Day 6
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A giant wall of red bricks stands in front of us, extending as high as I can bend my neck to look. It is impressive every time I come by here, seeing that this place actually still stands after so much time it was left to rot.
Plants grow on the wall, roots emerging from the few broken windows, blooming shy winter flowers that desperately seek any sunlight they can get. Strangely, it isn't a bad sight to look at when you exclude the obvious eeriness the place has surrounding it.
"Okay, if our fang is there, let's be extra careful with any ghouls, please. Last time wasn't so much fun." Yui says midway through devouring a candy bar, only stopping as a shiver runs down their spine, clearly visible as they hug themselves afterward. "And rats too. Actually, on second thought, especially rats; little filthy fuckers always give me the creeps."
So Yui is scared of rats? Poor them; they sure are in for a surprise then. There should be at least some rats and a dozen raccoons inside. Better not to say anything, though; best not to scare them.
As part of normal procedure, without thinking, I reach for my flashlight before remembering that neither my belt nor my gun were handed back to me after everything.
There's no way I can do much here without my gun—not that it should do me any good, but at least it is more comforting to have it than not to.
"Hey, before getting in the car, did anyone hand you guys a gun? It should be a gray Beretta." Leaning over the car, I try looking through the window to see if perhaps there's a chance those other agents put it in a box underneath my seat or something. "There should be a utility belt too with a flashlight and taser in it."
"Oh, yes; I had almost forgotten about it. I'm sorry, detective." Dalia announces, bringing a relieved sigh out of me. "Your gear should be resting on the trunk; I'll open it for you. If I remember correctly, there should be some useful items there as well; feel free to grab anything you judge necessary."
"It is no problem, really; I'm just glad it is here at all."
Moving to the trunk, Dalia does as said and presses a button in the key, which opens the trunk with a satisfying click.
The good thing? Everything that I was missing is here, and the moment I see that, I grab it all and start to strap myself.
The cold metal of the Beretta against the skin—that is a sensation I'll never forget; it is strange how this thing that holds so many bad memories can provide some comfort still.
Nonetheless, not wanting to think much about it, I simply place it on the belt and decide to follow up on Dalia's offer, looking around for anything that can help.
In my search, I don't manage to encounter much; most of the things seem to be Yui's: tools, their laptop, a bunch of cables, but one of them steals my attention. One fisherman's pocket knife.
That reminds me of one I had that was very much like this one, only different in how it works; mine didn't have a button to bring the blade out—it had to be pulled out manually. That awarded me with many cuts through my teenage years.
Even if that's one more thing that probably won't be of much help, I grab it and store it on the belt alongside the rest of my things, and once done, I close the trunk and return to the others.
"Okay, is everyone ready?" Dalia asks, shifting her expression to something more professional, which in turn makes me do the same. "Please do be on high alert for any sound or irregularities once we are inside; if you spot anything suspicious, do report it immediately."
Loud pops escape from Yui's finger as they turn to face Dalia while cracking their knuckles. "It is game time, baby; let's do this."
That out of the way, the four of us start to approach the factory's entrance. The air becomes increasingly heavy, a mix of determination and anxiety from everyone mashed together.
Nearing the front door, Colette keeps her eyes roaming carefully each and every window, joined by Yui once they notice it, leaving Dalia and me in the front.
While keeping high attention on everything, it doesn't take me more than a moment to notice something wrong with the door, and when I do, I'm quick to extend a hand to stop everyone from moving forward.
"Is something wrong, detective? Anything to be concerned about?" Dalia asks, lowering her tone to almost a whisper.
"There should be a lock chain on the door; there's no way this place would be left unlocked." As I say it, my eyes roam the ground for any sign of it; luckily, it doesn't take long before I spot it, thrown at a bush growing near the wall. "I can tell that it wasn't the security guy who did this."
Walking to the bush, I bend down and retrieve the chain intertwined with some leaves; bringing it to full view, the sunlight reflecting on it makes it clear that the lock is missing and that the metal was bent until it gave.
