The Vampire's Bride

"Mallory, Mallory." Mallory felt her body shaking. Slowly, she sat straight and opened her eyes. She looked at Leo who was in a call with Jillion. "Yes?"

"Mallory, Aldo just killed another person. It's a little far from here but we'll check the scene. Somehow, Aldo acted different. There's no sign." Leo proceeded to show a picture. A girl above a pool of dried blood. Indeed, the blood was not touched and there was no sign of Aldo's signature.

"Oh? Mallory's with you?" The phone was on speaker mode therefore, Mallory could hear what Jillion was saying.

"Y-Yes. Hello, Master Jillion!" By now, Mallory was wide awake. Looking around, she realized that she fell asleep on the table as they were doing their homework. She felt embarrassed and quickly fixed her things.

Leo closed the picture and stood up. "Yeah. We'll meet at the park. Continue searching for his whereabouts."

"Roger that!" Jillion exclaimed before ending the call.

Mallory stood up as Leo told her, "Go and wash your face. We'll visit the scene then look for him."

"Y-Yes!"

Mallory entered the bathroom and washed her face. She wondered, how long have she been sleeping?

After fixing herself, the two, followed by Brian, quickly left with a car. Leo have the address to the driver and picked Jillion from the park.

Jillion entered just before it started raining heavily. "Ah! D*mn! The rain is falling hard!"

"Hello, Jill." Leo handed him a drink.

Seeing him, Jillion sighed willfully, "At times like this, I wish I have your teleportation ability even if it only works from your house to a couple of meters away."

"My father restricted me and only allowed me to teleport from my house to a couple of meters and vice versa," Leo explained.

Jillion leaned backward as he continued, "He could even speak with his butler through telepathy! Although it's also restricted by his father and could be used only within the same range and if it is emergency."

"I-I see..." Although she have heard of rumors about limiting one's abilities, it was the first time she encountered one for real.

Jillion yawned as he sent a message to Leo. Leo opened his phone and read it.

Jill: [Brother, there seems to be a problem that will be better if Mallory did not hear any of it.]

He swiftly sent a reply, [Go on.]

[Two things actually. First, the girl named Jianne? No one, alive or dead, matched the informations. Although there are a few people with the same name, none of them encountered Mallory. So it could be safe to say that the girl named 'Jianne' could be a fake one.]

Leo paused for a moment and glanced at Mallory. She wouldn't lie... would she?

Jillion noticed that he would not reply and continued. [The next would be about that bastard. Based on the reports you sent, Aldo visited twice. Once was when I was with you last Thursday, the next was just yesterday night.]

Jillion paused and looked at Leo, trying to guess what he was thinking, which was impossible for him to do so. He sighed and continued typing, [It's a miracle he did not kill. Yesterday, he came to visit. After that, he was seen by some D-3, running away from the park. Probably, right after visiting Mallory. Since he came from your house, I expected that he would not kill but earlier this morning, he killed his eleventh victim.]

Leo read through it patiently before asking, [So what do you want to tell me?]

[Could it be... his mind is still hazy when he's with Mallory? Instead of being clear-minded, it actually gave him an opposite effect, making him lose to blood l.u.s.t?] Jillion asked.

Leo closed his phone, not replying to Jillion. Jillion was surprised and wanted to hit him on the head if only Mallory wasn't in between them. Ahh?! Why did you ignore me?!

Leo turned to Mallory and whispered, "Can I tell Jill about Aldo being mind-controlled?"

Mallory was surprised at the sudden question and took a while before nodding her head. "I think it's fine...?"

Leo nodded and asked for the partition to be rolled up then placed a sound barrier for the driver not to hear. After all, the driver was not his but of his father. He also wasn't sure which side Brian would go if ever his father asked Brian to betray him. It was better to be safe than to be sorry.

Leo proceeded to inform Jillion about what Mallory told him, "Remember when Aldo visited last Thursday? Before he left, Mallory heard something—a voice ordering Aldo to kill."

"A voice?" Jillion was surprised, "Mind control?"

"Then the reason he killed his eleventh victim even after visiting Mallory is because..." Jillion trailed off.

Leo nodded. "He was forced to kill."

"Master Orpheus! At the top of the building!" Mallory shouted, grabbing his sleeves and pointed at the building nearby.

Leo and Jillion looked and saw a figure jumping from one building to the other.

"Aldo?!"

Leo quickly ordered the driver, "Follow the man jumping."

The car turned right and got closer to the figure. Mallory stared at him, as if scared that he will disappear again.

"Go check where we could catch him," Leo told Jillion and the latter immediately opened his laptop.

Searching the area, Jillion was slightly hesitant in answering Leo's question, "The direction he's heading is towards a park near the forest. If we're lucky, we could get him before he enters the forest. If not... then it will take some time to find him."

Jillion tilted the laptop for him to see, zoomed the map a little and pointed at the screen, "Here. This is the park and here we are. Most likely, he'll enter at this part but since it's full of trees, if we enter, it will take some time to find him. Don't forget that he's also a vampire."

"You're right," Leo mumbled trying to think of a plan. He looked at the sceneries passing by and the jumping Aldo. Looking at the distance between the park and them, he knew that they most probably wouldn't be able to catch him before he enters the forest. He picked up his phone ready to call for back-up. He opened his mouth as soon as the line was connected when he saw something flashing in front of him—

"Master Jillion! Wait!"

Mallory grabbed on the laptop just before Jillion get it back. The men were both startled by her actions and looked at her. Leo asked, "What's wrong?"

Mallory did not let go and asked, "Master Jillion, can I please look at the... park?"

Still in a daze, Jillion nodded, "Yeah... yeah, you can..."

Getting the laptop, Mallory checked the area. Looking around it, she was sure of it. She was sure of the place. She handed the laptop back while explaining to them, "If we turn left here then right at this street and then go through here, we should be able to arrive at a run-down apartment which will be nearer to the park."

"You know this place?" Leo asked.

Mallory rubbed her trembling hands and watched the sceneries. She softly said, "I did... but now I don't."

"... a couple of years ago... it's not a park but a hospital that was standing there," Mallory said.

"A hospital?" Jillion immediately looked for the history of the place. Indeed, for more than a decade, a hospital was built there. But it was demolished seven years after it was built due to an incident that happened at the forest nearby.

A boy was found dead with tattered clothes. The boy was just a small child, unable to fight for himself.

"This..." Jillion looked at Mallory, "Why do you know these?"

"What?" Leo asked confusedly.

Jillion looked at her, unknown if he was feeling positive or negative. He narrowed his eyes, "These are in the hidden files of the police... you can't possible know any of this..."

"Hidden?" Leo asked.

That's right... the police tried to erase the place and the people who knew of the place, changing it to a park. Since the boy was killed in the forest, only a few outsiders and the police knew about it.

Mallory clenched her fists as the car stopped nearby the park. The chauffeur opened the door for her and her hair slightly waved. Behind her was the park and with a distant look, she replied —