7 7 His World

I stand beside an old rusty gate of an empty carnival in the middle of the night. Peeking inside, it looks abandoned. The rides are rusty and ragged. Gone were the days of its pinnacle.

The cold night air getting a toll on me, and I hold my jacket tighter. Dimitri parked his car in front of what looked like an abandoned house beside the carnival. I see him pick up the bags and close the door, walking towards me.

"Took you long enough," I complain, rubbing my arms up and down. This night is exceptionally colder.

"If you didn't bring your entire wardrobe probably, I won't get too long." He says, lifting my bags.

"Where are we?" I ask, looking around. The place is eerily quiet and has that creepy vibe.

He sighs, his breath forming a cloud of fog. "The Hellsburn Carnival. I've been here only twice. Scary as it is but this is the safest entrance I could find. With some vampire keeping an eye on you, I can't risk exposing us."

"How about your car?" I glance at his pickup truck.

"My buddy will get it back in my house in an hour." He looks at his wristwatch. "Almost time, let's go."

I follow Dimitri inside the rusty gates. Lots of debris are littered on the ground, even plastic cups and tickets from old shows back in the day. This place must have been festive before. But now, the rides can barely hold themselves, they are falling apart.

Dimitri stops in front of a carousel and puts down our bags. He kneels on the ground. I peek over his shoulder and notice a big round metal, like a cover to a deep hole. It's probably just an old tunnel of waste, I thought.

I arch an eyebrow as he takes out his handkerchief and wipes the center. When it's all clean, he brings out a card from his pocket and swipes it on a thin horizontal gap in the middle. A bright light suddenly shines, coming from inside the tunnel. And a monotone voice echo in the darkness of the night.

'Code Verified. This is F.R.A.D.C. Headquarters. Welcome aboard.'

It slowly opens and creates a horrible sound of scrapping metal that lasts a minute. I shield my eyes with my arm from the brightness. The darkness around made the light sharp to the eyes.

"Let's go, sweetcakes." Dimitri carries the bags and starts to descend the ground until he disappears below.

I step closer and look down. White stairs are leading underground. The stairs are made of metal and twist in a spiral design, making it hard to see the bottom. Dimitri is already halfway through and I quickly go down. The metal cover automatically sealed with a loud bang right after my head gets down.

The stairs felt endless. My head hurts from circling, seeing only white walls, no decorations, nothing at all. The temperature here is worse even, dead cold.

"What's F.R.A.D.C?" I ask, my voice echoing like a second voice. I carefully take steps one at a time, holding on to the railings though it is beat cold to the touch. My hands feel numb already.

"Force Rises Against Dark Creatures," Dimitri replies. "Welcome, Amber. This is the Headquarters of the top-secret government agency that aims to wipe out vampires on the very beginning the government discovered their existence."

"You work here? Why am I not surprised." I blurt, amazed.

"Since I was twelve, Aunt Meredith took me in. They taught me everything I need to know about vampires, how to kill one, how to torture, how to capture." The way he says those words are full of pride. It must have been his life ever since.

"What actually is this, some kind of secret agent type?"

"Ah, that and more." He says, laughing.

I reach the underground floor, finally. I look around and notice the huge metal door. It looks solid, I would not be surprised if it is bulletproof.

"What are you called then? Secret Agents? Forces? Army?" I touch the metal door and instantly withdraw my hand. It is too cold to the touch like ice.

"Nah... None of those."

There is a fingerprint scanner on the right side and I watch as he put his right hand on it. It creates a weird sound. On top of it is a small screen and a green light appears, which shows in bold words 'VERIFIED'.

Out of the wall, another object made of round glass appears and a black stick as a handle. It unfolds until it reaches Dimitri's right eye and the screen once more turns green voicing a 'verified identity.

"Lots of that, huh?" I say, amazed at what I am experiencing firsthand. "The security is heavily guarded, wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot more of them inside these walls."

"The organization can't risk having intruders. There's a lot of risks if one found out, human or vampire that this organization exists." He explains as he slides another slick black card from a slot and the metal door slowly opens.

"Then why am I here? Aren't I supposed to not know it too?"

"Because you are special." He playfully winks with a cheeky grin. "Come on, cut all the questions, I'll show you around."

When the door is fully open, the first thing I notice is that the place is packed with many glass doors. As we pass, I can see people uniformed in white laboratory coats and gloves. Some are carrying chemicals, some chatting with others and few read books or stacks of files.

"Such how many rooms are in here?" I ask in awe, by how the place is equipped with probably the highest technology the world has yet to see.

"About a thousand." He guides me into an elevator and punches Section 7. My heart must have fallen several times as the elevator plummets.

"Whoa there!" I shriek. I almost stumble if not for Dimitri's quick reflexes. I hold onto his arm tightly as we continue to go down.

"Sorry, I didn't warn you." He apologizes. "The elevators really kinda fast.

Gladly, the elevator stops and I never felt more relieved as I get out with shaky legs, my heartbeats still running wild. We round into a corner and pass more doors before he slides yet another slick card on a door and it opens.

"Welcome to my humble place."