Chapter 29: The Lab (1)
Imani reluctantly let go of Lucas' hand after a couple of seconds and he gave her a small smile before he got down from the car. She kept her eyes trained on him as he made his way around the car to where Kyle Stevens was. The people that were on the street began to come closer to the car and Imani became much more nervous than she was before even though they couldn't see her inside the car.
She could see Lucas' lips moving but she couldn't hear what he was saying because the car was soundproof. Kyle gestured at the car as he said something that made Lucas' hands tighten into fists. For a brief moment, he looked like he wanted to beat Kyle up but then he glanced at the car and immediately unclenched his fists.
Imani made a sound at the back of her throat as he opened the car door and outstretched his hand to her. Her eyes darted from Lucas to Kyle who was currently watching her with narrowed eyes and back to Lucas. She picked up her phone from the table before placing a hand in his and stepping out of the car.
They were in a parking lot in front of a building that was five storeys high and there were two buildings across the street. Trees were the only things in Imani's line of sight apart from those buildings and she gripped Lucas' hand tightly as he shut the car door.
"You should leave now," Lucas stated as Imani stepped closer to him, her back hitting his chest, when she noticed Kyle and the people on the street watching her. "You've overstayed your welcome, even though you weren't actually invited. Don't follow me into the lab... you won't like what happens if you do."
He gave Kyle one last look before he placed a hand on the small of Imani's back and began to lead her towards the building. She was tempted to glance over her shoulder to see if they were following but she doubted they were.
"A lot of people are beginning to see you as weak Alpha," Kyle announced from behind as the hand on Imani's back slipped around her waist and she sucked in a breath. "You're going to get challenged pretty soon."
Lucas knew the man was right. The werewolves were already whispering about the Alpha being weak because he hadn't found a solution to the virus that was killing them and it wouldn't take long for a challenger to emerge. That was why Lucas wanted to address them, to let them know he wasn't weak.
He also knew there was an underlying threat in Kyle's statement but if he decided to let his anger take control, Imani could get hurt in the process. So he chose to ignore him even though it was a little bit hard to.
Kyle didn't say anything else till Lucas and Imani got to the sliding glass doors of the building. Lucas pressed his palm to the palm scanner next to the doors which promptly slid open after the light on the scanner flashed green and they both stepped into a chamber.
"Decon?" Imani asked as she looked up at Lucas who nodded in response and she pressed her lips together when he removed his hand from her waist.
"We're being extra careful," he said before the chamber hissed.
His eyes darted to her as she took in a sharp breath the moment cold air jetted from the holes in the chamber, hitting the both of them from every side. When it stopped after a couple of seconds, the other sliding door in front of them opened and they walked into the building's lobby.
The walls were painted white paired with bold touches of yellow and the floors were tiled while sconce lights were fixed to the walls. Unlike the institute, there were no couches, table or televisions.
There were two men standing behind the reception counter which was next to the holographic clock and they smiled at Lucas and Imani after turning to face them.
"Good morning sir. How are you today? Good morning Imani Tallerico. Founder of the cure to the Sirizan virus. It's a pleasure to meet you. How are you today?" they announced in unison.
Imani furrowed her brows as she stared at the men in confusion. "I'm... fine?"
"Humanoid robots," Lucas stated as they walked past the counter and she muttered an 'oh'.
They stopped in front of the elevator and Lucas pressed the call button. It dinged open after a couple of seconds and they stepped into it before he pressed the button for the second floor. Imani began to tap her foot on the floor when Lucas didn't say anything and a question popped into her mind.
"Have you managed to curb the virus?" Imani asked and Lucas rubbed his forehead as he let out a harsh breath, turning to face her.
"No," he replied and her eyes widened while her mouth fell open.
"...Wait, what?"
"I know. It's just... whenever we find all the people that are infected, someone new always pops up and spreads it to more people. We don't know how new people keep getting infected."
Imani didn't say anything and just stared at him in shock. The situation was much more dangerous than she had thought. And there was the fact that the incubation period of the virus, which is the time between exposure to the virus and the symptom onset, is on average three to five days.
Part of her brain was screaming that this was a really dangerous situation that could blow up in their faces while the other part said that this was her fault and she had to fix it.
When she didn't say anything for a while, Lucas was worried she was beginning to have second thoughts about helping him as the elevator doors slid open.
Imani pressed her lips together and swallowed as she stepped out of it before glancing back at Lucas when he didn't step out too. "Well then, let's go."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone