Thomas was in his room, slowly pacing with worries and concern. And it didn’t change when both Caroline and Jason came in.

 

“Hi Thomas, how are you feeling?” Jason asked as he and Caroline put down some brown bags and two thermal lunch boxes on the small table in the room.

 

“Not good. Three broken ribs and some internal bleeding.” Thomas shook his head and sighed: “But I am worried about Aimee… we were both caught in the explosion, but the bastards also came and bit her.”

 

“Bit her? What? Why?” Jason was not able to hide his surprise.

 

“I don’t know. I don’t know and I don’t understand...” Thomas banged his fist against the wall, “One of the men, I shot him on his chest and shoulders, he bled, but it was like nothing to him...”

 

“Hold on, tell us what happened.” Caroline took out her phone and started to take notes, “From the beginning.”

 

“I don’t even know what they are. ” Thomas scratched his head and sat down by his bed: “I think I am kinda losing my mind here, the more I think about it, the less sense it makes...”

 

“What, vampires?” Caroline shrugged.

 

“Huh? What’d you say? You really believe me?”

 

“Dude, you did not really say vampires.” Jason also shrugged, “But like what you told us before, there are people with superpowers in the world that can throw fireballs. What’s so special or difficult to believe about vampires?”

 

“Okay, that makes sense. Thanks buddy.” Thomas calmed down for just one mere moment, but then started to freak out: “Oh my god! But Aimee was bit by a vampire! Does that mean she’s infected? Or cursed? Holy...”

 

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down. Tell us what happened first.” Caroline tried to hold Thomas’s shoulder, but Thomas was about to rush out of the room so she had to hit Thomas on the shoulder.

 

“Ouch! What the hell! That hurt!” Thomas jumped, “I didn’t know you’re so strong!”

 

“Calm down and tell us what happened.” Caroline said with a serious face.

 

Thomas sighed, and slowly described what happened when he and Aimee were aiding two pinned down officers, including the part where the man with curly hair bit Aimee on the neck and said he was “having a snack”, and the man with green eyes completely unfazed even after getting shot by Thomas on some critical areas, and the mysterious and cold blooded killer in all black wielding two machetes.

 

“That is indeed… a lot of information.” Jason thought for a while: “And scary, how is Aimee now? Is she under some kind of watch?”

 

“She’s not woken up yet. The doctor said that she may wake up today or tomorrow. ” Thomas let out a long sigh: “These people - including that man with two machetes, are not normal people, we don’t have any idea who they are or what they are, the only thing I know was that those two officers reported sighting some members of the Corin family in that neighborhood, then they were immediately under attack. Now that everyone’s looking into those cop killers’ identities and no one’s told me anything.”

 

“Corin family? As in Emilia Corin?” Jason asked while picking up a brown bag and handed it to Thomas.

 

“This smells nice, the matcha cake from your inn?” Thomas seemed to have some a little appetite after calming down, so he took a big bite: “Oh my god, thanks guys, I didn’t know I was starving … Anyway, yes, the Corin family, as in Emilia Corin, one of the biggest underground crime families in California… wait, the Exalted Bondsmen!”

 

“What bondsmen?” Caroline was opening up one of the nested lunch boxes and taking out some inner smaller boxes and cups on the table.

 

“Shit, uh! I’m not supposed to tell you this.” Thomas smacked himself on the head, then looked at Caroline and Jason embarrassedly: “Can you guys keep this a secret?”

 

“No problem. What is that Bondesmen you just mentioned?” Caroline said.

 

“The Exalted Bondsmen, an underground organization that we just learned about recently when we started looking into a string of murder and drug cases tied to the Corin family.” Thomas explained: “We knew about the existence of people with superpower before, but this organization is even weirder - it is an underground mercenary and force for hire organization connecting employers to super powered individuals. Like a network of underground mercenaries and killers with superpowers.”

 

“So, you’re saying that these vampires are hired forces working for the Corin family?” Jason and Caroline both grasped what Thomas had in mind: “But why would they attack police officers?”

 

“Yeah, that’s the thing. They attacked Aimee and me, but sounded like they did not want to kill us. But they did plan to kill Officer Singh and Officer Lee...” Thomas started thinking, “So, for some reason they must have a reason to want them dead… I think I need to look into their case files and investigation notes...” 

 

“Detective Chaver?” a nurse went into the room: “Your sister woke up.”

 

“Holy shit! Aimee!” Thomas ran straight through the door, Caroline and Jason followed.

 

When three entered Aimee’s room, she had bandages on her neck, and one empty saline water bangs hanging beside her bed.

 

“Hey. ” Aimee sounded exhausted and weak, “Thanks for being here.”

 

“Oh Aimee thank god.” Thomas rushed to the bed and hugged her, “I am so glad you are okay. How are you feeling?”

 

“Weak, like somebody just tried to drink all of my blood.” Aimee smiled and then looked at the concerned people standing beside her desk: “I gotta ask … did any of you come into my room before I wake up?”

 

“No, why? I was waiting in my room the whole day and Caroline and Jason just got here.”

 

“And we brought matcha cake and rib soup.” Jason chuckled nervously at the strange question.

 

“Oh...” Aimee became confused and a bit afraid: “then who stuffed this in my hand?”

 

Thomas, Caroline and Jason looked into Aimee’s left hand, it was a meticulously folded paper flower, made from elegant purple printed paper. The paper flow also gave off a calming smell, like it was sprayed with an expensive perfume.