CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

I didn't sleep well. As night time gradually arrived I found an ache in my chest that grew and grew and-

I'm in a dark place wading through a lake that was waist deep. It's hard to move.

And it's dark. My torso is wet and the air stinks of something awful. Like the blood off meat. It catches the back of my throat. I have to keep swallowing so I don't throw up. But eventually-

I wipe my mouth, panting, fully tasting the bile.

No matter where I turn, nothing is there to guide me out of what the hell I got myself into. Everywhere I turn it looks the same.

I took a deep breath rubbing my chest as I lay on my bed. I wasn't sure what time it was, only that I was tired. A lot had happened.

I sighed. I miss Mattie.

Cindy and James were in the next room going over possible places as to where information on Mattie's past could be if it wasn't in the archives. I only hoped it was. It didn't make sense if it wasn't and that left only Bloody Gold so if it wasn't at Paper it'll have to be there. God knows where Gold's HQ is.

I should have listened in to their conversation instead of asking for the highlights later on but in that moment when they did start talking about it, that tired feeling I had about it was too hard to bare. Unfortunately Cindy sensed it and I took her offer to just rest.

I didn't realise I had been trying to keep up with the two vampires.

The next day I decided to explore the field around Paper. Although we were still trying to find out everything we could about Paper, in my book, the field around this doughnut shaped organisation was part of it too.

Now, laying on the field, just this simple action brought an ache in my chest. The grass scratched my bare arms. I could even feel it through my cotton sleeveless blouse. I didn't think of it at the time, only that I quite liked them coupled together, but the infinity scarf protected my neck too.

The light above was different too. I was told that it flickered on when it was daytime and turned completely off at night bathing everything in darkness. The only light then was from inside Paper and the single panels on the ceiling that was just a CGI of the moon slowly moving across. And this light was a light blue. Coupled with the grass, it projected a healthy environment almost like what you would expect in The Sound of Music and showcased the glass of Paper to the fullest. Sometimes I could see rainbows.

But despite all the bright colour, I was used to the gradual change in that ceiling to match the weather outside. It helped me decide what clothes to wear. It helped me try not to think about Rose being underground. It helped me feel connected to the world outside. I could remember it as I closed my eyes, breathing in the air.

Until I had a sudden sense of fear chill its way all up my spine. A shadow loomed over me,forcing me to shove it in the deep recess of my brain.

I was gasping when I opened my eyes as my hands twitched for Alpha and Beta. Only to see it was Mariah with her hair draping down her shoulder bridging the gap between our faces.

"Are you alright?"

Alarmed, she leaned back putting a hand against my back for comfort but it didn't chase away the lingering cold.

What was that?

My hands still twitched.

Shaking my head I said, "I'm fine."

She was standing, giving me a perfect view of what she was wearing: a white suit with a pale blue blouse. With the light above it was almost like she had a halo on top of her head.

Don't touch me.

"Are you sure?"

I shook my shoulders to dislodge her and in an attempt to shake off the cold.

"Yeah." Then I sighed and tried for a different tack. If I just give her one liners, she might just give me them too. I was not going to waste this opportunity. She was one of the managers, right? What did she say? Something about the relationship between Paper and Rose? The project! She'll know why the fuck Paper asked for me...

"I'm fine, really, Mariah. Sorry to scare you." I gave her an apologetic smile. It seemed to do the trick, the concern on her face just washed away.

"Were you looking for me?" I prompted, steering things back.

"Yes, actually." Mariah put her legs together and elegantly plopped herself down with her legs tucked underneath. Frankly I was amazed she was used to this scratchy grass. "I was wondering if you were settled fine here. Cindy and James looked flustered wandering about Paper. I hear they were talking a lot to a range of people."

I couldn't tell if I should be worried by that. It was obvious the two vampires would ask a lot of questions. Did Mariah think I was a weak link in Rose's armour? Was it because I was human?

I decided to go for a not fussed attitude, throwing a shrug in there for good measure. "Everything's fine. The apartment has everything we need and it's big enough for all of us." As I said that I realised I could have just ignored the last part. Oh well.

"That's good to know." Mariah said. "If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask me."

"Yeah, about that… do you have a contact number?"

"Sure." We exchanged numbers.

"So," I just really needed to know why she was talking to me in the first place. "Is there anything else you needed to know?" Should I ask first? Is it best to be direct?

Mariah hesitated. Her lips parted as if to say something but decided against it in the next second. I could actually see it on her face. It was the first look of emotion on her.

"There is an issue we came across."

