He didn't know what had happened. Ethan had carried the child in his arms, running back to the apartment in the middle of the night. Even though it was two or three kilometers away, he had made it back in less than 20 minutes. He hadn't expected himself to run that fast, for that long, and without getting too tired.
His whole body was soaked in sweat, and he stopped, gasping for breath, at the door. It was fear that made his heart pound so hard it felt like it would burst from his throat. His hands trembled, and it took him several attempts to get the key into the lock.
He pushed open the door and laid the injured person on his bed. Just as he was about to take out his phone to call the police, Ethan noticed the mask on his face. When had that thing appeared? He took it off and threw it on the desk, quickly dialing 000. A voice came from the other end, but just as he was about to speak, he felt a tug on his sleeve.
"Don't... don't."
The girl, her face covered in blood, spoke. But as he opened his mouth, it suddenly seemed to freeze as if he'd lost his voice. Instinctively, Ethan hung up the phone. This girl... she was the one he had been searching for... Hex.
"Are you... Miss Salvatore?"
My god... She slowly nodded, glancing around the room at the evidence board plastered with her photos, police reports with her name, contact information for her family, witness testimonies, and a mountain of government files. She gave a faint smile.
"Looks like you're quite the fan of mine."
"Your wounds..."
She struggled to sit up. Blood was still seeping slowly from her abdomen, the place where that lunatic by the river had hit her. She stared into Ethan's eyes, her dark gray pupils glimmering with a hint of violet. Then, she blinked, and for a brief moment, her eyes turned as red as fresh blood.
Ethan took a step back in shock. Hex furrowed her brow, and her eyes returned to normal. She, too, seemed stunned for a moment, then shouted in frustration,
"Blood! If I can just drink your blood, I'll heal!"
"Are you...alright?"
Ethan thought the girl seemed off, but it didn't look like she was angry at something he did. If he had to guess, it was more like she was mad because of something he didn't do—like when a guy doesn't pay during a date... But what exactly was he supposed to do now?
"No... no, it's fine. I just need to drink your blood, and I'll be fine, trust me."
"Uh... okay, what do you want me to do?"
"Just give me your hand."
Confused, he reached out his hand. Ethan suddenly remembered that he couldn't hand this girl over to the police, because if he did, whatever those two employers wanted would be impossible to achieve. And then, it would be questionable whether he'd ever get that $25,000...
The moment she saw his hand, the girl's eyes lit up, like a starving vagrant suddenly faced with a feast. She lunged forward, revealing a sharp pair of canines, and bit down.
Ethan jumped, instinctively trying to pull away, but only ended up bringing the girl, who was clinging to him like a nursing cub, closer. No matter what, she wouldn't let go.
He could clearly feel the warmth of 37-degree saliva on his wrist as she greedily sucked his blood. Strangely, it didn't hurt much. On the contrary, his body sent him a sensation of comfort, like collapsing into bed after a long day. He gradually stopped resisting, letting Hex feed on him while lying in his arms.
He didn't know how much time had passed. Hex's throat moved as she swallowed, and the wound on her stomach gradually healed. Clink! A sound echoed as the bullet lodged in her abdomen was pushed out by the newly formed flesh, dropping onto the wooden floor. The wound, once a gaping hole, was now covered by tender, pale skin. It was only then that she reluctantly released him.
Sitting on the floor, she propped herself up with her hands behind her, her face flushed as if she'd just run a marathon. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand before collapsing onto the floor, her chest rising and falling with each breath.
Ethan stared at the two clear bite marks and saliva on his wrist. It took him a moment to recover. Maybe it was the blood loss, but he felt dizzy, like he was soaking in a warm bath. Yet, the bizarre scene before him snapped him back to reality.
"What... what are you?"
"I don't know, but I'm definitely not human."
Hex answered without even glancing at him, lying on the floor.
"But why are you immune to my powers?"
"What powers?"
"See! That's the problem. Most people would have been under my control by now, completely obedient, and you didn't even feel anything."
"What do you mean by 'completely obedient'?"
"Like Dave, that guy you met at the club."
"That bartender?"
"Yeah, he's hopelessly in love with me!"
The girl suddenly sat up, cupping her face with her hands and batting her eyelashes, her face flushed with a dreamy expression. Regardless of the bloodstains, it was...captivating?
"Okay, start from the beginning. What exactly happened on the afternoon of March 15?"
Hex got to her feet, and it was then that Ethan noticed what she was wearing. A filthy, torn school uniform; her jacket was gone, her shirt was caked with dirt and grime, and there was a hole in her abdomen. The hem of her skirt was frayed, her stockings were shredded, and her shoes had vanished entirely—she looked like a hobo.
She glanced around, her gaze lingering particularly long on the evidence board. Seeing her own photos, she muttered to herself,
"...pervert..."
"Hey! I heard that!"
"What, do you stalk all the girls you fancied like some kind of serial killer? Taking photos from a distance?"
"It's my job..."
"Someone paid you to follow me?"
"...You're trying to get information out of me."
Ethan became wary. The girl took a photo from a folder, then sat down in the office chair by the desk, crossing her legs and resting her face in her hands, watching him with interest.
"Fine, let's exchange information. I'll tell you what happened if you tell me about your employer."
"No, you don't understand the situation. If you don't cooperate, I'll call the police."
"No, you don't understand the situation. If you call the police, will your employer still pay you?"
"..."
"It's your parents. They hired me to find you."
"Liar."
Seeing his bluff was called, Ethan didn't react, just kept staring at her, making her uneasy, something he learned from a book about interrogations. He tilted his head slightly and said,
"Why don't you start? This was your idea. You go first."
The girl sighed.
"Fine. On the afternoon of March 15, I was on my way home when I was attacked by a monster. He ripped open my chest and ate my insides. He was a middle-aged man, bald, Asian, about 170-180 cm tall. He was hunting."
Hex waved her hand dismissively, recounting the horrifying story as if it were just a mundane anecdote.
"...Huh?"
"Yeah, I had the same reaction as you. When I woke up, he was crying and pouring blood into my mouth, and then... then, just like earlier, I healed. But I became a monster like him."
"That... explains a lot, but it's hard to believe."
"You saw it yourself, didn't you? With your own two eyes?"
"Go on..."