“Here, take that,” Lewis placed a small device in their palms. The earpiece, which would connect her with the rest of the team was a tiny device covered in plastic. “The luncheon starts in two hours. I say we start looking at the floorplan to make sure we’re all on the same channel.” He turned to the soldier that had walked with them to the van. “Sargent?”
“Yes, sir,” the young man moved to follow his orders.
They had gone over the plan until Rebecca stopped having questions. She could tell Lewis was starting to be annoyed every time she opened her mouth to ask about something she either did not know or was unsure about. He was probably thinking she would ruin the whole mission, killing civilians in the process.
She didn’t blame him. Those thoughts were constantly in her head, as well.
“You’ll see it once you’re there,” he would repeat over and over. It seemed to be the easiest way to stop her from asking any more questions.
It was easier said than done. If only she could go there and see the room where everything would be taking place; unfortunately that wasn’t possible. Just like vampires could identify the smell of a werewolf in the air, so could werewolves with vampires. Dylan and Rebecca needed to enter the building at the last moment to avoid their scent to spread throughout the building before the werewolves started their act.
Once they entered, their presence would be known. By then the werewolves would already be in position and it would be too late for them to escape. This was the way it was always done.
Still, it only helped raise Rebecca’s unease. For the last hour, before she was allowed to do anything, she simply studied the screens in front of her in silence, Dylan by her side. Once Lewis entered the building, she monitored his conversation with her partner while watching him move from monitor to monitor as he walked about. They eventually watched as Lewis introduced himself to the senator’s bodyguards as head of the building’s security. They didn’t want the senator’s security team to be alerted of a possible threat, nor that they were using the senator as bait, so they decided to make up a story about an ongoing criminal investigation taking place on in the fourteenth floor.
Somehow the bodyguards, men dressed in dark suits, appeared to buy everything Charles Lewis told them.
“Are you all right?” Rebecca heard behind her. She had dismissed the question thinking it wasn’t addressed to her since Dylan had, after all, ignored her for most of the day. “Becca?”
She turned to face him, finally. “Of course I’m not okay.”
For the first time in the entire day, Dylan seemed to actually care about her well-being. “Don’t be afraid,” he said in his usual calm tone, “you can do this.”
Smiling at him, she shook her head, “You don’t think I’m ready, so don’t start that with me.”
Dylan frowned at what she said and added, “I think you’re ready to face and defeat a werewolf. I’ve thought that for a long time.”
Not believing what she was hearing, she fumbled with her words, “You, but, I-“
“I think you need more time to work on your self-control without endangering others, not yourself. But that doesn’t mean that you’ll be in any danger.” He kept talking, pointing to the screen that showed the banquet room where the action would happen, “Besides, by the time you enter the room it will be empty of everyone who could potentially get hurt, so if you lose control and want to end every single werewolf in that room, then be my guest.”
Not knowing what to reply to that, Rebecca nodded quietly and took a deep breath. Dylan was right, her initial position was outside the room, monitoring the lobby area while the invaders revealed themselves inside the room. She would then help Lewis get everyone out of the building while making sure no werewolf got out. Being a vampire, it would be easy to recognize a werewolf disguised as a human trying to leave, their scent always betrayed them. They would then lock all doors to trap and eliminate them. The werewolves wouldn’t stand a chance.
“I’m going to as again, are you ready?” He was holding out her fake identification badge for her to wear.
She wasn’t ready, but she didn’t think she would ever really be ready. This was the next step. It had to happen. The director of the vampire agency had ordered it.
“I’m ready,” she said, taking the badge and checking the extra gun Dylan had given her before stashing it under her jacket again.
Persephone Hall was the largest event room located on the ground floor of a tall twenty-three story building in the middle of downtown. As Rebecca and Dylan stepped out of the van, they knew the people who walked by them were completely unaware of what was about to happen in just a few minutes. Men and women went about their business as usual thinking that vampires and werewolves were only the product of an author’s imagination, a work of fiction. Not long ago, Rebecca had been one of those people, having learned the truth only a year before. Now she knew some people really did wear masks, pretending to be human when they actually weren’t. The saying not all is what it seems now had a whole different meaning to her. Being a vampire wasn’t just part of someone’s fiction, it was much more than that. Like Rebecca’s transformation, it was a change in a person’s molecular structure that allowed the body to become the most efficient version of itself. It was science.
She was now forced to wear dark sunglasses whenever she went out during the day, just like Dylan did. The sun could not hurt them, but they were still sensitive to it, especially because its rays burned their skin cells constantly and the body kept regenerating; another perk of becoming something other than human. The process of burning and healing was a little irritating, although apart from that little inconvenience, it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.
