CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Iain sat on the same chair he was on last night. I supposed it was his favourite one.

This was the day. The day I'd be able to fill in all the blanks.

But then a thought came. Would it be better to find Mattie? I hate to admit it but Iain was - I wasn't exactly sure how old he was - his memory might not be as sharp as it once was.

It was this line of thought that I carried as I sat on the sofa facing him.

"Iain…"

"Alice.."

We both said each other's names at the same time. I grinned.

Iain indicated that he wanted me to go first so I did. I told him that it was a bit weird to talk about something without Mattie in the same room, and that I sort of associated talking with Iain only when I wanted to… I don't really know… talk to him without Mattie knowing…

Okay that didn't make sense.

"Alice." He said. I think he knew I was making an excuse so I faltered to wait for his reply. "I agree. We should really find Mattie."

I felt the relief wash over me. But wait- "Do you know where he is?"

"He's not at The Manor?

I shook my head telling him I had already been there and describing what I saw.

Iain laid back in thought. "I don't see Mattie going anywhere apart from The Manor and Rose, to be honest. There might be a place but the last time I heard news of it, it was completely gone."

My interest peaked. "A place?" I doubted I would have even gone there.

"I can show you. Go in my room, in the wardrobe there is a fireproof case. Can you bring that down?"

I did what he said. Iain's room was next to the living room, opposite the spare room I had slept in last night. I tried to ignore it because of what happened. I was a bit embarrassed.

The case was heavy. Heck, I nearly dropped it as I hefted off the shelf. Maybe it would have left a hole in the floor if I did drop it.

It was also locked so when I miraculously got the heavy thing back into the living room, I noticed Iain had gotten up and had a set of keys in his hand.

With a grave look on his face he indicated for me to put the case on the table. What was in this thing?

Iain had to use the table for support as he lowered himself down on the floor. It took him a few tries to find the right key and to get the tiny thing in the keyhole. It really showed his age. I felt guilty. Guilty because… because… I wasn't really sure. Because I was young and he old?

Once he got it open, I saw a bunch of documents. There were several folders of different colours, some the ringbinder kind, others that weird A4 envelope things and some papers were even grouped together in a simple plastic wallet. I couldn't read what they were, the folders covered its secrets and the plastic wallets were too scrunched up to be able to read what they carried.

Deep under all the documents were a couple of photo albums. It was these that Iain dug up.

"Brings back memories." He said sighing. "I used to keep every photo that was given to me and everyone I took."

On the first page was a younger looking Iain smiling at the camera with a guy I didn't recognise. Behind them though, it looks like…

"That's at Rose?" I said shocked. It was the same glass entrance. I only recognised the building in the background that didn't seem to change.

How old was this? There's no timestamp on these!

"Ah, that's when I was in my early twenties. That man there was a feeder to Gabriella Scott."

"Gabriella Scott!" I gaped at him. If I gaped at him harder I think my mouth would have dropped to the floor. Gabriella was a well known vampire at Rose well before I even joined but she had the most amount of kills at Rose during her career. I only knew of her thanks to my studies.

"Ah…" Iain took the photo out of its sheath. "I don't remember his name now but he died a long time ago."

Putting the photo on the table, Iain flicked through his memories. I saw them, if only for a second. It looked like Rose was less stressed, it had a lighter tone. Iain was in some of them, all the time smiling on his own, with his arm around someone, in a group… it looked like he was really popular.

"Wait!" I almost shouted. Iain froze, his arm in the air halfway turning a page. I had to flick a few pages back until I found what I thought I saw.

It was a photo of three people in front of my parent's house - on the front step to be exact. A younger Iain had his arms around two children.

That's me and Caim!

I looked at Iain questions all over my face.

"Oh, Alice, you didn't realise till now?"

"I-" What do I even say? "But that's- what?"

"We first met the both of you when you were really young."

I was speechless. "Iain, I- I'm… really sorry. You need to actually tell me some things."

"Ah, well, at least we know each other now." He clasped my back.

He flicked over a few more pages of the album, this time they looked like they were dated when Caim had just joined Rose. Pictures of him grinning at the camera, in parties, sat round a table eating… it was very… normal considering Rose was anything but normal.

Finally he stopped at a picture of an old Victorian house. It looked like The Manor but it was completely surrounded by a forest. Trees that were higher than the house itself.

The building stood like a beige brick right in the centre of an opening as if the trees were shielding it from the outside world. There was a small porch covering the front doors and like the Victorian buildings you see on TV, they had little balls of shrubbery next to the pillars that held it up.

But it was what was in front of it that caught my eye. Four people stood holding hands, having their arms around each other's shoulders, all smiling at the camera that as a little too far from them, like it stood a few metres away making them small.

I only recognised one, and that was Mattie, second from the left.

