Blood Moon: CH 5

Chapter 5

Morning came early for him today; a most rare occurrences to ever happen to him. Blinking his eyes to ease of the dryness he vaguely registers the sound of clock ticking, echoing in the enclosed space of the bedroom. It's been a few days since then but he still could not make sense of his own thoughts.

 

It couldn't be, can it?

 

If he were to put one and one together, the story does make sense. Maybe a little too much sense. So much it made Mikage rejects it altogether.

 

His absence from the village, his unexpected return after allegedly involved in an accident, and-

 

-It was dark then, almost pitch black. Couldn't afford to light up the lamp in case someone is awake. He'd been dizzied from the acute blood loss too so he can't really say for sure.

Scars, all over and across. He mostly noticed the large ones, and they don’t really seem like impact scars or anything you'd sustain after a regular accident. They look distinctively more like claw marks. Deep and long scars running parallel to each other with jagged edges raised on healed wounds. Some other may have been stab wounds or gunshot wounds.

It was jarring, like two unfitting pictures spliced together. Or perhaps it was due to how his mind viewed the other man.

 

 

 

"How are you today?" A familiar voice greeted him as he stepped into the booth.

Ah, it's him again. Wonder how many times is it already?

"Just fine. How's it going on your side?" Strangely he's feeling a little giddy today. He's sure nothing is off with him the last time he checked...

 

When was that again?

 

"Ah, the clinic is as busy as always. There's never a shortage on sick people around here. But we managed, and they get to go home healthy. It's quite fulfilling...

..Just-"

"Just?"

"-Just that recently there's been an increase in numbers of patients coming in with that strange disease."

That’s...worrying. He knows exactly what is going on, but certainly never to this degree.

"We're currently doing all we can to investigate the cause. It's a new thing to us, too." Work for the time being is simply a growing pile of frustration. In between active attacks and the spreading disease, there's barely a time to breath.

Today is yet another busy day, but for the moment he can find some peace in this space.

"..Father, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Do all sins be forgiven?"

Such a... strange question. To be asking him of all people that kind of question..-

"Yeah."

"..Even the sin of committing murder?"

What?

He hadn't expected for the momentary peace to be disrupted in such way; to hear that from his on and off companion. The man didn't even bother to cover it as a 'what if’, leaving the implication to hang heavily in the air. However, he decided to let it pass through, nothing good ever comes out of assumption over something you're unsure of.

"Of course, should you repent and change your way for the better."

The pause that follows gripped him in anticipation in a way that he couldn't really wrap his head around. Shortly after he can hear what sounds like a long, relieved sigh.

"Of course..I'm sorry, it must've made you uncomfortable."

As if the man can hear his frantic thoughts.

And their conversation that morning had plagued him since, even though eventually it would've fade into the corners of his mind.

 

 

*

 

 

By the time he finished sorting out his thoughts the sun is already quite high up. Glancing towards his coat still hanging at its usual spot, he rolled over the possible choices in this situation.

Confront him directly? There's a feeling he wouldn't spill it. He did manage to keep things as vague as possible, enough to be read as something 'common', or at least not as bad as the man himself probably feel about it.

So how to do this?

Shrugging his coat on, he made his exit.

However, there's two outcomes to all of these. Either he hit the mark, or he missed it. Regardless his offer still stands.

The man would make one hell of a man-power, though maybe he can use some self-control if what Mikage saw was really the man's handiwork.

Deep in his thoughts, he had barely seen Needle running straight towards him. He managed to stop just in time before the collision. After catching his breath, Needle faced him with obvious glee.

"Mikage! We found a match!"

 

*

 

Today is truly a strange one; never before he'd felt a shred of excitement while making his way to the underground lab. Perhaps there is something wrong with him somewhere.

Putting that aside, the prospect of finally getting some answer to this convoluted puzzle is sure to make anyone feel excited. The past weeks of tedious work hopefully would start paying off soon.

The underground lab appeared unchanged from his last visit - the same bone chilling temperature, scientists in white coat running around, half-finished experiments scattered all over the place. Nothing seems out of place, or so he had thought.

 

"Hey, long time no see buddy."

Probably had heard their louder than usual footsteps rushing into the place, the man had turned around to greet them as they arrived. A tall young man with jet black hair and eyes like a hawk, standing beside the examination table seemingly inspecting the item laid out on it. Certainly, a face Mikage had not seen in ages.

"Vega, when did you return?"

"Just now. I was roaming around the eastern side when the message got there." The man returned to the item in front of him while keeping the topic at hand. "They're super busy there too, you know, with rampant cases of over-feeding. So, I got back as fast as I can once I heard the message."

"So, what'd you found out?" The news of troubles over on the other side of the map is quite concerning, however they currently do not have the freedom to spare time for that.

"Before that I wanna ask you one thing," He directed his gaze towards Mikage.

"Mikage, you came from the central's Headquarters, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Have you heard of the 'Shadow Corps'?"

Shadow Corps? Where have he heard that? Or rather, when? He couldn't put his finger on it yet it doesn't sound completely foreign to him.

Sensing his conflict, Vega continues.

"The Shadow Corps are basically a special unit placed directly under the High Council of the Headquarters and they're supposedly made up of select members of highly trained Hunters."

"Supposedly?" Needle voiced out his curiosity over the wording after staying oddly quiet throughout the conversation.

Vega looked a little sheepish over the question, opting to scratch his non-itchy head. "Well, that's what the rumours said."

"And how do you suppose a rumour would be of use in this case?"

"Haha, well not much, I guess, had it been a simple rumour." His demeanour took a change at the end of the sentence. "It actually exists, only kept in the shadows. They are a real special unit under direct command of the High Council. Only that they're not just any highly trained Hunters, and they carry a wildly different function than us."

"Which is..?"

"They're specifically trained to kill vampires in high social standings, make them to look like accidents. That, including any and every human identified to be working with them."

The two men before him stared at him wide eyed, clearly shocked by the information. For the Church Alliance to employ such unit, no wonder it’s been kept under locks.

Figures with high social status are immensely influential to the extent of standing above the law. No matter what rules you impose they would simply brush it off, making them impossible to control. Thus, that is most likely the reason why this unit exists - rather than fighting them on diplomatic ground, they cut them off completely.

"In other word, assassins."

"Yeah, exactly." Vega gestured towards the item still waiting on the table, "This weapon - this shuriken - is specially produced for that unit. So, whoever you're chasing after is most likely a member of it. Only that-"

The way the sentence ends caught Mikage's attention. "Only that-?"

Eyebrows knitted in a grim expression, Vega stared hard at the aforementioned item.

"-The Shadow Corps were completely wiped out about a year ago."