4. Choosing Sides

Fuck! Holy shit... What should I do? I paced back and forth outside of the double doors to the laboratory. That was my friend in there... If I didn't do something fast... I pulled at my hair as I heard the vampire cry out again.

Zack Fair was a newborn vampire, hardly able to control his urges. He turned himself into the Quarantine to protect his human girlfriend Aerith Gainsborough. In between my deliveries, I always took a detour by the local post office to send and receive letters back and forth between the two. Zack was a former elite member of the WRO. While working in the Quarantine, he was attacked by a group of rebel vampires and turned into one of their own. I suspected it was the same three that had escaped.

I cringed as I heard another cry. This was it, I had to do it... I forced my body through the double doors yelling. "Stop!"

Zack laid chained down by silver. There was an IV in his left arm with his blood flowing into a bag and an IV in his right arm pumping human blood into his body. So they weren't killing him...

"Security?" The head of the research department was an aging man with long brown hair and thick glasses.

"Wait no! I...I thought you were draining him." I took a step back as two strong human guards approached me.

"And if I were...?" The older asked in his squawking voice. I looked down at Zack as I took a few more steps back. Zack gave me a look that clearly meant to get the hell out of here. I gave him a nod in return before spinning around and running back through the double doors and down the hall. I wanted to be done with this place. I was ready to quit right now, but... someone had to take a stand and end this mindless torturing.

..Q.Q..

I secretly missed Serah already. I didn't say goodbye to her before we left town. It had been a long two weeks since we'd returned to the WRO headquarters. I sat outside the Lieutenant's office waiting for Lightning to come out of her meeting with him. She was getting new colored badge that indicated her promotion from trainee to 3rd class guard. This promotion pleased me too as this meant we could be assigned to tougher jobs. If I was to forget her I would need to be kept busy.

We left the WRO headquarters and drove Lightning's new vehicle she acquired with her promotion to the ruins that used to be the city of Midgar. The Quarantine was located deep within these wastelands. The heavy doors slammed behind us echoing through the large, empty entryway. I came here to buy some supplies for our long trip. I made sure I got plenty of medicine and vampire sunscreen along with blood tablets and a few cases of synthetic blood. I heard a rough female voice cry out followed by male laughter. I followed cries to the residential area. I slid along the long hallway until I came to the door where the sound was the loudest. I peered through the small barred window on the door. A large male WRO guard had a dark haired female vampire chained up by the neck with silver. He pulled the chain with one hand while the other gripped her waist as he rammed her hard from behind.

"Oh... yeah you vampire bitches are always so fuckin tight..."

I backed away from the door quickly in disgust. Who's side should I really be on? I wondered as I continued down the hall. My kind, my own people were being brutally tortured in this prison! Why am I joining forces with humans? Was my own freedom really worth abandoning my kind? Or was my kind really worth risking my freedom... Vampires were monsters, but we were all human once. Most of us still hung onto our human consciences, but not all of us were trustworthy. I knew if the tables were turned, the vampires would be ten times more brutal towards humans treating them only as a source of food. I did very much want to prevent a war, but should there have to be one, picking sides would not be as easy as I thought it would be.

I eventually caught up with Lightning again in the yard to find her talking with none other than Cloud Strife.

"Vincent!" Cloud walked closer so that he could lower his voice to a whisper. "I found out how they are obtaining the vampire blood." He then went on to explain the event he had witnessed earlier that week.

"Hm." I responded nodding to show my understanding. "Is there anything else going on? In the short time I've been here I've already noticed some very brutal treatment of my kind."

Cloud looked away nodding in agreement. "There's gotta be something we can do, Vincent. I'm afraid there's going to be a war. And... I'm not quite sure which side I want to be on."

I sighed. "We must do all we can to prevent war, Cloud. Talk to as many humans as you can on this matter. Maybe if enough of you can agree that the treatment of vampires here is inhumane, we can make a change without it resulting in war." I spoke while looking back at my partner who was sitting on the cement steps staring down at the dead grass. Even the scenery out here was dead and dreary.

"You're right, I can't be the only one noticing this stuff..."

I nodded. "Indeed. My partner and I need to head out. Good luck, Cloud. My kind are depending on humans like you."

Cloud gave a firm nod and we went our separate ways.

..Q.Q..

I had been eavesdropping as much as I could and heard the main part of their conversation. Though I had been with the WRO for a little more than a year now, I had had very few experiences with vampires other than Vincent and so far he was nothing like the typical vampire I had imagined. All I knew was what I was trained on how the vampires should be dealt with. But after hearing some of the things Cloud had said to Vincent... I wasn't quite sure who were the ones needing to be dealt with.

Months passed, I got to know Vincent and some of the other vampires in the WRO, and my decision was made. Cloud, a few other lower class WRO members, and I put our heads together from time to time trying to come up with a solution. Four months had passed by and there were still no leads on the missing vampires but there had been an increase in missing WRO members. So you'd better believe they were cracking down harder than ever on the vampires. And like Cloud, I was getting pretty fed up with this mindless torture bullshit.

I stormed into Vincent's room slamming the door behind me. Vincent didn't even look up at me as he took a sip of his synthetic blood then immediately taking a drag off of his cigarette.

