Andrelle and Red sat at an otherwise empty table, enjoying the fine food of the five star restaurant.  Andrelle sliced into her steak, the juices from the meat shot out onto her hand as she did so.  She slowly raised her hand to her mouth, and looked at Red, who was staring at her with a face of half disgust.  She slowly sucked the juices from her hand, seductively looking into Red’s eyes. 

He put down his silverware and scooted his chair back, “I think I lost my appetite.” 

Andrelle chuckled to herself, “What?  You don’t like steak?” 

Red shook his head, “No, it’s not that.”  Red rubbed his neck, “How can you suck the blood out of people and not be disgusted?” 

Andrelle raised her head and looked Red directly in the eyes, “After a while, you enjoy it.”  She licked her lips.  She enjoyed tormenting the psychic; as it seemed to be his fate with all women. 

Red scooted back and put his hand over his mouth. “I need to go to the bathroom.”  He stood and walked off to the stairway that they climbed earlier.  As he was about to descend he took one last look at Andrelle. 

She smiled and called over to him, “You would so enjoy being one of us!”  She turned back to her steak and laughed.  The man was easily frightened, but she thought he was kind of cute.

Red swallowed hard and took off towards the bathroom.  He descended to the main floor and asked a waiter where the restroom was.  The only restroom was located out of the dining room and in the lobby.  So Red trekked back to the lobby once more.

Ra’ul was still behind the desk seating the customers.  Red looked off to the far side of the lobby and saw the restroom sign.  He pushed his way past a group of three men in trench coats. “Sorry sir,” he looked up to the one nearest him. 

The man smiled, revealing two long fangs at the sides of his mouth. “Don’t worry about it.”  The man turned back to his comrades and joined in their conversation. 

Red stood thinking for a second, and then he scurried to the restroom.  The man looked familiar, almost like the vampire at the warehouse.  He had not stayed to see if all the vamps were killed.  Joseph and Andrelle didn’t confirm that all the vampires were taken care of either.  They tried to get out of the warehouse rather quickly.  Red walked up to the sink and rinsed his hands, looking up in the mirror with sudden realization.

The man in the lobby was the vampire from the warehouse.

Agent Flaurence sat in a large chair overlooking the surveillance room.  He was looking out onto a large wall of monitors. The room was located right off of the restaurant on the main floor. Several other men in various suits and street clothes sat around monitoring the screens as well, stopping occasionally to make notes about suspicious people.  It looked more like an evil villain’s lair of henchmen, than a room of security guards.  

Mr. Tentin sat beside Agent Flaurence answering the questions that Joseph brought forward.  The restaurant was quite large and held many security cameras, most of which seemed to be placed on the outside of the building.  Joseph could see the fountains and road out in front of the restaurant.  Several alleys and a parking garage were visible on some of the cameras.  Then a few more were in the lobby and dining room.  One more caught Joe’s eye.  It was an office with several glass displays full of ancient artifacts.

Mr. Tentin spoke up and pointed to a monitor that showed several couples eating “See that man there,” He pointed to a gentleman in a plaid coat.

“Yes.  What about him?” Agent Flaurence was puzzled about why this man was pointed out. 

“He is a sleeper agent.  We have several in the restaurant dining right now.” 

Agent Flaurence leaned back in his chair. “So this place really is safe, huh?”  Safe.  A word Joseph hardly used in conversation.

Mr. Tentin grinned at the comment, “For the most part.  Mr. Bartlett keeps a tight watch on things, in case anything unnatural comes in.” 

Agent Flaurence was puzzled at the comment, “So you know all about the things that go bump in the night?”  Hardly anyone knew that their nightmares were actually true, and they lurked around every corner.

Mr. Tentin smiled, he was quite happy that Agent Flaurence underestimated the restaurant’s security so much, “Yes, we all do here.”  He leaned back in his chair. “Everyone is trained to spot and kill anything unnatural that enters here.”  Mr. Tentin chuckled to himself, “Only humans allowed.” 

A monitor then showed to the table Joseph had been dining at.  Andrelle sat there with Red.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

“Except for your friend there,” Mr. Tentin pointed at Andrelle, “She’s been allowed in by Mr. Bartlett.” 

Agent Flaurence nodded. “How many men are stationed here at the restaurant?” 

Mr. Tentin pulled up a clipboard with a chart held on it, “Well,” he looked it over for a quick second before speaking again. “It looks like there are fifty-four here tonight.”  He flipped over the page and scanned it with his finger, “There are thirty-four on duty and twenty off duty, probably on the guard’s floor sleeping or relaxing.” 

Agent Flaurence rubbed his head, realizing that this was probably the safest place on the Earth, if they could trust Mr. Bartlett.  “You have a small army here, is what you’re saying?” 

Mr. Tentin put his clipboard down and stood. “Yeah just about.  Mr. Bartlett likes it that way.  He keeps us updated with the latest equipment, and we keep his assets secure.”  He walked over to the nearest guard and chatted with him for a second. 

Joseph looked up at the monitor.  Andrelle was talking to Red, who then stood and started walking away toward the stairs.  She must have said something to disgust him, with the look on his face.  He didn’t seem pleased. 

Mr. Tentin came back to his seat next to Joseph, “This place isn’t just a restaurant either.  The basement holds some very powerful, dangerous stuff.” 

Joseph leaned forward at the comment. “Like what?” 

Mr. Tentin smiled, “That is quite a secret.  Not even I know that.”  Mr. Tentin then looked back to the monitors, “Mr. B keeps the stuff off the streets, and several organizations pay him handsomely.”

 “Tentin! I have something in the lobby.”  The guard turned a large portion of the monitors to the lobby cameras.  Joseph saw Red entering the lobby. 

Mr. Tentin stared at the monitors for a moment, and then spoke. “What am I looking at, Folesom?”

Joseph could see Red walking towards a group of three men. 

The guard spoke up again, “These three men here.”  Joseph watched as Red bumped into one on accident. 

Mr. Tentin watched the screen intently, “What about them?  They look like dinner guests.” 

Folesom spoke up again, “That’s what I thought, until they arrived in a white van.  The windows were blacked out.”  Folesom them flipped a switch that turned the screen blue.  The guest all showed up as red blobs, giving off heat signatures the camera was picking up.  “Then I thermal scanned them.” 

The three men didn’t show up on the monitors.  They blended in seamlessly with the blue screen.  “You see what I see, Sir?”

Mr. Tentin whispered to himself, “Vampires.  I hate vampires.”  Mr. Tentin stood and walked over to Folesom, “Keep an eye on them.  If anything out of the ordinary happens, evacuate the guests and neutralize the vamps.” 

Folesome nodded and pulled up a headset.  He started speaking into the microphone. 

Joseph stood.  He was puzzled at what was happening, “I thought only humans were allowed in here?” 

Mr. Tentin joined Joseph’s side again. “Yes that’s true. Folesom is putting out an alert.” 

Folesome soon spoke up, “Orders from Mr. B.  He said to let them in.”  Mr. Tentin nodded in acknowledgement.

Joseph watched the screen as it turned back to normal.  Red turned to a vampire with long flowing hair, and a fresh scar across his face, and said something.  The vamp smiled and said something back, which made Red hurry to what looked like the bathroom. 

Joseph realized it was the vampire that got away from Andrelle and him at the warehouse.  He forgot to tell his partners at the docks what had happened and now they were followed here.  He swallowed hard, “What’s next?” 

Mr. Tentin grinned, “The good part.”  He sat back down. “We wait for their move.”

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