"Ahh," cried Granger. A line of blood gradually appeared on his face. It started on his forehead and ran down to his chin. At first, a slow stream of blood flowed out, but soon, it was gushing out. His eyes were wide open as he stared at the old woman in horror.
Alex was also stunned. He saw a cold light flash past his eyes and then saw that it was the knife lying a few inches away from him. It was still dripping blood.
Then, to his horror, he watched the old woman kneel on the ground and press her head against Granger's head. He watched her start to suck blood from the corpse's head.
The sound of her sucking was terrifying.
Alex was rigid with fear watching the scene in front of him. He didn't dare to move, afraid that the old woman would stab him if he turned his back.
A minute later, she raised her head. She used her finger to wipe the blood away from her lips and murmured, "He tastes pretty good—"
Those words caused Alex's hair to stand on end, while his heart was in overdrive.
"You—" the old woman said as she looked at Alex.
I just watched her kill someone and drink his blood, he thought. I'm sure she'll kill me next. While I'm standing up and she's still on the ground, I've got to use my advantage to hurt her if I can. It's my only chance to escape. His heart trembled as he raised his leg and kicked her as hard as he could.
But before he could get to the door, his legs went limp and he sat on the ground. Suddenly he heard a clank. He looked up to see that the kitchen knife that had just killed Granger was now impaled in the side kitchen cabinet a few inches from his face. Warmblood from the knife dripped onto his arm.
The old woman was standing over him. She said, "Seeing that you saved my life just now, I'll let you live. Now we're even." There was mockery in her eyes. She seemed to be laughing at him for thinking he could beat her.
Alex could hardly believe what he was hearing. Her voice had changed. She no longer had the frail voice of an elderly woman but the strong, strident voice of someone decades younger. Her eyes had also become focused and sparkling.
The woman went to the open window. Did she come in through the window? Alex wondered as he noticed that the glass was broken. What is she going to do now? Is she really going to jump out of the window? But we're on the ninth floor.
Unbelievably, it did look like she was intent on jumping out of the window, so Alex shouted, "Stop." But the old woman was gone.
Alex ran to the window and looked out. He was dumbfounded.
The woman hadn't fallen to the ground as he had feared. Instead, she seemed to be floating down like an action movie superhero. She landed on the main steps of Vivian's building, took a few steps, and then disappeared.
Alex continued looking down in a daze. He just couldn't comprehend what he had just seen, or believe that it was real.
When he came back to his senses, he looked at Granger lying on the floor. The blood on his head had already dried up and there was no new blood flowing out. It was as if the old woman had sucked it dry.
He walked around the body and out of the kitchen.
"Alex—" Vivian had walked back into the apartment. When she saw him, she walked up to him quickly to check if he was injured.
"What about Granger?" Vivian asked anxiously.
"Dead," Alex said as he looked toward the kitchen.
"Dead?" Surprised, Vivian walked slowly to the kitchen door. When she opened it, she saw Granger lying on the floor.
"What happened?" she asked, trying to suppress her disgust. Then she thought, Dale Granger was one of the leaders of the Flag Sect. When they find out what's happened, they'll want to kill us. She said, "We have to get away quickly before the Flag Sect people come looking for us."
She held Alex's hand and tried to pull him to the door.
Alex pulled her back and replied, "Vivian, don't worry. His death was nothing to do with you. Trust me, I'll take care of it."
In an anguished voice, she said, "Oh, why don't you understand? He's one of the main guys from the Flag Sect. When they find out, they'll kill us. Don't you understand?" Vivian couldn't believe that Alex was being so naïve. She thought he was an ignorant college student who knew nothing about society.
Alex held Vivian's shoulder and said calmly, "Listen to me. I know you don't believe me, but please trust that every word that I'm saying right now is true. Even if they think I killed Dale Granger, Flag Sect won't dare to come after me."
Seeing how sure Alex was, Vivian didn't know what to say.
"All right, now you and Monica stay at the hotel, and I'll handle everything here," he said, and then he put his arm around Vivian's shoulder and they walked out of the apartment. In the entrance lobby, they found Monica waiting anxiously. Alex found them a room at a hotel nearby and settled the mother and daughter in there.
