Jamie POV
My efforts before had exhausted me. I hadn't realised how much until I had let go and the urge to sleep had almost overwhelmed me. I mulled over what I had learned. What they were doing to her was deeply disturbing. I wasn't sure how much more she could take, or if she would still be the same once it was over.
I had spent the majority of my life surrounded my trained killers and I had never experienced the level of inhumane cruelty shown by that doctor. It was evil; there was no other way to describe it. I felt sick. I was so powerless, trapped here in this cell, unable to help her.
I drifted into an uneasy sleep for a time, before being startled awake by someone shoving some food through a small slot in the door. The tray and cutlery were cheap plastic and I wasn't completely sure what the food was supposed to be. Some kind of loaf thing with some vegetables that had probably seen better days. Regardless, I wolfed it down, suddenly ravenous. It had been a while since I'd last eaten. I wasn't sure how long; there was no way to tell the time. The lights always stayed relentlessly on, as if these people were more afraid of what lurked on the dark than they cared to admit.
Once I'd eaten I felt marginally better. Walking to the door of my cell, I pressed my face to the small window. I could see the side profile of a guard standing to the right, almost out of view. The rest of the corridor was silent and empty. I wondered what was behind the other doors that broke the wall at regular intervals.
"Hey, could you tell me what the time is?" I called to the guard. He was silent. "Could you tell me what the time is?" I asked again, trying to see if I could get a response. Nothing. I tried a different approach. "This is illegal you know, I should get a lawyer, or at least a god damned phone call."
His head turned towards me just a fraction of an inch, revealing one dark eye. The colouring was wrong, but his expression reminded me of Sam when he was punishing someone who had done something stupid. "I am not permitted to talk to you. Please move away from the door." He turned away again.
I sighed, going to slump on the bed again. I doubted I would get much more out of him. It was stupid of me to miss Sam but I did. Although I had eventually realised how prejudiced and cruel he really was, he was still the man who had pretty much raised me. His loss was made worse by the flickers of guilt when I remembered how exactly he had died. It didn't matter how many times I told myself it wasn't my fault, I was still the one that pulled the trigger first. I put it out of my mind; it wouldn't help to dwell on it. He wouldn't have been impressed by the current situation at all. If he was the one locked in, he would most likely be shouting and threatening anything that moved. I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere though, they would probably just get satisfaction from watching me suffer.
A while later I heard footsteps in the corridor. There was a quiet conversation and my door was opened. I cautiously watched the three guards and they entered. The first one, a man almost as tall as me with sandy coloured hair, handed me a pair of handcuffs. "Put these on."
Seeing no other choice I obeyed. They took me from the room and back to the lift. We went back up one floor and along a similar corridor to an interrogation room. It was similar to the one they had first put me in. A simple table and chairs in the middle and what I could only assume was a two way mirror running down one side. I wondered who stood behind it. They made me sit at the table, fixing my handcuffs to a heavy chain.
A couple of minutes later two people entered. One of them was the agent who had first questioned me, the other was Dr White. My eyes narrowed in hatred, I don't think I had ever seriously wanted to kill a human before. Although, I thought the term human should probably be used loosely in her case. She examined my expression critically, and I realised she would not know that I knew what she had been doing.
"We have some further questions for you." The agent said formally. He looked more tired that when I had first seen him. The bags under his eyes looked heavier. I caught a glimpse of a shiny balding spot on his head as he sat opposite me. The doctor remained standing behind him.
I leaned back and tried to stare at them impassively. "Go ahead."
He gave me a critical look, "The doctor has had a chance to test your blood. It showed that you are not infected."
"You knew that already." I retorted.
"It had to be confirmed. There were however some other anomalies..."
I tensed. "Like what?"
I sensed him skirt my question, "We located the group you were previously affiliated with. Or... at least what we could find of them. They didn't speak very highly of you." I said nothing; I could imagine very well what they would think of me.
He continued, "We have learnt that they had access to some kind of vampire derived drug. What do you know about this?"
"There is no way." I said incredulously, "They would not touch anything vampire related. They wouldn't be on drugs either." I added as an afterthought, "That was not allowed."
"Perhaps they were called something else?" He said smoothly, "Performance helpers? Vitamin supplements?"
No way, I thought, the vampire issue was still a no go. I had never seen anything suspicious. We did occasionally take vitamin supplements before working out or heavy training, but that was all they were. The kind of things you could buy in any health shop on the high street, not the kind of things you would buy from some cloaked figure in a back alley... although Sam was the one in charge of ordering new supplies. I shook my head.
