"You shouldn't be here. You should be resting." Anita said, taking the canvass from my hand. "Maybe you should stop volunteering for a while. Stay home for a few days."
"No, I can't do that. Father will just be suspicious if I stay home. He's seen how excited I've been for this volunteering act. He'll know something's wrong if I don't come here." I argued.
"Okay. But you can't overwork yourself. Understand?"
"You sound like a mother."
"Well, I am older than you." She said with a smile, and then her face turned more serious. "Are you going to tell him?"
"Of course. I'll tell him when he comes home. But I'm scared. I'm worried he'd react negatively, which would be understandable given the situation."
"It'll be fine. You're in love. I'm sure he'll be happy." She assured me, but I wasn't completely confident. The negative feeling I had been feeling was still there.
I continued collecting the children's canvasses with Anita's help.
"Yes! I'm in!" Philip shouted.
"You've hacked into their system?" I practically ran to him.
"Not really, but I've hacked into the security cameras. We can check the footages and see if there's anything we can find." He said. "I'm sorry I couldn't do any better."
"Are you kidding? You're brilliant!" I thankfully gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Since you're doing your job, I got to go do mine. Remember, let's not get caught."
"Be careful." Anita said with her serious tone.
"I will. I promise."
I roamed around the hallways again, trying to find anything that could lead us to something. I greeted the nuns on the way and helped the children with anything they needed. The orphanage seemed peaceful, if only that really was the case. But it wasn't. I wondered how things would have been if I was ignorant of the darkness behind all the façade. I used to believe the orphanage was the safest place for all the children. I used to believe it was a home. Turned out, it was a slaughter house, but what awaited them was worse than death. Amelia's condition seemed to be getting better though. She never had any episodes and was in better control of her emotions. But her appetite was growing, and she had been enjoying hunting helpless animals in the woods. I placed my hand over my belly and wondered how my child would be.
I bumped into someone. It was one of the nuns assigned at the front desk. She came from the right so suddenly and I didn't have time to move. The papers she was holding scattered on the floor.
"I'm sorry. It was my fault. I wasn't looking." She apologized. I helped her pick the papers up. Then suddenly, my radars were on high alert. Something was off. I looked at her. She seemed nervous, like someone who just got caught doing something illegal. Of course, I knew they were. But it wasn't the look on her face that was making my heart beat so fast, nor the papers she dropped. It was the fact that she came from the right. It would have made sense if she came from the left because the entrance to their chambers was at the end of that hallway. But there was nothing at the right, just a single window at the end. Was she watching the children playing in the lawn from the window? No, I didn't think so.
"You should really watch where you're going or you'll trip and get hurt." I told her calmly despite the excitement that was filling me up.
"Yes. I'm really sorry." She said flatly.
"What were you doing there?" I asked while trying hard not to sound too curious.
"I, uh—I was admiring the painting." She said. I looked behind her, to the hallway. There was a huge painting on the left wall. I walked pass her and approached it. I noticed her follow me.
"It is a beautiful painting. Who are these people?" I asked. It was a painting of some people in white robes.
"They were the founders of the Church, at least that's what I've been told." She stated. I raised my hand and reached out to touch it. "Don't touch it." The panic in her voice raised my suspicions even more. "I mean, paintings aren't supposed to be touched but admired by the eyes, right?" She said, faking a smile. That was it. The answer was in front of me. "Are you busy? Would you mind helping me sort out some documents in the library?"
"No, not at all." I answered. Bingo.
After helping her in the library, I went running back to the art room. Anita and Philip were there, going through videos. I closed the door behind me and walked to them.
"You don't need to look through all those videos, just search for ones from the camera near the nuns' chambers." I said. "Hurry." Despite the confusion in his eyes, Philip obliged. "Check the footage from about an hour ago."
He found it and we watched in anticipation. My heart was beating so loudly, I could practically hear every beat. Then, there it was – what we were looking for.
"That explains why we couldn't find the lab. It isn't in the orphanage, it's under it."
That night, I couldn't sleep. We were so close. The next step would be to figure out how to sneak in. It would be risky, but it would be worth it. Who could we ask for help? There was no one. Kai and the others weren't back. The Church was the supreme governing body of the humans so we couldn't ask for any outside help. A thought came to me but I immediately dismissed the idea. Going to the vampire council would be suicide. If they find out the Church was planning to start a war against them, they'd wipe the humans out. We mustn't tell Kai and the others after all.
The breakfast the next morning was awkward. To me, that is. My father seemed oblivious to my stares. He just went on with his meal while reading the newspaper, without even glancing at me. My mind was just filled with questions for him. Why did you do it? Don't you feel any guilt towards those people? Don't you pity those children? How are you so willing to sacrifice innocent lives for a war you aren't even sure you'd win? Were you ever planning to tell me anything? Do you really even care about me? I stopped myself from thinking any more questions. If I didn't, I might have burst into tears in front of him, and that would have been troublesome.
"Hm. This is delicious." I said instead.
"I'm glad you like it. You've been looking so pale lately. I've been very worried. Is something wrong?"
"No. I'm just nervous. Exams are coming up, again."
"Don't stay up late studying every night. You should rest every now and then. Eat a lot and drink plenty of water. Alright?" Then he gave me that warm smile of his. I felt frustrated and a little disgusted. How could he smile at me while they did all those horrible things to those people? I could never forgive him.
I went to school early to avoid any more conversation with my father. Being with him felt…repulsive. The library was still empty when I arrived. I sat at my usual spot and read the book I saw first. Of course, I didn't understand what I was reading. My mind was full of other things, and my heart was aching. I felt betrayed. I couldn't take any more and closed the book I was holding. I got out of the library. There were more students. Then, I saw them. They were back. I gazed at him. I never realized how much I missed him till that moment. He was more gorgeous than ever, but something on his expression made my smile disappear. Something was different about him. When they finally saw me, I waved at them. They slowly walked to my direction, and then…
They walked pass me. Without a word. Like they didn't see me. Just like that, we were back to how we were before. We were back to being strangers.