BROKEN PROMISES

One morning in October, 20XX

Los Angeles,

Neil Royce rushed in from outside, tacked under his arm a newspaper, banged on Uri Wayne's desk, and gasped for breath: "Uri, look what we have?"

Uri Wayne was revising the document before approving it, glancing at the newspaper headline.

"Another person has become a "Victim" of VAMPIRES! They really exist in human life?"

Uri looked at the words Vampires highlighted in red, then back at Neil Royce, raising an eyebrow: "That's a good title!"

"This is the fourth case this month. There are two tooth marks on the victim's neck." Neil Royce pointed to his neck.

"Neil, don't tell me you believe it?!" Uri burst into laughter.

Neil pulled out another newspaper from nowhere, and pressed it on the newspaper earlier, his eyes filled with interest: "Look at this, someone said they saw a Vampire in the Present Street!"

Uri Wayne was completely uninterested in the article, didn't even glance once, he shrugged his shoulders: "Perhaps someone just wants to get the attention of social networks. You go to the store located at the top of the street to buy wings and immediately can turn into a Vampire!"

Neil Royce pursed his lips, not merry: "Uri..."

"Neil, this is the 21st century. Be realistic! Vampires are just human imaginations after all." Uri did not hesitate to speak out.

A colleague, side by side with Uri, who heard the two talking, interrupted with a sarcastic voice: "Neil, do you believe this too?"

Neil Royce felt like he was being mocked, frowned slightly, said nothing more, picked up the newspaper, and went back to his seat, looking very unfunny.

Uri looked to follow Neil's shadow, and shook his head, smiling slightly. Over the years, he got accustomed to this personality of Neil Royce. The two are childhood friends. They attended the same secondary school and high school, and then went to the same university. Neil studied the media and Uri studied journalism. After graduating from university, the two joined the same newspaper office. Neil works as a correspondent and Uri works as an editor.

The newspaper office where they work was neither large nor well known, with a total of just over a dozen staff. The published articles are in the penultimate position, but the boss is very generous and the treatment is not bad. Uri feels satisfied when working here. Colleagues are also very friendly.

Both Uri and Neil are not from here, originally from a small town 2 hours by car from Los Angeles. Only when the job stabilized, did the two move here. Neil lives with his brother, and Uri lives with his grandmother. His parents died in an accident, and Neil's parents divorced when he was just in secondary school.

Neil is close to Uri like a brother.

Thinking that Neil would soon come out of anger, Uri didn't think much of it and continued his work.

In early October, a body was found on the Western outskirts of the city with two-bite on the neck. At first, no one noticed, but later, the police discovered a second and third bodies. The cause and state of death were the same as the first victim. That's why the city has been buzzing recently with rumors of Vampires appearing. Uri is loyal to scientism. Some myths, miracles, or magic, if science can't explain it, he's not all considered real.

******

By lunchtime, everyone in the office started to have lunch. Uri stretched, stood up, and called out to Neil: "Neil, let's have lunch!"

"You go away, I won't eat." Neil responded. He was bowing his head to something, hearing a voice that didn't come out of anger.

Uri was a little curious. He got close to Neil, at his poky desk crammed with newspapers. Some places were painted with crayons. Neil was busy taking notes on something. Uri looked at the newspapers, her small face slightly wrinkled, all the news about Vampires.

"Haven't you given up yet?" Uri sighed a little. This guy is so stubborn.

"Uhm..." Neil responded casually, still not raising his head.

Uri looked at the scrawled notebook in Neil's hand.

Suburban West Landfill (1:00 AM)

No. 5, La Verland residential area (9:50 PM)

Terrace's Park Green Hotel (1:20 AM)

The abandoned building next to the Los Angeles River (11:45 PM)

Alley 5, Present Street, Los Angeles (3:40 AM)

This is where the murder scene and where people have seen vampires!

Uri frowned, a bad hunch rising in his heart: "What are you going to do? Don't say to me..."

"Yeah, I'll go to check out these places tonight, maybe I'll meet a real Vampire." Neil Royce nodded, looked up at Uri a moment later, and asked: "Do you want to come with me?"

Uri didn't know what to do with his best friend, harshly saying: "Don't drag me into such meaningless tricks!"

"Meaningless? Do you feel this is meaningless?" Neil frowned, displeased with Uri's way of speaking.

"That news spread on social media, everywhere you see it. Can you believe it to be true?" Uri firmly countered.

Neil pursed his lips: "What if it's real? If I find any information, our newsroom will be well-known!"

Uri doesn't want to continue arguing with him anymore, and shrugs: "Then you keep doing this silly thing."

He said and turned away.

Neil looked at Uri's shadow, raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and continued to lower his head to take notes.

The two of them didn't say anything to each other that afternoon. Uri was busy editing a lot of documents and Neil was running somewhere all afternoon.

After work, Uri met Neil at the newsroom's door. Neil has just returned from outside. Neil looked at Uri, and hesitantly asked: "You... don't you want to go with me?

It seemed that Uri was still quite angry at Neil's stubbornness, bluntly refusing: "I don't want to waste my precious time on such things."

After saying that, Uri coldly snorted, turned, and left.

He didn't know that this decision would change his whole life.

******

Uri got back home by bus.

The place where he is living is an old residential area, mostly people from the surrounding small towns. The income is just enough to live on, neither excess nor lacking.

At dusk, the darkness was vague, the interlacing electric wires in the sky, making the whole residential area seem like it was captured in a spider web. The atmosphere is somewhat claustrophobic and mysterious.

The road leading to the residential area is narrow, zigzag, and deep. The surrounding walls were painted with monstrous shapes. The street lights at the turns were turned on but none of them clearly illuminated the path, just flickered, turned on, and turned off again.

Uri kicks the small stone at his feet, just walking and muttering: "Neil Royce, idiot! Vampires are not real! Not real!"

With only a turn to go home, Uri suddenly heard a series of strange noises coming from the small wedge in front of him, which were both like the collision of a cardboard box falling from above and the sound of someone trying to scream but being gaged.

"...."

"...."

Uri was momentarily startled, both hands clutching the straps of the knapsack, slightly frowning. He slowed down his footsteps, then stopped. A few stories about vampires in the newspaper suddenly flashed through his mind. It says vampires tend to commit crimes in dark places and out of sight.

Thinking that Uri's heart couldn't hold back and beat faster than usual. But for now, curiosity overwhelmed his fear. Uri took a deep breath, intending to walk to that alley to observe, but suddenly from that, a black cat came out, looking at him quietly groaning.

"Meowwww...."

It turned out to be a cat!

Uri breathed a sigh of relief, he was thinking too much. There are no vampires here!

Uri busts to laugh because of his thoughts. He sat down and stroked the little cat: "Kitty, go home, don't run around like that."

The little cat rubbed against his hand,

constantly moaning. Because it was dark, Uri didn't notice that the back legs of the cat had been dyed red in a large patch.

"Let's go back!" Uri said and quickly stood up. Just as he turned his back, a black figure get out of the alley. Not long after, a red blood flowed from the inside.