Wednesday
4 a.m.
Rigorous questioning from the police had left me exhausted, but now that I was home and in clean clothes, I found I had some problems sleeping. I kept thinking about everything, really, but the gun shot was clearest in my mind. It was so loud and so sudden that every time it would suddenly rear up, I physically jumped. Begrudgingly, I crawled out of bed and into the kitchen. Tea would probably make me feel better.
So would some intense research.
Once I had a cup of my favorite Linden tea, I curled up on the couch with my laptop. The poor thing hadn't been used in a little while and it was a damn shame. I spent a lot of money on it some time ago and barely had any time to use it due to work and being so fatigued from the day.
Okay, okay... so, what were somethings that could cause red eyes? No, not that kind of red eyes... I tapped my chin, trying to find a better way to word the question. What could cause red irises? Quite a few search results came up with albinism. I mean, maybe, if that tall guy didn't have black hair... Okay, what could cause glowing red eyes?
I choked a little bit on my tea, although I honestly should have expected it.
Vampires.
Okay, yeah, that was nuts. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. This whole thing seemed a little crazy to be honest, but what else could it be? So, yeah, fine, I'd delve into this mostly ridiculous idea. There was so many different tales and fables on vampires. Narrowing down my search, I added London to the search engine. Suddenly, news reports were coming up. The attacks? Apparently more and more people were trying to say it was vampires causing the attacks and honestly that didn't seem so far fetched considering the growing amount of evidence.
Another thought crossed my mind and I looked up that guy, Frank Jillian. He was pretty famous, it seemed. Some sort of billionaire with magic, disappearing cancer. The guy hadn't seemed so sick, but the news reports were saying there was no trace of the cancer in the autopsy. How does stage IV cancer suddenly just disappear?
I yawned and rubbed my eye tiredly. 5 a.m. now. I had to be up in an hour, so maybe another, colder shower would wake me up.
"I'm so sorry, Ollie," Jake apologized quickly and loudly as soon as I came through the door to our floor's office.
"Er... it's fine, Jake," I mumbled, downing the last of my coffee. "It's not like you knew that would happen..." I added, walking towards my office.
"But I was the one who pressured you into going last night. I really am sorry, Ollie," Jake added, a small whimper in his voice.
"Jake, please... It's... okay... Besides, he was there."
"He? As in... As in Hottie McHotStuff?" Jake inquired, perking up at this news. "How do you know? Wait a minute was he? Was he the crazy gunman?" he asked with a gasp.
"I don't know about crazy, but he was definitely the gunman," I told him, turning on my computer. "You didn't happen to get a good look at him, did you?"
"No, sorry, darling," Jake sighed softly, leaning against my door frame.
"What about that guy who was shot?"
"You mean the one who bought you a drink?" Jake clarified, tapping his chin. "Now that you mention it, no, I didn't... I only saw him after uhm... well, you know."
"That's okay..." I replied, hanging my head somewhat. "I just wasn't... well... nevermind, it's not important."
"Ollie, darling, you don't look like you got a wink of sleep last night," my friend commented, moving over to the desk. "Are you sure you shouldn't go home today?"
"No chance," I snorted. "There's just too much going on this week and Ms. Jillian would probably cut my throat if I wasn't here to get shit done."
"At least let me buy you a coffee or something. You look like you might pass out."
"Yeah, okay..."
I watched my taller friend leave, spacing out for only a moment before my phone rang. Here goes nothing.
"The wicked bitch can stand one morning of confusion, Ollie," Jake told me impatiently, watching as I clearly had no intention of stopping my work to leave for the day.
"You know she can't, Jake, now get out of here or else it'll be Sammy who's confused," I said, glancing up at him before finishing my written thought.
"You shouldn't stay so late and you know it," he mumbled, arms crossed. "Just... well-lit streets, okay?"
"Of course, mom," I responded, waving at him until he left my sights.
