"Ully? Ully?!" she called him repeatedly, and he only got back to his sense when Stella yelled at him. He looked at him figuring out why she did that and Stella narrowed her eyes looking at his friend and still couldn't figure out what's happening on him. "What's with you Ully?"

"Why would you asked that Stels?" he questioned, shaking his head, denying his sudden dumbfounded moment.

"Since back in the hospital, tumahimik ka bigla. And when we got here back in the motel, ang tahimik mo pa rin. What's going on in your head, Ully? Tell it to me or you'll regret not saying anything."

Ully sighed. "I don't think you would understand," he said and Stella raised a brow. "If I tell you one thing about it, hindi mo naman ako paniniwalaan. So you don't have to worry about it. Seeing us back in the motel is good enough."

Stella rolled her eyes. "Whatever Ully, stop overthinking. Marami pa tayong gagawin okay?"

"That's what I thought," he smiled and put his attention back on his camera gears.

Still, Stella wasn't satisfied by his answer. She looked at him like he's hiding something from her but restricting himself to spill it out because it might cause something bad and she knew Ully doesn't want to be in any trouble. She shrugged off the thought and put her attention back to her work.

While occupying themselves with their work, they stopped what they were doing when someone knocked on their rented room. Nagkatinginan ang dalawa bago nila naisipang tumayo sa kinauupuan nila at harapin kung sino ang taong nasa labas.

Ully widely opened the door to someone at the other side. Bumungad sa kanila ang isang lalaki at hindi nagtagal ay naalala at nakilala nila ito.

"Glad to see na nandito pa kayong dalawa," panimula nito kasabay ng isang ngiti.

"T-Teka, Elius, right?" Stella asked and he nodded. "Why are you here? Do you need anything from us?" Kunot-noo niyang tanong sa lalaki. He just chuckled. Stella figuring out his sudden presence here.

"I did come here with a purpose," he stated. Muli namang nagkatinginan ang dalawa at kung anong koneksyon naman ang biglang nangyari sa tinginan nilang iyon. They invited Elius inside the room. He helped himself sat on the couch while Stella picked up her notebook to jot down if ever, Elius gave something interesting to the purpose of his visit. "Listen guys, I don't want the both of you to leave the town."

"We're not. And we won't until we got the story," Stella answered raising her brow, shifting to Ully, he also nodded as he agreed to her. Binalik niya ang tingin kay Elius. "Is that all you have to say?"

IUmiling si Elius. "No. Nanggaling ako sa chieftain hall and I've heard a group of his staff talking about two journalists and I think who they were pertaining to was you guys."

"Bakit naman nila kami pag-uusapan? I know we've got some trouble in the past days, but why?"

"Basically, they don't want you here. And if I'm not mistaken they want you leave the town, as soon as possible, whether you like it or not," Elius said. Stella grunted by the thought of it, she crossed her arms, couldn't think of anything right now. She's pissed off. "And one more thing, I want you to know the secrets they never told to anyone."

Stella and Ully looked once again to each other. Alam na nila kung para saan ang mga tingin na 'yon.

"I'm interested," Stella said, pulled out a chair and sat infront of Elius. "Tell me those secrets they never told and we'll let their dirty out in the open."

He nodded. "I will but promise me you wouldn't tell it was me who told you these secrets, okay? That's all I ask."

Stella agreed. "Sure, we can do that. So, what are those things, Elius? And what are the secrets they are still covering up to this day? Does vampire really exist? Was Aletheia a vampire?

Elius laughed at her continuous questions. "You know what, there's a lot of things I've got to tell but to answer your question, they still had some cover-ups and yes... Aletheia exists."

"Now, that's getting interesting," Ully commented. Stella looked him up with a furrowed brow, but he just looked away. "Come on, Elius. Spill it out."

He nodded and clasped his hands together. "Well, first of all, one thing that our chieftain wasn't inviting big news stations in the town because of their upholding attitude to seek controversial news and this is what they wanted to be on Freymount. Chieftain Clements hated those people. He never entertained any of them. And you almost did."

