Professor Seward had a distant look as she observed the remains of this Georgian-style mansion. And barely anything remained as it seemed to have been burned down, leaving the skeleton of whatever it once was.
"Here it is." She smiled sadly. "Our old house down in Virginia."
Harker frowned. "This house is yours? What happened to it?"
"Oh, well. Mom forgot the stove, and a house fire happened. The usual." Professor Seward proceeded to walk inside the premises, her fingers touching the damaged brick walls.
Harker expected something more put-together, something that could be the new headquarters of a mad scientist and her associates to conduct experiments. But this…..
Harker noticed one of the stones that seemed to be a marking for the area. He picked it up, and engraved in them were four numbers.
'1754'.
He also noticed that there were bricks that felt older than the rest. Has this place been renovated, then ruined again? While Professor Seward was lost in her own reminiscing from the place she once called home, Harker whispered to Alejandro.
"Can you contact the others that's staying in town to ask the locals about this mansion?" Tell them it's just a few yards off Backstreet and New Towne."
Alejandro nodded, and picked up the walkie talkie on his side to talk to the others. Soon, he went back to Harker.
"Sir, they said this house has been built since the 1750s and has been burned three times. First was during the American Revolution, but it was rebuilt again. Then the Confederate War happened, and it was burned once more. Finally, it was abandoned when it burned for the third time in 1895 and has never been renovated since."
"1895? Are you sure?" Harker frowned.
"Yes, sir. That's what the locals said, and it's also in the records. This is still considered a historical site and off-limits to unauthorized visitors."
Harker thought about it. Professor Seward was only 38 years old, and from what he could remember in her records, she was born on June 21, 1958. Her birthday was coming soon since Harker had his graduation on June 14 and she would be 39.
Still, that's too far away from having a childhood going as far back as 1895. It makes no sense. Either she was lying about this being their mansion, or….
Harker's face darkened, and he approached her as she continued to roam the grounds like a mindless ghost.
He went to reach for one of her hair strands. It's the best way to confirm his suspicions without having to alert her. But as he did—
Professor Seward kneeled down upon noticing something on the ground.
"This is part of the frame for our family picture. I can still remember it like it was yesterday." She smiled fondly at this broken piece of golden frame. "My Mom braided my hair so tightly that I cried, and Dad didn't realize he had a bit of grease stain on his shirt until after the picture was taken. Good times."
She tried to pick it up, but ended up pricking her ring finger.
"Ow! Fucking shit." She quickly let go of it.
Harker swooped in, seeing that this was his chance.
He grabbed her hand. "Let me see it."
"It's just a scratch." She said, trying to grab it away before he notices anything but—
Harker puts her finger to his mouth, sucking on the wound.
Joan's eyes widened, and her cheeks turned red. She yanked her hand away.
"What the hell, Jones!?" She said, still disbelieving that her former student really did that. "Whatever will your boyfriend think if you suddenly go sucking women's fingers like that?"
Harker just raised an eyebrow. "You don't suck your finger when it gets scratched?"
"I do, on MY own finger. I wouldn't go around sucking others off so easily." She scoffed and stood up.
Harker didn't care about the embarrassment. He got the DNA sample now, and waited for the results.
[Joan Seward's Ability
Raw Power: D
Endurance: D
Range: D
Speed: D
Precision: D
Potential: A ]
Harker was baffled by this. "It's just the same as Roland's. So she's human after all?"
But he noticed that her blood tasted different. It was much more bitter and seemed to have a thicker viscosity than usual. Does she have an illness that results in thrombosis or hypercoagulability?
He followed after this woman as she left the mansion and went for the bodyguards.
"Well, boys, I'm feeling sleepy. I want to go back to the cabin now."
"But it's still midday, Ma'am." Alejandro said.
"I'm going to take a siesta." She said. "We didn't find anything, maybe we can search more tomorrow… And I'm just really tired from the jetlag."
"We're only leaving if Mr. Jones is leaving." One of the bodyguards said.
Professor Seward stomped her foot. "Oh, come on! Can't a woman get her beauty sleep??? What if I get wrinkles???"
pǎпdǎ Й?νê1,сòМ Harker materialized by her side. "What's the problem, Prof? You seem to be in a rush."
The professor jolted at his sudden appearance. She seemed to be more anxious than usual, and Harker saw her swallow before she spoke.
"I need my coffee. Then I want to collapse to some nice king-sized bed. Victoria's not here so let's just try again next time."
She was avoiding Harker's gaze. Harker paid attention to her hands instead. She was pressing them together behind her back like she's hiding something.
Harker raised an eyebrow but knew he can't just be rash and push it. "Let's go, then. Professor Seward still has to unpack her things in her room."
As they went back to their cabin, Professor Seward took up her luggage up the stairs in the room right next to Harker. Harker tried to catch the wound just for a split second.
There was nothing strange about it.
However…..
He noticed that flies had followed them back inside. It's the same as back in the school laboratory, when Professor Seward caught him looking at the SS cells. Why would there be flies unless there's some food for them to follow?
Something like rotten meat.
Harker decided to observe this professor more who he thought he knew well enough these past 4 years. He kept an eye out for the room next door, and fortunately…..
He had noticed a small crack on the walls where he could peek in.
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