I waited thinking she was going to add more because how can you not when you say something like that? "And?"

"You Rose members need to provide a blood sample every month, don't you?"

I instantly didn't like where this was going. "Something like that."

"Well, in order to continue with it here, Paper needs to send a sample of your blood back to Rose."

No, no, no!

"I can't let you do that." I said it calmly and was amazed that it was calm, but on the inside I was anything but.

Is that true? I've never heard of it.

Paper just wants my blood. If I say yes, there's no telling what might happen to it or if they keep their word.

But what about Mattie?

Saying his name stabbed me in the heart. I miss him.

Would he be able to survive on the blood that was already in the blood bank?

A sharp gust of wind brought me out of my internal debate and Cindy appeared just in front of us. Dressed down in jeans and a check shirt, she looked like a different person entirely.

"Alice! Are you okay? Your breathing changed, I thought something was wrong."

She nodded at Mariah to acknowledge her.

"I'm fine." I said for the millionth time as I got up. Staring daggers at Mariah I said, "I definitely do not give consent. Rose has my donated blood so that will have to do for the time being."

Although her tone was pleasant she equally met my gaze. I couldn't help but think what the hell was going through her mind. "I hope you change your mind. If you do, you know how to contact me."

I nodded before turning my back on her to head back in. Cindy was with me all the time.

Once we were out of Mariah's earshot, she whispered, "what was that about? Is it about the sour relationship between us and Paper?"

I didn't whisper back. If anyone should be whispering, it should have been me. "I have no idea."

It's been a week since we arrived at Paper and there are a few things we've all learned. It would be troubling if we didn't even find out about anything.

One: All the rooms apart from the open planned space of the Observation Deck has been fitted with soundproof walls.

Two: The only place that all three of us can talk with a peace of mind is back in our apartment.

Three: There is no signal out of Paper from a phone (this might be a 'no signal from any electronic device from out of Paper, but we're not sure of that just yet).

Four: The Lower Deck - the floor right at the bottom when looking down from the Observation Deck - seems to be the very bottom of Paper. From my rounds of getting to know the place, everyone I've asked say that the Lower Deck is the lowest floor of them all. The vampires say otherwise.

Five: Paper seemed like it preferred the company of humans. I haven't seen a single vampire yet.

These were the points I'd made a note of mentally. There was only a short period of time when I can use the 'Sorry, I'm new here' excuse.

I sat down on the corner sofa pulling a bunch of cushions around me once I had fished out pen and paper. Let's do some recapping.

Paper is in a doughnut shape. The first floor is the Observation Deck - I drew a line and labelled it. The next five floors were accommodation, as Mariah said. I labelled that too. The rest of the floors were research labs.

I drew a small square at the top, bottom and both sides of the circle. These were the emergency exits and the stairs. I drew another square in the radius, the lifts.

A sound from the door brought me back from mini Paper… on paper. James and Cindy entered grinning like a pair of fools.

"Afternoon, Alice!" Cindy ran at me, practically jumping on me to give a huge bear hug. Today she wore a dress with a massive amount of ruffles running along the edge. They made her look like a pale pink rose. I caught her on my lap. Once she straightened herself out she held me close.

Luckily James, in a simple white shirt and black jeans, was less welcoming as he got straight to the point. "We went around again. Looks like all the labs have an exit, but there's another thi-" He caught sight of my rudimentary drawing, walking the short distance to add to it. It was amazing he knew what it even was.

"As I was saying, the labs look alike and have the same exits," he drew two lines across the centre of the circle. "This is the hallway." More lines split the top and bottom semi circle evenly. "These are the labs, there are four on each side. Each room has a door for 'emergency purposes' or it's covered up completely. I'm not sure where this leads as it's locked but once Cindy and I figure out where every single camera is, then we can stalk the building fully."

"Can't you run around the place? I'm sure the cameras won't pick you up then." I said leaning back frowning.

Cindy hummed. "We could but it'll generate a huge amount of wind."

Ah. I didn't think of that.

"Thank you, both of you." I said leaning back to rest my head on the sofa to look at the ceiling.

What do I do afterwards? What would Mattie do?

Once I said his name, an ache burst in my chest. I miss him. I miss Iain too. I never realised how much I relied on both of them for information. I think if James and Cindy were human, we probably wouldn't have even gotten this much on the layout of Paper in such a short period of time.

"Hey, Alice, have you ate anything yet?" Cindy peered at me from behind one of the cushions.

"Ah, I haven't."

"It's not good." Cindy got up to head to the kitchen. "Mattie won't like it if you come back lighter."

