"I told you. These photographs aren't helping." I told Jeremy. "I mean, I do feel happy to be able to see how Anita looked like. It seems like we were pretty close. But I can't recall anything."
"Come on. It's because you're not trying." He said.
"Are you kidding me? My mind's going to explode. Seriously." I sighed. "By the way, where did you get all this stuff?" I was really curious. They had boxes full of Anita's things.
"After you all disappeared and became fugitives, we went straight to Anita's house to look for hints. We wanted to know where you were headed. Then, we found those two boxes in the kitchen table." He said pointing to the boxes in the corner. "Then we figured we should take everything else in case the Church Elites find something they could use to track you."
I sighed again. They went over the top. I walked to the two boxes he mentioned. I picked one up and put it on the table. It was full of documents and sketches and some drawings which seemed like it was done by a child. I checked them all meticulously.
….."What do they say? What are those documents about?" Anita asked.
"I don't know. It's just part of a file. I think it's some kind of budget proposal." Then I turned to Philip. "Your father's signature was needed, but he didn't sign it."
"A budget proposal? For what?" Phil asked while looking through other documents.
"I don't know. It just says here that it's important to have the proposal accepted as soon as possible. That it's the next step to freeing the humans from fear of the vampires. What does that even mean?"
"Were they planning to massacre the vampires? That's impossible." Anita said firmly.
"Gosh. This is draining my brain." I was out of my wits. "Wait. Phil, do you think this proposal had anything to do with your father's resignation?"
He didn't say anything for a while. "I don't know. But if we're going to interrogate him, we'll have to do it now. He's leaving tonight."
"Okay. The two of you should go back to the city. I'll stay here to watch over Amelia. I'm worried she might mess up our headquarters. And I'm going to look into the other documents." Anita volunteered…..
Another memory came to me. I rummaged through the documents looking for the one I saw in my head. It wasn't there. I quickly picked up the other box and put it on the table. I did it too forcefully that it made a loud sound. The others suddenly appeared out of thin air. It didn't shock me anymore. I was too busy looking for that document. The others seemed as anxious as me.
"You found something?" Ethan asked.
I didn't answer. I was afraid I'd lose my concentration. Finally, I found it. I read through it twice. Sadly, none of it made much sense. I handed it to Ethan. He read the document very carefully.
"What do you think? A memory came to me and I saw that document. I think it's important." I said.
"I think so too. But this alone doesn't tell us anything." He said, dejected. The others gathered and passed the paper around.
I took a deep breath and looked at the papers I scattered on the table. Then something caught my eye. I picked it up and stared at it. It looked like a blueprint for some kind of laboratory.
…..I stumbled and fell on my face. Then, I heard them burst into laughter. I used the flashlight to see who did it. It was a woman, but she looked more like a monster than a human. Her hair was disheveled. She was covered in dirt. Her deep red eyes were piercing, and her fangs were showing. Her nails were long and black. Her skin was turning purple everywhere. I took a step back. Fear was starting to swallow me up.
Then I heard a low growl from behind me. I shone the flashlight to its source and saw a child. The little boy had the same deep red eyes and fangs. He was covered in cuts and bruises. He was smiling at me, but it wasn't a sweet bright smile. It was a smile that made my skin crawl and sent shivers down my spine. I walked to each cell to check on the others. They all started hissing and growling at me. It was too late. They had lost their humanity. They all turned into monsters already. The hissing and growling turned to screams and screeches. There was nothing more I could do for them. I placed a couple of explosives by the holding cells, and then proceeded with the plan...
Another memory came to me. No way. I started hyperventilating. Kilian hurriedly came to my side. "Mom? What is it?" He asked. I handed the paper to Ethan.
"It's a lab. They were experimenting on humans. They were turning them into monsters." They all looked at me with expressions full of shock. "I think it was the reason why we burned the orphanage."
I was sweating so hard. The mental strain was too much for me. I fainted again…
I woke up to the sound of someone snoring lightly. I opened my eyes and saw Kilian sleeping in the sofa in the corner of the room. He looked so peaceful. I started regretting coming to the capital. Our life back at that small peaceful town was full of laughter. We were really happy. But, was it wrong to want to know my past?
I got up and walked quietly to the door. I found my way to study and searched through Anita's things once again. I was hoping I'd find something else of importance.
"What are you doing?" Kai's sudden question startled me.
"Can you please not appear out of the blue? You're going to give me a heart attack." I said.
….."Why are you being sneaky?" The cool voice sounded so familiar.
I turned to see Kai standing so close. "You scared me! Can you stop appearing out of the blue? You always do this." I accused him.
"Well, I was just passing by and saw you. I thought you said you had volunteer work at the orphanage?" He sounded mad.
"I finished the job quickly. It was easier than I thought."…..
Another memory. I let out a grunt. "A few memories have been coming back to me since I came here. I'm grateful, but it feels like my head is going to burst."
"Which memory did you remember just now?" He asked, curious.
"Just something unimportant." I lied. I put my focus on the papers in front of me.
"Put those down." He took the papers from my hand and put them back in the box. "Your head is really going to burst if you push yourself too hard. Come on. Let's go." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me along.
"Wait, where are we going?"
The next thing I knew, I was on the car with Kai. The car's windows were tinted so there was no point worrying about getting seen. The driver seemed unsurprised of the stranger in the car. We drove around the city for a while. Kai acted like a tour guide and introduced me to all the places we used to hang out before, according to him. It was strange. I felt comfortable with him. At the same time, it was suffocating. It felt like my heart was being squeezed. We got back to Christian's home after a few hours. I immediately went to my room, lying about being tired. I didn't want him to see me crying.