CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The sound of water dripping woke me. Or rather, I heard the sound of water and decided to ignore it until I got annoyed.

There was a pain in my chest as I took a breath like I had ran a marathon and tried to grasp as much air into my lungs.

That was weird.

I took me a few times to move my body too, almost like they weren't mine. So slowly, very slowly, I got up.

I shook my head. Stuff dusted around me as I did so.

I would have tried asking why my body wasn't even responding when I woke up but holy shit, the view in front of me just shocked me.

I was back at Rose. I was at the canteen, smack bang in the middle of it. But it wasn't the Rose I knew.

The walls were damaged, marks absolutely covered them. Some were slashes, some even bullet holes and some were just plain smashed from debris falling onto it.

Around me, large stones, rocks, tables, chairs were piled everywhere.

The glass from the front had completely gone. They lay in a dusty line on the pavement.

What was worse was the amount of red stains. That and the skeletons around me.

It was clear that there had been a fight here.

Holy fucking shit.

I crawled to a wall on instinct and dry heaved, almost gagging. Tears streamed my eyes.

What the fuck? What the fuck happened here?

With one hand clutching my stomach, another against the wall, I made my way toward the first place I normally go to when I go here everyday: to Iain's office.

The path I took was mostly blocked but I could climb over it. But holy shit, most of the doors and walls had been blasted off with so much force bands of electrical wires were sticking out of walls. There was the odd box they were all connected to hanging off the ceiling or off a wall.

There was nothing but the sound of rocks falling as I pushed them away. It was only then when I realised it.

It was silent.

Everything around me was in ruins, the building, the decor, the bodies of… of what?

Former Rose colleagues?

The enemy?

I decided it was a useless argument with myself and continued toward Iain's office.

I found it with the door hanging off and damn, the place was a tip.

The bookcases had been knocked over, their books all over the place. The mahogany table that was Iain's desk had been tipped over with two legs sticking up in the air as if someone had used it as a shield. There were scratches, markings and blood stains on the walls. But it was weird. The stains were crumbing and dry.

What happened here?

I found myself wondering how long blood dries before something caught my eye, something that clearly didn't belong in this mystery of places.

It was a folder with Alpha and Beta sat on top.

They were laid just behind the upturned table, covered in dust, and there was even a note that was addressed to me.

It read:

Lucy Henderson,

I pray that this finds its way to you but knowing that the chances of that happening are very slim, may you find another means to learn the truth.

Paper and Rose have been demolished by the government.

What the actual fuck-

But it explains the ruins...

I have started writing this letter on the hope that you will wake up once we had found you at Paper in a coma thanks to some tablet they were developing which granted humans with a vampire's lifespan. But since it was only the prototype, I cannot say what we can expect to happen to your body in the future.

I also have the information you, Cindy and James gathered from Paper which, I am grateful for but I would rather share it with you so I haven't opened the file yet.

I have also left you Alpha and Beta as they are rightfully yours. There is a copy of this letter along with the guns at The Manor, at Paper, Rose and at your parent's house. All of them are for you including the items in the folder that should be with this letter. Please make use of this. I have a suspicion that you will.

The following items in the folder and accompanying bag are as follows:
£1000

Copies of newspapers until I was physically unable to contribute

A change of clothes

These items should be in the rest of the folders that are hidden where you will find it at the other locations.

Forever your manager and friend,

Iain Wright

The folder was yellow with age and stained in dark red blood. I found the set of clothes in a large bag with some toiletries and hair products that I couldn't help but blush at knowing Iain had thought to give me it. Thank God he picked a black hoodie, black jeans, a simple shirt and trainers. I pulled my hair up in a high ponytail.

The money was right. I don't know, I had to check.

But the newspapers... He'd updated them on a month basis and almost all of them had something to do with Paper or Rose in them.

One newspaper dated in July which was five months after I was at Paper, spoke of the government backing a secret organisation that deals with vampiric society. The government had denied that. Then there was another with images of some alleged people from Rose. I didn't recognise any of them.

I've been in a coma for five months…

I grabbed the bag and stuffed everything in but Alpha and Beta which I concealed in my holsters then headed out.

I took a detour though, hoping that the path there wouldn't be too cluttered. I would have prefered it if I could see it for myself rather than in some other part of the building.

I was going to see Jess and Daniel.

Their portraits weren't there.

No one's portraits were there.

I felt a pang of pain in my chest at taking so long to visit them and the guilt that followed that I never even visited when I could. So I went as far as I could until the way to them was blocked.

"Jess. Daniel," I sank to my knees. "I'm sorry."

In that instance a wave of loneliness overtook me. My heart ached knowing I was most likely the only Rose member alive. I couldn't take it anymore. I cried.

Because everyone says they'll be there but in reality they aren't.

Because I didn't know where everyone is.

Because I killed my brother.

Because I missed my parents.

Because I needed Mattie to tell me I'm doing something good.

Because the world I knew was probably gone.

It all poured out of me until my chest was too painful to even breathe and I was tired of crying. Until my head was fuzzy.

I felt better after that.

I pulled myself together quickly, dragging a sleeve over my eyes and nose. I could not stay here.

