What Ruby called an office was in actuality a small botanical garden, filled with any type of plant you could think of. Verdant leaves covered the glass walls, leaving small patches of sunlight creeping through. Three was an overwhelming smell of spring even though it was the coldest of winters. The pollen in the air was enough to trigger Ava's allergies, making her sneeze as they took their seat in front of the desk.

The red-eyed woman leaned on her desk pouring herself a pint of blood in a chalice made of a human skull, with intricate patterns carved into it. It was an artifact that Lynn found rather distasteful.

"Your name is Lynn, right?" Said Ruby, offering him a drink, that he politely declined. "Marcus has told me a lot about you. He is a very bright child, isn't he? " she chuckled. "Well, I say child even though he is a year older than me. I've come to understand that you are the one who turned him."

"I'm not here to talk about the boy." Said Lynn with a guilty look. "Not exactly. As you may know, there is a surplus of rogue vampires roaming the streets. They were all once clan members. Are you by any chance responsible for them?"

"Oh, that?" She waved her hand dismissively. "It was simply the easiest way to take out rival gangs. Rogues are much stronger than regular vampires. I used my special ability to program them so they would only listen to me and my right-hand man."

Lynn narrowed his eyes, leaning forward with his fingers crossed. The nonchalant way she spoke about something so heinous bothered him, but he tried to control his temper.

"Why use our own? These vampires were your family."

"Family? They were traitors." Her expression went sour. "Every one of them refused to pledge loyalty to their new leader. Instead of killing them, I decided to make use of their built-up anger." She looked down at her chalice while swirling the blood in it before downing it down. Her crimson eyes were fixated on Ava as she wiped her mouth. That girl was perhaps the only person whose eyes showed warmth for.

"Those people hoarded in the rooms below us. They are not here of their own volition, are they?" Ava asked.

"Not all of them. The ones we inject with drugs usually come knocking on our door out of desperation. We give them their fix and in exchange, we extract their blood so we can sell it at a higher price on the black market. Anything else you want to know?"

The two of them stood silent for a moment. Ava almost regretted asking her question. Her memories from their childhood friendship were hazy, but she never in a million years thought that her old friend would turn out like this. It made her wish they never had their reunion. At least not like this.

Lynn was at a loss of words after what he learned. Was it his older self, he would no doubt plunge into a fight to avenge his old comrades, but right now he didn't want to risk it. Losing his temper would potentially put Ava's life in jeopardy and that was a threat he wasn't willing to take. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before opening his mouth again.

"Thank you for your time. If you don't mind we will be taking our leave. I just have one more question for you." He looked her in the eyes. "Where is Edwin?"

Ruby gave him a confused look, pursing her lips and raising an eyebrow. She scratched her head pretending to think.

"What do you mean where is Edwin? He is right here in this room." Said Ruby.

"He's here?" Lynn let his annoyance slip through his voice.

"Take a closer look. You could say he's been staring at you this whole time." She poured another pint in her chalice. The chalice was shaped like a skull, the canines of which were distinctively longer and sharper than the ones of a human.

This realization hit Lynn like a storm. His heart sank, eyes widened, teeth clenched in a fearsome grimace. His blood was boiling as he struggled to keep his cool.

"You whore!"

These were the last words leaving his mouth before he jumped from his seat and towards the red-eyed woman. He packed enough force into his fist to break a concrete wall. Every fiber in his body brimming with hatred, he couldn't wait any longer to tear her to shreds and purge the earth from her existence.

To his surprise she didn't flinch or back away, but simply seized his fist in her palm without any effort as if she had caught a tennis ball. H
Showed her unwavering sinister smile as she crushed every bone in his hand. Blinded by fury, Lynn ignored the pain and continued fighting.

The rest of it happened so fast, that Ava's eyes could barely track their movements. The next thing she knew - her boyfriend was lying face down on the floor, straining every muscle in his body to get back up. His limbs were dislocated, his face - covered in blood, his broken fingers were trembling as he pointlessly struggled to move forward. He felt Ruby's boot pressing on top of his head, hard enough to pierce the skull with her heel.

"Now I have a question for you pretty boy." Said Ruby. "Can you give me one good reason not to rip out your spinal cord and beat you with it?" Her voice was calm but malicious.

Lynn was in too much pain to muster a coherent answer. The broken ribs penetrating his lungs rendered him unable to form words. It was about time he lost consciousness from the agony he was in.

"Please don't kill him!" Ava fell to her knees next to him with tears filling her eyes as she begged the woman to spare him.

"Kill? No, I have better plans for him." Said Ruby, lifting her boot off his head and then yelling: "Syd! Elenor! Take him to the attic with the other traitors!"

The two came in and discarded Lynn's motionless body without saying a word. Everyone in the dining hall was probably already aware of what happened given the commotion. Syd could barely keep himself from smirking when they dragged him out. Ava could swear she heard him chuckle as they closed the door behind them.
Now she was left alone with that woman, the color drained from her face as she stood there frozen in fear and shock.

Her ears filled with noise. She was unable to think, unable to breathe. It was as if her mind was transferred to a different realm. She went back to her senses when she felt Ruby's cold gentle hand caress her cheek.

"Stay away from me!" She screamed upon pulling away from her touch. "You monster!"

"This is not quite the reunion I expected." Sighed Ruby with her arms crossed, expressing disapproval. "How could you say such harsh words to your best friend in the world? You don't know how much time I spent searching for you."

"Friend? What makes you think we're friends?!"

"I helped you get out of that awful research lab. We would have spent the rest of our days living as guinea pigs if it wasn't for me. Isn't that what friends are for?"

"You killed them! Our siblings... the research team... you slaughtered every one of them."

"No, Sellen. You did."

Ava's face went even whiter than before, now showing notes of confusion. Her first thought was that the woman was playing mind games to put her in even more distress. She still couldn't believe she was speaking to the same person she knew ten years ago.

"But of course, you don't remember" continued Ruby. "I sealed away your memories for you. Perhaps it is time to give them back." She came closer, putting her palms on Ava's shoulders. "Look into my eyes..."