A bright and beaming smile erupted the second James and I came into view.

Her hands clasped each other in excitement as she stepped past James to wrap her arms around my waist.

"You look so different from when I saw you last!"

My arms dangled in the air unsure about the interaction and taken aback by her sudden appearance.

I felt the pressure of her embrace for about a whole of two seconds before she was yanked from me.

James had the back of her dress balled in his hand as he craned his neck to look down at her.

"You shouldn't hug people without their permission. Why are you here? I'm working."

Her feet were touching the ground but her heels were dangling just a smidge in the air. The girl growled like some small, wild, red headed lion. Her arms moved around her trying to loosen his grip on her.

"Damn it, James. Let me go!"

She wiggled and writhed until he set her back down on the ground and released her dress.

Her happiness quickly diminished to suspicion as she eyed James, "You didn't say she was going to be here today."

James crossed his arms and huffed at the girl. "Since when did I have to start giving you updates?"

Pretoria's face reddened as her glare became a sharp and spitting fire, "You just want her all to your-."

"Jane! Can you step out for a moment, please?" James cut her off.

My name suddenly being called made me jump, causing me to stumble not so delicately out of the room in a clumsy hurry.

I closed the door behind me only to hear instant muffled and indistinguishable shouting. I'm relieved to have been asked to leave, happy I'm no longer in the room with the two of them.

I pushed my back to the thundering voices in the room, and leaned on the door. Minutes passed and after the voices only grew more intense, I sat down next to the door. Figuring this was not going to end anytime soon.

I hugged my legs as I rested my back on the wall not paying any attention to things around me.

Distant clicking came into the corridor, I guess Amanda was back with coffee. I closed my eyes, not wanting to deal with the woman, and also hoping she would walk in on the screaming fest inside. I know it's cruel, but it is funny, especially after this morning...

I felt the footsteps near and move to stand in front of me. Still I didn't open my eyes. Big mistake on my part as a sharp kick to the side came swiftly and unexpected.

My eyes flew open as my body went falling to the side, my arms shooting out to steady myself before I face planted.

"Hey!" I started, only to be met with a loud "Shush."

My hair obstructed my vision as I looked up, expecting to see Amanda standing there with a proud look on her face, maybe the edges of a laugh about to come.

Instead, a very close Emmaline stood, pointer finger to her lips. Indication clear, don't speak. Disoriented and confused, I nodded.

Emmaline looked to the door and then to me, reaching a hand out for me to take. My stomach dropped, unsure again what to do. It was my turn to look back at the door and I wondered if I should get James.

At the hesitation she waved her hand frantically, a crazed look in her eyes as she kept gazing back and forth between us and the door. I remembered the last time we spoke and decided to reach my hand forward and take hers. She warned me right last,so I'm hoping trusting her now won't backfire.

I think this as we quietly dash through the halls. The farther we get away from the door, the more Emmaline allows for conversation. She starts in a whisper as we go around the main paths in the building.

"They normally fight for a while, but we still need to hurry," Her boney hands held my wrist tight as she practically dragged me into a dark empty office. 

I had already accepted my murder at this point, sure I had made the wrong decision, when a familiar voice chimed through the dark room.

A light clicked on to reveal old Detective Carson sitting at an old conference table, "Good to see you, Jane."

I gasped.

"How are you here right now?" I whispered despite this being a safe area to talk in.

I turned to look at Emmaline standing guard at the door even more bewildered, "You two are working together?"

I felt a tinge of distaste for Carson, feeling this was sort of two-faced considering the hate he seemed to ooze for them when first meeting him. 

"Getting in was easy considering the receptionist had gone awol." He said in a long draw.

"Also, Emmaline isn't like the other ones. I've worked with her for years. There's nothing for you to be concerned about." He stood to walk around the table, getting a chair next to me and pulling it out.

He gestured for me to sit. Although I didn't fully want to, I obliged. At least wanting to get this over with. He took a seat next to me, us facing each other in the chairs.

He pulled out two things from the satchel that hung over the table. A paper and metal card.

"This-" He held up the paper first, "Is a full and detailed map of this floor and downstairs leading to the archives." His opposite hand reached for the metal card. "And this is a key to the door."

He pushed both in front of me. I pushed them back, "I told you I'm not ready to do this. I will get caught!"

