He left Rebecca sitting on her bed confused and worried, her face red and wet with tears. There wasn’t much else she could do except go back to bed. Perhaps more would be said in the morning.
Perhaps…
Rebecca could only really sleep for a few extra hours after the events of the night before. In fact, it felt like she had just closed her eyes when the cellphone on her night table began to beep. The lamp on Dylan’s side of the bed had been left on all night, ever since he’d left. It didn’t take long for the memories of the night before to come flooding back. Becoming a vampire had come with many little perks she hadn’t expected, most of which she didn’t enjoy. What had happened the night before had just been added to the never-ending list of annoyances, and like most things on the list, she needed to absorb it, understand it, and move on.
She had chosen to be a vampire for the rest of her life on her own, no one had really forced her; there was no going back, no quitting, no second chances. This was it. When she had agreed it had been a forever and ever deal.
The device beeped again. Rebecca took it and read the messages displayed.
Agent Josh Watters, one of the human F.B.I. agents stationed at the vampire agency’s headquarters, had sent her several messages. She knew Josh had his plate full at the North American Vampire Secret Agency, but his most important function was to help the director, Lucius, in whatever he may need. A message from Josh usually meant a message from the director himself, the ancient vampire who had founded the agency over a hundred years ago.
Rebecca saw Dylan’s name included in the messages before reading them. They were being summoned to the main office. The last message included the word, ASAP. No more information was given. According to the clock on her wall, it was almost ten in the morning. If she had still been living in the human world, it would have been late, but living underground made it difficult to know what was going on in the real world and apparently time wasn’t measured the same way at the agency. She had added that to the list of things that bothered her about being a vampire a long time ago.
ASAP, the message had said. No matter the level of urgency the message claimed her presence was required, she still needed a shower, something to eat and a positive attitude. Lately, everything had looked so hopeless, each day she discovered something else she needed to change in her life because she was now a vampire. Her training days were now over and real-life was starting to settle in. Not like she was a fan of her previous life, where she taught ballet classes in a dance studio in a small town, it was just that sometimes she couldn’t decide if she had made the right choice. Had turning into an entire different species been the wisest choice?
Now that she thought about it more carefully, her new existence had been fine until Dylan had started training her to face werewolves. Testing her skills was one thing, but standing in front of werewolf blood had turned out to be very uncomfortable. And it was only the blood, what would happen when she faced the real thing?
It was the werewolf phenomenon she had a problem with; she couldn’t understand why she lost all control of her physical body just by being in the presence of a werewolf. Apparently, it happened to all vampires and all vampires were eventually able to control the psychotic need to become monster killers and annihilate the enemy just like everyone had learned to ignore the constant thirst for human blood.
If everybody could do it, so would she. One day.
Unfortunately, there was no way to escape werewolves. She had signed up to become a werewolf hunter, after all. It had been what Dylan was and it had been what he had told her she would be if she decided to become his partner. Dylan had been more than straightforward in many things. Although he made being what he was look so easy and wonderful all the time, it had proven to be neither for Rebecca.
Perhaps if she went out of the underground agency more often would help Rebecca feel better about the whole ordeal. It was easier said than done, leaving the closed space meant going out where humans lived. She wasn’t one of them anymore. For the last three months she had hidden inside her apartment rarely going out because she was afraid. Her choices didn’t help how she was feeling, either.
One thing was being afraid to face a werewolf, the other was being reluctant to enjoy activities she had enjoyed when she had still been human. Dylan, on one hand, enjoyed everything having to do with werewolves with her, from his training sessions using a little vial of dried werewolf blood to a shooting exercise. He didn’t seem very interested in going out to dinner or to a movie.
Part of her understood the need to train as much as Dylan insisted she did. She would, after all, join him in fighting very real werewolves. For a moment, once she got a taste of her new superhuman abilities, she felt confident in becoming a werewolf hunter. Now, as the reality grew closer, she could not imagine anything more overwhelming and terrifying.
The more live video feeds Dylan made her sit and watch with him to analyze how vampires handled real werewolves in battle, the more she felt unsure becoming Dylan’s partner was something she would ever be able to do. Just watching Dylan and other vampires end their fight with the werewolves soaked in blood with dead monsters all around them made her have nightmares - even when some videos had such horrible quality where she could barely see what was happening.
Then there were Dylan’s constant examples on how to corner werewolves in order to take their hearts out. Rebecca could not see herself ever being able to reach into a living being’s chest, even less taking its heart out. Her partner’s expectations felt so unreachable to her. It seemed Dylan thought she would soon be ready, but she felt far from it. What would happen when he finally discovered she wasn’t what he hoped she would be? Would he send her back to her hometown? A vampire?
Rebecca opened the fridge and considered her breakfast. During the past few months, she had been gaining weight. No matter what she ate or didn’t eat, the pounds kept coming in. She had refrained from saying anything to Dylan about it, she didn’t want to sound superficial, but it bothered her. All of her life she had maintained her body lean and skinny, just like a ballerina should. It didn’t matter that her career as a professional ballet dancer had been over years ago. It didn’t matter that she was no longer the ballet teacher of a dance school. She had never been so heavy in her entire life as she was becoming.
