Chapter 5.1 - The beginning of the plan

Arriving in front of Aidan’s house the next day, Ben didn’t hesitate to ring the doorbell unlike last time.

When he pressed it for a short time, the door opened as if they had been waiting, and the first person he saw was Daniel again.

“You’re here.”

Ben smiled at him, as he had a very unpleasant look.

The living room behind Daniel was darker than last time. As soon as Ben entered the living room, he realized that it was so dark because all the curtains were closed.

Unlike last time, Aidan O’Donoughue was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt and had a tablet. On the other side, Miller sat spinning his umbrella around, crossing his long legs.

The uneasy sensation he felt was doubled and surrounded Ben as the two brothers were together. Feeling disgusted, Ben took turns biting his lower and upper lip.

Aidan looked at Ben’s face as if he were going to pierce him. Because of that, Ben thought that he would pull out his hair and chew all his nails, so Ben barely turned his head and looked away. Aidan, who was still looking at him like that, soon turned his head.

When he saw Ben, he observed him from head to toe as he didn’t know whether he had found the information he was looking for or not.

Miller, who was sitting opposite Aidan, threw a short glance at Ben and turned his head.

“Anyway, I don’t like him.”

“Aidan–”

‘It would be better if you listened to me’, he said while shortening his brother’s name.

Aidan stuck out his lips and still looked disgruntled. Ben wondered if he could stay or just give up getting their help.

Looking around the living room, Ben noticed that Daniel, who had just been there, wasn’t present, and concluded that Daniel was a wise man. The subtle war of nerves between the two brothers lasted a few more minutes, tiring even Ben, who was just a viewer.

The atmosphere in the room was at its worst, combining their body odor, overwhelming and grumpy energy.

With his arms folded, Ben leaned against one wall and closed his eyes. He thought it would be better not to see.

After a while, Ben opened his eyes when he heard a voice containing feelings that he hated more than dying.

“So why doesn’t he leave now that he knows?”

Aidan stood up from the couch having his brow frowned and began tapping his finger on the tablet screen. Miller didn’t hesitate to stand up to express his emotions more.

Miller’s mouth corners raised up smoothly as he made eye contact with Ben before closing the living room door.

“There was a fourth victim?”

On the tablet screen, his finger was moving endlessly without knowing whether he was searching or just doing it just because. Then, he stopped and a voice full of complaints was heard.

“Ah, I know that.”

“You already know? Then why are you here? I guess Miller tells you to come, you just do it?”

“I came because he told me to do so, so I won’t deny that.”

Aidan was trying to hurt his pride, but Aiden was the one who got offended because Ben just admitted it.

“Just throw away the suspect description the police are making. We’re going to make a new one. That guy should have delivered a message through the incident.”

Aidan stood up, took out a map of downtown London, and checked the scene of the incident. There were two vertical dots, one in a diagonal position from the top to the bottom, and one above the diagonal position from the middle point.

When Aidan connected the line between the dots, an M that lacked a line was completed.

“The next crime scene will be there.”

Ben, who was staring at the map, nodded slowly.

“He’s not a human being, so screw his profile.”

“So what does this letter mean?”

“No idea. Maybe it stands for Miller, maybe it’s something else. Wouldn’t it be faster to catch him and ask him? He might be active again today.”

“If you think about the blood sucking cycle, maybe two or three days later-”

Ben, who was speaking, kept his mouth shut.

Why are you certain that it’s not a crime caused by humans?

Ben looked at Aidan O’Donoughue with a wary look again.

Would Miller tell his family what he was doing? He had seen him just for a short time, but he didn’t think he was that kind of person, so if Aidan knew, he had something to do with it.

“Don’t waste your time with useless thoughts. I just know.”

He looked at Aidan, holding back his desire to ask him how he just knew.

Pale skin that showed his blood vessels, skinny because of what he ate, and an unique scent.

Aidan leaned back and stared at Ben, who was unconsciously reaching out to him. The turquoise eyes flashed sharply, resembling his brother.

Ben put his hand in his pocket in bewilderment. He almost made the same mistake to Miller’s brother. As there was nothing more to say or hear, Ben barely thanked him and left Aidan’s apartment.

Daniel’s eyes were shaking uneasily at the front door just before Ben came out.

He didn’t know exactly why he had anxiety, but one thing was clear: it wasn’t because of Aidan O’Donoughue.

As he was human, if he didn’t feel uneasy about Aidan O’Donoughue that just meant one out of two things. Either he was still really suspicious or Daniel was so dull that he felt terrible.

Miller waited for Ben to come out. Ben accidentally put his hand on his neck, so he was likely to do the same to Aidan. No matter how Dhampir he was, that really felt so good that he couldn’t deny it.

Miller followed slowly as he saw Ben walking out of the house.

“Didn’t you leave earlier?”

He thought he wouldn’t feel that Miller was there, but before he called him, Ben turned around and asked. At the sudden action, Miller was embarrassed and held onto the handle of the umbrella in his hand.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Miller remembered that Ben couldn’t feel his presence until yesterday.

