The Crimson Reaper-Chapter 48: The Old Factory

"So... This is it?" Scarlet asked, putting her hands on her hips as she stood there, looking up at the factory.

There were reports about missing children from wealthy families. They sent a request for Luciel’s party to investigate, but with him gone, they decided to replace him with Scarlet for now.

"According to the data about vampires’ behavior, this is one of the potential places where they might be hiding," Helen answered to Scarlet, not bothering to even look at her. Instead, she only kept staring at the transparent, blue screen in front of her that was coming from her watch.

"I hope you are right, this factory will be the fifth building we checked today." Scarlet crossed her hands, sending a glance toward the researcher in a white coat.

"You heard her boys! Let’s head in!" Scarlet turned towards George, Dash, and Alex, pointing towards the car that was behind her, urging them to get their weapons ready.

"A-actually, we think that we should sit this one out," George said with a shaky voice, afraid of Scarlet’s reaction. Luciel wouldn’t react well, and Scarlet had an even worse reputation when it came to temper.

"Huh?" Scarlet raised an eyebrow at the two who dared to protest against her order.

"What did you say?" She glared at them like a mother would at her child, except that her look was ready to kill them on the spot.

’She’s a real monster...’ The two of the vampire hunters thought in a union, wishing for the earth to swallow them rather than to face Scarlet’s gaze.

"Oh come on Scarlet, cut them some slack. I would feel safer if I would have those two for protection while you and Alex are away. " Helen placed her hand on Scarlet’s shoulder, nudging her a little to ease up.

"Yeah, you heard her, the two of us can deal with those vampires!" Alex smiled, walking towards Scarlet, putting his arm around her neck before pulling her closer.

Glaring at Alex from the corner of her eye, Scarlet grabbed his fingers and started to flex them unnaturally. "Hmph, fine."

"Ouch! Ouch Ouch!" Alex cried out loud when Scarlet got a hold of his finger and tried to get away, but to no avail. He thought that she was going to break them until she finally let go.

"Follow me then." She ordered, taking out her sword and walking towards the entrance before stopping.

"What’s wrong?" Alex asked, feeling a little bit confused, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary that should stop her advancement.

"Where’s your shining armor?" She mocked him, wondering what might have happened to Alex that he finally decided to ditch that old relic and to switch to some kind of white battle suit with golden details.

"Oh, well... Let’s say that there was a small incident," there was a nervous smile on Alex’s face as he scratched his face, looking away from Scarlet as he started to whistle.

’I hope that no one finds out about that...’ Alex thought, feeling embarrassed when remembering the time when he got attacked by a goblin horde because of the armor he was wearing. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Uh-huh." Scarlet looked at him with a suspicious look but decided to get an answer out of him later, it seemed like a fun story that he had to share.

"Let’s just go in!" Alex rushed her, walking behind her, starting to push her inside, afraid that she might start to question him about the goblin situation.

Once inside, both Scarlet and Alex got serious. Their steps were quiet and their breaths steady, with swords raised in the air as they got prepared for any kind of attack that might have gotten in their way.

Getting into the deeper parts of the factory, they could hear some crawling sounds all around them, claws scratching against the ground, and sense a lingering smell of blood.

"Shhh... Did you see that?" Alex whispered when he noticed some kind of shade going between the machinery.

"Yeah, I did, let’s keep going," Scarlet ordered, carefully observing the area, being on guard.

When they arrived at the part of the factory where the middle was cleaned up from the machines, Alex gasped when he saw Melisa in an unrecognizable state.

He was so focused on her that he didn’t even notice a puddle of blood that was in the middle of an empty area.

"Melisa?!" He asked, rushing towards the female vampire who was passed out, with messy hair and dirty clothes that were slightly ripped.

"You know her?" Scarlet raised her eyebrow at the girl in front of her. She looked familiar, but couldn’t recognize from where she might have seen her.

"It’s complicated, I’ll tell you another time." Alex cursed inside his head when he said those words. He knew that he was fucked once Scarlet finds out that Melisa is a vampire.

"You know her?" There was a hiss coming from the shadow, the only thing that was visible was vibrant red eyes, indicating that they were dealing with a powerful, or extremely pisssed off vampire.

’Oh come on!’ Alex shouted in his head, wanting some break. It felt like his world turned upside down ever since Luciel got turned into a vampire.

"Scarlet, get ready for a fight and protect the ginger girl. That guy is no good." Alex said, following the old teaching of "never trust a vampire" that had been drilled into hunter’s heads.

The only vampire that Alex couldn’t kill was Luciel. And while he did want to get his hands on Melisa and Kai, he decided to spare them since he saw them hanging out around his friend.

"Why is she so important anyway?" Scarlet asked, observing two more vampires that appeared from the dark, extending their claws.

"I’ll tell you later."

Scarlet rolled her eyes at Alex’s answer, what was even more ironic was that she already knew his secret about hanging out with Luciel after he fell victim to vampirism, it was just that she kept that to herself.

Alex was a good guy and even a better friend. It was a shame that she would have to kill him in the future once she found proof that he had been in contact with the enemy.

Scarlet already knew that he had been seeing Luciel, but she lacked proof to present it in front of the elders of the Church.

"So what if I know her? And why should I tell you anyway?" Alex grinned, taunting the vampires in front of him.

’This guy is an idiot.’ The vampire that seemed to be the leader of the tree facepalmed before slowly walking in front of the two hunters with his gang following him behind.

"Anyways, did you get the goods?" He asked, glaring at the two.

"What goods?"

"Great..." The vampire muttered to himself. He expected two hunters to come and bring the children that they promised.

"Guys, kill them!" He ordered, pointing with his clawed finger towards Alex and Scarlet who got ready for the fight.