Seamus ran a hand through his hair, exhaling. "I don't actually know about that. And honestly? I think it isn't as important as hunting scavengers."

David's head snapped up. "Don't you know how important the Vitalis Core is? It can be turned into anti-vampire weapons, sold to the wrong groups so they can play superheroes… a hundred dangerous things if it ends up in the wrong hands!"

He launched into a lecture, voice rising and falling, listing every possible misuse in exhausting detail until Seamus tuned him out and let his eyes wander around the office.

The room was exactly what you'd expect from a boss: wide windows, a sleek sofa with a coffee table set, even a gleaming coffee machine in the corner.

On the table sat a small framed photo resting against a box. He reached for it, but David's hand shot out first, stopping him.

"And what are you doing here, boy?" David's voice hardened. "Does your father even allow it?"

"Andrew? He won't care about such things." Seamus shrugged. "That picture is your daughter, right? I heard from Isolde. And I still think it's kinda foolish for you to work with her just for that."

"Shut up. We're talking about your father." David's eyes narrowed. "He will be furious about this!"

Seamus blinked. Why the hell did David keep circling back to his father? Andrew would never believe any of this anyway, much less care.

Before he could answer, the door burst open and Maria strode in. "David! We found something about that Crystal Core!"

Then she spotted Seamus. Her eyes widened. "Uh… what are you doing here?" She clamped a hand over her mouth and shot David a troubled look.

Seamus stared back, startled. How many of the people he knew were vampire hunters?

"Damn," he muttered under his breath. "Was my whole life built on a lie?"

"This is our helper from Isolde," David said quickly. Maria opened her mouth, but he cut her off.

"Don't ask anything. Tell us what you found about that Crystal Core."

Maria hesitated, then stepped forward. "We found a suspicious document. Hesse was sending something to this address."

"We're not sure if it's the Crystal Core; there aren't any details about the items." She handed David a slim, book-like folder.

David skimmed it while Seamus leaned over his shoulder. As expected, there was a shipment listed for the same address every month.

"This is all we've got from their manor for now," David said at last. "Let's check it out. You go with me. Maria, call Sam."

"I'll go with you," Seamus said, falling into step as they left the office.

"Up to you," David muttered. "Just don't get in the way."

Maria peeled off down the other side of the hallway, went to Sam's office. The four of them would be heading for that location within the hour.

***

The location was in the middle of nowhere, near a hill where the wind blew steadily. The land itself looked dead. The ground was black and dry, not a single blade of grass daring to grow.

The smell was rotten, as if the earth was hiding something they couldn't see.

Maria pinched her nose and squinted. "Ugh… there's something under this land. Like SP particles, but decayed." Sweat rolled down her face.

"This is straight out of a cursed horror movie," Seamus muttered.

He couldn't see what she saw, but he could feel it. Sam felt it too.

"So it's underground?"

Sam asked, his face more serious than when he'd first introduced himself to Seamus as if he were an interesting lab experiment.

"You know how to get inside?"

Maria shook her head. "I'll have to walk around and observe. This whole area's huge."

She started walking, Seamus trailing beside her. He was still curious about her being a vampire hunter; she looked too soft for the job.

"Um… so you're a vampire hunter now?" she asked.

The air between them was awkward; they'd barely spoken after they grew up and fell apart. Especially they were in different departments on campus too.

Seamus rubbed the back of his neck. "No. I'm just helping you here."

"I know you're not a vampire, Seamus, and I'm glad." She smiled faintly. "But are you sure you want to work here? It's dangerous."

Seamus lifted a brow at her, his expression saying, Shouldn't I be the one asking that?

Before he could reply, Maria's foot landed on something. The ground gave way beneath her like a sinkhole.

"MARIA!" all three men shouted.

Seamus jumped after her on purpose, catching her before she hit bottom. They landed hard but safely.

"You okay?" he asked, holding her tight before setting her down.

Maria blinked, fixed her glasses, and nodded. "Yes… Thank you, Seamus!" She smiled weakly.

"Are you two alright?"

David's voice echoed from above as his face appeared over the edge. Then he and Sam dropped down, scanning the area.

