Chapter 21
"Where is Mom?" Her voice was not right, it sounded threatening standing in her suit of grey mesh and glaring at her brother. "Dan! God Damnit pay attention, where is mom!"
He shrugged and looked to his door, as Josette appeared wearing the same type of body suit, then followed by JB, "She isn't here We have to find her."
Dan stood up from his bed. "Grandma is hurt and so is Grandpa, and I think I heard Aunt Lydia and Uncle Tom. I don't know how I got here. What the hell is going on?"
JB and Josette turned and nodded to Dan. Jeanette looked at her brother with love and concern. "Sorry buddy, you need to sleep now.
" She moved to him, and he saw her grow closer with some odd looking mettle clips covering her fingertips. He felt her place those cool metal clips on his temple and smiled. He remembered falling back and unconscious on his bed.
Softly she spoke, "Forget." Then she turned and stepped through an invisible door that had started with no more than a pinprick of light that grew into an array of colorful lighting affects and she was gone. She appeared in the woods with her brother and sister. "I will go check Collinwood and see what is happening there. I would check Widows Hill for Mother."
Jeanette had felt a connection with her mother since she had done her psi surgery and now it was stronger than ever along with other problems she had been having but was loathed to tell her brother and sister. She turned again into the spectral field that was a slipstream of time and space.
Vicki stood facing the beast on the hill, she stood her eyes fixed and she smiled. The beast cocked his head and studied her; cocking its head left then right. Raising her arms she felt the power building in the palms of her hands. "You are cursed by the wolf's bane, your curse would touch that which is mine and I cannot allow you to harm those I love."
The wolf began to growl sensing danger from this female. Lowering her arms she stood palms facing forward and called upon her power. "End this now!" She commanded and a white powerful pulsing glow emitted from her palms and began to consume her hands, moving her hands with palms facing forward she pushed her power and felt the energy fire in a motion that took that power firing towards and then encompassing the man beast before her.
It howled in pain and lashed out rushing forward to knock her from the hill and send her body crashing to the rocks and waves below. Vicki stood her ground as the beast charged bathed in the powerful light of her power, With the approach of the beast for a moment she saw it was Silas Morgan one of the cannery's foremen. He looked shocked then puzzled and then at peace as he sailed over her head over the edge of Widow's Hill to land with a sickening impact below. Vicki sighed; he would be at peace with this passing. It was the least she could see to his funeral expenses and would do so anonymously.
The use of her power had drained her and she fell on her knees landing on the ground to lay unconscious. She awoke to the sound of Josette's voice. "Mother wake up, mother please wake up."
To hearing JB ask, "Is she all right?" Josette stepped back letting JB bend to lift his mother. "I think she is suffering a power drain. She does not appear to be injured anywhere else. I think she had to use the guardian's light to save herself and Dan, so she is going to be down for a couple of days. Come on lets get her home."
JB turned and waited for his sister to open the door through space and time to allow them access and easy travel back to their birth home. Putting their mother on her bed, they turned. "Let's go see what is going on with Grandma and Grandpa."
Stepping back through the slipstream of time, they arrived in time to see their Grandparents being loaded into ambulances with Thom watching the area nervously. Jeanette stepped over next to them knowing they were undetectable she spoke softly, "Lydia is missing she went after Silas."
"Dead at the bottom of Widow's Hill. Mother took care of him." Jeanette nodded, "Guardian's light?"
Josette nodded, Lydia might have seen the light show and went to check it out." They turned as they noticed the relieved look on Thomas' face when Lydia grimly moved through the doors of Collinwood. "Silas Morgan, he is at the bottom of Widows Hill, I saw him go over."
Hearing she had seen what had happened they turned to look at their Aunt and then each other. "Shit. She might have seen us and what mother can do."
From the look on their Aunt's face they knew she knew and it was going to get uncomfortable for them until they either told her or erased her memory. That however was not going to be an option, she had a skull fracture and playing with her mind with such an injury could do permanent damage.
Josette stepped back, "You guys go on back meet up with Logan and Cameron. I am going to do clean up here and deal with Aunt Penney. "
Lydia sat at her desk and studied the ninja covered image of Josette standing in the corner of the picture taken of the area around Rucker's. She looked very much like that last night. She frowned and reached for her phone and opened up her tickler looking for Josette's cell phone number and she punched the numbers and waited. The phone trying to make connections on the other end rang, it also rang in her office, and she looked up and around.
She heard her nieces voice before she saw her step from an invisible field in the corner of her room. "Hang up Aunt Penney, I am right here." Lydia hung up the phone and sat back looking at her niece and wondered why she felt she had to dress like a high tech electronic sensor covered ninja. Josette removed her mesh mask and moved to stand in front of her Aunt. "You need to come with me so I can explain." Lydia felt numb and it was not from her injury it was because the woman that stood before her was almost threatening.
