The two looked up to find Chief Rojas waving his gun at them, rather intense.

"Chief?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I got intel from another cop that there was an incident so I got here as soon as I could."

As Edumondo struggled to get up in the wake of overwhelming pain, she watched Rojas aim his weapon at the young prince.

"I never trusted you from the start. I should've known you turned on us. There's always a snake hiding somewhere in the grass."

"Chief, what are you talking about? He was with me the whole night!"

"He and Choi were working together this whole time! My source spotted him with Kling a couple of nights ago in Hudson Yards. He turned Kling into a vampire. Then that bastard and that rat roped Burn into meeting them and changed him into one of those freaks!

"Chief, that's ridiculous. Gwain saved my life that night! Someone looked like they forced her into doing this."

Edumondo tried to get up. "Rojas. You told me to take the night off so I came here."

"Oh really? Perguson, catch." She caught his phone he tossed her. There was a photo of Edmundo walking in the hall from what appeared to be surveillance footage.

He already told me he goes here often. Sure he could if he wanted to, but why. He can't risk something like this. She accidentally swiped the phone up, and saw the date and time. It was today, roughly almost an hour they spent in the mall.

How the heck did he get that today? She scrolled through the images. Screenshots of the news talking about, new headlines about vampire integration, a picture of a warehouse that looked similar, a selfie with Gwain. Pause. She scrolled back. First, why would he take that with him and Gwain, gross? She repeated, looking at the warehouse pic and seeing the date, about a week before Gwain's disappearance.

Did they go on a stakeout or something here? But...wait...oh no.

She said nothing and tossed the phone back to Rojas. She took out her own gun and turned her body to Edmundo, pointing it at him, without a change in the wind.

"You're right Chief, its good to weed out the snakes in the grass."

She saw Rojas' smirk glisten in the silence of the night as Edmundo's attempts to defend the accusations flew on deaf ears. Noticing Chief returning the gun to his hoisters, she stretches out and yawns rather heavily, feigning a loose grip on her own before effortlessly shooting the gun out of Rojas' hand.

Chief Rojas recommended it.

"Hey Chief, one question. How did you know that someone was forcing cops into becoming vampires?"

"Perguson, what are you talking about? You told me, remember?"

"No, I said Officer Burn had turned into one. I never said forced. And you immediately called out a search for Gwain. Why was that your first action? Why did you tell Gwain to go on patrol with me to Hell's Kitchen? How did you know Kling was already a vampire?"

"I-I did the paperwork beforehand. I told you before I had a feeling something sketchy was going on, and she seemed like the most viable suspect."

"How did you find out Kling was already a vampire?"

"Perguson, you're accusing me of all this?! You have no proof you little-"

"Why don't I ask the guys you hired to kill me and frame Lieutenant Kaiser tonight? That's why you had them lead us there. Let me guess, kill me and frame Edumondo for? A frameup you had to alter without getting any blood stained on your hands once Gwain had the tacos to not follow your orders like a lapdog!"

Rojas, stunned, stuttered to come up with a response. Edmundo broke off in disbelief.

"Chief. Is that true?"

"I."

"Where's Gwain?", she yelled, aiming her gun at his heart.

"Perguson. Just calm down!"

"WHERE IS SHE!?"

The two of them watch Rojas's panic drop, now touting a sinister frown.

"Check the trunk."

A quick glance of his eyes to the car gave her the tip, walking backwards while still aiming at him in case. When she reaches the car, she quickly looks through the mirror, keeping an eye on her police chief while praying by some miracle Gwain was alive. Not seeing anything in the seats, she yelled at him to open up the car.

"You're overreacting to this situation."

She fired a bullet that landed inches away from his face, locking it to a point where she could shoot him for a second time.

"Press the button on your badge, or the next one's going through your skull."

He reluctantly complied. The trunk opened up, and Saffice dropped her gun at the sight of her best friend's body.

"Gwain." She held back the tears, checking her pulse for some sense of life. She saw Gwain's thumb move, remaining ever so hopeful at the faintest sign of life, only to watch it stop as it fell dead onto its tracks.

"Don't move".

She could care less about Rojas' threats, cradling her best friend's body.

"We're Pane and Gain remember. Till the end? Come back to me Gwain, wake up, wake up!"

"You two were close huh. Sorry Perguson, you both got too close into something involving you. Say hi to her in heaven for me."

Before she could watch the last moments of life, she saw Ed quickly spring up, shooting Rojas in the leg. He lost his footing, leaving Saffice the opportunity to drop kick him to the pavement. She grabbed both guns present with Ed limping over to them.

"Is she?"

"I'm calling an ambulance." She whipped open her phone, more preoccupied with getting Gwain's body to a hospital. Meanwhile, Ed took Rojas by the collar.

"You hired people to turn innocents against their will? Are you mad?!"

"I'll exterminate all you freaks by any means necessary."

Saffice punched him in the face. "You're killing and turning your own cops into martyrs too blockhead! Do you know what would have happened if this broke to the public? You'd be starting World War III. Is that why you killed Gwain?" She punched him again. "Is that it?"

