A few minutes had passed since Yuzu was taken into the med bay. Soon after, a woman who looked to be in her early thirties emerged from the room, dressed in slightly worn but clean doctor's scrubs. She carried herself with a calm, professional air, though there was a hint of exhaustion in her soft voice.
"Hi, my name is Angela. I'm the doctor here," she said, offering Haru a tired smile. "You can go in and see your friend if you'd like. She's stable. Thankfully, her wounds weren't too deep, mostly lacerations and bruising. No internal damage, but she did lose a lot of blood, so she's receiving a transfusion."
Haru nodded silently, absorbing the information, and then quietly made his way into the med bay.
The room was large and sterile, filled with several medical beds arranged along the walls. Three of them were occupied.
On the far left, Yuzu lay unconscious, her skin pale, with an IV attached to her arm. Her breathing was steady now, and though she looked weak, she no longer seemed in immediate danger.
On another bed, he noticed the man who had come in earlier with the blonde sisters. He wore a white coat with scorch marks and chemical stains. His right arm was heavily bandaged, and parts of his neck and jaw showed signs of recent chemical burns. Despite his condition, his breathing was calm and he was clearly resting.
Beside the third bed sat a small girl with braided hair, her clothes rustic but clean. She held the hand of the older blonde farm girl lying on the bed, who had bandages wrapped around her forearms and shoulders likely covering chemical burns as well. Her breathing was shallow but even. The quiet support between the sisters stirred something in Haru's chest.
Taking it all in, Haru found a chair near Yuzu's bed and sat down. The weight of everything that had happened started to settle in again, heavier than before.
As Haru sat beside Yuzu, quietly watching over her, he heard a soft voice from the other side of the room.
"Do you know where Papa and Mama went?" asked the younger blonde girl.
Her older sister, lying bandaged on the bed, gave a gentle smile despite her fatigue. "We'll find them," she replied softly. "Don't worry, just keep that cute little face of yours smiling." She reached out to pat her sister's head, and silence followed quiet, but heavy.
Haru watched and listened, curiosity blooming in his tired mind. Who were they? What had they been through? The weight of the day dulled his thoughts, and he eventually drifted off to sleep in the chair next to Yuzu.
The next morning, Haru stirred at the sound of a woman's voice.
"Good morning, sir."
He blinked himself awake, recognizing the woman who had guided him and Yuzu to the lower floor of the bar.
"Our boss would like to speak with you both about what happened," she said. She then gently woke Yuzu and repeated the same message.
As Haru followed her out of the med bay with Yuzu beside him, he noticed all the beds were empty and the patients had recovered enough to move. The corridor they walked down was quiet, dimly lit, and had an atmosphere of order beneath the surface chaos.
They reached a wide room. Inside were the people he remembered seeing in the med bay. One couch held the two blonde sisters and the man who had accompanied them. Another couch was occupied by the white-haired girl with the owl, and the tall man who had gone down with her into the bar's depths.
At the back of the room stood a large desk. Behind it sat a woman in her early thirties with long black hair, sunglasses over her eyes, and a leather jacket resting on her shoulders like a cape. Her presence exuded calm authority.
"Please, have a seat," the woman said. "Let's begin with introductions. My name is Cali Memento. You may call me Cali, or Boss, if you prefer."
Haru and Yuzu took their seats next to the white-haired girl.
There was a brief pause as the room collectively waited. Then the older blonde woman stood.
"Howdy," she said, her southern accent warm but grounded. "Name's River Scout, but you can call me Riv. I work as a blacksmith out on the city's edge. This little one is my sister, Maisie."
Maisie gave a small, shy wave, her eyes glancing around nervously.
Next came the man with medical bandages still faintly visible under his sleeves. "I'm Dr. Nike Goodfell. General physician. I came in with River and Maisie."
Haru introduced himself with a slight nod, followed by Yuzu, who kept her tone even but soft.
Finally, the white-haired girl sat a little straighter, her posture refined. "My name is Anny De la Fintest," she said. "You may call me Anny and this is my owl Hoot. It's a pleasure to meet you all"
Cali sat up slightly straighter in her chair, her expression calm but focused. "Now that introductions are done… tell me about your encounters," she said, her voice low but firm.
A wave of nervousness passed through the room.
"I know each of you has come into contact with something... unexplainable. Something supernatural." The moment she said the word supernatural, most of the room visibly tensed.