When he left the hotel, Alex called a cab and went back to Azalea Guest House. When he arrived, he asked for Sam Woodsworth to come to see him.
"Alex, you—" Sam stopped when he saw the state Alex was in.
"It's nothing," Alex assured him. His appearance was the least of his concerns at that moment. His only focus was the dead body in Vivian's apartment. The body needed to be dealt with before the police got involved. If that happened, the media attention would be impossible to suppress. He said quietly, "In number two Bay View Villas, apartment number 903, there's a dead body in the kitchen. The body is Dale Granger, one of the leaders of the Flag Sect. Send someone to deal with it immediately."
"Yes sir." Sam was frightened when he heard what he had said. He wasn't scared of the Flag Sect, but of the impact that this could have on Alex. He was terrified to think of the danger that Alex was now in. He quickly instructed one of his subordinates to dispose of the body, and then went back to Alex and sat down next to him. He said, "I'm so sorry, Alex. I was supposed to protect you. Can you forgive me?"
"Forget it, it's fine," Alex reassured him. No one could have predicted what had happened tonight. Even if he had been killed, it wouldn't have been Sam's fault. Finally, Sam stood up and Alex asked him, "I know that the man who was killed was one of the leaders of the Flag Sect. Is handling it going to be a problem?"
Sam replied confidently, "The Flag Sect has only just been formed. It was only because we managed to eradicate the Azure Dragon Society that the Flag Sect rose to prominence. In comparison, annihilating these amateurs will be easy." Sam didn't seem concerned at all.
"Since they've caused these problems, how about we completely eradicate them?" Sam suggested.
"Not for now. Let's just wait until this matter is settled first," Alex said after thinking for a while.
An hour later, Sam went to see Alex with the news.
"The situation has been dealt with, and our people have also eliminated any surveillance on you. According to our intelligence department, Dale Granger has no relatives, so no one will report him missing to the police, and the only people who will notice his absence are the people from the Flag Sect. If we hear any more news about this, we'll deal with it immediately."
"Thank you, you've done well. Go and get some sleep now. I'm tired too." Finally, Alex could relax. Exhausted, he went back to his room to sleep.
Over the next two days, Alex didn't hear any more about Granger's death. It seemed to have never happened. Vivian and Monica had been staying in the hotel, while Alex had been scrutinizing the movements of the Flag Sect. According to Sam's observers, the gang had started sending people to search for Granger.
On the third day, Alex left the Azalea Guest House and got in a cab to go to the hotel to see Vivian and Monica. By the time he arrived, Alex felt a little hungry and decided to go and get some breakfast first.
A small restaurant called The Bay View Diner attracted his attention. The quaint exterior and the fluttering banner outside made him feel like the diner had been around since the fifties.
Business in the diner seemed to be pretty good. It was almost full. He ordered a bowl of beef soup and took a seat at a booth in the corner.
Out of the blue, the customer in the next booth said, "So beautiful."
"She's a goddess," agreed the waiter.
Alex looked up and saw a petite girl walk in and head toward an empty table.
He couldn't see her face from where he was sitting, but her red clothes were familiar.
When she turned and sat down, and Alex had a clear view of her face, he couldn't help but choke and spit a mouthful of beef soup onto the table.
The beautiful young lady was only around sixteen years old, and she had exquisite dark eyes under long curved eyelashes. Her cheeks were pink, her lips were thin and tender, and she had her silky hair tied back in a bun.
Alex couldn't believe what he saw. This woman was wearing the same clothes as the old lady who had killed Dale Granger at Vivian's home three days ago. He knew it was the same woman.
He lowered his head to drink the soup. He was very nervous, but he was also confused. He had witnessed her killing someone and knew that she had abilities way beyond those of normal people. What if she wanted to silence him? Also, how had she turned from a very elderly lady into a beautiful adolescent?
Then the girl noticed Alex sitting in the corner booth, and a trace of a smile appeared on her face. Alex froze, but she only glanced at him once before looking away. She called out to the waiter, "Why hasn't my beef soup arrived yet?"
Her voice no longer sounded like that of an old woman but was the voice of a teenage girl. It was also very calm and very cold.