One more thing to add to the things she hated about being a vampire.
She decided for a cup of Greek yogurt with a little honey and half a glass of milk; it was the least she could have to ease the hunger and survive a few hours in a meeting filled with human beings and their warm blood.
Truly, it wasn’t the first or last time she missed her old, boring life back in the small town that had seen her grow.
Her device beeped just as she opened the door to leave, coming? Dylan’s message read.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Rebecca said to herself without bothering to reply.
By now she knew the underground compound like the back of her hand. Not only that, she knew te names of some of her vampire neighbors, who were really a lot like regular people, only quieter. Everybody always had someplace to go and something to do. All but her, of course. They were nice and sometimes social, or as social as they needed to be, and minded their own business. They were very different from the citizens of her old town. Back home, everybody wanted to know about everyone’s business… here, no one really seemed to care what the other did. It was weird, to say the least. It was like living in a place where everybody was as antisocial as she was.
Dr. Stevens, the agency’s psychologist, had once explained that vampires stopped losing their animal instincts as they aged. They began to listen to their brains so much they forgot about their hearts. That didn’t mean they didn’t feel, they just stopped letting their emotions rule their actions for the most part.
Presumably, she would go through this transformation herself one day. She wasn’t sure about that but at least it explained a lot about Dylan’s behavior.
The fact t
hat the elevator was voice activated didn’t surprise her anymore. Causally, she asked it to take her to Ground Level 1. As the elevator started to move, she felt an urge to get out of the boring and constraining pant suit and jacket and into her tights and leotard to start dancing. When the right time presented itself, she would ask Dylan if it was frowned upon to use one of the training rooms to dance. She missed it most of all.
Dylan had also been particularly busy since she had finally passed the final agency test to become a certified agent. He went on missions while leaving her behind all the time. As much as she asked to at least go and observe, she had only managed to go on a couple of them without actually going into the field. And frankly, after having attacked him in his sleep a few hours before, she could understand why he was still reluctant to having her completely on board.
If only Dylan could understand that being trapped inside the agency was beginning to drive her mad.
The elevator’s door opened and the scent of human blood permeated the air. Humans were not allowed in the underground levels, so the air was mostly clean of the human scent, but once she reached the upper levels a plethora of scents attacked her senses. She had been a vampire long enough to not let her affect her, but she always noticed them, anyway.
Rebecca walked to the main office, the biggest room in the building. Four desks occupied by human F.B.I. agents were spread out in the room; behind them the door that led to Lucius office, the director of the vampire agency, N.A.V.S.A.
“Good morning, Agent Sawyer,” Josh, a young man not much older than she was, wore his trademark black suit and tie. Rebecca was still getting used to the word agent being spoken whenever someone addressed her by her last name. She had asked repeatedly he called her by her given name, but he would always smile and then refuse.
“Good morning, Josh,” replied Rebecca causally before turning to the other only agent sitting opposite him, “Morning, Sean.”
“Good morning, Ms. Sawyer,” the other slightly older man said respectfully. His tone friendlier than how Agent Watters’ would ever be.
Turning back to face Josh, she said, “I got your message.” Looking around, she added, “I thought Dylan was here already. Is he with Lucius?”
“No.” standing up from his computer, Josh walked over to where she was to lead her to the door. “He’s in the conference room next door, Agent Sawyer. Follow me, please.”
“I know where that is,” she added, stopping Josh from his attempt to guide her to her destination. “Thank you, Josh.”
For a moment Rebecca thought Josh would insist. He didn’t, instead, he went back to his desk to answer a call that had just come through. Rebecca took her opportunity to get out of their way and head to the next room. The Conference Room didn’t have any windows; it was a long space with a long wooden table that sat ten people in cushioned chairs. At the very end, the wall had a built-in white board that was hooked to a projector.
Inside the room, three men waited in silence.
Dylan was sitting on top of the long oblong table, one foot resting on a chair while reading something from a file folder with interest. He was so focused on the document he did not seem to have time to turn to look at her. Maybe he hadn’t even sensed her come in, although that was unlikely.
Across from him, sitting with his legs crossed and his arms over his chest, was a man Rebecca recognized immediately, Special Agent Charles Lewis. Lewis was the man who worked with Dylan the most regarding werewolf cases. Ever since becoming an agent, Rebecca had been seeing him frequently when she attended the briefings of missions she was never allowed to participate in. To top it all off, Lewis joined Dylan in his rejection of her as an active field agent. It had been clear to Rebecca since they had first been introduced that Charles Lewis did not trust her to be able to perform a job he knew to be messy and violent in the real world. She really couldn’t blame him. Less than a year ago her most difficult mission was to control a class of five-year-old budding ballerinas.
Rebecca wished to prove him wrong, but the truth was she, herself, wasn’t sure of her own worth. Besides, if Dylan didn’t think she was ready, it was probably for a good reason.
