Elapsed in Joy or Strife

Charlotte didn't need to wait to see the fires as she saw them from miles away from the smoke that was puffing up into the air, letting the whole street know of their predicament which seemed to be a problem judging by Vincent's reaction.

The street that they turned to was in the middle ring of the working class where all the apartment buildings resided by the factories where most worked nearby. The factories took up a lot of space, so Charlotte thought that it would have been a huge fire hazard if an apartment building went up in flames considering the risk of how flammable the factories were.

The factories of the city were what was powering the city through the amount of light that was transmitted off and sent away. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary since the buildings were relatively uneventful with the grey scheme for the colorways, and the industrial look of the places.

She had never been inside one, and Charlotte placed her face closer to the car window as they drove past some factories that were still busily working at night. The nightlife was what made the city come alive since there practically was no pause in daily life.

The night was only an extended version of the day due to the fact that all the darkness was chased away by the bright lights that were cast as colorful and neon as one got closer to the center.

She had never been one to party and take part in the nightlife even back in university, and Charlotte leaned her head on the window as she reminisced the times when things were simple, and she was blissfully unaware of the true creatures that roamed around that had a human shape and form.

It wasn't even long ago, only a few years, but it still felt like a lifetime. She knew that she couldn't even compare those tiny years to long centuries that she was sure that Vincent elapsed whether that be in joy or strife.

She could finally see the fire around the corner, and she brought her hand up to her lips to cover her gasps.

"I didn't realize that the safe house was inside of an apartment," Charlotte said. "The whole building is burning!"

"The vigilantes are trying to distract us by making us clean up their work," Vincent muttered. "Stone is on a recovery mission getting out all those who are innocent out of the building."

Charlotte bit down on her lips when Vincent finally pulled into parking on the side of the street. It wasn't looking good at all with pieces of the bricks and whatnot falling from above that was burnt to a crisp letting itself fall with the laws of gravity further and closer to the ground.

The flames that engulfed the building that was once the vampire's safehouse had now been burned down along with the entire apartment block which sent people who had homes inside in a frenzy wondering what had happened.

Vincent got out of the car and slammed the car shut behind him with Charlotte hot on his heels, trying to weave their way through the crowd of people with a range of emotions from sadness to anger.

Charlotte coughed into her elbow as they got closer to the building, and she turned around, puzzled at the fact that there was no law enforcement in the area to deal with the huge fire. She pulled on Vincent's sleeve, and he turned back.

"Where are the firefighters?" she asked. "Why isn't there anyone trying to put out the flames?"

"They are on their way," Vincent answered with a frown. "We can't let the police meddle too deeply, so we stalled their call."

"Aren't there vampires a part of the police force?"

"We have a few men in there."

Vincent pulled open the doors, and Charlotte grasped the end of his jacket. "You're going inside of the collapsing building?"

"We don't have much time," Vincent said as he pushed her hand away. "I need to meet up with Stone."

Charlotte shook her head. "It's dangerous..."

"When is it not in this world?"

"But..."

"We need to extract the information hub that we had got inside."

"That's your main priority?"

"Of course I'll help anyone in need," Vincent answered sharply before grabbing Charlotte's wrist to pull her into his body. "Do you plan to come with?"

Charlotte looked up at him to see that his eyes were normal, and she knew that he wasn't scared of anything. He didn't have any ties to rest of the people inside that building meaning that they didn't want to assume any responsibility. But then she would remain a bystander once more.

Once again, she was diving into the deep end at this point but couldn't risk it all at the last moment. She pulled away and shook her head slowly. He pressed a hand down on her head and slid down her hair to bring some strands to his lips. "Stay here. I'll be back."

"The vigilantes are doing this to get your attention elsewhere," Charlotte said. "Help anyone you see is there..."

"Firefighters are coming soon. We should let them do their job, and we do ours."

Charlotte sighed. "Just go. Return safely please."

"I will."