Vampire Blood

Testing

There were two mattresses on the floor, backed against opposite walls. One on my side, one on Lewis' side. There was a toilet too and a sink. This looked like a prison cell. My eyes fell on Lewis who had crawled into a ball on the floor.

"Lewis? Lewis, are you okay?" I tried getting up but the chain and my leg didn't let me get far.

"They're- they're the ones killing my children... I wasn't sure at first but I smelled it, on the way here, those chemicals..." He sniffed. "I sub in pre-school sometimes. I was- I was there when one of the kids got sick. She was five, the little thing, she threw up all over me. I thought it was just an upset tummy and sent her home." He had a hiccup that made him stop talking and gasp for air.

"A few days later I overheard a couple teachers talking about her funeral. She was only five. Maybe if I had-" He choked.

"That wasn't your fault, Lewis." I hurried to say when he started sobbing. I wanted to go over there and hold him, give him some comfort but I couldn't even stand up.

Lewis kept crying until he fell asleep, right there on the floor. He didn't even lay on the mattress. Darius came back a few minutes after, he glanced at Lewis and squatted down next to him.

"If he had white and longer hair he'll look just like my Vero. Down to the T." He tried brushing his hair off but his hand went through. He looked as hurt as I felt when that happened.

"What did you see out there?"

"I found the emergency stairs. We're at least two levels down, could be more. That's as far as I could go before getting pulled back." He sat down next to Lewis.

"Pulled back? As in, pulled back to me?"

"I can't get too far from you or I'll fade."

"You're attached to me, awesome..." I muttered, rubbing my face.

"Look, there are at least five guards with guns on each level up, maybe, if we wait until night time, we could make a run for the stairs."

"I can't run with my leg like this. The bullet just grazed me but it'll take weeks to heal."

"We can't wait a few weeks! You don't have time to heal, we need to get out of here now." He gritted his teeth and walked up to me. "I heard them talking, they brought Lewis here to experiment on him. You can't let that happen, don't let them touch him." He spoke with urgency.

"What are you not telling me?"

He didn't have time to answer because the door opened. But I think he would've said anything anyway. The guy with the lab coat came in holding two trays of food and a tablet under his armpit.

"Hello, Parrish, right? I'm the head researcher here, my name is Eugene." He came over to me and set the tray in front of me. The food in it looked half decent, just slightly better than the hospital's. A turkey sandwich, orange slices and a capri sun.

"I would like to apologize to you. I realize how this might sound to you but we truly hold no ill intentions towards you or anyone else." He leveled with me, maybe trying not to look as threatening as before.

"We can't trust this guy." Darius said, getting into his signature guard dog stand.

"What about the children you're poisoning? You don't hold any ill intentions towards them?"

"The thing is, that they're not people. I know that they might seem similar to us but they're not." He leaned down closer to me.

"You have to understand that they're demons, parasites that feed off of us. That thing you so bravery tried to protect?" He pointed at Lewis who was still sleeping. "He's only with you because he needs your blood. You're nothing but a burger to him. The moment he finds better quality meat he's leaving you."