"I just got out of a two hours long meeting, Vincent, and you aren't going to believe the outcome."

He finally looked up at me with interest.

"They're taking all the mainstreamers into custody. They can't do it all at once because it may cause an uproar... They've got a plan to slowly, one by one pull them all back into the Quarantine. Isn't that bullshit! I think the WRO want a war. This is stupid, I quit!" My eyes must have been burning with fury because Vincent couldn't keep eye contact with me. "I can't believe I left my family for this..."

Vincent sighed and looked back down at the floor. He didn't seem to let the bad news disturb him too much. He put his cigarette out and finished the rest of his drink. "How is your family... Have you spoken...to your sister?"

I hadn't really spoken much to Serah. Though we made up before Vincent and I left town, our relationship wasn't as good as it used to be. I sighed.

"I talked to her a couple of months ago on her birthday. She was angry with you for not answering her calls and wishing her happy birthday." I noticed him wince slightly. He may not of thought I noticed, but after meeting my sister... He's been... different. If at all possible he seemed slightly more depressed. Though I refused to believe it had anything to do with her, I couldn't help but wonder.

..Q.Q..

Though I worried it would cause suspicion, I couldn't help but ask about Serah. She must have memorized my phone number when she had my cell phone captive because I had missed several calls from her over the past four and a half months. She'd also left me a few text messages. I didn't answer her calls and I deleted all of her text messages before I could even read them and tempt myself to answer. I had to leave her alone... I didn't want to ruin her. And now that Lightning and I had formed an official friendship, her little sister would definitely be off limits.

"My apologies."

"I'm worried about her. If this war breaks out... I may not be able to keep my promise." She sat down beside me on the bed.

"Promise?" I looked at her.

"The cause of my parent's death was a car accident, but they didn't die at the scene. My mom lived for three days in the hospital. My dad lived a week. Serah wasn't allowed to visit them in such a sate, but I stayed with them both until they took their last breaths. I promised them that I would take care of Serah and give her the life they wanted to give us."

I remembered what Serah said about Lightning and being surrounded by gloomier people. I did my best to try and lighten her mood. I leaned towards her and rested my hand on her shoulder. "Life never goes the way we plan." I stood from my bed and walked towards the window. Lightning sighed and uncrossed her arms as she relaxed on the bed.

"So, what do we do now? We're assigned the 'clean up'."

"Clean up?"

"Yeah we follow around a team of elite members on their missions in capturing each mainstreamer and in case there is any uproar we are in charge of clean up. Your task will be to hypnotize any human that happens to witness anything unusual."

All I could do was shake my head and sigh. "We cooperate for now as there is not much else we can do in such a small group." I looked out at the night sky wondering what would soon become of this world.

..Q.Q..

I counted my tips before putting them in my purse. I tried not to look aware as I heard someone's thoughts as they walked into the room.

She's so hot... if only I had the courage to ask her out... no Light would kill me... her skin is flawless... these past few months she's really gettin that womanly shape...

The string of thoughts continued to ring in me head until I stood up and turned around. "Boss?"

"Uh... Hey, Serah. I was just uh... thinking... would you like to go out sometime?" He dug his fingers into his long blond hair as he smiled nervously. I looked away contemplating what he had just asked. I would be foolish to say I was holding out for someone who wouldn't return... but I wasn't interested in Snow like that and if I agreed to a date I'd only be leading him on. But... Snow was my boss! What if he started treating me differently if I turned him down. Going out just a couple of times shouldn't hurt. Maybe if I got to know him outside of work...

"Um...sure! You know my days off!" I laughed cheerfully as I gathered the rest of my things.

He let out a sigh of relief.

No way... finally a date with Serah... "Really? Uh..that's great! Yeah... I'll take a look at our schedules and get back to you tomorrow after work." He smiled at me as I walked passed him. I had to get out of the room as fast as possible before I could hear anymore of his thoughts.

"Ok, see ya!" I waved to him before rushing out of the restaurant and starting on my walk home. The weather was warmer now so the walks home weren't as trying. It was hard walking this path now because every time I passed the shortcut to my secret spot on the hill overlooking the waterfall, I thought of the night with Vincent. It had now been just short of five months since I had since him and I was still thinking about him! I knew I was just being immature. I needed to stop thinking about him all together... He was too old for me, it would never work out. Not to mention Light would never let that happen.

I got home later than usual so I was surprised to see my grandmother waiting up for me in her rocking chair. "Oh, dear. Thank goodness you made it home. Your sister called and she said that her and a team of WRO members are coming in to town soon to arrest a man here. She said it was a tall man with a long red ponytail."

"Really! Here in Kalm! Hey... I think I saw a man like not too long ago at the restaurant. He comes into the bar with a different lady every time I see him... He doesn't seem like the type to cause any real trouble." I took a seat on the couch near my grandmother's chair. My eyes suddenly widened. Vincent may be coming into town! It had been more than four months since I had seen him or my sister. I tried to deny my excitement but I couldn't lie to myself. As hopeless as it was having a crush on someone I couldn't have, I couldn't help it. On top of that, I had already agreed to go out with Snow...