"So," Cali continued, "just tell me the details. Yuzu, why don't you start? Tell me everything."
Yuzu froze. Her throat felt dry. All eyes were on her.
But then, she felt a warm hand rest gently on her shoulder.
She turned slightly, Haru gave her a reassuring nod. You've got this.
Yuzu took a breath and slowly began to speak.
She recalled how she was instructed by her professor to retrieve a van parked near a forest. How she opened the cargo and found bundles of branches and leaves, shaped like human bodies, wrapped in clothing. Then, her voice grew shakier, she described the cloaked figure with the metal hook. The sudden attack. The injuries. The fear. Her desperate escape to the convenience store, where Haru found her.
As she recounted everything, Haru could see the shock ripple across the faces in the room. Sympathy. Disbelief. Recognition.
When she finished, the silence lingered a moment longer than it needed to.
"I see…" Cali said quietly. "I've got a grasp of your situation now, Yuzu. Haru—your manager already informed me of what happened on your end. Don't worry about your job for the time being."
Then Cali's eyes shifted across the room. "Miss Anny, would you please share your experience next?"
The white-haired girl sat up slightly, her gaze dignified. "Of course."
She began, her tone calm and precise. "I moved to this city about two weeks ago. I'm staying in a small apartment complex. The reason for my move is related to my work, I'm a bird handler, and I came here specifically to locate a rare owl species."
Her hand brushed over the head of the snowy owl perched nearby, Hoot.
"I work at a bird shop now. That's where I met him," she added, nodding toward a man sitting on the opposite couch.
"He introduced himself as the janitor of the bird shop. His name is Jake," she said. Jake gave a small, casual wave.
Anny continued, but her tone now carried a slight edge. "This man was… odd. Always asking questions about Hoot. Obsessively so."
Jake interjected with a half-hearted shrug. "I wasn't being suspicious. I was just curious about your bird."
Anny ignored him.
"One day, I was out birdwatching at a park near the forest. Something felt off. I noticed the silence, no children playing, no birds chirping. I brushed it off at first, thinking maybe it was just late. I even chatted with an elderly couple nearby. While we talked, I noticed a man in a long black coat wandering through the park. I asked if they had seen him before. They said he appeared occasionally, always walking alone."
Her tone grew darker.
"On my way back to my apartment, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me. Hoot seemed anxious too. At one point, he suddenly flew at a lamppost and attacked a snake hidden there. That's when I quickened my pace."
"When I got home, I still felt… watched. But I was exhausted. I had a night shift coming up, so I tried to sleep. I woke up sometime later to the sounds of my pet crows screeching in distress. Hoot was gone. So was a necklace my brother had given me."
She paused, glancing at Jake again.
"I only thought of one person who might've been involved."
Jake met her eyes but said nothing.
"I rushed to the bird shop. No one was there. I waited for a while, but then I heard something fall in the back room, a broom, maybe. I rushed in, and that's when I saw Jake."
Her tone sharpened.
"I lost it. I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall. I demanded to know where Hoot was. I was furious. My owl was gone, my necklace was gone, and Jake had been acting strange from the beginning."
She shot a glare at Jake, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Jake raised a hand in defense. "I didn't take anything! I just wanted to know more about your bird. That owl isn't normal."
Anny didn't respond to him directly and continued her story.
"We ended up going together to an abandoned warehouse. Jake claimed he'd tracked something there. Inside, we found dozens of cages, most filled with owls. I called out for Hoot, and after a moment, I heard him respond."
Her fingers gently stroked Hoot's feathers as she spoke.
"Then three strangers appeared as vampires. They asked where I had hidden my necklace. We tried to reason with them, but they wouldn't back off."
She leaned forward slightly, her voice becoming more intense.
"Hoot managed to break out of his cage. We made a run for it. I fired a few rounds at them, but the bullets didn't stop them. They just kept coming. Then, in the middle of our escape… Jake disappeared."
Jake averted his eyes.
"I was on my own. I ran through alley after alley. That's when I encountered you, Miss Cali. The vampires vanished… and soon after, Hoot returned with my necklace."
She touched the pendant around her neck.
"Now I need answers. What is this necklace? And more importantly what happened to my brother?" as she holds a phoenix necklace.
"You should hide that necklace of yours but always it in your person and I only know little about your necklace but your brother answered about your necklace and last i heard he is in egypt" Cali said.
Anny "nods in acknowledgement*
"So River you are the only one left if you may tell your story" Cali said
To be Continue