I couldn't help the swallow that happened. I couldn't help the blush that invaded my cheeks when she mentioned Mattie's name. Jeez, am I always going to react like this?

"I'll make you something to eat." Cindy tackled with the pans and by the loud sounds coming from her direction, it was like she was struggling.

She continued, "You shouldn't worry about Mattie, you know."

I pulled a face behind her. How the fuck did she see the expression on my face from behind her?

"I'm… heading out." James mumbled turning to leave just as Cindy said, "I know we vampires can smell what happened-"

Is she trying to encourage the flush on my face on purpose?

"But we respect your privacy. Most vampires do. We won't say something unless it's needed."

"Even so," I whispered. Images of people staring at me during that security case with Sam flashed in my mind. "Just knowing they know is enough to get my brain working overtime."

Cindy turned around, with what looked like an omelette on her spatula to put on a plate. I couldn't resist it. I got up to sit on one of the stools next to the kitchen.

"I'm telling you this, and I mean it." She gave me a weird look - a serious look. I'd never seen it before. Not on Cindy. "Do not fear what other people think or say about you. The only person who can influence what you do or say is you. However when it comes to Rose… remember, Mattie is the founder. Believe it or not he does hold some influence in management."

"What?" Why was that such a shock? I sound mean reacting like that.

"Come on, now." Cindy said, "eat up."

Even though Mariah was on my contacts I had no intention of actually talking to her. It was more of a polite gesture but I knew deep down there was a lot I had to know and it was very likely that Mariah was the person for the job.

James kept disappearing on us so I asked Cindy to come along with me in a fully caffeinated state.

We were both on our way to a conference room by the sound of it having already set a date and time with Mariah via that number.

"Thanks for coming with me, Cindy." I said. There was absolutely no way in hell was I going to face Mariah alone again. It wasn't that she scared me, but it was that chill I got. It seemed obvious but I knew she would be the one organising everything. The things she would give in this little meeting would be less reliable but she was the only lead we had.

"No problem." Looking up she smiled at me. With her dress full of frills and a matching bow around her waist she didn't look like she meant business compared to my black trousers and grey t-shirt, but she would remember everything.

"Do you know where James went?" I said as we hopped onto a lift going down. There was no one in it and no one looked like they even wanted to join us, so I absentmindedly looked out the window.

Paper was beautiful. It always crossed my mind. But it was a shame about this ruined relationship.

"Not sure. But I did see him together with one of the doctors."

"What?" I was so shocked my head darted in her direction with eyes popping out. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know yet." She didn't face me but there was something about her tone that made me think she was investigating it.

I hummed. Another thing to do.

The conference room we were meant to met up was not too far from our temporary apartment. The door had a pane of glass so you could see if it was empty or not and in this case, it was occupied by the person we were meeting. Mariah was sat at the only table in the room in a black pencil skirt and matching blazer looking through a few sheets of paper with a pen in her hand. Occasionally she would tap her head with it in thought before writing something. Seated horizontally from the door we only had her profile in view. I had a brief moment of relief that she didn't have that chilling atmosphere around her. I knew the situation had changed, I was not alone and I was not being caught off guard but I couldn't help but feel relief.

Cindy looked through the glass. We were on opposite sides hoping that Mariah hadn't caught us peering through like two naughty students and one teacher. "Are you ready to enter?"

I took a deep breath. I was nervous, yes. "Yeah, we may as well get this over with." And so the door opened.

Mariah looked up from her sheets to stand up. "Alice, Cindy. I'm so glad you came."

I held out my hand, "Thank you for taking the time to see us on short notice."

She shook my hand clasping it in both of hers. "Don't worry about it. I was meaning to ask you something else too but you been me to it, Rose!"

I mentally cringed. Was it because of the blood? Was she actually going to press that forward on me again? What else could she ask me? What the fuck?

We all sat down opposite her with the table the only thing that separated us as if it actually signified the division of Rose and Paper. I did my best not to look nervous and so far I was winning but my stomach on the other hand…

"So, what was it you wanted to ask me about?"

I swallowed before answering. I would have pulled out Professional Alice but considering the scare she … that wasn't helping anytime soon. I still get unnerved thinking about it.

It's okay. Logical Alice perked up looking confident even though she had no notes in her hand. We have Cindy and nothing is going to go passed me.

"Yeah, I know it might be too late to even ask this and you've mentioned it when we arrived, but what exactly do you think we should be doing while staying here?"

"Or to rephrase that," Cindy said, "what did the other people from Rose get up to?"

