Location: Concert Venue

Time: 4:15 PM, 02/16/2108

“Lucy, do whatever you can to slow down Oliver Oldridge. Keep him away from me for a few minutes.”

I left the communication channel before she could respond, immediately connecting to a channel with Horace.

“Horace, take control of any dead homunculus you can and keep Oliver Oldridge pinned down for as long as possible.”

I once again left the channel without getting a response. I considered contacting James, but ultimately decided against it. If I asked, I’m sure he would have controlled the remaining living homunculuses and helped me. That would have led me to owing him a favor though. I summoned him to this city to control them during the massacre, anything other than that would be used to run up a tab.

Trying to contact Oliver would have been pointless. I highly doubt he’d have listened to me. Besides, he could probably hear everything I was saying anyway.

I pushed my body past its limits, reaching Olivia only a few seconds after jumping out of the high rise.

Despite the burns covering her body, her temperature was incredibly low, and she’d already lost too much blood.

I imagine it wouldn’t have taken a vampire to immediately tell that there was no saving her. Perhaps the member of the Royal Select that specializes in healing wounds could do something, or maybe the technology of one of the other Free Cities could have done something, but I didn’t have anything like that. She wouldn’t even live long enough to reach a hospital.

Would my blood help?

Hardly. My blood would be far more effective than even the highest grade of Demon’s Blood this city could produce, but even that wouldn’t change much.

Obviously, I also considered the solution from the last time I was in this predicament. I highly doubt Oliver would be as accepting as Henry was though. There isn’t even any kind of guarantee that Olivia would survive the transformation. Statistically speaking, she’d almost certainly die. I’m not sure why I even tried something so risky with Henry back then. I must not have been in my right mind.

Then there’s no hope?

Don’t be foolish.

If there was no saving her, I would have invested my resources into killing Oliver. He’s strong, but there’s hardly a chance that he could have survived an attack from myself, Lucy, and Horace all at once. I could have even asked for help from James if I was truly desperate.

This situation was still under my control. A bit more than I was expecting, sure. Not enough to cause me to waste a resource as useful as Oliver though. I had to consider Olivia’s future usefulness as well. I’m not exactly pleased with her acting in a way that I didn’t predict, but she might still have a purpose.

Either way, I’d need to look into what caused her to act in a fashion that I hadn’t predicted.

Fortunately, I had a way out of this. My most useful resource would save the day, as he was always supposed to, even if not in the way I initially planned.

Actually, maybe I should release some of this footage. Obviously, I’d need all of the shots that made me look despondent edited, but the idea of me saving Olivia’s life could become a powerful publicity opportunity.

I shouldn’t waste this opportunity.

“What’s going on? Why did you do this?”

The hero showed up right on time. That guy can’t keep himself away from the action, no matter what. That’s why I didn’t bother trying to contact him. I knew he’d end up where he needed to.

“Henry, we don’t really have time for this right now. I’ll consider answering your questions later, but for now, help me save Olivia.”

“Can you? It doesn’t look like you plan on turning her, so I doubt you want me to do that. Actually, can I even turn people into Aberrations like you?”

“You can’t, and I’m not going to either. Together we can do something that’s only possible with both of us here. I’m going to bite her and inject my blood directly into her veins.”

“Wait wait wait, that would just turn her.”

“Yeah, that’s why I need you to drink her blood, which will essentially be my blood, before it reaches her heart. That way it won’t spread throughout her body. She should get a supernatural boost in healing as the process starts, but you’ll prevent it from ever finishing.”

“Have you done this before?”

“No, but in theory, it should work.”

I decided not to mention that I thought up this method in the few seconds it took me to reach the ground after jumping out of a window.

“Fine, I’ll play along. It’s not like I can think of anything better. I’m sure you wouldn't do this if you weren’t sure it was going to work.”

Honestly, it’s almost annoying how trusting he is. If things were slightly different, I’d have been working up a plan to kill Olivia and Oliver off, and Henry would have trusted me that easily.

“Hmm. But wait. If I need to drink the blood before it reaches her heart, I’ll need to be positioned along the same vein as you.”

“Obviously.”

“But her neck isn’t nearly long enough for that. We won’t fit.”

“I’m not biting her neck! You’ve been a vampire for years, why are you still stuck on that?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Ah, that’s right. I forgot you have this weird thing about trying to avoid necks.”

“I’m not the weird one here! It’s you! You’re some kind of neck pervert!”

“Listen, Elodie, this isn’t really the time. Olivia doesn’t have much longer.”

“Whatever, fine, I don’t care you idiot!"

I grabbed Olivia’s arm and positioned her wrist in front of my mouth.

“You bite around her shoulder.”

After confirming that Henry was in position, I bit down and injected my blood into her body.

It wouldn’t take much, so I pulled my mouth away after only a few seconds. A few moments later, Henry did the same.

“Disgusting.” He spit the blood that remained in his mouth onto the pavement. “Human blood shouldn’t taste like that.”

“That’s because you were essentially just drinking my blood.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“I know it’s because we’re both vampires, but it’s still annoying when you insult my blood like it’s only natural.”

“Don’t worry about it, actually, should I worry about it? We’ve never discussed this, but does anything bad happen if I drink another Aberration’s blood?”

“Are you hoping it awakens a new power?”

“I’m actually hoping for the opposite.”

“Well, either way, nothing happens.”

“I guess that’s fine.”

“Although some vampires tend to consider it an act equal to getting married.”

