Entel…
She wore formal black that revealed her long, slender legs. Her skin was ghost-pale, and her short black hair framed a face marked by intimidating yet beautiful red-cream eyes.
She carried the same elegance as Lady Evelyn, though it was clear she carried herself with a more passive-aggressive demeanor.
"I didn't take you for a woman with an indecisive side, Evelyn…"
"Can't you practice a little patience? Devouring prey is an intimate act, and I don't appreciate being watched…"
Despite her words, there was a certain playfulness beneath them. Lady Evelyn stepped closer, one graceful stride at a time.
"Still killing lonely men?" Evelyn asked.
Entel smiled faintly at the remark, her grip on the victim's neck easing. "I am. You know, Evelyn, lonely men are the easiest to charm…"
"Their hearts are so terribly fragile."
Evelyn's heels clicked softly against the damp stone as she drew nearer, her movement carrying a subtle, alluring sway. "That's adorable, Entel, albeit one-sided," she replied.
Entel stopped and gazed at her, "Don't misunderstand, Evelyn…"
"I do the same with lonely women who fancy other women. I like to think I'm doing them a favor."
Lady Evelyn continued forward, intrigued by what she had just heard. "How so?" she asked.
Entel leaned closer to the dying man's face and whispered, her voice crimson and venom.
"I offer them a semblance of a relationship. If I grow fond of them, I grant them affection, and in return, the compensation is their flesh."
Her tone softened, almost wistful. "It's fair, isn't it? And when they die, no one is truly hurt."
"No one remembers them… except me."
She paused, her expression mirroring the fragility of glass. Lady Evelyn halted her approach, regarding her with mild curiosity.
"Are you lonely, Entel? Talking to yourself like that…"
"Are you that desperate for a listener?"
Entel didn't respond. She leaned back, her red-cream eyes settling on the man under her grasp.
She had, in her own way, fostered a relationship with him, yet she couldn't even remember his name.
The man was older, perhaps in his thirties, a soul who had lived his life in total loneliness. He hadn't done anything wrong, not as far as Entel could tell.
He could have made a good husband, a kind lover.
"It's unfortunate," she murmured. "Every being with blood in their veins… no matter how hard I try, to my senses, they're nothing more than livestock."
"Evelyn… do you understand what I'm feeling?" The Chasing of the Departed Rose, the Maiden of Blood, tried to justify her predation by cloaking it in genuine emotion — a cruel imitation of love.
This was the heart of her conflict…
"I see. You're a lonely monster, craving closeness in a world that lies beneath you, and you despise yourself for it. Isn't that so, Entel?" Lady Evelyn spoke softly, her calm tone carrying the weight of quiet provocation.
Yet again, Entel didn't respond. Perhaps Evelyn's words had made the vampire ponder, a hidden anger shimmering beneath the surface.
"Killing that man won't do you any good. You've gained quite the popularity with all those posters, and soon it might cost you, Entel." Evelyn advised, from the church all the way here in black mire bridge, It was Entel they warned the people about.
Entel scoffed. "Oh? They call me a monster in those despicable reports. They are very clever at hiding who I truly am."
Lady Evelyn crossed one arm while resting her other hand on her chin, as if in deep contemplation. "It seems your existence is being concealed to prevent public panic. Soon, you yourself may become a target of the GPA."
The vampire chuckled in amusement. "I dare them to hunt me. But don't get me wrong, I'd rather avoid confrontation."
Entel could no longer hear the screams of her victim, or perhaps she simply didn't care to.
She failed to notice her claws sinking deep into the man's neck as she choked him, the sound of his gurgling filling the air.
The scent of blood unlocked an animalistic instinct, drowning out every trace of mercy and reason within Entel.
"Oh dear, don't choke on your own blood now," Entel said sarcastically, her eyes narrowing with intensity.
"What's wrong? A little too excited about ending up on a poster?"
Ignoring both Evelyn's presence and the lonely man's tears and muffled screams, she continued to drink his blood while her shadowy summon worked diligently to keep the scene immaculately clean.
The faint sounds of struggle and choked cries might have unsettled any onlooker, yet Lady Evelyn appeared long accustomed to such sights.
When she was done, Entel let the body fall limp to the floor. Slowly, she licked the blood from her fingers, one by one, until not a trace remained.
A satisfied smile graced her plump, red lips; she was enjoying herself, and one could even witness the ecstasy in her cream-red eyes.
"I really appreciate you standing by and just watching while I tend to myself. An odd experience, admittedly, though not entirely unpleasant."
The corpse of the man was then dragged away by the shadow-like creature.
Upon closer inspection, its form appeared to be woven from strands resembling hair. It dragged the body down into whatever dark dimension it inhabited, feasting beneath Entel's feet and leaving behind neither trace nor evidence of the act.
"Now then, tell me, what is your purpose here?" Entel whipped out a white napkin and delicately cleaned her hands before approaching Lady Evelyn to continue their conversation.
Without saying a word, Lady Evelyn held aloft the crimson vial, a rare elixir forged from a forbidden, mythical ingredient.
"Evelyn, are you courting me with that?" Entel teased, approaching with a sway in her hips, eyes gleaming at the crimson vial.
The scent was unmistakable, the blood of countless victims who had dared to oppose the Malefactors.
The Malefactors were the only ones, aside from the scholars of the Mireline District, who possessed the knowledge to create such an elixir.
Most would never grasp the depth of its alchemic process.
Entel was no accident; she was an experiment.
The Mireline researchers had fed her an elixir infused with human blood as its mythical ingredient, and in doing so, they created a monster.
"Let us come to an accord," Lady Evelyn proposed.
The vampire halted. With a beautiful yet bloodied smile, she said, "I'm listening."
Chapter End...