The Vampire Lord's Blood Doll

**Professor Richard's POV**

After a long route, we finally stopped at a building. It looked like the one we were looking for. It was an old, abandoned warehouse. Its walls were already faded by the erosion of wind and rain, leaving mottled marks behind. The whole atmosphere gave me a heavy feeling, and that just made me certain that we found the right place.

David was the first who left the car. His military boots sank into the mud, which obviously annoyed him. He took his sunglasses off, gazing at the building and sniffing the air. He turned back to the olive green off-road car. He leaned in to look at me.

"Professor, this is the place." He said, so I got out of the car, avoiding my neat, grey suit to be stained, and I checked my grey-white hair that was combed back. I pushed up my gold-rimmed glasses to take a good look at the building. Observing it from outside made me agree with David. Probably that was the warehouse we were looking for.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

"Let's go inside and look around." I said, which made David nod in agreement.

We walked toward the door, but when we reached, we stopped for a moment. We listened carefully, making sure we were alone. After we couldn't hear a single move, or talking, we pushed it open. Initially, carefully, but when we were certain there was no one exempt from us, we opened the doors wider.

The sight didn't surprise us at all; it looked exactly like we imagined it. Scattered objects laid around inside, with streaks of rust and mould on the walls. The holes in the walls let the Sunlight stream in, casting a desolate and decayed atmosphere.

David walked further in and stopped at a large stainless steel table. He leaned in and sniffed it carefully. It took him a while to sniff it around. When he finished with it, he took a spray bottle from his backpack, and sprayed the whole table with it. Soon, green traces appeared on the surface.

One after another, there were splatters of some kind of liquid. I had a clue what that was.

"Professor, it's the blood of a monster." David stated in excitement, but I remained calm. Instead of checking the table further, I wandered around, surveying the surroundings. Suddenly, one little thing took my attention on the stained floor. It was a piece of black, withered grass. I held it carefully, and I lifted it to my nose to sniff it.

"David, this is a herb. It seems they found the Cake."

David's eyes widened as he pointed to the walls, which were stained with the monsters' blood. We both knew that time must have been brutal. Anything happened here. It was a real massacre.

"Probably, yes," I nodded. "Cake is extremely rare for monsters. Their revolt and violence for it are normal. They all wanted it madly."

David looked at me, puzzled.

"What exactly is Cake?"

These monsters disguise themselves as ordinary people. They never left traces after themselves, so that it was almost impossible to find them. There was nothing in this world that would make them come out, show themselves, caring about no one, except for one thing. The Cake.

Many creatures shared this world. Humans were well known, but there were also legendary monsters, which could be animals or plants.

Described in mythology as monsters, they differed from the legendary creatures, more akin to mutations according to modern scientific explanations.

Normally, no human could distinguish these monsters from ordinary people, as they showed no traces in front of humans. They were living and dying just like regular people. I have searched for years, and there has been no trace of these

monsters.

However, recently they mysteriously appeared in the city, and just like something had taken their common sense, they weren't careful enough. Therefore, we had encountered not just one, but multiple monsters.

Initially, I was happy about that, as it made me think that my academic pursuits could finally progress and their appearance could prove my theories. But the two monsters' sudden appearance and disappearance left me disappointed. We tracked them to this place, only to find what was left of them. There was nothing else, just remnants of bloodstains, and that left us far from hopeful.

The only thing that vaguely knew about these monsters was that they were after something called Cake.

"Cake?" I repeated his question while I straightened up. "I have also gleaned information from past records. I have never seen it in its true form. All I know is that for monsters, Cake is like a miraculous elixir. If they consume Cake, it not only alleviates their ailment but also extends their lifespan, rejuvenates them, and even restores their youth."

David frowned, like he didn't believe me.

"So, miraculous. Does Cake have the same effect on humans?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know, David. I have no clue what Cake really is. Perhaps it is just a type of mutated plant that takes on a humanoid form." I said honestly.

"So, what do we do now? We have finally found two monsters. We tracked them all the way to here, only to find out they are dead. Now the trail is cold. Where do we find these monsters?"

Actually, I couldn't really answer him. It indeed took us a great effort to go after these two. It gave us hope that we finally could know more about them, but all we really did was just wasting our precious time.

I felt frustrated and disheartened. I hoped for a different outcome as well, but even if we had no result from tracing these two, I had a theory.

I pushed up my glasses again.

"Why are you panicking? If Cake is so important, then more than just one or two monsters will be vying for it. Let's stay here for now. I believe those monsters will emerge on their own when they catch the scent of Cake. When the time comes, we will surely find the individuals we are looking for."

David grunted in response, which made me smile.