A Hunter Within

by Anna Applegate

  “I see those looks, the looks of a scientist. You may be thinking ‘who is this harebrained lady!’” She flailed her arms as she spoke and then suddenly brought them slamming in front of her, down onto the conference room table. “I assure you what I’m saying is real. And I’ll prove it to you, just as it was proved to me when I was sitting in your shoes over twenty years ago.”

  She looked me in the eyes for an uncomfortable stretch of time. I didn’t even have to fake the discomfort it brought me. She did the same to the man next to me. It wasn’t until she turned to pull down a screen that the other man in the room looked at me. His wild eyes held an expression that made it seem like he was realizing he had no idea what he signed up for. I widened my eyes and shrugged, pretending to be just as shocked.

  What I saw in the next three-hour lecture, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to understand. Marissa really had tried to prove vampires were real, but that wasn’t all she proved. If I hadn’t met Seeley, I think I would have been in danger of believing her on some level. There were pictures, first-hand accounts, interviews taken at Falcone, test results, the list went on and on, and more and more scientific evidence was presented for her case that vampires were real and that they were a threat to mankind. But she also sprinkled in so much anecdotal evidence that I could see it was turning the other man in the room cold against vampires. It was like we were watching some brainwashing video that was meant to convince us wholeheartedly that vampires were not human in any way. That they weren’t capable of decency and good human emotions. But I knew differently.

  “I know that I’ve given you a lot to process,” Marissa said solemnly as her initial lecture concluded. “But I also know, that seeing is believing. I need you both to take a minute and compose yourselves and then we are going to go to get your badges upgraded, and then on to take a tour to the testing suite.” She nodded, as if she was encouraging us like we weren’t okay, but we would be.

  “This is unreal,” the other intern said as soon as Marissa walked out of the room.

  “It sure is something.” I sighed, shaking my head.

  I had to continue this charade every second I was in here. I didn’t know who might be watching. Plus, I had no idea who this other intern was to trust him with any shred of inconsistency in my reaction. This might turn out to be a little tougher than I thought.

  “I wonder if she has some, you know, some of those things.” His voice shook and I watched him, annoyed for some reason. Who in the world was this clown she had chosen? I internally scolded myself. His reaction was probably more in line with what mine would have been if I hadn’t become completely enthralled with Seeley before he told me he was a vampire. I wondered how much of my attraction to him, and our blooming relationship, had to do with me being okay with everything that was being revealed.

  “Wouldn’t that be exciting?” I said. After all, if psycho Marissa was watching, I’d want to be eager, not hesitant if I was to stay on her good side.

  As if on cue, she walked back into the room. “Do you have any questions before we go?” She winked at me and then turned to the man. “Patrick?” she asked him. He shook his head no.

  “Jules?”

  “No, ma’am,” I replied.

  “Okay, well come follow me.” She waved her hand, and we both stood, following in line after her like the little lemmings she wanted us to be.

  We began walking down the areas of the building I’d never been before. It was lined with pictures and various displays. I glanced at the walls as we walked, surprised to see how many smiling faces were looking back at us from the pictures. Didn’t they know what they were a part of? Probably not. If they saw the lecture we just witnessed, then they probably thought they were truly saving the world.

  Marissa led us through a closed, secure door that looked like a closet. In the room sat a man at a desk with a computer and what looked like a card holder the size of our ID badges. Besides those items, the room contained nothing else. It was incredibly strange how empty it was. Almost like an interrogation room, or a psych ward.

  “Richard, how are you?”

  The man at the desk just nodded at her.

  He had no smile, but held his hand out to me. I looked to Marissa who waved in front of her, signaling I should proceed. I could only assume he needed my badge.

  I handed it over and watched him pop it into the little black case that sat on the desk and continued to stare as his fingers flew over the keyboard he sat behind.

  The man stopped typing and raised his eyebrow in question and yet continued to stare at his screen, not uttering a single word.

  “All access save for the leadership suites,” Marissa said, still smiling at Richard.

  A few more clicks and he popped my badge out and handed it back to me. I put it in my holder as Patrick stepped forward to get his access upgraded.

  As we finished and left the closet-like security station, Marissa turned to us. “That is a great responsibility you hold in your hands. You have almost full access to this building, and you’ll get everywhere you need to go for our project. If for some reason, you need to get to me in the suites, you can come in directly through reception with no wait. They know who you are.” She smiled. “Good. Now, on to the testing area, come, come,” she said.

  I shivered at how chipper she was heading toward the testing area. I worried about the vampires we’d see there but put on my curious and excited-to-learn face. Anything to get me what we needed to save Gabriel and help Seeley, I’d do. Plus, this badge should come in handy, I hoped.

  We stopped outside of two large automatic glass doors, and Marissa waved a key card in front of a scanner to the right. “This is where most of our test subjects are. And yes, I am referring to what you think, Mr. Oxford. Vampires.” I watched as Intern Patrick gulped. Intern Patrick would not make it very long, I decided.

