A Psychic's Scarlet Dream

Queen: "Well then, first let me formally introduce myself. My name is Valdis."

Ro stays quiet. He knows full well he can"t just start calling her Valdis and that the only reason she is telling him this is for him to not accidently ask the question in a way that may anger others.

Valdis: "I am the queen of Vampires and one of the strongest people in the world."

She says so in a formal manner but Ro understands that she is not trying to brag. He understands that it is the truth.

Valdis: "Do you doubt the last part?"

She asks with a smile. It isn"t a threatening smile, just a genuine smile. Though seeing as how the vampire queen is the one smiling like that, even a genuine smile can be a sign of danger.

Ro: "I don"t."

Ro gives his answer without a second thought. Even though it is not because she is the queen but because he really believes her that he answers so, it is only logical that she would think it"s the former case because of how people tend to be in front of their superiors.

Valdis: "Oh, you don"t? I thought for sure you would doubt me."

Thus, Valdis says so expressing her surprise.

Ro: "I have heard in stories about a particular tradition of sorts."

Ro"s reason for believing her is just as he states. It is the same thing with the different stories Barry had told Kais, it is knowledge pa.s.sed down through legends.

Valdis: "Tradition?"

Valdis asks curiously.

Ro: "I have heard that the rulers in the community of vampires always tend to be among the strongest. Whenever a ruler is weak, someone takes their place and their heritage ends there."

It is a rather cruel tradition but it is one which is true for vampires. That"s the impression Ro gets from the stories but he decides not to mention that.
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

Valdis: "I see. That"s rather curious. I can"t think of any way these legends could be circulating around so freely."

Barry: "Actually there is a way."

The attention suddenly turns towards Barry.

Valdis: "And what"s that?"

Barry: "Well, put simply – there"s someone who may be spreading it around."

Barry"s answer isn"t anything surprising; in fact it is an obvious answer. The problem is that this answer misses the point of the question.

Reid: "That"s pretty obvious. But who is the one? Do you know that?"

Reid tries to bring the most important point to attention more bluntly. But before Barry answers, he turns towards Ro,

Barry: "Are you aware of why this matter is a cause of concern?"

Ro: "It"s because the existence of vampires is thought of as extinct for many centuries. So if someone is spreading the stories, they are either a vampire you guys have no control over or someone else entirely."

Barry: "(smirks) Well … doesn"t looking at it from that standpoint … I don"t know, make it seem not that big of a deal?"

Barry asks a question that sounds strange to all three of them.

Reid: "How so? Someone is spreading stories about us while we are trying to remain out of sight. How"s that not a big deal?"

Reid points out his concern over the matter.

Barry: "It"s not like they are saying vampires are alive or anything. Shouldn"t stuff like this go down as the legend of vampires or something?"

Barry asks so with a resigned att.i.tude. This sudden change in att.i.tude is as mysterious as it is unsettling.

Valdis: "It could become a problem if someone tries to find out more about our "legend" and ends up finding out we are still living."

Even though the queen is speaking, the attention remains on Barry. He seems to be looking down for some reason.

Barry: "I suppose so."

Reid: "So, who could this guy be?"

Reid presses the question seeing as Barry is not answering. Barry glances at Reid and sighs. It"s almost as if he doesn"t want to recall the person who he thinks could be the culprit.

Barry: "How long has it been since you first heard these stories?"

He asks looking at Ro.

Ro: "Four years."

Ro answers honestly as he tries to figure out who Barry is talking about.

Barry: "Then it"s certainly possible, isn"t it?"

Ro: "Are you …"

Ro understands who he is talking about. He understands but does not want to believe that possibility.

Barry: "No, it"s not Ethan Kales."

And fortunately for him, his expectations are not met.

Barry: "However, there is another really deadly human being who could be doing this."

Valdis: "Huh!"

The words "human being" is a dead giveaway for who he would be talking about. At least, that is the case for everyone except Ro.

Human population outnumbers that of vampires, ghosts and psychics by leaps and bounds and yet there are only few humans who someone like Barry would talk about like that.

Reid: "He?"

Barry: "I think so."