No way. Has he developed again?

“Why?”

“I’m going to take you there.”

Hiding his embarrassment, Miller smiled as naturally as possible.

“Director O’Donoughue-”

“Just call me Miller. We have even kissed.”

Ben’s face showed his irritation when he deliberately put a subtle emphasis on the kiss part and spoke in a teasing tone.

“I’ll just go on my own.”

As I tried to go his way, Miller pulled his arm and put his lips lightly on Ben’s cheek. Embarrassed by Miller’s behavior, Ben had his mouth half open. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find anything to say. The only thing that came to his mind was swearing, so he was holding it in.

Anyway, if Ben’s sense was really developed again, it was dangerous for Miller. Before Ben noticed the fact, he needed to make Ben believe in him, so he whispered softly in his ear on purpose.

“Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.”

Because of the sweet voice whispering in his ear, Ben raised his arm to push Miller, but faster than that, Miller stepped back to let go of Ben’s wrist. Feeling irritated by his quick movements, Ben stared at Miller, who didn’t seem to exercise at all.

It was clear that Miller was teasing him. Annoyed and irritated, Ben turned around and hurried to walk without saying anything.

Rather than having an emotional fight, it was urgent to get the holy water needed to make bullets. It was necessary to move quickly because there wasn’t much time left. The talk about the stakeout with Aidan came to his mind.

Stopping by the yard to rent a car, Ben ran into another leech.

“You’re leaving to get holy water, right? You only rent a car to go there.”

In the Department of Transportation, he was filling out a brief request for a vehicle, and he ran into Joseph, who followed him when he heard it before Ben said anything about it, and finally got into the car.

“Leave.”

Ben forcibly said it, but Joseph pretended not to hear him and just put on his seat belt.

“If you take me once, I’ll never bother you again.”

“You fight with a knife. Why would you need it?”

“Sunbaenim 1 can’t fight without holy water. You are so mean, why are you trying to do this alone?”

Ben at the word ‘mean’. In fact, neither the location of holy water nor the holy water itself was being kept a secret. It was just comfortable to move alone.

“If we don’t go quickly, the sun will set.”

Joseph said to Ben, as he just stayed quiet. Ben looked up at the sky through the windshield of the car. It was really time for the sun to set soon. In the end, Ben gave up arguing and started the engine.

“I know roughly, but not exactly where it is, so just let me go once.”

“Why do you need to go?”

“I’d like to change my weapon to a gun too.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not Dhampir.”

Ben kept his mouth shut at Joseph’s words. As an ordinary person, not Dhampir, the only way to fatalize vampires was holy water, so if you wanted to hunt by yourself, it was a weapon you would naturally want to use.

“And it’s better to handle them all at once.”

Joseph pretended to shoot with his hands as he spoke.

His words were true. You just need a single bullet per vampire, so with a gun fully charged you can kill up to seven vampires. It was more physically beneficial than facing the seven with a knife.

Ben understood Joseph’s words in his head and focused on driving silently.

A long drive out of London led to the outskirts of Dartmoor. Ben pulled over to the right place, got off and started walking without saying a word.

He had to hurry. In this remote area, it was dangerous to be with a helpless human. Ben didn’t want to see anyone he knew become their food anyway.

In a quick step, Ben slightly crossed the wire fence that had a restraining ban.

“It’s a private property, can we do this?”

“Just do what I do.”

Joseph smiled at Ben’s answer.

As he walked straight, Ben stopped. As Joseph, who was walking in stride with Ben, tried to keep taking steps without thinking, Ben grabbed his coat.

What stretched right below their feet was a swamp.

Joseph blinked his eyes. He couldn’t believe the sight before him. He vaguely thought it would be like a lake because it was holy water, but it wasn’t that at all. Unknown in depth, the dark swamp was the same color as the sky at night and seemed to have given the sky its color.

“This… really?”

Without answering, Ben took out the water bottle he brought, soaked it in the swamp, and scooped it up. Then, instead of sticky mud, clear blue water was filled inside.

Joseph blinked once again as if he couldn’t believe it. What he was seeing was definitely a black swamp. He would probably die if he fell, but inside the bottle it was blue. He couldn’t believe it even though he saw it with his own eyes.

Ben put the water bottle in the bag he brought. The blue color of holy water and Ben’s eyes looked almost the same. Was it because the Dhampir, called Ben, could kill vampires like holy water? Joseph was thinking about the wrong thing for a moment. He came to his senses and opened his mouth.

“Will you just take that?”

It wasn’t even close to London, so he asked if it would be better to bring a lot at once.

“I couldn’t even use it because it gets darker after a long time.”

In response to Ben’s concise answer, Joseph nodded his head to mean he understood and put holy water in his chest. When Ben saw it, he laughed at the thought of him being a dog that listened to him. Of course, he had never raised one, but if he did, he thought he would do it because of this feeling.

On his way back, Joseph admired the holy water, looking at the bottle as if it was amazing.