Mariah didn't seem to be phased by our question almost like she was expecting it. If she was the coordinator for the previous Rose members, it wouldn't have been a surprise to her.

Sighing, she leaned over her sheets of paper. "I can't tell you what others before you have done but Gold has fingers in Paper and Rose. Although we know you don't have much to do here, we can't open those vault doors and let you back."

I was taken back. Where was she going with this? This wasn't what I was expecting and she brought up more questions.

"You mean you can't or you won't?" Cindy said. She only acknowledged one comment but with the mention of Gold, Mariah had both of our undivided attention even if this new piece of news was a lie.

"I can't. It's between Paper and I. They've signed an NDA."

And we didn't? Bullshit.

"What's that about Gold?" Looks like Cindy's going to be steering the conversation on my side.

"Rose hasn't said anything to you before you came here?" Frowning Mariah rummaged through her notes and passed us a sheet of paper. On it detailed the terms of the arrangement between Gold and Paper regarding hosting Rose. I didn't read all of it because I felt it would take me awhile to understand it fully, so I left it up to Cindy's memory. But from my scan, it mentioned the time period - six months, how many members to house and why. The contract was divided up into sections where it provided more information, but nothing on what Rose was supposed to be doing.

"I thought you might ask this one way or another. In front of you is a copy of our contract. It doesn't specify what we can give you and since the two organisations are two completely different, we can't really give you a job - you won't be as scientifically minded as everyone here."

I'm insulted. Logical Alice crossed her arms. Trying to sugarcoat it.

I must have pulled a disgusted face at her remark because Cindy kicked my foot under the desk. A simple and obvious action but an effective one.

"I don't mean to be rude, Rose, but it's just the way it is. Most of our researchers have been studying vampire blood for years. They know how to take it, to protect it and enhance its properties but you, on the other hand, spill it. It's a waste."

It was true. Mariah made it seem like we were violent non stop, but it was not the case. It only applied in our job, not our personalities.

I pursed my lips. As much as I wanted to say something witty and backhanded back, I didn't think I was in the position to do so. "But you didnt slap an NDA on us, or does that come later?"

"Yeah…" She looked defeated, leaning back in her chair in thought. "For this year, Gold did not send us a new copy of this year's contract so we didn't follow through with it. Gold doesn't seem to answer us when we asked three months before visiting you."

Communication concerns. I noted. Logical Alice nodded with me.

Looks like the communication problems come from Gold which is a worry. At least we know that we're not getting special treatment.

"There isn't a Gold representative here?" I asked. I'm not sure why but I had an imagine of at least one person from Gold here to oversee the visitation. Maybe that was wishful thinking from an organisation who stayed as much in the shadows as bats in a cave.

"Oh, God no!" Now it was Mariah's turn to pull a disgusted face, laughing nervously. "Gold isn't even allowed near Paper anyway."

What?

A side glance from Cindy prevented me from asking further. It didn't matter anyway, a phone started ringing.

Mariah stood up and quickly retrieved it. Taking a look at the screen she said, "I'm honestly really sorry, but I need to take this. I can rearrange the meeting of you have anymore questions." And before we could even utter a reply, she left.

"How rude." Cindy said.

"What did you make of that? And tell me about that Gold and Paper thing?"

Cindy poured over the contract. "It seems she's telling the truth. I couldn't pick up any pulses jumping or anything like that."

"Huh." I wonder what was with the change in personality. Where was the chill in my spine or the goosebumps raising the hair on my arms? Did I imagine that?

"Let's go back to the apartment, we can talk freely there."

As we were heading back in the lift, Cindy tapped my shoulder. "Look." Pointing downwards on the Lower Deck which was littered with people busying having food, I couldn't exactly see who it was she was showing me until she described him. It was James.

I could make out him talking with a woman but as the lift was going upwards, it slowly became out of focus. But just as we both noticed him, he looked straight at us.

"Who was that?" I asked Cindy. From the corner of my eye I couldn't exactly see what her expression was.

"One of the doctors he's been seen around with."

"What?" I didn't even need the simple word to express my confusion.

"Yeah. I know he's been seeing her for some time now but I'm m not sure what he's thinking of so I didn't tell you until I got more information. But he smells off."

"What does that mean?" I said slowly almost making sure that each word that dropped out of my lips was the right one.

"He smells different."

I swallowed. Cindy was the best suited to figure out what James was up to so I let her deal with it.

"Where were you?" I cried out, standing in front of James who had just decided to join us back at the apartment.

It was almost seven in the morning and I was feeling sleep take its hold on me.

