Hope (II)

Latiffah kept the loaded Beretta M9 in an upright position as she leaned against the steel wall. She made sure to keep her hands off the trigger. They had found a lead to one of the warehouses of the rouges where they kept their hostages. And this particular warehouse has about fifty hostages from different Parks. In a moment she was at the doorpost of the Bates mansion when she got a call from the IT specialist assigned for the mission upon the leads. The issue they had at hand was the constant abduction of young werewolves for obnoxious reasons which they were yet to find out.

All what they knew was that experiments were performed on them resulting in them losing their wolves in the process. They were very far away from her Park close to the Eritrean coastline to the Red Sea. It was an old port site miles away from port of Sudan but close to the newest built. From the metal containers, they were about to ship them off somewhere which they are yet to find out probably never to be seen again. But for what? She asked herself. Day and night the matter kept frustrating her. For all leads lead to a dead end. She didn't know what they are trying to accomplish but it was getting on her nerves. One question reigned in their minds, : who is behind all of this?

From the looks of it, a werewolf with in-depth knowledge of the Parks must have given them the tip. To be able to get large doses of wolfsbane and even muruidhean was almost impossible unless with the aid of the Elders; the werewolf copy of the vampire's council. A circle comprising old wolves who are believed to be the first descendants of the deities. Latiffah stood there with fellow armed werewolves in this mission. Some came from other packs across the globe to help. Their bullets were mostly silver.

Counting silently with her fingers from three to one, they barge in with full force firing at anyone in their way. Unfortunately, there was no one. The place was empty and deserted. Like they had packed a long time ago and made a run for it. They were ahead of them this time. Latiffah stomps her foot like a child who didn't get what she wants in helplessness ignoring the looks of the others. It appears that the kidnappers were messing with them. Still she needed clues. They moved around the container searching for some. She feels almost every edge for any unknown substances. The dust slipping through the small spaces between the wooden floorboards which was questionable.

Meanwhile, underneath the wooden floorboards, a group of crouched up creatures stayed silent upon strict orders. Even a pin drop noise was forbidden. The dust which slipped through the woods fell on an unconscious fellow. He was in the midst of the experiment when they got a call that the nosy Agent Howell and her band mates were on their way with full speed. They immediately disconnected the wires pushing the wellbeing of the lab rat at the back of their minds. They could not risk getting caught or the machines found for it cost a fortune. Their big Boss would have their hearts as dessert as a result. They have to find a way to get out of this mess before those personnels figure them out. There were about sixty five hostages in total, a few had died at the hands of the experiment. They can't risk anymore deaths since catching them was a tough job. However if they are caught in the cause of their escape, they wouldn't hesitate to retaliate. For to get the body of Agent Latiffah Howell dead or alive, came with a hefty fortune and position!

Latiffah releases a low hiss when her hand grazes particles of silver. It was on a three legged table which had been occupying dust. She hoped no one paid attention. It was mixed up with the dust, muruidhean and another she never thought she'd encounter... red lore. A herb used to ward off witches! How did this relate with the witches? Maybe they had also kidnapped witches. She collected samples for further examination at the lab.

As they retreated, Latiffah felt that something was off. It was not right and that nagging feeling stayed even as she ascended the truck and they begin to drive off. As if it clicked, the hair's on the nape of her neck stood. Goosebumps spread out on her skin and her knees wobbled.

"Stop." She says loudly. The driver slams the brake then alerts the other trucks through the pager. "Isn't this a container meant for shipment?..." it was a rhetorical question. A few of the men accompanied her back into the container. Some caught on to what she was trying to decipher. "This is made of metal that means every part is made of metal including the floor?" she points to the wooden floorboard.

"Maybe it is deeper in width than it looks." Her colleague from central intelligence, Agent Hilt, replies. She offered to help her in solving this sophisticated case for the thrill of it. "Maybe they are trying to hide something? Like a loot? Or better still the abducted…."

A gunshot echoes in the container. If they had kept controlled, they wouldn't have been found. They couldn't be anymore dumber in trying to use those planks as coverage to deceive someone.

