Audrey's legs were stiff from their disuse in the truck, and her brain exhausted from the stress of traveling without Edward. She could almost feel the moment they had gone too far for him to hear her heartbeat any more. It was a physical shift in the way she sat, from her head trained down at the book she was reading, her shoulders relaxed and comfortable. In an instant her back was tense, and her neck was strained, trying to hear outside the blood truck. For the first time in months she felt unsafe. The ride was smooth, but by the time they stopped she felt like she had been vibrating for hours. Her hand gripped her crossbow as there was light scraping outside the truck. It had rolled to what felt an unexpected stop.
She pointed it towards the doors, and settled her back against the far wall of the truck. Her heart was going wild, as nerves took the best of her. She felt demented, having been locked in what was effectively a cage for hours on end, and without a watch or working phone, she had no idea how much time had actually passed. It seemed to take hours for the scraping to cease, and the very first sliver of light to come between the crease in the door.
The sunlight blinded her for what could have been crucial seconds, but when her vision cleared, she realized to door wasn't open all the way, and a familiar voice floated though the opening, "Don't shoot kid."
She let out a sigh of relief, and set the bow aside, sliding on jellied legs towards to doors, Elvis offered her a hand as she climbed out, and eyed the interior suspiciously for a long moment.
"What?" Audrey asked, suddenly self-conscious about what had been her space for the last half day.
"I wasn't sure he would listen," Lionel told her with a small smile and Audrey couldn't help but smile, "I wasn't sure any of you would listen." He amended after a moment, and Audrey swatted at his shoulder lightly. Before she turned around and pulled him into a hug, he accepted it somewhat awkwardly. She was as close to him as a daughter, and he loved her dearly. But he still wasn't good with the touching, he never had been. They'd told him all his life it was his daddy's fault, that he had made him this way, Elvis couldn't say one way or the other. But he always tolerated her overly physical emotional needs, because if for some reason it was connected to his father. He didn't want his life for her.
"It's good to see you Lionel." She whispered to him, as she let the familiar and calming scent of his wash over her.
He chuckled, and gave her an affectionate squeeze, "Likewise darlin'."
He looked different, more tired than she remembered him, even though she had seen him less than a week ago, her mind raced with anticipation as to what he could need to show her. His message had been short and only explained they had been right to be so insistent. It had been urgent, and that he kicked himself for not coming sooner to see them.
She pulled away from him at long last, and he sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck, turning towards the main building they used, and heading for the entrance. Audrey fell into step beside him, "So what can you tell me?" She asked, her curiosity was threatening to swallow her whole. She was going to be a huge mess by the end of this if she didn't get some adequate answers soon. She had had little else to do on the drive up here, other than wonder what could possibly have Elvis so jumpy and secretive.
He shook his head, and looked at the back of the young boy who had driven her up there; Audrey understood and let their conversation lapse into silence. They moved inside and out of the blistering sun quickly, Audrey wished more than ever she had a way to communicate with Edward. To let him and Sam know she had arrived safely, she wondered, not for the first time, how her mother and father had let her out of the house as a teenager, without a way to communicate with her.
Calmly Elvis moved through the compound, nodding to various faces that looked up and stared at Audrey. This compound was far out, not one of the ones they had visited. New faces were scarce here, and often brought tell of bad news. She remembered before she had risen though the "ranks" at the winery, a new face had appeared one day. With no explanation from anyone, but this woman brought tell of the horrors her old compound had suffered. Many steered clear of her, the wives tale being that once a vamp had your scent they never truly lost it. Eventually she was gone, moved to another safe house, Audrey didn't know where she had gone, but she was certain it was the unrest of the people that had driven her out.
Silently she followed Elvis's bobbing head, making a beeline through the main room, which was a large open space where you could see nearly everything just by glancing. A large imposing door stood on the far wall, and as far as she could tell this was their destination. Elvis didn't so much as glance around him to see if others watched as he pushed open the door.
Stepping through she found herself at the end of a long hallway, several doors leading off at various points in between, the door shut solidly behind them and she watched carefully as he spun a large lock back around the door and sealed them in.
Looking back at her now he nodded to her, "What you are about to see, does not leave here."
Audrey nodded, and glanced down the corridor again, her heart pounding in anticipation, and worry, "Okay."
"Especially to Edward," He added after a moment, and Audrey straightened her back to look at him harshly, "Don't give me that look. You know I wouldn't tell you something like that unless it was something dire. He cannot know about this."
There was a strange and muffled noise from down the hall, and doubt crept into her stomach, gnawing at the edges trying to escape, "I don't know if I can keep it from him." She told him honestly, there wasn't a thing in the world that she knew that she wouldn't tell him, and with the world gone to hell the way it was, she didn't want to start putting things on a nondisclosure list.
Elvis sighed, "Once you see him, you won't feel the same." He told her matter of factly.
She crinkled one eye at him, and heard the strange shuffle again, she wanted to ask him what he could possibly mean by that, but he was already moving on. Walking away from her down the hallway and she moved after a moment to catch up to him.
At the end of the hallway he paused outside the door, there was a window at the top of the door, but she couldn't see from the angle, she could only see long shadows cast on the wall as several someone's moved around inside. He looked back over his shoulder at her and sighed, "Not a word, it's for the best."
The door opened and revealed three humans standing in a half circle, all talking amongst themselves, clipboards clutched in hands, and held under their arms, a fourth man was in front of them leaned forward studying something, the small huddle disbanded revealing a heartbreaking sight; Audrey sheltered a gasp in the throat.
A man or what was left of one crouched on his knees, arms hanging loosely beside him fingertips just above the floor, brushing it lightly as he shifted. She stared at him, and her heart kicked up at notch, as she surveyed the thick chains which bound him to the wall, linked by smaller chains that held his feet to the floor.
He stared at the floor, as the human who had been crouching near to him stood to his full height, and looked down at the clipboard he had been resting against his thigh, "We can go through this time and time again all we are asking for is information. How many of you were in the field, and do they know about this compound?"
Slowly the man lifted his head, but he didn't look to the man who addressed him, his eyes came slowly to meet Audrey's. Golden eyes glowed dimly at her, his skin was sallow, and his ears were just beginning to curl into a point, he blinked weakly, his eyes bloodshot. He was listening to her tittering heart carefully, drinking in the spike of fear that shot through her. The chains clinked together as he shifted and moved to stand.
With horrible realization, she turned to look at Lionel. She recognized him; she had walked past his face for the last five months. He had a much younger face back then, a face that was open to the possibilities of the world, a face full of life and happiness, a face that had never felt heartbreak. She felt sick, and she wanted to run. Lionel expected her to keep this from Edward.
There came a deep guttural noise out of the back of his throat as he rose to near his full height, only stopped by the limited length of chain, "Franklin Dalton, Corporal, 19 874 491."