Just as Ethan expected, Autumn immediately began to act uneasy when he mentioned Ruby.
"Hey, everyone! I think we've discussed enough for now. We actually came up here to invite Ethan down for dinner, remember? Let's go quickly or the adults will be waiting and we'll get scolded."
Autumn skipped toward the door, but Ethan moved quickly to block her path.
"Autumn, you've delayed this conversation many times already. You once told me we should wait until Royce recovered before discussing it. Now, every single victim of that mysterious female Vampire is present. Please, just hear my theory - just once, okay?"
Autumn didn't say a word, but since she had stopped moving, Ethan took that as permission to go on with his reasoning.
"Around 11 p.m. on Friday, September 26th, Ruby, along with Anya and Yara, called me and invited me to play Werewolf at a place called Angel's Pub, number 13 Rose Street. Judging from Ruby's slurred voice and her careless tone, it seemed like she was really drunk. But with someone like Ruby, what exactly could get her drunk?"
"Human BLOOD!"
Royce immediately answered. Ethan nodded in agreement and continued.
"Then, on the morning of Monday, September 29th, I happened to overhear Celestia talking to Summer about her little sister. Apparently, Ruby and her boyfriend had a fight because he was jealous about how she often seduced human boys just to drink their blood. So, in a fit of anger, Ruby drank several bottles of RARE BLOOD stored in the house. And as a result, her parents instantly froze her bank account."
"Whoa. RARE BLOOD is insanely expensive. I heard from Spring that it helps wounds heal ten times faster than normal blood. How did Ruby's family even manage to get their hands on that stuff?"
Felix gulped hard. Ethan immediately jotted down the information about RARE BLOOD into his mind map before continuing.
"But the trouble didn't end there. Ruby kept crying loudly for the rest of the night. Celestia got so annoyed that she advised Ruby to just break up with the guy already - leading to a huge fight between the sisters. Then their parents came in and poured more oil on the fire by comparing the two daughters. Already HIGH and AGITATED, Ruby snapped - she lunged at her sister, nearly biting into her carotid artery, before bolting out into the night."
"And that was also on a Friday night - the terrifying night we were all attacked. When that female Vampire bit you and swallowed your 'Cursed Blood,' it was as if she had ingested poison. She began shifting from her Awakened state back to her true form. It was pretty dark then, and my eyesight wasn't as sharp as it is now, so I couldn't make out her actual appearance - especially since her face was smeared with blood. All I know is that she seemed very confused, as if she had attacked us while in some kind of trance."
"That could explain why her eyes look so blank in this sketch."
Royce pointed at the eyes of the mysterious female Vampire in Ethan's sketchbook.
"Besides you and the Femme Fatale group, I know there are many other female Vampires at Harmony. But based on what I've heard and how I've sensed her impulsive and rule-breaking behavior, I think Ruby is the most likely person to have given those Bloodslaves her blood. But maybe she didn't do it intentionally - maybe she was just out of it after guzzling those bottles of RARE BLOOD. Either way, we need to focus the investigation on Ruby."
Ethan stopped speaking. He noticed both Royce and Felix nodding in agreement with his theory.
"Ethan, I think… all the facts you have are just scattered fragments that you're trying too hard to fit together to make Ruby look suspicious."
Ethan was surprised that Autumn still insisted on defending Ruby.
"If you want your hypothesis to be more convincing, then give me a precise timeline - like the moment Ruby got blood-drunk, the time she bit her sister Celestia, the time she wandered off into the night. You need to carefully check whether those moments align with when that female Vampire attacked us."
"Next, you need more concrete physical evidence - like security footage showing Ruby giving blood to a Bloodslave, or transforming from her normal appearance into the Awakened state and back. Even better if you can find a witness to any of those things."
"Because if all you have are emotional hunches and unverified details - and you go around arresting and interrogating people - that's no different from what Elder Fidelis did. He…"
Autumn frowned. Her brown eyes began to well up with tears again.
"Under pressure from that man, Elder Richie ended up giving in and allowed the fangs of several suspected female Vampires from Harmony to be broken - and they were ALL ACTUALLY under 18. If they were human, they'd still be considered minors, with the right to defend themselves or appoint legal counsel. So tell me - why do we Vampires have to suffer this kind of injustice?"
Ethan truly didn't know how to answer Autumn's question. He stayed silent for a moment in the face of her anger. But soon enough, curiosity began bubbling up again in his mind.
"Can I ask… What does AntiVamp actually do to Vampires?"
"A basic dose of AntiVamp prevents a Vampire from entering the Awakened state. Also, their blood no longer has an effect on Bloodslaves like it normally would. In short, a Vampire who gets injected with AntiVamp and has their fangs broken becomes almost like a regular human. The duration of its effects depends on how strong the Vampire is. That whole incident drove Spring crazy because the AntiVamp supply is running low - and now it's being misused like that."
Autumn explained, while Ethan busily jotted down all the new information.
"There's another serious problem. That old guy Fidelis acted way too rashly. Now the real culprit is going to be extra cautious. What he should've done was pretend he didn't know anything and quietly monitored the suspicious Vampires. That would've been a lot smarter."
Royce made a quite reasonable comment.
"Right. Three of you were bitten by that female Vampire. You could have the bite marks analyzed to match them with the fang prints from the VampIDs of the female Vampires at Harmony - just like how they analyze Bloodslave marks."
Ethan kept pushing, determined to understand what he still didn't know.
"Vampire-on-Vampire bites don't leave lasting marks like when Vampires bite humans. You've already seen how fast our bodies can heal. Look!"
Felix tilted his head to show off the smooth skin on his neck. Sure enough, there wasn't a single trace left.
"Haizzz… Have you guys noticed anything strange during your night patrols lately?"
Ethan sighed aloud, feeling frustrated. He was starting to feel completely defeated.
"We're not allowed to patrol anymore. Instead, we monitor the whole town and its dark alleys through a network of cameras. It's not very effective though - if something happens inside someone's home, we'd have no way of knowing. But clearly, this method saves a lot more blood."
Ethan grew more disheartened with each answer he received from Autumn and the other Vampires. With the current clues being so few and vague, the investigation was completely at a dead end.
In the end, there was still no way to determine which female Vampire at Harmony could be the Blood-Giver.
Fine then!
Ethan knew this idea was risky, but…
…If he couldn't find any more clear evidence of the Blood-Giver…
…then maybe he'd just have to turn himself into the evidence and the witness.