A bullet hit Latiffah in the left shoulder from the small spaces in the woods. She had crouched down studying a footprint which looked old but new amongst the dust on the ground near the corner of the container far away from the entrance. She tries to take the silver bullet out in vain. She could feel Nerina in pain. More gunshots come from beneath hitting her men injuring them badly. Soon it is an all out war when her men finally get themselves together and shoot. Five guys in black with automatic ammos pop up from the ground. They had black masks on their faces making them unrecognizable. She tries to ignore the pain in her shoulder which intensified anytime she moved it slightly. The wound hurt she had been ran down by a car several times making her weak and dragged. She manages the gun with her right hand and shoot two predators aiming for her forehead in chest forty five degrees to the heart.

Ad interim, the leader of the bandits saw that they were outnumbered. With five of his men down he couldn't risk the remaining five. He orders two to start transferring the machines while the remaining three guard the hostages. It would be great if they are able to hide them from the personnels. Not long the wooden planks are broken and an injured agent descends into the space. Driven by agitation, both agents aim for their foreheads and Hilt spares Howell the last kill, their leader. The other two who tried to getaway are surrounded by the personnels who stayed behind. They were beginning to think they were out of the game. These two would satisfy them for now.

Agent Howell walks out limping with the support of Agent Hilt. Two personnels rush to their aid. One supports Agent Howell while the other reviews Hilt. They charter the agents and the hostages to the hospital and their loot: the deadbeat leader and the machines to their base facility. Latiffah doesn't stay long in fear of Randolph's doting and constant warnings of stretching her wounds. She returns to work examining the machines.

Several noises echo down the second hall under the big Walmart building. They were screams of pain and agony. If it were a better situation, she would have rescued him from their clutches but here is the case they needed answers and he was the only survivor of the gun down. He seemed busy with the machines they so much wanted to grasp; potential enough to provide them the answers to their questions. According to the torturers, he refuses to speak staring blankly for sometime, mumbling strange words like a lunatic or acting dumb whenever they posed a question. It was becoming unbecoming. She could feel the sorrow and regret in his aura. Maybe he has failed himself or that precious someone.

Another ugly scream tears through the atmosphere piercing their sharp ears causing people to flinch. Probably silver must have been embedded into his thigh after all fingers broken beyond immediate repair and damaged kneecaps from the crowbar in the garage. She has had enough. Maybe he didn't know that much as they had suspected. She was going to set free the poor pup!

Juniors and a few seniors salute and congratulate her as she passed by to the interrogation room, sort of. A room surrounded by solid steel walls with a two way mirror and no windows. If you were to stand behind it, you would be able to see what the insider is doing without his knowledge.

Latiffah kicks the door open to their surprise. She was in her all black agent outfit and her hair in a forced ponytail. The bandages on her wounds clearly visible. As she had expected, a deep wound which burnt stood in the victim's thigh proudly. She scrunches her nose. He was seated at the center of the room with a big table at the side and an upturned chair beside it. Weapons, sharp and brutal, lay on the table sparkling under the LED lights. His bare torso was marred with a lot of scars, old wounds and fresh ones dripping of blood. Too much blood! She quipped. He might die of low blood count. It was such a gruesome sight.

"What are you doing here, agent?" The bulky man of the two snarls. He had a scar which run from his nose bridge on his right cheek down to his chin. "You have played your part of the mission. Now let us do ours?"

"You're hurting him " She quips ignoring his stare

"You are hindering our work." The other speaks after injecting a 200ml dose of muruidhean into his system. The victim begins to scream in anguish.

"What's the point of torture if you do this?" She was referring to the injection. A 50 ml dose could make one spill his life secrets how much more 200 ml?

"Bâtards!" (You bastards!) The victim screeches in a strong European accent full of terror. The two men shake with fury bit Latiffah frowns her face trying to decipher what he said.

"Shut up!" Bulky man screams. "See agent, he's acting like a lunatic grumbling incoherent words trying to fool us into letting him go. But this ain't going to work." Latiffah folds her arms to her chest mindful of the strain and looks at the two as the world's ignorant fools and douchebags. She couldn't wrap her head around how they got recruited into the central intelligence. Even from his accent, it is easy to recognize that he just spoke French. She sighs. They really have brawns instead brains for agents in the central intelligence. She shoves the lanky man aside causing him to stumble several times. She steps closer to the victim and sits on the chair which she dragged along to everyone's bewilderment.

