2 CHAPTER ONE

A tall woman was standing near a fireplace as we entered the grand ornate building. The mutes stood behind me in a triangular form. I was nervous. The woman was striking and gorgeous but I didn't show any fear as I approached her. Ms. Whitmore. Han's voice was present in my head. The woman turned her head and my jaw nearly dropped. Her face was half gone, nearly showing bone and dead flesh. Did this woman really go out in public looking like this? I asked myself, thankful that I created a safeguard around my thoughts so the mutes couldn't hear me. She wore a dark sweater and blue jeans. In her hand she held a cup, which I would assume was wine but I paid no mind to it. 

"Hans," she said sweetly. "You have returned." Her gaze traveled to me. "I see you've fetched our prodigy." I looked back to see Hans bow his agreement. A shiver went down my spine. There was something creepy about Ms. Whitmore but I stayed silent. I was nobody's prodigy. I was simply me, trying to survive in a world that over run my supernaturals. What did they want from me?

I found my voice after a brief moment of silence. "Why am I here?" another silence before Ms. Whitmore turned back to the fireplace, taking a sip of her wine. The withered part of her face hidden from view so she looked somewhat normal.

"We need your help," she replied calmly and I waited to hear the bad news on her side. "As a higher up in this part of town, it's my duty to look after the citizens but as you can see," she waved a hand toward the window which had the curtains drawn back to expose the view of the city. I went to it and saw flames roaring in the distance and screams could be heard miles away from where we were. I looked at Ms. Whitmore, her deteriorating part of her face shown from this side of the room. "It's been rather complicated to recruit trusted employees to do the job."

"Why would you bring me in?" I asked her. "I have no experience in warding off bad guys." I knew what was happening. All of the supernaturals were running wild and causing trouble in their wake, but what did Whitmore see in me that I didn't?

"Your right," Ms. Whitmore replied as she set her glass on the mantle above the fireplace and turned to me, the shadows hiding the other part of her face and showing the good part. Her eyes, which were and amber color sparkled as if they had a story to tell. "You're not but we have the top notch systems to help you prepare for this line of work."  I was silent as I thought about every possibility that was laid out before me. If I didn't help this woman out, the world could be at its most vulnerable and I would be held accountable for it. The world as we once knew it to be, would be changed, indifferent and ran by the lore of supernaturals. Ones that were once read in books and archives of our libraries. People that cosplayed as them at comic cons and halloween. It was bad enough that our world intertwined with them five years after I had left my family to start my own life. To live freely with my own problems. 

I rubbed the back of my neck and wished that  I was home. At my apartment complex chowing down on chicken parmesan and a nice cold soda to wash it down with but I didn't foresee that happening anytime soon. 

"Do you mind if I think on it?" I asked as I looked at Ms. Whitmore before looking out the window where the city was looming. The fires still a blaze and silence now visible to my ears. "I just need time to think about this." 

"Time is a valuable asset Ms. Swanson." Ms Whitmore stated. Her tone had changed from sweet to authoritative in a manner of minutes. "We need an answer now." My heart dropped. I wasn't prepared for this. Not in the slightest. How can she push me into something that I wasn't even ready for? And for what? To put the supernaturals back in place where they should be? To seal the passage that allowed them to pass through to our world? I didn't have a clue on why she wanted me to do it instead of somebody else. My head began to ache and I rubbed my temples to ease the pain.

"If it's your duty to look after the people in this town," I said bluntly. "How come you can't do this?" Ms. Whitmore's amber eyes glittered at me like I had just pissed her off. Let her be. If she was going to throw me into something without giving me some time to consider her proposition then allow her to be pissed. What was I to her? 

"I've been a part of this since the very beginning," She replied. "My body and my mind isn't what it used to be." She indicated to her face. The one that was half gone. I tried to ignore the idea that it wasn't even there, that all of her face was still there. It never even occurred to me that I should of asked what had happened to her face but I didn't want to be rude and piss her off even more. "Or else I wouldn't be standing here talking to you," her voice rose a little indicating that she was upset but kept calm. "This is where you come in,"

"But why me?" I asked again, hoping that she would give me some sort of answer that would change my mind. 

Ms. Whitmore came over to me where I stood. Caressed my cheek then felt the length of my hair. "We saw potential in you," her answer gave me chills. Did she have someone following me that I wasn't aware about? I only looked at her, my own eyes held confusion and when she saw it, she smiled. "Don't look so confused. I needed to assure myself that your able to do when this field is meant to do."

"You haven't even come close to explaining what I am supposed to do." My brows arched downward, my own anger bubbling in my gut. I took her hands off of me and went to the fireplace. Watching the flames lick at the wood that sat there. Keeping the fire going and imagined Hell. The demons that ran amok. How they looked compared to the humans. "What is it am I really supposed to do with all these supernaturals?"

"You my dear," Ms. Whitmore said sweetly. "Are going to be my guide on how to send all this evil back to where they came from."

"Meaning?" I eyed her, waiting to tell me that my life was meant to send evil to prison and become her own police recruit or some bogus story that I didn't want to hear. I sighed and grabbed her wine off the mantel and took a swig and instantly regretted it. It tasted coppery and odd. It was like she had gotten it from something. Then I turned to see her. The amber eyes that I thought could tell a story, where glowing a feral red. Her straight teeth, now pointed and ready to kill, where sharp like knives. A scream was trapped in my throat and my thoughts where saying Run and hide or kill this bitch. Instead I stood my ground and uttered the words. "Should of known your one of them."

Ms. Whitmore only smiled. "I wondered how long it would have taken you to realize what I was." Her tone was mocking and yet sweet at the same time. Her face returned to normal and she continued,"You can help me or I will have no choice but to send my men to kill your friend."

"Fine," I threw my hands up in the air. "What do I need to do?" 

"There is a number of passageways all around town that are allowing every type of supernatural to pass through without them knowing." Ms. Whitmore said. "I need you and a special ops team to find and close them all."

Great. Just what I need. To be a hunter for a vampire. The thought was clear in my head but I brushed aside. "When do we begin?" I asked her.

"Tomorrow." She uttered the words. "In the meantime, Hans, will be your guard. If you happen to be in danger he'll be there." She waved her hand toward the door. "You may go."

I was more than happy to leave. Slapping myself a dozen types over in my mind. What was I thinking?