Chapter 11 : Suspicions

Beyond the deepest abyss of the dark, a red light that is more red than blood shone a dangerous light that was sharper and piercing than any sword and spear.

However, contrary to what may seem, annoyance and irritation could be seen within those bloody lights.

Zion stared at the ceiling unblinking. Her black eyes shone red light looks frightening but clearly beyond those creepy eyes lies a child's temper tantrums.

That's right, right there and then, Zion wanted to shout a curse. In her mind, she already repeatedly cursed everything and anything around her.

"...f*ck! Bloody hell! I now know why Vampires sleep in a coffin! This is b*llsh*t, ah!" Zion wanted to tear her ears off or stab her ear drum with anything, just to stop this ear shattering noise.

Gritting her teeth, Zion endured...and endured. She closed her eyes trying to swallow her ranging anger building up from her irritation, and tried to concentrate and learn how to lessen all this noise she was hearing. This is driving her crazy! That old man was driving her insane!

Sighing deeply, Zion wishes to be in a coffin and to be buried underground. At least there, it's quiet. She doesn't need to worry about the noise. She didn't need to breathe. She's not claustrophobic either, and enclosed space actually made her feel at ease as well. Her only problems were the bugs and those yucky worms. Maybe that's why no Vampires wanted to be buried. They all sleep in a coffin inside an old castle or mansion.

Anyway, Zee only wanted quiet.

Covering her body with her blanket, Zion rolled until she became a sushi roll. Then she covered her head with pillow and held it tightly.

"...I wonder when will this stop."

...

...

...

Living room downstairs.

["As of November 2020, there are 24, 638 active cases reported around the country. Over all there are 436, 342 confirmed Y virus infected cases after the DoH reported 1, 097 additional cases on Friday, November X, 2020–"]

(A/N: The numbers and Data stated above and below ain't true, alright. It's just me randomly typing numbers, okay!! So, don't bother adding it all up as well. They won't match up!ヾ(･ω･*)ﾉ )

Click. Chanel change.

["...Chlorophyll Pharmaceutical was now undergoing clinical trials after having the approval of the Country G FDA. Y virus infected volunteers–"]

Click. Chanel change.

["...November X, 2020. GreenHouse Inc. a Biotech company in Country R, after achieving a more than 90% successful stage one clinical trial, were now preparing to engage into the next trial involving more than hundreds of Y virus infected participants, after having the Country H full support. GreenHouse Inc. stated that, if this clinical trials were successful, for the first month of the next year or so, the vaccine–"]

Click. Chanel change.

["...third day from the night when the incident occurred. More than hundreds of people died, hundreds were critically injured. According to the authorities, there are 35 people missing. Currently, as of now the government is still investigating the reason the train malfunctioned. Based on the evidence found, it was very much unlikely for this incident to be a terrorist attack. From the record found in–"]

Click. Chanel change.

["...untry A President Triumph insisted the Federal Government to open up a case investigation under the gist of election fraud. *Scene change* President Triumph speeches contain all his election doubts as "there is no way he would lose his position in this term". Triumph supporters are protesting against Joseph Bitten's electoral victory and demand a re- elec–"]

Clink. Channel change.