"Bonjour!" His eyes widen. "Est-ce que vous pouvez m'aider ?" Tears puddles in his eyes.

"Finalement." He gives a hoarse cry. He relaxes his shoulders for the first time after he was captured.

"Oui, je sais." (Yes I know) The two men watch them exchange a few words and begin to feel stupid for not acknowledging the fact that he might have been speaking a foreign language.

"What…What is he saying?" They stutter in embarrassment.

Latiffah looks at them with a smug smile. "I thought you said I was hindering your work." Her lips tilt in a smirk. " I'm just going to get on with my work then leave you to do yours." She ignores them then shows the bullet in her pocket to the suspect.

"Où est-ce que cela appartient ?" (Where does this belong?) It was the very same bullet they had used in shooting them down. It was a little bit dent and the gold lustre dull.

"En Colombie." She nods pinpointing that piece of information.

"A qui appartient-il?" She had no one in mind. She made sure to place potential major suspects behind bars where they belong. They'll be spending the rest of Christmas there. She was certain of that.

"C'est pour Mikayla Torino." She wasn't surprised when she heard that name of. They have been at each other's necks since she destroyed one of the La Bomba cargo ships. It was sailing large tons of cocaine, tobacco and muruidhean to North America. The vicious vipress had sworn to have her head or make her pay for the big loss. Latiffah flipped her off. But that didn't happen because she placed the vipress in her son where she belonged, three years ago. I mean, she would have her minions continuing her acts but none played fair and absolute passion in this game of theirs. To be honest, she missed how the viper would give her all to make her miserable. It got to a point of even her innocent little siblings as targets. That trench!

"Merde !"(Shit) She hit the table with her fist causing a blunt thud.

"Elle est sortie de prison." She was torn between boiling with rage or clubbing with happiness.

"Depuis quand?" He shrugs.

"Elle vient pour ta tête et ton loup." She hums.

"Pouvez-vous lui donner un message pour moi?" He stares at her wondering how he was going to do that.

Nevertheless, "Bien sur." He agrees.

Latiffah looked quite content. "Tell her that, Elle peut embrasser mon cul!"

"Tu es exactement comme elle t'a décrit." He feels the effects of the drug climb up his veins.

"Comment?" He doesn't say anything as his bows slowly, his eyes closing in the process.

Latiffah sighs then retreats. She couldn't get that information out of him although it's not important. Mikayla has something coming up for her. She has to pay her a visit. She huffs then walk out of the interrogation room to the two men blocking her path. She turns to use the other end but with werewolf abilities, they block her path again. She growls lowly.

"Can you excuse me?" she raises a brow.

"Not until you give us what we want." The bulky man rasps.

"I believe I have nothing to give you."

They ignore her comment. "Tell us what he said." The lanky man says authoritatively.

"And that is…" Latiffah wasn't going to back down. The two men, relentlessly try to grab her which she dodged their every move.

A menacingly loud growl echoes down the hall. It was from the Alpha.

"What is going on here?" He booms. Latiffah glares at the two men who shook with fury.

"Alpha," They began to complain to Reece. Latiffah stood still feeling a headache coming on.

"Agent?" Reece calls out to her. The two men have a victorious grin on their faces. "A word." The two men were well aware of Latiffah's incapabilities. The news had spread like wildfire. An agent with no wolf. How was she going to protect them? They asked themselves. But Latiffah was yet to show them her abilities. She begrudgingly follows the Alpha to his office.

"Have a seat, Latiffah." Reece says as he closes the door. He notices the scowl on her face. She looks beautiful with those creases. "What was going on over there?" He lent a listening ear to her side of her story. He nods after her narration then pushes the matter aside. That is not why he came for her.

"Let's meet at the Violet Creek at 1900." That was seven pm.

'Why does he want to meet me there?' Latiffah asked herself as she got ready to go to bed after making sure the fake twins were tucked in.