June, 2019

The last time we walked into this place together, Olivia gripped my shirt from behind. This time, she stormed ahead of me despite my protests, all the while her heart pounded in her chest like she knew it wasn't the smartest move.

After flinging the door to the facility open, she came to a halt, the distance between us closing as I almost ran into her.

Extending my hand, I reached out to touch her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her, but the moment my palm collided with her skin, the electrical current had me flinching away. Olivia's eyes widened as she took me in, rubbing my hand, but then she took a sizable step away from me, like I was the threat here.

Odd, I couldn't help but think as I narrowed my eyes. Though before I could assess her state further, she beelined towards the reception area, as if she were determined to get this over with so we could be out of here. Which, I couldn't blame her for.

"We're here to see Christina Fuller," Olivia informed Katharine, the receptionist, as if we were expected, welcomed guests.

And we clearly weren't judging by Katharine's widening eyes and hastily dialling of the phone. She muttered a few things over the line and then instructed us to wait here.

Though I couldn't help myself. While Olivia waited by the front desk, I took a short stroll over to the door to the labs, peering through the small window in the hopes to get a glimpse of something, all the while a plan began to brew.

We need the cure... and it exists somewhere here in this facility.

I doubt my parents will just hand it to us.

In fact, I don't think we would be welcomed here if they knew that's what we're here for. So one of us needs to distract them while the other breaks away to search the place...

Fuck. If only Olivia and I spoke about this before and we could have come up with our cover more clearly. But I spent too long avoiding her instead.

Maybe she will clue in though. We seem to still think on a similar wave—

"Lukas! Olivia!" my mum exclaimed as she bounded out of the hallway that leads to the offices, cutting my thoughts and gander of the labs short. She forced a smile onto her face as she feigned cordiality, though it was hard to not miss her breathless state. Like our presence was a state of emergency that she had to run to. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" she went on, even though it clearly was not a pleasure we were here.

Stephen's warning began to ring in my mind.

The king—my uncle—is gone... So are the knights or bishops who have taken over my parents? Is that what Stephen meant? Surely they weren't planning anything as sinister as Rüdiger though. They may have done bad things in the past, but that was all because my uncle threatened them... right?

Before I could get a word out, though, Olivia said with narrowed eyes, "I want to have a chat about something."

"My dear, of course. But surely it can wait until tonight?" My mother turned to me. "Come around for dinner, the both of you, and we can—"

"It won't take too much of your time," Olivia sidestepped the conversation, clearly wanting us to stay in the place that potentially held the cure. As if she too was planning something similar.

Good. We're already thinking the same. One of us just needs to distract my mother while the other sneaks off and—

"Well... that's good," my mum went on, "But right now is... We're really busy, so tonight—"

"Please. We've come all this way, and Lukas and I already have... special plans tonight." Then Olivia did the last thing I expected. An unelectrified hand gently caressed my arm as she threw me a shy, saccharine smile.

For a moment, my throat went dry.

As her green eyes poured into mine with tenderness and warmth, I was transported back to a time when that look used to be genuine. And before reality caught up with me—that this was a clear act to persuade my mother to talk now—I let myself believe her for one moment.

And then my heart gave a pained throb... until I shook it away with the memory of Olivia's disdain that day at the airport.

When I turned back to my mother though, all friendliness had washed out of her face with only animosity remaining as her eyes remained fixated on Olivia's grasp of my arm.

Prying myself away from Olivia's hold because I couldn't withstand the tension brewing, I then said, "Surely you can spare us ten minutes."

Shaking her head and the hostility from her expression, my mother sighed before she said, "Very well. But I don't have long." Then she ushered us towards a room off the foyer.

She probably thought she was being discreet, but I didn't miss her fingers twiddling against the door as she closed it behind us, clearly running some form of spell through the room.

Does she not want anyone to hear us?

Or does she not want me to hear something else?

But I feigned ignorance as she spun on her heel and demanded, "What brings you here?" Her glare was directed at me, like I had betrayed her. But what could I betray when I was always kept out of the loop?

"You took something of mine and I want it back," Olivia said, getting straight to the point.

"I took something," mum started to repeat, brows knotting together as she glanced at her phone, all the while my gaze narrowed even further.

She's never been this remiss before. What is so important that she can't be fully present in this conversation? What is she hiding? Clearly whatever it is is not locked behind a door anymore as Stephen once said, otherwise she wouldn't be so on edge.

"A memory of mine," Olivia stated.

"A memor... Oh. Yes, I remember now," my mother replied, finally returning to the room as she slipped her phone away—though not before firing off a text message. "What I took wasn't that import—"

"I'll be the one who decides whether it was important. And I want it back."

"Fine," mum replied through gritted teeth. "But I don't have time to do a memory reversal spell right now."

"Why not?" I pressed as Olivia began to fret. Because we couldn't let her persuade us to leave. "You only took ten minutes of her memory, which you said you could spare us. If you start now—"

My mother's nostrils flared with fury as she gave me a look that said, Would you shut your mouth for once?

