The sun was fully out now that it was seven in the morning with people bustling around them. Charlotte knew that the goal was for them to leave earlier than that however at least now that they were leaving, they didn't stick out like a sore thumb.
The clothing that Vincent and Stone were wearing was albeit full of blood, but no one was able to tell, unlike her and Lucia's war-torn dresses.
As they got into the car, Charlotte weaved through some businessmen who were rushing on their way to work with their eyes trained on the watch at their rest. Since their attention was directed elsewhere, Charlotte hoped that they weren't memorable in any way.
However, most of the vampires that she came across had dark hair and eyes with stoic features which were quite different in the city due to the bright hair that most had and somewhat softer features. Charlotte herself had dark hair, but she didn't think anything too deeply about it.
Stone went to the driver's seat after checking the road for any cars passing along and slipped inside while Vincent took the passenger seat. Well, that means the girls were in the back, not that Charlotte really cared after getting inside the car and strapping in safely ready to go whenever the guys were.
The trunk of the car was extremely packed to the point where one couldn't even see past the back window, but most cars were able to track a three-hundred-sixty-degree radius around the car to be able to tell if it was safe to switch lanes along with automatic driving some cars had that made it convenient to do other things while in the vehicle only catch was that there had to be a body in the driver's seat to do so.
Otherwise than that, no many other advancements had been made to cars. Flying cars have yet to come. Not that it was a large part of society demanding for them. In reality, most of society was still demanding to expand to the world outside of their own rather than being concerned with what was already within the boundaries of their own.
Once again, a lesson that still hasn't been learned by humans. Charlotte leaned her head on her hand and her arm was propped against the window to watch as they took off from the boutique.
The curtains were still closed as they left and sped down the road. There wasn't much to talk about on their car ride considering that Vincent wasn't much of a talker in the first place, and Stone's brooding.
Charlotte wanted to laugh at how she portrayed Stone. Moody brooding. Out of the corner of her eye, Lucia was also looking out the window, and Charlotte got more settled into her seat as the tall buildings of advanced civilization soon turned to dense trees that were clearly out of place in a sea of grey.
Since the people within the circled walls didn't want to expand the walls, there was no way to grow except up. Meaning, as one closer to the center, the buildings were made extremely tall with lots of layers. It was practical with how it was built, but most of the buildings weren't housing. The new spaces were for profit and for work.
It was as if the government was asking for more people to live on the streets. But that was the sad reality. There was no other place to go further away from the center. People in the middle ring didn't tell them to think about such matters, and Charlotte felt guilty for once being in the same boat, blissfully unaware.
Hours flew by, and they finally made it into the deep forest area. The scope of the whole city was hard to imagine, but it was certainly larger than one would expect if they hadn't made the trip all the way to the outer ring.
The trip that she and Vincent made to the outer ring from the middle ring still took most of the day despite already being in further places in the middle ring.
For one to make a trip to the Centennial Center was a trip that would take a little over two days with a fast-moving car on the highways to eat up time and distance as quickly as possible. The stark difference from the city to their hidden haven in the forest was strong with no signs of a light source anywhere to be found.
Charlotte was sure that it was dark when nightfall came in the area, but it would be refreshing to see. One would have to get by with lamps to light their paths. There were people out in this area with tiny houses every now and then that would come into sight as the road went through its curves and turns.
The quaint lifestyle was one that many people didn't seek anymore since the times have vastly changed along with the cultures of the world.
Charlotte captured Lucia's side profile, her slim nose along with her pouting lips while the images flashed through the lenses of her eyes, and Charlotte knew that Lucia's case was certainly an odd one out.