  I shook my head and looked back to the door. C-437 was on a panel outside of it where Marissa had swiped her card. I’d have to look that up and tell Seeley what room some of the studies were taking place in. We walked into a circular observation room which held doors to at least ten other smaller rooms, all filled with beeping machines and test tubes, bottles of different substances. It was quite a sight. The middle observation area had a massive computer with three large screens on the wall that appeared to be tracking four individual’s biometrics at the moment. There were only four technicians in the room. Two at the computer, one in one of the rooms with a patient, and another over by a wall of test tubes, taking notes on something.

  “This is where most of the work is done. There are only about fifteen people who have access to this area, you two would make seventeen. You are never to be in here without permission or escort. That is a critical rule that I insist you verbalize you understand.”

  We both said yes, and she nodded and put on her large smile again.

  “Another very important thing, each room has a shutdown protocol if the patient gets out of hand, and this larger observation room we are in can be shut down as well. It is imperative that no one can escape from here. The buttons by the door”—she nodded, pointing behind us—“are marked much like the shutdown buttons in the rest of the facility. Please know, though, that a shutdown requires you to remain inside the room. You will not be able to exit, and no one will be able to get in until there are two people with the proper credentials present. I am one of them, and my deputy, Mr. Thornton, is the other.”

  Henry’s father. I tried to hide my reaction, but I was surprised. Marissa’s deputy? Rebecca had been right. He was very involved in all of this then. My heart sank and I was reminded I needed to speak to Henry as soon as possible.

  “If there are no questions right now, I’ll let you look around.” She walked away from us and over to the technicians at the computer monitors.

  I walked slowly around the large room, trying to take in as much detail as possible to relay to the others. I noticed a door that looked like heavy steel at the back of the o
bservation room and eyed it curiously. There was no window from the deck looking in, and I glanced around at the large monitor displays in the room. Everything on the monitors was clearly marked with the room numbers around us, but there didn’t appear to be anything focused on the room in the back. I took another step closer.

  Marissa’s voice came quietly from behind me. “I see a lot of myself in you, Ms. Parker.” I jumped at the sudden sound so close to my ear and whipped around to see her smiling at me as if I was the most interesting thing in the room. “Your curiosity and intelligence is so refreshing.”

  “I’m sorry I was just looking, like you suggested,” I said, meekly.

  She shook me off, not at all upset I had been stalking toward the unmarked door in the back. “Listen, I shouldn’t do this, but I like you. And I think you are going places here. There is an extremely sensitive subject behind these doors. I’m going to unlock this door and make a phone call. I’d like you to go in and take a look, but we’ll make sure the others don’t see.” She winked at me again, a strange habit she was making with me. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to become my friend, or if she was just eager to have someone she thought she could manipulate by her side.

  I smiled, hoping my eyes gave off excitement and not disgust at her. “Is it dangerous?” I asked, suddenly wondering if this was one of the medicated vampires.

  “He’s restrained. There’s nothing to fear at the moment.” She reached out her key card and then whispered in my ear before she scanned. “He is truly a vampire, Ms. Parker. And a very powerful one. Don’t believe his lies. But it would be educational to hear if he has anything to say to you.” She nodded, scanning the door and ushering me in. “If anything happens, I need you to get to the door. It’s a special room for this building, one that isn’t monitored like the others, so for your safety, if anything comes up, get out.” She watched me, waiting for an acknowledgement that I understood.

  I nodded, and she stealthy opened the door and ushered me in. She shut it again immediately behind me. She had locked me inside with a powerful vampire, and I prayed whoever this was wasn’t going to hurt me before I could escape if need be.

  I glanced around the room again, noticing that it really was empty. No cameras, no glass windows, just a drab, depressing room. I walked farther into the dimly lit room and saw a man strapped to a silver table

  “He—hello?” I said. I saw his head turn, and I gasped when he looked at me. Those blue eyes. This wasn’t the first time I was seeing them. They were identical to Seeley’s.

  “Are you…Gabriel?” I whispered in shock. Could it possibly be that I was in a room with Gabriel? So soon? I hadn’t thought Marissa would trust anyone with this.

  His eyes narrowed at me and then opened wide as if he couldn’t believe someone was standing there.

  “No,” he started, seeming to get anxious.

  I walked over to him, on pure instinct alone, because if I had thought about it there’s no way I would have willingly gone close to a vampire that I was just told was dangerous.

  “It’s okay. I’m friends with Seeley,” I said, lowering my voice.

  “You can’t be here. How did he find you? You need to leave now,” the vampire I was sure was Gabriel rambled.

  “My name is Jules,” I said, starting again. I needed to comfort him and calm him down.

  “I know you who think you are. You need to listen to me. I will be fine. Tell my brother to leave you out of this.” He glared at me and then looked me over from head to toe. “How did you even get in here? You’re in danger.” His voice was barely audible, and I frowned. Whatever they had given him, he was seeing things.

  “I think you’re confusing me for someone else. My name is Jules Parker. I’m an intern here, but I also know Seeley.”

  Gabriel’s eyes darted to the back of the room, and he shook his head fiercely at me.

  “Tell my brother to let it go. I’ll be all right,” he growled at me. Then, suddenly he yelled, “Leave now and stop this.”

  It was spat out so angrily I stumbled back, putting distance between the two of us. He looked back up at the ceiling and let out an enormous roaring sound. He began thrashing around, continuing the noise.

