WELCOMES AND BLOOD TRAIL

"So Mrs. -" Emily looked from the woman who sat in front of her to the folder in her hands, "Mrs. Cadbury, I would love to schedule an appointment for you to have your braces done by next week."

Mrs. Cadbury nodded in agreement, her eyes darting to and fro, watching every movement her dentist made. Especially the way her eyes never let the wall clock hanging directly above her head.

It would be the first time that Emily would seem so distracted and a little bit absent minded. It was so unlike her. The Emily she'd come to adore was a chatty type and a life of the party person.

Quite sincerely, she felt bad for Emily, or rather pity. Pity would be the word she'd like to use , but again, she knew how much people detested pity.

How could a young and vibrant lady like Emily suddenly come down with cancer?

Anyway, that was the problem with doctors. They had all the time in the world to take care of others but never cared that much about themselves. She shook her head.

The lady was the last to schedule an appointment and had called beforehand that she would be coming in late, of which Emily had agreed to.

Mrs. Cadbury was, as Emily would categorize her, a top tier client, so it didn't matter what time she chose to make an appearance, Emily would still be waiting. One thing about Mrs. Cadbury was that she stuck to time. Her schedule for six meant she would be there for her appointment by six or a few minutes before six.

"So, I take it that's fine by you? Yeah?" Emily asked, her darting to her wrist watch this time and back again at the form in her hands.

"Yes, Emily." Mrs. Cadbury affirmed.

"Alright then." Emily made a last scribble on the form she held in her hands before handing it over to Mrs. Cadbury, "You have to come with this form for your next appointment."

"You always remind me of that." Mrs. Cadbury laughed, "I never forget, you know?"

"I know." Emily gave her a warm smile and pulled back her chair, "I'll see you off."

Mrs. Cadbury smiled and accepted Emily's offer to walk her out.

The two walked on in a comfortable silence, except for Emily's heels, which kept echoing throughout the hall.

"You work till so late, Emily," Mrs. Cadbury started a conversation, "Is that okay? Do you even have enough resting time for yourself?"

Emily smiled. "When we all die, I believe there will be enough resting time." She replied warmly, Lauren's warning echoing deeply at the back of her mind.

"You're such an intelligent young lady." Mrs. Cardbury complimented and watched as Emily held the door to the main entrance open for her.

"Thanks for the compliment ma'am." Emily smiled and watched as she stepped out gracefully.

"This mat, where was it bought?" She asked, drawing Emily's attention to the beautiful fluffy brown mat that lay at the entrance of the door with a welcome inscription boldly written on it.

Emily smiled, recalling how she had shared the same thought with Mrs. Cadbury. The mat was nearing two weeks in that position, and it still managed to catch Emily's attention every time.

The corners were surrounded by polished porcelain wood that glittered a bright lemon in the dark, making the welcome sign on it more prominent. What made it even more amusing and fascinating was that it was customized.

It was only someone like doctor Wills that would decide on a customized doormat.

When doctor Wills had brought it, he said that he'd had it custom made and was the only Kind in the world.

"I don't know." Emily smiled, "You admire it, Mrs. Cadbury?"

"I find it fascinating. And lemon happens to be my favorite color." She replied. "Alright, I hope we are again next week."

Emily watched as she went down the last portion of the stairs and into the cold arms of the atmosphere.

Shutting the door beyond her, she turned the latch securely in place and made her way back into her office.

She kicked off her shoes, raised her hands up above her head and left it in that position for 60 seconds, while she tried to compose herself and harmonize her brain for the next work.

Her stomach growled, a subtle sign that she was hungry. She thought she could ignore it but when it growled again for the fourth and fifth time, she decided to order an evening pizza.

It had become a day to day thing, especially when she didn't pack lunch. She put a call across to Domino's Pizza .

Emily was a regular customer so they already had a special delivery guy for her and a discount on every purchase she made.

When she'd told Lauren about it, Lauren had laughed and said, "Now the whole world can know how much of a junkie you are. They should consider making you a brand ambassador for their product."

Recalling Laurens facial expression and how she'd set her mouth so that her upper lips touched her nose made Emily smile.

Pulling out the tooth from the drawer she gave it a long and hard stare, pulled out a glove and muttered, "Let's get to work, big boy."

Picking up the tooth, and using a hand lense to examine the crown, the razor sharp fangs pierced her fingers through the glove, causing a painful squeal to escape her lips.

"Ow!" Emily mumbled and took off the gloves. She dug into a cubicle in search of antiseptic or alcohol, anything she could use as disinfectant.