The light outside did nothing to indicate it was dark or even light above ground but as it was February, I could imagine it'll still be dark. Instead it flickered. A panel in the ceiling was faulty. It casted a shadow before me, so long it was touching his feet and highlighting the fact that I was alone in this room.

I know they're vampires and they don't need babysitting but he could at least say something. Feels like it's not only between organisations that there is a lack of communication.

"Alice." James replied by way of a greet then proceeded to try to walk past me but I stepped in front of him every time.

I was annoyed. With there being only the three of us here, you would assume that we were in the same boat and would be weary of the people here, but apparently not.

"So?" I prompted.

"Alice, please." A short gust of wind blew past me and before I knew it, we had stumbled onto the sofa with James on top of me, saliva dripping out of his mouth threatening to bite me. On instinct I covered my neck with my forearms. I didn't know he would aim there-

"James!" I yelled when his fangs bit into my arm. My first thought was to buck him off but I didn't want any more damage to my arm. I didn't want to think about the ripping of flesh and blood dripping-

A second gust of wind blew right over me followed by something crashing quite hard against the wall. It took all of my willpower to ignore the pain from my arm and the shock to drag my eyes from the wound to see what happened. Cindy was dripping wet, a towel wrapped around her short frame and her hair a complete mess pinning James against the wall, an arm at this throat as he tried to bite her. Arms were flying. Spit flew. Fangs were drawn. Hissing vibrated the air around them.

Without a second thought I rushed into the bathroom sink, turning the taps on full blast to clean up but with a wound like this, what do I do?

My arm was shaking with the pain. Panic bubbled inside me like a volcano waiting to erupt

I quickly grabbed the first aid kit, dropping it twice in my haste letting the contents scatter the floor. I decided to do what I can and grab the alcohol.

Shouts from the next room rang out through the apartment. There wasn't a way you could not hear it. I wasn't listening.

Just as I was dabbing on my wound Cindy emerged at the door. Our eyes locked.

"You need blood, Alice."

I barely heard what she said. It was getting harder to move my fingers every second it and just kept applying pressure.

"Alice!" Next thing I knew was Cindy kneeling in front of me to cup my head in her hands gently tilting my head to look at her. With her eyes a dark red.

"You need vampire blood."

"Vampire… what?"

Concerned she removed her hands and stabbed her left hand with her nails on her right hand, drawing blood, almost like a parody of mine.

A flicker of what she was going to do flickered passed my mind but it was gone, so I just stared wide eyed as Cindy hovered her arm over mine and let the blood drip into my wound.

The effects were immediate. I could actually see things being sewn together.

"Get some rest." She took my shoulders and guided me into my bedroom where I was promptly tucked in bed and asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I woke sometime later, just laying in bed with my what-was-wounded arm before me as if I wanted to teach the blank ceiling.

It was gone. Every last bit of the wound had disappeared. The only way you could tell it had been there were the dry stains of blood that had rolled down my arms. When I clenched and unclenched my hand, nothing hurt. Everything seemed to be working just how it usually did.

Unlike my mind which was a ball of mess. It was cloudy when I tried to think of last night or whenever it happened. I couldn't even string a simple sentence together, much less try to see Cindy or pay much attention to James to ask him why the fuck did he attack me.

I couldn't stay here so I got out of bed to get ready for what else hit me today. But just as I entered the hallway, the scene caught my eye. The sofa had been knocked over, pillows were everywhere, there was even a large dent in the wall and floor. But it was the amount of blood that had me fixated. It stood out like a sore thumb against the white smearing it. I swallowed suddenly finding my mouth dry.

"I thought you might be up."

I was dragged from the bloody scene to a see Cindy in a monochrome dress that left her shoulders bare and looked like it was out of the fifties. It was a change from the other dresses I usually saw her in. Why the change?

"Hey." My voice came out weak almost whispering. A tiredness suddenly came over me and I didn't want to ask the most important question.

Cindy walked the short distance toward me, taking my hand in hers to inspect the damage. Or lack thereof.

"How are you feeling?"

Like my mind and my body are completely separate. "I don't know how to describe it." I mumbled casting my eyes to my outstretched hand. Maybe it was the speed in which it was healed that brought no words to mind.

She sighed, dragging me to the kitchen and planting my butt on one of the stools as she busied herself among the various pots and pans. "I'm going to make you breakfast."

I couldn't help it. "You like cooking?"

She looked at me from the corner of her eye, "I did it a lot when I was a human. When I turned I couldn't remember much so I had to learn it again. It was one of the things I could do well and calmed me down so I wanted to continue with it. But it's hard when you can't really taste the food yourself."