  The door flung open, and I saw Marissa standing in the doorway. “Ms. Parker, is everything okay?”

  “I’m not sure, ma’am. He just …” I looked back once more at the man staring at the ceiling and walked out, trying to hide my agitation and distress. I wonder who Gabriel thought I was. And why he didn’t want his brother’s help, or mine for that matter. Unless he simply didn’t trust me. That was understandable.

  I scooted by her as she stood looming in the doorway, and made my way back to the observation room, trying to pull myself together. Hopefully she didn’t hear anything. I paced for a minute, but came up short, face to face with her again.

  “Perhaps it was too soon, with that one. He is quite powerful. Did he say anything to you?” she asked, her eyes seemingly darker and more inquisitive than I’d seen before.

  “No, ma’am. He was angry that I was in the room with him, though.” I tried my best to look fearful, but my mind was churning.

  She smiled, relaxing her tensed facial muscles a bit. “Perhaps that is quite enough for one day,” she said. She beckoned me to follow and got Patrick’s attention as well, leading us to the main entry to the observation room. “This project can be emotionally demanding at first, and I have found it’s best introduced in stages. We will resume tomorrow. Meet here in this room.” She clicked her heels together and walked out, leaving myself and Patrick alone with the other technicians, who busied themselves around us as if we didn’t exist.

  We glanced at each other before making out way out of the room. In an awkward goodbye, we both sort of nodded and headed our separate ways.

  I was barely out the front door before I was dialing Seeley’s number. I needed to tell him what had happened with Gabriel.

  No answer. I decided to leave a message telling him briefly about what had occurred today, and to let him know that I thought his brother was okay for now.

  I tried Henry next, thinking maybe he’d answer me since we hadn’t spoken since he had come to see me. Our next interaction wouldn’t be until the gala according to him, and I was desperate to talk to my friend and find out what was going on with all of this! Again, no answer. Where is everyone?

  I got to my apartment and heard Abbey as soon as I opened the door and shouted a hello.

  “Hey, lady!” Abbey’s voice rang out. “Vanessa is out with some new flavor of the month.”

  “The things she does to get over Henry.”

  We laughed together.

  I noticed dinner was ready. “You were prepared,” I said surprised as Abbey handed me a glass of champagne.

  “Unlike some super studious over-achievers, my part-time gig was over at two. So I had plenty of me time today.” She laughed.

  We sat down in the living room before plopping in a chick flick. “So, how are you doing, really? I never see you anymore, Abbs,” I said.

  She waved me off. “Stop that nonsense. I’m good.” She took another swig of champagne.

  “And how are things with Ryan? You seem to be doing okay, but I haven’t seen him around much. Unless I’ve just been missing when he’s here?” I asked.

  “You know, Ryan and I been doing the back and forth dance for a while now, and I don’t even remember why our fights start anymore. At this stage, it’s not fun anymore, and I think I deserve better than that.” Abbey picked absentmindedly at her pajama bottoms. “I came to school with no one. My parents don’t even bother checking in on me, they just cut the check and head off on their grand adventures. You were the first real friend I ever had. You didn’t care that I came from money, you just cared about me. Ryan cared about me at first too, and I think I let that blind me. I was so excited to finally have someone that I overlooked the red flags that kept popping up.”

  I gave her an encouraging hu
g. “I think you’re doing the right thing. You do deserve better.” I smiled, brushing down her hair. “You’re my family too. I’m sorry I haven’t been around much, lately.”

  “Yeah, yeah, thanks, Mom. Now, enough with my sappy life. I want the good stuff and no trying to change the subject. Give me something good to dream about and tell me about that little make-out sesh I walked in on this morning with Seeley.” She winked.

  “You realize I’ll do no such thing, right?” I laughed.

  Abbey blinked at me, pretending she didn’t comprehend. “This champagne says, yes you will.” She giggled and poured me another mimosa.

  We finished our meal and caught up more before Abbey’s phone rang. She answered quickly before mouthing, “Work.” Our doorbell rang a few minutes later, and Abbey was still on her call. I hopped up to answer it. I opened it to find Seeley waiting outside my door, with a smile that could stop any girl’s heart the moment he saw me.

  “Hello, beautiful.”

  I blushed and swallowed hard as I tried to think of something witty to say in return. As much as I was loving the direction we were heading in, things were still…strange, to say the least. How do you date a vampire? Dating seemed like such a silly term when it came to Seeley. If that was even what he wanted. My thoughts ran around in my head until I heard his name calling mine a few times and realized I’d been standing with what was most likely an idiotic look plastered to my face as I thought through these things.

  “Sorry,” I said, trying to laugh it off. “Lost in my thoughts, I guess.” I smiled and he kissed my cheek to greet me.

  I turned to face him and caught him smirking. He must know what he does to me. Oh gosh, how embarrassing.

  “I got your message. Is it okay I’m here?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I took a deep breath. I looked back toward the living room to see if Abbey was still on the phone. “We can talk in my room,” I said to him.

  I waved to Abbey as we walked by, and she winked before walking toward her own room, still talking professionally.