𝐚𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐚 [𝟏𝟖+]

Chapter 4

𝐇𝐞𝐫 jaw drops agape as she stares at the man, completely awestruck. He's tall, slim, and quite handsome. Despite his grey hair, his facial-structure is practically flawless and his eyes crinkle behind his round glasses as he smiles, putting his fluorescent white teeth on display. He chuckles lightly when he sees her reaction, gesturing her to close her mouth, and she blushes in embarrassment. He walks closer to her, and takes her small hand in his, "Dahlia, welcome. We're very excited to have someone new join our team, especially someone of such academic excellence." He smiles warmly at her, and shakes her hand.

"Y-you-", Dahlia begins speaking, but cuts herself off when she's faced with a horridly nervous voice-crack. She clears her throat and continues, "You're my idol, really. I've read all of your books a bazillion times, I've watched all of your Ted-Talks, I mean, really, this is insane." She stammers and frantically shakes his hand, and he laughs at her antics, pulling his hand back. "You flatter me. Come, I'll show you where you'll be working." He begins to walk, and Dahlia trails behind him like a puppy when Selma suddenly grips her arm and stops her

"Promise me, promise me you'll take care of yourself, dear." The miserable woman whisper-shouts to Dahlia, eyes wide and lip quivering, and pulls her closer. Dahlia furrows her eyebrows and looks at her, puzzled. Before Selma can say anything more, Gerald turns around and taps on the door impatiently while staring at the two. Dahlia quickly pulls her arm out of Selma's grasp, and walks to Gerald in a fast pace. They begin walking down the pure white hallway together, and Gerald begins. 

"So, you'll love it here. We're tight-knit, a family almost. One of the most prestigious demonology science laboratories, after all." He gloats, but the look in his eyes makes it seem like he truly thinks the opposite of what he's saying. Dahlia brushes off the weird feeling, and smiles at him, her cheeks puffing up slightly, "It's an honour to be here, Mr. Sullivan, It's all I've ever wanted." She sighs happily, and Gerald pats her on the shoulder, chuckling to himself. "You can call me Gerald." He looks straight ahead as they walk, and she can't help but bite down a goofy grin as she accepts the mini-victory in her brain. She must've made a good impression if they're on a first-name basis already. As they walk, Dahlia wonders how long the hallway is, and how the room she'll be working in will look like. All sorts of thoughts cloud her brain, and she doesn't even notice that they've stopped in front of a reinforced steel door. He swipes his key card, and the door opens wide, immediately shutting after they walk in. 

Dahlia's almond eyes widen as she takes in the atmosphere of the room, it looks almost like a medical examiner's office. There's a big white board on the wall, scribbled with all sorts of calculations and notes. There's a big steel gurney in the middle of the room, with a metallic box filled with scalpels and other medical tools. On the wall alongside the box, is a glass display containing all sorts of syringes filled with various liquids, and labeled cryptically. Sat on a stool, is a blond male holding a form of some sort. He peers his head as he hears us walk in, and almost sprints out of his stool as he notices me. 

"Dahlia, this is Oliver. You'll be working together, so I recommend getting to know each other." Gerald introduces the young man, and he grins and grabs her hand. He shakes her hand rapidly "You must be Dahlia Winslow. I'm Oliver Merle, I've heard so much about you! It's great to finally meet you. Wow, you're much shorter than I had imagined! Not to worry, we don't do much standing around here. Your hand is really sweaty." He rambles on, his higher voice not pausing for a second, not even taking a breath. She stares at him incredulously, trying to conjure a response. "Err, thanks, Oliver. You talk a lot, huh?" she chuckles nervously, and his eyes widen as he realizes his words. "Sorry, Lia! I can call you Lia, right? Sorry, I'm just really excited to have someone else here, it gets lonely working in this lab alone." He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, and she gives him a sympathetic smile. 

"Well, you two get acquainted. I'll be in my space, if you ever need me. Dahlia, you have your schedule, and Oliver can show you the ropes." Gerald quickly excuses himself, probably not wanting to spend another minute in the middle of this awkward situation. The young woman lets out a deep sigh and look around the room, contemplating what to do first. 

"I've already sanitized the room, you can probably just wipe the board while I prepare the grumpster." Oliver sighs and moves away from Her. She furrows her eyebrows, "Grumpster?" she asks, slight amusement in her voice. He fiddles with his lip ring, "Yeah, our demon, you know? We don't know his name, so I call him grumpster. Everyone else calls him patient 112, which is just way too boring for me." He huffs, pouting slightly. Her eyes widen and she freezes, "Our.. demon?!" she breathes out. He notices her panicking, and he runs up to her, placing his hand on her back. "Yeah, you think this billion dollar institution doesn't have a demon?" He laughs sympathetically, shaking his head at her naivety. She only gasps in response, making him laugh harder. After his little laughing fit, he pants slightly and slaps his knee. "Man, classic." He chuckles and shakes his head. Dahlia shoots him a glare, and he puts his hands up playfully.

Dahlia anxiously chews on her middle finger, chipping off more of her cherry red nail polish, "So, what's the deal with Selma? She said some pretty weird stuff to me earlier." She asks, looking at Oliver. He raises his eyebrows in response, "Mrs. Carlisle? Oh yeah, her daughter used to be an intern here." He sighs, "She got seduced by a demon and was killed, poor thing." He shakes his head and stares at the floor. She almost chokes on her spit, and looks at him with wide eyes. "I've always heard of demon seductions, I never thought it was real!" She exclaims, gripping the board eraser in her hand tightly. Oliver gives her a weird look, "Yeah, that's probably why they don't hire many women to work here. Can't resist that hot demon charm, Y'know?" He wiggles his skinny jean-clad butt jokingly, and the young woman snorts at his antics, shaking her head