Cynthia stood behind the counter at Luna Brew, the small café where she worked after school. The place was mostly empty, the quiet hum of the coffee machine blending with soft indie music that filled the space like a warm hug. She wiped the counter in slow circles, lost in thought.
Daiana leaned across from the other side, her chin resting in her palm as she watched her girlfriend with a lazy smirk.
"You're cleaning like the counter owes you money," she teased.
Cynthia rolled her eyes but smiled. "It does. It's hiding all the answers I want."
"Oh?" Daiana raised an eyebrow. "Like why coffee shops always make people fall in love?"
Cynthia leaned closer, brushing her thumb gently against Daiana's knuckles. "No. Like how I ended up falling for someone who seems too good to be true."
The smirk on Daiana's face faltered for a second. But she recovered quickly. "Maybe I'm just your type."
Cynthia narrowed her eyes, her lips curling into a grin. "Mysterious, seductive, always showing up when I least expect you? Yeah… dangerously my type."
They shared a kiss soft at first, then deeper. The kind that curled toes and made the world blur around the edges. The way Daiana pulled her in and the way Cynthia responded, it was like their bodies spoke in a language only they understood.
Jingle.
The bell over the café door rang.
They broke apart instantly, straightening just in time for Sam to walk in, looking more serious than usual.
"Hey," Cynthia greeted, blinking. "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I wish it was a ghost," Sam muttered. "Where's Godon?"
Back at Godon's house, Angela sat at the edge of his bed, arms crossed and brows furrowed. Godon paced back and forth, his steps restless.
"I've never done anything like that before," he said. "It was like… instinct. Like something inside me just woke up."
Angela said nothing for a moment. She watched him closely, like he was a puzzle she wasn't sure she wanted to solve.
Then, quietly, she said, "Says the guy who have assumed his protector Mantle
"With what?" Godon asked, exasperated. "My hands?"
Angela stood and crossed the room to him. "No. With this."
She pressed her palm lightly against his chest, feeling the rapid thump of his heart.
"You have to believe in yourself, Godon. That's how you'll survive this."
Then she smirked. "But for now... I want to focus on another kind of problem."
Godon blinked. "What kind?"
Angela leaned in with a wicked grin. "I want you to grab a boob, rip this fine shirt, and get deep inside me."
Godon choked, clearing his throat. "Not now—"
Click.
The door creaked open.
"Sam?! How long have you been standing there?" Godon yelped.
"I guess spying is my new superpower," Sam grinned, leaning on the doorframe. "But for the record, you really should've grabbed the boobs."
Angela burst into laughter.
"What's going on?" she asked, waving Sam in.
"We might have a chance to join the investigation," he said. "Godon and I. Unless you want in too."
"Investigation? How?" Godon asked, still flustered.
"My dad invited us."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he knows I already know too much," Sam said. "And because I've been tracking all this with you two."
"You didn't tell him about us, right?" Godon asked, cautious.
"Of course not," Sam replied. "But... my dad might know more than we think."
---
At Nezo Security HQ, Detective Marshal Rein stood alone in his office, flipping through case files under dim yellow light. The scratch of paper was the only sound.
Until it wasn't.
A figure cloaked in black stepped in silently.
"How are you, old friend?" the man asked.
Marshal didn't turn. "Wilfred."
The vampire king emerged from the shadows regal, pale, eyes centuries-old. His presence made the room colder just by standing in it.
"I told your father long ago," Wilfred said, "not every newborn is a blessing. Some bring monsters with them."
Marshal's tone was ice. "Then why haven't you killed the monster? You'd be doing us all a favor."
"Because if I kill it, another takes its place," Wilfred said. "Unless the boy joins them... or dies."
Marshal stiffened.
"Unless you find the real beast. Jagurupa." Wilfred stepped closer. "He's the one sending the corrupted. Find him. Kill him. Or everything you protect will fall."
"And if we don't?" Marshal asked.
"Then your children will fight the
war. Not you. This isn't your fight, human."
And with that, Wilfred vanished in a wisp of black light, leaving only silence behind.