And, while sometimes I felt fond of my mother who kept me as safe as she could from my uncle, I always knew there was more she could do for me that she never did. Why, I may never know. But she wasn't someone I could trust, even if she always made an effort to protect me in her round about sort of way.

Mum's lips pressed together before she glanced at the clock on the wall. Then, taking the bait, she muttered, "Very well."

Then she ushered us further into the room, urging us to take a seat.

Of course, Olivia and I sat opposite my mum—Olivia because she didn't trust her, and me because I wanted to read her expressions. But as we squeezed ourselves onto the loveseat, I couldn't help but notice Olivia edging herself closer to me.

Is she scared? Or is this still part of her act from earlier? And, if so, why does she want my mum to think there's something between us?

If it didn't escape my attention, it certainly didn't escape my mother, who was scrupulously studying the rouge forming on Olivia's cheeks as she looked anywhere but me.

Why does mum seem bothered by this?

Better yet, why is Olivia's heart racing so much? Is she that scared something will go wrong?

Though I didn't have time to press either on their actions. Instead, I realised I had a clear distraction laid out. Ten minutes of my mother preoccupied with Olivia while I could potentially sneak through the labs for any form information about a cure.

"While you both do that, I'm going to visit dad," I stated, getting to my feet as if no one would oppose.

Though my mother's eyes widened as she quickly blurted, "Your father is out on business right now."

"Where is he?" I asked. Because he never normally went anywhere. It wasn't part of his job as a scientist... And if he needed a specific material for whatever he was researching, he had assistants to do such menial work.

"China. He has an important meeting with some... potential investors."

"He does?" I pressed, all the while my brain wondered why they had investors.

Mum nodded, one eyebrow cocked as if to say, So sit back down.

So then I hit her with, "Well, I'll be right back then. I need to use the bathroom."

Unable to counter that one, my mum's lips tightened before she mumbled, "Use the one in the foyer. Our others are out of order."

It was clearly a lie, and we both knew it. If my mother could steal memories from people, she could most definitely fix a toilet with a flick of her hand. Nonetheless, I heard the threat in her tone, so I didn't question her. I just said, "Noted."

Then I ducked out of the room.

The moment I closed the door though, the heartbeats and breaths of the women behind me disappeared. She's definitely got a noise cancelling spell going both ways. Interesting.

Glancing at my watch, I knew I had ten minutes tops to get what I needed. Judging by what my mother said, the memory spell she did was a simple one. There'd be a bit of set up in the magic to unlock the memory hidden in Olivia's mind, a moment for Olivia to recall it, and then a few minutes of questions Olivia would probably have...

I have to work quickly, I decided.

Not wanting to be suspected though, rather than heading towards the bathroom, I went straight for the front desk. The fewer eyes I had on my whereabouts the better.

"That was quick," Katharine started to say. "Why are you already—"

But I was already casting mind magic into my eyes, cutting her question short with, "Katherine, I'm feeling awfully hungry. Would you mind fetching me a bottle of blood pills? If I'm not here when you're back, I'm just in the bathroom, so leave them on the counter, and I'll grab them on my way back to my mum."

"Of course, Lukas," she replied flatly before leaving her post in a daze.

The moment she was out of sight, I hit the buzzer at her desk that opened the doors to the laboratories and ran.

Katherine would need only a couple of minutes to go to the breakroom to fetch the pills and make it back to her desk. And by the time she suspects I'm not in the bathroom, she will check the CCTV and realise what I had done. It was no secret anymore what I could do after I confessed everything to my mother in the wake of Olivia's leave.

It was a long shot that I'd find what we'd need in this amount of time, but it was the only option I saw with mum so guarded. I wished I could have alerted Olivia to my plan, but for some reason, I sensed she knew. Or had the same sort of idea, which was why she didn't seem surprised by my sudden disappearance.

Besides, the less Olivia knew about my whereabouts the better. Because if my mum tried to bewitch her to find out our real plan, she wouldn't be able to tell her.

Though my stewing thoughts were cut short as I glanced into the rooms along the long corridor.

My steps began to slow the further I went.

Because every window nestled in the doors that I peered through showed vacant rooms.

Most of the labs were empty. The scientists were gone; the tables, petri dishes, microscopes, all equipment were cleared out; the traces of all studies were removed.

If there's nothing left here... then what's so secretive? And what's left to invest in? I couldn't help but wonder.

I continued further, searching for a sign of life. Of information. Of anything.

But once I reached the end of the hallway, there was nothing. No one. Just one last door that led to the records room.

Please don't be empty, I couldn't help but plead as my hand gripped the handle.

Of course, the door was locked. But it took no effort to force my magic through the lock and jimmy the door open. And once it swung out of my sight, my heart sighed in relief.

