Blood on Roses [COMPLETED]

Six: Preparation

 "Sometimes I don't understand why they want to live so badly. After all, vampires have been ostracized for centuries. What's the point in persisting?"

~ Roman Anderson

SIX

A woman named Josephine led me down the hallway as she sorted through a folder. She pushed up her large framed glasses from time to time and brushed a strand of her messy black hair back into the bun it was in.

Harvick said this was his secretary? Left-hand woman?

"My room is this one if you ever need anything." Josephine pointed her pen toward a plain fawn door.

"No decorations?"

She scoffed, as if a kindergartener just posed a stupid question, and replied, "There is no space left in my mind for creativity. It's all occupied with planning murders."

Alrighty. I bit my lip and mentally noted not to try to make small talk with Josephine.

"You've met Roman, right?" She turned around all of a sudden, making both of us stop in our tracks.

"Yeah, I have. What about him?"

Josephine closed her eyes for a second, then explained herself, "I'm checking if we're within anyone's earshot right now."

My first reaction was finding that ability fascinating and wondered if I could do that someday until I mentally slapped myself.

"Roman is a twin. Well, was," Josephine clarified. "His twin brother, Ashton, was killed by hunters when they were young, which was also the day Harvick found him. He recruited Roman, but of course, he didn't struggle as much as you did."

"So, where are you going with this?"

"He still hasn't gotten over Ashton's death. They were each other's only company because the Andersons were notoriously quite a loveless family, so no one truly cared for them. The day their domain was attacked, Ashton died," she explained without a trace of sympathy in her voice. "What I'm getting at is, don't freak out if Roman suddenly turns into this lively and flirtatious character. That's Ashton."

My eyes widened in surprise. "You mean like a dissociative identity disorder?"

"Kind of. Ashton is aware of this while Roman is not, so don't mention it to him. When he's Ashton, he'll have the ability of telekinesis. Not even Harvick can explain how this was achieved in one vampire body. Everyone's accepted this as how it is for the past decade, so you'll get used to it soon enough."

I gulped. Having your twin brother murdered right in front of you? No wonder Roman has such dull and lifeless eyes.

I suddenly recalled Harvick saying that everyone in this organization was here for their reasons. I couldn't help but stare at Josephine's back as we continued down the hallway.

What's her story? What's Hailee's story? What's Zach's story? What's Kassandra's story? Better yet, what's Harvick's own story?

I crossed the luxurious mansion with Josephine. We passed the double staircase and ventured further down the hallway until we stopped in front of another beige door with the letters "R" and "A" carved on it.

"The idiot Ashton made this." Josephine gestured to the letters. "This way, Roman would think those were his initials, but it's actually 'Roman and Ashton.'"

I nearly chuckled. This quirky behavior of Ashton's reminded me of Alecx when he was little.

Josephine handed me the folder she'd been playing around with and said, "This is the most important mission Harvick has tasked to most of us. Read it and make sure to hide it in a safe place."