophagous species may live up to 20-30 years... She's either lying about the species she uses or if she actually uses bats and those in the laboratory are just there to undercover it all. And she's making so much progress for a project like that in less than a month, which makes me a little worried how is she doing it, but I still need to know if she believes in the Van Helsing Family's theory... Maybe I should call the one who knows her very well...
   - Ahhhhhhhhhhh... - Lyla sighs.
   - What happened? - I ask.
   - I cannot enter this system, their cryptography is really good - she looks sad.
   - So call Xina, she can help.
   - Ok... - she vanishes. And there's still more paperwork to do... I need vacation....
   Then I hear something beating on my window, I go closer to it and open it, and there's Selene in her hero persona hanged upside-down by her chains. My eyes wide, before I can say anything she hands me a small bouquet of roses, they seem a bit old.
   - They reminded me of you... - she says, I slowly grab them and put them in the right position. They smell good though...
   - T-thank you... - I mumble with a small smile as I feel my cheeks heat up.
   - Why do you seem to be glowing?
   - What do you mean..?
   - Your skin seems to be glowing, like you put glitter on it.
   - Ah, it's just a product I use to take a care of my skin.
   - Hum... You're pretty... - oh lord, this gives me butterflies in a way I cannot explain... - one cool fact about us, vampires: Our skin is clear naturally, so even if I wash it with washing powder, it will still look flawless.
   - Oh, really? - she nods - cool...
   - Thanks - then she looks to her side - I have to go now, bye pookie..! - she disappears in front of my eyes.
   I look at the flowers. I wonder what in them made Selene think of me... I go grab a empty vase on the table, fill it up with water and put the roses in there, and then the vase on the table. They look great in here, give the house a bit of contrast, even though they'll die in a few days... But I'll be good while they last.
   Anyway, time to get answers.