"Its time you know what we Collins are about and why we do what we do." Lydia was actually afraid to leave the office with this stranger that was her niece.
"I knew you were special when you could communicate through your mother while still in her womb. But this?"
Josette was not ashamed she was just determined to make sure she understood their need to keep this operations unit a secret. "You need to come with me Aunt Penney. Come now."
Penney stood and moved to her niece, "Where are we going."
Josette grabbed her arm and pulled her back through the invisible door and for a first time rookie experiencing time fold she knew when they arrived in the med lab she was going to be very ill. Stepping through the door to a med lab, Josette pulled her Aunt through. "Chair!"
She called to the nurses. A wheel chair was pushed to catch the slumping woman held by Josette. "She has a fracture skull, concussion, and disorientation. Once you are done with her call me and I will come and get her."
The nurses nodded and pushed Lydia into a surgery lab. Josette went immediately the locker room, showered and then dressed in civilian clothing. Moving to her apartment she sat and cued up their training information vid and paused it.
This was going to work and her Aunt was going to have to understand or they would have to risk a mind wipe. She was not exactly sure how she was going to explain her mother's power that was really not her story to tell but as she witnessed what Vicki had done she needed a plausible and brief explanation.
Jeanette entered her sister's apartment and flopped next to her. "JB is on his way up. So do we order pizza and have a family party?" Jeanette's sarcasm was not lost on Josette sitting back she closed her eyes.
"You should have seen her face when I stepped into her office, she was not surprised. It was more like revulsion. She thinks we are aliens I can just sense it."
Jeanette slumped further on the sofa. "I guess you think this is my fault." Josette glanced at her sister. "No, I don't."
JB entered the room and he looked almost relieved. "I just got reports from the hospital. Grandma and Grandpa are being kept an extra day for observation, Mom is tired but she is going to be fine, and Dan remembers nothing. Oh and Propaganda unit have gone to Silas house and hidden make up and wolf masks and planted information over the house making it appear he had a sick obsession with werewolves."
Jeanette shoved herself up to a sitting position then stood up. "So Uncle Thom and Aunt Lydia can find this information and conclude he has been the wolf man that has been killing the cattle and the dude in the woods?"
She stood and paced back and forth. "But that does not explain the Collinsport Creeper, do we even know if we have a rogue Vamp working the city?"
The door opened and Radu stood poised on the threshold. 'Did someone say a roguish vamp? At your services ladies and gent."
He bowed and swept into the room. Jeanette accepted a light chaste kiss on her cheek and a whispered promise for more to come later when they were alone in her apartment. Which made her blush she checked quickly to see if her brother or sister had heard.
Josette's screen lit up with an alert to an incoming internal call. "Well here goes, you guys be on your best behavior we are about to introduce our Aunt Penny to a vampire and a team of demon fighters and I am not exactly sure how she is going to take it."
Josette stepped through the door when it slid open and moved to the sterile elevators at the end of the hallway. "UGL4" She called to the computer then punched in her code and waited as the elevator started to fall on its pulleys sliding to a silent stop, "UGL2" The computer's voice announced the door slid open and Aden stepped on.
"Going for your aunt?" She nodded, "I am coming with you and I am going to be there when you go through your explanation. How do you plan to approach this situation?"
Josette thought just a moment. "I was going to play the indoctrination vid for new recruits to do an over view of what we are and who we are."
Aden nodded, and stood stone face next to her dressed out in SHADOWS Ops battle fatigues. "Do you think we could slid her into a low level clearance and use her as an operative on sight in Collinsport?"
Josette had hoped he would make that offer and smiled. "I think she would make a great civilian operative she works closely with Tim now and she could do it here as well. She is a Detective on the Department and she is fairly sharp and had a good instinct but no special powers or latent SupNatch powers."
Aden waited as the door slid open and they moved in tandem down the hallway. "Then she would be strictly on consulting status the same as Tim?"
She nodded, "it would help for her to run interference and when we need propaganda spread to cover or sweep an area she would be perfect to feed the media the information we want out there."
He liked the sounds of this a potential messy situation was suddenly getting a more positive spin on it and that made the top dogs happy.
Josette stepped up to the recovery lab door and pressed her code into the recessed panel and placed her palm on the wall, waiting and finally her retina was scanned and she was allowed entry. They waited and Josette had to admit she had a sinking feeling that her aunt would view her as some kind of a freak of nature and their relationship would never be the same again. "Aden, I think it would actually help us if we had Tim here after she views the indoctrination vid."
He thought a moment and nodded, "Probably right, while you take her to your place. I will send a retrieval team to bring Tim here."
She smiled, "Thanks. I think if she sees she is not the only mundane then she might be more receptive to our offer."
