My Most Precious Human

I thought that going back to work would help me cope with my situation. Of course, my main argument was to avoid places that reminded me of Sariel's existence. I even found myself excited at the mere thought that I would dive into numbers and paragraphs, burring my anxieties and longings somewhere deep in my heart and mind. I went against Martha's suggestion and went to the bank's headquarters right after eating breakfast. I thought that anything that would get me away from the castle was a good idea. That was until I walked past the entrance.

I stopped in the hallway and felt that my head was spinning. My body started to shiver as the images of the recent attack flashed before my eyes. My breathing rate increased, almost matching my already racing heart. The high-frequency sound that filled my head made me cringe, covering my ears.

"Are you ok?" A female voice overcame the high-pitch sound and immediately became my anchor.

I raised my eyes while trying to slow down my breath and saw a woman around my age. She was leaning over me with a concerned expression.

"Y-yes..." I muttered, putting an awkward smile on my face, "I just felt a little dizzy."

I stood up while holding my hands at my back just to hide the fact that they were trembling.

"Are you sure you're ok? Maybe you'd like to go to our medical facility?" she asked.

"No!" I protested in a feverish reaction.

The woman looked at me suspiciously. I must have looked insane in her eyes.

"I mean... I'm just a little stressed out." I chuckled nervously, trying to diminish the fact that I had just had a brief panic attack.

"You must be overworked." She looked me up and down, feeling sorry for me.

"It's not that bad in general... I just had a few really bad days recently." I smiled awkwardly.

I bowed and started walking towards the elevator. She quickly matched my pace, heading in the same direction.

"I feel you, you know..." She chuckled, "I had a client yesterday that wanted me to explain to him each paragraph in the forty-five-page contract. He was a real pain in the ass..."

I kept the awkward smile on my face until my mimic muscles became sore. I had no reason to feel comfortable around other bank employees, and that wasn't an exception. I really wanted to get into that elevator already.

"By the way, I'm Colleen Wood, Senior Manager." She reached out her hand towards me.

I hesitated with my response. I knew well that I was hated, and the last thing I wanted right now was to start the day with another direct attack. However, I didn't recall putting any Colleen on my blacklist. I took a chance...

"I'm... Lilith Leber, Audit Specialist," I said faintly while shaking her hand.

"Oh," she replied.

"Oh?" I glanced at her nervously.

"You are... quite popular." She chuckled.

"That is a very polite way to describe it," I smirked.

"Well, I feel confident about my work, so I don't have a reason not to like you." A sly grin popped on her face. "Why don't we grab a cup of coffee once in a while?"

Her straightforwardness caught me off guard. I examined her thoroughly. Colleen had dark-blonde, curly hair and blue eyes. Her complexion was light, but her cheeks were slightly blushed. She definitely didn't look like a vampire. Nonetheless, her expression seemed to hide a pinch of mystery. She looked elegant. She wore the newest collection's Chanel skirt suit and Jimmy Choo's classic heels. The only thing I couldn't recognize on her was her perfume. Her scent was a peculiar mix of lavender, vanilla, and mint, yet I thought it would be strange to reject her offer merely because I couldn't name her perfume. "Coffee sounds nice." I smiled back at her.

"Great!" she called out merrily, "Give me your number."

"It might sound weird, but I don't have a phone," I confessed hesitantly.

"That's ok then. I'll email you," she stated confidently while getting into an elevator.

I nodded and joined her inside. It was quite unexpected to finally find someone inside the company who didn't want to kill me just because I was reviewing his or her work. I liked that.

Colleen got off the elevator on the sixteenth floor and wished me a good day at work. She was the first human employee to say something like that. I had to say that meeting her was quite refreshing. I smiled back at her, wishing her a good day as well. It was the first time that I didn't feel like an outsider, trying to make a mess of the company.

I got out of the elevator and walked towards my office. As I was getting closer, I noticed a tall man standing in front of my door. I looked at him hesitantly. He met my eyes, grinned, and immediately bowed down.

"My name is Patrick Kim. I am your new assistant-slash-bodyguard." His grin widened with every word.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lilith Leber... but I guess you already know that." Awkward laughter left my throat.

I figured this was the new personal security guard that Mr. Gotha mentioned. I slowly looked him up and down, wondering if he was truly able to defend me from someone as strong as those bastards who attacked me. He had Asian features, black hair, black eyes, and a porcelain-white complexion. It certainly didn't help me differentiate whether he was a vampire or not.

"I'm a half-breed if that's what you are wondering about." He smirked.

"I apologize if you found my staring uncomfortable..." I said, feeling slightly flustered.

"It's all right." Patrick chuckled, "It may not look like it, but I'm much stronger than any human would be. My vampire father passed on a lot of his genes to me, which makes me powerful enough to deal with commoners easily."

"That's... good to know." I smiled awkwardly.

"My workplace is next door to your office. I will be here whenever you need me to escort you anywhere. I'm also quite good with business deals and math, so if you need any help with your audit, I'm here for you as well," he claimed confidently.

"Thank you." I nodded and reached for the door handle to enter my office.

"One more thing..." Patrick called out, stopping me at the threshold, "There will be another bodyguard joining me at the sunset. He is a commoner, a skilled one at that. His name is Noah Gray. You'll recognize him easily since he's a 6.5-foot tall, blonde-haired guy." He chuckled.

"Thanks for the tip." I winked at him and finally entered my office.

I was about to close the door behind, when Patrick called out again, "Um... Mr. Foubert!"

I looked at him and sighed, "Yes? What about Mr. Foubert?"

"He asked you to come to his office." He grinned beamingly, looking proud of himself that he had finally managed to convey all the information.

"Thank you, Mr. Kim." I smiled back at him and closed the door at least.

I looked at the pile of documents I had left on my table right before I walked down to the archives. A single glance at the files brought back everything that had happened the two nights before. Then I remembered the email from Mateo, Gabriel's assistant. I thought that it would have been good to state the facts clearly. Those psychos seemed to be waiting for me at the archives, and turning off all the cameras wasn't a coincidence either. I briefly checked my email box, then walked straight to Gabriel's office.

On my way there, I passed the place where the CFO's assistants' desks were. Mateo's desk was empty. I stopped in front of it, wondering if he had already gotten fired.

"He didn't show up at work." I heard Gabriel's voice coming from behind me.

I turned around, processing what I had just heard.

"He wrote me an email claiming that you told me to reread some of the contracts that I had already checked..." I said, anticipating Gabriel's reaction to my words.

Gabriel glanced at his first assistant, who seemed to be completely engaged with his work in front of the computer.

He cleared his throat, "Let's talk in my office."

I followed him without saying another word. He also kept silent until the door of his office was closed, and we both sat down on the sofa.

"We learned that Mateo Wallace was actually sent here by Duke's enemies. He hadn't shown up at work since three days ago, but he managed to remotely log into his company's email box to send you a message. The Duke made me in charge of the investigation." Gabriel explained, slightly hesitantly.

I sighed heavily. It looked like it wasn't about simple revenge on me for getting someone fired.

"So... whoever planned the attack on me was actually after Duke?" I asked nervously.

"Well..." Gabriel put an uncomfortable grimace on his face, "It's not easy to get to the Duke, so..." he paused.

"So?" I inquired fearfully.

Gabriel locked his eyes on me and took a deep breath before he continued, "You are their target, Lilith."