"This doesn't look cut to me; it is more like someone brute forced it until the metal snapped." The thought alone is enough to make me shudder; I try my best to ignore it, turning to show them the chain instead. "I don't know about you guys, but this sure doesn't look like the job of a bolt cutter."
"Well, that's good, right? Now we have even more reason to believe someone is hiding in this shithole, and when I say someone, I mean our little rat."
Slowly and quietly, I reach a hand to the flashlight, and, grazing the tip of my fingers to its rubber grip, ready to enter the factory, I'm stopped. As I'm going to attempt to push the door open, Colette, without warning, steps in front of me.
"Behind me." She places her hand on the door's surface and turns to look at me, holding her fingers up—more specifically, three. "On my signal, we move."
I watch as she starts the countdown; her action allows me to have both my hands free, so I take in one the flashlight and in the other the cold steel.
When it reaches zero, Colette pushes the door open and enters, taking the left and leaving me to cover her right. For a moment, the fact she's trusting me for this leaves me surprised, but I'm quick to brush it off and follow.
I shine the light and aim my gun, attentively searching for any movement or figure inside; fortunately, I end up finding nothing but a few standing machines and specks of dust in the air.
"The right side is clear," I announce, following up with a loud cough when I try to breathe in the putrid air; the dust is so thick in it that for little it doesn't form a smoke cloud. "Hell, the place could do with a broom."
As I turn to the woman behind me, I catch her head moving, eyes studying professionally every dark corner until there isn't a single place she hasn't looked. "Clear as well."
"Damn, you're right, this place is dusty. I'm going to get smoker's lungs if I breathe any more of this shit." Yui tries shielding their mouth with one hand, finding it to not work so well before using their shirt to cover both mouth and nose; simultaneously, they shoot their gaze upwards to find some catwalks crossing atop. "There should be at least three floors here; maybe I should give them a quick check just to make sure there isn't any peeping tom there watching us."
"No, this is an unknown place; we shouldn't risk going alone. Together we become harder to ambush, so let's stay close to each other." Dalia steps inside and joins us, eyes wandering around the place as well. "If you want to do something, try to see if you can manage to catch the scent of blood somewhere as we scour this floor."
"Sure thing, boss; one problem, though. There's too much dust here to smell any, but, you know, there's someone who should be able to help."
Not even trying to be subtle, Yui turns their face to Colette; by the grin they wear, I can't tell if they are trying to make a point or if they are just happy for the opportunity to throw the work onto someone else's back. "Her nose is ten times better than mine for this kind of stuff. If only she wasn't so scared of using her dog powers; truly a shame."
"Shut up before I break your neck." In response to Yui's teasing, Colette growls aggressively, threatening a step that makes Yui jump back and hide behind Dalia's back. "I'll do it."
"Sheesh, why is that everything with you has to be so problematic—Augh! Fuck!"
Without mercy, Dalia turns and grabs Yui by the ear, pulling it to the point that I start thinking it will rip clean off.
"That's quite enough, Yui; she already agreed to help, so give her a break for once."
While both agents have their hands full with whatever that is, I take it upon myself to keep watch of our surroundings, keeping a keen eye for any signs of our target. As I do it, I can't help but steal a few glances at the woman beside me as I catch a faint, pained sound escaping from between her lips.
It isn't hard to notice she's having a hard time with something by how tight her brows curl and how bad her lips contort, exposing her grinding teeth; it looks as if she's fighting a killing headache.
The only problem is that she doesn't appear to be winning.
Wait, that face is the same one she made before losing control yesterday in the agency; I'm sure of that. Dammit, I think this is the time to help her turn the tables; what remains is how. Best to play it simple, I guess.
I take a few steps forward and pass Colette to effectively put myself in front of her. Though my eyes don't meet hers, I can sense her piercing gaze on me the moment I stop.
Being its target sends a shiver down my spine, one that almost makes me want to step away, but, like last time, I stand my ground confidently, not letting it destabilize me.
