Somewhere, in the mountains of Romania…

27th of September, 2024

5:00 PM

Gracia, Vali's adoptive mother paced back and forth in worry. "Is there any news on where Vali is? He's been missing for two months, and we still haven't heard anything!" she said.

"No. So far, we've been asking all the police stations in the nearby cities. And though they have a file on him to coordinate a nation-wide search, there's little to nothing to search from." A man said.

Sipping from a blood packet, Dragomir added, "I'd help if I could, but we don't have any of Vali's blood samples, so I can't track him down. And even if we did, the regulation laws prevent me from using my abilities to their full extent."

"And all of this is just because this town lacks a surveillance system. Even with this peace, you can never be completely sure!" the man exclaimed.

"To be fair," replied the dhampir, "this is a secluded mountain town. We were only just recently added to the map because we're that far out of the way. Who the hell would spend tons of money on an expensive security system for a small town in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?"

"That 's true. But still, isn't that old man's duty to keep us safe? What damage can spending a few hundred bucks on cameras possibly do? It's not like it will kill our economy," sighed the man.

Sighing, Dragomir explained, "It's not just 'a few hundred bucks on cameras' that makes up a security system. We'd have to organize the cameras in a specific way to avoid blind spots, set up the wiring system to go through the whole town, set up brand new rack servers to store data, program the cameras to have them make recordings and send them to the servers, program a routing system so the recordings actually can be sent to the servers, and redo the town's electrical system to accommodate for a new system being added. And that's just off the top of my head."

"Guess it is more complicated than I thought. The only thing we can do for now, is keep our hopes high and continue searching."

"But we can't just keep waiting!" exclaimed Gracia. "If we just wait, then something could happen to make things worse!" Her phone pinged, prompting her to pull it out. Checking her notifications, she was surprised at what she saw. "Why is Ivan texting me right now?"

The text said, "Vali was in trouble, but he got out. You might want to check the news."

Grabbing the television remote and turning the television on, the group had a brief glimpse of a nature documentary before it suddenly switched to a news channel.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We interrupt this program in light of urgent news. Yesterday, in a location close to the Ukrainian Border, a secret facility was found, containing several humans and youkai in captivity. It was revealed to be part of an international PMC known as the Secret History association, which is dedicated to torturing and experimenting on youkai, with the purpose of creating weapons, serums with unknown effects, and more. The facility was discovered after the frontier division of Ukraine's army detected a high burst of magic energy near the border. Some footage of the events prior to the pulse was delivered to this channel courtesy of our army. We will be showing it now."

A moment later, camera footage was shown, showing numerous prisoners being injected with unknown substances, guards beating up a goblin that was noticeably shorter than them, many large glass flasks with organs stored inside, and other things. Everyone was horrified by the footage, especially Gracia. "Is this what Vali went through?" she whispered as she tried to hold back tears.

Almost choking on his blood packet, Dragomir set it aside and exclaimed, "Crap, I've heard about them before from survivors who managed to avoid being captured!" When Gracia looked at him with a glare that demanded answers, he continued, "Those psychos are obsessed with power and don't care how many innocent people they kill as long as they get what they want. Hell, one time they even broke into a hospital and killed all the babies in the maternity ward just to stall the authorities and throw them off their trail! Then they did it again at four more hospitals just to make sure!"

The news report continued, "However, some prisoners were fortunate enough to escape the facility, like the one shown here."

A video recording popped up from the screen. Judging by the camera angle, it was likely salvaged footage from the facility's security system. Everyone was treated to the (thankfully censored) sight of Vali running through a hallway completely nude, occasionally leaping around corners and sliding under tables to hide from the occasional guard.

Gracia stared at the clip of Vali streaking through the facility for a few seconds with a mortified look on her face. "What in God's name… is that Vali? Don't tell me he escaped looking like that!" she exclaimed.

Seconds later, Ivan sent another text. "Oh, by the way, the kid went streaking."

Eyebrow twitching, Gracia sent back a text. "I know. I'm watching the news report."

"Intelligence obtained from the site points to at least six more facilities existing around the world. Some of the locations include Canada, USA, Germany, Yukon, Russia and Kuwait. New ones are still being confirmed as we speak."

Staring at the television screen, Dragomir snarked, "Can this get any worse?"

"Moreover, there has been recovered footage, recordings, reports, and photography revealing that the organization is working for the Lunar Capital. Further investigations show that the Lunar Capital has been directing these selected abductions in order to increase their military power even more. The last time they were under public scrutiny was six years ago, with the incident that nearly caused a lunarian invasion on earth. The Hakurei Barrier Coalition has been busy figuring out the next course of action, but for now, the countries that are members of it have ordered their armies to be on maximum alert, in case of a possible attack."

Everyone turned to look at Dragomir. Throwing his hands in the air out of frustration, the dhampir shouted, "That was rhetorical!"

"Fortunately, the people who were captive on the first site have been transported to a safe location for medical treatment after the Romanian and Ukrainian armies sieged the complex, and subjugated the armed men inside. Families with lost relatives can call a designated hotline on the army's website to ask if the person they're looking for is there. And with this said, we return to our normal schedule."

"Gotta go into hiding for a while, maybe change my identity. I defected and escaped after helping Vali break out. Can't say when we will meet again. Hope you can find him soon." Ivan sent a final text, his activity indicator going black after that.

Gracia reached for her rosary, and squeezing it, she whispered. "God…Please…No matter where he is now…please guard him under your wing, and keep him away from evil…I beg you." She said, shedding a tear.