The observation room was quieter than the waiting area in the lobby, though it carried the same low tension that seemed to sit over the entire building. The chairs were arranged along the walls in a simple square, leaving the center of the room open. A small table near the door held a water dispenser and stacks of thin paper cups. A digital screen hung on one wall displaying numbers that changed every few minutes as new results came through.

  I chose a seat near the far corner and set my bag on the floor beside my feet.

  My arm still felt slightly strange where the bandage covered the needle mark, not painful exactly, just heavy and warm in a way that reminded me blood had recently been taken from it. I rested my elbow against the armrest and tried to relax.

  Around me, the other donors waited in silence.

  A boy across the room leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor like he was counting the tiles. A girl two chairs away kept checking the screen every few seconds, her leg bouncing restlessly beneath her coat. Another person sat with their head back against the wall, eyes closed, breathing slowly like they were trying to sleep through the whole process.

  No one spoke.

  The room felt like a place people passed through quickly, not somewhere they stayed long enough to talk.

  I glanced toward the window that looked back into the lobby. From this angle I could see only part of it, but the line at the reception desk had grown longer since I left. Nurses moved back and forth between their stations while new donors took seats in the rows of chairs.

  Everything continued exactly the same way it had before.

  Efficient.

  Routine.

  Like the system had been doing this for so long that nothing about it required much thought anymore.

  I leaned back in my chair and folded my hands together in my lap.

  The small silver cross under my sweater pressed lightly against my skin. I hadn't realized I had started touching it until my fingers slipped beneath the edge of the collar and found the chain automatically.

  I wrapped the chain loosely around my fingers, rolling the cross between my thumb and forefinger.

  It was a nervous habit.

  One my grandmother had noticed years ago.

  She used to tap my hand gently when she saw me doing it in public, reminding me that people noticed things more often than we thought.

  I kept my movements small now, hidden by the fabric of my sweater.

  The metal felt cool against my skin.

  Holding it made my breathing feel a little steadier.

  The minutes passed slowly.

  The screen on the wall changed numbers twice while I watched it. A nurse entered the room once to call someone from the far side of the chairs, then left again with the donor following behind her.

  After that, the room fell quiet again.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I had just started wondering how much longer the results would take when the door suddenly opened.

  Not slowly.

  Quickly.

  The handle turned and the door swung inward with enough force to make it bump lightly against the wall.

  I jumped before I could stop myself.

  My hand instinctively closed around the cross beneath my sweater, and I pulled it back under the fabric so quickly the chain slipped from my fingers.

  A vampire stepped into the room.

  He clearly hadn't been expecting anyone to be inside.

  His movement stopped halfway through the doorway when he noticed me sitting there. For a moment he just stood still, one hand still resting on the door handle as his eyes flicked across the room.

  Then they settled on me.

  Up close, he looked taller than I first thought in the lobby earlier.

  Broad shoulders.

  Dark brown hair.

  Pale skin like every vampire, though his expression held a casual sharpness that made him look more alert than the others I had seen that morning. His coat hung loosely around him, slightly open like he had been moving quickly before stepping inside.

  He didn't look angry.

  More like... interrupted.

  Like he had walked into the wrong place in the middle of doing something else.

  For a second neither of us said anything.

  I quickly lowered my hand from my collar, hoping he hadn't noticed the chain I had been holding.

  My heart was beating harder than it should have been.

  He looked around the room once more, probably realizing what it was.

  Observation.

  Donor waiting area.

  Then his eyes returned to me.

  I must have looked nervous sitting there because the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, almost like he found the situation mildly amusing.

  But he didn't comment on it.

  Instead he stepped back out of the doorway almost immediately.

  "Wrong room," he muttered, more to himself than to me.

  The door closed again just as quickly as it had opened.

  The sudden quiet that followed felt heavier than before.

  I exhaled slowly and leaned back in my chair again, realizing I had been holding my breath.

  My fingers moved instinctively to the collar of my sweater again, making sure the cross was completely hidden beneath the fabric. The chain rested safely against my skin where it belonged.

  No one else in the room seemed to care about what had just happened.

  The boy across from me hadn't even looked up.

  To him, it had probably just been another vampire passing through the building.

  I tried to think of it the same way.

  Just someone in the wrong place.

  But for some reason, the image of his expression when he saw me still lingered in my mind.

  Not threatening.

  Not angry.

  Just curious for a brief second before he left.

  The screen on the wall chimed again a few minutes later.

  A new number appeared.

  A-214

  My number.

  I stood up immediately this time.

  A nurse appeared in the doorway a moment later holding a small tablet.

  "Allysia Rowan?"

  "Yes."

  She smiled politely and gestured for me to follow her.

  "Your results are ready."

  I picked up my bag and stepped into the hallway behind her.

  The walk back toward the front offices felt shorter this time. The nurse stopped outside a small desk where another staff member sat reviewing files on a computer.

  She handed him the tablet.

  "Initial classification complete."

  He glanced at the screen, typed something quickly, then looked up at me.

  "Everything looks good," he said. "Your health markers are normal and your blood classification has been registered in the system."

  I blinked.

  "That's it?"

  "That's it."

  He turned the monitor slightly so I could see the final confirmation page.

  REGISTERED DONOR – ACTIVE STATUS

  My name appeared beneath it along with the date.

  "You'll receive your regular donation schedule by mail within the week," he continued. "Most donors are called once per month depending on classification demand."

  Monthly.

  I nodded slowly.

  "Okay."

  "You're free to go."

  Just like that.

  No alarms.

  No unusual results.

  Nothing strange about my blood.

  Just another human donor entered into the system like everyone else.

  I thanked them quietly and walked back toward the exit hallway.

  The building felt a little different now that the process was finished. The nervous tension I had felt earlier was slowly fading, replaced by the strange sense that something important had just happened even though it had been completely routine.

  Outside, the city continued moving like normal.

  Cars passed in steady lines.

  Humans walked quickly along the sidewalks.

  And somewhere inside the building behind me, vampires continued watching the donation system that kept their world running.

  I stepped back onto the street and pulled my coat tighter around myself.

  Registration was done.

  Now I just had to live with it.