Thicker than Blood

17. Geordi

CHAPTER 17

Geordi

A fter driving back from Elias’s home, I sit in the parking lot of the lab with a sleeping Enyo beside me. He spent five minutes gushing over how Jagger turned him inside out then practically passed out. I’m kind of thankful. I want to talk about it, but I’m also messed up. I willingly broke a major rule, and I can’t say it wasn’t a thousand percent worth it.

I need to go up to the lab and figure out what’s going on with the vaccine that makes it wear off so quickly, but I’m not as motivated as I was. The less logical side of me, the one fascinated by lore and myth, is nudging me to dig deeper into things I generally block out. Like having sex with vampires.

Someone made the rule, and that someone must know how addictive it is, or else why would they have decided it’s dangerous?

Enyo stirs, blinking slowly as he realizes where we are. “Ugh. Dude. Why are we at work?”

“Because there’s work to do.”

“I don’t feel good.”

“You just need to rest, I’m sure.”

He shakes his head, sitting up slightly. “No. It’s something else.”

“I suppose it could be a side effect of the vaccine. Maybe you should go home.”

Enyo cringes as his face goes pale right before my eyes. “Yeah. I might hurl.”

“Come upstairs for now. You can lie on the cot in my office so I can keep an eye on you.”

He nods. “Yeah, okay. Good idea in case I turn into a zombie or something.”

“I really doubt that’s going to happen.”

“Says everyone in every zombie movie ever.”

I snort and open my car door. “Come on, you.”

I help Enyo upstairs as he seems to get sicker with each step. He hasn’t actually vomited yet, but I’m more than a little worried.

“Uh, did Jagger feed from you?”

Enyo nods. “You think that’s it? He took too much?”

“Blood loss would make you weak and dizzy, and it would happen right away. It’s been several hours since you took the vaccine and at least thirty minutes since we left Elias’s place.”

“No clue then. You feel fine though, right? You took the vaccine too.”

“Yes, but I’m starting to think there’s something different about when I take it. I just don’t know what yet.”

“Oh god.” He moans, gripping his stomach. “Cramps.”

“Shoot.”

I manage to get him upstairs and into my office, where I help him lie down then hurry off to get him some bottled water. When I return, Enyo is sweating heavily and breathing hard. I help him drink the water, but he acts like it’s hot tea and can barely handle it.

“I wonder if I should give you the anecdote.”

Enyo shakes his head. “Not taking anything else.”

“Geordi?”

I turn sharply towards Meredith’s voice. What is she doing here?

“Stay here, okay, Enyo?”

He nods, curling up in the fetal position.

I hurry into the main lab to find Meredith. “Hi.”

She tilts her head. “What’s going on?”

“Uh, nothing. Enyo has a stomachache. Can I help you?”

She glances around the lab. “Where is Ronald?”

“I have no idea. Is he supposed to be here?”

“I dropped him off early and gave him materials to read. I assumed you’d be in soon.”

“I haven’t seen him. I was… taking care of an errand and then I picked Enyo up and um… Is it hot in here?”

“No. It’s never hot in here. Are you okay?”

Grabbing my collar, I flutter it to create a slight breeze. “Just warm.”

“Are you and Enyo coming down with something?”

“Always a possibility.” I should come clean. I really ought to. “Um, Mere, I have something?—”

I’m interrupted by the sound of Meredith’s cell phone trilling. She raises her index finger to me as she answers. She focuses her serious gaze on me, her expression morphing from indifference to annoyance to… is that fear?

She hurries over to the bank of windows and pulls up a blind. “Fuck.”

I walk over too and peer out, shocked by the chaos happening on the street below. Cars sit in a tangle as their drivers shout at each other, while several people seem to be making out right on the sidewalk in front of everyone. I look over across the interaction to see a pile of men who seem to be wrestling, but then one of them starts pulling his clothes off and it morphs into something that should be happening at Paradiso, not on the main street in town.

“What’s going on?”

Meredith closes her flip phone. “This is happening all over. Something’s wrong. Like, is something in the air? Or the water supply? What’s making people act like this?”

Police cars show up and officers pile out trying to calm the people. The door to my office opens at that moment and Enyo leans against the frame. His hair is damp with sweat, his skin pale and clammy looking, but the pose he’s striking looks like he’s trying to be seductive.

“Hey, boo,” he purrs to no one in particular. “You should come over here.”

“Who are you talking to like that?” Meredith asks.

“Doesn’t matter.” Enyo chuckles. “Or we can go see Jagger again.” He nods and then moans. “Yeah, take me to see Jagger.”

“Who is Jagger?”

“Uh, shit.” The vaccine. But how could it be affecting other people? “Give me a minute.”

I hurry over to the mini fridge where I keep the batch I made. My jaw drops when I open it and find it empty. “How…?” I twist around to Meredith. “You left Ronald here alone?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Something is missing. It’s very important. We need to look at the security footage.”

“Okay, but he would never do anything like that.”

“Maybe someone followed him or he invited someone over. He could be in danger.”

I cross the room and unlock my computer, hitting a series of keys to pull up the security footage. Enyo slinks over to me, draping himself on my back and trying to kiss my neck while I work. I bat at him like a fly and smile awkwardly at Meredith who’s watching the interaction with a confused expression.

I rewind the tapes to start when I left and watch. About an hour after we left earlier, Meredith enters with Bernard and Ronald. She’s clearly showing Ronald around and then she hands him a stack of binders.

I fast forward a little and there it is. Ronald checks the outer door window to ensure he’s alone and then proceeds to open every cabinet and drawer, clearly looking for something as he reads labels. He ignores the many blood and saliva samples taken from vampires. After a few minutes he stands in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips, and then he sees it—the mini fridge I keep at my station.

We watch in horrified silence as he opens it, reads the container, smiles, and tucks the whole container into his backpack. He grabs a box of syringes and shoves them in his bag too. After taking a few minutes to rifle through the papers on my desk, he seems to give up, looks around once more, then slips out of the lab.

“He stole my vaccine.”

Meredith pokes my arm. “What?”

Suddenly everything starts to slot into place. The way Enyo is acting, the people outside doing bizarre things.

“Oh gods.” I rub my forehead.

“Geordi,” Meredith says, gripping my shoulders as Enyo attempts to dry hump me from behind. “Do I have a serious problem on my hands?”

I nod. “I’m afraid so.”