As the night fell, Aselia got up and made her way to the medical room. She was comfortably dressed in a loose white tunic and matching bell-bottom trousers. Her hair was loosely tied in a hair clip and flowed behind her. If someone was to touch them, they would find them extremely soft.

Reaching the room Aselia knocked on the door and entered. Dr. Sumirea was a medical specialist, she was assigned to all the females who resided in the headquarters.

Sumirea had a soft spot for Aselia, for the latter visited her often because she was always getting into trouble and injuring herself during training and while on missions. Aselia was relentless when it came to her profession.

"Good evening, doctor." Aselia greeted her.

"Good evening Falcon, how have you been? It’s good to have you back. Please have a seat." The doctor spoke with a warm smile and pointed to the seat in front of her. Aselia settled down and looked at her nervously, her hands fidgeted and she was biting her lower lip.

Dr. Sumiera understood her nervousness and said: "You have nothing to worry about. Whatever has happened will remain between us, I won’t tell a soul. Even if you are pregnant, you can tell me. Has he hurt you or done something against your wishes?"

Aselia almost gasped at her words, it was a normal routine for female hunters and agents to return from such missions with bruises, torture marks and even unwanted pregnancies. Vampires were ruthless and they didn’t care about their victims. Xiran was one of a kind, no one would believe that he didn’t even touch her against her wishes.

"I don’t think there is anything wrong with me. I was ill a few days ago, I had a fever which lasted three days. He didn’t force me into doing anything and we didn’t have that kind of intimacy for me to get pregnant, and he drank very less from me." Aselia informed Dr. Sumiera, she skipped the part where Xifin and Sohlia had attacked and almost killed her.

There was a look of utter shock on the doctor’s face as she continued to say: "I see, but I will need to run a full examination and make my own opinion. Can you undress and lay down on the bed?"

Aselia felt extremely uneasy at the request, she didn’t want her to catch a glimpse of her scars but she did as she was told. Dr. Sumiera first checked her body for injuries and found a few fine lines and scars on her body. There was a fresh wound on her left arm as if she had been slashed with something sharp. She decided to run an x-ray.

The x-ray revealed what Aselia was trying to hide from the doctor. Dr. Sumiera checked her between the legs, in case she was lying but all was clear on that front. This made Aselia extremely uncomfortable. She took some blood samples from Aselia and packed them to be sent to the laboratory for further analysis.

She checked her neck, eyes and throat. Aselia’s neck had no marks, indicating he hadn’t fed on her recently. Her eyes showed she was sleep deprived and her throat was a bit inflamed, probably because of all the yelling she had done on Xiran.

After she had concluded her thorough check-up, she asked Aselia to get dressed. Aselia complied and took her seat. Dr. Sumiera then addressed her:

"Falcon, I am not sure why you lied but three of your ribs and some bones in your right hand have been recently broken and healed. Care to elaborate on what happened?" The colour in Aselia’s cheeks drained at her words and she didn’t know how to tell her.

"Umm... It wasn’t him but his brother and his girlfriend. They attacked and assaulted me one day. I had several broken bones and internal injuries but he had a doctor who treated me and they took care of me. I made a full recovery but don’t like talking about that incident, it makes me feel weak." Aselia spoke in a small voice as if she was forcing herself to talk about the incident. Dr. Sumiera understood she was suffering from PTSD. She offered Aselia a comfy smile and spoke:

"You can talk as little about it as you want but you have to talk about it. Hunters must have therapy sessions after such arduous missions. I want you to visit me one day a week and discuss whatever bothers you and occupies your mind. It will ease your brain once you get it out of your system. Believe me." Aselia didn’t want therapy sessions but Dr. Sumiera was right, she needed to get something out of her system or it would make her life even more miserable than it had already gotten. She felt like heading toward her demise in a slow torturous manner.

"I will try," Aselia answered back.

"It’s mandatory, will Friday evening be alright?" Aselia nodded not wanting to say much.

"Good, also your eyes show that you are not anemic and seem to be in good health so not very concerning. But I will be sending your blood samples to further analyze your HB and any potential diseases you might have caught. I will then prescribe the medicines if required." Dr. Sumiera informed her.

"Thank you, can I go now?" Aselia wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Yes, but try to get proper sleep and keep drinking cranberry juice for now. Give your throat some rest, don’t strain it. Good night and remember my door is always open if you need to discuss something, anything."

Dr. Sumiera bid her goodbye with these words and Aselia heaved a sigh of relief as she left her office, only to bump into Yurian who was waiting for her outside with two chicken skewers and a knowing smile.

"What are you doing here?" Aselia raised her eyebrows at him while tapping her left shoe on the floor and placing her hands on her waist.

"Waiting for you, of course. I brought food, you haven’t been eating since you came back." He offered her one of the sticks with a mischievous smile.

Aselia took it and shook her head at him before asking: "How did you know I would be here?" She took a bite of juicy chicken and it melted in her mouth.

"I know everything. I see all. I know all." Yurian raised his hand in the air like a sorcerer, making Aselia laugh in the process. It had been days she had laughed like that and he knew she needed that. Yurian could feel the mission had taken a toll on her mental and physical health and he wanted to be there for her.

"Right, Mr. Magician and then you must know that you have been banned from further missions because you refused to follow orders." Aselia teased him with a nudge of her elbow to his belly.

"It was worth it and I will do it again for you." Yurian shrugged, making her smile. "Also, I left a note behind for them, the main reason they didn’t have to risk the life of another one of their agents. They know I was the only one who could assist you on that mission. The old man is just too stubborn to admit it."

"Thank you for bringing me home." There was warmth in Aselia’s words and Yurian felt it in his heart. She was so like his elder sister, the one he lost. The one he still had nightmares about just like Aselia had about her parents. The one he was unable to protect and prompted him to become a hunter.

"I will always bring you back and not even the old man can stop me from coming to your rescue. Talking about him, he has been brutal with your prisoner." Yurian said the last sentence casually on purpose to observe Aselia’s reaction. Her hand holding the stick stopped in mid-air and the last piece of chicken on it didn’t make it to her mouth.

"What did he do?" She finally spoke in a cold voice.

"He has handed him over to Markius who has been using ’Croizan’ so Xiran is not healing. But he still didn’t reveal a word to them." Aselia froze at those words and Yurian could see a sinister look in her eyes. Croizan was a serum hunters had invented, when injected into a vampire it ceased their healing abilities, so they could feel the full brunt of torture without healing quickly.

"Is he planning to kill him? We need him alive. Why would he use Croizan on him." Aselia gritted her teeth in annoyance and rushed past Yurian with her nose flared. Yurian followed on her heels and opened his hand in front of her with his palm up, revealing a tiny green cylindrical container.

"What’s this?" Aselia glanced at him with a confused expression, her head furrowed.

"Healing balm, aren’t you going to heal him? You don’t want him to die of all those wounds, do you now? Who will provide you with the answers you seek?" Yurain replied, almost in a nonchalant manner while Aselia stopped dead in her tracks. She was dumbfounded at his words.