"Jess, Daniel, Caim, everyone that has died here." I said, "I guess I'll be going." I picked up the bag then bowed. "Thank you for…" I struggled with the words. How can I express what I felt? "Thank you for all the memories here. Thank you for teaching me many things, for being my friends and ultimately, letting me become one of your colleagues. I don't bear any resentment toward you, Caim, more like gratitude. Goodbye."

Outside was a tip too. Soil was everywhere. Trees that were lined alongside the main pavement were uprooted and their branches stuck up in the air. The tiling was all over too. Grass had grew everywhere. The weeds were unkempt, heck some were nearing the height of my knee.

But in the distance, where the residential building was for the family of Rose members… that was the first thing that caught my eye.

It was not there.

It had collapsed into a huge pile of rubble of bricks, electrical wires, and other miscellaneous things.

Bricks? How am I seeing that from the entrance of Rose?

I swallowed. Is that because of the blood Mattie gave me? Where's Mattie? Where's Sam? Where's Iain?

The lift was broken. I did expect that. It was either scale this to the world above or go through that huge gape of a mouth that let to the labyrinth toward Paper. Wherever Paper was in that labyrinth.

What I didn't expect, on the other hand, was that the emergency doors in the lift was open and that the metal ropes that had originally lifted and gently dropped the lift were still intak. It almost made me think that this was how the survivors of whatever happened to Rose got out.

If there were any survivors.

If anything ever happened to Iain…

No, Mattie would have protected him.

At least I hope so.

I shook my head.

Get your head in the game and don't think negatively!

I threw the bag over the emergency hatch and heard it thud gently on top of the lift. I had to swing myself, keeping my legs firmly planted on the walls to hoist up.

It looked like I was a way down from the surface.

Well, fuck sake!

I pulled my bag over on my back like a turtle shell. There was a ladder integrated into the tunnel near a corner but the problem was it was two metres or so above me. I just did what I'd done to get up - find something to grip on in the wall, held onto it till I could shimmy myself up to reach it.

The bank above Rose was empty. It was fully furnished and now that I knew it had been five months (or more - I pray it was only five months because I just don't think I could take it if I'd been in a coma for longer), since I was in Paper, I understood why it was dusty.

I went straight to the entrance where I found yellow tape all over but seeing no policemen or their cars around, I snuck out. I did get some people stare at me, probably because of what I'd done, or because I was covered in dust, but I didn't care. I doubt they would have asked me why I was coming out of an empty bank anyway.

It was night. I didn't know what time it was but guessed it was still evening considering the amount of people still out.

With half a mind I booked a room at a nearby hotel that I don't really remember was there before and collapsed on the bed.

"Guess I'll read the newspaper clips tomorrow." I murmured before I drifted off into sleep.

I got up at around eleven at night and did what I said I would do so I began reading the newspapers in order. Most of them had the same headline: Vampires are real! Gov protects vampires! Wonder what happens to your donated blood? Just a quick scan made me shake my head in denial. The facts in these articles were wrong and were mostly based off the stereotypical vampires you'd see on the TV.

But despite that, there were some interesting stories. The Guardian and The Times seemed to be the one who were following the breakdown of the Bloody sisters. They mostly had the same information, that because of Dracula, the Twilight series and anything else relating to the existence of vampires, fuelled the public into believing that vampires were real. They were, of course, but their existence was supposed to be kept a secret because of a law issued by the human government with the help of the vampire government.

So when there was evidence of people on the streets being attacked with blood stains on and around their neck, and the fall of Rose and Paper, it further fuelled their suspicions. What was Bloody Paper? What was Bloody Rose? Why did they protect vampires from humans?

Images of people being interrogated by the government as part of an inquiry were shown, people who I don't know. They confirmed in the inquiry that vampires were real and that there was nothing to be scared of even though I knew that two of the three organisations had been demolished. That, and the roles that Paper and Rose had played, were part of Gold. And now there was panic when people left their homes. They didn't understand why the government would do such a thing.

I sighed. There was nothing in it about why the two organisations came about. Nor how the inquiry came about. Why would human society want to know about the collapse of an organisation that was a secret from them? They shouldn't have known that they even existed anyway.

Maybe it was censored in some way… maybe whoever gave the media the information they needed to write these stories, answered the questions they want to answer.

After an hour or so reading through all the newspapers, I leaned back. It didn't give me any kind of insight in what and why Paper and Rose fell but that was okay because I didn't expect it, although it did show me what was happening locally and internationally. The shops I remembered were not there, some were still empty, the rest being bought and a whole different store in their place. But the one thing that did not change was politics.

Knowing this I really didn't know what to do.

I lied.

I did but I didn't know where to start.

Find Iain and Mattie. It would be great if they were still together as colleagues but I doubt it.

There wasn't anything else to do.

I lied again.

Since I had found out Mattie's past, I wondered if I could do something with it. But right now that will have to wait till I know what exactly it is I'm doing.

Do I go back to The Manor? Will that have some answers for me?

What about Iain's house?

Damn. I'll just go there anyway.

I went around town with my bag and the change of clothes Iain got me. I aimed for some shopping but found myself staring at the newspaper right in front of me.

It was dated 2049.

Holy fuck! It's thirty years in the future! What the hell? Shit. I don't-