Missy had insisted on keeping the whole kidnapping and rescue a complete secret, even from her own family. But, she later had allowed Alice to share the story with Mark, including how Missy was a werecat. She knew Alice couldn’t keep any secrets from her soulmate. Missy had also confided in Alice about being a witch. They had a very special relationship. The only secrets she didn’t share with Alice were those concerning “P” Branch. Thus, Alice had learned about witches and about Tracy, and so had Mark. And, like Missy’s family, they were very careful to guard what secrets they knew.
Mark and John appreciated being able to openly discuss some of these things with each other, which they couldn’t talk about with anyone else.
Mark asked, “How are things with you and Tracy going? You still dating her?”
“Oh, yes. And, now that I’ve met her, I can finally understand the way you’ve been about Alice all these years. I really believe Tracy is the one for me. Too bad we can’t see one another that much, with her going to West Point. But, her going there is part of her being who she is and I fully get that. It’s a Catch 22, you know? It’s why I’m so crazy about her but it makes me crazy!” John shook his head and sighed, loudly. “Jeez, who was it anyway who said ‘you can’t live with them but you can’t live without them either’?”
Mark laughed. “Exactly, John! I see you’ve really got it bad. And, it probably doesn’t help things that she’s living down there at that academy with three thousand other guys, all in great shape and probably really horny. Your Tracy is so attractive, I’m sure she needs to fight them off all the time, right?”
“Very funny!” John looked at his friend in mock horror. “She is the most attractive female on the planet, as far as I’m concerned, but she seems to be attracted to me. So, I’m going to make sure things stay that way. I’ll be going back to Texas with her for Christmas break. And, she seems really excited about that.”
Mark said, “Good for you! Obviously, her parents are still under whatever spell you cast when you visited there right before Thanksgiving … oh, wait! You can’t cast spells. That’s what she does!” He began laughing hilariously. Being able to poke fun at John was great, especially since John had always been the mischievous one when they’d been growing up together.
Now, not only did John have a sister who was supernatural but he’d gone and found the love of his life and she was supernatural also. Tracy the witch. Mark and Alice had already enjoyed the irony of that a great deal. Yes, what goes around, comes around. Poor John!
The two friends joined the line in front of the ticket booth and began talking about the concert they were about to attend.
-----
Ben Marchitto watched as his boss Salvatore D’Amato read through the report he’d just given him. While Sal appreciated the excellent work Ben did in preparing these briefs, he always had a few questions. They were alone in Sal’s study which had been swept for bugs and was secure. The door was locked so no one else would bother them or hear anything they discussed.
One entire wall consisted of windows … windows that had all recently been replaced. Ben still couldn’t believe the way Missy McCrea had shattered them all that night, just before she’d knocked all the power out with those lightning bolts. Then, she’d disappeared. But, she had made her point. Sal wasn’t about to mess with her and had fully complied with everything she’d asked for.
Sal looked up and said, “So, things are pretty much back to normal. And, you’re sure that fucking witch bitch will leave us alone now, right? Or, do I have to worry about her showing up here again with some more crazy demands?”
Ben said, “We did exactly what she wanted, Sal. And, she hasn’t done anything since that night to indicate she wants anything else. If she ever reports anything about us to the cops or the Feds, we’ll be hearing about that from our sources. So far, so good. Of course … she obviously can take direct action any time she wants.”
“Jeez, yeah. Lightning bolts! What did she call those? Her demonstration of witchy power?” Sal shook his head and looked at Ben. “Un-fucking-believable!”
“Well, we now have that Sergeant Chasen down there checking on her. He says she’s always present and accounted for at all her activities. He even checked back to the night she was here. Supposedly, she was staying with her basketball team at a hotel in the city that night. Obviously, she snuck out to visit us, but managed doing that without being noticed.” Ben paused, as another thought occurred to him. “Unless, being a witch and all, she can be in two places at once?”
Sal said, “Hey, nothing about her would surprise me. Let’s hope she just leaves us the hell alone.”
Chapter Four
Dec 8, 2018
“Hey, did you hear what happened to Cadet Quigby?” asked Marcus. He and Tony were standing outside of Missy’s room with several of her other friends. Along with Missy and Tracy, the four of them were typically looked up to as the natural leaders in their plebe class by many of their classmates. It had started back in Beast Training when they’d all been in the same squad. Their squad had finished best in their company and had clearly been one of the best in the whole regiment.
After Beast Training, everyone had been assigned to different companies but the four of them had stayed in touch and, more and more, their leadership influence had been spreading throughout their class. Whatever the issue might be, their classmates wanted to see which way they were going and how they were advising everyone else to handle it.
Tracy’s Dad and Grandfather had both graduated from West Point and she had brought an in depth knowledge about the academy and its Honor Code that others had come to rely on. Marcus Brown was black, from Philadelphia, and Anthony Fugia was Italian, from Long Island. They both were top athletes and had been running with Missy in the fastest group during their morning runs each day that summer. They were both highly intelligent and excellent leaders. Missy and Marcus had quickly brought the entire squad together, bonding as a real team, partly to support some of their shenanigans. They’d boldly messed with their upperclass cadet leaders and had managed getting away with that, often breaking the rest of their squad up in laughter.
