Chapter 14: High Noon Sunlight

When dawn broke, Alastor finally closed his incessant mouth.

Heavy curtains blocked out the warm winter sun. Under the pretense of "protecting me," Alastor ignored my protests and climbed into bed, drifting off to sleep with me in his arms.

When the clock struck twelve, I suddenly pushed Alastor aside, sat up, and walked toward the door.

I remembered the morning I first turned into a vampire—a single ray of sunlight had scorched my wrist until it turned black. It was now twelve o'clock noon, the time when the sun was most intense. I dared not imagine the consequences of walking out at this moment.

And yet... I could not control my steps. My legs moved forward of their own accord, completely beyond my mastery.

I turned my head to cry out to Alastor for help, only to find that I couldn't make a sound. He was splayed out on the bed, hugging a pillow and sleeping with a total lack of decorum. I sighed; I really couldn't rely on him.

My hands opened the door automatically, and I stepped out of the room.

What was happening? Could this be the "curse" Alastor mentioned? The curse that fellow Sol had placed on me when he bit me?

"What should we do? Since you loathe yourself so much, how painful must this long, never-ending life be for you as a vampire... You will see your former kind as food; you will watch your friends and family grow old and die one by one... until only you are left, struggling alone in this strange world... how painful that must be..."

"Let me help you find peace..."

Sol's voice, so tender it was hair-raising, echoed in my ears. I stood at the doorway barefoot, staring in terror at the brilliant sunlight outside.

Days of snowfall had decorated the earth in a coat of silver, and the golden specks of sunlight resting upon the white snow were dazzlingly beautiful. Under the sun's rays, the snow had begun to melt. The white lace nightgown I wore was Alastor's handiwork; despite wearing only a nightgown, I didn't feel the slightest bit of cold.

Just one step. If I took just one more step... I would be completely exposed to the sun...

Unexpectedly, the image of Chloe’s terrified and disgusted gaze flashed through my mind. Before I could think further, I had already taken that step.

The scent of sunlight rushed toward my face...

I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, waiting for the agony of being consumed by flames.

A long time passed... but nothing happened.

Stepping barefoot onto the snow, my legs continued to move forward step by step, still out of my control. However, neither the expected pain nor death arrived. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up at the sky in disbelief.

Above my head, the sunlight was bright and warm.

As I walked along, I had a hundred percent turn-rate from the crowd.

"Miss, has something happened? Do you need me to call the police?" someone hurried toward me and asked kindly.

I looked down at myself and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Walking barefoot down the street in the dead of winter wearing only a nightgown was indeed extremely bizarre.

"I’m fine." I glanced at him, and I could almost hear the sound of the warm blood flowing through his veins.

Gulping, I continued to walk forward.

The moment I first stood in the sun, I almost thought heaven had taken pity on me, letting me become a vampire by mistake and now letting me turn back into a human by another stroke of luck. But now, I clearly understood it wasn't that simple. I still felt an inexplicable craving for blood.

"Miss! Miss!" From a distance, a policeman walked over and intercepted me. "What has happened to you?"

I couldn't control my steps, and yet I had to suppress the urge to lung forward and bite him.

"Miss, you'll get sick from the cold like this. Do I need to help you contact your family?" The policeman followed me persistently, asking again.

Family? Where would I have any family.

"Miss, please show me your ID!" Seeing that I refused to stop, the policeman blocked my path with a serious expression.

...He probably thought I was an escapee from some psychiatric hospital.

"Truly a naughty girl." Suddenly, someone gave me a gentle pat on the head.

With just that light pat, I actually came to a sudden halt.

Subconsciously looking up, I saw the man standing beside me. It was him!

"She's my sister, she's throwing a bit of a tantrum and trying to run away from home." Draping his long coat over my shoulders, he curled his lips into a smile and looked at the policeman.

A gust of wind blew past, lifting his wavy wine-red hair and revealing the white mask on his face.

The policeman stared at him blankly, then turned and walked away without asking a single further question.

This guy must have used hypnosis, just like Alastor did to Chloe yesterday!

"I told you we would meet again," he said, looking at me with a faint smile.

"What did you do to me?!" I glared at him, asking with desperate urgency.

"Do you like the sunlight?" He looked up at the sky and chuckled softly.

"What did you do to me?" I continued to glare.

"Just a harmless little spell, I thought you would like it," he said, looking down at me. His narrow eyes crinkled slightly, and the white mask exuded a wicked charm, mere inches from my face.

Like it? Heaven knows I was so scared my heart nearly stopped when I first stood in the sun! Er... that’s not the right description; my heart stopped a long time ago.

But the feeling of sunlight... was truly wonderful. I thought I would never feel the sun again for the rest of my life.

"What exactly do you want?" Tired of going in circles, I asked him directly.

"I want you to help me find someone."

As expected...

"On what grounds?"

"You have ten days."

"And if I still haven't found them after ten days?"

"Then..." He leaned close and whispered into my ear, "You shall die."

That voice was laced with a raw chill.

I ground my teeth in frustration. "You're so powerful, why don't you look for them yourself?!"

"I have already been searching for four hundred years."

"Four hundred years?" I finally shrieked. "Have you lost your mind? You're asking me to find someone in ten days that you couldn't find in four hundred years?! You might as well just kill me now!"

"Kill you?" He glanced at me sideways and suddenly gave a light laugh. "Good idea."

Wait, no... I took a step back and hurriedly forced a spineless smile. "Finding someone, right? Fine! But let's exchange terms—I'll help you find your person, and you have to help me find someone too!"

"I do not like negotiating with humans." He was perfectly composed.

"I'm not a human, I'm a vamp—I'm a member of the Blood Kind."

Recalling his words from that night, I forced down the word "vampire" and changed it to "Blood Kind," which earned me a sneer.

"Who are you looking for?" He glanced at me indifferently.

"Is there anyone among the vampires named 'W'? Or whose name contains that letter?" I looked at him expectantly. The letter on that silver ring was the only clue to finding the one who bit me.

"Doesn't Albus, the Queen's loyal dog, have 'W' as his initial?" he sneered.

Albus? I thought of the silver-haired Inquisitor in white. Was it him? I had no memory of it at all. He hadn't shown the slightest bit of abnormality when he saw me that day; how could I be sure it was him based only on the letter 'W'?

"I think it would be better for you if we discussed the person I'm looking for first?" He raised a hand to pinch my chin, arching an eyebrow.

"Why?" I asked dumbly.

"Because if you don't find the person in ten days, you'll be dead," his cold fingertip lightly brushed across my lips as his smile widened slowly. "What's the point of a dead person asking these questions?"

I ground my teeth in secret. This arrogant bastard.

"Who are you looking for?" For the sake of my little life, I swallowed my rage and asked with a beaming smile.

"Malachi."

He spat those two syllables through gritted teeth, yet they carried an indefinable sense of desolation and complex emotion.

"Malachi?" I was stunned for a moment. He was looking for Malachi too?

"That fellow known as the greatest prophet of the Demon Realm."

Should I be relieved? At least I didn't have to worry about being unable to find the person he was after...

"You have only ten days. Remember that."

I nodded subconsciously. "Uh, one more question—aren't you a vampire? Why can you walk in the sun?"

"Heaven knows what I am." He curled his lips, smiling like a devil.

In the blink of an eye, he had vanished into thin air. Surprisingly, not a single person nearby noticed his sudden disappearance.

Tugging at the coat over my shoulders, I actually felt a wallet in the pocket. Gritting my teeth, I walked straight toward the shopping mall across the street.