After dinner, Cora and Kristian prepared themselves for their journey to Rosewood District. Theseus packed some iced rolls for them to take along the way. He places them in a sling bag, convincing Kristian to take it with him.
"Do I really have to?" Kristian stubbornly asked.
"You're going to travel with a human. She doesn't have as much stamina as you do," Theseus said, handing over the bag again. "Take it!"
Groans. "Fine. Fine." The vampire took the bag, slinging it across his chest. "Happy?"
"And to make sure that you'll keep it…" The doctor slips ten vials in the bag's pocket. "I formulated a higher dose, with each vial having an effect that lasts for two days. That should be enough til you back here again." He zips the pocket shut. "Don't skip a shot, okay?"
"Okay. Promise."
The door from the right opens, with Cora and Kyle just arriving.
"So, don't forget to remove the gauze tomorrow to keep it dry," Kyle instructed, still rubbing Cora's burned hand. "And you!" He points at Kristian. "Two passes each for the next three trips to the station. Two passes for the Bella Donna Hotel. All booked and registered in your biometrics."
"Thanks, man." Kristian pats Kyle's shoulder then turns to Cora. "So, ready?".
Cora slipped on a thick brown coat Theseus got for her. She then embraces Theseus and Kyle. "Thank you for taking care of me, and for letting me stay."
"You're always welcome here, kiddo." the doctor flashes a sweet smile at her, tapping her back before letting go.
"Hope to see you again. Conscious this time, of course," Kyle said, still hugging her.
"Okay, okay. That's it." The vampire taps Kyle's shoulder to let go. "We're in a hurry. Remember? Let's go."
The four walked upstairs heading towards another door that leads to a backroom of what seems to be a café. The environment looks totally different from downstairs, with walls painted with doodled flowers and scrumptious confections displayed below the counter. The door won't stop chiming as people come and go, falling in line in front of the counter and taking their own boxes of sweets.
"So, all this time we're actually underneath a café?" Cora asked, turning to Kyle.
"The clinic is kinda of an underground thing. Literally," Kyle said, shrugging his shoulder.
The door chimes again as Theseus opens the door for Cora and Kristian. "Take care, you two."
They just smiled at him, waving as they leave the café and walked along the crowd.
Astounded by the tall buildings and flashing lights, Cora couldn't help but gawk at the sight of the district. "Where are we?"
"Western side of Vermilion. We kinda had a bit of shortcut crossing the district after going through Diaspora." Kristian grabs her hand. "Stay close. We wouldn't want you to get lost in the crowd."
They headed straight down a stairwell leading into a wide tunnel with walls made out of glass. Behind the glass is a big terrarium with its own forest in it. Children love leaning on the glass, watching butterflies hover on the exotic flowers inside the terrarium. At the center isle of the tunnel are booths that check every passengers' pass.
Kristian raises his hand, facing his palm in front of the booth's sensor until it beeps. On the monitor popped their names and other personal information, granting their passes.
At the end of the tunnel are high speed bullet trains passing by. Passengers are instructed to stay behind the glowing railings that turn red to green. Upon turning green, the railings automatically retract, giving passengers permission to cross as soon as a train stops.
Cora follows Kristian's lead as they enter the train, taking a seat in one of the private compartments.
The vampire shuts the sliding door then pulls down the curtain. "It's gonna be a long ride. You can relax for a while," he said as he takes a seat opposite her.
"Is it safe?" she asked.
"What's safe?"
"Riding a train."
He creases his brows. "Is this the first time you've taken a train?"
She just nodded at him then turns to the right, facing the window.
He leans back on the seat, chuckling. "You've been missing out way to many things in life. Don't worry. It's safe. You won't even feel it moving at all."
"The train is about to leave in five minutes. Please be seated and keep your belongings out of the hallway. Thank you," said the train attendant.
Cora grips the edge of her seat as soon as the train starts moving, watching the murals on the wall pass them by as it speeds up.
