The Master Hypnotist

"Slacovich, I am truly sorry about what happened to Ara. She saved my men's lives, and they won't forget it, neither will I." Vera sat beside Slacovich, who'd been outside in the cold night.

"Hmm, how's Ania?" he asked without looking.

"She fell asleep crying. The child's been traumatized. She's been locked up in that room for days without enough food to sustain her body. It's a miracle she survived starvation with her tiny frame."

"She's like Ara. Tiny but strong. She's the only one left who will keep Ara's existence alive. Ara wanted her to live well."

"Did you tell the Queen about the news?"

"I don't have the courage to break it to them. Besides, they also have their own situation to handle right now. I don't want to distract them, or it'll be more troublesome once anger takes hold in their hearts."

"I agree. I'll take care of it once the Queen's matters are settled. You should go in and warm up. Even if you're a cold-blooded vampire, you're still more human than the others. I'll get in first." Vera left him, sighing as she saw his depressed face.

Vera stopped the news from reaching Volton, for he'd obviously use it to his advantage against Sofie and the others.

At the Sun dormitories, the hunters and new students got along pretty well. They managed to hide their identities and mingled with others like ordinary students. Knowing one of the new students might be the master hypnotist Volton implanted in the University, the fact that the suspect was male lessened their trouble checking every student.

Tyler and Diego decided to blend in with the students and live in the boys' dorm. They were roommates with some new students.

One hunter approached them, informing them about his new roommate's nightly disappearances.

"Mr. Tyler, Fred's a new enrollee in our class and my roommate. Since moving into the dorm, he's been acting suspicious. Every night at 11, he sneaks out. I don't intend to follow him or I'll blow my cover, so I just pretend to be asleep and observe."

"That's good, Clarence. What time does he come back each time?"

"2 a.m. But last night was odd. He didn't go out. I wonder if he knew I was just pretending."

"Diego, I'll inform Li in the security room to check the CCTV. Try to get close to Fred if you can. Just avoid suspicion." Tyler left the two of them and headed to the security room.

"I'll do what I can. Clarence, go back to class now." Clarence said goodbye and left Diego.

On his way to the hall, Clarence saw Fred walking away hurriedly. From his direction, it seemed Fred overheard him talking with Diego and Tyler.

One way to find out, Clarence followed him, ending up on the rooftop.

"Fred! Tell me the truth. You aren't here to study, right?" Clarence didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.

"Heh, why would I be here if I didn't want to study?"

"You heard us talking. You wouldn't immediately turn around and leave if not."

"Clarence, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb." Clarence walked slowly toward Fred.

"If you're that smart, then you know exactly who you're messing with." Fred removed his glasses and stared into Clarence's eyes. Clarence tried to close his eyes but it was too late. He was now under Fred's control.

Fred whispered into his ear, then Clarence went down the stairs unconsciously, unaware of what he was about to do.

Clarence went straight to the dean's office, where Sofie and Carolina were having tea. The dean had stepped out for his daily classroom visits.

"Oh, Clarence, classes are still going. What brings you here?" Carolina greeted him as the door opened and he entered.

There was no answer from him. He walked closer, not acting like himself.

Without a word, Clarence drew a dagger and attacked Sofie. She dodged, and Carolina moved behind him, shrugging off the dagger and pinning him down.

"What's wrong with him?" Sofie asked, taking the dagger away from his reach.

They heard someone clapping by the door. Fred was there, grinning at the scene.

"Queen Sofie in the flesh. Here, my bidding!" A shadow guard appeared beside her, covering her vision. Another appeared to protect Carolina.

"So it's you."

"Exactly. Your shadow guards aren't playing around, huh? They're quite impressive."

"You can't control me, so just surrender."

"I can't control you, that's true. But----"

"But what?" With one snap of his fingers, the new students began acting weirdly. They stood up and walked out of their classrooms. The hunters tried to stop them but failed, they were being controlled.

The dean rushed toward them, informing Carolina and Sofie about the commotion.

Diego, Tyler, and Li helped stop the students from walking away. They were all heading toward the rooftop.

"Fred, what are you doing?!"

"Hello, Mr. Dean. Aren't you supposed to stop your students from committing suicide by jumping off the rooftop?" He grinned maliciously.

"You bastard!" Even Nicholson was controlled by Fred with one stare. He joined the students heading to the rooftop.

Fred left them, and Clarence snapped back to his senses.

"Miss Sofie, Miss Carolina, what's going on? I was just following Fred to the rooftop and confronted him about why I was there."

"He controlled you and made you attack Sofie. Don't think about it now. There's a more serious problem." Carolina loosened her grip and helped him stand.

"Let's save the students. He won't let us off the hook that easily." The three went out of the building.

They saw hunters gathered in the open field, looking up at the building.

The new students stood at the edge of the rooftop.

From their spot, they heard Fred's laugh.

"Hahaha! This will be a great headline for tomorrow: SUN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS JUMP OFF THE BUILDING! What will happen to you now?"

"What do you want?" Li asked, flying toward him, followed by Tyler and Diego.

"Hand over Queen Sofie and I'll free them all at once."

"No deal."

"Then you make me do this---" Five students suddenly jumped off the building.

Diego caught two, Tyler almost missed catching two others, and Li caught the last one.

"Damn you!" Li was about to attack, but Diego stopped her. If any of them got controlled, it would be even harder to deal with.

They put down the students beside Carolina and Clarence.

Sofie spread her wings and flew toward Fred.

"Finally made a decision, my Queen? Hahaha."

"Yes, but not what you're expecting." Sofie smiled, making Fred panic a bit.

"What are you smiling for? Don't you want to save them?"

"Let them jump if they want. My life is more precious than those lowly humans. That includes you."

Li and the others were puzzled by Sofie's attitude.

"You're just a vicious vampire. All their deaths will be because of you!"

"We'll see. I can clear my name and the University's name by using you as the scapegoat. You're the one who controlled them and made them jump. So you're the killer, not me."

"But you can stop me if you just surrender."

"I won't repeat myself. My life is even more precious than theirs. If that's all, I'm going now." Sofie slowly flew down.

In Fred's anger, he told the students to jump off.

"EVERYONE, JUMP OFF NOW!"

To his surprise, only a few obeyed and were caught by shadow guards, who slowly put them down while the others lay unconscious.

"Surprise, surprise." Sofie turned back, grinning at him.

"What did you do?"

"You may be a master hypnotist, but you have quite a temper. Destroying your focus and agitating you makes you furious, weakening your control. I may not be a hypnotist, but I can show you what a nightmare looks like." Sofie transformed into her ultimate vampire form. With her black eyes, she stared Fred down. The shadow guards conjured around him, and he felt like he was being devoured by darkness.

The students who were unconscious suddenly stood up, all bloody and disfigured as if from jumping off the building.

They slowly crawled up to Fred, meeting his eyes and dripping blood all over him.

Sofie stepped away, and the shadow guards disappeared.

All they could see was Fred screaming and freaking out.

The hunters ran toward the roof and helped the students.

Tyler and Diego brought Fred down, who'd gone crazy.

"Sofie, what did you do?"

"Gave him a taste of his own medicine. Just an illusion I created with the help of the shadow guards. A hypnotist's mind should be strong to fully control his victims. When I realized he was easily agitated, I used that to weaken his control by making him furious. Then I assaulted his mind directly before he could recover. Now he's useless, but we won't let Volton take him back. The Black Knights will handle him. They'll pick him up soon."

The matter at Sun University was resolved, but their hearts would never be ready for the news coming their way.