Once I hear Eden finally enter the shower next to me, I shut off my own water. Gripping my hair, I wring it out a bit and shake my head to wiggle my long ears. This removes the drops of water that like to cling to them. It’s rather annoying to always feel tiny drops of water that simply refuse to let go. As I shake, my ears bounce around, and I let out a heavy sigh.
‘I feel so incredibly better.’ Moving to the changing room portion of the shower, I stop in front of a mirror, inspecting my body for any wounds. I turn myself backward and forward. ‘Nope. Not even a freckle. Well, besides the big bloody wings tattoo that is still on my back.’
I rotate around and part my hair to check on the tattoo that Aponi pointed out to me many days ago. Its color has started to fill in a bit, and the red contrast has grown slightly more pronounced. It has stretched itself lower as well, nearly all the way to the small of my back.
‘Even if these things appear sooner than I expected, I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to use them. Still, it’s better to have more options than none at all.’
With that, I spend some more time studying my body, making sure no other unexpected things have appeared. I even check the bottom of my feet, not that I actually expected anything to be there. Still, I’ve already had a lifetime of surprises packed into a few month’s time.
‘Nothing. Let’s change and commandeer one of those rooms. A short half-hour nap before checking on the status of everything in the facility and then the trial.’
Thus I slip on my underwear, bra, a deep azure dress that runs to my ankles, some footwear, and then retrieve my scythe. I hear Aponi stepping out from her own shower as I am moving to leave. Of course, she still doesn’t have her bra on, just panties. She has a knowing smile plastered on her face as well.
“Strange, who knew they had a private area for changing. Actually, now that I think about it, most of them are like this. This isn’t Japan or naval basic, after all.” She shrugs exaggeratingly. “Still, as I said, no reason to be so weird about your own body. Especially you of all people.”
I roll my eyes and try not to stare. “Once you are finished flashing me and jiggling your chest in my face, retrieve the cubs from Sam and bring them to me. Also, about our new brothers and sisters, drinking from blood bags is harmful to them. Find them some volunteers or something to drink from as soon as possible, or they’re going to have some painful issues… I’ll be in one of the private rooms.” With my face burning hot from gazing at Aponi’s body, I pause as I am about to turn to exit the room. “I recommend you rest with one eye open if you choose to do so,” I say ominously.
Aponi raises an eyebrow with a bit of obvious anxiety as I leave.
‘I’m not actually going to do anything, but may as well make her rest with an eye open.’
Checking the “Private Sleep” rooms, I notice two of them seem different. I approach the placards attached to these two, and below the label of “Private Sleep,” I see that it also reads, “Facility Head #1.”
‘Oh, well, this one is definitely vacant now.’ My gaze turns to the other door that reads similarly, “Facility Head #2.” ‘Ah. Both of them are vacant, actually.’
Unfortunately, this room seems to have a deadbolt, so I raise the scythe and jostle it between the frame and door. With the leverage, I pull, and a crack rings out as the deadbolt and frame fight it out. Ultimately the deadbolt wins out as it remains in place, and a section of the door snaps. Not surprising since the walls are made to hold back the earth behind them.
I enter the room and find what I would equate to a four-star hotel room. A queen-sized bed with white sheets in the middle of the room, a couch that looks toward a flat-screen television hung on the wall, a coffee table, and a set of nightstands.
‘Reminds me of the Moonlight. Except...’
The difference between this place, a four-star hotel, and the Moonlight is this place has a side room. Entering the side room, I find a private kitchen and dining combo room complete with a refrigerator, a table with four chairs, a stove, oven, and other basic appliances. At each side of the room is another door. One leads to a study with a desk, computer, books, filing cabinets, and some miscellaneous items scattered about the place. The other is a private bathroom. I ignore my feelings on the latter and assume that facility heads were probably given this luxury alone.
Returning to the bed, I jump up and fall face-first into the sheets. I look toward one of the nightstands where an alarm clock sits reading “11:12 PM”.
‘Huh. It seems I scheduled the trial for around 4:00 AM. A bit early if I want everyone to attend. I probably should have checked the time beforehand. Maybe, I got a little too excited… Wait. On the desk in the study, there was something that looked like a microphone. Does it connect to something?’
Forcing myself from the soft bed, I move to the microphone in the study. It is basically a mike on a silver stand, a bit old school.
‘Reminds me of the ones you might see in the principal’s office in an old movie.’
I press the button, and I can hear a loud beep rings through the halls outside my broken door. I yawn, moving close to the microphone.
“Hello. This is the facility’s new owner speaking. I’d like to thank you all for your hard work… whatever that may be.” I can hear my voice echoing. “For those of you that aren’t aware, escaping from here is not recommended. The outside world is not as you remember it. Assuming you haven’t been here so long, you’ve forgotten. Regardless, not just this facility, but the whole place and even the city itself is dangerous... Anyhow! At 7:00 AM, we’ll be holding a trial for the traitorous Dr. Wright. Attendance is mandatory. From now on, there will be no secrets among the family. I recommend you bring any documents you may need with you in case Dr. Wright tries to drag you down with him. Ah. Anyone who proves particularly useful and loyal will be granted a special gift in the form of extended life, power, and comradery. See everyone then!”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Again, returning to the bed, I slither beneath the covers with my scythe still in hand. In the dark of the blankets, I sink deeper into what is apparently a feather comforter. Hugging my scythe, I sleep.
----------------------------------------
When I awaken, I can’t breathe! Someone is trying to smother me. I try to inhale, but all I can feel is… fur. The only noise I can hear is a soft coo. ‘Oh, right. Aponi brought the cubs to my room.’
