Disclaimer: This is a work of original fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Warning: Description of Blood. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 14.2 -- Between two sides (Part 2)

Major Rose’s Personal Office, Unit Branch Office, Lone Syracuse Outpost, Syracuse, New York, USA, 8 December 2020, 2205 hrs

Later, after stirring…

“Did you just pour human blood into your tea, Major Rose?” Ash questions out of curiosity.

“It is, Captain Bowie,” Mira replies before placing her cup to her mouth. Upon drinking the milk tea, an unpleasant expression appears on Major Rose’s face as she gulps it down her throat. “Yuck!” Mira says in disgust as she finds her milk tea gone sour, caused by the stale human blood.

“What’s wrong?” Ash raises one of her eyebrows, wondering what’s going on.

“The blood must have caused my milk tea to go sour instead of the correct taste,” Mira replies while coughing.

“Why on earth do the Young Templars put human blood into their food and drinks? Isn’t your kind able to eat normal food just like ordinary humans do?” A puzzled Ash asked.

“We still can eat normal food just like ordinary humans do, but we need human blood to quench our inner bloodlust,” Mira replies in a sad but gentle voice. “If we don’t drink human blood, we will lose our sanity and become feral, animalistic beings with no control. Thanks to this, we ceased being human beings completely, and we gained new powers such as higher intelligence, better war-fighting capabilities and faster health recovery when injured.”

“However, our eyes will no longer have the iris and pupil, making them completely pitch black, and we will end up losing our human traits and emotions over time as we behave differently. Even as we pass away, we will still have a youthful appearance, unlike old humans. I know this may make you uncomfortable, but this is how we Young Templars looked.” With that said, Major Rose takes off her ballistic facemask and slowly opens her eyes, showing complete pitch black with no visible iris and pupil, which sends a shiver down Captain Bowie’s spine.

“I know my eyes might have scared you a bit, but please don’t be afraid of them. My eyes do not have any special attack abilities that can harm you.” Mira tries to calm Ash down. “However, I’m going to show you something that may terrify you even further.” .

The Young Templar Major opens her mouth, revealing sharp fangs on her teeth and a monstrous tongue with a small mouth with four small fangs in it.

“Why do you have that kind of tongue? Are you secretly a vampire?” Ash gave Mira a suspicious look.

“We are something similar to that, but we are nowhere close to being vampires.” Mira disagrees to some extent. “Unlike vampires, we don’t turn humans into bloodthirsty undead after sucking blood from humans. A Young Templar can either give a human temporary special attack abilities for combat or turn the human into a mindless zombie slave through their blood. Because of that, there are two factions of Young Templars. One faction, known as the Peace-Lifers, consisted of followers of Queen General Sanna Marie. In contrast, the other destructive group, the Hell-Culters, consisted of followers of a dangerous Young Templar codenamed Hellpagan. Peace-Lifers can’t turn humans into zombies as their blood does not contain the viral agent, unlike the Hell-Culters. Instead, Peace-Lifers can heal humans from almost all kinds of injuries and give them temporary powers using their blood.” .

“I heard of the factions before when I joined the International Taskforce 505, but I don’t understand how it relates to your life as a former Raven?” Ash felt puzzled after hearing this.

“It does, Captain Bowie.” Mira relents with a sigh. “Before I became a Raven operator, they converted me to be a Stage 1 Fledgling, where they instilled me with fear and cruelty. From there, I slowly lose, part by part, my former human thoughts and emotions. After embracing the Young Templar’s mask, I became a full-fledged Young Templar and found pleasure in hurting humans before turning them into zombies. Then, once I joined the Ravens unit, they prepared me for further transformation through their training and a medical procedure, which turned me into a hardline, overzealous Young Templar hell-bent on eradicating both humans and Peace-Lifers. It was the Ravens’ transformation that gave me the ability to spray infectious blood into humans’ faces through my monstrous tongue. But now, I don’t have the ability anymore after the Peace-Lifers saved me with a medical procedure after my capture. Thanks to them, I ended up defecting from both the Ravens and Hell-Culters.” As she finished talking about her past, Captain Bowie saw visible tears flow down her cheeks.

