DUSK.
"He has to be insane.” Marcus said, looking at the unconscious man.
"Who does he think he's calling? Maybe he's just rattled out?” The other said.
"He's still bleeding. We can still save him, and then he'll tell us what happened.” Seline said, and then the men lifted the unconscious man up.
I and Seline followed as they rushed him to the physicians' quarters.
"What do you think is wrong with him? Why do you think he'd call that name?” Seline asked, and I looked at her with a smile.
"You're asking as though I have all the answers in the world. Maybe there's just something he was trying to say and couldn't finish it.” I said, and we quickened our pace so we could catch up with the men.
The man was rushed in, and the physicians were instantly there, helping to drop the man on the bed.
"Is this also another victim?” He asked, looking at the man.
"Yes. That's what we think. But he escaped. He can still be saved. We need to get the truth out of him.” Marcus said, and the physicians nodded.
I didn't understand the little thrill of joy I felt in me when I realised how happy and relieved Lucius would be if the man awoke and exposed the culprit.
The physicians checked his thighs first and tried to stop the bleeding.
"He doesn't have much blood left. He might not survive without bleeding. The wound is really deep, but I don't think it's enough for him to lose almost all the blood in his body. It's like it was drained somehow.” He said while examining the man.
"Master. Here." One of his students said, as he touched his neck with gloves.
"Oh hell." The physician said and almost rushed to see his neck.
"Stay back, please.” Marcus said strictly and turned the unconscious man's neck so we all could see, and we saw two holes in his neck; they were little, but they had two rings around them. The first was a sick white, and the other was a pale red.
"It looks like..." The physician was saying, but Marcus interrupted.
"That's impossible." He said, while still looking at the neck.
"It might not be a vampire. It might be other things.” Another of Lucius' men said.
"The bite is not the only thing used to identify a vampire's bite. The physician said. “He's pale and white because almost all the blood has been sucked out of him. And if you touch him, he's cold even though his heart is still beating.” He concluded, and everyone looked at him.
"So, are you trying to say a vampire is in the palace? That's impossible. Vampires are easily spotted.” Marcus said, and the physician shook his head.
"We can't overrule this.” He said, but Marcus wasn't ready to admit that there was a vampire in the palace.
"Wait. Marcus, if you remember, when some of the allies from the other kingdoms came, they dropped some servants as a way of expressing their sympathy. Could one of them be... “ Sly, another of Lucius' men said.
"So, this is the vampire's first strike, or what are you trying to say?” Marcus asked, and the physician went to the preserved bodies.
"I'm sure if I check, I'll see a punctured vein.” He said as he started putting on his gloves, and minutes later, he called Marcus, and Marcus's eyes widened when he saw what the physician was showing him.
"Can someone call the Alpha?” Marcus said while still looking at the body. "I'm afraid there's a vampire in the palace." He said, and on impulse, I turned on my heels and left the physicians' quarters.
I walked quickly down the halls of the palace, and when I got into Lucius' quarters, I ran into Athena.
"What's wrong? Why do you look so troubled?” She asked with a concerning look on her face.
"The bodies. Another was found. But... But on his neck was a bite. A vampire bite. There's a vampire in the castle.” I said, and her eyes widened.
"That can't be true. Vampires stand out. They're so different from us. We'd know." She said, and I shook my head.
"I really don't know anymore.” I said, and she looked confused.
"Vampire? They're asking for trouble. Stepping into a den of wolves" She said, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry, Athena, but I really have to call Lucius.” I said and left her standing. I located his room and pushed the door open.
"Lu," I said, but I saw he wasn't in the room.
I went to his bathroom and knocked. There was no reply. I knocked again, but there was no response.
"Lucius. Are you in there? There's something urgent going on right now, and we need your attention.” I said and waited, but there was no response.
"Are you there?” I asked and waited for some minutes, hoping I'd get a reply, but there was no reply.
I took a deep breath and opened the door gingerly.
I took a little step and scanned the bathroom. He was not there, but something else caught my eye.
Blood.
I went into the bathroom and saw that the sink was stained with blood. It was as though someone had washed blood off their hands and forgot to rinse the sink.
"It's probably..." I started to say something but was silenced by what I saw in the waste bin.
There were bloodied tissues in it.
Why, why, why is there so much blood in his bathroom? I asked myself shakily, not wanting to believe what I saw.
Then I remembered when we had first seen the man who was bitten by the vampire.
*****
"Are you alright? How did you get hurt? Are you... Are you... Were you almost a victim yesterday?” Seline had asked, and his troubled eyes had rested on her.
He had called a name and repeated it so many times.
The name he called was...
"Alpha... Alpha... Alpha..."