There were remnants of a torture chamber, but there were no gruesome marks, however, Charlotte could clearly imagine how it went down despite wanting to shut the visual down.
The amount of pain and horror the vampires must have endured in the small dungeon that was masked under a warehouse was unbelievable. Charlotte coughed when she inhaled the dust in the air, as she took in the rest of the sketchy room.
The basement level of the warehouse was small with the corner having an enclosure with metal bars, and in the center and operating table for who knows what with straps dangling freely.
The room was dirty and dingy full of spider webs and other insects that were crawling around which made Charlotte wince, cradling her arms to her chest, as she suspiciously glanced around.
Dust covered the walls and the chains along the base of the wet stone underneath that were from the leakage of the ceiling above letting the rain come from above and rot below.
Many of the shackles were rusted over, the smell rancid, and across from where Charlotte was standing was a large wooden wardrobe. Inside the broken door, there were empty glass vials in a wardrobe that was meticulously kept in plastic holdings. She wondered what was supposed to be in them.
The lights were flicking overhead with a soft buzz but were too weak to clearly lit up the area, and in effect, only made her eyes hurt from the constant flashing, along with the eerie green cast.
Vincent seemed to be deep in his thoughts, but she could feel the anger flooding out from where she was sitting. It was called for since the room was clearly a torture chamber than a hideout.
One could only imagine the horrific acts gone down in the room, and Charlotte closed her eyes to try and push the thought away. There were no weapons to be seen, but the room also didn't seem to be neatly cleaned up.
Lots of items were broken and harshly thrown around judging by the split legs of chairs and shattered glass.
The vigilantes may have called this place their hideout once, but the reason why they cleared from this space may have not been one along the mutual guidelines.
There were signs of struggle along the walls that were scratched deeply from the elongated nails of vampires and other spare restraining devices like collars and handcuffs strewn around.
She flinched and immediately stood up when she swore that a moving entity brushed her fingers on the dingy floor. Charlotte walked over to the wardrobe and was about to pull open the clear door when Vincent pulled her back softly.
"Don't touch anything. I'll get a team in here to DNA swab everything," Vincent muttered.
Charlotte nodded and brought her hands back under her arms. She wanted to ask him some questions but didn't want to be insensitive. Charlotte kept her eyes on the metal ladder in the corner while Vincent brought his phone to his ear.
"Bring back up to the address you sent me earlier," Vincent spoke with a flat tone. "Now."
He didn't wait for an answer before he dropped the call. Vincent dug into his pocket and handed her a pair of disposable white gloves. Charlotte dipped her head slightly in thanks before slipping them on. He pulled open the wardrobe door first and picked up one of the vials that were empty.
Charlotte peered over his shoulder, and Vincent lifted it to his flashlight. There were some traces of dark blood at the top of the tube when inspected closer. The vial cracked when Vincent squeezed too hard, shattering into his hand. Charlotte gasped when Vincent only continued to press the glass into his skin.
"What are they trying to pull?" Vincent seethed.
"I'm not following..."
Charlotte placed a hand on his wrist, and Vincent flexed his arm before letting go of the vial, letting the glass shards fall to the ground. His eyes were golden, and the light was strong enough to pull her in, glowing faintly.
She brushed the back of her hand to his cheek. "I thought that the vigilantes were after young vampires for their verbal eternal promises rather than their blood."
"That is what I thought as well, but now I'm not so sure."
Charlotte tilted her head to the side. "Do you think that the vigilantes doing the promises were cover for something bigger?"
Vincent blew out a frustrated breath. "It must be. I'll get in touch with some vampire medical specialists to get this all sorted out first. We need to find their hideout as soon as possible since I'm not sure how long the vampires there will last."
Charlotte nodded. Right. They couldn't forget their mission. But she was curious. "Is vampire blood valuable?"
"It's toxic to humans if they drink it."
"Normally like water?"
"Correct. If it is not to convert to a vampire on their last breath, it would be deadly."
"How about to vigilantes?"
"That I do not know. I'll also ask the medics."
Charlotte pursed her lips and wrung her hands behind her back. There wasn't much they could do with the information they had. It would be best to wait before delving in deeper, especially since they still have a task ahead of them still left to complete.
The young vampires who were captured had done nothing wrong and were left to their devices to get used to their new bodies. She understood it was a tough situation for them.
The vigilantes were trying to take advantage of the vampires that way with no doubt, but there had to be a bigger picture. Charlotte couldn't get a grasp of what it could be and neither could Vincent which was driving him insane.