CHAPTER ONE: Duty Calls
Present day, United States
She could hear a phone ringing somewhere in the back of her sleep deprived mind. Praying it was a wrong number, she coverd her head with her pillow. Distantly, she could hear the answering machine pick up. She momentarily lifted her head, listening for a voice, but no message was left. Happy to get back to sleep, she rolled over and snuggled closer to her pillow. However, her reprieve was short lived, as the phone began ringing again. Knowing she wasn't lucky enough for this to be some kid playing a prank, Alexandra Douglas reached over and grabbed the phone.
Silently cursing at the rude person interupting her dreams, she barked out in her husky voice, "This had better be important." She didn't even bother opening her eyes. She was determined that whomever it was wasn't getting her full attention until she was able to get a decent nights sleep.
"Agent Douglas?", a man asked in a clipped, British accent.
Sighing, she sat up. When someone called asking for Agent Douglas in the middle of the night, it wasn't a good. Her sleep was distrubed for the remainder of the night.
"Yeah, you got her", she answered with a yawn.
Opening her eyes, she glanced at the clock on the bedside table; and saw it was 2:17 am. Great, she'd been in bed for a total of three hours. Vaguely, she realized the gentleman on the line was still speaking. Knowing she needed to at least make an effort to keep up with the ongoing conversation, Alex concentrated a little harder.
"Agent Douglas, the Council has been made awaree of an incident that has occured. We feel this is an assignment that would best be handled by someone with your level of expertise", he explained.
"What kind of incident, and who am I speaking with?", Alex asked. There were forty other operatives available: why did the Council have to call her?
"Oh, I do apologize", came the slightly stilted reply. "Let me introduce myself, I am Sir William Grey, a British representative from the Council", he informed her with a slight air of superiority. "When the Council was made aware of the current situation, your name was the first one considered for the job. I was appointed Council liason for you and your team members", he finished explaining.
Grey was not a name she was familiar with, but she would verify it later; after she found out what was going on. "So, Sir William, is the Council aware of the fact, that I completed my last assignment not 5 hours ago?" she inquired.
Again apologetic he replied, "Yes, it's unfortunate that we have to contact you again so soon; but, the situation is somewhat, dire. Thomas McMillan recommended you for this mission; saying you were the best person for the job. He assured me that once you knew the details concerning this assignment, you would jump at the chance to head up a team", he replied emphatically.
Alex had been on the phone now for almost five minutes; and, she still had no idea as to what was going on. This man was gonna have to get to the point soon, if he expected her to stay on the line. Striving for patience she asked, "Okay...so what is it that requires my immediate attention?"
Nervously, Sir William cleared his throat before he responded, "Yes, well, there has been a confrontation between the lycans and vampires."
Oookay, nothing earth shattering, Alex thought. There was always confrontations going on between the two species. She sat there in her bed waiting for him to explain further.
After a few moments of silence, he realized she wasn't commenting.
"Agent Douglas, are you there?" he inquired.
Taking a deep breath she counted to ten and then answered, "Yes, Sir William, I'm waiting for you to continue."
"Oh, right then. Well, um, it has come to our attention that a human was injured in the skirmish; taking a bullet to the shoulder I believe. There was a vampire shot as well. He paused again, as if waiting for her to say something.
Unbelievable! This man would not get to the point. She was close to hanging up on the Brit; she didn't care if he was a Council member or not!
"Sir William", she began willing herself to be pleasant. "I'm sure you're very good at your job; but, I am tired. I suggest you start filling me on the details or let me go. One way or the other, I have every intention of going back to sleep as soon as I hang up this phone." She paused for a moment, pulling herself together before she continued, "Look, I'm not trying to be rude, but so far, all the information you have imparted tells me that any rookie agent on the Council's payroll could go out there and contain the situation. I haven't been told one thing that leads me to believe Thomas would suggest you call me to head up this assingment", she finsihed exasperated. Her patience level waning fast.
Alexs' comments and warning was greeted witha brief silence. She assumed she had insulted the British gentleman. She had been short with him; and, normally she was very patient and accomodating. But here lately, that wasn't always the case.
She had begun taking on more and more assignments by herself. She realized that working with no one else wasn't always a good thing. She was working on burn out. She was tired of saving the world, at least for the time being; that's what it boiled down to. Tamping down her anger and impatience, she waited for Sir William to finish his explanation.