"Look, I have no idea what's happening to you or why, and this isn't in any way me asking you to tell me. Just, I don't know, take your time to get through it; focus on one thing and leave the rest to me for now."
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The silence that follows after I'm done talking is unnerving at first, which leaves my mind to think of the most horrible scenarios that could happen now. Then, a calm sigh from her cuts through the waves, indicative that I must have done something right.
Over my shoulder, I turn my head to look at Colette, finding her sniffing the air carefully while keeping her eyes closed.
Derivative or her state or not, she slowly moves forward, pointing her nose in one specific direction, which unfortunately ends up being in collision with where I stand.
The sudden feeling of a warm breath against the sensitive tip of my ear gets me startled, almost managing to make me lose balance. That is enough to make me turn completely to face her, and when I do, glowing golden eyes stare past me like a beast's, face close enough to mine that I find myself short of breath.
This, I'm sure, is the first time in my life someone made me feel so small and weak in comparison, yet, unlike most who would be shaking in their boots, I find myself unable to pull away from her.
To my luck, before this can get even more strange, the moment ends as those golden irises of hers lose their glow, returning to the deep black from before.
"There's a door that leads to a basement; it reeks of rotting meat."
While the words leave her mouth laced in disgust, her gaze moves downwards until meeting with mine, only now coming to realize how close we are; to add to the strangeness of the situation, she doesn't say anything more, instead emotionlessly locking her eyes with mine—like a competition to see who looks away first.
"Good work, Colette; thank you for the help." Walking past us and petting her shoulder gently, Dalia assumes the front of the row. "We should move now that we have a possible location of our target."
"Yeah, come on, detective; don't just stand there. Aren't you excited?" Yui grabs me by the arm, hugging it to make it easier to pull me alongside them and Dalia while making sure all I can focus on is their shining smug. "Besides, one statue is good enough; two is a little overkill."
"Oh, uhm, yes; you're right. I'm sorry for spacing out." Without any chance to do anything else, I let myself be pulled along with both agents.
For a second, I catch Colette just standing there for a moment more, eyes locked on the floor, indicating she's deep in troublesome thought. It doesn't take long before she joins us.
Our walk is interrupted as Dalia stops in front of a metal door with a worn-out sign that reads 'employees only'; interestingly, it hangs half open by the lack of a doorknob, the same one that I spot near our feet.
I raise the flashlight and shine some light onto it before the door is pushed open. A staircase leading downwards, confirming exactly what Colette had said, is revealed, somehow even more eerie than the rest of the place.
When I attempt to find its bottom and fail, a shiver runs down my spine, leaving me sick.
Taking a moment to get ready, we all start to go down in a new order, which leaves Yui on the front row as, apparently, they don't need the reassurance of light to not miss a step.
Once we reach the basement, the darkness reaches another level—pitch black so strong that it manages to make my flashlight unable to do much other than highlight some key points of the room. The good thing is that there should be something to counter this darkness.
"Like I said back home, this place was never officially closed, so the lights should still work; if you find a switch, flip it."
"How come the place is abandoned but there's still energy being provided?" Dalia asks curiously, putting a hand on my shoulder to allow someone to enter the room first. "That seems rather contradictory of your mayor since it would add to the general cost of things."
"From what I heard, it would cost more to close this hole down than to leave it, and so the mayor chose to make his pocket heavier. As usual. And there's the fact he isn't smart enough to think of that." I scoff, and at the same time, curiosity gets the best of me as I see Yui, who just passed by me, casually walk around the room, looking around until I can barely make out their form in the dark.
"Hey, guys; look at what I just found." They announce from somewhere to our left, and when I shine some light at them, it reflects on their fangs right back at me. "Well, I know it is hard to see, but I found the switch behind this thing; I'll turn the lights on now."
'This thing' they mention, by the sound, is a metal locker that they effortlessly push aside, creating a hellish sound that attacks mercilessly my eardrums before the click of a switch rings.
A light bulb in the middle of the room flickers about three times before shining weakly, just enough to reveal both Yui and something strange inside.
