Chapter 3
I can't help but burst with excitement. I haven't felt this good in a long time. Yami told me I will be getting the surgery next week, and believe me I can't wait. The only obstacle I have now is telling my grandfather. He's going to be upset, but he can't stand against Yami.
I'm still thinking when I hear a voice come through my car speakers, "Target has been spotted at a popular shopping mall in Tokyo." I raise an eyebrow. It's the same female voice as last time. Which is extremely rare, usually there's a new director every mission.
"I'm on route. Expected to arrive in ten minutes." I am by no means excited about this mission. Tokyo is about two hours away from Domino by car. Which means I won't be getting much sleep again tonight. I couldn't refuse this mission though, that would look bad on my part.
"Our sources tell us that the target is in the food court. Park on the opposite side and approach slowly," she says.
"Understood."
I arrive at the mall and I can't help but be impressed. It's huge and there are cars and people everywhere leaving and coming in. I can already tell this is not going to be easy. All these people will make it hard subdue my target. Hopefully luck is on my side.
I find a parking spot and once my car is off I turn on the mic hidden in my hair, "Can you hear me?"
"Yes."
I exit my car and begin my trek into to the mall. I still can't believe how huge this place is. Not only is the mall massive, but the parking lot is a journey all its own. It's so busy out here even the furthest stalls are all almost full.
Entering the mall I feel relief. The relief is soon gone though when I find myself in a chain department store. Great…. I always have trouble navigating through these kinds of stores. I try to navigate my way through a maze of clothes, shoes, housewares, and of course people.
Now that I'm in this place, and lost, I start to worry. How am I even going to mark my target? A wave of perfume hits me instantly pulling me out of my worries. God that's powerful.
Wait perfume? Usually the perfume and makeup is by the exit into the mall. I keep walking and sure enough I see the exit. Once out into the mall I find the directory and locate the food court.
"Description," I whisper as I walk down the hall towards my target.
"Female who appears to be about 18-years-old. She also had curly red hair and freckles."
"Got it." I stop every once and awhile to look at the shop windows. Finally I reach the food court. I scan the area and start to walk around to get a better look. I still walking when I spot her. She's located at a table more towards the middle of the room. At the table is not only her, but other girls that she is talking and laughing with.
"Target spotted," I whisper. Now I have to think of a way to engage. As I'm watching her I can't help but notice how unthreatening she seems. She looks so innocent. It looks like she couldn't hurt anyone. I have to remember she's a rogue. It's all just an act to try and lure in prey. "Permission to engage."
"Permission granted."
Placing this tracker is going to be a nightmare. It's loud enough in here and people aren't paying attention, but it's super bright. She would most definitely see me coming, and I highly doubt she would allow some random person to touch her.
Then an idea hits me. I'm taking a risk here, and if it backfires I'm in trouble. The way I see it though, I have no other choice. Taking a deep breath I make my way towards her table. As I walk past I drop my phone. It makes a loud thump as it hits the floor. I cringe when I hear it hit. Hopefully it's not damaged, and hopefully she picks it up.
I'm starting to get worried as I walk out of the food court. Could it be that she didn't notice it drop? I know it's loud in there, but she's a vampire. She has be the best hearing out of anyone in that room.
"Sir! Sir you dropped your phone," a female voice calls after me.
I stop and take a deep breath. Slowly I turn around and I can't help but smile, it's her. "Oh my gosh! Thank you so much," I say pulling her into a tight hug. While I still have her I slip the tracker out of my sleeve, onto my hand, and then onto her back. It blends in great with her black shirt. After this is done I sense that she is shocked. "Sorry," I say as we pull out of the embrace. "I'm just so happy you found it!"
She smiles as she hands me the phone, "That's okay." She turns around and runs back to her friends gigging as she gets closer to them.
I walk down the hall looking for a place to wait. I decide on a store that has barely any people. Luckily the store clerk doesn't seem to notice me. He's too busy playing on his phone.
"Target marked," I say looking through a pile of neatly folded jeans.
"We see it. Good job again!" I blink in surprise at her response. I guess she remembers me too.
I move from the jeans over to a rack of jackets. I sigh hoping my target moves soon. This store is so boring. It's just a typical expensive clothing store aiming for people my age. As I'm looking around I can't help but think about my target. She looked so happy with all of those girls. I hate to admit it, but it makes me think about my own life. If I never worked for the Corporation could I be like that? Would I have friends? More importantly would my parents be alive? My grandfather told me my mother and father were killed by rogue vampires during a mission. Maybe if my family had never started working for these mysterious people everything would be better. Maybe I would've actually been able to meet my parents.
Stop it! I scold myself. There's no point in dwelling on the past. I can't change it. This is the life I was given. So this is the life I'll live.
