"What on Welkins do you think you're doing?" I demanded as I entered the usual. It was so just my luck that I had walked in on two co-workers. Okay, let me explain the misadventures of Holly Yeti. It's a horrible incident that happened when I was born; I was born smart. I mean smart. I mean, I was doing quadratic equations at the age of three. Oh, yay me! That's sarcasm if you didn't pick up on the words. So at the age of six I was considered highly top-secret in my capabilities seeing as I was so smart people would instantly go out to get me. Yeah, that's a comforting thought. Some are jealous, some just want me. In a very academic way. And at the age of seven, I was offered a job here at the secret organization of Impression of Mythical Creatures as head scientist. Yeah, that's fun. It actually is, too. I've been working here for eight years now and of course, I'm going to be relocated to the centre of all mythical creatures that seem to prop up; Forks, Washington. But not after my last week that is filled with my goodbyes, my packing and now my walking-in-on-twenty-something-older-colleagues-doing-the-deed-on-what-used-to-be-my-desk.
And apparently I'd caught them at a rather "important" stage of their session. "Oh, jeez; not on my old desk, you two; take it to a storage closet." I grumbled as I merely passed them. "Yo, Yeti; sorry," Dr. Test said to me before taking his "close" colleague out of the room. "Wish you the best of life," He called to me as he and Dr. Raymond headed out of the room and down the hall. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
In IMC we only capture the creatures that are proven as threats, only the exact same ones who have caused the threat. I am far from the field agent however that's what they expect me to do. With my mind, my body has also developed properly into a teenage motive. I would give off the look of any average teenager had I chosen to try and do so. I usually don't care. Like now; my yellow blond hair was pulled up on my head in a disastrously messy bun held together with a clip in a rather attractive way, a pair of thick-framed glasses were perched on the tip of my nose after having slid quite the dangerous path and I wore a uniform outfit of black dress pants along with a white button-down blouse and a white lab-coat with my ID badge. I mean, seriously? Sure, I had my blouse un-tucked and my shoes were not exactly pumps or high heeled boots but rather a pair of black loafers but that didn't make me anymore of a teenager than the thirty-something old doctors down the hall from me.
However I did wear an odd number out on my neck; a black choker with a Silver cross dangling from a brief silver chain. I usually wore it only for my mom's sake because she's very Christian whereas I'm briefly…well; I'm not so interested in religion. And no; I have never dated a single day in my life. Things are a bit preoccupied at the time seeing as I'm a super-genius working at a top-security lab in D.C. until next week. Then I'll be a super-genius working in a top-security lab in Forks! Oh, yay; a UTENSIL!
Yeah; I'm not going mad at all. I merely shook my head as I stood behind my used-to-be desk and kept on emptying the drawers into my boxy-box right here. I already had a GED, a college degree, a doctorate, etc. Yet I had to be put into Forks High as a sophomore this year. Oh, yay; year 10. That'll be fun. Jeez.
~3~
"God, Holly; you'd think someone ran a stick right up your—," Melissa started but my mom cut her off. "Yeah; that's not very nice, Mel," Says the annoying 16 year old twin brother of hers. "Shut it before I ground both of you," Mom threatened. Tom (brother) and Mel (sister) both shrank back at the threat. When my mom grounds, she really grounds; as in the whole fiesta; doing the dishes, laundry, taking out garbage for a whole month. Then some people tend to push it to more months. I don't usually get in trouble 'cause mom knows the job's got stress. It does pay majorly but that's beside the point. Some creatures have to be put down due to their violence when in actuality some have ever been put down for self-defense against the cruelty of humans. Mel and Tom are both jackasses and don't know shit about IMC. I'm glad.
Then I have a younger sister; Denny. Denny is…difficult. She's not academically smart like me but she's one of those monotonous philosophy prodigies that seem adorable at first. Then you really get to know her. But sometimes Denny and I have conversations and…well; let's just say I don't have to pay for therapy with her around. Denny does know by me telling her but her psychological mumbo-jumbo tells her she's got "sister-sister confidentiality" almost like "doctor-patient confidentiality". It kind of freaks me out at times but then I get back into a chat about something random with her. She lightens up a bit with me around. She's really adorable and sweet but sometimes I swear that blank stare she gives everyone will freeze on her face; then again, it might have already but she never changes for us to notice.
