It has been a while since I last saw Yuri and I don’t know if that’s why I think she looks—feels different today. Or maybe it’s me. Has my tingling Erika sense increased since? Whatever the reason is, Yuri’s aura is absolutely sweeping today. Like “a million captes around her emitting waves of arrogance and extravagance in all directions” kind of aura. There’s electricity charging in the air erecting my body hair. Does Ms Pink feel this way too?
My eyes are taking in the visual of the goddess of sensuality lounging on the wingback armchair when she glances at us and rolls her eyes.
“Amateurs.”
Ms Pink doesn’t miss a beat. “Just how we like it.”
Yuri’s lush lips stretch into the laziest, iest smirk. “Has the Erika tamed the Princess?”
“What did you interrupt us for?”
“You should be thanking my superior keen sense of observation.” Yuri taps on a small tablet in her hand.
A satellite image of forest and farm land surrounding a small town is projected on the wall. Jeon. My unbeating heart starts racing again. What’s happening?
“Six months ago, a delivery man from Wan went missing. So did his delivery van. Neither has been found. Does it sound suspicious? Would anybody think of investigating further than Wan?”
“Of course not. But your keen sense of observation is superior,” Ms Pink replies dryly.
I almost chuckle in spite of myself.
“Yes, my superior keen sense of observation noticed the contents of his delivery van. It was not just any ordinary van. It was a courier service ferrying a van full of blood bags.”
Ms Pink frowns. “Why did you not report this to me earlier?”
Yuri snorts. “A vampire having more than a succubus—that is what you are now. Between all the and more , what else have you been doing?”
Ms Pink’s back straightens ever so slightly. As does mine.
“I do not have to explain our to you,” Ms Pink states coldly. “You are fully aware that I have carried out my duties as necessary all this time. There is no reason why you would not report this to me if you knew about it.”
“Nail on the head, Princess Pan Ni. No one knew about it because they covered it up. The blood bank deleted the record of the delivery van. But I found out thanks to the lady I picked up two nights ago.” Yuri leans back and closes her eyes. “Mmm, that was a y night.”
“The missing blood, Yuri.”
“The lady is the delivery man’s neighbour.” Yuri’s smug grin is directed at us, demanding our praise.
“I assume you have checked out the details before coming here,” Ms Pink replies simply.
“What did you think I have been doing for the past day?”
“How is all this related to Jeon?” I ask at last, unable to wait anymore.
Yuri sets her glowing eyes on me. “We found the missing man’s body in Jeon. Right,” she points at the projected image,” there.”
“Where?” I ask, trying to trace the line from Yuri’s finger to the image.
“The forest of Jeon.”
X
“Again?”
Ms Pink raises her brows at me. “Are you afraid?”
What do you have to fear as the Erika? I can hear her unasked question in my head. “Our last trip on the helicopter didn’t have a pleasant ending.”
“I was injured then. I am not injured now. And you have powers you did not have then.”
“Humans call it PTSD, Ms Tiffany Pink.”
Ms Pink’s nose wrinkles in disgust at the mention of the human condition. “You are not a human anymore.”
“Physically, I’m not. But mentally . . .”
“I can knock you out for the trip so you will not experience any PTSD.”
How is this a viable solution at all? With a sigh, I remind myself that Ms Pink is a centuries old princess vampire after all. There are things we both have to learn. There are also things I do not want to lose. I may be the Erika, but there is still a human part of me that is my identity.
“I’ll try to overcome it,” I say instead. “But I’ll feel better if you make sure we’re hooked up to a parachute or something.”
Ms Pink doesn’t frown at me. She doesn’t even press her lips. She simply stares at me for a moment, piercing pink eyes and all. “Stupid human.”
I am lifted by Ms Pink and thrown over her shoulder. For an instant, I’m transported back to our earlier days when I was a helpless human trying to navigate her way through the intimidating world of supers. Now, I’m a human soul in a non-human body with powers that even the supers cannot fully comprehend. So what do I do? I let out a token shriek and a feeble kick. Then I let Ms Pink plant me on the helicopter seat and strap me in.
A satisfying french kiss later, I am strapped in, safe and ready to go. Ms Pink climbs into the pilot’s seat and straps herself in as well. “PTSD?” she asks.
“A little,” I reply, my unbeating heart seemingly thumping in my chest like a phantom.
“The best way to overcome a fear is to get right back on and face it,” she states, almost like reading a fact from a textbook. “Close your eyes if you are afraid.”
I am still deliberating over it when the propellers overhead begin to spin. Ms Pink is flicking a ton of switches and grabbing the throttle—an act I find excessively attractive—before flashing a smile at me. “Close your eyes, stupid human,” she says through the headset.
I can only pull a nervous grin. “You said to face my fear. I’m facing it with my eyes open.”
With a glint of pride in her eyes, Ms Pink nods. “Take off commencing.”
And with that, the helicopter rises into the air.
Over Ms Pink’s building we fly, out of the town of Shaw, southbound. My unbeating heart calms down once we find equilibrium and I begin to appreciate the bird’s eye view of land below. From up high, cars look like toys and buildings look like a model made up of building blocks. Then the density decreases as buildings grow further and further apart.