"You were… human?" It came out wrong. I didn't want to sound shocked but it came out that way anyway.

"It was a long time ago." I guess that was the only thing she wanted to volunteer.

I didn't think about asking James or Cindy about their pasts. I didn't want to pry. I didn't think I was entitled to know about it either.

A ten or fifteen minutes later, I really didn't know, Cindy turned around with the full English breakfast much to my dismay. I wanted something light.

"Eat up." She said, passing the plate to me and sitting next to me.

I looked at her questionably but started eating anyway.

We were in silence for a bit, the only sounds being made coming from my cutlery. I honestly didn't want to be silent because then it gave me time in my thoughts. I ate only half and then found myself just rolling the food around.

"James was taking tablets."

My head shot up to Cindy looking at me, concern all over her features.

"He was going to that doctor for the tablets but they were not the finished product, more like he was being tested on so when that got into his system…"

"Blood tablets?" The words came as a whisper. Cindy's nod was even quieter.

"That's why he attacked you. Although I dislike the idea, he's recovering somewhere with Paper - Not with the same doctor, thank God." She added quickly when I was about to react.

Thank God, indeed.

We hadn't found any more new areas to discover. Only the place under the Lower Deck was left. We hadn't found the entrance to it yet. We also haven't seen Laura. Was she even here?

I was walking around the inner circumference back to our apartment when something caught my eye, a poster saying 'Tryouts is now open. Anyone who wants to join is welcome too! Meet at the Lower Deck at 7 o'clock for instructions on the 3rd.'

That's four days time!

In the recesses of my mind, from the sound of it 'Tryouts' was like a testing thing.

So I stood with James and Cindy beside me with ten minutes before the thing was supposed to start. I was a bit apprehensive asking James to join us but as his recovery was short due to his vampire healing powers - it lasted for about a day and a half - he seemed like his usual quite self.

The Lower Deck was a cafeteria with several sets of tables under the balconies of the upper floors so you couldn't really see much looking from above. Some shrubs and hanging plants wormed their way up and down the walls. The cafeteria had their shutters down like they were sleeping.

We were with other people, about fifteen. They all clumped together like glue in the center of the room, underneath a starry night. The fake light of the moonlight casted its ominous glow on everyone making them look sinister. Even the vampires next to me seemed to look like strangers.

I was surrounded by chattering. And it felt like I was transported back to security with Sam.

I sighed. Will I ever get used to this?

A man in his late fifties (I assume), came up to us. Once he had cleared his throat he said, "are you sure you want to be here?" I thought he was talking to me but James answered.

"What do you mean?"

He frowned, shook his head then left to join one of the other groups.

"What was that about? Humans are so rude." I heard James mutter.

I poked him in the ribs as I gave him a narrowed look. "I'm human."

"You know what I mean."

I just stared at him.

"Welcome, everyone!" A loud voice boomed throughout the deck. "I'm sure you're excited to see our newest prototype!" It came from a woman who waved her arms like crazy making her blond hair dance in the air as she walked towards our group from the lift. It was a really… weird sight.

Once here she clasped her hands.

"For those who don't know, Team Blue has developed a pill that, in theory, should 'resurrect' a human's quality of life." She even did the quote marks when she said 'resurrect'.

"If you would, can you follow me through to the OP room where our show is held."

We followed her down hallways and rooms until we all collected in one of those operating rooms that were for viewing.

It was a round room covered in chairs with a glass dome in the centre that looked down over the actual operating room fitted out with machinery.

Everyone scattered to take their seats amongst themselves. Clumps of people waited impatiently for more news on what was to happen.

Cindy grabbed my arm and dragged me to a place near the back circumference. It came as a shock that I had to look behind to make sure James was following us. I sat in the middle of them.

The woman from earlier who lead everyone here appeared just before the dome.

"Resurrecting quality of life?" James murmured as he rubbed his chin.

"What do you think?" I whispered. Everything pointed to something taboo.

"Considering the Bloody nature…" Our eyes met which could only mean one thing.

Okay, let's take pictures of this shit.

Below in the operating room, a set of metal double doors were pushed open by a metal bed with a man lying on it draped in white fabric. It was pushed by two people, one in front and behind. In silence they heaved him onto the bed in the centre of the room. The light from our room casted its glow downwards so there was no mistaking what was happening below.

I wasn't sure if it was because of the angle we were watching this God forsaken show or because of Mattie's blood running in my veins, that meant I could see every detail. This man looked like he was sleeping. The fabric slowly flapped in the little breeze that was made by the doors closing behind him. The two assistants then left the room the way they came in.

