Ethan and the others could tell right away—this crusty old man was doing it on purpose. He saw them all geared up like a bunch of fat sheep ripe for the picking, so of course he was gonna jack up the price.
Ethan thought for a second, then said, "Looks like you've got rooms too. Got any vacancies? Just give us a few for now—we'll settle the bill all at once later."
"Oh, that might cost you a bit more," the old man replied with a greedy grin, not even trying to hide it.
"Fine," Ethan agreed. His main concern was getting Mia and the rest settled in before he went off to handle his own business.
With that, the old man led them upstairs to the lodging area.
At the top of the stairs was a hallway lined with guest rooms on both sides.
As they walked, Chris passed by Room 203 and gave it a quick glance. It was quiet—eerily quiet. Not a single sound came from inside.
"What the hell? Don't tell me Brandon actually got eaten by a vampire…" he thought, frowning.
But with the old man still around, he didn't say anything out loud.
A few minutes later, the old man finished assigning the rooms and, looking like he had something else to do, headed back downstairs.
Oliver quickly shut the door behind them and let out a breath. "There are a lot of vampires in this town. It's seriously dangerous."
"Brandon got lured away by one just now, and we haven't heard a peep from him since. Maybe we should go check on him," Chris said, starting to get worried. He figured enough was enough—he and Brandon had been through a lot together, and he wasn't about to leave him hanging.
"That girl wasn't a vampire," Ethan said plainly. "The one who took him—she's human. Alive and breathing."
"Huh? Wait, what?" Chris blinked, caught off guard. His expression shifted from confusion to suspicion.
If it had been anyone else saying that, he probably wouldn't have believed it. But coming from Ethan? No way he was wrong.
"So you're telling me… Damn, now I really gotta go check on him!" Chris realized he might've missed something big. He spun around and bolted out the door, heading straight for Room 203. Without hesitation, he shoved the door open.
A soft, sweet scent hit him immediately.
Inside, on the big bed, sat two figures. A girl with tear-streaked cheeks was clinging to Brandon's arm, sobbing quietly, clearly overwhelmed with emotion.
"Don't cry, Emily," Brandon said gently, patting her back. "The vampires' days are numbered. We're gonna make it through this."
Chris stood frozen in the doorway, eyes wide, face blank. "Brandon?!"
"Huh? Uncle Chris, you guys came up too?" Brandon said casually, like nothing was out of the ordinary.
"I mean—what the hell…" Chris looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't quite get the words out.
Brandon raised an eyebrow. "What's up with you?"
"She's really not a vampire?" Chris asked, still a little skeptical.
"Nope. Her name's Emily Parker. She's a regular human. Came here from Portland, Oregon for school. Then the apocalypse hit, and she's been stuck here ever since," Brandon explained.
"You sure know a lot about her," Chris said, a little pissed.
Brandon scratched his head. "I guess?"
Chris was fuming. He slapped his thigh in frustration. The one time he wasn't being chased by monsters, the one chance he had to connect with a beautiful girl—and he just handed it over like an idiot.
Damn it… I fumbled the bag.
Brandon added, "What? Weren't you the one who told me to come up here and talk to her?"
"Yeah, sure!" Chris forced a smile, nodding stiffly. "You two really hit it off, huh…"
Just then, footsteps echoed from the hallway outside. The old man from the restaurant appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Shh! It's that monster again!" Emily whispered, instantly tense. Living in a place , she was always on edge.
Luckily, the old man didn't come for them. He walked right past their door and stopped at the room across the hall. He raised his fist and banged on the door.
"Open up! Open the damn door!"
Chris and the others crouched by the door, peeking out. "Wait a sec… isn't that Mia's room? What the hell does he want with them now?"
Emily's face went pale with worry. "Oh no! That vampire's totally unpredictable—your friends could be in danger!"
Chris and Brandon exchanged a look, clearly not too concerned. That creepy old guy had already harassed Ethan and Mia a few times—honestly, it was still up in the air who was more dangerous.
Then came a loud creak.
After pounding on the door a few more times, the old man finally got a response. The door opened, and he stepped inside with a sinister grin stretched across his wrinkled face.
"Come on! We should go too—maybe we can help your friends!" Emily urged, already moving.
"Sure, let's go," Chris said casually. He and Brandon followed her down the hall toward the room.
Inside, the old man found Ethan, Mia, Sean, and the others all there.
Sean was happily munching on some post-dinner fruit, completely unbothered by the tension in the room.
Mia was calmly polishing her Stellar Fang katana, not even glancing up, like the old man didn't exist.
Only Oliver bothered to speak. "What do you want now?"
"Obviously, I'm here to collect payment," the old man said, his eyes drifting to the katana in Mia's hands. His gaze lit up with greedy excitement. "In addition to an A-grade crystal core, I want that katana too."
Mia's hand paused mid-polish. Slowly, she lifted her head.
So… the old bastard had a decent eye after all.
Stellar Fang wasn't just any weapon—it was one of a kind in this world. Its value? Practically priceless.
Mia didn't say a word. She turned her head slightly, looking over at Ethan.
Ethan didn't speak either. He just gave her a small nod.
"Alright then," Mia said softly. She rose to her feet, katana in hand. As Ethan's closest companion and most trusted friend, she didn't need words to understand what needed to be done.
The old man's expression twitched. He was starting to sense something was off. "What are you doing? You're not… planning to attack me, are you?"
"No," Mia said coolly. "I'm just giving you the sword."
"Oh… well, that's more like it." He nodded, satisfied, and reached out with his bony, liver-spotted hand.
But Mia's eyes narrowed.
In one fluid motion, she raised the katana and slashed.
A gleaming arc of steel sliced through the air, cutting clean from the old man's chin straight up through the crown of his skull.
A thin red line appeared down the center of his deeply wrinkled face—then his head split in two.
"You… you…" he stammered, eyes wide with pure terror, unable to believe what had just happened. He stumbled back, blood spraying from the gash with a sickening splurt, then collapsed backward with a heavy thud.
At the doorway, Chris, Brandon, and Emily stood frozen, staring at the scene.
Emily's face was pale with shock. "He… he's dead?"
Brandon just waved it off. "Don't be too surprised. That's just Mia doing her thing."
Emily looked up at Mia, who stood there with a calm, almost indifferent expression. Her skin was porcelain-pale, her face stunningly beautiful—and yet, she'd just sliced a vampire in half without so much as blinking. It was like it meant nothing to her.
"She's insane…" Emily thought, equal parts awe and fear.
But just as she was marveling at Mia's sheer badassery, Mia's brow furrowed slightly. For the first time, a flicker of emotion crossed her otherwise unreadable face—annoyance.
"What?" she said, her voice cool. "You scared just because I killed a vampire?"
She lifted Stellar Fang again. The blade, which she'd just finished polishing to a mirror shine, was now streaked with blood.
Her expression fell flat.
"All that work… wasted."