Chapter 13 — Rogues

“MR. GUZMAN called while you were upstairs. I answered the phone for you. He told me that the wait was over. You have successfully acquired the last property of the Ricafortes. You’ve bought all their properties. Eunice still had no idea it was you who bought them. You did it. She immediately withdrew the money and went to the casino. We’ve set the trap and put our men there to play with her. It will only take some time before she loses all her money until she has nothing left. You completely destroyed her this time. Congratulations, Natasha,” Agatha said when I went to the dining room inside the mansion that I built for my family.

My assistant and make-up artist were also there. They were all holding blood bags in their hands. The three of them congratulated me in a chirpy voice. It was another reason to celebrate indeed. They were now busy discussing where we would hang out tonight.

I thought I’d be happy, too, but I felt the opposite. When I remembered the Ricafortes’ faces, my stomach suddenly flipped.

“Natasha? Are you okay? You look pale,” Remy, my assistant, said.

“I’m fine. How could I not be? I waited for this for so long. I just remembered that I forgot something in my room. Can you please excuse me for a while?”

I didn’t wait for their reply anymore. I rushed upstairs and went to the bathroom. I turned on the faucet and threw up. I leaned on the wall afterwards and broke out in cold sweat. Every time I would advance on my revenge plan, I’d become like this.

Yet, I pressed on, believing it would one day lead to my family’s healing.

It had been two years but the pain was still as fresh as if the day I found out that the Ricafortes colluded with the Rogues to mess with my family was just yesterday. For the umpteenth time, the bite marks I saw on my father’s body crossed my mind. The thought that I could have lost a father had I not succeeded in waking Cain still drives me mad.

Papa’s body had been fully healed now. But the effect of the encounter he had with the Rogues still lingered in his mind until today that’s why my anger remained until today as well.

When I closed my eyes, memories of the past came rushing back all at once.

***

Two years ago…

“WHY… why is my father like this?” I asked, dumbfounded, when I saw several bite marks on Papa’s neck, arms, and chest. I barely recognized him because of his bruises and the blood on his face and body. His shirt and pants were ripped. It was as if a wild animal had attacked him.

We hadn’t seen each other for only a week, but he became thinner. He was unconscious when Cain’s men brought him in the guest room.

My eyes watered and my whole body trembled. “What… what happened to him? What kind of monster did this to my father?”

“I will explain everything outside, Natasha. For now, let my men handle this. They are Vampire doctors. They will take good care of your father.”

“No! I want to stay here with my father. What if something happens to him again?” I pushed Cain’s hand away when he was about to hold me. “I need to be by his side. Do you think he can survive this? Please tell me that he can.”

“I am not going to lie, Miss Natasha. This is going to be difficult,” the man wearing a lab coat said. He came along with two more doctors a few minutes after Papa was brought in the mansion. “Your father had lost so much blood. Worse, the one who did this to him were the Rogues. Rogues carry infections over humans. Their bites are lethal. And considering how many bite marks he had, your father’s life is in grave danger. Every second is precious. If you don’t leave and let us treat him right away, we might not be able to save—”

“No, don’t say that! I’ll leave,” I replied in a shaky voice as I held my father’s hand. “Please come back to me and Kurt. I know it’s tempting, but don’t leave us yet, Papa. Don’t give up on us yet,” I said before turning to the doctors. I wiped my tears away. “I’m leaving my father in your care. Please do the best that you can.”

“You can count on us, Miss Natasha.”

“Thank you.” I glanced at my father for the last time before I finally left the room.

But I stayed outside the door. I sat on the cold floor and wept. Cain sat beside me. “What about my brother? Is he safe?”

Cain wiped my tears. “Don’t worry, he’s safe. Kurt is currently being guarded by my men at the hospital.”

“T-thank you.”

“Dennis is a very good doctor. I trained him myself. You can put your trust in him and in the people he was with. One of them is a Mage. They can save your father, Natasha.”

“What about you? Everyone in this place said that you are a very powerful man. You also said you trained those doctors. Then can’t you cure him yourself? Can’t you save my father?”

“I wanted to do that but I just woke up. My powers are still not stable right now. Besides, I have faith in my men. They will not fail me. You see, every Vampire has a special ability, Natasha. And healing is the ability of the Vampires who are with your father right now. He is in good hands.”

I lowered my head. “I’m sorry, Cain. You’ve helped my family a lot. The fact that your men brought my father here meant that you fulfilled your part of the bargain even if we haven’t talked about it yet. That’s why I shouldn’t have said those things. I wasn’t thinking straight. I’ve been selfish.”

“Isn’t that only natural when it comes to humans? They have a tendency to become greedy when it’s related with the people they care about. You were like that out of concern so stop torturing yourself over it, Natasha. I understand.”

Cain kept reassuring me but I couldn’t calm down. I still felt guilty. I don’t know what exactly happened. Cain and I were about to talk about my plans regarding the Ricafortes in the library when a man suddenly came and reported to him using a different language. The last thing I remembered was how Cain’s eyes burned with fury as he rushed downstairs. Confused, I followed him, and then I found my father on a stretcher.

“What… what happened to my father?”

“It turned out that your battle against the Ricafortes is not something that an ordinary human like you can win, Natasha, because the Rogues are also involved here.”

