The Crimson Reaper-Chapter 66: Helen’s Worries

"Turn that off..." Luciel complained as the loud ringing echoed around the room and woke him up.

He placed his hands on his sensitive ears, frowning as he tossed in bed.

"Hello, this is Helen speaking."

Luciel peaked once he heard Helen answering the phone.

"Great..." He muttered after hearing the contents of the phone call.

Helen was being called to attend a meeting and was told to bring Luciel as well.

"Let’s get ready and go then," Helen said to her husband, deducing that he heard all the contents of the phone call by simply judging his expression.

"Come on Luciel, don’t give me that look," Helen added after seeing her husband roll his eyes.

He had a dissatisfied expression, knowing that he would need to go through hunter’s bickering and verbal attacks about his existence.

Those he fought for before were now turning their backs on him.

"Helen, let me just go back to sleep. You know how those hunters are..." He complained, turning around and pulling up the sheets.

"Luciel." She lowered her voice, now sounding more demanding than anything. "You better get ready when I’m done with my shower. Otherwise, I will turn you into my personal lab rat."

"Being your personal lab rat sounds better than the meeting." He teased, covering his mouth with a hand as he yawned.

"You...! Ugh!" Helen clenched her fist in frustration before picking up the clothes and slamming the doors behind her when she exited the room, heading towards the shower area.

Looking at the door, Luciel sighed after she left and sat up, getting ready to meditate.

While Helen was gone, he decided to use this little time he had. There was a primal urge rising within, telling him to get stronger, to prepare for the challenges that lay ahead.

It was more than an instinct, it was a voice of a warrior that kept whispering into his ears. His fight was far from over, he could feel it.

He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers together. Slowing down his breathing, starting to focus on his Qi.

In the first step, he did the standard practice, circulating it around his body, and trying to establish a balance.

With each practice session Luciel did, he could feel his Qi becoming more stable, more connected to his existence.

Before a foreign substance, now something that started to define his existence.

It felt different than what he could remember. Now, his Qi felt cool, but alive as it carried a sense of a weightless fluid that swirled inside his blood. But beneath the calm, chilly feeling, there was a mysterious and unyielding force that kept raging on.

Continuing with his meditation, he could feel two powerful forces, with Yang being a little weaker than Yin, but compared to before, this was a huge achievement.

"So... How did it go again?" He asked himself, opening his eyes and glancing down at his hands, trying to remember the feeling from last night.

"Yin gives a form," Luciel started, extending his hand with a palm open, trying to concentrate on the area right above it while gathering his Yin.

"And Yang gives a spark." He added, starting to circulate both energies together.

Luciel could feel something lighting up inside his hand before it erupted like a flame, making him flinch in surprise.

A dark cloud of mist started to surround his hand, with hints of electric blue hue here and there. The only problem was, the mist he summoned now felt a lot weaker than the one he called upon earlier.

"Let’s see..." He said under his breath, staring intensively at his mist. Sweat started to appear on his forehead as he was trying to concentrate, trying to mold the mist into the shape he desired, but that seemed to be more difficult than he had imagined.

Back there, on the battlefield, all he was doing was releasing a raw form of energy shaped like a mist, when his Qi was at its peak and amplified due to the present tension and fear of losing his wife.

But now, trying to control it willingly was a challenge of his own. Not only did he have to move his mist, but he also had to keep a constant focus and control his Qi, moving it around and condensing to give his mist a physical form that you can touch.

"Finally!" Luciel celebrated, feeling a rush of satisfaction overflowing his body. This was a small step for a vampire, but a big one for someone learning to wield mist like a weapon.

’So how do I shoot it?’ He asked himself, staring at the mist bullet that was floating above his palm, trying to figure it out.

He moved his hand forward, trying to build up his Qi in the middle of the palm, planning to push the bullet by releasing a small explosion of energy.

It sounded like it should work in theory, taking into consideration how he was making those mist shock waves earlier. This seemed to have a similar basic principle.

Tensing his palm, he shot the bullet forward, but it flew only for five seconds before it disappeared into thin air, it was slow as well.