Around, many metal lockers hide the walls of the room, probably all filled with old uniforms and tools belonging to those who once worked here, but, suspiciously, in the exact middle of the room, a clearly out-of-place carpet that is too clean for the time it should have spent down here catches my eye.
Atop it, two fall metal lockers lie; it is like the killer didn't even try.
With no words spoken, Colette strides towards the lockers and, like they weigh nothing for her, pulls them up and places them upwards.
Taking the chance, I move to the carpet and confirm that it truly is too clean.
"This was moved recently; just look at this." I grasp one end of the carpet and bring it up, tapping its body and watching as almost no dust falls from it. "There's no way someone came to take it home, wash it, and then place it back here."
"Yeah, that would be stupid; who would voluntarily want to clean something? Now, let's take this clean boy out of here and see if we hit the jackpot or not." Excited, Yui's eyes lock on the carpet, itching to see what's hidden underneath it.
Not wanting to disappoint, I do exactly that, pulling the carpet to reveal what was expected at this point: a reddish brown metal hatch that, once exposed to air, releases a strong rusty smell up to my nose, which in turn makes me move the other way.
Yui instantly takes the opportunity to open the hatch, revealing the cave entrance. "Ha, you're right, detective; fucking hell. There's a whole ass cave down there, and now I get what Colette said about the smell. Either someone died here or brought a fun-sized blood gallon to the party."
"Well, here we have it; they really just built the place on top of the old cave." Leaning forward, I see a concrete wall ladder leading down deep, at least a drop of six meters. "Here hoping that the place isn't too big so we can wrap things up before noon."
"I do think that would be desirable as well, detective," Dalia says, taking the place beside me and looking down the hatch. "Colette, Yui, could you both go down first and make sure it is safe? Me and the detective will follow right behind, so don't go far."
"Sure thing, boss. We'll do some recon to make sure the bad guy is not leading us to a trap while there; nothing too far away. Maybe we can get him before you guys reach bottom, in that case, the drinks are on you two."
As Yui spends some seconds yapping, Colette nods shortly to the order and, without a second thought, jumps into the hole. She doesn't grab on the ladder or anything; she just straight up lets gravity do the job for her; once she's almost on the bottom, I catch her claws digging the dirt to decelerate the fall.
"Hey! No fair, stealing the spotlight for yourself." Yui pouts while gazing down the hole. "You know what? Fuck this; I'm going for the superhero landing as well. Wish me luck."
Mustering those words, grinning like a child about to ride a rollercoaster, they shout happily while jumping down as well. Once on the ground, their voice can be heard echoing up and reaching Dalia and me.
"Woo-hoo! That. Was. AWESOME. Can I go again, Mom? Pretty please. I promise I'll do the dishes today if you let me go just one more time."
I choose to ignore what Yui's saying and instead turn to Dalia, who looks at me with the same expression as mine.
"It can be just me, but I think we should take the stairs. There's no way I can survive this fall."
"Yes, I agree with you, detective. There is, I believe, even less chance for me to make out alive if I attempt this stunt."
We nod in unison before doing the sensible thing and, instead of acting like two crazy people and jumping to our deaths, carefully use the wall ladder that was clearly placed there so we don't need to do something like that to regroup down in the cave.
Calcite and mud—that's the smell that exhales from the fissured bumpy stone walls surrounding us—a step away from being claustrophobic. Fingerlings of tree roots and broken spider webs hang from the ceiling as a string of blubs illuminates the single path forward, all lit up even before we got here by the heat it emanates.
"It seems we only have one path to follow; stay close, everyone." Once more, Dalia takes the front, stopping beside Colette as she smells the air meticulously. "Do you perhaps sense the presence of our target going forward?"
"He was here, no short from five minutes." She shakes her head, letting a low growl build out of her in frustration that almost hides the crack of her fingers as she tightly closes her fists. "The trail is unclear to where."
"That's when we arrived," I add, scratching my head in shared annoyance. "So he probably heard us coming and fled to somewhere else; that sure will slow us down considerably."