We had just gotten off the plane and were waiting nearby for dad to come around with the car. So here's the lowdown; mom was standing to my right as we faced the street under the overhanging roof outside of the airport; Denny was to my left, then Mel then Tom. Mom was wearing the usual; a purple button-down quarter-length blouse with little velvet and lace roses at the shoulders, a pair of black jeans and a pair of purple Mary-Jane's. She had her graying blond hair left down so that it shaded over her left grey eye (both were a soft grey). I was wearing a pair of black jeans (per request by mom to "look normal"), a grey and black horizontal striped quarter-length sweater and black undershirt. I also had put on a pair of black wedge boots to make me look taller slightly. I was a pretty short person. My long blond hair was left down so it draped behind my back and over my shoulders casually and shadowed over my right eye with a small braid on my right side (plus I'm the palest in my family, just so you know).
Denny was a whole other story. She stood out most of all because she was just too damn adorable. Her five year old body was covered in a child-sized sky-blue dress with a grey lacey cropped sweater and a pair of little child-sized blue Mary-Jane's. She was holding my hand while we waited with her small black backpack on her back and her mini-teddy bear hanging limply out of her backpack pocket. Her own sandy brown hair was pulled into a low ponytail behind her head and her own empty hazel eyes were glancing around in a bored manner. She was adorable in her own way. A rosy blush permanently stained her bored pale face and her thick lashes only fluttered every one in a while to blink. She was just so cute! X-D!
Then there was Mel. Mel always had been a real…trend-follower. She's one of the "cliques" and goes along in a pack with her friends usually. She was wearing a pair of pale blue ribbed jeans with a black fishnet sash hanging to the right on her waist and a pale blue V-neck sweater. She also wore a pair of sky-blue high tops and her own brown hair was pulled into a high bobbing ponytail pulled back so tight it looked like it hurt. It probably did. Her eyes were brown like our dad's and she only got mom's pale skin and high cheekbones on that part. Tom, like I said, was Mel's twin. He also has the basics; brown eyes, brown hair and mom's cheekbones but in a more…guy-ish way. He wore a pair of dark sagging jeans to reveal his black and white checkered boxers (yuck, Yeti) and a high-rising white men's V-neck T-shirt that was risen up due to him scratching his stomach which was actually just a not-so-clever ploy to show his abs to all the girls around. He was also wearing a clever tight black leather jacket that he made sure showed off his biceps and such. The collar was permanently perked up to half-way up his neck with a short button thingy hanging off in front of the collarbone.
Did I mention I was still wearing my choker? Well, I am. Finally we heard a soft "Beep-BEEP" noise coming from the U-shaped entrance for cars and we all looked to see…dad driving an annoying-as-hell dark blue minivan. "Yuck, mom-mobile," Tom groaned. I sighed as I led Denny to the other side of the van and pulled open the sliding doors. The car-seat always seemed to be on the driver's side of the car. I quickly lifted Denny into the car-seat and began to buckle her in. Denny was a small person so she obviously has to have a driver's seat until she's at least seven because of her height-difference. "Here you go, Dens," I said as I buckled the final belt and quickly hopped into the car to slide around her to the middle seat of the second row. I closed the door behind me and then plopped down onto the seat. "Of all the cars to rent, dad; you had to get a mom-mobile?" Tom complained from the backseat. I smirked as I buckled my own seatbelt. "Right; we wouldn't want too many girls hanging around if you were too perfect." Dad sniggered. I chuckled along with my dad and he reached back allowing me to high-five him.
"Anyways, Jack; we have to drop Holly off before we go to the house." Mom said, rolling her eyes at our immature stunts. I groaned. "In this outfit, mom?" I groaned. "Where's she going?" Tom asked. "Oh, Holly has to do something for us before she comes to the house." Dad said slyly. Sometimes I really admired his lying abilities. They were almost as cool as mine. I clutched my backpack close to my body and blinked before quickly falling asleep in my seat. The next second I was probed awake by my dad. "Yo, squirt; we're at the place," Dad said. I rolled my eyes and sighed before exiting 'round Denny again.
"We'll pick you up at six for dinner, 'right?" Mom called to me as dad only rolled his eyes at my mom's worried tone. "Don't worry, Jean; she'll be fantastic," Dad said before winking at me and driving away before mom could say another word. I swung my backpack around to my back and quickly examined the place before heading inside. It was an old deserted bakery but technically it was in pretty good shape with a few people sitting at one corner and a person nearest the door talking on her phone. They were so obviously covert IMC gimmicks who were covering for the deserted area. If it seemed too abandoned someone might come by and question it. I walked up to the counter and bit my lip. If I was wrong about this then I was so going to humiliate myself. I was already blushing as I approached the counter. I groaned before saying the required phrase. "'I want a roll of nickel fudge'." I said. The baker just looked at me with a bemused expression. I shrugged and looked behind him. That was when he pulled a lever nearby that had been disguised as a butcher's knife sticking out of a cutting board. The bookcase full of old ingredients and pictures quickly sunk into the wall before moving aside.
