He should have felt much better than he did- he'd managed to drive Tristan out of town, though what he'd really been hoping for was a complete breakdown. His absence would have to do, for now anyway. If he decided to come crawling back, Andy was sure he could get him to break completely. And if he never came back, he'd just have to consider the score settled. After all, it was somewhat fitting since Tristan had helped Jen get out of town before Andy had finished with her. Tristan was just lucky she'd been a very small side project.

Now, while the rain continued to pelt the windows and the meager daylight was beginning to die, he shut down his computer and made his way out of the small office. He'd just check in downstairs with the scientists and then call it a day. He was suddenly glad he'd gotten a hold of Emily earlier- she was a good way for him to get his mind off things for a while.

The lights in the lab were much harsher than those of his office, causing the dull throb in his head to increase ever so slightly. He found Xero leaning precariously over the vampire-creature Jade had named Erebus, while she and her brother worked in silence at the far end of the room.

Andy: "Xero, how goes the work?"

Xero jumped a bit, startled by Andy's voice- he'd been so busy concentrating on his work that he hadn't heard him come in. He finished gathering a small scraping for a skin sample before turning.

Xero: "I'd make more progress if I didn't have so many people checking up on me all the time."

Andy couldn't help but to be startled by Xero's brashness- he was used to those who worked for him being very cooperative. Glass & Jade looked up from their own work, curious as to how this would end up playing out.

Andy: "Xero, I believe you're forgetting yourself."
Xero: "I… I'm sorry, Mr. Stone. I've had those two hounding me for most of the night. That certainly wasn't directed at you, sir."
Andy: "Of course not. So what are you working on?"

Xero: "Just gathering more samples to run some tests on."
Andy: "I assume that's for the isolation of the virus outside a human body."

Xero stared blankly at Andy for a few seconds, the first trickles of panic beginning to work their way into his brain. He already had the impression that he was on very thin ice lately; much more bad news and he was certain he'd soon be on the opposite end of the experiments.

Xero: "Oh. About that… it's not going so well."

Andy: "Dr. Jenkins, I'd like to arrange a meeting with you for tomorrow morning. I want you to meet me in my office at nine o'clock."

The silence in the lab was overwhelming- it seemed that even the ambient noise had stopped. Xero shifted his weight from one foot to the other, suddenly more uncomfortable than he'd ever been in his life.

Andy: "Is that going to be a problem?"
Xero: "No, sir. Not going to be a pro-"

There are moments in time that, while in reality are over in fractions of seconds, seem to hang suspended in eternity. Played back in memory long after the fact, it's as though you're watching a film running in slow motion, each action an exaggeration of its self. Time dilates, colors become over-saturated, sounds echo loudly.

Before any of them had a chance to register that Erebus had even moved, he had propelled himself from the exam table and straight toward Andy.

Xero leapt back, shocked by the sudden movement of the being he had, for all intents and purposes, forgotten about. He was frozen in fear, unable to do anything but watch the onslaught.

Glass began to go down a mental list of spells, hoping to come up with something that might, at the very least, slow Erebus down. Still, his alarm at the situation was making it difficult to think.

Jade was crossing the room in long bounds, looking for any sort of weapon with which to use against Andy's attacker, cursing herself for not leaving more stakes laying around.

Erebus: "You…"

His voice was rough from disuse, yet full of so much pure hate that Jade actually faltered in her attempt to cross the room. Andy felt paralyzed, Erebus' grip tight and unyielding, his eyes blazing.

Erebus: "…have no… right…"