Regardless of what he thought about her abilities, Lewis turned to look at her to greet her with the utmost respect.
“Hello, Agent Sawyer, how are you this morning?” he even forced a smile.
“I’m very well, thank you, Charles,” she answered, determined to call everyone by their first name in the hopes they would one day do the same. “How are you?”
“Good,” he replied dryly. That was as much interaction as she expected to have with him that day.
A man in his late forties, Charles Lewis had apparently known Dylan since his days in the academy. Two decades ago, Lewis had shown the psychological profile needed to be drafted as a liaison to the vampire agency. Since the beginning of his career, he had worked with Dylan Torrence and many other vampires. Lately, he dedicated his life to pursuing one single werewolf, the same werewolf who had evaded Dylan’s radar for years.
Special Agent Lewis had also been the first field F.B.I. agent Rebecca had been formally introduced to after she had become an official agent. Even when not actively participating in missions, Rebecca had sat next to Lewis on several occasions as he monitored Dylan’s activity behind a screen. Being an observant had been an exciting part of her training, although it seldom happened. It was always interesting to learn how the government agencies operated together and how Dylan and Lewis’ relationship worked regardless of the fact that one of them was a vampire and the other one wasn’t.
It took Rebecca a while to acknowledge there was a third person in the room with them. Alan Brown, the computer tech at the agency and also a vampire, had been hiding under the table in his attempt to fix the connection from the computer to the white screen. Alan had been frozen in his late teens and hadn’t been a vampire for long, just like her. Although unlike her, the young man had become a vampire by accident and couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Alan had, Rebecca knew, applied for the job of field agent at some point in his short tenure at the agency, but had failed the examination. Instead, he did what he was really good at: he took care of the computer systems for the agency, a job he had taken over from an older vampire who had used him to retire and rejoin society. Since Alan was much more involved with newer technologies he had made it his mission to update the compound’s security measures and beyond. It had proven to be hard work, which meant Alan rarely had time to sleep now that he had joined the agency in its IT position. Rebecca didn’t doubt the agency was currently recruiting someone to help him; this possibly meant turning some young hacker over to the immortal realm of vampire life.
Alan worked quietly under the table, the only visible parts of his body were his jeans and sneakers.
“So,” Lewis began, interrupting her thoughts, “Feeling ready to spring into action today?”
Before Rebecca could reply, Dylan said, “Not yet,” without taking his eyes off the document.
Rebecca had no idea what that meant which was why she turned to look at Dylan for an explanation, only she found that he was still enthralled by what he was reading and was completely ignoring her.
Lewis added, “Well, I requested two agents for this one so I wonder who else Lucius will bring. Hopefully Scott.” Rebecca didn’t know if she was addressing her or Dylan. “Or maybe Isaac? Jonathan?” He then waited for effect before adding a name, “Anton?”
Anton Mayflower was the vampire who had turned Dylan into one. He had also been the one Rebecca had faced during her agency’s final test before she became an agent. It had not been pretty. Anton wasn’t one of her favorite people. He did, however, hold a special relationship with her partner.
“Anton doesn’t do werewolves, not any more.” Dylan, who had finally closed the folder and letting it drop on the table, said. “Plus, he rarely gets out of New York.”
Before Rebecca could learn anymore, the door opened and Lucius,
the director of the vampire agency, stormed in followed by his personal assistant; the human F.B.I. agent, Josh Watters. Lucius forced a smile at the room’s occupants and took a sit on the table decidedly; this served as a cue for everyone else to join him. Frozen at an advanced age, the director of the vampire agency had a hard and angular face that meant business. His gray hair was always perfectly combed back and the light gray suit he had chosen to wear that day was, as always, immaculate. Trying to hide his annoyance as he realized the room wasn’t ready, he rested his elbows on the table crossing his fingers in front of him in his attempt to be patient.
“Ready to begin, Alan?” he said simply, a hint of displeasure in his tone.
After hearing this, Alan hit his head on the table as he tried to stand up. Rubbing his head, he said, “Yeah. Yes, sir. Yes. We just have to, uhm… here,” he put a device on the table and slid it over in Josh’s direction. Agent Watters took it, and being familiar with it, began pressing a series of commands on it. Before them, the white screen in front of them lit up showing what was on Alan’s computer screen for everyone to see.
“Thank you, Alan,” the director said dismissively, “Josh can take it from here, can’t you, Josh?”
“Yes, sir,” Josh said as he clicked the control once more to change the feeder source, making the screen change to the intended page.
Alan nodded and exited the room awkwardly just as everyone else made themselves more comfortable – or as comfortable as anyone could be with the director in the room. As for Rebecca, she would have felt better if only Dylan acknowledge her presence.
There was no need for any introductions since everybody knew each other well and Lucius liked his meetings short and to the point. Rebecca had learned how busy the director always seemed to be and understood. Besides, since she had long concluded vampires were not known for being very social she could only count her blessings.
“Charles,” Lucius called him, giving him the cue he needed to begin. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Werewolf Phenomenon Page 2