"Yup, almost. But it didn't happen and he actually told me that he won't do it again. Do you think it was his plan all along?" she wondered.

Elius shrugged off. "I don't know, maybe it was but who knows, right? And just because reporters are good at weaving stories, he was afraid that those people would tell lies to his town that he maintained peace and prosperity for over the years of his leadership. That's why the mystery of Freymount never got out of its border. Some slipped out, but not everything. Though, of course, some things wouldn't remain as secrets anymore. Just like what you've seen yesterday from the anniversary—I simply called it the annual tradition of celebrating the abomination of the town century ago. Kinda like that."

"And that's Aletheia, right?" Stella asked, and Elius nodded. "So, why does she became a big mystery? If they were scoring her big time in the crowd just like the other day, why do they keep covering her up? If she's an abomination, it is a good thing na napagtagumpayan ng Freymount ang nangyari no'n, 'di ba?"

He laughed. "Nakakatawa man sabihin ito pero ginagawa lang nila iyon at gawing attraction ang image ni Aletheia and make her suffer from the public eye ay para malaman ng mga tao na hindi na ulit mangyayari 'yon. That they already secured the town's safety. Na sinasabing, tingnan nito 'tong halimaw na ito, we already got her and saved the day. Everything's a shit show. Nakakalungkot how they turned it out like this but this is our lives now."

Stella took a deep breath. "Well, as you just said, covering it up was just a show?"

He nodded. "Yes, 'cause up unto this day, they exist."

"They?! I thought it was only the girl. Who are they?" Ully asked as if he doesn't know what Elius' were talking about. He could still remember what happened last night when he encountered one really odd creature. But he still needed some answers to justify his curiosity. "What are they?"

"Bloodsuckers. Vampires," he said and let out a big sighed. There's a hint of hatred in his tone.

"As in, mga bampira?" Stella asked it once again. Parang hindi siya makapaniwala na marinig niya iyon. Hindi niya dapat ikagulat ang balitang iyon. She knew in herself that that kind of news would be impossible to be possible, but she already had read some articles online that these creatures might be simply living with the humans, but they were just hiding and adapting themselves within the course of everyday life. the article could be saying true or not. It has still no reliable sources. "And how does it became connected to Chieftain Clements? Why was he so dodgy when the conversation rolled into this topic?"

Before Elius could answer Stella's question, someone knocked on the door. Patayo na si Ully para pagbuksan ng pinto kung sino man ang taong nasa labas nang pigilan siya ni Elius sa gagawin nito.

"Don't open the door," he demanded, almost a whisper.

"Why?" Ully mouthed, wondering.

"They wanted you to leave the town and they will force you to do it," Elius added, he's still lowering his tone to not make visible to the visitor behind the door.

"Whatever! They can't force us out of this town," Stella said and rolled her eyes. She hastily stood on her feet and directly headed to the door. She took the knob and widely open it as the two police officers came insight in front of her. "What are your business here, officers?" she asked.

"Miss Escott and Mister Harwell. We've got a direct order from Chieftain Roman Clements and we will escort the both of you out of Freymount," Officer Benjamin said, his name was written on his nameplate placed on the right part of his chest.

Stella raised a brow. Nagmamatigas siya. Like she always does. "What did we do? Do we have a violation? Bakit niyo kami papaalisin? As a matter of fact, kami pa ang na-agrabyado ng lugar na ito and we chose to stay instead. Don't force us to leave kasi kahit anong gawin niyo, hindi kami aalis."

"It's an order from Chieftain Clements, Miss Escott. And we have a written letter to support it." Pinakita niya ang letter, but she persists in not following them.

"Still, we won't. Go and tell your chieftain that he should be the one conforming us about it. If he talked to us and sort this out, then we'll leave in a hurry. O baka ayaw lang niya malaman namin ang mga sikretong tinatago niya sa bayang ito?" Stella arguably countered the officers. She's so confident na sagutin ang awtoridad. "Are we understood, officer?"

Napailing naman ang dalawang officer kay Stella. Somehow Ully and Elius come to attend at the door and the officers saw Elius. Hindi rin naman nagtagal ay umalis ang dalawang officer at sinarado ni Stella ang pinto saka napasinghal na lamang.

