Lilium

Three

Three

A day passed. Teamed together, Arthur and Oliver had managed to comb through all the files and form a list of suspects. Twenty names in total had greeted Oliver when he walked into the office the next morning with coffee in tow.

Lilith's name was among the list. Arthur would be due for Oliver's wrath when he arrived, Oliver thought. Rei, the girl who sat across from Oliver in the office place, got Arthur's coffee instead.

"I hope you like it black," Oliver told her. She didn't respond with much more than a hand wave and a murmured thanks.

Later Oliver leaned back in his chair, hands laced behind his head as he regarded the ceiling fan above his head. Around him, the only sound the people of the office made was an occasional cough.

Such slow days, he mused, watching the wood spin. Someone shuffled some papers, somewhere in the large room.

All my work is done for now. All I have to wait on is Sullivan. God knows how long he'll be.

"Johnson."

Her voice cut through the silence like a knife. Oliver kicked forward from his relaxed position. Rei Himura stared at him from her desk, pausing to push her glasses up her nose before speaking again.

"Johnson, I need a day off."

"Don't we all?" he replied. Rei's eyes narrowed.

"I'm starving." Her voice had an edge to it that gave Oliver chills.

"Lack of souls, Shiro?" He struggled to keep his tone even. His heart beat an uneven rhythm in his chest. "I'm sure you can suck what's left of our livelihood from everyone around us."

If she got the joke, Oliver couldn't tell. Her eyes narrowed further.

"I haven't been able to get to a blood bank in days. It's killing me."

Oliver shrugged, though deep down his heart skipped a beat. "And you're telling me this... why?"

Rei sighed, flicking the coffee cup Oliver had given her with one hand. "Because I'm going to go nuts if I don't get any blood. Not even chocolate cuts it anymore, Johnson." She slouched forward in her desk, bringing her hands to her head. Oliver could see the veins through her skin.

She's unnaturally pale today.

"When's the last time you fed?"

She groaned into her hands. "About a week ago."

"Been too busy here?"

Rei chuckled. "Yep. Ain't that a laugh? Been too busy to do jack shit and the irony in all of this is that my suspect is a vamp, too. Ain't that just funny." She coughed into one fist before breaking out into dry laughter. "Ha, ha, ha. The joke is on me for once, eh?"

Unnatural or extreme personality changes... Oliver's hands shook as he leaned forward at his desk. "Shiro, go talk to the Director."

"The fuck is the Director going to do?" Rei slammed a fist into the desk and grunted, her teeth clenched. She squeezed her eyelids shut. "Damn it."

Hunger pains. "I'm serious," Oliver said. "You're going through the first stages of bloodlust. You're going to put us all at risk if you stay here."

"Which is why I need a day off, dammit!" With a sigh, Rei set her forehead on her desk and took several breaths. Oliver watched on, the hair along his arms raised.

Something needs to be done.

"How much longer can you hold out?"

Rei shuddered, her hands clenching and unclenching several times. "Not long," she bit out. "Not a day. Probably not an hour. Not banking on an hour at this rate."