Her words about her past leave Captain Bowie speechless, but with a sense of sympathy for the Young Templar Major as well. She never expected to hear cruelty inflicted on Major Rose during her conversion path to being a full-fledged Young Templar.

“Why did they hurt you despite converting you into their ranks? I thought Young Templars should look after their own brethren with care?” Ash becomes more puzzled than before.

“It’s because Hell-Culters want to see the newly created Fledglings to be as ruthless as they are upon their completion of the conversion process. In this way, the Fledglings will stay true to their ideology and follow their orders without question. That’s why there are extremely rare cases where Young Templars from the war faction, aka the Hell-Culters, defect to the Peace-Lifers without losing their own lives.” Mira explains.

“True. Young Templars belonging to the Hell-Culters rarely stood a chance of living long enough after defecting from them. I have heard similar stories from Mayflower as well. Given that you hailed from the feared Ravens unit, how on earth did you survive till now unscathed?” Ash wonders how Mira was still alive, despite being hunted for years.

“I have to cut ties with the rest of my Young Templar family and friends.” Tears once again flow down Mira’s cheeks after saying the most hurtful part of her entire life. “Because of that, I have to live in the shadows for a very long time, being alone and minimising contact with the outside world. Hence, I treat the International Taskforce 505 as my closely knit family.” .

‘My god. She’s like me as well.’ Ash thought as she felt sorry for the Young Templar Major. This is her first time hearing pain and hardship from a Young Templar after defecting from the war faction. Major Rose’s past relates to hers as well, since she faced a similar predicament where her community treated her like an outcast, and the local state newspaper media published sensational articles calling for her arrest. Because of that, she had to flee her home and the state area on her own to avoid getting lynched by angry citizens from the same state.

“I’m sorry, Major Rose. I shouldn’t have said those words during the meeting earlier if I had known more about your past. I’m willing to accept more punishments from you,” Ash says in a guilty voice.

“No need for that, Captain Bowie. We may be different beings, but our past unites us for a common future.” Mira wipes her tears with a smile. “At least I’m glad you can see that not all Young Templars are evil as the Hell-Culters. Young Templars like me do have human emotions and thoughts. However, I need to tell you something important to you.” .

Major Rose takes a deep breath before opening her mouth. “The Hell-Culters are the ones who tore your life into pieces after you escaped from Tampa in one piece. They used this tactic, which I called hybrid warfare, to silence you by turning people, including your loved ones, against you. It’s not your fault that the rest of your family and friends didn’t believe your story. They have hired human traitors to infiltrate your community and spread devious lies about you. Their goal is to destroy you mentally and see you commit suicide in the end.” .

Captain Bowie has no words to say after hearing that shocking revelation. For years, she thought she was a failure and that everything was her fault. Now she knows who destroyed her life.

“Who did this?” Ash says in a serious tone.

“I will let you know when the time comes. For now, I need your full concentration and rational mind for the upcoming military operation. Remember, the Ravens are one of the fearsome units of the Hell-Culters Young Templars. I can’t send you to fight them if you are not in good mental shape to do so,” Mira says before posing a question to her. “Are you willing to have faith in me to fight against the Ravens together?”

Not wanting to let her down any further, Captain Bowie gives a firm nod to the Young Templar Major. To her, she wants to see those human traitors exposed and ostracised for destroying her ordinary life.

Satisfied with her firm response, Major Rose got up from the sofa and sat beside Captain Bowie. “Thank you for placing your faith in me,” Mira says as she pats Ash’s back gently. “Let me pass an important gift to you. Your right hand, please.” .

Captain Bowie hesitated for a second before reluctantly passing her right hand to her. “What are you planning to do with my right hand?” Ash asks.

“You will see,” Mira replies with a friendly grin on her face.

To be continued...

End of Chapter 14.2

Note: All the characters, places and storylines are owned by Jeremy Mountbatten. All rights reserved by the author. Feel free to give some feedback and don't forget to vote for this chapter. If you want to support me, you can tip me on Ko-Fi (link provided below).