"This is probably some secret dungeon for vampires' weird fetishes," Sam said flatly, looking around.

He wasn't wrong. The underground space stretched into a long hall lined with cells. Rotting corpses still hung from chains.

Some still had faces; their eyes bulged and mouths gaped, as if they'd died mid-scream.

"Or human farm..." David added.

"What is that?" Seamus asked, it was the first time he had heard about that term. Though it was already explanatory.

Sam suddenly approached him, his hand on his shoulder, "It's a farm but with humans instead. They usually brought slaves, sucked them dry but did not let them die or change them."

He leaned closer, "After a while, they will let their cattle mate with each other and have children. Then, the cycle continues over and over again."

"Interesting right? I wonder if they did the same to you."

Sam's words made Seamus flinched but David slapped the back of that crazy doctor hard.

"Ouch."

"Don't make him scared like that. And let's move, we can't be here for too long. This air can be toxic."

All of them then continued along the dark hallway as the only lighting was their phones since all the electricity was off.

"Goddamn, the smell." David flinched, his face twisting. He pulled out a handkerchief but handed it to Maria instead. "Here. You've got the sensitive nose."

"Ah… thank you, David. Or should I call you Chief?" Maria asked as she covered her face with the cloth.

David smirked. "Save it for when it's official."

But he suddenly stopped as they could also hear something coming. A low hiss rolled through the hall followed by the sound of chains rattling.

From the deeper cells, something moved. It was heavy, wet steps dragging along the stone.

Maria frowned, "What was that?"

David's fingers tightened on his blade. "Maybe something that guards this place."

Monsters shuffled out of the dark, There was one at first but then another one came as more followed behind running toward them.

They were scavengers. But their bodies had twisted into nightmare shapes: two heads sprouting from one neck, arms doubled and fused, extra spines sticking out of their backs like broken wings.

"Damn, looks like experiments gone wrong. So this place is a lab after all." Sam commented.

One of the things lurched forward with five clawed hands. Another opened two mouths and screamed, the sound echoing like metal tearing. The smell of rot doubled.

"Back up!" David barked, pulling Maria behind him.

But Seamus stepped forward. This was the right time to kill them and take all of their Vitalis Core!

His eyes narrowed; bone started to come out of his palm. It looked like a spear of bone.

Maria's eyes went wide. "What?! Seamus?!"

He didn't answer. The first monster lunged. He moved fast, faster than he had on the surface.

The spear punched through both its throats before it could swing. It hit the ground still twitching. But it was weird, it died just like that even when he didn't destroy their core.

'Something not right...' he thought, 'No, just focus for now, don't think about anything anymore.'

Another came from his left. Seamus snapped his fingers. The blood spear broke apart into shards, then reshaped into a wide blade running along his arm.

He swung low, cutting off three clawed hands in one motion.

Sam stared. "That's mutation blood style."

"Impossible," Maria whispered. "I can feel Vitalis Core being planted in his body."

Seamus spun, a red-white shield forming around his other arm like hardened ribs. He blocked a strike from the third mutant, then drove a jagged spike up through its skull.

The floor under their feet frosted as his Leah style bled through at the same time, cold mist coiling with the bone-blood weaponry. Each step he took left ice and crimson behind.

David fired into one of the monsters but it barely slowed. "Seamus! What are you doing?!"

"Cleaning up," Seamus said flatly.

Another scavenger leapt; he caught it mid-air, froze its motion for half a second, and slammed it into the wall, hard enough to crack stone. The frozen moment broke and its body crumpled like paper.

One by one the twisted things fell. Seamus's attacks were fast, precise — spear, blade, shield, spikes — all flowing out of his bone pulled from his body.

When the last one dropped, twitching, the hall went silent again except for Seamus's ragged breathing. He let the weapons dissolve into mist.

Maria's voice shook. "Seamus… how… how can you do that?"

David's eyes narrowed, questions building behind them. While David now looked at him like he was ready to cut him open.

Seamus wiped his bloody hand on his pants, not meeting their stares. "Later. We need to investigate this place first."

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