The baker lifted the half-door for me to go through and I did so quickly. I pulled out my badge and clipped it quickly onto the hem of my top while sighing with relief. So I hadn't humiliated myself with a phrase that could've been mistaken for something ENTIRELY different for nothing. I uneasily reached back and pulled my hair into a loose bun behind my head with a hair-tie I had on my wrist at all times. I was still wearing my contacts but they were part of my "regular" look. I stepped down a cold hallway. It was completely of what seemed like a rather thick metal bolted together and at the end was a set of metal double doors like you'd see at a hospital. The bookshelf behind me closed back and it was dark for a silent moment before the wall little with a straight line of red light. I knew it was the sensors at work. I stayed perfectly still until the light turned green. I then felt the soft panel beneath me begin to move forward. I looked down. Holy…There were panels of metal but in between the panels you could see that it was a very, VERY long way down. Oh, Jesus. I hoped I never found out just how steep the fall was. The metal panel came to a halt in front of the double doors and I stepped through them as if they were made of water. This was just like back at home.
I was soon in a glass-walled half-round elevator and I came to the sensor pad beside the double doors. I bent down slightly so it could get a clear scan of my retina. "Welcome, Holly Yeti," A monotonous voice said, reminding me of Denny. I snorted at that thought. "You are scheduled to be directly at Director Nerd's office." The monotonous voice said. It sounded like those GPS voices of a woman. But I snorted again; someone obviously played a prank by making the computer say "Nerd" when talking about the director when I knew for a fact his name was Nickerson. "That's Director Nickerson," I corrected her. "Heading to Director Nerd's office right now." The computer said. I snorted again and sighed before leaning back on the back of the elevator. Thankfully it was a solid glass. Well, actually glass is technically liquid however—ah, you get the point.
Finally I heard a rather pleasant ding go off around me and the once-Jell-O doors opened to reveal none other than a…spacious office lobby. Secretary and all. "Oh, boy; don't tell me he's going to keep me waiting." I joked to the secretary. She seemed shocked to see such a young child as me around here. "Can I help you?" The secretary asked. "I'm supposed to meet with Director Nickerson this afternoon, thank you very much." I said proudly and unclipped my badge before showing it to her. She blinked and opened her mouth several times but she was flabbergasted. Ha; I very barely get to use that word (such a waste of such a fun word). "Right, I'm Holly Yeti, supposedly the newest field agent here?" I offered. "Yes, um, well, go on in. I don't believe he's had any visitors." The secretary said bemusedly. I snorted and turned to the double wood doors and gave her one last look for confirmation that it was his doors and not some lame-ass supply closet. That'd suck. "Right, well; I get told a lot that I'm young but isn't that allegedly used to my advantage?" I announced as I arrived in the office.
A man looked up from his computer at his desk to see me in shock. He was a Caucasian male with a head of gray spiky hair and a slight gruff that made him look like the Brawny guy in his sixties. He was wearing a uniform black suit and tie with a pair of shiny black loafers. "Ah, you must be our newest agent; Holly Yeti?" The man said, standing up and offering his hand. I took it immediately, smiling. "And you must be Director Nerd-uh, Nickerson," I said. The Director chuckled, nodding. "I heard of that prank. It even dared call me it when I came in this morning." He said. He was obviously light-hearted. Denny would have a whack at him and he'd be crumbling before her feet in seconds. I had to make sure they were never in the same room together. "Ah, well, it might be comical however a little unprofessional." I said politely. It was the perfect response; neither denying its comical effort nor approving it. "Well, back to business; how are you?" Director N. asked randomly. I blinked. "Um, well, I'm fine. Thanks?" I said. He only chuckled at my response. "I make it a point for others to know that I'm not going to off them any second." He said.
I smiled at that comment and nodded. "Right; connecting with your colleagues and agents. Very smart tactic," I said. "Okay; now to show you your new working space. Each field agent is allowed a small office and works up to a rather larger office. The room literally grows as time goes on. It's the latest architectural technology." Director N. said with a wide white grin. I blinked at him. "That sounds both creepy and fun," I laughed. "Right; well, let's show you to your office so you can set things up. What time are you allegedly leaving?" He said. It was a more professional way of asking "when are your parents coming?" "Six o'clock," I said. "My mom's a bit of a worrier so she's going to be here on the dot at six o'clock and she'll panic if I'm not there to meet her at the door." I said.
