Vice

Chapter 3

"I'm taking you to see Dorin, he's in charge of this oh-so-wonderfully tasty establishment." She said, once we were away from the noise. We squeezed through a stage door, dodging stray band equipment and discarded chairs until finally we reached a door marked 'RESTRICTED'.

We came to a halt and stood side to side, I fidgeted nervously aware of how loud my breathing had become. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears; a relentless reminder of how the very same thing that kept me alive now would soon be the end of me. Every breath, every thought, every step I made had to be careful and calculated. 

Dana watched me as I tried to get my emotions under control.

"You've never met one before, have you?" She asked in a hushed tone, disbelief glimmered in her eyes. A smile tugged at her lips as she watched me stutter.

"You've never met a Vampire?!" Her voice was incredulous.

"No. Actually" 

She stared.

"I guess I just don't have much in common with a...Vampire."

"Wow! That doesn't seem possible with a sister like yours..." She muttered; clearly unaware that the distance between us was not large enough for comments like that to go unheard. 

My fists clenched and my nostrils flared. How dare she? Venom laced my next words, the air became toxic as i uttered them coldly- staring straight ahead at the door.

"I suggest we get this over with as I don't have much time."

In control. Show no anger, show no fear. Do not react.

I chanted this mantra in my head, over and over, as Dana sighed and rapped on the door. 

A few moments passed before the door was flung open. A young asian girl stood, wide-eyed, in a white bath-robe. Blood stained the colar of the snowy fabric, as it seeped in a constant stream from two puncture wounds on her neck. She bowed slightly at Dana and soon scurried down the darkened corridor from where we had come.

At least he's not hungry. I thought darkly to myself.

Dana pushed me forward signalling with her head.

"Go" she mouthed. 

 I stepped forward cautiously. My muscles tensed. Fists clenched. Ready to meet my attacker head on.

I'm not going down without a fight.

The office was sparsely furnished; although due to the cramped state of the room, this was not immediately obvious. My eyes struggled to focus onto one single thing. The presumably once stark white walls, were now covered from floor to ceiling with high stack of books and papers which balanced precariously on top of each other.

Apart from the overflow of books and papers the office was empty.

What the hell? I thought, eyeing Dana suspiciously.

She poked her head through the door- seemingly as confused as I was.

Dana pushed past and pressed a button on a telephone which hung from the wall, off the receiver. 

"Is Dorin in? Ishigo let us in but I need entry. Yes I have a..." She paused and looked at me.

"Tell him I have a visitor."

Whilst she talked on the phone I explored the small room. On the floor small specks of blood were dotted along in a trail, leading from the door to... a wall? 

"Secret pannel" said Dana, standing next to me. She reached down to her left and flipped open the cover of an old book at the top of one of the various piles- inside a small lever was nestled in the hollowed out hardcover.

She pulled on the lever and the wall slid open; neatly folding back on itself like it was made of paper.

"Why'd you ask for permission to enter if all you had to do was press a lever?" I asked, curious at the odd formalities of it all.

"Because this passage way is heavily guarded and unauthorised personnel are executed on the spot." She drawled, already making her way down the brightly lit corridor.

I didn't quite know how to respond to that- I wasn't shocked. Not really. I knew what these... monsters were capable of and maybe if Perdita had known, she would still be-

I paused contemplating my next words, she would still be- alive? Safe? Happy?

She wasn't any of these things before; she would have barely passed for being alive. Not until she started coming to The Last Drop , things had changed for her- she seemed happier but i was aware  we had become distant. She stopped telling me things like she used to. Of course i knew where she would go every night, she asked me to cover for her, lie to our parents. I was just as guilty of her disappearence as any of them.

I should have seen it coming.

Dana must have taken my subdued silence for some sort of macabre curiosity because, as we made our way down the never ending linoleum corridor, she continued to tell me about their strict policies.

"Dorian is a very important man, you know." She beamed. Signalling her head to the various security cameras stationed along the corridor- following our tracks.

Ooh lucky me!

"He can be a little... intimidating. Just remember to address him as Mr. Vice and y'know be polite so he's less likely to rip your head off". Dana cackled loudly at her own joke; her schreeches bouncing off the walls.