“What happens when you drink this?”

“Try it if you’re curious about how it feels, burning your intestines.”

“You’re scaring me on purpose. Then, people can drink it.”

Ben chuckled and nodded. In fact, for people, whether they drank holy water alive or took a bath, it was the same.

Joseph hurried off when Ben pulled over in the designated parking lot. There was no time to ask what was so urgent, so Ben tilted his head and went to the transportation department to return the car key.

As Ben left and headed out of the yard building again, he felt an urgent footsteps toward him. Tatatak . Ben turned around at the sound of footsteps walking halfway through.

“What?”

When Ben confirmed Joseph’s appearance, he asked if he needed anything else, and Joseph handed out a file. Unconsciously, Ben accepted the file sticking out in front of him.

“In return for today. I don’t know if you’re looking for something.”

Ben didn’t look at the contents of the file, just took it and said thank you. It must have been a report on the case under investigation.

He didn’t believe one hundred percent of Aidan’s words, but he thought he was somewhat credible. At a time when the operation called stakeout was leaked, it would have been complicated and troublesome to check other information.

Ben arrived at his apartment and threw the documents that Joseph handed over to the desk without checking them separately.

Back in the apartment, Ben was so tired from moving all day that he fell on the bed without taking off his clothes.

He thought that tomorrow would be a harder day than today. He closed his eyes slowly after thinking that. Ben soon fell asleep.

His body was soaked in sweat when he woke up from sleep as if he had been chased in his dream.

He didn’t know what chased him, but he was always like this the night before work. He wishes he didn’t have dreams, but that wasn’t something he could control.

His damp wet back was unpleasant. Forced to open his eyes that weren’t easily opened, Ben looked out the window. The sun rose through the curtainless glass window.

Today seemed to be the right time. Even though he didn’t sleep well, his whole body senses were sharp. His hearing had become so sensitive that every sound he heard outside the window felt like noise, as it was so loud.

Ben slowly took off his clothes and headed to the shower. It was time to get ready for the night.

Wait at the designated point.

Aim for the moment when he starts his activity.

Hit him without killing him.

Ben, who organized the order of work one by one in his head, made a bullet with only half of the holy water he usually put in. That way, the target wouldn’t die after being hit like he wanted.

He will die anyway, but with this amount of holy water, it will give him enough time to interrogate. And when he gets information about vampires that did that to his mother, he will be closer to ending that vampire’s life.

All together, it was at dusk when Ben made seven bullets.

Ben opened the refrigerator and took out eggs and bacon. It was a habit to eat bacon before going to work. Since he was young, his mother used to cook bacon with a happy face when he returned home after he succeeded in hunting. Maybe it turned into a habit at that time.

He cooked bacon on one side of the pan, broke the eggs on the other, made fries, put them on a plate, and sat on the table.

While Ben was moving his mouth numbly, a still unfamiliar vibrating sound rang. Ben rose from his chair and dug into his outer pocket to pick up his cell phone.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, roughly.”

Before he could say anything, a question flew in and he answered while chewing the bacon in his mouth.

“Are you eating?”

“I have to eat to live.”

“Let’s go eat something delicious after work today.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to eat to live, so you’d better be careful.”

“Are you worried?”

As he said something that wasn’t like the prior mood they had before, he smiled. Mother had never been worried about him. She only wondered if he had killed them .

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Miller hung up the phone, saying he would see him tomorrow instead of answering. Looking at the phone, Ben coughed for no reason. Strangely, he didn’t feel like he hated it.

After eating, he felt a little better than before, less tired of living, and his irritation calmed down a little bit.

After wearing a leather jacket, Ben checked his weapon for the last time.

The time to start hunting, midnight, was approaching.

***

As he stepped out of the apartment, a cool wind blew. His sense was even more sensitive because of the wind.

Ben walked slowly toward the scheduled location. Only the faint moonlight that shone through the clouds led Ben to his way. The place where a crime would be committed was found easily.

If M standed for Miller, he was more threatening than a Dhampir and, at the same time, a warning that perhaps their next target is Miller. Whether what he was thinking now was right or wrong was also something that he would know tonight.

Arriving at the designated place, Ben leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes, measured the time and started to wait. If this place was right, his sense would tell him where they would be, as usual.

The night he first met Miller was like this. Come to think of it, it wasn’t long ago, and so many things have happened since he met him.

It was difficult to make rational judgment when he was with Miller. He shook his head thinking that he should keep a little distance.

An unpleasant sensation passed through his skin. He could feel it. It was not far away.

Ben inhaled the smell from the wind. His body started to heat up.

An unpleasant scent resembling blood. It was a murky smell full of hunger. Ben moved while putting strength on his toes as he stepped.

As he crossed the crosswalk and went straight to the right, the smell became more and more disgusting. Ben had now started running. It was dangerous if it smelled this strong. There was a great chance that someone would have been bitten.

But why? Isn’t he the guy who filled his stomach the day before yesterday?

Senior in a more formal way.