July 21^st. Rainy morning. A naked James wakes up and sees Delianna is not next to him in his bed. He gets up from his bed to move the clothes he wore last night to a corner, and finds some fresh clothes in his drawer, putting them on. He leaves out of his room, closing his door, and goes downstairs hoping he will see Harland. When James reaches the front desk, he sees that Harland was not there which makes James concerned.

“Okay,” James thinks to himself. “This is not like Harland to not be at the front desk at this time of hour. Where is he?”

James decides to find Harland as he touches the desk, and closes his eyes. Within moments, he only hears the screams of Harland in his ears coming from behind the desk. James opens his eyes with shock and begins to walk behind the front desk into the back room. As he slowly walks into the back room, he sees splatters of dried blood on the walls, drawers, and the floor. As James continues to walk, he turns the corner and finds a body on the floor covered in a pool of blood, seeing it was Harland. James begins panicking quietly as he sees slashes across Harland’s stomach, and he sees a bloody mark on Harland’s neck.

“Harland…” James speaks shakily. “By the Maker, no.”

He then quickly turns and runs from the backroom and out of the inn doors.

.   .   .

Several minutes later, James runs towards St. Lithe’s Cathedral, and frantically knocks at the door. Seconds later, Deborah opens the door with James instantly coming in, and holding on to Deborah as he starts sobbing.

“My dear boy!” Deborah speaks surprised. “What’s wrong?”

“Some—Someone killed Harland!” James exclaims tearfully.

“What?!”

“Harland’s dead! Someone killed him! Where’s Father Nyris?!”

“In his office talking to King Duval.”

James quickly lets go of Deborah, and runs into the sanctuary making his way past the aisle and the pulpit to Nyris’ office door. James then knocks on the door with Nyris opening the door within the moment. He sees James red in the face with tears as he brings him inside the office.

“James, my son. Come in. What’s wrong?” Nyris asks with concern.

“S-sorry, Father.” He responds frantically. “Har—Harland. Someone killed Harland!”

“What?!”

“Someone killed Harland! There is blood was everywhere in the backroom at the inn. The marks… there were marks on his stomach and his neck. I think he was attacked by a vampire!”

“Are you sure?!”

“Yes, Father… I could not see it all the way. I- I panicked.”

The king, Duval, stands up and walks towards Nyris and James. “Take me to the inn.”

.   .   .   .   .

Now a cloudy afternoon, James and King Duval arrive inside Velour Inn together, and walk into the backroom to find Harland’s body in the same way that James found him. King Duval gets close to Harland’s body and observes it to verify James’ claims.

“There are two marks on his neck. You are right.” King Duval confirms. “Did anything strike as odd to you earlier?”

“I noticed he wasn’t at the desk last night.” He responds. “He would stay until 11:00 pm. It was 9:00 pm when I came home last night.”

King Duval looks at Harland’s body and the blood that was spilled.

“The vampire struck him in the stomach just to incapacitate him then drank as much as he or she could.” He explains to James. “The father told me you are a psychic and have premonitions. If you’re calm enough, you could see what happened to Harland, Mr. Ruth.”

James was willing to attempt Duval’s method, and concentrated on Harland’s body. Within moments, he could see a vision of what happened through Harland’s perspective, but he could not see his killer.

“He was standing at the front desk yesterday at… 7:00pm.” He explains. “Someone came in, talked with him, and then out of nowhere, the person jumps over the counter, strikes him to where Harland was bleeding out. He falls back into this room, then the person gets on top of him, and starts drinking his blood, and the killer left.”

“Could you see who the person was?” Duval asks.

“No. The person is coming up as blank.”

“Hmm… Then this vampire has a gift. James, you’ll need to leave this inn. Gather some of your things, and go back to St. Lithe. I’ll create a party to search for the killer.”

“Okay…”

James goes upstairs to his room to pack his clothes and other belongings in bags that he could carry. With his bags in hand, he closes his door, goes downstairs, and goes outside walking in direction to the church while several of the king’s men walk inside the inn to investigate Harland’s body with the King.

.   .   .

James continues walking with the cathedral in sight only a couple of blocks away with bags in his hands. From around a corner, he sees Delianna turning and walking his way, and meeting his eyes. Delianna sees that James had his belongings which made her look at him confused.

James greets her with a slow nod. “Delianna.”

“Hey, James.” She greets back. “Why do you have your stuff? What’s going on?”

“A vampire killed Harland.”

“What?!”

“Yes. I found him in the back room surrounded by his blood with fang marks on his neck.”

“…So, you’re leaving?”

“From the inn for now. King Duval suggested I go back to St. Lithe until Harland’s murder gets solved. I can’t believe a vampire would just kill him for no reason. He didn’t have any enemies that I knew of. He didn’t seem like that kind of person…”

While Delianna was speechless about Harland’s demise, James begins to be suspicious about Delianna. Due to her being a vampire, the days she would leave, and the nights she would come back started to gnaw at him. He then tries to search for the words to ask her. “Delianna…”

She looks at James. “Hmm?”

“Please, I have to ask this and do not take this the wrong way.”

Delianna readies herself by folding her arms.

