A Sanguinary Rose

Transfusion: Part 1

THERE WAS NO WAY OUT. The door I had come through had vanished behind a starry blackness. And going near Mandala was the last thing I wanted.

"Guys, can you read me? Is anyone there? Anja? Oliver? I don't know where to go."

In my desperation, I came close to removing the gazer, to taking the limiting lenses off my eyes and peering around the abyss of mystery I stood on, because how else would I find the way back in this black sea of infinity? The only thing keeping me from taking it off was Mandala's warning—irrevocably insane. Then this might be a double-edged sword because one might as well lose their mind in trying to find the way out.

Ask.

"Where's the exit?"

Nothing.

"How do I find the exit?"

Silence.

"Lead me out."

Stars flew out and flickered, constellations shifted, stardust coalesced into a blinding core of light until it exploded in a shower of dust, and I bumped into a cold, steel-bound mass. My palms, grasping and sweating, probed along for anything to grab onto.

Then my fists pounded on it. "Somebody, get me out of here."

A red signal beeped on top of it. As it screeched, the wall of steel began to rise upward. I dashed inside under the rising gate, pushed past the sliding double doors, past the stone gargoyles, and snatched the gazing device off my face, letting it drop to the rocky floor.

Two security guards rushed up with handguns drawn. They didn't point them but were still wary. They spoke in hard, fast, aggressive French.

"I don't understand anything you're saying."

They gave each other glances of annoyance.

The clerk behind the glass counter spoke up. "They want to know how you got inside there and for what purpose."

"I'd like to know how I got here. I was across the world moments ago."

The clerk came out of his booth. "You're in Paris' Bureau. The Starlit Almanac works in mysterious ways. If unsupervised, you don't know where you'll end up next. Now, what were you doing in there and how did you get in? Because clearly you were unsupervised."

"I work for ORPHEUS in Farpoint. There was a loose vampire, and there was nowhere else to hide. I really need to go back, though. Please."

"Hiding in there is either the stupidest or smartest thing you could've done. We're aware there was an infiltration, but that was days ago. It's currently under investigation."

"Days? What do you mean? I couldn't have been in there that long." However, as I said those words, my stomach growled, and it hit me how long it had been since the last time I tasted blood, how long since I'd slept.

One of the guards spoke a few words in French and both seized my arms. I looked at the clerk, horrified. "Hey, what are you doing to me? Let me go."

"They'll take you up for questioning. Don't worry. It'll be fast and easy," he said, before going back to his seat behind the counter.

The only thing that might give away my involvement at that point was the earpiece I wore.

The two guards half-walked and half-dragged me down the corridor to the elevator. In the idle wait between climbing floors, they were bound to notice the piece in my ear. They yanked me forward when I dug my heels on the ground. The thought made me panic. Thinking of the consequences tied knots in my stomach. If I went down, what would happen to my friends?