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Night had fallen. Thick clouds covered the moon. Neon lights flickered on the streets, but the whole area still felt heavy and suffocating.
A shadowy figure darted silently through the blind spots of the security cameras, heading straight for Youste Real Estate Company.
Meanwhile, on a rooftop nearby, a tall figure stood against the wind, his cape flapping dramatically in the cold night breeze.
Erik looked around. Ever since he'd evolved into a Fanged Vampire, all his abilities—strength, endurance, vision, smell—had gotten a massive boost. Even without transforming, his power was already twice what it used to be.
Standing in the wind, the chilly night air brought a mix of scents. Erik's sharp nose picked up something unusual.
"Vampires."
He looked in the direction of the scent. In the distance stood a tall building, the name Youste glowing faintly on the rooftop in flickering letters.
With one powerful leap, Erik became a blur, weaving between rooftops straight toward the building.
Youste Real Estate Headquarters
It was well past midnight. All the employees had gone home. Only a few security guards were still on duty.
"Hey, did you hear? They say vampires were spotted in Hell's Kitchen recently! Real ones—the bloodsucking kind!"
Three security guards were patrolling and chatting to kill time. One of them brought up the local vampire rumor.
"Vampires? Pfft, come on. You still believe that nonsense? Probably just some drugged-out weirdo wandering around. That place is Hell's Kitchen after all. It's crawling with that kind of thing."
One of the others, though, looked serious.
"No, I'm telling you—this is real. A few days ago, my uncle's sister-in-law's cousin's friend—he got drunk one night and ran into a gang of vampire punks. Said their fangs were this long!"
He made exaggerated hand gestures like he was telling a ghost story.
"Dude, your storytelling skills suck. You're saying their fangs were that long? How would they even eat without stabbing their own chins?"
The other two guards burst out laughing.
"I'm not making it up! My uncle's cousin really said he saw it with his own eyes!"
"Yeah yeah… you just said he was drunk. He was probably seeing things. And even if there were vampires, how would he still be alive to tell the tale?"
"Exactly."
The two guards kept mocking him, totally unconvinced.
The one in the middle—Nissen—was getting red in the face. He knew he was telling the truth. Why wouldn't anyone believe him?
"I'm telling you, the only reason he made it out alive was because someone in a black cape with a longsword saved him."
The other two rolled their eyes. Seeing how serious he was kind of killed the mood.
"Alright, enough fairy tales. Let's finish our rounds. If vampires were real, we'd be the first ones dead on a night shift."
The three of them stopped talking and picked up the pace.
Suddenly, Nissen spotted something move in the dark.
"Who's there?!"
He shouted, flipping on his flashlight and pointing it toward the corner.
"What's going on?" the others asked, startled.
But when they rushed over, there was nothing there.
"Seriously, man? Do you have to do that? You trying to scare us to death?"
"There was something! I swear I saw it move!"
"Enough already, Nissen. Just 'cause we don't believe your story doesn't mean you have to freak us out on purpose."
"Yeah, exactly."
The other guard chimed in. Night shifts were already creepy enough—they'd only been chatting to lighten the mood. But Nissen had to go and make it worse.
"But…"
Nissen tried to argue, shining his flashlight all over—but nothing.
"Come on, Nissen. Quit crying wolf. Let's finish this floor and head back to the guard room."
"Right, let's go."
The other two ignored Nissen. Finding vampires was low on their priority list—what they really wanted was to sit down.
After they left, a figure dropped silently from the ceiling. Under the dim lights, a white skull emblem glinted on Frank's chest.
Once the guards were out of sight, Frank turned and walked deeper into the building.
Youste Building Rooftop
Frank stood at the edge of the roof, staring down at the building.
"The vampire scent… it's coming from here?"
It was faint, mixed with other smells—clearly they were trying to cover their tracks.
But they didn't count on Erik evolving into a Fanged Vampire.
Frank jammed a master key into the rooftop door. Click. It popped open.
The Youste building had nineteen floors, with a guard room every six.
Nissen and the others headed back to the twelfth floor guard room.
The other two plopped into their chairs.
"Ahhh, nothing beats sitting down."
"For real. Has this place ever been robbed? Even if it was, what would they steal?"
"Exactly."
They kicked back and put their feet up, already half-asleep.
Only Nissen stayed at the monitors, eyes glued to the screen. He knew he hadn't imagined it—something really had gotten in.
Time passed. The other two were snoring, and even Nissen was starting to give up. The cameras weren't showing anything.
"Did I really just imagine it?"
Yawning, he rubbed his eyes. He was starting to feel sleepy too.
Then—something flickered across the screen.
"There it is!"
He shouted so loud he almost knocked the other two out of their chairs.
"Nissen! Seriously?! What the hell now?!"
"There's something on the monitor! I swear I'm not lying this time!"
He quickly replayed the footage. At the end of the hall—something had flashed by.
Even slowed down, the image was too blurry to tell what it was.
"....."