The truth changed everything.
The Lupercalia's Blood wasn't hidden in some forgotten supernatural kingdom. It was among humans — Mere mortals, if they should refer to them that way.
And somehow, that frightened them more.
The four teens spent days digging through old records, ruined journals, and forgotten reports connected to the Blood. Sleep became rare. Food barely mattered anymore. The deeper they searched, the stranger things became. Every old document led to one recurring name..... A scientist — A doctor..... A man connected to some of the earliest experiments ever performed on the Lupercalia's Blood. Someone who had somehow disappeared from history.
Yet — Was still alive.
"That's impossible," Kevin said for the fifth time.
Lenora stared at the screen of an old computer they had managed to access through abandoned archives.
"Not impossible," she said quietly. "Just suspicious."
Cole leaned over.
"It has been long I operated on a system. Haven't seen on in Nyroxia once" Lenora thought about it
"Yh. You should know by now that Gadgets don't work there" Joyce replied
"What do we know?" Cole cleared his throat
Lenora clicked through another file.
"His name is Kenny..... Rogers."
Joyce frowned. "Wait, like.. the Kenny Rogers?"
Kevin blinked.
"There are multiple Kenny Rogers in the U.S."
Joyce shrugged.
"Fair."
Lenora ignored them.
"He was one of the lead researchers involved in blood experimentation decades ago."
"Decades?" Cole asked.
"He should be dead."
Lenora nodded slowly.
"That's the weird part." She turned the screen.
"I don't really know if he's....."
"Not human?.... Like mortal?" Kevin completed the statement for Lenora. She nodded.
On the screen was a recent document. An address. It wrote:
Ohio, United States
"He's alive," she said.
Silence settled. Cole folded his arms.
"If he worked on the Blood…"
"Then he should know where it is," Joyce finished.
Kevin looked uncomfortable.
"You guys do realize this means traveling to whatever address he is to question some creepy immortal scientist, right?"
"Like I said, we don't really know if he's immortal or not!" Lenora said
Cole stood.
"We leave tonight."
Getting to Ohio wasn't easy. By the time they finally reached the quiet neighborhood where they suspected Kenny Rogers supposedly lived —
Night had already swallowed the streets.
The house stood alone near the edge of the neighborhood. A bungalow — A simple bungalow.... Too simple for a Doctor. Its windows glowed faintly in the darkness.
"He lives there?" Kevin whispered.
"No security?" Joyce asked.
"No guards?" Lenora added, suspiciously.
Cole narrowed his eyes. "That's what worries me."
The place felt wrong. It was too quiet and too normal..... Like something dangerous pretending not to be. They climbed over the fence carefully.
No lights turned on, no alarms, no dogs — Nothing. The back door was Unlocked.
Kevin immediately frowned.
"Oh, I hate this."
Inside, the house looked ordinary. Bookshelves, family pictures..... A quiet kitchen. The smell of coffee lingering faintly in the air.
Until — They found the hidden door, behind a bookshelf and it was leading downstairs... A lab.
Joyce froze.
"Okay…"
"That's terrifying."
"And easier than we thought" Lenora added
The room looked frozen in time. Old machines, strange glowing chemicals, glass containers, stacks of files, notes covering walls. And standing near a table — was an old man.
A Thin grey-haired Old man, wearing a doctor's coat. He turned —
And nearly screamed.
"W-WHO ARE YOU?!" he shouted.
Cole stepped forward quickly.
"We just want answers."
The old man backed away in fear.
"No—no—no! You shouldn't be here!"
Kevin quickly shut the lab door. "Too late."
The doctor's hands trembled violently.
Cole eyes moved down to the doctor's coat. His name was stitched onto his coat: KENNY ROGERS
Lenora whispered quietly,
"It's really him…"
The man looked terrified.... Really terrified. Like he had seen ghosts..... Or worse.
"Please," he said shakily. "Don't hurt me."
Cole exchanged looks with the others.
"We won't," he said carefully. "If you cooperate."
Ten minutes later — Kenny Rogers was tied to a chair.
"For safety," Kevin said awkwardly.
The doctor looked deeply offended.
"You've tied up a senior citizen!"
