Page 91 of Scorned

She did as instructed, turning the van in a curve before putting it in reverse. When she stopped, the guard was immediately at her window.

“Paperwork?”

She showed him the folder and this guy took it.

“Badges?”

Lyric and Sage both handed their badges off. He scanned the backs of them with a handheld scanner, then passed them back.

“Let’s get them inside. Dr. Ishman has rooms set up for them.”

Lyric and Sage hopped out of the van, came to the back and opened the rear hatch. Sage unlocked the small metal cabinet by the door and took out an AR-15, handing it to Lyric before taking one for herself. They took a few steps back, one on each side of the rear of the van, and readied their guns on their shoulders, locked on us.

Making the conscious decision to effectively embody the role of a prisoner, I fully immersed myself in my weak, angry character, and glared at them.

“Passenger side first,” the guard said, his overly confident smile pulling at his pale pink cheeks. His crooked teeth were stained yellow and his beard was short and patchy, barely covering his chin, which was too small for his wide face. He had pointy brown eyebrows that reminded me of Jack Nicholson, and I had an odd craving to watch the Shining.

Zeke kneeled down, unlocking the ankle cuffs for that side of the van, then grabbed Lynx’s arm, escorting her out.

“Get your grubby hands off me, you prick!” she yelled, flawlessly playing her imprisoned vampire role.

The guard looked her over, seemingly confused. “She must be really old, resisting the silver that easily.” I held my breath, worried he’d inspect her wrists. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like pepper spray. “Open your mouth.”

“Screw you!” Lynx spat, and the guard lifted his hand, spraying the shit into her eyes, and she screamed, gasping for air. He took the opportunity to squirt the substance into her mouth and she shrieked again before her body slumped into Zeke.

What a fucking douche canoe.

I glanced at Sage, and judging by the look on her face, she was about ten seconds away from putting a bullet into the back of the guard’s head.

He flipped the canister into the air and caught it with a smile. “Nothing like some liquid silver to calm them down.”

My heart thundered, my gaze locking with Ravage across from me, and I wasn’t sure what question my eyes conveyed, but he slightly shook his head.

Looking back at the guard, he scanned Zeke’s badge, then said, “Get the rest out. We don’t have all damn day.”

“Yes, sir.” Marcus grabbed Ravage, escorting him out next. He stayed quiet, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him. After what the guard did to Lynx, I changed my weak and angry role to weak and quiet. I wasn’t about to fuck around and find out.

Erik undid my ankle cuffs and gripped my arm, yanking me to my feet. Now out of the van, I glanced around at the large cavern in awe as the guard scanned Erik’s fake badge.

Once done, he swept his gaze over us three captives. “These look good. Dr. Ishman will be thrilled. My name’s Randal. I’ll be escorting you through the process even though some of you already know the procedure. It’s just how Doc likes to do things. Follow me.”

As we made our way up a long concrete ramp, it almost felt like we were about to be hanged. Our three fake guards had us vampire prisoners in the middle, Zeke carried Lynx, and Sage and Lyric walked on either side of us. Randal stayed a few feet in front of Sage.

The ramp led us toward the majestic mountain rock walls, damp and cold with a sizable white bay door nestled within a meticulously carved out hole.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the decontamination room,” Randal said, swiping his card on a security pad on the right side of the door and the light hanging above it turned from red to green. “That’s where we’re going first.”

To my surprise, next to the security pad a small window slid open, revealing a keypad, letting me know they’d implemented a two-step security system. The guard proceeded to input a passcode, and I paid close attention.

207948.

I repeated it in my mind multiple times because I knew after I took down that asshole and confiscated his identification, I would require that pin.

Air compressors sounded before a mechanic hum replaced it, the large metal door sliding up into the mountain. We entered a hallway, empty and long, without a single person in sight. The atmosphere felt heavy, devoid of any warmth or vibrancy, making me think I was about to get an anal probe. The stark white walls, impeccably polished marble floors, and fluorescent light fixtures further intensified the clinical impression of the space.

“Ms. Jones,” the guard said, using Sage’s fake name, falling into step with her. “When I scanned your badge, I noticed this is your third time here. Have you seen the new updates to the facility? The doc had everything renovated a few months ago. Now our atmosphere is ‘clean and pristine’, her words, not mine. Everything is so white, it gives me headaches. Even the chairs in the break area and the beds in the private sleeping rooms.”

He smiled, nudging Sage’s arm with his, and I realized he was flirting with my best friend’s girl. I glared at his brown hair, ready to put a bullet into him.

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