I had to wipe my hands on my jeans. The nervous of wondering what was going to happen were getting to me.

Moments later the double doors opened again to let a team of six people in. Dressed in white overalls, white matching masks to cover their mouths, and those poofy hats that look like shower caps, they were meant for business.

I leaned over to whisper in Cindy's ear, "what do you think about that guy on the table?"

"Sleeping. There's no doubt in my mind."

As one the assistants or nurses started pressing buttons on the machines, pulling wires, tubes and attaching them to the sleeping man. In all the fuss, one had pulled off the white fabric and to my surprise he was naked underneath. Not once did he flinch. Pretty soon the guy was all wired up.

I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Looking around everyone seemed to be glued to what was happening below. Cindy was like me. Her hands were on her lap pressed tightly together. James, on the other hand, leaned back in his seat as if he was in a meeting. He was giving that dome his undivided attention.

Below someone had raised an arm in the air then toggled with his shower cap. Seconds later a voice boomed.

"Hello." Shit, that monotone voice almost had my soul jumping out of my skin! "I'm glad that many of you could attend tonight. I'll get straight to the point so our patient won't wake up." A part of me had that fake smile plastered on her face because she didn't really know what to say to that.

"Our patient unfortunately has a rare form of blood cancer. He has agreed to undergo this operation which would drastically improve his quality of life."

I felt Professional Alice wrap her arms around my shoulders, her head lightly on mine. They should stop saying that and just show us.

"We are going to start the operation."

A low murmur swallowed the second of silence that followed the end of his sentence. It ran a chill up my spine.

After a few checks from everyone, the man who spoke earlier (I'll just call him the leader), waved his arm toward someone who was near the door where there was a control panel there I hadn't noticed before. On cue, the guy flicked a switch and instantly clamps secured the sleeping patient to the bed. Whatever this thing was, it was going it be violent, I could feel it.

The leader then had something in his hand, a syringe full with a red liquid that looked like blood. He took the two steps to cover the short distance and then gave the patient the liquid through his arm. Instantly the patient screamed.

Shit! I was stuck on my chair with the hairs standing up everywhere. There was an ache in my heart that was just waiting for this piercing wail to stop. It kept going and going…

Until the leader waved his arms in the air toward the double doors. Something was seriously wrong.

Rule one: Do not mix human and vampire blood together! Is this what the fuck happens? But isn't the blood mixed with vampire blood?

Immediately everyone started running. My mouth was dry. I shot a glance at James and Cindy. James was shaking his head as if he had high hopes in this. Cindy couldn't even look.

But I did.

The patient was thrashing around but the clamps held him back. Monstrous expressions rippled through his face until eventually-

The dome was splattered in blood. Cries rang out through the audience.

"What is this?"

"I thought were were going to see a successful operation!"

People here wanted to see something successful? I thought shocked. What the fuck is wrong with people!

"Alice…" Cindy looked at me with teary eyes. "Alice, I don't want to see anymore. Can we go back?"

I had to swallow a few times before I could reply, "I'm going." I grabbed her hand and pulled her off the seat. It took me a few times to help her on her feet, it was like they were jelly.

I turned to James as I slung one of CIndy's arms around my shoulders. "Are you coming too?"

He shook his head. "I need to check something. I'll meet you back at the apartment, alright?"

I would have said something like 'like the fuck you are', or 'what the fuck are you planning', but I just narrowed my eyes at him. I think he got what I wanted to say to him.

"Remember, Alice, we're on the same team here."

I sighed. "Well don't take too long."

With Cindy's help, we retraced our steps and managed to get home. It was only when the door was locked shut when I said, "What do you think he's doing?"

"I think he's trying to find something." I helped her toward the sofa and dropped her there. "There was something odd with that dome. I could feel something was off but I'm not too sure what it was."

I sighed. "Everything about Paper is fishy." I sagged on the seat next to her. "I miss Rose. Paper's just too… secretive. It's very intimidating."

Then Cindy burst forward in her seat. It alarmed me.

"What?"

She frowned, looked at me then she disappeared.

"Cindy?"

"It's okay, Alice!" She called. Shit, she used her speed… for a bloody drink! In her hand was a glass three quarters full with blood from the fridge.

"Don't fucking do that!" I sighed.

"Hey," It was James's voice that rang in my ears. "I found the entrance under the Lower floor."

