My Vampire Harem Will Dominate Everything

A few hours ago.

James Harlow's study.

Nothing adds up. Or at least, not everything.

Michelangelo kept staring at the board, wondering if there was something he was missing.

"There are advantages to thinking out loud, you know." Lisa drawled from where she sat at the chair behind the desk. She yawned, draping one leg over the armrest.

He knew she was right, she was more often than not, but he preferred the silence of his thoughts. He sighed again as he stared at the board he'd set up to visualize things.

"Just spit it out." Lisa pulled out a bottle of blood wine from her personal dimension and popped the bottle, pouring some into a glass she'd retrieved from one of the desk drawers. "It's not like I'm not here to help with this. I much prefer looking pretty but that doesn't mean I can't help.
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Michelangelo sighed. Again, she was right.

He opened his mouth to speak when the shadows in the room stirred. Both of them snapped to it, ready for a fight but relaxed when Daphne stepped out calmly.

"Oh. It's you." Lisa grinned. "How was your trip?"

Daphne folded her arms.

"What?" Lisa sat up, removing her leg from the armrest of the chair in disbelief. "You didn't find him?"

"That shouldn't be possible." Michelangelo said. "He's just a fifth ring vampire, isn't he?"

Daphne tilted her head.

"You detected another presence?" Lisa blinked. "Fifth ring? I guess some people are working hard to keep this Alfred guy hidden."

"It couldn't have been James." Michelangelo frowned. "He never left the estate for a moment." He'd have known if he did.

"Anya?" Lisa suggested. "She did seem a bit shifty."

"No. Not her. She doesn't have the balls."

"I see what you did there." Lisa grinned before turning to Daphne. "Balls, female, you see it?"

Daphne huffed.

"I think Daphne's right." Lisa turned to Michelangelo, leaning back on the throne-like chair. "What do we do without this Alfred guy?"

Michelangelo turned back to the board. "I don't think we need him. The story is right here. All we need to do is connect the dots."

Daphne raised a brow and Lisa asked the question. "What's on your mind?"

"There's a story here and I'm slowly getting the hang of it." He said, nodding to himself. "For the first murder, I think it's simple."

"She killed Hyde for a reason. We don't know why, whether it's personal or to keep a secret. But we do know that she wanted his body to be found. She could have killed him and made him disappear but she didn't."

"Everything starts and ends with Hyde. First, she killed him. Then, she burnt down a building, pointing to Hyde's human family. After, she killed one of his wives, framing it as a suicide and finally, she killed his main wife."

"And?" Lisa asked.

"A serial killer would've been a lot more random but the deaths are all from one coven." Michelangelo followed the thread. "Hyde's death announced that there is a grudge at work. She killed him in that way to send messages to people to know that she was now a threat."

"Hyde's wife, Maya, was killed to reveal that it had something to do with veilbreakers and framing it as a suicide while Lana's death was done to send a message to James, after all, it took place in his home. So, here's the message."

"Hyde has committed a sin and must die. However, his wives also inherit the sin, so Maya had to die. But her death was also used to explain Hyde's sin. It involves Veilbreakers. And Lana's death was used to send a message to James. He is involved in whatever Veilbreaker sin this is and she is pointing us to him."

"Pointing us to him?" Lisa asked.

"Who do you think called us here? It has to be her. She wants us to know he's involved in this somehow."

"I see." Lana nodded. "But what about the Forge Trust fire?"

"That's the missing piece." Michelangelo hummed. "She called us here to punish James for the sin but she left nothing for us to find. That's what I think the fire was for."

"So, the sin is related to Hyde's human family?"

"I don't think so." Michelangelo answered. "There must be something much deeper than this at play here."

"So, what do we do?"

Michelangelo tilted his head, staring at the threads on the board. "I have to see it for myself."

Lisa perked up. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

He sighed. "Yes. I am."

"Good." Lisa grinned. "Cause I'm driving."

The three of them commandeered one of James' cars and in a few minutes, were at their destination.

It wasn't that the place was very close but more like Lisa's driving was very fast but they were all used to it.

They stepped out of the car to stand in front of the husk of the Forge Trust building. The place had been cordoned off and had warning signs all over it.

"The Trust is looking to sell the property." Lisa said. "Apparently, they don't want to stay here anymore."

Michelangelo surveyed the building before deciding. "I'm going in."

"Great." Lisa glanced at Daphne, giving her a grin. "I thought you'd just stay outside like a boring dude."

Michelangelo ignored her, walking into the building. He followed the soot on the wall, trying to trace where the flames had started from.

"Did you know?" Lisa kept up her chatter. "Captain Matten saved a man from this building. He was rewarded and given time off. Why don't we just ask him? Oh, right. It's his wife we're talking about."

Michelangelo walked deeper inside, blocking out the noise and following his instincts until he found himself in front of the doors to the basement.

Humans definitely wouldn't have found it but to the vampires, it was as clear as day.

Someone had used their chameleon tattoo to shroud the door from view.

Michelangelo waved, dispelling the vitality holding up the illusion. The moment he opened the door, he could hear it.

Snarls as if from some wild animal.

"What the?" Lisa muttered.

The three of them went down the stairs until they found exactly what was making that sound.

A feral female vampire, chained in the basement. Not just any vampire. A vampire mad from a lack of blood. A vampire whose body had begun cannibalizing its soul.

"I see." Michelangelo muttered.

"See what?" Lisa asked.

"The first and third murder sends a message. Hyde committed a sin and it's related to the Veilbreakers which means the sin can violate the Law of Secrecy." He stared at the chained vampire. "The second and last murders also send another message. James is involved and he's hiding the evidence in his basement."

Lisa frowned as she thought about it. "So, you're saying Hyde and James did something bad enough to break the law of secrecy and James is hiding the evidence in his basement?"

"Yes." Michelangelo nodded. "Put this woman out of her misery and let's go."

He turned away. "Let's uproot that which has been buried."