The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

After being notified of Reed's plan for an outing to the city, Jared was grinning ear-to-ear, happy for the excuse to leave school. Once Jared pulled his wet hair into a bun with a fraying ivy-print tie, he headed for his door. As soon as he stepped out into that hallway, he planned on making a bee-line for his car. That plan of his was quickly foiled upon being greeted by a security guard at his door. The two exchanged a glance.

"Sorry, but I don't have time," Jared quickly brushed the guard off, intending to run for the exit before the guard could say anything.

A calloused hand clamped onto Jared's shoulder, slightly crinkling the loose navy fabric of his shirt. "I'm sure you can be gracious enough to make some time for me." His voice was thick with a Middle Eastern accent.

When Jared turned to face the guard, the hand on his shoulder stayed in place. This was Viraj, nicknamed the Silencer for the fear he instilled in vampires and humans alike. He was a brooding man whose muscles strained against his uniform with every small movement. There wasn't a single speck of age on his bronzed face either. Yeah, he definitely isn't someone I should mess with. But, of course, Jared wasn't going to listen to his little voice of reason.

"No, actually, I–..."

His sentence was cut off as he was roughly spun around, too stunned to stop his body from moving in the guard's favor. The touch of cold metal against the skin of his wrists sent Jared into a raging fit.

"What in the actual fuck are you doing right now?" Jared seethed. "I didn't do anything to warrant you to put damn restraints on me! Uncuff me and I'll give you a fucking reason to restrain me!"

The angered screams coming from Jared simply passed right through Viraj. "Please comply. I do not wish to use force."

He pushed the reluctant vampire forward and out the exit down the hall. The route they walked consisted of pathways obscured by deep shrubbery and buildings. After taking many detours to avoid the eyes of other students, Viraj finally stopped in front of the back entrance of the security building. When Jared realized where he was, his nerves jittered. Any student that went into the security building has done something...something illegal. As Viraj ushered Jared inside, Jared raked through all the things he did in his life that weren't exactly lawful. None of the things he thought of were bad enough for him to actually be put into handcuffs. Am I being framed? That was the only reason Jared could come up with. In the room Jared had just been quite literally shoved into was a well-dressed man with gray locks curling at his ears. He was sitting in one of the two seats at a long silver table, illuminated by a bright light hanging from the ceiling. On the left side of his jacket was a golden pin that shone in the light. Black letters contrasted against the gold, reading, 'Detective West'.

"Have a seat," West beckoned Jared with his hand.

His cold, calculating hazel eyes swept over Jared as West dropped his hand onto the table after Jared remained standing. Jared cast a glance toward the door which had shut closed on him long ago.

"There's no need to be afraid. I just want to have a chat with you," He continued sweet-talking Jared in hopes of getting him to listen.

"And what makes you think I'm afraid of a human like you?" Jared snorted, his wrists straining against the cuffs as he let out a short chuckle.

A knowing glint shone in West's eyes as he leaned forward in his seat, interlocking his fingers together with his arms resting on the table. "Maybe because of the fact that I can get you thrown into confinement?"

That reply of his made Jared grow completely silent. His body swayed as disbelief spread over him, making him collapse down into the chair he was once unwilling to sit in. There was one thing Jared had overlooked in his desperate search through his memory for what he could have possibly done wrong. The hunters. Karlos had murdered them, knowing full well that doing such a thing was very illegal. Each hunter a vampire kills adds almost five years to their sentence. That was the price to pay for going against the law that prohibits vampires from taking it upon themselves to punish rouge hunters that try to terminate them.