Uzi froze and stared at N in shock. Confused and amazed by what she was seeing, she said in bewilderment, "Is that… a vampire?" But a second later, excitement took over and she said joyfully, "Oh my God, it's a vampire! I knew it! I knew you guys were real, but no one believed me! All this time, you idiots! Ha ha ha!"
N stood there in front of the girl, stunned by her reaction. Normally most people would be terrified or screaming, but this girl was smiling at him — and that confusion made him hesitate as he looked at his cheerful prey.
After a few moments, Uzi finally processed the situation she was in. Fear crept into her voice, and terror finally took over her face. Her body froze in place as she stared at N and said, "Oh my God… it's a vampire."
When N saw that, he thought to himself in surprise, What a strange girl. She was happy a moment ago, and now she's terrified. Well… let's just finish this quickly.
While Uzi stood paralyzed with fear, she suddenly remembered the weapon in her bag. As she tried to reach for it, N grabbed her by the throat and lifted her with one hand, ready to finish her off.
N tried to end it quickly, but when he looked at Uzi's face and saw her eyes , full of pain and silently begging for mercy , something happened. In that moment, old memories began to surface in his mind: the face of his last prey from long ago, the woman who had died by his hands. Those memories made him loosen his grip on Uzi's neck.
The moment Uzi felt his hold slacken even slightly, she realized this was her only chance — she had to use it or die. She quickly located her bag behind N; her weapon was still inside. With all the strength she had left, she kicked him square in the face, forcing him to release her and stagger back.
Uzi fell to the ground, gasping for air, but she didn't stop. She crawled with every ounce of remaining energy toward her bag. Behind her, N recovered from the shock of her sudden kick. His hands transformed into claws and he lunged toward her with full force. But at that exact moment, Uzi pulled the weapon from her bag, aimed it at him, and shouted, "Bite me!"
A powerful green beam erupted from the gun with such force that the shockwave created a gust of wind around her and kicked up a thick cloud of dust.
As Uzi began to regain her senses from the recoil of her own weapon , she hadn't expected the modifications she made to produce such an intense effect , the dust cloud slowly cleared, revealing a sight that left her stunned.
N's head had been completely vaporized. His body lay crumpled on the ground, soaked in his own blood. The scene would have horrified any normal person, but Uzi (once again) smiled and said gleefully, "It worked! The weapon actually worked! I did it! Hahaha! You all said my gun was just a piece of junk take that, you useless idiots! The stupid school board and my dad too!"
While she was celebrating, she suddenly heard a strange sound behind her. When she turned around, she saw N's body rising back to its feet. The area where his head had been was already regenerating bones and flesh were visibly knitting themselves back together.
Uzi stared in shock at what she was seeing and muttered, "Regenerate…? How…?"
She tried to fire the weapon again, but nothing happened. The massive energy blast had completely drained the battery; it clearly needed time to recharge. Annoyed, she said, "Seriously? Recharge? Right now?!"
Uzi realized that if she stayed standing there, she was dead. She grabbed her bag and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
N finished regenerating his head and placed a hand on it, trying to recall what had just happened. Through the flood of returning memories, he saw the girl who had attacked him — and remembered the weapon she used. Shocked by those memories, he looked around, but she was gone.
"I have to catch her," he said.
He began tracking her scent, spread his wings, and took off after her. But the trail ended in a busy street filled with people and cars. Here he realized he had lost her , her scent had blended with the hundreds of other human smells. Even if he found her now, he couldn't attack her in front of so many witnesses.
He wondered what to do next. She had seen him, escaped him, and even blown his head off. If she told anyone what she saw, it would be a disaster. But more than anything, he kept thinking about what his teammates would say. They would lose whatever little trust they still had in him (which was already basically zero). Worse , this time J wouldn't just punish him… she might actually kill him.
He tried to think of a solution while anxiety ate at him. Then an idea came: go back to the scene and look for any clue that could help him find her.