Missy came to the door, which had already been open, and said, “No, what happened?” She knew it was no secret how Quigby continued with his undying hatred for herself. He and a few other cadets at the academy seemed bent on their crusade against women in the military. Now that all the branches, including Infantry and Special Forces, were open to women? That had only made guys like Quigby more determined than ever. And, they’d made life as miserable as possible for the female cadets at West Point. Missy was their favorite target, only she rarely messed up and had so many friends and supporters, they definitely had found themselves in a very unhappy minority.
“Car accident. He’s in the infirmary … they just brought him in. He’d only gotten a few miles down the road when some idiot ran a red light and T-boned his car. Actually, word is the other guy’s brakes failed. Supposedly, no alcohol was involved. Just plain old bad luck. How to ruin a rare weekend pass, huh? Getting hit before he’d hardly even gotten outta here.”
“Is he hurt bad?” asked Missy. Sharon had walked up behind her and was listening now also.
Tony said, “He never lost consciousness or anything. But, they had to pry him out with the Jaws of Life, so that doesn’t sound very good. His Mustang is a complete total. We overheard all this from one of his classmates who was following along right behind him … saw the whole thing.”
Sharon said, “Well, if he’s only in the infirmary, that can’t be so bad. I mean, if it were serious, he’d be in the hospital, right?”
“Actually, he may have to go to the hospital yet,” said Marcus. “He insisted on being brought back here but they’re still evaluating him. Since he was able to talk, they agreed to using the infirmary here as a staging area. It was close by and we of course have a full time doctor always available.”
“I’ll go see him. I was only on my way to the Gy
m … no game today but I was going to lift some weights.” Missy was already dressed in her gym shorts and tee shirt. “Do you think they’ll let me look in on him?”
-----
A half hour later, Missy entered Cadet Quigby’s room. Things had settled down and apparently he was not in any danger. But, he was in a lot of pain; his left leg had been crushed by the steering wheel. His x-rays were showing several fractures but no actual breaks that needed to be set. And, he had a lot of bumps and bruises. He looked like hell but he was still wide awake when she walked in.
“Hey, how are you doing?” she asked.
Quigby looked over at her and his expression clearly registered surprise. He was not expecting to see her and he told her so, grimacing at the effort to speak.
Missy smiled and looked around. This was her first visit to the infirmary. She was able to just see the Hudson River out his window. The other bed was empty so they were alone. As she breathed in, she could detect all the hospital scents. They weren’t pleasant and most of them were smells she associated with pain.
“I thought maybe you could use a visitor. I didn’t bring any flowers or anything but … you know. I’m truly sorry about what’s happened. I just wanted you to know that.” Missy studied him, wondering whether or not this might be an opportunity. She could probably heal him but did she dare risk that? And, would it even matter?
“McCrea, you sure you’re not here to gloat? I won’t be able to do much for a while now. So, you and all your girlfriends must be celebrating.” He winced. He really was surprised to see her there. After all, she knew how much he hated her.
“Nope, none of my friends are celebrating. I told the nurse outside that I was one of your friends … that’s why she let me in. Pretty funny, huh?” Missy looked around. “Where are your friends?”
Quigby stared at her for a long moment. “Why do I get the feeling you have something on your mind? Why are you really here, Missy?”
She grinned when he used her first name. They were alone, which was rather surprising. Sure, the door was open and there were nurses outside but, at the moment, it was just the two of them. “Ron? What would you say if I could help you? Really help you, that is. I somehow don’t see you being too happy about being in a wheelchair or on crutches for the next few weeks.”
“Of course I’m not happy … but, how can you help me? There’s nothing you can do … or, is being Florence Nightingale another of your amazing talents? Everyone at the academy seems to think you’re something really special.”
“Oh, I’m something special all right, Ron. You’ve no idea … but, that’s not why you hate me so much. You just don’t like any of us girls being here … I know that. You made the mistake of picking on me and that didn’t go so well.” Missy came closer to his bed and pulled up a chair, seating herself next to him with only a few feet between them. “How about a truce? You stop trying to get all of us women dismissed … let us take our places in the military, once we satisfy all the requirements and receive all the training …” She paused, to see what his reaction to that might be.
“No matter how well you women think you’re performing … you’re always going to be a distraction. Good men die because of that.” Quigby was getting worked up now. This was a topic that he’d been convinced about his entire life. Just looking at her was driving him crazy … she was such an attractive female, with her sexy body and those nice breasts right there in front of him. He could hardly keep his eyes off her chest, checking to see if her nipples might be visible under that tee shirt.
Missy could scent his increasing arousal and it made her laugh. “Ron, get over it! Good men need to control themselves. Now, can you look up here into my eyes and stop checking out my tits?” She pushed out just a small energy pulse, just enough to jolt him. As his eyes looked up into hers, she let her cat energy come flooding in, changing them so they filled up with yellow specs. Time for her “sparkly eyes” thing.