I get bored of the store I'm in and gladly leave. The mall is less crowded now. Must be closing time soon. I walk down the hall looking at more shop windows. Nothing really catches my eye. I stick my hands in my coat pockets and sigh. How long is my target going to sit there? I wish she would just move.
I'm leaning against a shop window when my phone beeps. I pull it out and finally my target is on the move. She's actually heading my way. I keep my head down trying to look busy with my phone, but still watching her as she passes. She's completely oblivious to my presence.
I wait a few moments before I start following her. I see that she exits the mall on a small side exit. I'm still watching and I see that she's no longer moving. When I exit I notice her a couple of feet away against the wall.
The area we are currently in is perfect. It's an area of the mall that's just meant to be an entrance. No big department stores are around, the concrete is broken up, and the walls of the mall are cracked. Indicating this part of the mall isn't used much by the public.
It seems that my target still hasn't noticed me. She looks relaxed leaning up against the wall. She starts digging in her purse and pulls out a cigarette.
"I'm finishing this," I whisper.
"Proceed."
My target let's out a content sigh. Smoke rises up into the clear night air.
"You know smoking is bad for you," I smirk as I walk towards her. She's about to say something but I continue, "Even if you're a vampire."
"How did you," she stops when I pin her up against the wall. My right arm pins her against the wall by the neck cutting off her air. She chokes and drops her cigarette, "P-please s-s-stop."
I bring my left hand up and grab her face pining her head against the wall. The lights go out and I smile. Now is my chance to twist her neck. I remove my right arm form her neck thinking she hasn't had oxygen long enough to stun her. I start to move my hands to her neck when she grabs my wrist on my right hand. She pushes me away but keeps me within arm's reach since she still has my wrist. She twists my arm until it makes a snap. Pain shoots up my arm and I know it's broken.
She lets go and I stagger back holding my arm. I'm in so much shock I can't even react to the excruciating pain resonating though my body.
She giggles and steps forward to grab my shoulders, "I'm not as weak as I look." She spins us around and slams me against the wall. I cry out in pain causing her to laugh.
Her face is now inches away from mine. "You know, you're quite pretty," she strokes my face. "It's a shame I have to kill you."
My body starts to shake and my breaths become ragged. Tears well up in my eyes. I squeeze my eyes shut trying to keep them from falling. It doesn't work and tears streak down my cheeks. My eyes shoot open when I feel her lick one of them away.
"I promise it will be painless," She whispers in my ear. I shudder when I fell her hot breath in my ear. My neck is tingling and I have goosebumps. It's in this moment I know I'm going to die.
She lowers her mouth down to my neck on the left side and licks. I gasp at the feeling. She smirks, "I'm sorry but I can't hold back anymore."
I feel something sharp brush against my skin. I freeze and I know this is it. Everything is over. Her fangs sink into my neck. My body jerks from the shock. I have never felt a pain like this in my life. My whole body feels like it's on fire. My heart is beating so fast its practically pounding out of my chest. I can no longer breathe and my vision starts to get blurry. I can still here her sucking when my vision goes black.
Everything hurts. My head is pounding. It feels like someone is smashing y forehead with a rock over and over. My ears are ringing making my head even worse. When I take in a breath my lungs burn with irritation. My whole body is pulsating with a pain that I can't describe.
I twitch trying to move. I'm lying on my stomach with my head turned to the side. I take in another breath before trying to move. The smell of iron hits me. That's strange. I maneuver my hands under my body and push up. Pain shoots through me with more intensity. I groan, but on the bright side I'm now on all fours. There are lights on, but my vision is still blurry.
The ringing in my ears had died down, and now I can hear a voice in my ear, "Do you copy!" This voice is shrieking in my ear. She sounds like she panicking. Why? "Do you copy?" The voice yells again. From what I hear it's a girl. Wait…has she been crying?
"I-I copy?" My voice is raspy and cracks a little when I talk.
"Oh thank god. What happened? Your mic was off for almost ten minutes! I was about to send back up."
"W-what?" I have no idea what this girl is talking about. I don't even know where I am or what I was doing. I place my hand on the wall behind me and use it to help me stand.
"Yeah, you really scared me," she pauses, "anyway what happened?"
I'm barely listening because I notice the wall is wet. I lean against the wall and clutch my chest. My shirt is wet as well. I try to look at my hand to see what it is, but my vision hasn't cleared all the way yet.
"Are you there?" She asks.
I blink trying to focus. With each blink my vision starts to come back. "Oh my god."
"What? What!" She's yelling but I can't speak.
Blood. There's blood spattered everywhere. It covers the ground. I look behind me and it's splattered up the wall. I panic and hold my breath looking down at myself. I'm covered. "She's gone.''
"Who's gone? You don't mean the target?''
