Sanguine Partikels (SP) were special traces that vampires usually left behind when using their powers.
Each vampire had a unique SP pattern, much like a fingerprint, making it possible to identify the one responsible through their distinct shapes.
Vampire hunters used this knowledge to track down perpetrators behind incidents and bring them to justice.
However, not everyone could see SP. Even among those who could, a proper analyzer was still required to decode the form and origin accurately.
Maria focused her mind, feeling the warmth of her power rise from her heart and surge into her eyes.
When she opened them, her irises glowed violet, and her vision shifted into a black-and-white spectrum.
The splattered blood and chunks of flesh on the ground were the only things still visible in color—a vibrant purple.
"Hm… I don't see any Sanguine Partikels left on this Class E vampire. Just its own," she reported calmly, stepping away before noticing something on the trees. Her eyes narrowed as she paused. "Huh?"
"You found something?" David asked.
"Y-yeah… I've never seen particulates like these before. What are they?" Her voice dropped, a subtle shiver crawling down her spine as unease settled in.
"Here. Take a sample with this," David said, pulling something from his coat pocket and handing it to her.
It was a red paper, small and thin, easily held in her gloved fingers. She carefully swiped a portion of the unfamiliar Sanguine Partikels and sealed them in a glass bottle for later analysis.
"Let's move to the next case," David instructed as the team nodded and began walking.
"Three male college students have been reported with severe mental damage, possibly caused by a vampire," Maria briefed.
"They're unable to sleep, terrified of their dreams, and their behavior has turned aggressive and erratic."
"Then let's go. We don't have time to waste." David reached into his coat for a hip flask, but Betty quickly intercepted him.
"You promised not to drink while on duty." Her expression turned stern.
"Let me be. My idiot friend threw himself and his son into the vipers' den." David muttered, "I deserve at least this much."
Betty rolled her eyes but said nothing more as David took a sip and turned to leave.
Maria lingered for a moment. Her gaze drifted back to the trees where the strange particulates had marked them in thick red patterns. The forest looked like it had been painted in veins of blood.
A deep chill coiled in her stomach as dread gnawed at her senses. This was the most disturbing trail she had ever seen and she knew, without a doubt, that something far worse was coming.
***
"So, how did all of this start?"
David asked, directing his question to the only victim who could still talk and behave like a normal person.
The poor young man looked pale, his eyes sunken with dark circles, cheekbones clearly visible beneath his skin.
"I… I don't know. All three of us suddenly started having the same dream… about her…"
Dylan's voice was low and trembling, his gaze unfocused, though it never left his two friends curled up in the corner of the room.
Their eyes were bloodshot from sleep deprivation, mouths trembling and constantly twitching, jaws moving up and down like they were either shivering or chewing on something.
Maria had tried speaking to them, but they didn't even acknowledge her presence. They just kept muttering unintelligible words, their eyes hollow yet brimming with terror.
"What kind of dream was it?"
Betty asked, glancing around the chaotic dorm room that reeked like a cheeseburger left to rot in a cupboard during summer.
"It was my mom…" Dylan looked down at the floor, his voice cracking.
"She cut up Connor and made him into a stew. Then she turned into a giant spider and spoon-fed us his remains… and then, she started chopping one of us next."
His frail hands suddenly grabbed the collar of David's jacket. "It felt so real! I can still taste my friend! I can still hear the sound of his bones getting chopped, feel my own flesh boiling in the pot… And then—then—I felt them eating me while I was still alive, even when all that was left of me was just my head!"
David placed both hands on Dylan's shoulders. "Calm down, kid. It was just a dream. You're awake now. No one can hurt you anymore."
"You don't get it!" Dylan yelled, clawing at his own scalp like he was trying to rip his hair out.
"It's real! It's too real to be just a dream! How could the three of us have the exact same one? We remember every line, every pain! We felt it! All of it! How?! How can that be just a dream?!"
David turned to Betty and gave her a look. She nodded wordlessly and pressed a tranquilizer to Dylan's neck. His body stiffened, then collapsed to the floor with a soft thud.
"You can check on him now, Maria."
Maria walked over and knelt beside Dylan's unconscious body. She took a small flashlight from under her skirt and shone it into his nostrils.
Her brows furrowed as she spotted a strange object lodged deep inside. It was small, round, and faintly glowing purple—soft and fuzzy, like a spore-emitting mushroom.
"Dream Host," she murmured. "Yeah… this is vampire blood-style magic."
"Then it has to be that Valstrath head," Betty said, folding her arms. "She's the only one in this region with a power like that."
"Can you check for Sanguine Partikel?"
"In Dreamer Blood Style, the Dream Host is the SP," Maria replied.
"It stays embedded in the host's body and keeps releasing dream spores. It creates a link, so the vampire can come back and haunt them again and again."
David groaned and took another swig of liquor. "Then we've got no choice. Contact the Helpers and get these three transferred to our Tranquil Facility."
He rubbed his temples before continuing. "We'll have to report this to our boss… Damn it. You all know how arrogant that Valstrath Head is. I really don't want to deal with her."
Betty nodded enthusiastically. "You talk to her, Maria."
"Eh?" Maria, who was halfway through dialing the Helper team, jolted. "But I'm just a newbie…"
"It'll be fine. Just explain the situation. The boss will handle that bloodsucking monster." David gave her a firm pat on the shoulder.
Maria sighed, unable to refuse her leader's request. She glanced back at the three victims—Dylan, Marcus, and Connor.
All students from her university. All are known for bullying and tormenting weaker classmates.
But one thing stood out to her. The last person they had all interacted with.
'That's impossible…' she thought, shaking her head.