He looked slightly irritated, "We have evidence of them in your blood."
"What?" Shock rippled through me, "How? What is the effect?"
It was the doctor that answered me, "The substance... appears to be derived from a compound taken originally from vampire blood. It does not cause infection like the blood on its own, but it may have some effects."
"Like what?" I demanded.
She raised an eyebrow, no doubt pleased at getting a reaction from me. "Possibly a small increase in strength, endurance... that type of thing. You might also have experienced slightly accelerated healing, although the effect might be too small to notice."
"How long would this last?" My voice came out sounding a little thick.
"That is unknown; there is not enough research to indicate what the long term effects would be."
I pushed my alarm aside to focus on what was more important. "Where did they get this substance? They couldn't have made it themselves, and there is no way they knew what was in it. They wouldn't have touched it otherwise."
The agent took just slightly too long to answer. "We were hoping you could tell us."
A suspicion started to form in my mind. How many people did I know that had money and power, and also liked to experiment on vampires for a living? This facility looked far too established to have been created as recently as vampires becoming public. I bet they knew about them for much longer. I decided not to share my suspicions; it would only get me in more trouble.
"I don't know anything." I said coolly. "I would like to speak to a lawyer... and I want a phone call."
They tried to question me further but I was done. I wasn't playing their games anymore. It was illegal what they were doing and they knew it. They could make arguments about humanity when it came to Jade, but they couldn't deny that I was human. I had rights.
Eventually they both withdrew from the room, leaving me sitting there alone. After what seemed like an eternity the same guards as before entered. The lead one spoke. "Come with us."
When we left the room, to my surprise we headed along the corridor, instead of directly towards the lift. Rounding a corner they took me to a small bank of pay phones. Huh, they really were giving me a phone call? They must have no other choice. Now it got to it, I wasn't sure who to even call. The one person I fully trusted was in here with me. I made a compromise, calling someone who I hoped would be able to do something about this mess, but was also clever enough to get out of danger if the call was traced. The phone rang for a long time. I chewed my lip anxiously waiting for them to pick up.
"Hello?" The voice was suspicious, revealing nothing.
"Beatrice? This is Jamie." I said.
"Jamie!" Her surprise was obvious. "Where are you? What is going on? Jade?"
I wasn't sure how to answer all of her questions, time was limited. "I don't know where we are, some kind of government facility. They won't let us out but they finally agreed to give me a phone call. I need you to work on getting a lawyer or something; I don't know what else to do."
"Ok. Jade?" She asked again.
I couldn't tell her what I knew, I was certain they were listening. "She isn't good. We are separated; there are a lot of floors in this place."
"Ok, sit tight for now, we are working on getting you out." I heard understanding in her voice, she knew I couldn't talk. She turned more business-like. "Did they read you your rights when you were arrested? Do they have any hard evidence that you have actually done anything illegal?"
The phone warned me I was running out of time.
"No they didn't and I don't know, I don't think so. They just sprouted some rubbish about associating with vampires." I sighed angrily.
"Right." Her voice was hard. "We're getting you out of there."
The phone chose that minute to disconnect. I stared at it in annoyance for a second before hanging it back up. The guard that led me back down to my cell was silent. The second the door closed I went to the bed and sat down. Closing my eyes I reached out to Jade.
The connection was much quicker this time; I sensed she had been trying to reach for me for a while. I felt her relief.
"Jamie!"
"Are you ok?" I asked, worried.
"As well as can be expected. The doctor has been occupied with you for a while."
"You were listening?" I guessed.
"Yes..."
I felt her remember the interview from her perspective. She couldn't see it obviously, but she could hear the different voices. I felt her comparing the new information with her memories. She remembered various incidents where she had been surprised when fighting with some of the hunters. Some of them had been slightly stronger than expected. Even I had recovered from things quicker than she was used to seeing. She has originally brushed it off not seeing it as anything relevant. She had assumed we were just in the upper variations of the norm, slightly impressive but still just human.
"Perhaps it was something more..." she mused, "It would make sense."
"Maybe." I begrudgingly admitted.
Her thoughts turned to Beatrice, "Did she sound all right?" She asked. She had only heard my side of the conversation.
"Yes, I didn't ask her any questions about what was going on. I figure the less the people here know the better."
"Yes, you did well."
I only hoped Beatrice was true to her word, and she did something soon.