"Officer." Someone called before he could tell her where it was and he turned to see a familiar face walking up to him with a smile. "Where do I go if I want to sue dishonest commenters?" She asked, sweeping her hair from her face.
Right, it was the famous actress Ariel Martin. "Walk through the front door and head up the second floor." He replied as he heard murmurs from the people nearby. They were probably wondering what relationship he had with her.
"Don't you know me?" She suddenly asked surprising him with her question.
Who wouldn't know the most popular actress who donated money to a charity home that same year?
"You're an actress."
She smiled. " I thought you didn't recognise me."
"You're a popular actress so who wouldn't recognise you...Do excuse me." He said and turned to leave when she pulled him back.
"Did you eat something recently?"
"Huh?"
"There's something on your lip."She replied. That was weird. How could there be anything on his lip when he was yet to have dinner?
He touched his lower lip. "Here?"
"Not there."
It was be his upper lip then. "Here?"
"No, not there." She said and made to rub her thumb over his lip.
"Right here.
He leaned back before her thumb could make contact with his lip.
"Woah there...I am a very sensitive person. Let's not make a scandal over this."
She embarrassingly lowered her finger to her lip. "You're very handsome. Your face seems familiar, have you appeared on tv before?" She asked and Kaiwan grew suspicious. What was it with her?
"No." He replied sharply.
"No? Am I remembering incorrectly? She asked, trying to get closer to him and he stepped back with a sigh.
"Yeah, I believe so... And please respect my personal space."
"But I feel like I've seen you somewhere before..." She chuckled embarrassingly as she touched her lip.
"De...tective."
His head whipped around to see Zuriña with his laptop and he was grateful that she had showed up.
"Aren't you the actress Ariel Martin? The one that donates a lot?" She asked and he realised Ariel didn't look as cheerful on seeing Zuriña who seemed to notice that.
"It seems you two were talking...I'll excuse you then." She said and turned to leave when Kaiwan grabbed her arm.
"It's no problem. We're done talking. Did you get it?"
She smiled. "Yup, I'm sorry it took me quite a while."
"No, I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I kept it."
"What kind of relationship do you two have?" Ariel asked and they turned to her. "Please, don't misunderstand. I was just envious of how close you two seem....I have a harsh personality so socializing is a difficult for me. I'm sorry if I might be overstepping my boundaries but..."
"I'm sure everyone will think of you as a good friend, because you are a good person, Miss Ariel." Zuriña smiled and the actress lowered her head to mutter something.
"Huh?" Zuriña asked and Ariel walked up to her and put her arm around her back.
"There's something on your lip." She said and ran her thumb over her lip.
Zuriña got out of her hold and turned to him. "Is there something on my lip?" She asked and he checked.
"No." He replied, wondering why the actress was being weird.
"We'll take our leave then." Zuriña smiled and they turned to head for a restaurant a couple of blocks from the station where he suggested they stop there to have dinner there.
"Sure." She replied and they walked in.
They placed their order and got down to work immediately, while awaiting their meal. He passed his tablet to her and he turned to look into the folder they had received from the chief hoping to find more clues about Ash.
"I've found something, detective." Zuriña said, a couple of minutes later and he raised his head for his laptop.
"What?"
"I used the picture of the girl and compared to similar people and faces living in Los Angeles."
He sat up eager to hear more. "Really? Who is she?"
"Twenty-seven-year-old Julian Scott. She used to be one of the orphans at Generosity orphanage. She was hoping to become an actress but..."
"But?"
"But..."
"But what?"He frowned.
She didn't move her eyes off the screen. "She died seven years ago."
He sighed. "Of course..That's why it was difficult to find information on her. That means she's living under a different identity."
"What should we do? Everything has just gotten confusing." She said.
"No, we have discovered a great clue." He said and she raised her eyes to look at him.
"A clue?"
"Generosity orphanage. We will definitely find something if we go there." He said as the waiter brought their meal.
"Thank you." She said and looked down at the tablet.
"Please, add two more bowls of soup to our order." He said.
"Alright."
The waiter replied and turned to leave.
"I will search for more information on the orphanage tonight." He said as they started to eat.
Ariel hit her fist against the piano in her house and her maid flinched as it crashed into pieces.
"Leave." She barked and the woman scurried away.
"Hey." Vael called as he trailed a fingertip around his glass.
"I feel like shit right now so if you have something to say spit it out and fuck off." She said and he smiled.
"Act like your age and stop taking out your anger on things. I'm so surprised anytime I see you. You're so different on and off-screen."
"Get to the point."
He leaned forward. "This is Master's order. Don't act up. Did you see what happened to Lucian and Sahan? You need to think things through, if you want to capture her." He said and took a sip from his bloody glass as she walked over to sit opposite him.
"Are you scared of that little pureblood?" She retorted.
"That's not it."
"Then why should we be considerate? If you're done acting like my owner, fuck off if you don't want me to send you where Sahan is." She hissed.
That seemed to ignite anger in Vael.
"Send me? What are you talking about? Do you want to go meet your little boyfriend?"
She turned to glare at him, her eyes changing colour from brown to red. "I will make you kneel in front of me and beg for your life."
His eyes also turned as they glared at each other and she suddenly raised her hand to grab Daniel's fangs from behind her.
"And it smells...so get rid of the cat before I turn it into jerky."
Daniel growlled and Vael gave him a sign to come over which he did before he gave him a pat on his fur gave him. "Calm down buddy she's not food." He said and Daniel growlled again, his red eyes glaring at Ash.
"I was only joking and I didn't come here to fight so let's keep things civil. I stopped the Master from coming here and be cautious you know..."He said as he rose, his pet lion following him behind. "...that's how drastic the situation is going to get." He said on his way out as Ash popped a pill into her mouth.
Kaiwan sighed as he toyed with his pen as he worked late that night. Why did Ash fake her death? Sahan awakened vampires and Ash was one of them but what did an awakened vampire upbringing feel like? Their powers were completely different from others.
There was a knock on his door and he massaged his forehead with his fingers as he said 'Come in.'
Zuriña walked in and he was surprised to see she was back so early. She had told him she needed to clear her head and get some air after dinner at the restaurant and he'd headed home alone.
"Back from your walk already?"He asked.
There was a serious look on her face.
"Yes, I'm not bothering you am I?"
"No, my work is the same as usual."
"I have something to tell you." She said and judging from the look on her face, he guessed whatever she had to say was really serious. "What is it?" He asked as he rose up.
"It...It's my body...It's not the same as before." "What do you mean?"
"After fighting with Sahan, I noticed something weird. My wounds don't recover well and my body doesn't feel like it's my own." She said as she turned to her back and unbuttoned her shirt.
Kaiwan was surprised when she lowered the shirt to reveal her back. "Do you think you could take a look?"