"You tried to run," Joyce replied.
"I panicked!"
Cole stepped closer.
"I will go straight to the point.... The Lupercalia's Blood."
The room immediately changed. The doctor froze. Fear flashed across his face. Then something else — Recognition.
"No," he whispered.
"You shouldn't know that name."
"We know enough," Lenora said. "And we know you experimented on it."
Mr. Kenny looked away. "That was a long time ago."
"Where is it?" Cole asked sharply.
The doctor stayed silent. Kevin sighed.
"Oh come on!"
Hours passed. Question after question. Most answers only made things worse. The doctor avoided direct responses..... Speaking in riddles.... Half-truths.... Fragments.
"The Blood remembers…"
"The Blood chooses…"
"You don't find it."
"It finds you…"
The statement 'Blood remembers' lingered in Cole's head.
"What does that even mean?!" Joyce snapped.
Mr. Kenny only smiled nervously. Finally, after endless pressure, the doctor murmured.
"I don't have the Blood," he admitted. "But…"
He gestured at them to let his loose.
"He's gonna panick and try to run again" Kevin said
"Doors are locked" Joyce insisted
Cole got rid of the ropes. Mr. Kenny walked carefully toward a locked cabinet.
"…I do have something." He completed his statement.
He removed a small metal case. Inside — A glowing vial. Dark crimson. Almost alive. The liquid moved unnaturally, as if breathing. Everyone stared.
"What is that?" Lenora whispered.
"A duplicate," Kenny said quietly. "A failed replication."
Cole frowned.
"Failed??"
The doctor hesitated.
"It carries traces of the original."
"But it isn't the true Blood."
Kevin looked disappointed.
"So we came all this way for fake blood?"
"It's not fake," Mr. Kenny said quickly.
"Just… incomplete."
"Guess the Artifact was much easier then!" Kevin said.
"Of course. The Artifact was easy to find..... Perhaps much easier!" Mr. Kenny said
"You know about the artifact?" Cole asked
The questions kept coming.
What was the blood?
Who created it?
Why was it hidden?
What happened during those past experiments?
But Mr. Kenny answered strangely..... Indirectly. Always halfway..... Leaving every answer more confusing than before.
Eventually — Something changed. Kenny stopped being afraid. He watched them differently now. Carefully and curiously. Then —
"This old man is making things more confusing for us!" Joyce said, out of frustration.
"You all are supernatural." Mr. Kenny said
The room went still. Nobody spoke. Mr. Kenny laughed softly.
"I knew something was off"
"You move wrong."
"You speak wrong."
"You don't belong here."
Cole stepped closer.
"How do you know about that?"
The doctor smiled faintly.
"Because I've seen your kind before." That sentence made everyone uncomfortable... Very uncomfortable. Then — A sound. Sirens.... distant at first, then closer. Red and blue lights flashed faintly through the window upstairs.
Kevin's face dropped.
"Oh no."
Joyce looked horrified. "Police?"
Mr. Kenny sighed. "My wife."
Everyone froze.
"Your wife??" Everyone repeated in unison.
"She must've called them after hearing noises," he said casually.
"From when I turned 53, I don't stay this long in my Lab..." He added.
"You people aren't exactly subtle."
Cole immediately grabbed the vial. "We have to go."
They heard fast footsteps upstairs. Then, Voices. Doors opening.
"POLICE!!"
"ANYONE INSIDE??"
Kevin panicked instantly.
"Oh, we are SO going to jail."
"Move!" Joyce hissed.
The teens rushed toward the back exit of the lab.
Cole was last. Before he left — Mr. Kenny suddenly spoke, coldly.
"If your headmaster sent you on this quest…" Cole paused. The doctor looked him directly in the eye. His expression had changed.
No fear..... Only certainty.
"Then…" His voice dropped.
"…you were never meant to find this one." Cole froze.
"What does that mean?" But Mr. Kenny only smiled.
The sound of police boots thundered overhead.
"COLE!" Joyce shouted.
And with that — They disappeared into the fading darkness of morning, leaving behind questions. Fear. And one terrifying possibility — What if Mr. Bruce had lied to them all along?