It didn’t take them long to reach and enter the building through its main door. The building in itself was beautiful on the inside, almost a shame a war between vampires and werewolves was about to take place inside it, it was not going to be pretty. As they entered the lobby they could see a huge metallic sculpture with hundreds of pink and white painted metallic leaves hanging from long wires all across the ceiling above them. With a high ceiling and a white stone floor that spread for many square feet, the room looked majestic. Entering the lobby brought them to a couple of steps that ended in a reception area in front of the grand conference hall, Persephone. The ceiling was a little lower past the steps where a second-floor hallway could be seen. The receptionist desk was long and intimidating; it was carved out of wood into what appeared to be a woman lying down in Greek clothing; Persephone, queen of the underworld, Rebecca deduced. Behind the desk, two women and a man sat spread apart in front of a pair computer monitors answering calls and helping visitors to the building.
If she remembered the schematic correctly, Persephone Hall could be accessed through two doors, one to the right and one to the left, behind the reception’s desk. Turning to each side, she quickly spotted the tall wooden doors that were already being used by the guests to the senator’s luncheon; mostly older women in fancy dresses followed by their husbands in their finest suits, his financial supporters, no doubt. A few minutes earlier the lobby had been packed with these people dressed to the nines; they had since entered the room and were waiting for the luncheon to begin.
Special Agent Charles Lewis exited the hall from one of the doors to join them.
“We’re ready,” he told Dylan. “Door closes in two minutes and all doors to the outside world have been locked and are being monitored since you two entered the building.”
Dylan listened intently, turned to look at Rebecca and whispered, “Use your senses,” he told her, “do you feel them?”
Rebecca hadn’t really thought about it. Immediately she concentrated on the werewolf scent. It was there, very faint, but present. Giving him a quick nod, she signaled she was ready, wondering if the werewolves had caught their scents just like they had.
“Are you two ready?” Agent Lewis asked. Dylan barely moved, “It’s showtime, then.”
> Dylan left her to enter the room with Lewis, leaving Rebecca behind to oversee the lobby until she got her signal. Use your senses, Dylan had said. Taking a deep breath, Rebecca now focused her sense of smell to identify everything else around her: the soup, chicken, asparagus and mashed potatoes that were cooking in the kitchen, for example. She could smell the strong scent of human blood coming from the crowd inside the main hall mixed with the werewolves.
They were there, all right. And they were waiting. Then another thought came to her; if it was getting easier to sense them, then it would be getting easier for them, as well. She was exposed. As she understood it, werewolves also had a physical reaction to the scent vampires produced. It made them feel anxious and reckless, it made them want to destroy them as the threat they were to them. Unlike Rebecca, werewolves didn’t practice with vampire blood before missions, she didn’t think. Unlike vampires, werewolves became more impulsive through time. In fact, the alpha werewolf was known to be the one most in control; or at least, that’s what the vampires thought since, according to their history, it was impossible to have a werewolf sit down and have a rational conversation with a vampire.
It was then she heard a voice in her ear, “You see them?” It was Lewis talking to Dylan. Things were about to get crazy as soon as the werewolves realized they were trapped.
“Be ready,” Dylan’s voice was heard.
Suddenly, the stench of werewolf filled her nostrils tenfold. Rebecca quickly turned in the direction of the smell; whoever it was had to be in the same room with her, close to her. Her eyes spotted a waiter coming out of Persephone Hall a few feet away from where she stood. Not just a waiter, a werewolf.
“Dylan,” she muttered quickly, “he’s here.”
“What?”
“He’s a waiter.”
“They’re all waiters,” confirmed Dylan. “They are waiting for something, they-“ Communication was then cut off. Rebecca panicked.
“Dylan?” She put her hand on her ear, but nothing was coming out of the earpiece, not anymore.
Her eyes still fixed on the werewolf disguised as a young man in front of her. The boy was young, with unkempt brown hair and eyes. He looked so innocent and kind, not at all like what she imagined a werewolf to be. Right next to him, the three receptionists kept working unaware of the dangers.
In the back of her mind, the warning to kill and destroy the werewolf had begun to call. It pounded on her head like a hammer, distracting her from her focus.
“Dylan?” she tried one last time; there was no one on the other side.
The young waiter, who had been standing watching her silently, gave a few steps forth. Rebecca did not move even when panic kept rising inside her, her hand now touching her gun.
Before anything else happened, the boy opened his mouth to speak, “I thought you weren’t supposed to show humans what you really are?”
“What?”
“You’re eyes,” the boy pointed out casually, “they’re red.” He then turned around to look at the three human beings behind the long desk, so enthralled in their conversations with the person on the other line they didn’t seem to notice their exchange. Turning back to face her, he put his index finger to his lips and made a hushing sound.
Her heart was about to come out of her chest. This boy was nothing like the men she had seen turn into monsters on all those video feeds Dylan had shown her. The boy looked rational and even a little nervous, just like she was.
Taking a deep breath, Rebecca willed her eyes to change back to their human brown iris. “Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m him,” the boy said, “William is my name.”
