- Knock, Knock
Two dull knocks echoed through the dark room; the faint sound of the door opening was muffled by glass bottles cluttering on the ground towards Vlad's feet.
He looked at the empty flasks, the remains of the strange, barely glowing liquid still clinging to the inner walls of the round flask, which was kicked away lightly with the soles of his shoes.
The inside of the room was dark, like the night itself had hidden at the corners of this space filled with scattered papers and empty bottles.
'He really needs to do something about the smell.'
Vlad grimaced, his nose scrunching up as the stench of medicine and corpses hung in the air as thick clouds of dark smoke. He waved his hand, dispersing them just enough to see further into the workshop.
"No, again..."
A voice came from where a light of many colorful lamps penetrated through the darkness. It sounded strange, a hollow sound that resonated like static, something he heard many times when others used speakers.
Seeing that the person didn't notice his presence, he took a step forward, his movements turning rigid as he tried to push his way through the tightly packed room. The absence of light, paired with the number of useless devices scattered inside this place, was more than enough to make his feet trip over something sooner or later.
Vlad's eyes widened briefly, the second lasting so long that he managed to pierce the darkness with his gaze and notice an empty metal pipe under his feet. It wasn't long, but when he tripped over it and almost fell to the floor, his face almost landed on a piece of hanging flesh.
'Fucking disgusting!'
He gritted his teeth and pushed it away, but the force was too strong. His plan to push the corpse away from his face failed drastically as he watched with a pale expression how it toppled a box behind it, and then another, and the next one...
It thundered in the quiet space, like a storm that wouldn't subside until finally, the boxes were caught by a long, thin hand. A head peeked out from behind them, the faint light of the multi-colored lamps illuminating his greyish skin and blonde hair with green strips that covered his features.
The boy frowned, his gem-like eyes turning into slits.
"At least-" Cough! "...Knock."
Vlad smiled awkwardly before kicking the metal pipe to the side.
"You really need to clean here."
The boy's arm returned to its place, his joints cracking and retracting back to their previous state until it became shorter and thicker. Weirdly enough, his clothes also returned to their previous size, almost like they were a part of his body instead of an outer shell.
He clicked his tongue, then clapped with his hands twice.
"People like you really don't understand how tedious it is to clean everything after someone touched it where it's not supposed to be touched."
Everything came to life.
Light exploded from the ceiling, almost blinding Vlad, who raised his arms over his forehead. His voice hissed with annoyance.
"Warn me when you do that!"
"It was an accident."
The boy brushed it off before turning around and continuing his work.
Ugh!
Vlad straightened up, his eyes blinking slowly, waiting to adjust to the sudden brightness.
Within the darkness, a room full of colors was revealed, a lively contrast to the dull white marble from which everything was carved out.
From the door to the middle of the room where he currently stood, everything was filled with documents and strange tools, which were covered in colorful liquids and scribbled notes.
- Cough
His head snapped towards the boy, who shook slightly after yet another cough. His usual white coat was stained with the colors of sickly ink and different variants of blood.
"Just sit somewhere, I need a minute to finish this."
'So heartless.'
Vlad thought bitterly before looking around.
Wherever he looked, metal crates stood cracked open, their surfaces littered with marks that looked as if something had carved its way out of them. A mountain of corpses stood to his side, their mangled state made them unrecognizable from humans or beasts that they belonged to.
Finally, after some pushing and pulling, Vlad found a set of chairs hidden beneath the half-torn crates. They were small, white, and made of weak wood that creaked under his weight.
"Hey, Jayce-"
"If it's something stupid, you're not getting your medicine."
Jayce cut him off before pulling something up, oil splattered over the wall, but he continued like it didn't matter.
Vlad waited for a few seconds and then asked with caution.
"Do you know if I'm being sent somewhere soon?"
The boy froze for a moment, the sound of clicks and ticks ceasing for that brief second, which Vlad noticed immediately.
"Maybe I do, and maybe I don't," Jayce answered with professional coldness, his hands becoming faster for eyes to follow.
'So there 'is' a reason why my father wanted to meet me.'
"Enough chatter."
Bottles clattered from Jayce's workbench, his face turning toward Vlad. Observing every tiny movement he made, his feet steadily made their way next to him, who sat on the chair prepared for anything.
"Now then."
Jayce's face got closer to Vlad's. His warm breath brushed against the scar on his cheek.
"Why don't you tell me who made it reopen?"
'Of course, he knows...'
Cold sweat formed on Vlad's back, but his eyes stayed glued to the doctor's blood-stained coat. A trail of green and black blood was just below it, like a sign that he would either end up as one of those whom he dissected or maybe worse.
A pair of gloves materialized over his palms, the action taking a split second, unlike Cesar's sword.
His eyes, which appeared dull a second earlier, started to glow with a mysterious greenish glow.
...
"All done."
Jayce gave Vlad a light tap on the shoulder before standing up and stretching his back. His stained gloves untangled into thin ethereal threads that flowed back under his coat like a current.
"Ough! Maybe I need to exercise once in a while, my bones are so stiff!" He remarked after snapping his wrist, the joints popping audibly.
A terrifying grin quickly hid behind his stoic expression, his eyes watching Vlad lifelessly lift his body and stagger for the door.
His shaky hands managed to hide a little box inside the back pocket of his pants.
Just before closing the door, the boy's voice made Vlad's shoulders shudder from fright.
"Don't overexert yourself, or you will die from blood loss before actually entering the Rift!"
- Slam!
The door slammed shut.