Then I got curious. "Say, does that bakery actually sell food?" I asked. "Yes, it does. It's a basic cafeteria for some agents who work full-time." Director N. said. I smiled and nodded. "Mom might buy something like fudge or bread or something." I said then paled. "Dear God, only she would be able to accidentally say the code-phrase." I said and sighed. He had a good laugh at that as he led me back to the elevator. We both got to the elevator, going through the doors just as I had when off the metal panel. The Director waved his hand towards the scanner in a "be my guest" kind of way. I bent down to the scanner and the scanner immediately went zooming over my retina yet again. "Holly Yeti, you are now being led to your office by Director Nerd." The computer said. I blinked then bit my lip. It was kind of funny, ya know.
~3~
"So, Holly; how was it?" Dad asked eagerly. He was always one to jump on things when they're down. I sighed. "It went excellent, thank you very much." I said, glancing pointedly at Mel and Tom before dad sighed and gave up. "What were you doing, anyways?" Mel asked in a disgusted kind of tone while she picked at her spaghetti. As much as I'd love to see her die from malnutrition I know that she should eat something…so I grabbed a roll and shoved it in her mouth. "I was there for a job." I said. "Job?" Mel questioned through a mouthful of roll. She'd actually eaten it. "Yes, I'm going to be working part-time at Lily's Bakery." I said and shrugged. "Mom and dad set it up back in D.C. so that I'd be prepared to get my earnings." I said and plucked a forkful of spaghetti in my mouth. Mel looked at me enviously for a second before looking down at her own plate. I had the genes of a fast metabolism so I get to eat all I want and not gain a pound.
I rolled my eyes as I picked up the pre-bitten roll and shoved it in her mouth again. She seemed to take the hint and began to nibble on it along with small forkfuls of spaghetti. My job, however, was going to be full-time. I'd be undercover at high school so I could report any strange disturbances in the force. Eh, Luke? You heard Lassie got bitten by a vamp?
Can dogs even turn vampy? I doubted it. But there were a few good vampires. I knew that much. "How was it, Holly?" Mel asked. "It was fine; my boss is awesome and he's light-hearted so Denny's never going to meet him." I said, pointing a glare at Denny uselessly. She was completely oblivious to it as she ate. For a five year old she was so surprisingly clean that she was the one with the cleanest room out of the other five of us. I rolled my eyes at that and sighed.
"My co-workers think I'm a bit too young but they're getting over it." I said. "Oh, well," I said and shrugged it off. Then I went to take a shower before getting to bed. I glanced out my room and directed my eyes at the woods, watching through droopy eyes. I just briefly caught a flicker of bronze before I fell slightly asleep.
~3~
"You're kidding me, right?" I grumbled as I looked at the file in front of me. "Sorry, kiddo; you're the newbie and newbie fields get the locations." Dr. Drake said to me with a sympathetic shrug. I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair. My office was fairly reasonable in size and I wished it'd stay this size. It'd be easier to clean. "But location jobs to African deserts to pick up a sand-beast? Oh yeah, that's fun," I grumbled sarcastically. "Okay, I get it; newbie and newbie fields get locations. Sorry," I said before standing up. "I'd better go pack." I said with a sigh. "I'm a scientist, not a field," I whined on my way out.
I called my mom and she came to pick me up, looking worried as soon as I told her I had to leave. "Where are you going?" Mom asked instantly. I looked at her and bit my lip. Locations were confidential even to parents. "I can't really tell you that, mom," I said and shrugged. "But I'll be gone a few days, a few weeks at most." I said. "What will you be doing? Will it be dangerous? Oh, you better come back alive and not in shoeboxes," Mom grumbled worriedly as she drove, keeping her eyes on the road. She was ever the worrywart. "Mom, it'll be fine. I won't come back in shoeboxes. But if I do, make sure it's at least Nike." I joked. That only made mom glare at me. "This is not a joke, young lady. You've only been here one day and you're already being sent off to some foreign country that I don't know of!" Mom cried out melodramatically. "Oh, you've heard of it before," I grumbled and reached up to rub my neck.
"Newbie fields get location jobs to make them adjust to traveling a lot, mom. I'm just adjusting, 'right?" I said to her with another sigh. Mom bit her lip and spared a glance at me before turning to the road and nodding.