Chapter 10. A voice

Love whipped her head around, startled at the prospect of an unexpected visitor that she had not sensed entering her room.

Also, why did they sound strangely familiar, she wondered? Like a voice that she had heard within a dream.

'Oh, were you dreaming about me? Well, who could blame you really, I like to think I make an impression.' The voice was heard again.

Yes, there was definitely something in that mocking tone that was familiar to her - familiar and a little annoying. But the harder she tried to place it the more her head throbbed in pain.

Gritting her teeth against the persistent dull ache, Love called out hesitantly.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

But the room was just as empty as it was a moment ago, her voice echoing in the stillness.

'Yes! Well no actually, I'm not there, but you can hear me, right? I was starting to wonder if it hadn't worked like it should.' The melodic voice rang out cheerfully.

Love whipped her head around again in confusion, a slight hint of panic starting to settle in. Was she going mad? Hearing voices was never a good sign.

'Oh and no need to talk aloud, you know. Just reply inside your mind and I'll hear it just fine. And no you are not going mad.' The voice replied. It appeared to be a male voice and, by the accent, he was likely from an Inner Zone, but other than this, Love was struggling to understand why it was familiar to her.

'Reply in my mind? This is ridiculous.' She scoffed, internally.

'There we go, and no it's not ridiculous, see? This way, no one can hear you talking to yourself in an empty room like a crazy person.'

Love paused for a moment before attempting to reply again.

'Well…I suppose if I am going insane I may as well go with it, this was a long time coming really and who knows, it could be fun.' Love sighed in a defeated tone.

The voice chuckled inside of her mind. The sound of it was low and melodious and her heart fluttered involuntarily.

'Really Love, you're quite amusing you know, but enough playing around for now, I need to fill you in on a couple of important details, so please, listen well.' 

Love sighed once more, and nodded, replying, 'Alright', inside of her head.

'Excellent, I knew I could count on you not to overreact.' The voice teased.

'Now first of all, you should know that we've met before and that I had to wipe your memories temporarily so that you wouldn't say anything risky upon waking up. But I promise you that I will be returning them when we meet again.' He explained, his voice losing a little of its playful tone as he ran through a hurried explanation.

Love was still on the fence as to whether the voice was real or whether she was finally losing her sanity after too many years of harsh treatment in the outskirts. Or perhaps it was the toxic air. Maybe she should have invested in a better filtration mask...

The voice sighed lightly.

'You're not losing your sanity. My name is Ezra Acheron, I'm a vampire, hence why I'm able to do something like this with your mind. We met last night when you entered After Dark with your friend, Elora, correct?'

She stiffened at the mention of Elora, remembering at the moment that she was still unaware of her whereabouts.

'I'll explain further another time as someone is going to come for you soon to take you to Head General Del. So for now, I need you to play along and tell them that you have no idea how you ended up outside their base…I also want you to tell them that you want to join the Helsing unit.' He continued on, now sounding as though he were in a slight rush.

Love was growing more frustrated by the moment at the nonchalant way in which this strange voice was speaking with her. He was supposedly a vampire that had tampered with her mind, removing some of her memories. He had also failed to explain what had transpired, but Love was not a fool, and could guess that he was the one that had caused her to fall unconscious and end up collapsed outside the Helsing compound. To top it all off he was now trying to demand favours from her with no explanation as to why.

'Enough. Ezra was it?'

'...Yes.' Ezra replied after a slight pause at the shift in the tonality of her thoughts. Her inner voice had turned chillingly cold.

'Ezra. Do you truly think it's reasonable for you to demand anything from me? I have no idea who you are, courtesy of you yourself. So, why on earth would I help you? You also haven't told me where my friend is, or given me any reason to trust you.'

For a moment, her mind was quiet, and yet it didn't feel like it typically would when she was not thinking of anything. Instead of the usual feeling inside her mind, she felt as though she could still detect a change…a small thread that pulled slightly at her consciousness that seemed to reveal that the vampire was still there, he had simply quieted for a moment to consider his next words.

'You're right, of course. I am sorry for explaining things in this way and for needing to remove your memories as I did.' Ezra responded in a softer tone than before.

Love waited calmly without reply.

'It will be much simpler for me to explain when we meet, and I can return your memories. But for now, let me assure you that your friend is currently safe and well. I used your commlinks to find your place of residence and had her dropped off last night. I'm sure that once you get your own link back, she will have already contacted you.' 

At these words, Love relaxed ever so slightly in relief, yet glancing around for her commlink, she was unable to spot it in her vicinity.

'Ah yes, they took it from you when you were brought here last night. Likely so that you wouldn't reveal your location to anyone outside this compound just yet. They should return it after you meet with the General soon.' Ezra explained.

'So once again, you're asking me to just take your word for it? How can I trust you when I don't even remember who you are?' She replied, irked.

Love was now highly irritated with this strange vampire, who had still offered no explanation as to why he wished for her to join the Helsing unit at his bequest.

'Well, it's simple really. Don't trust me.' The playful, mocking tone had crept back into his voice.

'Don't trust you?'

'No, not at all. I'm a rather shady individual, don't you think?' 

'Wh - what the hell, so why would I do what you say?' Love was feeling more annoyed than confused at this point.

'Ah, that's simple too…because I know where Elora is. She should be getting ready to leave for her shift right about now, correct?'

…

Love froze, and her heart beat faster. Ezra's voice had turned flat and emotionless, all pretence of playfulness had vanished in an instant.

'So you will do what I'm asking of you, Love. Or your friend will die.'

**