"Hey." Kristian pulls down the curtain by the window, covering the view. "Look at me."
She turns to him.
"You're safe." He opens the sling bag, pulling out the paper bag of iced rolls in it. He then pulls down the foldable table between them, laying the bag of bread on it. "Theseus prepared this for you." Opening the paper bag and showing its contents to her.
"Whoa! Theseus really loves cooking and baking huh?" She digs in, taking a piece then munches on it. Her eyes glowing in delight.
"The guy has a lot of skills, way past the medical and culinary field." He presses the wall of the compartment that opens to a slot that contains at least three bottled water. He grabs one then places it on the table before closing it again.
She offers the rolls to him. "Not gonna eat?"
"Na-ah. He prepared that specially for you."
She just smiles, now keeping herself comfy at the corner of the seat while eating. "No wonder people would kill just to live in this place."
"Hmm..? Why is that?"
"Life seems perfect here. Too easy. Too flashy. Everything looks amazing despite the horrors that lurk in it."
"Horrors… You're really scared of vampires, aren't you?"
"Papa taught us to be cautious. When he and his vampire friend had a fallout, he made me and my sister swore not to trust vampires again. We kinda grew up living up to that code." She finishes her roll then grabs the bottle of water. Gulping it all away to the bottom.
"That's your father's opinion." He leans forward, placing his hands on the table. "I want to know your opinion."
"As someone who grew up avoiding vampires, it's really terrifying. But Papa's friend… I used to be so fond of him. We're really close." She frowns as she recalls Kalvick's face as he was being abducted. She then lifts her head, facing Kristian. "What is it you called that place again…? Dias--something…?"
"Diaspora. It's a general term for abandoned streets here in Wisteria, usually inhabited by illegal settlers and underground operations." He glares at the curtain by the window. "Most people think Wisteria is a perfect place but I guess you're right. It really has its own horrors in it."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Okay…?" Turning his attention back to her.
"What do you do for a living? I mean, vampires here still need a job to have a life, right?"
"Oh! Right. Of course we do! Well...… Besides being a nosy curious vamp, I actually work as bounty hunter," he proudly said, showing an intricate triangular tattoo at the back of his neck. "Of course, Theseus and Kyle know about it. And of course they keep on telling me to handle the easy cases. But hey! I guess I'm a sucker for trouble."
"I see… I guess I could call myself lucky then."
"Really?"
"Willing to take on another trouble?"
The vampire leans forward, flashing his fangs as he grins. "Tell me about it."
"I really don't want you to drag into this. But since you already insisted to come with me and as it turns out, you're a bounty hunter, maybe you can shed some light on my own investigation. Plus if you're gonna stick around, you might need to know what we're up against. Just in case." She pulls out a piece of paper from her pocket, showing the dagger-shaped illustration. "This is among the clues Papa has been looking into before he disappeared, and before our house got burned down. Along with it are old and new case files of people being murdered. Severed body parts with this mark burned on their skin."
He looks at it closely, squinting his eyes as he analyzes the image. "That looks familiar. I think I've seen something like this in Dad's old case files before."
"You do?"
"Yup! I'm kind of an unruly child back then. Always sneaking in rooms I'm not supposed to get into. Apparently, Dad is like the detective of among the Highborns. He handles the most sensitive cases. Cases that need to be covered up before they reach the public." He leans back on his seat, taking a deep breath. "I'm sure I saw that symbol somewhere in those."
"You mean this is an old case? Like a cold case?" She tucks the paper back in her pocket.
"Probably. But that was twenty years ago. Major cases shouldn't stay unsolved within a maximum of three years. This should have been closed by now."
"There are only two possibilities here. One, there's a copycat recreating those crimes again. And two, your father caught the wrong guy."
"Either way, if this is what your father got himself into, then we really need to find him as soon as possible. Highborns don't like people meddling in cases that could ruin their reputation."