Carson shook his head and pushed the contents back, "No, you have to."

I shoved them back, "Why?"

He threw them back, "Did that bullet show you nothing yesterday?"

He stood to pace around.

The paper came slow, but the metal card came at me fast clanking against the table as it hit. I sat still listening.

"That bullet is only the beginning too. If I were you, I would be much more afraid. These people are ruthless, and I've seen this before, they are coming, Jane. I need my evidence before they get to us!" 

His voice dropping to whisper as he leaned on the table separating us. 

My ears rang and my heart tripled speed. I held my head, elbows braced on the table. A bottomless pit forming in my stomach followed by a strong sense of unsafety.

"Why are they after me?" 

Silence screamed throughout the small room. "It's the one question you keep avoiding." I said plainly. I held the map up to him, "If you want me to get information for you and possibly risk my life, I need to know why."

Carson grabbed the chair and sat back placidly, "Are you sure you want to know? I don't have enough time to put it delicately."

I braced myself emotionally, "Just tell me."

Carson leaned back in his chair, his gaze piercing through me as he gathered his thoughts. The silence stretched on, thick and heavy, until finally, he spoke.

I felt Emmaline step closer as he readied himself for this story. "You know the survivors of the whole Natalis vaccine event, James, Pretoria and Emmaline." He nodded to the blonde that stood not too far away.

"They all came down with the fever and survived the illness, putting them in this state." He gestured at Emmaline again, a hand waving down her body. "Forever the same."

"A long time ago, when everyone got sick, so did this young couple. Their names were Liam and Feye Wood. Feye was pregnant when she got the vaccine. The illness didn't hit her at the same time as her husband as he died by the time she decided to leave New Guillies."

My heart sped up, "So there's another survivor out there?" I interjected, excited and still unsure how this related to me yet.

"Let me finish." He scolded.

"The illness did catch up to her eventually, she succumbed to it right after giving birth a few towns away."

"The baby she gave birth to was your grandfather."

Tears formed in my eyes before any real emotion could take precedence in the moment. I had a grandfather.

"We have to go soon." Emmaline pipped from behind us.

Carson kept his momentum, going back into the story. "That baby was born very sick but alive. He grew into a man named Robert."

"Robert." I whispered. More to myself than him.

"Robert stayed sick with an illness no doctor could ever diagnose. Having chronic pain his whole life, he started to grow kinda crazy looking for an answer. So crazy, he took his daughter and young granddaughter with him to the small town his mother escaped from decades prior to find that answer."

I couldn't even look at him at this point, tears falling freely as I was told a story about a family I had been searching for. "Natalis had been keeping a close eye on Robert most of his life and did not like that he was digging so close to their secret. His answer would mean their conviction, so naturally he had to be- " He shifted his tone.

"taken out..."

A sob broke loose as more information formed images in my head. "You're mother and you were just casualties."

"I wish It ended like this but in order to answer your question I have to tell you what they did with the bodies they took."

I felt nausea as I pushed back loud cries, hands came down on my shoulders, "You need to hear this girl." Emmaline's voice broke through the chaos.

I quieted down and glanced at Carson. My face a mess, "Go on."

"In some documents I've found, it states that their doctors always found Robert interesting, because he never moved on to the next stage of the illness. Death or Immortality. He just stayed sick. So when they captured his body, they thought it was a good opportunity to run some tests."

Carson leaned forward, placing his hands on my knees,"They found that he had antibodies. Strong antibodies that were constantly fighting it." He whispered getting as close to me as possible.

"They found less of those antibodies in your mother based on her notes that I've read."

I trembled trying as hard as I could to not picture the tests Carson was referring to. "They were able to make this recipe with the antibodies they harvested that essentially cured the illness that affects the rest of the survivors."

"You have those same antibodies. Natalis will do anything to destroy this town and any memory of what happened. You are a big part of that."

His voice trailed off, leaving room to process.

A noise startled all of us. The loud ringing of Emmaline's phone snapped us out of the deep conversation.

"Shit, it's Pretoria. We have to go."

Again I was grabbed with almost inhuman strength from the skinny woman as we rushed away from the Detective. Not even having a chance to say goodbye, only having the map and metal card placed in my hand again. "Hide these."

We ran along the same path, much faster this time however, clear with frightful haste.