The visit to the wardens was mostly quick. They had remembered the Menings complaints but found no obvious wrong doings. As such, they simply confirmed that Tina had willingly converted and left it at that.

  They were more curious about who exactly the trio were as they did not recognize the name ‘Magical Integration Department’. Atum had mostly brushed them off, simply conveying they were legitimate and to quickly hand over any information they had regarding the vampire conversions.

  Rotan was not used to this much walking in one day and had completely internalized Atum’s earlier advice.

  Ugh, I should have left the suit jacket in the office. Is Meena not feeling uncomfortable in hers?

  Apparently not, as the tall woman easily kept up with Atum throughout the day.

  It was afternoon now and they had stopped at a bench to rest a bit and also review what they knew.

  “Hmm, so nothing new about Tina, as expected.” said Atum. “But she’s not the only one apparently.”

  The warden who had passed on the information to them had mentioned that there were more young vampires there than he expected. Like Tina though, they had all willingly converted so nothing seemed too untoward about it.

  “You said they had a quota, correct?” Rotan asked. “Is this so unusual?”

  “Not explicitly. But I’m getting a feeling about this. Sure, it used to be that a lot of young people wanted to be vampires. The power, life, and community seemed very attractive. But that perception has changed a lot recently, especially with how much faster news spreads today.”

  Print media was immensely useful today. Much like other innovations, technology and magic had made it far more accessible to the different social classes. Vampires had enjoyed a certain amount of mystery and allure prior to this, but now it was easy to track them. They no longer owned the night and, in a city like Rhiavas, they most likely had to share it with other big hitters.

  “So now most people know that being a grunt vampire is mostly terrible, yet apparently there are quite a few here who have joined anyway.”

  “I mean, maybe it’s better than whatever they had before. Tina may feel like that.” Meena said.

  “True. Completely possible. So, let’s just make sure. Quick visit. In and out.”

  Atum began walking again and his trainees followed.

  They arrived at the address the warden had given them. It seemed to be a sort of community centre. The entered through the front entrance into the lobby and saw a receptionist.

  “Hello!” said the woman. She was blonde and pretty. Typical for what you’d expect for a business receptionist. “How can I help you? If you’re here to join, please come back in the evening, or sunset.”

  “Hi, my name’s Atum. We’re not here to join. We work for the Magical Domain Division.” Atum said and showed her identification. “We’d like to meet the head vampire here. Just a check-up.”

  “Ugh, um, we usually prefer to conduct meetings later in the evening. It’s more conducive to the residents… lifestyle.”

  “I’m sure, but I’d like an exception here. Regardless, vampires of their level don’t need as much rest anyway.”

  The receptionist tried to give more excuses, but Atum firmly pushed passed them. She eventually said she would go and check whether it would be ok to have a meeting now.

  While they were waiting, Rotan took in his surroundings.

  “This is place actually seems kind of nice.” he said. The lobby was well decorated and welcoming. Rotan wasn’t sure what he expected from a vampire dwelling, but it certainly wasn’t this. It seemed like someplace he would casually walk into just to chat.

  It feels like we’re just interrupting some peoples’ day.

  “It does look nice. And it may well be so.” Atum said. “We have to make sure though. Here’s another lesson. Sometimes you have to be stubborn. Be polite, nice, and all that. But stubborn. Making sure everything is alright is not a waste of time. I’d rather know than not be sure.”

  Rotan was tempted to write that down, but he was starting to feel like a stiff.

  No, trust in the process. It helps me so it’s worth it. Just like Mother said.

  Rotan wrote it down.

  “What if something isn’t right?” asked Meena.

  “I’ll let you know once that happens.” replied Atum, looking towards the door to where the receptionist disappeared.

  A moment later, she returned.

  “Please come up. Mr. Williams is willing to meet you.”

  The building was three stories tall, and they walked up to the topmost floor. The receptionist had not said anything else and just guided them.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Once they entered the top floor, the walked into what seemed to be a working space. Desks were arranged around and some were in use. Their destination was a closed office room. On the door a plaque showed:

  Dennis Williams

  The receptionist knocked and a voice welcomed them in. Inside was an impressively decorated office. Leather couches, shelves full of books, and a large wood desk. A man was sitting at it, presumably Dennis Williams.

  “Good afternoon! Well, it’s almost evening, but never mind that.” He stood and greeted them with a wide smile. He nodded at the receptionist who silently exited and closed the door behind them.

  Dennis was dressed formally, in an expensive black suit with a red shirt underneath. With combed black hair and dark brown eyes, he was certainly a handsome man. Yet everything about him screamed ‘vampire’! His white skin was pale, and he moved with control you wouldn’t see from the average person. Most obvious were his canines. Sharper and slightly longer than normal.

  I always wondered if it’s uncomfortable when your teeth are like that. How do they not bite themselves. Rotan thought to himself

  Atum introduced themselves again, the same as with the receptionist. They shook hands and Dennis asked them to take a seat.

  “As the sign on the door says, I’m Dennis Williams. Pleasure to meet you. And you’re from the Magical Integration Department, correct?”

  “You’ve heard of us?” Atum said, surprised. “That’s rare. Our work isn’t usually seen that much.”

  Dennis laugher then said “More like I’ve heard of you Mr. Atum. You’re… well known in certain circles. These two, on the other hand, are unfamiliar to me”

  “Hello, I’m Rotan.” Rotan said and shook Dennis’ hand.