The person they are talking about is someone very important to the Vampire Kingdom. He"s their strategist, so to speak. And as this realization hits on those in the court, a silence falls upon them. Ro too understands from all that they are talking about someone who is, or at least should be, an ally to them. This silence tells him this much. But that said, this wasn"t what they had to talk about.

Valdis: "I think we should get back to topic now."

And so the queen intervenes.

Barry: "Topic, you say?"

Valdis: "Yes, mulling over our own queries isn"t the point of this conversation. It is to clear whatever doubts Ro may have."

Valdis says so looking directly at Ro. Barry and Reid also turns their gazes towards him.

Ro: "Well, the most important thing I want to ask is – what is your food source?"

Ro asks with a serious face but Valdis starts chuckling upon hearing the question.

Valdis: "My, my. What a bizarre question to ask someone!"

Barry: "Well, it makes sense in this case though."

Barry says so as a little smile comes back on his face.

Valdis: "I suppose that"s true. Well, it is as you may already have heard, we drink blood."

Valdis says so with a smile but cold sweat forms on Ro"s head.

Valdis: "Don"t worry though. We have no intention of drinking your blood."

Ro: "That"s quite hard to believe after so many vampires seem to already hate me."

Barry: "To be honest, they hate me and because I brought you here, they hate you as well. That however wouldn"t be the case if I had brought you in as food for them."

Hearing that, Ro recalls the first line Reid said when he came out of the crowd the first time.

Reid: "Well, anything except food that you bring is suspicious as far as I am concerned. That being the case, it seems the queen has decided that we are to not harm this man. Then I shall obey her wishes."

He says so. Whether a ghost actually has blood a vampire can drink or not is not the point, the point is that Ro looks just like a normal human. Unless someone actually knows he is a ghost, they may try to attack him and seeing from how the rope was able to tie him up, it is possible that vampires may have other ways that can hurt ghosts. Bu now that the queen has given the order for him to not be harmed, he can rest a.s.sured. So,

Ro: "Glad to know I won"t be made into food any time soon. Anyway, the other thing I really want to ask is – What"s up with this war between you and the ghosts?"

Knowing that he is touching the heart of the matter, Ro has prepared himself for a cold stare from Reid.

Valdis: "Well, that really is the most important query you have, isn"t it?"

Valdis looks him in the eye as she says so.

*******************************

After getting an explanation of the "war" that"s brewing between Vampires and Ghosts, Ro has decided what he would do. He is running alongside Barry to get to a particular place.

Barry: "You certainly are pretty co-operative now that you know what"s going on."

Ro: "You can say you are lucky it"s me who died. I can"t think of anyone else agreeing to help you."

During their conversation, they had come to a realization – one that led them to truly grasp the severity of their situation and that made them realize that they needed to hurry.

Barry: "Really now?"

Ro: "Mohammed is too focused on his personal goals and Sneha works with Ethan so yeah, none of them would help you."

Barry: "What about your boss, Garfield?"

Ro: "He and everyone at his rank is a full-fledged psychic, not half a.s.ses like me and Mohammed. He would rather try to throw you out of power rather than help."

Barry does know this answer to be true, yet he asks the questions as if he doesn"t. Ro doesn"t feel much bothered by it though.

Barry: "I see. Then I guess I should really be glad that Ethan killed you. Or …"

Barry comes to a certain realization. Another level of desperation gets added to their situation.

Ro: "Or maybe this was part of his plan too? Honestly, I can"t deny the possibility. In fact, it"s probably true."

Barry: "I see. Well, we know we are dealing with a rather troublesome human being now."

Barry, the cause of that man finding out and getting so attached to the supernatural, is now scared of him.

Ro: "Yeah, I guess. But it is essential to stop him regardless."

Barry: "I suppose so."

They reach the gate they were heading for and stop.

Barry: "Well, it"s time. You ready?"

Ro: "I am."

They need to stop someone – a mere human as many would call that man. And yet, beings more powerful than a hundred humans combined were becoming afraid of him. That"s the man who they need to stop.

Ro: "Well, I really wonder if even this is part of his plan."

*******************************