"That's the damn point Perguson. If you're naive enough to trust these bloodsuckers, you're just as foolish as you were all those years ago."

Saffice quickly shut down her mouth, recollecting that night.

"You..you were there!? You've been pulling this shit for years!?"

"And you're still the naive little brat from back then! It felt good watching that chick's head get blown off. She killed one of our own that night too!"

Enraged, she aimed both guns at his skull.

"Liut-Saffice, don't!"

"People like him don't deserve to exist!"

"Saffice, hold on. You don't mean to kill him, would you?"

"If he stays alive, he'll do this whole shit over again. If not someone else will replace him and be just as cruel and heartless. We'll take care of it when it happens"

"But"

"I don't wanna hear it from you. You're the prince of the vampires, your people are getting murdered and some are just as bad, and you do nothing while your dad pistol whips you around."

"Do not bring my father into this."

"Then what will you do?"

He pulls out his gun at her. "Make sure you don't lose your humanity as well."

She lowers her gun. "Are you..really?"

Rojas coughs up blood before continuing his speech. "You can't hide your hatred for humans anymore. Kill me and everyone will see how evil you freaks are."

"No", lowering his "you're right about two things. Though my family sees me as a means to an end, my decision to this treatment was to ensure co-existence between both our kinds. Killing each other serves us no point in the long run."

"But."

"Don't sacrifice your humanity for the sake of revenge. We protect and serve. We're not judges or executioners. I've fought my family to remind them of that, and you've worked harder than anyone else for the sake of peace. Let him rot for what he's done. Not you."

"Prince."

After much consideration, she enters both guns in the holster and steps on Rojas leg before pressing the police radio.

"Calling all officers in the SNYPD district. Officer Rojas will be arrested for manipulation, attempted manslaughter and office manslaughter, and the ringleader for hiring members to assault the patrons at the Hudson Yards shopping district."

Edumondo nods in agreement. However, they heard Rojas moaning, watch. stretching his head up

Rojas roared from the top of his lungs."Hunter! He's here!"

"The heck are you doing?"

Rubbing the blood off his cheeks, he chuckles. "My last resort."

The two heard an explosion spiral through the air, the wind slightly pushing them back as something drops in front of them, a small crater on the ground. When the dusk clears, they spot someone in the smoke.

The hell is this?

"A certain client that finally took a while to come."

"Another brethren. What brings you here?"

Saffice could only watch as Edmundo's question would be physically responded to by the vampire as he was knocked back into the further regions of the alleyway.

"Prince." She turns her attention to Rojas. "Who's he?"

"Meet Travis Leichter, professional vampire hunter. And he's got a bone to pick with Mr. Prince here."

He emerged as a more imposing figure in tan fur, with a lot of cuts around his body. Saffice took more attention as he bombarded Ed with a ton of punches, not giving the wounded Ed a second to recover.

As Travis pierced Edumondo's chest, Saffice's mind began jugging the thought of restraining the new vampire to the scene, calling for backup against Rojas despite the possibility no one would believe her, and calling a hospital in the naive hopes of saving Gwain. However, Edumondo's body quickly fell into the other side of the alleyway.

"Saffice, run."

"I'm not leaving you, I've already lost Gwain, I'm not losing anyone else tonight!"

She jumped in front of Travis, who had quickly landed in between the two, defending Edumondo's body.

"That's enough. You've already won!"

"I won't end until I've driven a stake through his heart! That monster destroyed my life without even a second glance!"

Quick on the adrenaline of the situation, her brain roared for a counter argument.

"I-I don't know enough about him to judge, but if he did, is killing him going to solve all of your problems? What did he do to you?"

"That's irrelevant! That night of the damn treat his kind destroyed our home, slaughtered my family like a game, and I lost my sister in front of my eyes! They did nothing but defend themselves and died for it!"

She glances at Ed for confirmation. "Is that it true?"

"Our arrival...I. Canory", grumbling while hoping his wounds regenerate quickly. "Wait, what does your sister look like?"

"Why should I tell you?! Your kind took her life and you don't have the gall to remember!"

"She may still be alive!"

"What?"

"My family has", coughing, "a disturbing trend of taking possessions, and in some cases, life. I've heard her talk to someone but she kept her quarters closed. I don't know for certain. Your fangs are just as small as mine. Only after a person has claimed the lives or infected the souls of another, they gain elongated fangs. I can't conquer your thirst for revenge, but look."

Saffice looked at both their fans, finding them to be around the same height, much smaller than those she saw from Kling or Skya's ex.

Right, he said before turning someone. And this guy only claims he wants to hunt him down, so neither of them have done it willingly...that means. Wait, Rojas!

She turned their attention to Rojas, who had her gun in his hand, his own rested behind him.

"All of you can go to hell! Starting with you, you revolting prince!"

She pushed Edumondo out of the way. Seconds before the bullet pierced her skull, she only hears the sounds of emptiness, screams, and what she thought Gwain's voice, another bullet flying as her consciousness dropped to the floor.

---