["... according to the CCTV footage found on the inside of the train itself, before the incident occured, the speed of the train maintained it's 60 kph of operating speed. Not until the train conductor appeared to have symptoms of heart attack did the speed of the train change and even beyond the speed limit it should have. More importantly, after the speed of the train car reached beyond the normal speed, the CCTV footage recorded some bizarre scenes which are still undergoing investigation. *Scene change* See this. This is the front car of the train. Apparently, unlike Country J's bullet train, our country's train technology is very outdated. However, since pandemic, because of the national lock down, authorities gasp this opportunity to renovate almost every railways and tracks. They also improved every train car and changed many old cars used today. Which is why authorities were puzzled about this sudden incident. *Footage magnified* Look here. This handsome guy here is our Train conductor. He is Engr. Depot, 34 years old. According to the autopsy, he died from a sudden heart attack. As you can see from this footage, *footage pause* *footage went backwards* *footage pause* *footage play* Engr. Depot was still acting normal when he suddenly felt something and gasped his chest. He was now having a symptom of a heart attack right at this moment. *Footage pause* *footage magnified* This here is the train speedometer. According to experts, even after Engr. Depot was experiencing a heart attack. The speed from the speedometer did not change. Professional analysts who have seen the footage said that the speedometer in this footage maintains safe speed of operation. *Footage minimized original size* But right at this moment, even if the speedometer says 60kph, the train suddenly speeds up. See this here, *footage change* This is the scene from before the train speeds up. It's the usual picture of people sardines into the train. But here, exactly at 6:47 pm, the people were pushed back. This reaction could only be the cause of the force of inertia. Meaning at this time the train just suddenly speeds up. Then, let's go back to the footage from before. *Footage change* Here as you can see, exactly 6:47 pm. It's the same time. Our train conductor also felt the train speed up amidst his heart attack. He tried to salvage to problem, but he di–"]

Clink. The TV immediately darkens.

...

In the kitchen.

Tangerine sat on the stool while munching potato chips. Her right ear was covered by her phone, on the other hand, the left ear was currently listening to the news broadcast from the max volume TV in the living room.

While her mouth chews non stop, from time to time she murmurs something in her phone. Then she heard the TV changing channels, at first she wasn't interested, but when the channel changed into local news television, her attention was piqued.

["So, what are you planning? Do you want to create a new FB page or create a website instead? Or how about creating an account in some online shopping sites and post all your sister's works there. Hey, Rin are you listening?"]

"Huh? Be quiet for a sec. ice cream."

["What's wrong?....ummm...you're curious about the news about that train incident? Seriously, I pity your TV. I could hear it on my phone loud and clear. Hear it? I can hear it's bass like a bomb thumping the speaker. Your TV ain't broken is it?"]

Tangerine poured, "I don't know. It's not like I could do anything about it. If I'm not wrong this is the third TV this year. But Francis, aren't you curious? According to the news, that incident is already weird itself. The fact that many people died was really weird."

["Well...it is. Hey, let's switch to video. Is that okay?"]

Snatching a piece of chip, Tangerine heard the TV clicked off and threw the whole chip inside her mouth. Then she hummed in agreement.

Waiting for her boyfriend to video call her, Tangerine let this opportunity walk towards the fridge to get some glass of orange juice.

"~♫'' Tangerine answered the phone and immediately a handsome man with medium long curly hair appeared on the screen. If Tangerine skin color is honey tan then this handsome man has ivory skin tone. It's not as white as Zion's milky white skin though. His brownish curly hair makes his face look clean and bright, like the boy next door kind of guy. At first glance, people can tell that this man is gentle and smart. Adding his voice that seems to be a DJ from a radio– not too deep and too high. His clear pronunciation and diction is addicting to hear.

No wonder Zion, this voice- con have a crush on this man before these two get together.

["Why do you look like that?"] Francis saw Tangerine and can't help but frown his brows. Tangerine has very thick black wavy hair that went up to her waist. Though, it's not hard to touch and felt soft instead, if not brushed regularly they became unruly. And right now, Tangerine's hair– she looks like a lioness with black hair. ["You're anxious. What happened?"]

Sucking on her thumb, Tangerine stared at her ice cream frowning on her phone. She chuckled while she sucked her index finger next after sucking all the flavorings in her thumb. "Nothing happened. Don't worry."

But Francis is not convinced. He thought for a second before responding to his girlfriend. ["We have been talking about your sister since you came home. And you are interested in the news about that train incident. You're worried about your sister, that I can understand. But what are you anxious about? Did Zee experienced traumatic symptoms after all?"]

Shaking her head, Tangerine now frowns her brows in contemplation, at the same time, she sips on her glass of orange juice slowly. She was wondering what's wrong as well. She didn't know but she was feeling apprehensive, like something happened but they didn't know about it. What is it?