“What the hell …?” Quigby looked at her and slowly realized she was actually doing something. Her gaze was incredible and he couldn’t look away from her golden eyes, glowing back at him with such intensity.
“I’m giving you a freebie, Ron. I don’t know if you’ll change your beliefs about women in the military but … you sure as hell are going to change how you feel about me. No more Ms. Nice Girl. I’m zapping you and you’re going to find yourself all healed up in five days. No one will ever believe that I had anything to do with that. But … you’re always gonna know. And, I’m always gonna be able to reach out and touch you. When you see me coming … and, even when you don’t see me coming … I’m going to keep on touching you. Your leg will never be the same when I’m around. Get over it.”
Missy began pushing her healing energy into him and she could experience just how that was helping him. She knew when to stop. Slowly, she let her eyes change back to her normal deep green, with only a few gold speckles remaining. And, she watched the way he slowly shifted his position, sitting up. His expression was now one of total amazement. What had just happened?
She stood up and moved down to the end of his bed. “People are going to be very amazed at your miraculous recovery, Ron. But, don’t try to tell them about me. I’m not a normal girl but no one will believe you. Cadet King called me a freak and I know that’s what you think I am. And, as I admitted to him? You’re right! Now, get over it!”
She turned and walked out of the room without a backward glance.
-----
Four days later, Cadet Quigby walked out and returned to his room. He’d been cleared for return to all his normal duties. The doctors were saying it was some sort of miracle; his latest x-rays showed all his fractures were completely healed up. He felt no pain whatsoever. Even his bumps and bruises were gone. He was still trying to process what he’d experienced during that visit from Cadet Missy McCrea.
Then, later, there she was. Just as he walked into the mess hall, he felt a definite pressure on his left thigh. Almost as though someone had grabbed him. No pain; just pressure. Sure enough, when he turned and looked across the room? She was there. She smiled and nodded her head, just slightly. But, he had no doubt. She was touching him. Then, just as suddenly, the pressure on his leg was gone.
She had definitely been right about one thing. She sure as hell had changed how he felt about her.
Chapter Five
Dec 18, 2018
“So, that’s where things stand right now … unless we can demonstrate some added benefits for what our “P” Branch can contribute, Congress will cut back our funding by almost half. Anyone have any ideas?” Drew Martinson had just finished briefing his staff on all the wrangling going on up at Capitol Hill. With the nation’s budget once again under attack, the Paranormal Branch that Drew headed up needed to justify its existence and demonstrate why it needed all those resources it typically used each year. And, just saying “it’s classified” was not a good enough answer.
“P” Branch was a highly secret agency in the U.S. Government which, up until now, had been given unlimited resources. Congress and all the other government agencies all thought the organization existed to debunk all the claims about paranormal activities, alien abductions, etc. It was a well guarded secret that, indeed, some of those activities were real. While there weren’t any vampires or demons or aliens, there were some people that had supernatural abilities or paranormal abilities. Psychics, clairvoyants, people who could see and communicate with ghosts. People with telekinetic abilities. Some who could start fires. And, there were witches and wereanimals and a few others. Individuals who were real supernaturals.
While “P” Branch mostly just monitored those supernaturals and had a non interference policy, it did take action when and if needed. And, in rare instances, it “handled” things for those supernatural individuals. It had established a worldwide “supnat” database with the identities for most of them. And, since there seemed to be a genetic component, their families were also watched. Further, sp
ecial software was used that searched through all the news for stories. Stories where anything special or “superhuman” might have happened. Such events always needed investigation to determine if the supnat database needed update with the identity of someone new.
Marsha Goodding said, “What if we can provide some critical information? Info that would either not be possible or could only be obtained at great cost and risk? Risk to our military, maybe. Saving lives is always worthwhile, right?” Marsha and her husband Lester had been with “P” Branch for over six years. They’d gone to the same college and had married right after graduation. They both had been recruited as research technicians by Drew Martinson, after only two years working at a company in Boston, and they had moved to Washington D.C. Both were sworn to secrecy about all their activities and it helped a lot that they didn’t have to keep secrets from each other.
Her husband Lester added, “Yeah, let’s give them something that would prove there really are supernaturals that we’re handling. We’d only be giving them some reconnaissance info … we won’t need to explain how we obtained that. They know what we’re doing is classified and paranormal, right? And, you do have a few government officials authorized with the need to know. They’ll acknowledge we can do more than merely monitor activities … if they know we have an asset …?” He let that hang as a question and looked around at the others in the room.
Everyone knew Les and Marsha were handling Missy McCrea, one of the very few supernaturals even aware of “P” Branch. So, they all knew she was the “asset” that Les was referring to. Along with Robert Ulrey, an FBI investigator in Boston who had joined “P” Branch due to his friendship with Missy, Les and Marsha had been providing Missy with some assistance.
Drew said, “Well, we really don’t want to actually admit there are supernaturals, other than to those few officials who already know about them. Those same officials have been the ones insisting on our non interference policy. They may not be too happy about our having an asset, as you say. That takes our activities up to a whole new level.”
Missy's First Mission Page 3
