Chapter 1
I had squashed the spider against the tile in the women’s locker room before I even thought about it. Growing up, this was the natural thing to do. Oh, how things had changed. The poor guy was very nearly endangered, and even though no normal person would have thought twice about it, even in these times; I’m not normal, and I found myself encouraging the thing to live. Thankfully I had just swatted him lightly, and he seemed to be struggling against the odds to climb up the shower towards the ceiling, one leg hanging useless now after my thoughtless act of violence. We endangered species needed to stick together.
I was so enthralled with the tortuous journey of the spider, the shower timer buzzed and then shut off. Damnit, I mentally shouted. I reached down and picked up my ID card off the chain around my neck and scanned it against the shower head again, but it just buzzed annoyingly. It was that time of year again for the water rationing. Thankfully the soap had washed out of my hair on its own, because I had wasted precious moments in the water just to see the spider home safely. In water rationing times people even stood in buckets, just in case, and then used the leftover water to pour over themselves as a final rinse. The steam started to dissipate and I shivered, so I got my body moving towards the lockers.
It was a slow process, it seemed like in the early morning hours my body rebelled against any use. I attributed it to my second nature, the nature I refused to acknowledge most days, even though it was now staring obviously back at me out of the mirror over the sinks. The violet eyes were a nuisance, especially in today’s society. I avoided having to look back in the mirror, and rushed through the rest of my routine as quickly as possible. It was early, but people would be coming in soon, and I didn’t like being around people much. After pulling on my black shirt and jeans, my hair was starting to dry and hung in dark waves, my one vanity. Women these days preferred to keep it short, for the obvious reasons. Not only water was rationed, so were other non-essentials, like hair products and makeup. I didn’t really need any product for my hair though, it naturally waved becomingly, and I just couldn’t bear to cut it. My father, the little amount of memories I had retained of him, he seemed to have been fond of it.
I pulled out my keycard from under the shirt, it had to be visible at all times, or you could be reprimanded, and I shrugged into my shoulder holster. I carried a .9mm. Some called me old fashioned, but I just couldn’t figure out why you needed a new high-tech gun, when the old classics seemed to be more reliable and better adapted to the type of work I did. I was a supe-officer, basically a cop for the supernatural community. Yes, the things that go bump in the night have come out to play. But they don’t necessarily bump, and they don’t always prefer the night; however, they do require a special type of policing. The supernatural community consists of all the fairy-tale and horror creatures you were told stories about as a child: Vampires, Were-animals, fairies, witches, goblins, and everything in between.
I’m in between. And that is the only reason I’m a supe-officer, more widely referred to as the Super-Squad, but only by the human officers. They liken us to superheroes, but joke we are like villains policing villains. Humans hate supes. The supernatural community requires a very specific lot of policing, because most of the supes are strong, easy to anger, and hard to kill. I was the only woman on any of the supe squads I knew about, and the only vampire half-breed I had ever heard of.
I fastened another small Velcro sheath around my waist, and nestled two 6” silver blades into the two pockets in it at the small of my back. My gun would stop just about anything, anything but were-animals and vampires. I’d emptied a magazine into a fugitive vampire once, and he’d just smiled until he met with the pointy end of my silver blade. Bullets would slow them down, but only silver would guarantee a kill. I tucked in my shirt, strapped the bottom of the holster around my belt, and noted as I pulled the belt tight I had gone down another rung. I actually had to make a new hole in the leather in order to hold my pants up. When was the last time I’d eaten? I couldn’t recall. I never much cared for food, and I had never and would NOT prey on the weak, even if it turned out I liked blood, I’d never tried it.
Stepping out of the locker room I was met with the sun from the corridor and had to keep from cringing. It didn’t hurt me, but I wasn’t fond of it, and I slipped on my old sunglasses in a familiar way. I hide behind them. I hide my eyes from the sun, and hide my nature from the majority of the humans. I walked to the supe-wing of the police station, and quickly made my way to the break-room for a coffee.
“Surprise!” A husky male voice shouted. It was a fraction of a second for me to pull my gun and aim it at the voice.
“Shit! Mason, it’s us!” My partner Jackson Crowley shouted defensively. He was hardly one to spook easily. The 6’7” officer was also a supe, he was a werebear, and looked the part. He was dark skinned and menacing in his black t-shirt, barely containing his musculature. I reholstered my weapon and grumbled.
