Page 100 of Petals and Fangs

“Perry! Where am I? Where are you?” I yell again till my voice cracks.

The door opens and in the dim lighting, I can just make out a figure walking towards me. It's too far away to make out features, but I recognize the silhouette of Perry.

“Unbelievable. Perry, is that you?”

“Hello, Ethan. Don't you just look awful,” he says softly as he grabs a chair and sits next to me.

“Perry, what is this? Where am I? What have you done to me?” My voice shakes slightly as I ask questions. I still can't grasp the whole situation.

“You don't remember?” Perry asks sadly, with his head tilted downwards, looking at the floor.

“Remember what, exactly?” I try to push the memories down, but it's no use. They keep creeping up on me every time I try to think where I could possibly be.

“This place.”

“Where the hell are we, Perry? Untie me right now!” I yell louder than before.

I hear more footsteps walking in the hallway. This time I'm sure that someone else is listening to us, so I try to scream at them too. I know that if I get away now, I'll never have any of this happening ever again. I learned my lessons and I can’t get betrayed again. Ever.

“Keep your voice down, would you? You don't want to wake the dead.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you realize what you are doing? Are you overdosing on something?”

“Me? No. God no. I never liked your products, to begin with, Ethan. I am most definitely not overdosed or anything, but I need to fulfil my need to get revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“Yes, Ethan, revenge. Revenge for all the vampires who had to die in the sun and be buried under this very morgue because your arrogant company wouldn't sell to them,” Perry says, slamming his fist on the trolley, making it shake.

“We sell to all vampires except those who don’t agree to our policies.”

“And your policies are? Leave humans alone, don’t feed on human blood, protect our race? Poison our bodies with substances just for the sake of mere mortals?”

“Perry, you are clearly out of your mind. Why would you do this to me?”

“Me? Out of my mind? I haven't felt better about doing anything my entire life,” he says as he takes a deep breath, calming himself.

“Look, I have always believed that vampires should be able to take their rightful position, but when my father was killed by his very own kind, I knew I had to take over this company and turn this world upside down.”

“Ugh, yes. Your damned, cursed father. He was just as arrogant as you are.”

“How dare you, Perry?”

“How dare I? Seriously, Ethan?” he asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Untie me right now, Perry. You have no idea what you are doing.”

“Your dad was a selfish man, who thought of himself as God and the rest of the vampires as peasants. He forced a lifestyle on us. A lifestyle that isn't ours.”

“You're going off the topic. Why are you even doing this to me?” I ask as I try to loosen the bindings around my hands. Everything around me feels hazy.

“You think I wanted to work for you in the first place? Why would anyone want to work for a self-absorbed bastard like you?”

“I have always thought of you as a friend, Perry.”

“Oh, you don't say,” Perry murmurs and finally stands up and walks towards the darkened corner of the room.

I look around me as my vision starts to clear up. He must have drugged me. I can barely feel a thing, and I still can't see clearly. It must be an underground morgue. There are no rays of sunlight, and it smells terrible.

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