I Explore Urban Legends - Chapter 106: The Cycle of Hatred (Patreon)

Those words caught Liam’s interest.

He waved Lily over, and the little cat immediately trotted toward him.

Taking the camera from her, Liam pointed the microphone at the Vampire and asked pleasantly,

“Ms. Vampire, what should I call you?”

The Vampire glanced at the microphone, apparently surprised that he was genuinely trying to talk to her.

“Lowly mortal, you may call me Ms. Brown.”

Liam had only been testing the waters. He hadn’t expected her to actually answer, so he continued.

“Well then, Ms. Brown, could you tell me what happened here?”

Brown gave a cold snort.

“It’s nothing more than the story of an innocent young girl who died a tragic death.”

Her thoughts seemed to drift back into the distant past.

“A hundred years ago, this place was nothing more than a small fishing village. I lived here with my parents and my younger siblings. I was still young then, and I believed there was good in everything.

“Unfortunately, that peaceful life didn’t last long. A terrible disease appeared among the passengers aboard a ship. Tuberculosis.

“My father happened to work aboard that ship. He contracted the disease without realizing it and thought he merely had a common cold.

“By the time he discovered the truth, it was already too late. My entire family had contracted tuberculosis. No, there was one exception. Me.

“I was still young and had no idea what to do, so I hurried to the town doctor. He taught me how to isolate the source of infection and how to care for the sick.

“He told me I was lucky to have found him when I did. Otherwise, sooner or later, I would have caught the disease as well. At first, I thought I was lucky too.

“But the other townspeople didn’t see it that way. They decided I was a Vampire who had secretly cast a spell on my family, making them fall ill and cough up blood.

“The doctor tried to reason with them, but he couldn’t stop the mob. They stormed into my home and beat me to death with hoes.

“That’s my entire story. Of course, without anyone left to treat them, my family eventually died as well.”

By this point, Liam could already guess what had happened afterward.

“So by some twist of fate, you really did become a Vampire, and then you came back to take revenge on this town. Is that right?”

Brown nodded and raised her head proudly.

“Everyone here bears the original sin. I will torment them and their descendants.”

“Interesting. But I’m guessing you’re not going to tell me anything more than that, are you?”

“Heh heh heh!”

Brown began to laugh.

“So you really aren’t insane. You’re right. And thank you for giving me so much time to recover.”

At that moment, Brown’s body suddenly burst apart into a huge swarm of bats.

Liam immediately pulled the sawed-off shotgun from inside his coat and fired into the swarm.

Brown clearly hadn’t expected him to be carrying something like that. The bats scattered in every direction.

“Bang! Bang!”

Two shots wiped out more than half of them, but the survivors had already scattered throughout the barn.

“Lily, you’re up!”

“No problem, meow!”

Lily instantly became a black blur, darting after the bats around the room.

Cats were naturally skilled at catching small animals like these. Before long, dead bats were piled around Liam’s feet.

But he didn’t lower his guard.

Looking up, he spotted one last bat.

Brown was flying toward a gap in the ceiling, still taunting Liam as she fled.

“Lowly mortal, you may be powerful, but never forget that we are the rulers of the night. Remember every night from now on, because we...”

Before Brown could finish, she suddenly felt something wrap around her body.

She struggled violently, only to realize that it was spiderweb.

Normally, something so flimsy could be brushed aside with a single flap of her wings. This time, however, the strands only tightened around her.

She thrashed harder, but it was useless. Her struggling only caused more of the web to stick to her until she was completely wrapped up and left dangling in midair.

“Children, what lesson have we learned from this?”

Liam looked down toward the voice and saw that the spider in his pocket had recovered. Iktomi climbed onto his shoulder and looked up at the bat hanging from the ceiling.

“Never get arrogant before you’ve actually won.”

The web on the ceiling was the same one Iktomi had spun that morning while comforting Wilbur. Because she had woven his name into it, the web was thicker than usual, just enough to trap the final bat.

And just like that, hatred had completed yet another cycle through the next generation.

“Wow! Iktomi, you’re awake!”

Lily jumped excitedly and quickly climbed onto Liam to get a closer look.

“Lily, you should stay farther away from me. My body is so fragile right now that I can barely withstand your breathing.”

Iktomi spoke softly.

Liam ignored the reunion taking place on his body and stepped forward to remove Brown from the ceiling.

“Damn mortal! Don’t touch my noble body!”

He gave the bat in his hand a little shake.

“Don’t worry. I’m a respectable public figure. I wouldn’t do anything so improper.”

Brown visibly relaxed, but Liam’s next words frightened her even more.

“I host a children’s TV show. I only share the trophies from my adventures with the kids. I hope you’ll enjoy it too.”

Iktomi leaned closer.

“I had no idea you worked in such a respectable profession. I enjoy teaching children as well.”

Brown was considerably less pleased.

She twisted desperately in Liam’s hand.

“Don’t give me to children! I hate children more than anything!”

She tried to use her powers to escape, but fighting Liam earlier had consumed too much of her blood energy.

Until she drank blood again, she would never be able to recover. For now, she could only remain alive in the form of a bat.

Liam tore several strips of cloth from his clothes and tied Brown up securely. To keep her from biting anyone and drinking their blood, he even stuffed a small wad of cloth into her mouth.

Once everything had been taken care of, Iktomi yawned and crawled back into Liam’s pocket.

“I’m exhausted. I need to rest a little longer.

“And please help the children.”

Liam understood what she meant.

After the battle, all the children had awakened, and by now they understood that he meant them no harm.

“Mister, where did you come from?”

“Do you know where my mom and dad went?”

“Mister, did you come to save us?”

The children didn’t cry or make a fuss. Instead, they each asked their own questions.

Living here had taught them that crying wouldn’t solve anything.

Liam looked at them, crouched down, and gave them a gentle smile.

“My name is Liam. You can call me Mister Liam. I don’t know where your parents went, but that’s all right. Come with me, and we’ll look for them together. Sooner or later, we’ll find the answers to all your questions.”

The children looked at Liam and smiled sincerely.

“I’m ready, Mister Liam.”

After hearing the answer, Liam turned to Watson.

“Now, I have a very important job for you.”