"They can't make us leave this town just because they wanted to," iritadong tugon ni Stella.

"That's why I'm telling you some secrets they never told," Elius said. "And more thing, the water of Freymount was contaminated by a herb to vanquish the vampires. I also heard the werewolves and witches also exist but I've never seen one..."

"So you're telling us that you've more than one creature? Not just a vampire?" Ully queried.

"I can tell, I did," Elius said, and noticed the bracelet from Stella's wrist. He squinted his eyes, examining it. "Where did you get that?" he asked, pointing to the bracelet.

Stella creased her forehead and glanced at her bracelet. "This one? I found it in my pocket. I don't know how did it get there. I asked Ully but he doesn't know... and I think it's cute. Why do you ask?"

"It's very familiar," Elius muttered. "But whatever, keep it and that will make you safe every time."

Stella narrowed her eyes to Elius. She didn't understand why would he say that and on the other hand, Ully knew what he meant, and it's something he wouldn't be able to forget. Last night was the first time he was exposed to the dark secrets of Freymount and seeing a real blood-sucking creature is a fright of reality.

Elius's phone rang and then he answered the call. Stella and Ully watched him talked on the phone and after that, he excused himself to leave.

"We can continue this conversation tonight if you're okay with it. I just had an urgent situation."

"We're good to it," Ully agreed. "Where should we meet you?"

Elius borrowed Stella's notebook and wrote down the place and time of their meeting tonight. And when he's done, he returned it back to her and read what's on it. Freymount Academy, 8 pm. They agreed to the meeting tonight. Hindi rin naman nagtagal ay umalis na si Elius. Naiwan naman ang dalawa na puno pa rin ng katanungan ang bawat isip. She somehow noticed her friend staring at one pace. Mabilis niyang tinapik ito at tila mabilis na bumalik si Ully sa katinuan.

"This is not the first time had happened, Ully. Anong meron sayo?" she asked worriedly.

But Ully just shrugged it off. "There's nothing to tell, Stels."

"Really? Cause that's not what I am seeing."

Napabuntong-hininga na lamang si Ully. "It is not something you wanted to know."

"Try me. Ako pa ba?" ngisi pa ni Stella.

Ully looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Stels..."

Stella didn't get an answer from his friend, hindi rin nagtagal ay may kumatok na naman sa kanilang pintuan.

"Ilang beses ba may kakatok sa pinto natin ngayon? This is exhausting!" Padabog na lumapit si Stella sa pinto para pagbuksan kung sino man ang nandoon. She widely opened the door and she stopped for a moment to examine the person in front of her. She wasn't familiar to him but his aura already scared her.

Ully peeked at the person who was standing outside. He gulped noticing some dark aura from the guy. It wasn't the creature last night but this is another one. Mabilis naman niyang naalala ang sinabi ni Elius at dali-dali itong tumungo sa kusina.

"Who are you?" Stella asked the guy wearing a black vest, dimmed sunglass, and has a very fair texture of snow-white skinlike, but his aura came with intimidation and danger. "What brings you here? Do I know you?"

"You don't," he smirked. "But I know you."

"Putangina mo! Umalis ka rito!" Ully immediately came into the scene holding a glass of water and splashed it on his face.

"What did you do, Ully?!" Stella exclaimed, surprised. 

"Just watched," Ully smirked.

Stella and Ully looked at the strange person in front of them. He's now suffering from the splash of water on his face. Hindi nito mahawakan ang mukha na nagsisimulang mamula. Sumisigaw naman ito at bakas sa boses nito ang sakit. 

"Shit. I'm coming back to kill the both of you," he threatened and just like in seconds, he vanished in front of them.

Ully just took a deep breath. At first, he wasn't sure that it might be the same creature Elius was talking about because if he did it as a mistake, it would be embarrassing but as he watched the man burned, he just came to a conclusion that they exist and they are coming unto them biw. Stella just left dumbfounded and couldn't process what she just had seen.

"What the fuck just happened?" she muttered, left with hanging questions.