He was right, though. I wasn't getting much sleep, if any at all, and it felt like it was taking a toll on my performance. Surprisingly, Ms. Juniper hadn't said a word about my slacking, so maybe she did have a heart after all.
About an hour later and I finally finished the work. I laid the stack of papers on her desk and, like usual, locked the door behind me. I felt so exhausted that I might actually get to sleep tonight. The cool air hit my face again and I shivered, tying my scarf tighter around my face. At least I remembered my boots for once.
Oh shit.
I groaned, turning and heading back into the building. I had to be freaking kidding me. Of course I'd forget the notes. She'd kill me if she had to read through the thick version of my assessment that was just filled with a heavier syntax to distract the higher ups from the fact that everyone seemed to be overspending this quarter. I took the steps two at a time, the elevator having been turned off since it was after 5 p.m. I unlocked the main office door once I reached our level and hurried in.
I passed the hall to go into the bullpen and stopped. What the hell was that sound? I shivered, the suckling and squelching noises causing my stomach to churn. Did I really want to investigate? With what happened the past few times, my mind told me no, but my curiosity was apparently relentless. I slowly turned and made my way down the short hallway and into the bullpen, full of desks and chairs. There were two people at Jake's desk. One seemingly sitting on the other's lap. They were close, locked together as though locked in a very private moment. I knew I should have turned back, fearful of interrupting something personal, but there was just a feeling of wrong here.
"H-Hello?"
A head whipped towards me and glowing red eyes stopped my heart. Oh... Oh yeah, I'm regretting coming into work today. I took a few steps back, chest heaving uneasily. I let out a whimper when I backed into something, or rather someone judging by the feel. I looked up to see a grinning man with fiery sunglasses staring down at me.
"Good evening, Red," he greeted. "I thought we might meet again."
"W-What-"
"Alucard," hissed the other, who started to stand now.
She wiped her face and I shuddered. By the light of the moon, I saw that was my boss, Ms. Juniper. The only physical difference I could tell was her eye color had changed, but there was a weird aura coming from her and it froze my blood. My eyes flickered to the person in the chair and I felt a lump form in my throat.
Jake.
I pressed up against the man, wanting nothing more than to just run away from the situation. My eyes were stinging and it was becoming harder to see.
"My reputation proceeds me," responded the tall man, still grinning a sharp-toothed grin.
"Step away from the boy and we won't have a problem," she told him rather suddenly, moving closer to us.
"And here I thought I'd actually have a challenge," Alucard sighed wistfully, bringing his gun up to aim it at Ms. Juniper. "I wouldn't go to work tomorrow," he whispered down at me, sunglasses tilting so I could see his eyes.
Before I had time to respond, he took my arm and moved me aside so he could advance, gun already shooting. I covered my ears, heart racing again as I tried to decide what to do. Finally, I decided on running out of the bullpen and towards the exit. Holy shit this was really happening. I tripped over my own feet and down I went. Thank God, too, because a bullet whizzed passed where my head would have been. I looked back in time to see my boss's face contorted and snarling, clawed hands reaching out towards me before her head was blown apart. Blood and other organic matter splattered my yet again and I scooched away from where she landed.
"Half breeds," Alucard muttered, moving closer now and putting a bullet through her chest. He looked back up at me now and grinned again, holstering his weapons. "My Master would like for you to come back with me, to have tests done."
I sat silently for a minute, eyes wide and breath shallow. Suddenly, I jumped up and burst through the door to the stairs. My foot slipped on the edge of one of the stairs and I closed my eyes shut, waiting for the impending pain, but it never came. I slowly opened my eyes to see the floor, about a foot away from my feet. Alucard lightly set me down and turned me around.
"Are you done?"
"W-What do they want with me?" I sputtered, taking a few steps backwards.
He started to lean in, but when I took another step backwards, I tripped and fell onto the stairs. The red-eyed man stared at me intently for a moment, before just grinning.
"Who knows?"