Tangerine opened her mouth and was about to speak her worries, when she heard the TV turning on again. Loud voices from the TV came to her ears full force, making her ears hurt a bit. "Wait, I'm going to my room. Let's talk there."

["Mn."]

After cleaning the mess she made in the kitchen, Tangerine sped off towards her room upstairs. Of course she saw the culprit behind all the loud noise, her grandpa. He sat on the sofa looking at the TV. Tangerine wondered if he was watching or not. So, she walked closer and patted her grandpa's shoulder. While doing so, Tangerine saw the time on the TV and went to confirm it to their own clock.

6:09 pm.

When her grandpa noticed her, it was only after several attempts. Tangerine asked her grandpa if he ate already, if not Tangerine reminded his grandpa about the meal her mother cooked at the kitchen. She went her way towards her room after confirming that her grandpa heard her words.

Tangerine's room is beside Zion's. Before she goes to her room, she knocks Zion first wanting to ask if she already likes her grandpa.

Tangerine lacks money right now, which is why she stayed in the house all day watching k-drama on Netflix. And all day, as she watched with relish, she didn't see Zion going down even once. Not even when it's time for lunch or even snacks. She knew this was normal for her sister. There are times when Zion truly never went down to eat at all. When she remembered to eat, it was already the next day.

However, ever since Tangerine came back yesterday. Although she saw Zion act normal– this acting normal felt so abnormal to her. Tangerine is not certain whether she knew Zion well, but she knew this routine very well.

The first time, Zion had her menstrual period at 12, no one was alerted. If not for their mom sneaking inside her room to get Zee's laundry– they will never know their youngest was already a lady. Even when she was sick and had a terrible fever, she never thought of saying anything. If not for those times where she or their pops catch her at night sneaking some medicine in her pockets, no one in the family will know this girl was suffering.

But it seems Zion learned very well. Everytime Tangerine went to her room, whenever there's an opportunity Tangerine quietly went rampaging her drawers. And there, at the bedside drawer. In the first drawer, Zion hid a medicine box where everything was present.

That's why, everytime something bad happens involving Zion, when she acts normal like right now. Something surely happened to her. More so, her guts are telling her, this is the facts as well.

Nevertheless, even if she thought so, she knew her sister. She's very cowardly and despite everything, she will choose to remain close off and will hide everything from them. Zion, this girl is always afraid of something. It was not noticeable, because she was not timid at all. She was strong, smart, brave yet very cowardly.

"Hey. Zee. Are you still sleeping? It's already night time. Seriously, are you really sleeping?" But her voice was overwhelmed by the TV below. Tangerine wasn't sure if the sleepy head behind this door heard or not. So, she repeatedly said all her words again but in a much louder tone.

Of course, who is Zion now. Because her stats rose incredibly after changing her race– from human to vampire. Zion heard her sister clearly, even amidst those loud noises.

Zion is already pissed off every since she was awoken by this noise early in the morning. Up to now, she was still enduring...enduring...and enduring.

She was hungry like she hasn't eaten anything for weeks. She felt weak, plus all these irritations. Zion was so stressed she wanted to slit her throat and end everything right off the bat. But Zion knew it won't end that easily. Suicide will just make her life much more miserable. That's why she endured...endure...and endure.

Hearing her sister knock on her door almost made her temper snapped. She almost rushed towards her older sister and directly went for her neck. Thankfully, Zion was really weak and doesn't have any strength left to spare. If not, her thoughts alone could trigger her body to attack almost immediately, without letting her think twice. After all, Zion is just a newborn vampire. With no one to teach her anything and no one to share her problems with, Zion is more vulnerable and fragile than ordinary young vampires.

After realizing her thoughts just now, Zion cursed herself fiercely. Her thoughts were especially dangerous just now. Zion was sinking more and more. She doesn't know what to do. Zion wanted to just cry and let everything go, but she couldn't. She could only try her best to remain normal.

Nothing will change whether they knew or not. It will just burden them more knowing anything. Zion wishes to disappear without them knowing anything. Now Zion's desire to become a witch became more apparent. The spell Hermione used on her parents is very useful. Zion wanted to learn and use it as well.