The next morning, after Charlotte got me all fixed up, considering that I did end up sleeping in my uniform, she once again drove us to the next place.
"We're going for that man from last night?"
"Yes. Since it's daylight now, the chance of encountering vampires are a lot lower than at night."
"Why's that?"
"Ah- that's another different between vampires and the ruling class. Vampires normally can't stand the sun, whereas I'm perfectly fine with it."
"Wait, but aren't I part vampire?" If that's the case, then shouldn't I be in pain because of it? It could be that my skin heals faster that I just don't notice it though.
"Mhmm, but you're not 'just' a vampire, hehe. Plus, you have blood, just like me" That's true...
"Anyways, it seems like we're close." Charlotte adds on to her words before stopping the car at a tall building, sniffing the air from her open window. "Can't believe he chose to hide here of all places..."
"What do you mean?"
"Normally, people would think to run to somewhere isolated, but to run into where there's many eyes on him. It's a bit annoying." As she says, she opens the car door before walking around to my side, helping me outside. Looking up, the building is unbelievably tall, but it's not the only tall building around.
"Wait, but wasn't he cuffed?"
"Yes, but there's a good chance that Furor has already helped him out. So do try and stay close." She says that yet isn't she the one being targeted?
Again, I feel a sense of defeat, knowing that I'm not strong enough to properly stand by Charlotte's side, to protect her. Regardless how I feel though, we move inside.
"Hello, welcome to-"
"We're looking for this man." A man greets us by the door, but Charlotte cuts him off and instead shows him an image of the person we're looking for along with some sort of badge. "If you know what room he's in, tell me. If not I'll force my way into every room you have.
"Y-y-yes! But uhm, sorry I don't recognize this man."
"You do know lying can lead to your arrest."
"Y-yes, I understand, but I seriously don't recognize him." Charlotte's tone is stern and straight to the point, which seems to be making the man nervous as he tries to answer her questions.
"Then did anyone check in here between the hours of 10pm and 6am?"
"Ch-check ins close at 10, so we wouldn't have given out a room around that time."
"Hahh..." Charlotte ends up letting out a sigh filled with annoyance at the man's words. I'm not sure what the term 'check in' means, but I understand that the man doesn't have the answers that Charlotte's looking for.
"I'm very sorry, but-"
"Then are there any rooms that are available?"
"Yes, of course."
"Give me a list of all the available rooms. Also please do not allow anyone to check in until we're done here."
"G-got it! R-right this way."
We follow the man behind a desk. Charlotte however had her eyes elsewhere, looking around the halls and the people passing by while we wait for the man to grab some papers.
"H-here." Somewhat shyly, the man hands Charlotte the papers, which Charlotte takes in a swift fashion.
"Thanks. Let's go Shiro."
With the papers in hand, we soon move to what Charlotte calls an elevator as we slowly ascend to the third floor of the building. And after Charlotte finished sniffing out the rooms, we move on to the next floor.
"We're expecting vampires, right?"
"Yes."
"So why are we going along with this?" I'm really worried about what's going to happen. I get that we started this in the day, but that shouldn't matter if they're inside, right?
"If this is indeed Furor we're dealing with, they'll expect me to turn up here. I wouldn't be surprised if the man was actually trying to leave the city, only for Furor to catch him and bring him here, using him as bait for me." So she's completely aware of it...
"Yet you still go along with it?"
"Hehe. Don't worry. I'm pretty strong you know." At her words, we leave the elevator once more, checking out another floor as Charlotte once again smells the air. "Close. Stay close, Shiro."
"Mm."
Even though she says she's strong, I still can't seem to calm down my nerves as I constantly think about the worst possible situation. Like what if there's more what she expected and she gets overpowered, even killed? I can't take this mask off without Charlotte, but even if I could, I'd then risk killing Charlotte if it came to that. I hate it...
Up until recently, I thought it was nice to be spoiled by Charlotte, but for her to take on this all by herself with me just sitting to the side, it scares me... I'm not sure what I'd do if I was the reason why she dies because I couldn't properly support her...
"Hmm? Shiro?"
"N-nothing! Haha." Eh? Why did I just say that?
"It doesn't look like nothing to me." And it would seem like Charlotte has also caught onto it.
"Sorry." I end up apologizing for trying to hide it from her. "I'm just worried about losing you is all."
"I made a promise, didn't I? That I wouldn't leave you." But even though I tried to lie, she simply smiles while bringing up that promise. My chest, almost reactively, began warming up upon remembering her promise as I end up moving a hand up to my chest, as if to confirm this warmth I'm feeling. "So don't worry, I won't die."
"Okay."