I did hear that term from the Doctor earlier, but I wasn’t able to pay much attention to it. “Rogues? What are you talking about? What are they? Are they wild animals or something?”

“A Rogue is a Vampire who had been exterminated by the Vampire society because of their blood addiction,” Cain explained. “Those Vampires had a tendency to kill their victims by their excessive drinking of blood. They had killed many Breeders, the only women capable of giving birth to Vampire children. Since you might find this whole thing confusing, let me begin the explanation with the Breeders first. Breeders were the only humans capable of making a Vampire stronger through their unique blood. Vampires were originally cursed by the Mages to only drink blood from the willing Breeders. That was when the Mages, Vampires, and Wolves were still at war. But even after they had a peace treaty, the curse remained so that no Vampires would be able to feed straight from the human veins. It was a way to protect the humans.

“But the Rogues slaughtered many of the Breeders which enabled them to fight the Mages’ curse so they could finally feed on to all the humans whenever they please. That was the reason why the Rogues became stronger than the ordinary Vampires. The thing about them was that their fangs had been poisonous overtime so the effect they had on people is very extreme. A single bite from the Rogues could kill humans. The only reason why your father made it alive until now was that he was given an emergency antidote back in the prison by the Vampires I sent over him. But that antidote could only slow down the effect of the poison. He would still need help from the Mage to make sure that he wouldn’t suffer from any after-effects.”

My eyes widened. “Are you saying that as we speak, there are Rogues lurking around in different parts of the world and killing humans like me?”

“You could say that. But the Council are searching for them now. And soon, I will join the hunting, too. I’m sorry about this, Natasha. I’ve cleared all the Rogues before I traveled here in your country a hundred years ago. But when I was gone, their number began to increase again. As of today, most of the Rogues flew out from the Philippines when they discovered that I’m back on the grid. Don’t worry, I have a way of tracking them. My servants are back as well so those sons of bitches will not be able to live that long.” Cain held my hands and gently squeezed them. “I know that this information is a lot to take. But I need you to brace yourself, Natasha. When I’m done talking, you can let out whatever you feel inside. I will listen.”

I took a deep breath. “All right.”

“After a day of investigation, my men discovered quite a lot. First, when Eunice was a little girl, Leon Ricaforte sold his wife, Monique, to a Rogue he met, in exchange of having an endless amount of money. In return, the Rogue would have an endless blood supply. Monique happened to be a Breeder and so the Rogue liked her even more. At that time, the number of Breeders were decreasing. They were close to being extinct nowadays. That was the reason why the Rogue decided to keep Monique alive instead of sucking her life force out of her right away. From then on, they deal with the Ricafortes’ enemies. Leon would lure them and the Rogues would take care of them.”

What Cain said sent a shiver running down my spine. “Are you saying that the R-Rogue… kills their e-enemies for them?”

“Yes, through draining the humans of their blood,” Cain said as if he was only giving me a weather update. “Later on, that Rogue invited his two other friends to join the party. The two of them began working for the Ricafortes, too, for the sake of the Breeder. Leon knew the Rogues’ circumstances so he kept them hidden and would only let them out when it’s feeding time.”

“Feeding time…” I gulped. “You mean when it’s time to slay some people?”

Cain nodded.

“What about Eunice? Is she aware about this?” I asked in a hesitant voice. I couldn’t believe I was actually silently praying that those two would be innocent about this.

“Sadly, she was on it, too. I have lived for so long but the human mind will always be a wonder to me. Mrs. Ricaforte, for example, would rather have the Rogues suck her dry as long as it would mean she could keep gambling and shopping, although I heard that Eunice discovered about the Rogues just three years ago. She benefits a lot from the money her parents were receiving, too. And when she discovered about Leon’s real connection with Gwen, she ordered the Rogues to feed on the witnesses and on your father, saying that she wanted them to keep their silence for eternity so nothing would affect her upcoming wedding with your ex-fiancé. She seems to be obsessed with your ex.”

I was aghast. “Eunice was the one who ordered it?”

We used to be really good friends… or was I the only one who thought like that? What did my family do for them to treat us like this? All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure who the real beasts were. Why did it seem like the Ricafortes were more monstrous than the one sitting beside me?

“How did you know those details about Eunice? Is she a Breeder, too?”

“My men caught their Rogues. The Mages compelled them to admit everything they know about the Ricafortes. And no, Eunice is not a Breeder. A Breeder can only be born every sixty years now. They were that rare. If the Ricafortes would be fortunate enough to have another Breeder, that would be after sixty years.”

“Where are the Rogues now?”

“My men will take them to the Moon Tower. It’s like a prison for the supernatural beings. The magic casted on the Tower would drain the strength of the prisoners until they die. But if you want to talk to them, I can make it happen.”

Talk? That didn’t even cross my mind. I gritted my teeth. I wanted to break them, too. But how could I inflict pain to such strong creatures? Maybe the thought that those Rogues would experience a slow death would do for now.

“I’m surprised. You are taking this more calmly than I thought.”

“Calm?” I laughed bitterly. I’m raging inside. “If I threw a fit, would that save my father? Would that enable me to take back everything I have lost?” I shook my head. “Besides, I’m too tired emotionally and mentally to do that. That’s why you are wrong, Cain. I am not as calm as you think. I just…” Tears ran down my cheeks. “I just don’t know what exactly to feel.”