"They're… the founders of Rose?" I asked, frowning as I tried to remember back to what Iain told me.

"Yes, although I don't remember their names anymore."

I took the image out of its sheath and held it up to my eyes.

"That building was the original Rose. The one that was underground was the new headquarters that was made shortly after its success."

Original Rose?

"And you think Mattie would be here?"

He shrugged. "When we went our separate ways I went to The Manor and he wasn't there. I went to your parent's house…" He trailed off staring at me as if he was trying to gauge my reaction. And he was right to!

I felt a range of emotions. One was a sinking feeling. Iain at my parent's? Shit! What would he even say? What did he even say? What would they say? He didn't talk about Caim would he?

The second was rage. How dare he? How dare he? That question was the only thing that rang around my head, each one filling me with more anger until it was extinguished by my third emotion.

The third, despair. What if he told them about me and Caim? What would they even think about Mattie? Would they argue at Iain?

It took me a while to try and form some words. My mouth opened then closed as my head ran in circles.

Fuck.

Iain took off his glasses which, now on closer inspection were bifocals. "I went go there because I just didn't know how to get there. Although-" He added seeing I was going to say something. I felt like shouting at him for some reason. Was it that obvious? "Although, I do know someone who knows how to get there."

Iain was going to get up so I stopped him asking what he was going to get and to get it. It was a small, black contacts book that sat in the top drawer next to his bed.

When I gave him it, Iain flipped open the pages and handed me it. There was only one name on the double pages and that was-

"Sam? That's the Sam that I know, right?"

He nodded. "Sam was one of the first that visited the place, the first vampire that gave Mattie's small idea authenticity. You see both the governments were originally against the idea." Iain shrugged, making his glasses nearly fall off his nose. Propping them back in place, it looked like he was going to continue but then he made a face as if he was weighing up something.

"Mainly the human government was against it seeing that it reaffirms the idea that there was something..." Iain frowned.

Heck that word in my ears sounded strange too. I mean, Mattie definitely isn't a something!

"...that was superior than the human race. You know, the food chain." I nodded. "As for the vampiric society, they said that they didn't need outsider interference, that they could police their kind with the help of the purebloods. So for Sam, who's pretty high up in vampire society, to step out of the line and support Mattie was a significant thing to happen. Eventually people supported Mattie's idea and they gave the idea the name of Rose which was..." Iain froze then he eyed me as if I was going to explode. What's with him?

"Which was…" I prompted.

"Which was the name of his late wife."

I think my mouth dropped on the floor, I was that shocked. What the fuck?

"Yeah, uh..." He tried to change subject, "So that's how Rose started.

"You should try calling him, Sam, I mean. I'm sure he wants to hear your voice after all this time."

I eyed Iain. I didn't really know what to make of this. "Okay." I walked out to grab the house phone and called the number scribbled under Sam's name.

It was answered just as I put the phone to my ear.

"Hey Iain! I haven't seen or spoken to you recently! How have you been?"

I cleared my throat. How do I talk to Sam again? "Hi Sam, actually it's Alice here." I looked at Iain for reassurance but considering he couldn't hear a word of what Sam was saying, I only got a shrug and a half-smile.

"Eh? Alice? Alice Darling?" There was a pause. It was weird. Normally you'd expect something like the other person breathing down the line but there was nothing. Okay, that was a creepy thought… "How are you? Iain bullying with his years of experience?"

"Haha." I couldn't put more sarcasm in my tone. "I'm fine. Iain is the first person I've found since waking up."

"How long ago was that?"

"About a day or two ago." I was looking out the window at the morning then remembered Sam was a vampire. Geez, why do I keep forgetting that? "Hey, are you okay with me calling you up in the morning? I didn't really think." I laughed nervously. "I'm still kind of out of it... " And I don't really know how to casually talk to other people. Is this a side effect Rose does with its people?

"Yeah, I'm fine. Iain has a different schedule anyway and I'm used to it. So, what is it that you're asking?" Trust a vampire to realise that. Actually, trust anyone to ask that.

I decided to just go ahead and say it. "Do you remember the original Rose?" Now that I've actually said it, it sounded like a long shot. But since Iain said it… "Do you still remember the way?"

I heard him hum. "I do but whether it's still there after all this time is a different matter entirely."

Shit, I didn't think of that.

"Could you just tell me how to get there?"

"You want to go there? Well sure…" Sam told me the directions. It took me awhile to get a grasp on it so much so that I needed a pen and paper.

"Visit me later, okay, Alice? I'd love to know if the house is still there."

"Of course!" I wanted to meet everyone. I wanted to know where they are, what happened and just catch up on everything that I missed out on. Maybe then I'd feel a bit normal.