’Huh... More power maybe?’ Luciel started to gather his mist again, attempting to do the same again with more force behind it.

****

After a few minutes of walking, Helen arrived at the shower area but sighed after seeing a huge row in front of her. Luckily, there are still three more hours before the meeting, that should be enough time to do what she had to, right?

They only had a few showers that were being shared among the people in the shelter and only one was reserved for the hunters which Helen was also able to use, but it would still get crowded occasionally.

Looking forward to see who else was standing in the row, a smile appeared on her lips when she noticed another hunter she knew. While not particularly fond of her, they weren’t on bad terms either.

"Good morning Scarlet!" She leaned forward, tapping her shoulder.

"Oh? Helen, morning to you as well." Scarlet greeted her back, giving her a wave. "Did you manage to get some rest?"

"Surprisingly, I did. I got lucky that the sun was about to rise, so Luciel didn’t bother me too much," she replied, trying to come to terms with the fact that she would have to see her husband sleeping for most of the day.

"Is he still sleeping?" She asked, allowing the two hunters behind her to step forward so she could chat with Helen in peace.

"Probably, he didn’t sound happy for being woken up, even less happy when he heard about the meeting." She sighed, wondering what she should do with him.

"Same with Melisa..." Scarlet sighed after Helen, thinking what she should do about the vampire in her room, at least Melisa turned out to be a nice company after getting to know her better. She was still careful with having her around, but so far so good.

"Say, did he try to bite you again?" Scarlet leaned forward, whispering into Helen’s ear since she didn’t want any hunter to overhear this.

"Almost after the things got a little... Heated." She blushed in embarrassment as she looked aside, "Not his fault, it’s just what vampires do."

"Wasn’t he a human? I thought that at least he would retain something." She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

All of Scarlet’s attention was on Helen because depending on her answer, she might have to kill Luciel at the end.

"Was... I still don’t have enough data to say for sure, but I can tell you this. His vampirism was extreme. He became a vampire from the inside out. His behavior and way of thought is also different."

"And what do you think? Will he pose a threat?"

There was a moment of silence between the two when Scarlet asked her final question.

Helen gulped, her eyes darting from left to right as she had her own set of doubts.

"Currently, no. He does get thirsty for blood but has no desire to kill anyone. He shouldn’t turn against us unless something happens to trigger him."

She finally answered with a hint of sadness in her voice. Luciel was on their side, but if humans would continue to treat him like a beast, he might turn against them one day.

"What kind of trigger?" Scarlet questioned, having a cold expression on her face.

"Betrayal. If we do something to anger him greatly, I can say without a doubt that he won’t hesitate to bite off someone’s neck." She warned, creating tension between the two as Scarlet went silent, making Helen worry.

"Then maybe it’s for the best." Scarlet finally answered after thinking about what Helen had said.

Luciel already proved himself as a reasonable being, so if humans were to do something to him unprovoked, then his anger would be justified, but she would be the judge.

Helen let out a breath of relief after hearing Scarlet’s response. For a moment, she was afraid that she would say that she would need to kill him.

After the tension, the two girls continued to chat about their everyday lives and love interests, making Helen return to Luciel and how she felt about recent events.

They were mostly filled with relief, but she would be lying if she said that from time to time she didn’t feel scared, sad, or worried.

"Speaking about that, I have a question," Scarlet asked, now being the first one in the row for the shower.

"What was that yesterday? While waiting for a checkup, you seemed extremely anxious. I can feel it even now when you are talking about him."

Helen froze at the sudden question, her mind racing. She looked around to make sure that no one was in the area.

She took a deep breath, instinctively placing her hands on her stomach, debating if she should say it or not. Unfortunately, Scarlet was the only female company she could talk to.

"Scarlet..." Helen began with a hint of hesitation present inside her voice. "It’s late..."

"What’s late?" Scarlet questioned, raising her eyebrow while trying to figure out what Helen meant by that.

Helen bit her lower rip, finally meeting Scarlet’s gaze. She knew this for a short time, but the weight of it was taking a toll on her body.

"I’m pregnant." She said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.