Waiting Game

The rest of the backup crew that Vincent called in were dressed in white plastic protective suits, as they made their way down the metal ladder and filed in cleanly. They were in three pods and had different jobs that Charlotte couldn't tell the difference.

There weren't many words exchanged with the other others getting to work immediately, swabbing everything for DNA strands that could be the first piece of the whole puzzle.

Vincent was standing in the corner with his hands crossed watching the group, and Charlotte walked over to him to get out of the way. "What should we do now?"

"It's a waiting game," Vincent replied. "We'll need to wait for the results of the DNA testing."

"How long does that usually take?"

"A few hours if they are competent."

Charlotte paused. "Ah, I see. Well, should we head back up?"

Vincent nodded, and Charlotte went over to climb out hastily, not wanting to be in that room longer than needed to be.

Above on somewhat level ground, Charlotte was able to gain her sanity back and turned around to see that Vincent was right with her. He took her arm, and they strode out to the car that was still parked out in front.

She slipped inside the passenger seat and strapped in. "Where are we going?"

"To the medic as I said before."

"I see," Charlotte said while wringing her hands together in her lap.

Vincent started up the car without another word, and they were on the road once more. They drove for a while, and Charlotte ended up getting sleepy and dozing off. He shook her shoulder when they arrived at an extremely low-profile building that seemed to be nothing more than a random residence area.

Charlotte pushed the car door open and covered her yawn with her hand before taking in the area. There was nothing that stuck out about it, as it was very middle class in terms of first impressions, and Vincent strode up the steps to the glass doors to buzz the intercom.

There was no answer at first, but then a warm voice of a guy wearing large black frames appeared on the screen. He was too close to the camera which made his face enlarged, as he stared directly at them. The color of the camera was distorted, so it was practically only grey-scale.

"Hey, Vincent! Long time no see."

"Can you let us in, Darion?"

There was a click, and Vincent pushed the door open. Charlotte stepped inside first when Vincent motioned with his hand to hurry up inside before closing the door behind them.

They came face to face with stairs that led up and down, and Charlotte turned back to Vincent, who breezed past her and took the stairs that led down.

She patted his tense shoulder, feeling uncomfortable, and he flicked his eyes back up at her. At moments, she felt as though Vincent was a large puppy wanting adoration while at others, she got the feeling that he could eat her up whenever he chose to.

Charlotte did not comment as to his shift in behavior and followed him down the stairs to arrive at another metal door where Vincent quickly pressed the numbers of the four-digit code and fingerprint scanner.

It was a meticulous process that was probably worth the time, ensuring the security of whatever was inside.

The metal door slid open by itself, and Vincent stepped inside the fully barricaded room. It was similar to a hospital sector but much smaller and confined. Charlotte was surprised by the advanced medical tools, keeping behind Vincent to make sure that she didn't touch or break anything valuable.

Sitting at the desk area, two people were bickering with one another. Charlotte recognized the glasses man from earlier who was leaning his hip on the where a woman with gorgeous navy blue hair, was sitting flipping through a health chart.

They glanced up when she and Vincent entered, and Darion lifted his hand in greeting. "Yo."

From the camera earlier, Charlotte assumed that Darion must have lighter hair, but it was a full-fledged shiny pure silver that many would be envious of. Charlotte wasn't one to make first introductions, and they landed their curious eyes on her.

"Hey, Darion and Sera," Vincent said. "We have some confidential information we would love to discuss."

"Is it pertaining to us?" Sera asked.

"Not personally. Just some individualistic questions I know you can answer."

"Sure. Sit down," Sera said before kicking Darion in the shin to get him to move.

Darion took the seat next to Sera and leaned his chin into his hand. "I've never seen you with a companion before Vincent in all the years I've known you."

Vincent didn't bother to make introductions for her, only saying with his eyes that Charlotte could go ahead which Charlotte did appreciate.

However, she narrowed her eyes at him for purely dismissing her as if she was no one but pasted on a bright smile. She could tell that he was getting into his head and distancing away from her.

"Hello, I'm Charlotte Artelier."

"You aren't a vampire breed aren't you?"

Charlotte's brows came together. "What? That can happen?"

Darion covered his mouth. "Well, it's not a secret."

Charlotte got the impression that vampires couldn't have offspring from Vincent, only being able to turn if one got blood from vampires at their last breath. That was interesting.

She got the feeling that these people were trustworthy and said it as she knew her relationship between her and Vincent could be labeled.

"No, I'm his contractor."