“You’re him?” she asked not believing a young man such as he had managed to be a spy for so long.
“Yes,” the boy smiled. “And you are? I’ve never seen you before.”
Rebecca didn’t answer him.
“It’ll happen soon,” the boy said when he didn’t receive an answer, “I’m supposed to stop the crowd from leaving, but I’m on your side. Do you understand?”
There wasn’t time for Rebecca to say anything at all. Two shots were heard from behind the wall of Persephone Hall, the fire alarm began to sound right before the screaming started. Finally, the doors burst open. Soon the loud crowds began moving like a river as they hurried to exit the hall. The two men from Lewis’ team waiting outside the building wouldn’t unlock the main doors to help them outside. Not yet. Rebecca felt them push her back as the panicked crowd tried to get out. In the confusion, she lost sight of the young werewolf, William.
The lobby became chaotic with the flood of people trying to escape.
Another shot was heard. Rebecca knew what she had to do. Moving against the current, she pushed through the crowd until she reached the door to the left. It proved a challenge to make her way inside Persephone Hall and when she finally got there, the last of the civilian guests were emptying the room screaming and clumsily shoving each other. Soon the large room was empty of humanity except for the senator and his two bodyguards, who stood next to him, guns in hand. Apart from that, there were three men dressed as waiters shot down on the floor and a fourth one standing in the middle of the room staring down at Dylan, who had found a way to stand between the werewolf and the senator and his men, as his personal protector. With the fire alarm, the water sprinklers had been activated. They were now shut down, the damage had been done. The room, which had once been worthy of a king, looked messy and wet. The chairs had tumbled down all over the floor, pushed down by the startled crowd. Some centerpieces had rolled down from the tables, some broken with their flowers mashed on the floor by the feet of hundreds of people fleeing the room. The carpet made a squishy sound every time Rebecca gave a step inside.
“We need to take the senator out, Becca.” It was Lewis behind her, “Can you cover for me?” He had been standing next to the door and she hadn’t seen him or felt his presence; probably because she had been so enthralled by what she saw as she entered the room. Rebecca turned to him, nodding absentmindedly. She then watched Charles slowly walk around the room trying to reach the spot where the senator and his bodyguards waited. It would soon be Dylan and her against four werewolves. And one more. The boy. Where was the boy, William? That would make for the five werewolves who were supposed to be in the room.
Rebecca looked around; the air was filled with humidity and a mix of human and werewolf sweat and blood that made it impossible to pinpoint the location of anyone. There was a loud growl suddenly. Rebecca turned to look in Dylan’s direction just in time to witness the thing that had once looked human turn into a beast. In front of the senator and his men, the werewolf’s bones cracked and shifted, the hair on his skin grew longer and thicker and his face mutated into a wolf-like muzzle with long sharp teeth sprouting in every direction. Before her, the first werewolf transformation she had ever beheld let out a terrifying growl as it fell on all fours readying itself to attack the vampire in front of it.
“Go help him!” she heard a voice behind her. It was William. The boy had been hiding under a table and was now peeking from under the tablecloth urging her to do something.
Except Rebecca did nothing. She did not even reach for her gun. Paralyzed, she looked at the huge monster that had appeared in the room and could not understand how someone like her could ever face something as monstrous as it. Much less defeat it. Dylan clearly had more confidence and experience. His gun was already aimed, he wasted no time in taking a shot. Then another. The werewolf took the bullets, easily dismissed the pain and wasted no more time to begin the attack.
“Get the senator out of here, Charles!” Dylan screamed; his eyes already red, his long fangs exposed. “Hurry!”
Rebecca watched as Dylan jumped at the beast just in time to stop it midair. Charles used that opportunity to reach the three men. In a matter of seconds, the human F.B.I. agent had managed to guide them towards the remaining unlocked door and to safety. Why couldn’t Rebecca even move?
Never having witnessed anything so terrifying and gruesome in her life, Rebecca shook with fear and disgust. She was in shock. She had never seen anything so violent before.
“What are you doing?” The young werewolf was calling again, “The others are waking up,” he warned. The others. She hadn’t seen them because they were lying unconscious on the wet floor. That was why she had heard the shots. Well, they were now stirring. One of them was already on his hands and knees. “For the love of God, do something!”
On the other side of the room Dylan had dropped the heart, and with his bloody arm, was once again holding the gun as he took the second one from its holster. The men, who by now were no longer men, growled at him together as they closed in on him. It was three against one. Aiming with both guns Dylan shot at the beasts, but to no avail. Once a werewolf had transformed it became more powerful in every sense. When he had faced but men, all he had needed to do was shoot them in the head. That would at least paralyze them for a while; now, as wolves, not only was it more challenging to get a good shot, the only way to stop them was by attacking them one on one.
Werewolf Phenomenon: N.A.V.S.A. Series Book Two (The North American Vampire Secret Agency) Page 4