Just then, the doorbell rang. That bell was never nearly used, because people who came in usually had appointments and went directly to whom they had it fixed with. It was only one person capable of using the bell even when he could access her through phone, and that was peter.

She picked up her cell phone to call him but decided against it instead. She'd go down herself and use the opportunity to get a microscope slide from the laboratory.

It was eerily dark outside but the security light was on so she could see everything going on outside without the person outside seeing nor observing anything on the inside.

The door to the entrance was made of glass and pitch dark, sometimes, Emily wondered if it was brown or black and this bordered on the intensity of sunlight.

She got to the door and unlocked the latch.

"Pizza guy?" She asked and raised her brows in surprise at the very young looking man in front of her. "I have a new pizza delivery guy? what about peter?"

She scanned around for his dispatch bike and her pizza.

"Pizza guy?" He repeated her question to her and smiled loop sidedly. "You ordered pizza?"

Emily was confused for a minute and her expression showed it. "Sorry, but if you're not the pizza guy, then may I ask why you're here?"

He gave her a lopsided grin and proceeded to open his mouth to show that he was missing a tooth. Where his canine should have been was an empty dark and deep hole. "I would love to have my tooth fixed." He requested.

Emily did a double retake and tried not to smile. Why did patients actually think that they could walk into a doctor's office without prior appointment and have their problems solved?

"I'm sorry, that's not something we can do tonight," she replied and proceeded to explain, "Firstly, you need to schedule an appointment, then we would have to examine your teeth and know the next step to take in getting you an artificial replacement. Besides, we're closed."

"I don't think you understand me, ma'am." He took purposeful steps forward, "I need it fixed right now!"

He looked like he was getting ready to go physical and Emily wasn't ready for that. The street wasn't that quiet; it still had a few people going to and fro. Looking at her wristwatch, it was just a minute after eight.

The pizza guy was supposed to be here ready.

She started a quick glance at the man who was beginning to fixate and look anxious. It was useless leaving him here, but even so, wasn't he supposed to behave naturedly?

Judging by his looks, he was in his late 20's . She shook her head. This one was a typical case.

"We can talk about this in the reception sir, if you don't mind? " Emily asked, motioning with her hands towards the door.

The look she received in return made her do a retake of the question she'd just asked to herself. He looked at her like he was gauging her, like she didn't know what she was saying or wasn't certain.

After a long silence, he asked with a grin, "May I come in?"

Emily looked back at him for a split second and arched her lips. What a weird thing to ask. She was going to say, "Why not?" When Laurens words slammed back hard in her chest.

"........ If anyone comes to you and says, "May I come in, slam the door in his face." She recalled Lauren's words.

This wasn't some kind of a joke or one of Lauren's pranks on her, was it?

Adrenaline pumped through her blood, causing her heart to beat erratically. The veins in her body pumped the blood harder and faster, for a minute, she felt dizzy.

He must have noticed the change in her demeanor because he asked, "Are you okay, miss?" And proceeded to touch her forehead like he was checking for her temperature.

The hairs on her back were all erect and her eyes bulged. She was afraid and uncomfortable. The odd sensation she'd had earlier in the morning came back now in full force, it was everywhere.

She took two conscious steps backwards till she felt her back press tightly on the door.

The lemon light from the welcome light illuminated her whole features and gave her a clearer view of the man in front of her. He was paler and looked white like death, while his eyes had gone completely black, the skin under his eyes was a mass of accumulated black veins.

Her heartbeat had an increased sound and was a degree faster than normal. Scared with thought of what he could do to her, Emily placed her hands on the knob, and with a strength and speed she didn't believe was hers, she flung the door up and dashed inside, while screaming and ear deafening, "No!"

Once inside she turned the latch in place and darted for her office to cancel her order but firstly, she had to call Lauren.

Outside, the man smirked and shook his head. When he couldn't read her thoughts, he had felt slightly irritated and thought her to be a threat, but with the way she darted back inside like she had a trail of thieves on her back? He wasn't so sure.

Now that she had refused him entry, what was he to do? He licked his lips and bared his mouth, his fangs sprang out, long sharp and pointed, except for the right tooth, where the second canine should have been.

He'd missed it last night, due to haste and the joy he derived from the victim's blood he'd feasted last night. Wondering where he could get such tasteful blood again, he licked his lips for the second time.

His eyes darted to the floor of the entrance that had the word, 'welcome' boldly written in italics on it and he smiled. His nose puckered at the smell of blood, causing him to struggle to keep his fangs intact, especially after he caught the trail of blood she had left on the door handle.

Taking two simple steps, he smirked in satisfaction and dusted his neatly polished shoes on the mat twice and that did it.

He was gone.