A normal person would’ve been overthinking about whether or not Sally should’ve told Lauren about the medicines, had they been in Sally’s shoes, but that wasn’t the case with Sally. She used her overthinking head to overthink better stuff. “What’s done is done. What do we do with the situation at hand?” has always been her motto. She was going to withhold the information about the medicines with her but seeing Lauren so sullen didn’t sit right with her. She was delighted to see her darling best friend cheer up a bit when she showed her the medicines. A distraction from all the mishappenings was the best thing for Lauren at the moment.
Although Sally didn’t herself know what to make out of the situation, she had some leads on the case, and even a single lead was enough for Dr. Sharper to uncover any mystery irrespective of its complexity. She secretly texted Anna to take Lauren away from the lab, which Anna clearly rejected. Sally was sure that this rejection just looks rock solid on text. It’s made up of hay in reality. A few more requests and Anna melted like a burning candle. After Lauren was out of the laboratory, she bolted the doors and got to work. She knew that despite how unrealistic it sounded, Lauren and that vampire were somehow connected. She also thought that maybe Lauren herself was the vampire, but that was the last thought she wanted to be a reality. Most of all, she feared that all of this was a premonition which the vampire sends to its victims before finally attacking them. While Katsumi had got no such premonitions, she was also not attacked by the vampire. She was attacked by some psychopathic wannabe vigilante hedonistic narcissist who turned tail when the vampire showed up. That man was also a cause of concern. Whether or not he had any special powers were still in the dark, but he clearly had something up his sleeve. Because he clearly wasn’t operating at random. He really had lured the vampire out. All of this was clouding Sally’s head, as she couldn’t decide which things were dictated by reason, and which things were an exception. Amidst all of this, was Charlie. Although Sally didn’t have anything going to suspect Charlie, her gut said that she just couldn’t rule him out of the list.
Sally ran through the reports of all the victims so far. She noted that all had deep wounds made by something like claws and that the skin of all of them had turned whitish. All except four people. Sally compared the pictures of these four with everyone else. These four people didn’t have any wounds on the hearts unlike the rest of the people. Moreover, all four of these men died on the same night in the same place: Sector 71, South Feli-City extension. Sally wondered why these four didn’t have any wounds on the heart. She also noted that the skin hue didn’t change for these people. The wounds they had were also smaller than the others. Sally thought that it was necessary for the vampire’s claws to pierce the heart for the skin to get white. “So, apart from these four, we have four more victims, and we also have Katsumi who was our only survivor”, Sally said to herself. She noted that the four men were stabbed in the gut, just like Katsumi. Sally was confused. There were just too many variables.
She went to the refrigerator and pulled out some snacks. She was about to open one of the packets when she noticed one tiny detail. Her eyes fell on one of the hands of one of the four men. He had definitely punched somebody before he was killed.
“Where’s Sally? She had said she’ll be here before us”, Lauren said in a slightly worried tone. She and Anna had come to a pub. Lauren would’ve usually asked where that bitch Sally was, but that element was lost somewhere. “Well, it’s Sally! Is she ever on time? Don’t worry, she’ll be here soon”, Anna reassured Lauren as they both made their way inside the pub. Anna was also worried for Sally. She didn’t ask Anna to take Lauren away with her unless it was Lauren’s birthday. She wondered what was going on. She was also worried about her safety since it was clear that she was out to catch something from which everyone was running away. One glance at Lauren’s face told Anna that she was thinking the same. Her beautiful eyes and her gorgeous bottle green dress made her look stunning but failed to conceal her emotions. Anna herself looked amazing, especially with her black stilettos and a low-cut burgundy dress. It was a long time since Anna had seen Lauren’s flaming red hair untied. A guy tried locking eyes with Lauren but she wasn’t interested. They both went to get some drinks and were peering at the menu, not sure whether they should begin without Sally, although both of them badly wanted a drink. “A kiwi pineapple slush”, said Lauren, “Raspberry for me”, said Anna. “We don’t entertain people who try to play safe”, said a familiar voice as both of them looked across the counter. “SALLY!” Lauren screamed. “Jesus! What are you screaming for? The music isn’t loud enough yet!” Sally said as she passed a glass each to Anna and Lauren. “What are you doing here?” Lauren screamed-asked again. “Well, I thought that it’d be a wise option to explore my options in case I get fired from my job” Sally winked at both of them. “What’s in the glass?” asked Anna. “Nothing saintly”, shrugged Sally as all three of them downed a shot.
“I will start delivering pizzas from tomorrow”, Anna said, her speech a little slurry. She was the least resistant to alcohol among the three women. “You don’t need to, honey, you won’t be losing your job”, Lauren said, trying to prevent Anna from tripping. She slapped Sally hard on her arm. “Who asked you to give her a third shot, bitch?” Lauren asked. “Well, nobody asks me to stop her either”, Sally said, “besides”, Sally let out a small burp, “I was busy with that smoked turkey”, Sally finished. “Oh, I know you were. You really had your hands all over it”, Lauren bit back. “Ahan? Says the one who almost humped the guy next to her”, Sally laughed. “Oh, I did not!” Lauren screamed. “That was just your head distorted from that turkey’s intoxication. I was barely even touching him”, Lauren said, her hair and her face almost becoming one. The three women exited the pub where Anna’s sister was waiting to pick them up. “How many tonight?” She asked Sally. “Three”, replied Lauren. “She still has a long way to go”, her sister said as she asked them to get in the car.
“Hey Lauren, why don’t you come to my place tonight?”, Sally asked Lauren. “What’s the occasion?” Lauren questioned. “Do I need any? I just bought a new hairdryer if you need one that badly”, Sally said and both of them laughed as Anna mumbled something incoherent in her sleep. “By the way, Joanna,” Lauren asked Anna’s sister who looked at her from the rearview mirror, ” how many shots can you handle at a time”, Lauren asked. “Lucky thirteen”, Joanna answered with a smirk as both Sally and Lauren gaped at her.
4.5