"Alice," Iain said once I got off the phone. "I just remembered something to tell you." He edged off his seat. "Do you remember your blood that was used as backup should anything happen to you?" I nodded. "Mattie took to it a few hours after you…" He faltered, struggling with the right word so I just waved my hand as a dismissal and for him to continue. "There was quite a lot there, I don't remember the exact amount but it's all gone. Mattie drank the whole lot within a couple days."

I paled. Why did I have to know that? It sounded like he was a rogue now. I don't particularly enjoy searching for a pureblood vampire gone rogue. Neither do I enjoy thinking that I'll be scared out of my mind.

Iain held up his hands in that 'I'm-just-saying' way. "I don't know if he's gone rogue so be careful, okay?"

Well shit. I hadn't thought of that. I ran my hands through my hair. Okay, calm down. If he's rogue you can just call saying he is.

"Alright." I patted myself to make sure Alpha and Beta were on me.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah."

"Wait!" He almost shouted the word. "I have a couple of things to tell you! When you see Mattie, you know… spend your time together…" I felt my face heat up. Even Iain looked flustered. "Then come back, okay? I would prefer it if I could tell you both."

"Okay."

He cleared his throat. "I think it was when you were in hospital…" He murmured. "Well, I thought you should know that we took you to Rose's hospital and Mattie stayed right next to you until Rose's closure."

I blinked. Really? Mattie would do that? Why was that a bit hard to believe?

"Now, go!" Iain pointed to the door. "Before I start regretting telling you!"

I grinned. "Thanks for telling me, Iain."

On the contrary, I stayed till night arrived.


The road was bathed in an orange light that made everything look elongated and menacing. It was a stark contrast with the moonlight that peeped through the clouds. I'd prefer the moonlight though.

I drove under an almost clear night in a black rental Toyota. It was about one in the morning and it was eerily quiet as if the tiniest sound could be heard for miles. Heck, I didn't have the music running.

This was the night the vampires would be up. That was fine. It was the rogue ones I was worried about.

I was in the car for five hours. I hadn't taken a break yet although I should, the petrol was slowly dying down. But I chose not to because I wanted to see him. I felt embarrassed about it. Mattie was the only one who invaded my mind, in my sleep (what little sleep I did have), and… that little part of me that said, 'he is the only person I'm interested in.'

I gripped the wheel. It's wrong of me to even think that, isn't it? Iain helped me from the moment I woke up in the ruins of Rose. He's currently helping me. I need to thank him.

I took a few turns which took me off the motorway and down some empty ones as directed by Sam's recollection. Pretty soon I was off road with dirt under the wheels with large trees bordering either side of me. They towered far above the car covering me in darkness as if the shadows were capturing me. It was only moonlight from here on out.

I had to drive slow. The crunch as the car moved deafened me. I was paranoid. If a vampire jumped out at me I'd have no chance of getting away.

I don't know how long I drove. The drive was a straight, wide road, everything looked the same. I only knew that I'd been on this road for twenty minutes but for all I knew, I didn't make a dent in my journey to whatever lay at the end. According to Sam, the original Rose was there.

After a while I saw something that was blocking the road which was kind of strange. It was a gate, one of those fancy looking ones that had a spiraling design at the top and was only complete when the gate was shut.

Doesn't look like I'll be needing the car…

I left the headlights on as I stepped out making sure Alpha and Beta were with me. With one hand holding Alpha aimed at the gate, I made my way toward it hoping that there was a way through.

On closer inspection, the gate was rusted. Patches of a dark grey shone on the light among the outer black colour. Some layers were chipped and swayed in the wind.

The design on top didn't look like it meant something. I didn't expect it considering there was nothing in the ways of identification on the Rose I know. Knew. I told myself.

Laying my hand on the edge of one gate I pushed and argh! A loud shrieking, piercing, high pitched sound boomed through the air making me freeze. It shot right through me.

"Hello."

I shot round toward the monotone voice holding Alpha up and at a woman I hadn't noticed before. With the light behind her I couldn't exactly see her in detail but I knew she was wearing a short skirt and a jacket. I could see the edges of it as it fell around her waist.

Alpha was aimed at her legs.

"Hello." I replied with the same lack of emotion as her. Hopefully my fear isn't shown on my poker face.

Where the fuck did she come from?

Then another part of me answered. She's a vampire!

"What's a tainter doing at this time of night?"

Right… I forgot my blood is tainted.

"It's none of your business." Shit, my hand is getting sweaty.

"Are you looking for someone?"

I opened my mouth to say the same reply again but thought against it. Maybe I could get some information from her?

"Is there anyone around here?"

Her head bowed as if she was listening to something. "Yes."

She pointed toward the gate. Or maybe far beyond the gate. I couldn't help but look in the direction she was pointing as a flurry of hope blossomed in my chest. Mattie could be there!

I couldn't see anything beyond the gates though. I realised I had made a gap in between the gates just big enough for me. But when I looked back that vampire had already disappeared.