CHAPTER 38: Bullet

**ALICIA**


“Are you really not going to tell me what happened?”

Ross continued to ask me questions while we were walking in the university. I wasn’t supposed to go to school but staying at home will make me go insane!

“Nothing happened. I really cannot remember it.” I lied. There is no point in telling him that I am trapped between vampires and hunters and that any moment I will die. I couldn’t even tell him what happened to him before!

“I need to go and check our club before heading to the class. Save a seat for me.” I hurriedly told him.

“I cannot believe that the school will still continue to do the festival after what happened to that poor girl.” Ross sighed. “I heard she was already dead before she was thrown to the building.”

“Is it a vampire?” It suddenly came out of my mouth. “Well, I saw the pictures from my father’s file…and the bite looked like it was from vampires. Or…what animal could it be?”

“Vampires aren’t real, Alicia.” Ross replied to me.

“How sure are you, Ross?” I simply said before leaving him to go to the club.

My club members are already inside for the rehearsal. We might have to postpone the film production and just continue with the play for the festival if Akihiro does not come back.

“Alicia! You are back!” They immediately approached me. “We thought you won’t be able to join us. Finally! We can now continue the film.”

“How about Akihiro? Did he visit the club for the film? The script is already okay so we can start with it. And, what about the play? Did you gather all the new members?” I asked, checking the production room.

The new members stopped upon seeing me. I raised my brow. “Where is Andrei? Isn’t he supposed to be the main character for the play?” I scoffed. “I shouldn’t have included him in the list when he is—”

“Andrei is a bit sick so he cannot come. For now, I will be the main lead for the play.”

“Akihiro.” I replied, not looking at my back. “Well, if that is what the president wants…then be it.”

I walked out of the room when Akihiro held my hand, stopping me. He signaled everyone to get out of the production room.

I gulped the lump in my throat. The marks of his hand are still in my neck and I just hid it using concealer. He ruined the image of Akihiro in my mind when he tried to kill me. I will never forgive him.

“Let me go.” I slowly said. “I still have a lot of things that I need to do so can you just—-”

My eyes widened when he pulled me close…and kissed me. I didn’t expect that. It took me seconds before I could recover, slapping him in his face!

“Are you fucking kidding me, Andrei?” I shouted, and didn’t care whether someone could hear me calling Akihiro by Andrei.

“Oh, you are beautiful when you are mad.” His face slowly turned back to Andrei after a second. I cannot believe the power that these pureblood vampires hold. They don’t deserve to be living right now because they will just turn humans into their prey.

“Now, I have something to say to my cousin…how sweet your lips are. He might explode and kill me if he knew about it.”

“Where is Akihiro? I need him!” I said, desperate. “Why are you pretending to be him? Can you just go back to your original self?” I added when he changed to Akihiro’s face again.

“For starters, it is fun to copy my cousin because I can easily talk to you without question. Second, I need to hide the fact that he is gone.” He explained it to me. “Why? Aren’t you enjoying this?”

“Fuck you!” I cursed at him.

“You might not want to say it the second time because I might really fuck you.”

“Akihiro will kill you.” I warned him.

“Akihiro is dying right now…so there is no way your tricks will work on me. He might not even come back so I suggest you get used to seeing this side of Akihiro!” He winked, leaving me alone inside the production room.

Damn! Where the hell is Akihiro? I couldn’t find his friends, especially Hades. It seems like all of them are gone. I could see some night class students roaming around the place but I couldn’t ask them…I am still hiding the fact that I know their existence even though it’s pretty obvious.

The real Akihiro still didn’t show up during the night class. I had to go back early when Dad picked me up from school.

“Are you waiting for someone?” He said, when I looked around while getting inside the car.

“Ross, is he not coming with us?”

My dad started the car. I noticed the duffel bag on the backseat. And, a stain of blood in the end of his shirt.

“No. He went out with your uncle.” He replied. “They are running some errands.”

“Did you find out about the killer? Who are they Dad? Are they humans?”

“Don’t concern yourself about it, Alicia.” Dad replied. “I will bring you home. The food is ready.”

“Are you going somewhere? You seem to be in a hurry.” I replied to him as he was looking at the rearview mirror. There’s no one following us and the road is clean.

“I need to help your mother with something. It’s about the case again.”

“Dad, why do you always work at night? Can it not be done during the day?” I curiously asked.

“I cannot stop working, Alicia. There are a lot of missing reports now and we need to solve it before everyone in this town goes missing. So, please take care of yourself and let us know if you are going to leave the house while we are away.”

“I’ll stay at home.” I replied to him. “You don’t have to worry about me, Dad. However, how is your wound? Is it already okay?”

“It is.” He replied as he smiled at me. “It will not kill me, Alicia. It will kill me if something happens to you so please can you stay away from Akihiro?”

I raised my brow. “Why are you saying that?”

Does Dad know about him?

“It’s because those killings were all linked to the governor. This is a controversial case, but I am sharing it with you so you can be aware of the harm that will happen if you get close to him. So, please…Alicia.”

“Dad, Akihiro will not hurt me.” I assured him. “He will never hurt me.”

Dad didn’t say a thing. He left after making sure that I am already okay. I was about to head upstairs when someone knocked.

“Dad—Hades!”

“I cannot get in but my bullet can get through.” He said, firing the shots towards me.