Later, after I had a bit of a nap, Cindy and I waited for James on the Lower Deck. Sat on one of the chairs, we were taking it slow and easy. The remnants of what I felt seeing that 'tryout' hadn't disappeared after my nap. Every time I blinked flashes of the glass being fully covered in splattered blood popped up bring back the emotions I felt when I killed Harding. The despair, the silence, the panic and every single bad thought threatened to burst forward. I would not let it. When we first arrived here, the two vampires could sense there was something off about the atmosphere at Paper. It was there at Rose but it was nowhere near as unnerving. This, I was actually scared of.

According to what I could remember when Mariah sort of gave us a little tour, she said the archives were below. Where it was possible that Mattie's past was being held.

The corridors were void of people. Above us, the synthetic moonlight made everything below look haunting. The ornaments that usually glittered reflected the moonlight almost blinding me as if it was the sun.

"Where are you?" Cindy said. It was mainly for James's sake as we couldn't see him anywhere on the floor. She looked jumpy.

"I'm coming now."

"Don't shock us when you get here, okay?"

James sighed loudly, "Sure."

After a beat, I touched her arm, "are you okay?" I may not know her as well as Mattie or Iain but right now she and James were the only two people I can trust.

Cindy's pale eyes looked at me but it was as if she was looking past me at the same time. "What happened back there…"

"-was something that should have never happened." James interrupted.

"James, please." I hushed him. Cindy wasn't fine. If a vampire could have paler skin, Cindy had it now. He couldn't see it. Right now we could only trust each other until we got back to Rose.

So I worded my next words carefully. "Is it something we can help you with?"

Cindy sighed, the breath turning into condensation. "It's just what happened back there reminded me of something I thought I was over with."

You too?

Although I was trying to help her, if Cindy was going to tell me about her past, I was not mentally prepared to take it on. Even if it was all said and done in the past.

I couldn't even utter the nicer words of 'you can talk to me if something happens or if anything comes to mind'.

So when I saw James slowly making his way toward us from the lifts, I was relieved but at the same time I didn't want to ruin Cindy's moment of need. I'm a mess.

"Do you smell that?" He asked Cindy. His eyes which turned red looked guilty at me for a second almost like he regretted saying it.

She took a deep breath leaning back against her chair so it was on two legs. "What am I looking for?"

"It's old. Kind of rusty."

We both waited as she closed her eyes continuing to take deep breaths, each one deeper than the rest. When she finally opened them, they were red.

"I smell it. It's very faint, but it's there."

"Right. Now, remember that smell."

We followed James back through to the operating theatre. I was keeping an eye on Cindy who was lagging behind so I offered my hand, (and arm), to help coax her along.

Not once did we see anyone from Paper. It was eerily quiet, even for the vampires. James, who was ahead of us, kept looking around the corners as if he had a gun in his hand.

"Hey," I whispered to no one in particular, both would have heard it anyway. "What do you think Paper were planning on doing if that…" My voice faltered for Cindy's sake. From the corner of my eye, her whole face tensed up. "...if it was successful?"

James looked calmly back at me from the door. His hand was on the post with white knuckle force so strong I could hear the material straining against his power. "They're R&D. Experiments between humans and vampires is the life of Paper. The fact that there is a close knit connection between both is what keeps Paper alive. As long as there is a human and vampire alive, Paper will continue to function."

I swallowed. It came out loudly. It was wrong on so many levels even if there was a piece of paper you signed.

"There's also another thing." James turned around fully to face me and the clinging Cindy. "The anonymity. The fact that Paper moved and didn't tell Rose of the new address gave them a reason to do what they liked."

"But we're here now." I said. "We're unravelling what they're doing."

"It took us time, but we're nearly there, yes. I'm just worried about what's going to happen in the future."

What he said reminded me of what Iain told us before.

"Have you two seen any? The people who were from Rose that are now here?"

"No." The voice was weak. And it came from Cindy. She straightened but her determination didn't quite reach her red eyes though.

"I haven't seen Kate yet. I can't even smell her here."

Paper's wraith hung in the air. The possibility of having no future or not being able to return to Rose almost was my future.

I want to see Mattie. I miss him.

"Well, staying here isn't going to solve it." James said, nodding at me.

I nodded too in acknowledgment. We have to move forward.

Around the back of the theater there was a set of double doors I hadn't seen. Through them we passed many corners, hallways to end up in a place that Cindy said smelt strongly of that old blood.

We were in a large room that was almost bare of any furniture. Apart from a set of chains hanging from a hook in the wall next to yet another set of doors.

It was dark with no windows and lit only by candles hanging from the ceiling.

"It's through here." James said as he pushed the door open.