The room was in complete disarray. Boxes flowing with paper were haphazardly placed around the room, no longer in their place on the shelves. Clearly this room had been raided recently. But why?

Though as curious as I was, I didn't have time to seek the answer to that question and find any information on a cure. So I redirected my attention towards scanning the boxes. All had been hurriedly labelled with a marker as 'Cancelled'.

As in, are the studies now cancelled?

Shaking the question, I focussed again for details that would help me.

The boxes had also been neatly labelled with dates. So I narrowed them down to the decades that the study may have taken place.

Glancing at my phone, I noticed I had already been gone for five minutes. I don't have time to look through that many years... There's got to be a spell to make this easier.

And so, as a last hope, I dialled Erica, hoping, praying she'd pick up.

Ring.

My heart pounded in my chest.

Ring.

My palms went clammy with desperation.

Ring.

My throat had gone dry as I counted the unanswered calls.

Ri—

"Calling so soon?" she answered.

Thank you. "I don't have time to explain. What's a spell to locate something quickly?"

Though Ri merely sighed before reprimanding me with, "I should ask Jayce if we can send you back to high school to educate you about your magic."

"Yeah, yeah. Scold me later about needing to study. Just please. Quickly. I don't have time."

"Very well. What you need to do is..."

I didn't even say goodbye after she finished telling me the spell. I simply hung up the call, slipped the phone back in my pocket, and started summoning the documents.

Please be in here, I thought as I worked through the incantation.

The boxes around me rattled.

The paper shuffled.

And when I had almost lost hope, finally a paper from a box up the back came flying out towards me.

Snatching it from the air, eyes quickly skimmed the contents to ascertain if it was remotely close to what I was looking for.

And when I was sure it was, I read the report more closely.

Title: Project Made

Status: Cancelled

Aim: Study aims to determine whether vampires can be made by infecting humans as part of Operation Eradicate Non-Mutants.

Project notes:

Made Bacteria Batch 1 developed, though in vitro test shows no activity on human cells.

...

Test subject 1 shows no change after injected by Made Bacteria Batch 62.

...

Test subject 64 died one hour after being injected by Made Bacteria Batch...

...

Test subject 652 drained test subject 654 after five days of infection. Mades thus far are incapable of working together. Made Bacteria Batch 1024 disqualified.

...

Test subjects 743, 744, 745, 746, and 747 were released from the facility by Dr Rüdiger Fuller for unknown reasons. Subjects were unable to be captured. Study was immediately cancelled after Dr Fuller's death.

My lips pressed together as I read the final note. So it wasn't a planned release... What was my uncle trying to achieve? Also... Stephen said they're only in London. How were they programmed to go only there? Nothing in this document explains it. Finally... why didn't my parents chase them down and stop their spread if they weren't the envisioned final creation?

But as I flipped the page, I realised why.

Cure Notes:

Made Cure Batch 1 on Subject 500 failed.

Made Cure Batch 2 on Subject 501 failed.

Made Cure Batch 3 on Subject 502 failed.

Made Cure study ceased under orders of Facility Director. Studies to resume after a successful Made Bacteria can be created.

They planned to create a cure... but never did. This was just a project that was unfinished and released by Rüdiger for who knows what reason.

Glancing up from the paper, I looked around at the boxes again as I started to piece together an answer to my earlier queries.

Are they clearing out the facility in the wake of Rüdiger's death and really just keeping Stephen out of this given his grief? Or maybe because they don't have the heart to tell him that his profession he spent his life on instead of living with his son was about to disappear?

I started to justify my mother's hesitancy as I turned on my heel, deflated and ready to leave this place as I realised we had an even bigger mission ahead of us without a cure already established. But as I walked towards the door, a lone box at the end of the shelf caught my eye... because it wasn't marked with 'cancelled'.

It has to be an oversight, I first thought as I stepped towards it. But the date etched in the corner began this year, with the dash after it still awaiting the end date.

I started to edge out the first piece of paper from the box to see what project they might still be working on—the one that Stephen insisted existed—but I was only able to skim the top of the page before the door flew open and a frantic Katherine stood there, panting with fury.

"Did you seriously use mind magic on me, Lukas Fuller?" she demanded.

Though before she could continue to scold me, I dropped the paper back in the box and started to convince her that she was merely taking me to get blood pills this whole time before walking with her back towards the foyer. Because if I stayed any longer, my mum was bound to come looking for me, and I couldn't have her finding me in the records room. Mind magic wouldn't work on her.

I tampered with Katherine's memory of the past fifteen minutes, crafting a narrative about how she got me pills and grilled me about who I was seeing these days before I started to head back to the room I left my mother and Olivia in. But all the while, lingering in my mind was what I read on that last report.

Project Infection

Status: Ongoing

Aim: Study aims to create a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that spreads through airborne particles, is highly infectious, and has a higher mortality rate than the flu as Stage 2 of Operation Eradicate Non-Mutants.