  “Meena.” She just nodded her head at Dennis.

  “Pleasure.” Dennis gave a wide smile. It seemed practiced. “I believe you had questions for me?”

  “We wanted to check in regarding your recent recruitment.” Atum said. “I believe you’ve taken on quite a few new… converts?”

  “Call them members. And yes, we have. All above board mind you. You’ll find we are very strict when it comes to established procedures. Especially since our nature puts us under more scrutiny. I’m assuming that’s the main reason you’re here. Somebody complained?”

  “Partly. Like you said, you’re under scrutiny. We would like to put those fears to rest. It would be a lot easier if we could meet some of these members.”

  Dennis paused for a moment, as if considering, and then said “That would not be a problem at all. Please follow me.”

  As he led them out of his office, Rotan took a moment to look at Dennis. A surface level look gave the impression of a white-collar man. Definitely what Dennis intended to show. So, Rotan instead relied on his more innate senses.

  The was certainly magic bound in Dennis. More than the average person, but not atypical for a vampire. The undead were all magical beings as it was magic that allowed them to postpone the inevitable. Though the type of magic always varied a little from person to person.

  Rotan saw strings. Or maybe tiny chains? They wrapped around him, concentrated around his chest.

  Symbolizes his soul probably. It’s what keeps him from passing on.

  Some of the chains stretched from Dennis’ body into the distance. A slightly thicker chain stood out from the rest.

  That one’s his sire, I think. Then the rest are the ones he sired himself?

  It was difficult to tell how many were there exactly, mostly due to the limits of Rotan’s own ability. He would need to see the grunt vampires to check if he could make a connection. Rotan stopped looking deeper.

  Dennis led them to the stairs again, “The 1st floor is the residential area. All our members sleep there.

  “You too?” asked Meena.

  “Ah, no, I have my own residence close by.”

  The first floor seemed more like a dorm. Not unlike where Rotan lived during his studies. They had entered into a pantry area which also doubled as a lounge for the residents. Two hallways led to a series of closed doors, presumably the actual rooms. There were already some people sitting in the lounge.

  Rotan counted five people. Two women and three boys. His attention was immediately drawn to one of the women who had features very similar to Lonnie Menings.

  Tina. So, she is here. Looks okay as far as I can tell.

  “Hello children! I’m glad to see some of you are up. These people are from the Magical Domain Division. They wanted to do a check-in. Please be as accommodating as possible.”

  Gods, they are children. I mean, young at least. Probably around 18 to 20.

  Rotan was now 25, but he remembered what he was like around their age. Still sheltered. Still na?ve. Still… a child.

  Are they all like Tina? Escaping from something. Is this really better?

  Rotan had noted that there were no open windows in the building. All of them were tightly covered by dark material. It made him feel like he took the sun for granted.

  “Hi guys, sorry to disturb you.” Atum said apologetically. “I guess your day would just be beginning, right?”

  Nobody answered. They clearly weren’t prepared for this situation and were glancing at Dennis. The man himself seemed completely unbothered and didn’t interfere. They also glanced at Meena who was clearly the tallest person in the room. She was unbothered by it.

  “Don’t worry, nobody’s in trouble. Just standard stuff. We like to make sure people who recently converted to vampires are doing ok. It can be quite a shift in lifestyle.”

  “We know how it works.” one of the boys said with a slight scowl. “We’re fine. We don’t need the filth to be all up in our business.”

  “Mark! Manners please!” Dennis scolded the boy and then turned to Atum. “They’re young, some patience is required.” He shrugged.

  “Not to worry Mark.” Atum said, “We’re not the wardens. We’re a totally different kind of pain in the ass!” He laughed.

  None of the kids laughed back, but they seemed to relax a little.

  “I get it, you got things to do. Whatever that might be.” Nobody seemed willing to share what they did here. “We’ll just talk to one of you. How about you?”

  Atum was looking at Tina who froze up.

  “Would that be ok? Dennis?”

  Again, Dennis paused for a moment trying to understand what Atum was up to. So far Atum had not given any indication they knew about Tina or who the complaints were specifically from, so he had no reason to suspect anything.

  Atum continued, “Actually, Dennis why don’t you show me around. Rotan and Meena, you go ahead. This is good training.”

  Ourselves? Rotan immediately felt nervous. This was only his first day and Atum seemed to prefer to teach by throwing them in headfirst. He looked at Meena for support.

  Nothing. She’s great at giving away nothing. Ugh.

  “Yes sir, no problem.” Rotan said to Atum and to reassure himself. “Just a simple check-up.”

  And it is a simple check-up. We’re not actually investigating any wrongdoing. Dennis is creepy because he’s a vampire, nothing else. Wait, is that racist?

  Dennis led Atum to show him the other rooms. The young vampires, except Tina, all dispersed to go about their day. Tina, Meena, and Rotan sat at a table in the pantry.

  “Hi Meena, sorry again. We just wanted to know how your life is here.” Rotan said, trying his best to seem friendly.

  Meena nodded along and added, “We’re not here to rat on you or anything. Don’t worry.”

  A bit overt Meena, but I get the intent.

  Tina remained silent for a moment looking at each of them.

  “Did my parents send you?” she blurted out.