One Bite

Chapter 4-7

One common behavior, no matter where I went, was the staring eyes. My fingers strangled around my access badge at the sudden draw of attention. After the pad of my index finger ran over the badge's hard, plastic edge for reassurance, I withdrew my hand and rested it near my side.

"Everyone is staring at you," Rose whispered into my ear as we continued down the hallway behind Meredith.

"Nothing new." I sighed at the wide-eyed stares from more people in lab coats.

While I was used to curiosity from how different I seemed to look, and stood out in a crowd with my pale skin and long, cornsilk-blonde hair, the attention at the lab was borderline celebrity-like.

And not in a good way.

Meredith turned left at a fork in the main corridor, where a brushed chrome sign indicated we headed in the direction of the manufacturing plant. Her black hair swished behind her small frame as she led us down a maze of corridors, corners, and hallways until Rose and I stood at a wall of glass windows and stared at the sight behind them.

Two stories below us was a factory, with sleek, silver machines, angled assembly line treads, and the familiar blue and white 'Lykaios' labels on boxes of my family's last name.

Lumi twitched in the back of my mind at seeing more glass syringes than I could count. The factory looked like it stopped in mid-production, with half the belts covered with empty syringes and boxes and not a single worker in sight.

"What happened?" I tried not to breathe condensation onto the glass window.

"All of this year's annual vaccines have already been distributed to the packs." Meredith examined me closely, so I masked the uncomfortable emotions that swirled inside of me.

"Are they going to make more?" Rose asked from the other side of me.

"Hopefully," was the curious response. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose's eyes darted to me but she remained silent.

"Miss Rose," Meredith spoke as if I wasn't right in between them. "You've seen the production factory, so you should make your way back to Dr. Edwards."

Rose's hand brushed against mine. "But -"

"I insist," Meredith clipped and crossed her arms over her chest. Dressed in her crisp, black suit, her small frame projected an air of finality even when her eyes glazed over.

Rose and I turned away from the glass, only to be met with two security escorts that I recognized from the metal entrance doors. Rose's wide eyes met mine and we didn't need to mindlink to read each other's expressions.

I nodded at her, who flashed a tight smile. Her expression hardened as she followed the security guards in the direction opposite of where we came from.

My nostrils twitched and flared once Meredith and I stood alone. "Was that really necessary?"

"I think so," was her terse response. She turned and headed down the opposite direction Rose was led, then scoffed over her shoulder. "If you want answers, you're not going to find any standing in a hallway."

Curling my fingers inward, my hands balled at my sides.

All this cryptic, suggestive talk is really starting to grate my nerves.

I followed Meredith past multiple glass-walled rooms, where scientists worked away on computers, peered at microscope lenses, and studied machines that hummed away with activity. With every room we passed, curious glances and hushed conversations greeted me. After ten minutes, Meredith led me into a small, windowless, room with a small, white round table and three chairs.