“I knew it had to be something! You’re not one of those vampires, right?”

“Who knows. We’ve got more important things to worry about right now.”

For the record, I obviously didn’t believe anything like that. I made it up after all. Giving Henry something to think about would be a fun diversion though.

“Does Olivia need something else?”

“No, she should be fine.” It wasn’t as fast as it was with Henry, but I could already see her injuries healing up. I was relieved that my theory was accurate.

Not that I was worried it wasn't.

“I need you to protect me from your teacher until he calms down.”

On cue, Lucy crash landed beside me, tail between her legs.

“Ellie, it’s not what you think! The full moon was last Saturday, so I’m not feeling my best! And if I was fully rested, he wouldn’t have stood a chance! It’s because Henry and the scary Number ruined things the other day!”

“Calm down. You bought me enough time. Henry will handle things from here.”

“I never agreed to that.”

Henry’s complaint was cut short, as we all covered our ears. Oliver’s sudden arrival caused an unexpected sonic boom. For the first time, with him standing in front of me, I actually felt a little worried. Had I underestimated him slightly? I had confidence in the resources I’d gathered, but ultimately, my confidence came from the fact that he wouldn’t be able to kill Henry or me.

What if I was wrong? Oliver was a member of the ARA. They were all selected and trained for their ability to eliminate other augmenteds. He had more experience than the rest of us combined.

Were my estimations of their abilities off? Could I even estimate people like that? Even their own coworkers at the Ministry of Defense were afraid of them. Should I have given them all the same caution I gave to Karen Kaldsen and her Number?

No.

It’s just a spur-of-the moment doubt.

Even if I’m wrong, I can’t let doubt show on my face.

“Which one is the real you?” My ears were still ringing, but I could hear Olivier’s voice. “The cold blooded monarch sipping tea, or the flustered girl arguing about where to bite someone? Your answer doesn’t really matter, but after hearing you talk with Henry, I’m a little bit curious.”

“Ahaha, you really got to the heart of the matter, boss.” Lucy sidled up to Oliver. “Ellie always tries to act super proper around everyone, but Henry has such an easy time bringing her real personality out. She’s a lot more expressive than you’d think.”

They say a wise wolf hides its fangs. I could only imagine Lucy was casually answering a question directed at me to get Oliver to lower his guard.

“That so? Thanks.” Oliver rubbed Lucy's head, in the spot between her canine ears.

“Ehehe. . .”

That idiot! She wasn’t planning anything at all. She got a little roughed up and immediately started treating Oliver as her superior.

“Mr. Oldridge, I know Evergreen Academy and the Augmentation Training Course have strict policies about students taking part time work, but I can explain. I figured those restrictions were more so intended to protect the younger students. As someone in the university division, I assumed a few part time jobs would be acceptable.”

“Why is that what you’re worried about!” I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “What is wrong with the two of you? Why is it that my closest friends are so stupid?”

“Says the vampire that couldn't find the neck on a giraffe. . .”

“Shut it, Henry! Why can’t you just do what I want?”

“Man, seeing you like this almost makes me want to laugh. I hope you and Henry enjoyed that comedy skit you had before you got around to helping Olivia.”

“You were listening to that?”

“Obviously.”

“Then you should know that we managed to save her.”

I decided to speak boldly. At this point, trying to appease him would have been out of place.

“That’s the only reason we’re talking right now. Under normal circumstances, I’d have killed you even if you saved her for creating this situation, but this time I’m just as much at fault. I never should have let Olivia get away from me. She outsmarted us both.”

“Then we can consider our relationship unchanged?”

“Assuming Olivia is fine.”

From my perspective, that was an ideal solution. Oliver was being more logical than I had expected. Sending Lucy at him probably wasn’t necessary in the first place.

Olivia’s external injuries had already completely healed, but she hadn’t yet regained consciousness.

“She will be. Once her brain has fully recovered, she’ll regain consciousness. Actually, she’ll be even healthier than before. Every cell is being fully restored to its natural state. It won’t happen again, but for this one time, every injury she has ever received will be fully healed.”

I expected Oliver to be happy with that news, but his expression darkened.

“Every injury? Even if it happened years ago?”

“Yeah. Her body will be completely rejuvenated, better than ever.”

“That’s not. . .” Oliver paused, taking a moment to think. “Actually, this is perfect. The best possible option.”

The grim look on Oliver’s face was betraying his words.

He crouched down over Olivia, and without warning, plunged his hand into her head, gouging her eye out in one smooth motion.

Oliver stood back up, holding Olivia’s one blue eye in his hand. The scene was too surreal for any of us to say anything.

“There, now she should be able to finish healing. I’d love to stay, but I’ve got to take care of this. Princess, please watch over her until she wakes up. Her personality might seem different, but that’s fine. If you want an explanation, ask my uncle later. I’m sure he’ll tell you.”

Oliver left, not offering any further explanation.

A crying Horace showed up to replace him, upset about me referring to Henry and Lucy as my closest friends.

I decided it wasn’t worth the effort to explain that he was just as bad as them.

Before I could decide on my next move, Olivia regained consciousness. Henry was hassling me about when he’d receive the wages he was promised as a member of the security staff, Lucy was practically howling with excitement, and Horace was still crying.

Despite all that noise, with both of her green eyes focused directly on me, Olivia asked something completely unexpected. Something I forgot should be unexpected until she said it.

“Why is everyone so quiet?”