N returned to the site of the fight and searched, but found nothing useful at first. Then his eyes caught something on the ground. When he picked it up and looked closely, he realized it belonged to that girl. It had her information written on it.
It was her school ID card, which must have fallen out during the struggle.
He stared at the name and read aloud, "Uzi Doorman… Copper-9 High School, junior."
Uzi burst into her house, slammed the door behind her, and leaned against it, panting and shaking. Her body had reached its absolute limit. When a human faces a life-threatening situation, the body releases massive amounts of adrenaline to aid survival. That same adrenaline had helped Uzi fight and escape the monster trying to kill her. But now that it was over, her body could no longer stand. She couldn't stop trembling. She still couldn't believe she had actually seen a real vampire. In her head she kept repeating, Vampire… I saw one… Did he see me? Does he know what I look like? Did he follow me here? Am I safe?
After a while, her body and mind began to calm down. She went to her room, placed the weapon on the table, and tried to process everything she had witnessed.
"Are all vampires able to do that?" she said. "From regeneration to turning their hands into blades? I mean, sure, they have wings and claws that can rip through skin, but this…"
She couldn't find words to explain it , what she had seen simply didn't make sense. She turned to look at her weapon on the table and continued, "Well, on the bright side… at least the gun worked. But it needs forever to recharge after just one shot, and it didn't even do that much damage to the monster."
She picked up the weapon, sat on her bed, and said to herself, "That was a really long day."
From sheer exhaustion and mental overload, she yawned. "No, no, I can't sleep. He might have followed me. I have to stay awake."
But her eyes were already closing. "Okay… just ten minutes. Ten minutes won't hurt."
She lay back on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
N returned to the old facility at 5:45 a.m., just before sunrise. As usual, J was arguing with V near the entrance. When J noticed him, she called out, "N, so… how many did you hunt this time?"
N said, "Well… actually, I didn't have any luck… Sorry, J. But don't worry, tomorrow..."
"Stop," J cut him off. "Just stop. What did I expect? That you'd finally do something useful? That you'd actually help us for once in your life? Looks like I was wrong. After everything, you're just a useless idiot, N."
V walked toward her room and said, "Told you."
J looked at N and continued, "Do you know how you can actually help us?" She turned away from him and added, "Kill yourself and spare us the trouble."
N stood there, staring at the ground in sadness and defeat. What J had just said hurt him more than any insult or punishment she had ever given him. In a quiet, broken voice he said, "Maybe…"
He went to his room. When he entered, he saw the same scene he always did: a broken, old room with cracked floors and a worn out bed just like every other room in this facility. N sighed, extended his wings and tail so he could sleep in the classic vampire style, and before closing his eyes, he remembered Uzi , especially that moment right before his head exploded, when she pointed the weapon at him and shouted "BITE ME."
Despite the danger of the situation and the risk of their existence being exposed, the words that now dominated his thoughts slipped out:
"Uzi Doorman… she was really amazing."
This state he was in — where the hunter falls for the prey — is sometimes called reverse Stockholm syndrome. In classic Stockholm syndrome, the victim falls in love with the captor. Here, it was the opposite: the captor (the hunter) had fallen for the victim (the prey).
The reason? He had seen something he had never seen before. He saw someone stand up to a monster like him and fight back. Most people would run, cry, or even wet themselves in terror. But this girl didn't hesitate — she faced him with everything she had. Because of that, N couldn't help but admire her courage and defiance.
He wondered aloud, "I wonder what she'll do if she sees me again…"
Then he shook his head. "No. This is serious. There's no time for games. I have to deal with her quickly and decisively, or she'll hurt J and V and expose everything."
He sighed. "But… is there really no other way?"
N kept thinking until sleep finally overpowered him, and he closed his eyes.
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There will be no chapter next week because I'll be working on my other fanfic story (Murder Drones: The Dark World). Please comment and share your opinion about this chapter and the previous ones