Despair: The Vampire King's Mate

Chapter Seventeen

"I cannot even reckon the possibility of that happening."

"Surely, the camp must have not been discovered as quickly as they had."

"Something is off. Do we have a snitch?"

Varying baritones echo through my ears, pushing my consciousness to snap back. As my eyelids flutter open, I was greeted by a white background accompanied by a mild smell of disinfectant.

"She is finally awake," whispers a female tone. As I turn my head to her direction, I saw a brunette who is dressed with a nurse outfit.

"I will inform the higher ups then," says a male voice. The owner is still a blur to my vision but based from my judgment, he is one of the health care personnel.

"Can you hear me?" says the woman who is examining my eye movements and locomotors.

I rapidly blinked as my eyesight adjusts to the unfamiliar surroundings. "Yes. Where am I? How am I here?" my tone almost trailed into soft whispers, as if it has not been used for a long time.

"State your name and position before I tell you the news," says the nurse as she readies her hands for scribbling on a cardboard she holds.

"Rachel Blitz, Blue Squadron cadet under Commander Leo," I automatically replied.

"See if you can freely move," she instructs, as if gesturing me to get up.

And so I did. I nonchalantly stood and stretched my still resting muscles. "I feel fine."

"I see," she responds, bringing her notes down. "Now take a sit. This might come as a shock to you."

My eyes twitched at her remark. I sense danger. I returned to my bed and earnestly faced her, "What happened."

"I heard that a trainees' camp was caught on a war as it sits near the Dawn Forest," she spoke, careful of her words.

My heart sunk at the mention of the place. "Dawn Forest?"

"Yes. I believe you are already aware of a unit in standby for scouting." She deeply sighs in frustration before continuing, "They were wiped out."

My mind is readied for this revelation a long time ago but I just could not accept the fact, now that I am hearing it personally. I clenched my chest as my heart violently thumps against its ribcage. I harshly bit my lip, lowering my head in the process. "Father." It was a quiet murmur but his name released every tear that was tightly sealed in the past years.

Now, I have no reason to continue fighting. He is already gone. I was too late.

"Do you still want me to proceed?" I heard her with a concerned tone.

I gulped everything, rebuilding my composure. "Yes please. About the camp," I insisted.

"The enemy kingdom's scouts spotted your area. Poor troopers either died or went missing. You were one of the few who survived." She pauses for a moment, as if recalling something. "As a matter of fact, you were the only one who was brought here unscathed. The others were badly injured. Do you remember anything that happened before you blacked out?"

I reminisced the feast I had with the troupe. Then Sam—yes, I tailed him, and afterwards, I saw him again. Then everything else was unclear to me. "No." Something in me clicked, "How many days have I been out?"

"It has been a week."

My eyes broadened in confusion. "How come?" I unconsciously uttered.

"Honestly, that is what I would personally like to know from you. Even we are puzzled as to why it took you long to wake up." She raised an eyebrow at me. "Normally, we would have trashed you somewhere else. It is just that we were instructed to look after you. You have a powerful backer!" She then wrinkles her forehead. "On that note, you are summoned by your commanding officer. I believe someone is already waiting for you outside for that regard."

After our conversation, she left the room. By the far corner, I spotted my things neatly folded. Strolling out of the ward with a changed outfit, I saw Travis approaching me. "Well, well, if it is the sleeping beauty," he chortled.

"Take me to wherever already," I retorted indifferently. He led me to a pair of horses tied on a tree. For the last time, I peeked at the makeshift military medical ward camouflaged by the forest.

"Hop in. We are heading to Ainsworth manor," Travis said, already mounted on his chestnut brown ride.

On the way, everything seemed to become a white noise in my perspective. I was too curious to let my vice commander fill the events from my absence. "Any happenings I am uninformed of?"

"As a matter of fact," he started with an expectant tone, "a lot. Although I have heard your conversation with the health care provider a while back—and if I might say, it is a tragedy, do you still have things you want to know?" His tine was lowered, displaying slight grief. "Where do you want me to start?"

"The surviving troopers."

"Of course. After the incident, the three batches regrouped. Over the week, the training menu has been compressed, unfortunately for your comrades. It is estimated to have another week to accommodate the military needs of your whole batch. I bet you are itching to catch up," he smirked.

I clenched my teeth, stopping myself from any violent replies as I recall the nurse's words a while ago. "Not really," I replied, staring blankly at the dull way ahead.

"Well, that is pretty unusual."

Then dead silence.

I finally gained the courage to break the ice with my query. "What happened to Sam?"

"If I remember," he briefly darted his eyes upwards on the gesture of recollection, "he is your partner on Point A's skill assessment."

"Yes."

"He was not among the headcounts of the remaining soldiers."

I sat frozen. The cool wind caressing against my skin now feels harsher. My mouth went dry in silence.

He then added, "Nor was his body found among the dead."