“Ever since we’ve met,” He starts. “I’ve seen that you would be gone during the daytime and back at night, and I don’t know where you would go. That’s why I must ask… did you do something to Harland while I was at the cathedral yesterday?”

Delianna lightly scoffs. “Listen, I know I’m a vampire and I need blood to survive. That’s the reason why I’m always away during the day on the hunt and down at the docks. I’m mostly there as you’re working, and then I will come back to you at night. When I came back to the inn, I went in and did not see him, and I thought he was done for the night. Then several minutes later when I finished washing up and waited, I saw you come in.”

“And nothing else happened?”

“No, nothing else.”

James decides to leave the conversation there, even though there was uncertainty still gnawing at him. He was unable to see who the killer was in his visions. He decides to leave the subject alone, because he did not want to agitate Delianna.

“So…” She speaks. “I guess I’ll have to find somewhere else to live.”

“Well,” James starts. “You could come to the church. They don’t discriminate—”

“No, thank you.” Delianna interrupts. “I wouldn’t want to live inside a church with children and a priest. Thanks for the offer, though. I’ll find somewhere to live.”

“Are… are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll find somewhere to go, don’t worry about me. Also… last night. Did you… enjoy me?”

James stammers. “Uh… Yes, I did. It was an… interesting experience I had with you. I just hope I did alright.”

“Oh, you did perfectly for your first time. I would love to experience that again.”

James blushes at her compliment, and becomes speechless of what else to say, and just nods at her request.

“Alright.” He responds. “Well, you know where to find me. See you later, Delianna, and please, stay safe.”

Delianna giggles. “See you later, James.”

The two go their separate ways as James walks to the church, and Delianna walking the opposite way heading towards downtown Velorice City.

.   .   .

James reaches the orphanage with Deborah and Theresa outside with the doors open. They help him put his bags inside and carry them upstairs to the room he would be temporarily staying in which was down the end of the hallway. As the sisters did so, James sits down on the steps in the foyer in thought and feeling doubtful.

‘How could I not see the killer?’ He thinks to himself. ‘Hmm… I guess because the killer was a vampire that has that gift to block themselves out of mind. What would happen if I had the power of a vampire? Would my psychic powers change as well? Would I be able to see Harland’s killer? I wish I could’ve helped out more… I feel so useless…’

As James continued thinking, Nyris walks towards him and catching his attention.

“Hey, Father.” James greets him. “What’s the matter?”

Nyris smiles and gives him a folded slip of paper with James looking at Nyris confused. “It’s a letter your parents sent.”

James unfolds the paper and reads the letter:

Dear James.

We made it home. We have a room set up for you whenever you want to visit us. Remember the directions we gave you to find us, and we’ll see you soon. Again, send a letter saying that you are coming, we’ll be here.

                                                                      -Your parents, -

                                                                      Gad & Elsa Ruth

James remembers the directions Gad drew for him on the sheet of paper which was in his bag along with the letter he wanted to send to them. He then looks at Nyris.

“I’m going to finish writing the letter I’m going to send them, and travel over there tomorrow morning.” James informs.

“Well,” Nyris responds. “Finish it today, and I’ll send it to the postmen before they retire for the day.”

“Alright.”

.   .   .   .   .

Clear sky. Nighttime. James packed up more of the stuff he took from the inn while the king’s men cleared the scene when they took Harland’s body with them, and put it on a carriage hooked to two horses. Earlier, Nyris sent James’ letter to his parents so they could expect his arrival. As James was in his new room packing with Nyris with him, he gives the preacher a sheet of folded paper. Nyris then sees that the paper was labeled to Delianna.

“Could you send this letter to Delianna, Father?” James asks.

“Of course.” Nyris replies. “Talking about Delianna, I forgot you had a girlfriend, unfortunately. How is she doing?”

James sighs as he sits down on his bed. “She’s okay. She found a place from what she told me. Also, Father…”

“Yes, my son?”

“I have to confess something.”

Nyris realizes what James was going to say, and awaits his words.

“She and I… laid with each other...” He speaks hesitantly. “I know you’ve told me to wait until I married, but it played out just how I envisioned… I wanted to stop, but… I couldn't. I didn’t want to…”

Nyris just sighs as he hears this, and chuckles.

“There are worse sins in this world, son.” Nyris responds assuredly. “The only advise I have for you is to save yourself for one. We all make mistakes, James. If she is the one, then so be it. The question is: are you willing to learn from it?”

The question resonates in James’ mind. His thought was until he came from his parents’ home and back into the city with a clear mind, he should have a talk with Delianna. He then gives Nyris a nod. “I understand.”

.   .   .   .   .

July 22^nd. Cloudy morning. Outside in front of the cathedral, Father Nyris, Sister Deborah, and Sister Theresa see James unhook the reins from a hitch, and climb atop the carriage with the reins in his hand. As he sits down, he looks at Nyris.

“I’ll be back two weeks from now, so tell my clients that I’m on holiday.” He informs. “If you see Delianna, tell her the same, and I want to talk to her when I come back, okay?”

“I will, son.” Nyris responds with a smile. “You have a good time, my boy.”

James waves goodbye to Nyris and the nuns with them with the three waving back. James snapped the reins making the horses move the carriage away from the church.