I rise up finding that I seemed to have slept longer than I intended—two hours instead of a half-hour. On top of the alarm clock, I notice a hairbrush and a note. The note reads simply, “You shouldn’t sleep with wet hair.”
Shrugging, I grab the brush, toss my hair over my shoulder, and start brushing. Thanks to the way my hair is, the knots come out immediately, and it only takes a bit of time to get it to be perfectly straight. Jumping out of bed, removing a toothbrush from the ring, I brush my teeth and check on the still sleeping cubs. I decide to leave them here while I start making my rounds.
After sealing my room shut, I notice the other facility heads' private room is cracked open. Pushing it open further, I find Aponi napping, but no sign of Eden. Aponi’s eyes open, so I wave menacingly and slowly shut the door.
Walking along further, I don’t see many people out and about. Not surprising with it being around 1 AM, as most people are sleeping. Therefore I continue checking things and exploring. Ultimately, I find a few people walking around, but despite my joyful hello’s, they only manage small awkward greetings in return. In other words, they’re boringly ordinary.
I wave the boring people away and proceed with my business. Passing by a door to one of the standard private rooms, I hear some talking; I stop. Instantly, I recognize the voices, so I stealthy open and peek through the crack in the door.
There I find Eden and the new brothers and sisters. Eden stands in front of them with a woman’s unconscious body.
Without much of an expression, she points at the woman’s neck. “As you can see, she hardly felt the bite because our bodies produce a paralysis toxin. Still, the wounds don’t close on their own like they would in a Trixie the Vampire novel. You can seal it with blood like Eira likes to do, but you’d need to know blood magic.” Carl raises his hand. “Yes?” Eden asks, laying the woman down upon the bed.
He rubs the area above his lip with a tear falling from his eye. “My teeth really hurt! Do you know why?” The others all nod in agreement with his question.
Eden’s lips purse as she thinks. “Hmm, going off what Eira told Aponi, it might be because you haven’t drank blood with your fangs yet and instead used a bag. By the way, thanks for raising your hand like I asked.”
“Y-yeah. So how do we fix it?” Akemi asks.
Eden claps her hands together and then starts thinking.
Everyone glances at one another, wondering what the clap was about. “...?”
“Sorry. Eira always does things like that, so I thought I should try too…” She thinks for a moment longer and then nods. “Okay. We’ll skip to that part early if your teeth hurt. Aponi told me she placed volunteers into the room next to this one. We’ll be bringing them in one at a time, and I’ll run each of you through the process. It’s important you not lose control when you do it. After that, I’ll be telling you a story about the origin of the ancestors of our race!”
‘Not bad, Eden. That’s exactly how it works. Though, it’ll take some time for the pain to totally disappear. Oh, and it’s not their teeth that hurt, but the blood organ that is shriveling up from nonuse in the roof of their mouths.’
Eden starts walking toward the door, so I quickly step down the hall to avoid disrupting her clearly impromptu class. So I enter the dining hall, where a few people sit around chatting quietly. I notice one of them has oddly golden hair. Only comparable to Eden’s. The two go totally quiet upon seeing me, and as I am about to have some fun messing with them, I hear a shout come from the corner of the room. My gaze turns toward a struggling Dr. Wright, who is still tied to the chair.
I sigh and approach Dr. Wright. He shouts generic things.
“You won’t get away with this!”
“Let me go now, or it’ll be your biggest mistake.”
‘You don’t understand what I’m dealing with.”
Bouncing up onto the table, I remove a rag from the ring. “Dr. Wright, do you know how to get past that shadow barrier?”
His face is red in anger. “If I could get past it, you’d be dead, you littl—”
I backhand him, causing his teeth to cut the inside of his mouth. “Now listen... I don’t know why you’re so brave when you are tied up like this, but just so you are aware, we’ll be having your trial at 7:00 AM, so just relax.” I shove the rag into his mouth and then cut his cheek. Using the blood that seeps from his cheek, I seal his mouth. “Besides, if you get too far from Akemi, you’ll go mad from blood lust. The life you knew before is over. In the society to come, you won’t even qualify as a peasant.”
‘Not because you’re a drudge but because you’re a foolish tool.’
With that, I decide to overlook the golden-haired woman and leave the bottom floor to return to the second where the Brutes and Sam should be. Once I’ve entered the stairwell and returned to the floor, I find Dolt and Goliath asleep right outside the door, reminiscent of two dogs waiting for their owner to return home. They’re clean now, cleaner than I’ve ever seen them, but wounds and chemical burns cover their bodies.
I leave them be. So I continue to explore, moving to the room with the animals. The door is closed, so I open it to discover Sam asleep on a table and… surrounded by animals. A parrot sits on the end of his shoe, a hedgehog curled up on his chest, a dog in his lap, a lizard on his belly, and a snake curled up his arm. Around him are cans of food, birdseed, and other such things.
‘I don’t understand, Sam.’ Again I leave them be. I check the offices finding that they are all abandoned. ‘Clever. If I had to guess, some were deliberately staying up here to delay us finding out about the bottom floor. Those could make good recruits. Braver than I expected of these eggheads.’
Spending some more time, I wander the halls, checking on this and that. The room that leads to god’s doppelgänger is still quiet, the piranha solution hall isn’t gaseous any longer, and the shadow wall that seals Kardama and Jimmy is maybe a bit weaker, but mostly the same. The only thing I find differently, in the end, is that there seem to be more Brutes. I guess they got lonely, and some came here of their own volition.
‘If I can remove god’s doppelgänger and the worms, I think that would be a great room to move the Brutes into. Anyway, there are more things I could scout, and we’ll need to think of defensive measures for crawlers and humans, but for now, I think I’ll return to my room. I’d like to check those filing cabinets and computers. I’ll contact Terry too while I’m at it, and then we’ll have our little trial.’