"Agent Douglas, I apologize yet again. I have handled this situation extirely incorrectly. But I promise to try and explain the Councils concerns", Sir William began. "Our data shows that the lycans were tracking a human, a male by the name of Michael Corvin, age mid to late 20's. He's an American medical student there in Budapest. The lycans were following this Mr. Corvin and seemed ready to apprehend him, when three death dealers followed them into the subway. Suddenly, the lycans started firing, and the vampires returned their fire with weapons of their own. A human female was caught in the crossfire; and was hit with a stray bullet. We're told that Michael Corvin began administering first aid to the wounded woman. One of the vampires was then hit by the lycans weapon. It is stated that upon impact, the vampire began emitting a bright blue light that could be seen from within the wound as well as various other parts of his body. Then he burned to death in front of every human at the station. While this was happening, another vampire and lycan were physically fighting on the train itself and then proceeded to throw themselves out the train windows as they continued fighting deep in the subway tunnels. The third death dealer, went after a shapeshifter she herself had already injured.
He paused for a moment letting all of that sink in, and then he quietly asked, "Do you understand our concern?"
Well, that certainly got her attention! "You're saying that one of the vampires began burning once it was hit with the lycan's bullet", she asked for verification.
She could hear papers shuffling as Sir William began looking for confirmation of this fact,
"Yes", he said, "Here it is. It says the lycans fired upon the vampires, hitting one of the males which then seemed to burst into blue light and burn to ashes"
Now wide awake, Alex said thoughtfully, "You do know what this means, don't you?" Without waiting for an answer she continued, "The lycans have somehow obtained access to our ultraviolet ammunition. Which means they either stole the technology, or someone provided them with it. Damnit!", she finished, cursing att he recent turn of events.
"Good, you do understand our concern", Sir William, commented. "There are a few other things the Council feels you should be made aware of", he added. "The reigning vampires in this ara are convening for an awakening and there are the usual rumors of Lucian sightings", he said finishing with all the details he had been given.
"There are always Lucian sightings, especially in that area. It's been that way for hundreds of years, Sir William. But there has never been any concrete proof of his existence", Alex noted somewhat absently. Her mind was already turning over the information she had just learned.
We are aware of this, Agent Douglas", Sir willima replied haughtily.
Great, she had offended him again.
He continued, "But the Council decided you should be aware of all that was noted in the report. And, the Council has also deduced that they Lycans are up to something big, something involving humans. This report state that not only were the werewolves following Michael Corvin, there seemed to be an unusally high number of recent disappearances in the area. But most importantly, is the fact that the lycans are willing to take great risks to keep the vampires ignorant of the interst in these humans, Mr. Corvin in particular. The Council believs the lycan attack was not a random act of violence, perpetrated by low ranking individuals. It appears to be a well planned, meticulously thought out operation. Which means someone of extreme power and great intelligence is involved", Sir William concluded.
Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Alex considered the information she had been given and processed it all. There could be a mole or a leak amongst the Council members, not a pleasant thought. First and foremost, they would need to find out who, if anyone, was involved. There was no way the lycans could have bought that ammo on the black market. It was developed by and strictly for the Council operatives. Secondly, they needed to find and protect Michael Corvin; as well as find out why the lycans were so interested in him.
Thomas had been right; there was no way she could turn down this assignment. Sighing she finally gave Sir William the response he was waiting for, "Okay, I'll take on the mission. but I want to hand pick my team, no questions asked.
Releasing the breath he had been holding, Sir William said, "Whatever you want. We can have an escort available for you whenever you're ready."
"Fine", she said, "Give me 24 hours to round up my team, and we'll meet with you for briefing there in London."
"Excellent Agent Douglas, we do appreciate your loyalty to the cause", Sir William replied.
Before hanging up, she asked, "How many people on the Council are aware of the details concerning this mission?"
"At the moment, myself, Thomas and you", Sir William informed her.
"Good, let's keep it that way", she noted relived it had been kept relatively quiet. "We will need cooperation from the Budapest office, but I don't want them to be given any details on this assignment. Just let them think we're there to do research on the awakening", she instructed Sir William. She had already begun formulating her team and their gam plain in her head. Her sleeplessness already forgotten.