The woman who had driven us to the facility had her dark hair just above her shoulders, working behind a white desk protected by glass that extended to the ceiling. She and another woman looked up as I passed, their faces twinged with a subtle curiosity and fear.
Sage broke away from me and spoke to them through the holes in the glass, his voice lowered. Their eyes moved from him, to me, and then back to me.
The woman with the glasses nodded once, then tapped away at her computer. The other woman appeared through a door and ushered them forward. She was stout and wore a flowing white blouse. A set of keys jingled on her hip. She swiped her key card on a black panel on the wall.
The sound of machine gears turning; the release of pressure. A section of the wall drew inward and revealed a hidden passage. Two guards appeared on either side of us. One, I recognised as the man who had sat in the passenger seat. He held a shotgun to his shoulder.
"You'll stay here for now," said Sage as we walked through the hidden hallway.
My eyes followed the pearly, polished floor. Dim lights shone overhead like bleary, apricot-coloured suns.
"We have a room specially made for this scenario. Our researchers will keep an eye on you at all times, so don't do anything you wouldn't want someone to see."
I stopped in my tracks. "Don't I deserve a little bit of privacy?"
He shrugged his shoulders without looking back.
"It can't be helped."
I clicked my tongue.
We paused in front of the door, where Sage swiped his key card and beckoned me inside. A mirror lined the entire backwall, where I studied my full visage for the very first time.
My dark brown hair wove around me like a wild, lupine girl. Sage's jacket fell just above my knees, which resembled gnarled, pale tree roots.
A single bed against the wall to my left, while a desk and a chair jammed into the corner of the other, near an open door that led to a bathroom.
"No one can see you in there," said Sage. "But if we notice you gone for more than fifteen minutes, they will come to check on you."
"Perfect." I said, rolling my eyes.
"During daylight hours, vampires are locked in. Given your circumstances, I'll allow you to roam the premises."
"There are more vampires here? What exactly are you doing here?"
"Confidential."
"Besides, I thought vampires were weak to sunlight?"
"Not those turned directly by Carden. I'm sure you've realised he's a special case." He indicated a pair of clothes folded on the end of the bed. "You can change into those in a moment, but I'd like to ask you a few more questions.
He pulled up the chair, while I sat on the bed.
"How long were you involved with Carden?"
"Maybe... Around a month?"
"You were human that entire time?"
"Yes."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I told you before. Lance's soul changed him. There were moments without cruelty, without that merciless bloodlust. He was almost human. I know it's hard to believe, since all you've known is the monster he is now, but it really was different."
YOU ARE READING
Descend into Darkness (BOOK 1)
VampirosCarden is not your typical vampire; he's a cunning and charismatic blood-thirsty fiend on a mission to wreak havoc in everyday life. The personification of evil itself, he stands apart from the vampires one might expect to encounter. Kelsey Chambers...