I remember everything. The target pinning me, taunting me, and then… biting me. "She bit me…''
"I'm sending back up now!" She yells.
Fear and anxiety swell inside me. My breaths become short and I start to shake. Where could all this blood have come from? I start to feel nauseous. I clutch my stomach and wince. The pain is sharp. I hunch over and move my hands to my knees. I'm panting and I can feel something in my throat. It burns. I cough causing me to fall down on my hands and knees. I gag causing what was ever in my throat to come out.
I cough again gagging from the taste in my mouth. It tastes like blood. "What the hell?" A black tar substance lays on the ground swirling with the blood. Did that really come out of my body? What even is it?
My body starts to feel weak. I wobble trying to stand up. I feel dizzy and suddenly I'm no longer in control of my body. I fall forward into the cold blood.
This time when I open my eyes I'm no longer cold and the hard ground isn't beneath me. I'm now lying in a hospital bed. I look over in the corner to see my grandfather sleeping in a chair. I try to sit up and wince. It's then I remember what happened. Of course my body would still be in a lot of pain.
A nurse enters my room and gasps running over to me. "Mr. Muto you must lay back down." Carefully she lays me back down. "Do you know where you are?"
"I'm guessing a hospital owned by the Corporation," I respond. There's no way they would take me to a normal hospital. All that blood really has no logical explanation.
"Yes. There's one thing we don't understand Yugi. That blood was not yours," she's looking at me intently.
"The only other person that was with me was that rogue vampire. It must be hers." That's the only thing I can think of. I don't remember anything after her biting me. Unless someone else came after I passed out. But why would they leave me alone?
She nods her head, "We scanned the blood and it matched the rogue. What we don't understand is how this happened." She places her hand on mine, "She was completely destroyed."
My eyes widen and my hands start to shake. I slip my hand out of hers and lift both my hands up to my face. I can see the blood on them. It's there. They didn't wipe it off. My breaths become shallower. I'm starting to hyperventilate. I need to calm down. If I don't I'll pass out again.
"Yugi you need to calm down," the nurse says. She places her hands on the side of my face and turns it towards her own. I'm looking her straight in the eyes. "You need to calm down," she says again.
My breaths start to slow. I take in a few deep breaths trying to relax myself. "I'm fine. Thank you," I smile weakly at her.
She releases my face and smiles back. The smile lasts a second and now her face is serious, "There's something else we must discuss." She sits on the edge of my bed and sighs before she speaks. "You said you were bitten correct?"
I nod my head. "Yes, and she snapped my wrist," I say as I lift my arm up to show her. My eyes widen when I notice there's no cast on my arm. I can move my whole arm around just fine. What the hell? It was broken! She snapped it! My hand shoots up to my neck to feel it. I expect bumps, swelling, or anything.
"That's what I need to talk with you about. We found no open wounds on your neck or vampire venom in your system. Also your wrist was not broken."
"What?" That can't be right. I remember what happened before she bit me. I shake my head in frustration and confusion. "Check the security tapes!"
She sighs, "We can't. The power was shut off remember? We have no way of knowing what happened."
This can't be real. This is a lie. Why is this happening? Was it all a dream? Was I passed out the whole time? So many questions are racing through my mind.
"You should get some more rest," the nurse says and she stands up. "You need anything press your call light." She smiles and exits the room.
She's right I should get more rest. I feel exhausted. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I need to think. I need to remember. Was it real? What happened? I fall asleep deep in thought.
"Yugi," a voice says. Someone is shaking me, "Yugi wake up."
I groan a slowly open my eyes. The room is so bright it hurts. I rub my eyes and sit up. Standing at the foot of my bed is my grandfather. He has so much worry in my eyes and instantly I feel guilty. "Hello," I say.
My grandfather quickly walks over to the side of my bed and pulls me into a hug. "I was so worried," he whispers into my ear. I can feel his tears on my shoulder. He hugs me tighter causing me to wince. Immediately he lets me go. "Are you in a lot of pain?"
I clutch my chest and nod. "What now?" I ask. I have no idea what's going to happen to me. I technically failed a mission. This could get me suspended. Or worse, fired.
"Well first you need to heal," my grandfather chuckles.
"You know what I mean." Someone had to tell him something while I was sleeping. He has to tell me. I have to know. My future is hanging in the balance.
"Don't worry you're not in trouble. I received word from the higher ups a couple of hours ago. They want you to take a break for a couple of weeks. This includes both missions and classes."
"A couple of weeks!" I shout. This can't be happening. I'm going to be so far behind. I'm already far enough behind as it is. I put my head down and sigh. I'm so frustrated.
"Yugi," my grandfather sighs. "You went through a traumatic experience. These things take time to heal." My grandfather puts his hand on my shoulder trying to reassure me. It's not working.
