The Crimson Reaper-Chapter 95: Waking Up

"Ugh... my head..." Helen groaned, cracking her eyes open. Her vision blurred, and the sharp, metallic stench of rust stung her nose.

She clenched her fist but winced as shards of glass bit into her palm and that wasn’t all. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Her whole body seemed to be covered in cuts that were bleeding out.

"Shit," she murmured, trying to lower her hands, only to hear the heavy rattle of iron chains. A chill ran down her spine.

Scanning her surroundings, she noticed dusty metal crates and scattered weapons.

"A warehouse?" Helen concluded, trying to remember how she came here.

The last memory she had was of George and Dash entering her room and then-

"Why would they do that?" She questioned, trying to figure out their motives.

They always seemed pretty chill, following Luciel, fighting together, and having drinks, even if their relationship was only on the level of their co-workers.

She remembers Luciel telling her how he and Alex picked those two because they needed two more members for their group and liked their dynamics. But ever since Luciel came back, they have been acting a little bit strange. They seemed anxious and on the edge.

"What have I missed?" She tried to think hard, from the events when they refused to enter the old factory to now, but there was nothing to reveal their intentions.

"Why am I barefoot?" She raised an eyebrow after glancing down at her legs, but in her current situation, she felt like it was best not to know.

Helen proceeded with the inspection of the deep wounds that were carved into her, soaking her trousers and a long, white cape in red.

She started to wonder why would they do so unless they had some weird fetish or...

"Wait... They want Luciel!" She gasped, eyes getting bigger and her heart skipping a beat as she tried to break free again, but to no avail.

If they wanted to lure him here, then this sure was a way. Those vampires had olfactory receptors three times more than a dog.

Helen shivered once a thought of her husband arriving here. She would be more than happy to see him but was afraid of what would happen next.

As kind as he was, he had another nature that many seem to forget.

He was cruel. A ruthless battle style without mercy and now after not being human, Helen was concerned that he wouldn’t hesitate to show that behavior towards humans as well.

Not to mention, vampires were savage creatures. It was in their nature.

In the distance of the huge warehouse, there was the sound of an old, metallic door cracking open, echoing around the room, causing Helen’s ear to twitch.

"You..." She growled, sending a laser beam to stare at the two newcomers with her heart racing in anger.

"Good morning, sweetheart," George clapped with his hands, slowly walking inside with his chin high while Dash was trailing after him, carrying his huge silver axe on the back.

Judging by the way George carried himself, he seemed to be the mastermind of everything while Dash was more timid, always following his lead.

"What is the meaning of this?" Helen scowled, twitching with her arms, forcing herself onto her legs, causing the black iron chains to clang into one another.

She winced once she got up, her wounds aching all over her body.

"Why am I here? Where have you brought me to?!" She demanded an answer, her voice fierce despite the quiver in her heart.

"It’s just as it seems, an old storage space close to the church, it hadn’t been used for a while," George answered with a smirk. Now, this warehouse had become a meeting ground for the vampires and other forces.

They say that there was no better place to hide than in front of the enemy’s nose.

"Why have you brought me here?!" She groaned, walking forward as much as she could until the chains became strained, restricting her movements.

"Isn’t it obvious?" George answered her with another question, gesturing at her wounds, "We want Luciel and you... Are just a bait."

"Why do you want him?" She demanded answers, deserving to know at least this much if they decided to use her to lure him in.

George glanced at Helen with a sharp stare, getting closer to her with his hands behind his back.

"To get rid of him, of course, and you’ll be a big help," He threatened, taking out a vial with dark red liquid inside of it.

Helen held her breath at the revelation. For a moment, the time had stopped for her, she didn’t even look at the vial as George’s words echoed inside her head.

"Why?!" She groaned, anger overtaking her fear. Her raised eyebrows came closer together and wrinkles appeared on her forehead.

She rushed forward, tugging the chains that were attached to the wall, "Why did you decide to betray him?!"

"Because he will kill us," George whispered in her ear, biting the inside of his cheek.

Neither he nor Dash wanted to do this, but they felt like they didn’t have a choice after they heard Luciel mutter Nosferatu’s name.

’I don’t know what their relationship is, but if he finds out...’ A lump formed inside George’s throat at the thought of what Luciel might do to them.

He could already picture him separating his neck from his body, stabbing him through the heart, and tearing his limbs apart...

"W-what did you do?" Helen stuttered, observing George’s anxious behavior.

He was constantly fidgeting with his fingers, pacing left, right, and around her.

"Guys... If you confess and just... Release me, he might let you go..." Helen mentioned, that her husband wasn’t unreasonable to the point he would kill them on the spot.

Dash stepped forward after hearing Helen’s calm voice, trying to reason with them.

Unlike George, he wanted to admit his sins for a while now, never being comfortable with what they were doing.

"Helen... We-"

"Don’t tell her!" George snapped at Dash, swinging with his hand, "The less she knows, the better."

"Besides, there is no need for her to know," He added, raising the vial he was holding all this time before putting it back into his pocket.

It was at that moment that Helen noticed the little test tube in George’s possession.

The liquid inside of it was thick, dark red, looking like blood.

’I hope it’s human blood...’ Helen gulped, but as much she wished for her thoughts to be true, something was telling her that the thing he was holding came from vampires.

"Let’s set up the trap, he should arrive soon," George announced, closing the doors before starting to draw a big rectangle with dark gray chalk, making it barely visible to the human eye.

He started to draw circles and symbols inside it before walking into the middle, placing both of his hands on the cold, dusty floor before starting to chant his divine art.

The dark lines started to glow light yellow, the same as George’s eyes.

For ten seconds, the whole room had lightened up before dimming down again.

Helen winced in pain as blood started to pour down her wrists... During the whole process, she was straining the chains, trying anything she could to break free with tears in her eyes.

She even wanted to break her wrists and to somehow pull out if the worst came to worst.

Whatever she would do or say, no matter how much she cried, her words just weren’t able to reach the two.

*bang*

Everyone stopped after hearing something hitting heavy metal doors, making a small dent.

*bang*

With tears in her eyes, Helen raised her head, along with Dash and George.

"Dash! Get ready, you know what to do," George looked at his partner in crime with dead eyes, making a small nod before returning to Helen’s side, taking out and opening the vial.

"Stay still if you don’t want to turn into a bloodhound faster," He warned her, grabbing her mouth and forcing them open.

*bang*

’Luciel...’ A warm tear appeared in Helen’s eye, there was a fleeting moment of relief at the possibility that she would be saved, but when the doors busted open, she closed her eyes, not being able to look at what would happen next...