aware (peterick)

22

I didn't wait for Brendon. I didn't reply to any of his messages, either.

Instead, I got my head out of my ass, got in my car and wasted four hours drinking coffee in Starbucks, waiting for the sun to go down. I don't know why I waited for the sun to go down. What's the point waiting for anything anymore? Patrick's probably dead already.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Wentz," Wilkes says, a faux smile plastering her bloodless, unbroken face as I hobble toward the reception desk. "You got bashed up pretty bad, didn't you? Shame. I doubt Patrick has any blood left to spare."

"Where is he?" I snarl, violently slamming my fists against the table.

Unfazed, Wilkes picks up a clipboard and walks out from behind the desk, gesturing toward a set of double doors behind her. "Right this way."

Wait... she's really going to take me to him? Right now?

I decide to keep my questions to myself as I follow behind her like an eager, limping puppy.

"Do excuse me if I seem a little distracted today," Wilkes says. "I recently had to fire one of my employees. I thought she had potential, our Clarabelle, but she... well, she slipped up. I had no choice. And we all know what happens when you leave personal information unattended, don't we, Mr. Wentz?"

The fucking delivery woman. I'd had a hunch there was something not quite right about her. She probably doesn't even realize what she's done. Best to leave her out of this mess; she's one less person we don't need.

"So he's ok?" I ask hopefully.

"For now."

"Doctor, I'm sorry I provoked you," I lie, masking guilt. I want to punch her fucking teeth in. "But please, you have to consider the circumstances. While Patrick was in my care, I kept him safe. I tamed him, just like you asked."

Wilkes turns briefly to look at me with judging eyes. "And we agreed that once he was tame we were to discharge him from your care."

"Patrick never hurt anyone," I argue. "He was happy, we were... we proved, to ourselves at least, that vampires and humans can live peacefully side by side. You just need the right tools, and the right people to teach them."

"And where do you suppose we can get those people from?"

"Well, there's one standing right next to you. It's an ok start, isn't it?"

"You have no idea, do you?" Wilkes chuckles. "If humanity were to find out about the existence of vampires, it would cause an uproar," she explains. "There would be too many people asking too many questions. Some may agree with what you suggest, but I can guarantee you others will not. Either which way it goes, the government would have to rebuild itself entirely. I don't think the world in itself would be ready to take on such a challenge."

"Patrick is just one vampire. One."

Wilkes and I stop as we approach another large set of doors, which have been labelled, quite explicably, "DENTAINMENT." But this is not the recovery ward; much to my futile assumptions, they have not taken Patrick into protective custody. They have him locked up and ready for execution. But that's why I'm here, isn't it? To be the knight in shining armour.

Wilkes presses the pad of her thumb against the red, blinking scanner, unlocking the door before showing me into the ward. "I'm failing to understand what you're asking of me," she says.

"I'm asking you to let him go."

I glance around the expansive room. Unlike most of the other wards, it doesn't have a corridor layout. It's just one room, with a single door leading into a single, empty cell. I can see into the cell through a large window; it's currently unoccupied, but there are several doors lining the white, padded walls that probably lead off to other rooms that I can't see. Aside from that, there's nothing in there. No signs of life whatsoever.