“FUCK Crowley, don’t sneak up on me before I’ve had some coffee.” I said pushing through the bodies towards the steaming pitcher. I noticed James Baxter was laughing at the spectacle, he was a werewolf, ornery and just as huge as Crowley, JB’s partner was one of the two humans on the squad, Markus Smith, though he knew his supernatural community well, he was an expert in the magics, a wizard, and was wearing a non-threatening smile. The other human was our commanding officer, he didn’t see the field much, and he wasn’t participating in the annoyance at hand. I looked back at Crowley starting to get confused. “Why the hell are you all here so early?” It was a quarter to 7, and my partner was a notorious late riser.
I had just about made it to the coffee pot when I noticed Carmine Jacobson was in the way. He had an amused smirk on his face, and was intent on blocking me from my life-saver. He was the only Vampire on the squad, and the only Vampire on any daytime squad. For Vampires, the sun was one of the only sources of a true death. I overheard one time that he was just that old, old and powerful enough that the sun didn’t bother him, he also didn’t require a partner. Vampires are strong and cunning, probably even stronger than a were, though I’d never seen the two outright fight before. He disliked me intensely, always had since the 3 months ago he joined the squad. I didn’t much care for him either. The easy good-looks, and the amazing confidence made me want to puke. I looked my fill everyday though, hell, I’m half warm blooded woman too.
“Dude, she doesn’t remember.” Crowley said surprised. I quickly made a mental scan, and came up empty. “Mason, it’s your Birthday.” I looked around the room towards the calendar on the wall, November 20th, sure enough. I immediately blushed, then got pissed-off-angry at my public embarrassment, I couldn’t help it.
“Damnit Crowley, today is the same as any other day.” I shouted, and Carmine’s smirk about made me go berserk until he stepped away from the coffee pot and my sweet surrender was just seconds away. I took my first sip facing away from the crowd, and then worked up the nerve to face them again.
“Jesus, Mason, you got everyone together for drinks on my birthday, and everyone pitched in for the tickets to the baseball game. I just thought I would return the favor. But you don’t drink, and you don’t eat, and you don’t sleep. Please just eat a piece of your cake I brought. You look like you’re about to wither away.” His concern actually made my anger dissipate slightly. Sugar was a non-essential, and it was hard to come by, he must have used two months rations just to make this cake. I gave him a grin, walked over to the cake, grabbed a piece with my bare fingers and took a huge bite. He beamed like he’d won the lottery and I sauntered out of the room to my desk, trying to ignore the hails of laughter and snide comments about me being a typical difficult woman.
They all knew what I was, but they knew better than to bring it up or to question me. They just pretended I was a plain old human woman, and I liked it better that way. I didn’t fit into either group. I knew the second the sugary cake went down my throat, that it was a bad idea. My stomach rebelled and I just about retched into my wastebasket, but I kept it down for Crowley. I could only stomach a few things lately, steaks and other meats, mostly rare, anything else simply wouldn’t digest, and lately nothing would. It had been days since I’d last eaten. I was literally wasting away, and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried not to think about things out of my control, but I couldn’t help but feel a little worried. I was an anomaly, and the doctors were all stumped.
When I sat down at my desk there was a small present and a large envelope on it. I tackfully threw away the rest of the cake and wiped off my hands on a Kleenex. I opened the present first. It was from Crowley and the rest of the squad, a pair of aviator sunglasses, not exactly designer, but sturdy and functional. Since I never took off the glasses, I tended to wear them out fast. I appreciated the gift, and as everyone was settling at their desks for the day, I discretely took off my old glasses and stashed them in the desk. When I looked up momentarily before I had a chance to slip the new pair on, Carmine was staring intently at me, his violet eyes recognizing the violet in mine.
I quickly broke the gaze and slid the glasses home, but I could still feel his eyes on me as I opened the envelope. It was a fancy embossed and lined envelope, and the card it contained looked like it was written with hand calligraphy.
The Vampire King requests the pleasure of your company on the 20th of November, of the year 2028, at 10 o’clock in the evening. Sir Carmine Jacobson will escort you to the correct location. I felt a sudden panic, tonight I would meet the most notorious Vampire in our City, and the Vampire King did not entertain. So this must be strictly business, and what business would a King of their race want with a half-breed like me? I looked up again at Carmine but he was typing steadily away on his computer, and everyone else was settled into the monotony of the day. I tucked this away in the desk as well, and excused myself to the ladies room. Sure enough, the cake came up.
