The Red Rose

Chapter XXII

Carmilla was seated on the sofa in front of Juanpi, who was staring intently at the USB flash drive, seemingly trying to disassemble it. I watched both of them standing, not knowing how to break the awkward silence. Juanpi was supposed to stay with me tonight to review the USB, but I hadn't counted on Carmilla being here with us as well.

Carmilla seemed uncomfortable, resting her head on one hand and tapping the wood with her index finger from her crossed legs. Juanpi, having finished checking the flash drive, looked at Carmilla with some suspicion, and she gave him a guilty and nervous smile, accidentally revealing her sharp fangs.

This, understandably, made Juanpi more nervous:

"Come on, Carmilla, stop playing around," I said.

She adjusted her hair and crossed her arms, saying:

"He doesn't trust or understand that we're on the same team!"

The issue was that Carmilla had confessed about Juanpi's grandfather and had apologized, but he was not at all pleased with the news. She had thought that if we were going to work as a team, there should be no secrets among us, and we all needed to be informed.

"Guys, we're all in this together. Please, Juanpi, put the USB in the computer and let's see what's on it," I urged.

"Then tell her to stop looking at me like a can of soda!" he said reluctantly.

"I haven't done anything! Tell your friend to relax!" she demanded.

"That's enough, guys! Please! Juanpi, let's get this over with."

Juanpi nervously moved towards the laptop and turned it on. He asked me to log in, and after I typed in the password, he opened some kind of program and then inserted the USB flash drive, monitoring it with some other program.

"Hey! It looks like Windows 7!" I exclaimed jokingly to ease the tension.

"It's Linux Mint, less prone to viruses, but we still have to be careful," he murmured as he checked everything.

"There are several Excel files and some emails. The Dragon's secretary gave it to me..." Carmilla said

She emphasized "secretary" with air quotes, implying it might be something more. I frowned.

"Vampires, roles can get blurry sometimes. Once, I saw the Dragon's other girl entering one of his captive's cells suspiciously, probably indulging in a snack or something else," she said, this time with a sly smile.

"And do you know the names of the two girls who work for the Dragon?" Juanpi asked.

"No, they use aliases. They're a rank above Ruthven and Varney, so they don't usually interact directly with me. The Dragon keeps them very secret."

As Juanpi went through what seemed to be lists of names, blood groups, medical records, and more, his face grew paler and his expression changed from curiosity to utter horror.

"They have a farm, a damn farm. Elderly, men, women, children... My God... they don't even spare babies..."

Juanpi couldn't take it and had to go to the bathroom. I could hear him retching from the shock. I glanced out of curiosity, and Carmilla looked away, quite embarrassed.

"Damn bastards..." I muttered.

I began to feel the buzz in my head. I hadn't felt it since my confrontation with the Trauco.

"Miguel, your eyes, they're glowing brighter... Are you okay?" Carmilla asked.

"Where are they! Where is the damn castle! I'm going to cut off the heads of every single one of those hellish leeches! I won't leave a single one alive!" I shouted, making the room tremble.