"Nah, don't lower that pretty head of yours; he's here alright. Bitch is hiding his ugly face somewhere up front." Yui says with such confidence that I find myself looking at them, waiting for an explanation. "It isn't much, but there's a slight tingling in my spine; usually that only happens when I eat ice cream or if another vamp is nearby. Pretty awesome, huh, detective?"
"There's no time to lose then; we move as one, no more than a few steps apart." Dalia projects her voice clearly, pointing her fingers at each one of us as if rearranging pieces on board. "Yui, you take the front and let us know if we are getting closer. Colette, keep the detective safe in case our target tries to attack her; I'll be on the lookout in case he comes from behind us."
Everyone, including me, takes their orders with a silent nod, and, once in position, we start moving alongside the threatening walls, guided by the weak string of lights.
We walk for about a minute before reaching a hole leading to a room; the rest of the way forward stands blocked by a metal door with hinges so rusty that I doubt it opens.
As the first in line, Yui slowly makes their way inside the room to make sure no one is in it before leaning their head out and grinning at us victoriously.
"Looks like we found ourselves the fang's secret lab, guys; it reeks of blood and rotting corpses; that tells me he's sure been around the block."
"If he is rotting this soon, it can be that he isn't adapting faster than the bite is changing him, or he is in the process of becoming an adult vampire." Dalia hums her thoughts quietly; on her face is a troubled expression I haven't seen before. "Seeing that the second case seems more probable, even if very rare, we should get to him before he does change."
Hearing those words is enough encouragement for me to follow behind and enter it too, and it is exactly as Yui said; we might have hit it big.
Many fancy machines unknown to me cover a long, wooden table near the wall, all connected to a single power outlet that has its wires coming from a hole leading up. The place has all that he would need; there's even a ventilation system, rustic but no less functional than a more modern type.
Dalia's first action is to curiously approach the equipment and take a good look at it, as Colette and Yui begin searching some metal lockers spread around the room in case our killer left anything behind or is hiding.
"Strange, by the iron scent escaping from here, this equipment seems to have been used recently, yet there is not a sign of what it produced." Knowing that she's onto something, Dalia looks around and stops her eyes on a suspicious empty blue barrel that has not a sign of dust atop it. "It seems like our target has been moving some quantity of blood from place to place; the only question is why? What is he experimenting about?"
"Maybe the guy is hungry and decided to stockpile in case of an apocalypse; who knows what a crazy fuck like him would do and why?" Yui shrugs dismissively before opening one metal locker and freezing. "Holy fuck, this is...So cool!"
Like a child who just won a teddy bear at the carnival, they take two sticks of dynamite out and raise it high. "Alright, I know what you guys will say, but I really need to keep these. Imagine the fun we can have with it."
I laugh and look down, shaking my head, and when I do, a piece of paper on the ground grabs my attention, especially for how clean it is, indicative that it doesn't belong there.
For a moment I stop, feeling like something bad is about to happen, but, inevitably, I bend down and pick the paper up.
Turning it around, five words stare back at me, enough to put me on high alert: "Turn around for a surprise." Instinctively, I draw out my gun as fast as possible and take aim behind me, yet not a shadow moves.
Maybe because of my sudden action, everyone's attention falls on me, and when I turn around again and meet their gaze, it all becomes clear.
I've been played.
From the metal closet behind them, in a split second, our killer appears, jumping from inside while holding a silver knife that reflects the room's light—the same knife he coldly sinks into Colette's unprotected neck.
Following it up, he takes a big vial from his lab coat's pocket and throws it at the ground, creating a purple smoke that fills the room, reeking of death.
The chance to react is stolen from us as everything happens too quickly, and once I manage to point my gun at where he was, it is far too late.
Time slows down when it can get no worse, followed by a vile pain that rings and wraps itself around me like an old lover; I can feel it running away from me, consciousness, only to, when I'm about to hit the floor, feel someone holding and throwing me over their shoulder like a bag of rice.
Then, all lights go out on me; something that is becoming worryingly familiar to me.
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