He entered through the door and she followed. They stood inside the clean room area and waited for the recovery nurses to awaken her aunt. "The masked nurse spoke softly leading Penney to the clean room door. Pressing the intercom she spoke softly, "She is a little disoriented still but her head wound has been healed and she has been reset from the concussion, she might have some residual dizziness over the next two days but she will be fine."
Josette smiled and nodded when the nurse put Penney's hand on the wall and waited as the door slid open. "Go to your niece Lydia."
Lydia stepped through and turned to the nurse, "Thank you for all your help Nancy." She nodded and then closed the door. Josette stood next to her Aunt and led her to the hallway.
"Aunt Penney this is my boss Aden, Aden my Aunt Penney though she likes being called Lydia."
Aden smiled charmingly and shook Penney's hand. "A pleasure. I know you have been through a lot but perhaps from this point forward we will be able to offer you some assistance with the troubles you seem to be suffering in Collinsport and a possible explanation for these odd occurrences."
Penney listened while following the man dressed in black and carrying an insignia on his shoulder patch that had looked like the one Josette had worn. He was not a remarkable man and could easily blend into the businessman's crowd if he had worn a suit.
Middle aged, greying temples hair comb to style and a mustache that made him look rather like someone's father of the bride. His dark eyes held a kindness to them and he had an easy smile that immediately put her at ease. Lydia continued to allow them to lead her down the hallway to an elevator.
Entering the elevator she spoke, "APL10" Josette spoke into the sensors of the elevator and the computer responded.
"Apartment Level 10th floor."
Josette spoke in an upbeat tone. "I am taking you to my apartment Aunt Penney and there we will begin to explain what we are and what we do for Collinsport."
Penney glanced to her niece and saw her discomfort and knew she was afraid this was going to change her opinion she had of her sister's children. "Josette, I am an intelligent woman with an open mind. Relax, I know you are not an alien and I know you have some 'special' talents you displayed those when you were in your mother's womb. I just reserve the right to form my opinion after I have reviewed all the facts."
Josette gave her aunt a tight smile; and then when the door opened she led her and Aden to her apartment. Aden stepped back and nodded to Josette. "I am going to take care of that request now."
Josette smiled then opened her door. Penney was impressed by how modern the apartment was, "As members of the Government Agency of SHADOWS operation. In essence we are a division of the government; that is more secret than the Men in Black unit, they fear us. As such we maintain apartments in the building we use for our operations so welcome to my home Aunt Penney. "
Lydia moved into the room and nodded to Jeanette, JB and then noticed a white dog sitting over Jeanette's lap.
"Hey Aunt Penney."
JB stood up and moved to kiss his aunt's cheek. "Nettie, I did not know you had a dog?"
Jeanette looked at Radu and rubbed his ears. "Radu, show yourself to Aunt Penney."
The white dog jumped to the floor and began to shimmer and stood up. Penney was face to face with a man she thought had been destroyed in Transylvania.
"Hello Miss Patterson, Radu Florescu at your service." He like Aden wore a black uniform and performed an elaborate bow to her.
"Ok that is just plain friggin weird. What just happened?"
Josette guided her Aunt to the chair in front of the large screen monitor over the fireplace. "Net, start the vid for Aunt Penney and we will be back in about an hour. Once you see this video you will understand why we are a classified secret organization in the government of the United States and the President in one of the few that has knowledge of us and no other agencies except like I said the Men In Black."
The team left the room when the screen popped to life and a Disclaimer was presented and the name of SHADOWS Operations was displayed prominently over the large screen. The narrator with a soft and calming British accent began. "Welcome to your indoctrination into SHADOWS operations," The voice over continued as the actual name of the Operations Group displayed: Supernatural Hunter- Advisory- Deployment -Other Worldly Services.
Lydia sat back and watched the vid as it detailed the types of incursions they would meet and the types of activities they would be expected to control. "I will be damned." She muttered softly.
Penney sat passively watching the pictures of the demons, shape sifters, vampires, werewolves, demigods and various other vermin that would be dispatched, deployed back to hell, or recruited. At this point she discovered there was more than one hell there were at least nine at last count.
She found it all interesting as the explanation with the soothing voice over continued and she found it ironic that all this sick, depraved monsters were being explained by a soft and soothing voice of some refined British woman who seemed unaffected by what she was detailing. When the vid grew to an end, the door to Jo's apartment opened and Tim entered the room. Penney stood up shocked and pleased to see him.
"Tim are you a part of this unit?" He nodded, and moved to sit down across from her.
"When I leave here I will be taking you with me. But yes, I am a part of this and I hope so will you. I understand you had a chance to already experience our med lab and you are all fixed up?"
She nodded and smiled, "It was kind of nice to know I could get my hard head fixed so easily here, they sealed it with a laser." He smiled in returned and sighed.
"I have been feeding them the information from our autopsies so you know that we do have something other worldly that is trolling the streets of Collinsport."
Penney stood up and paced the open living area. "I understand that there are such things as werewolves saw my first one the other night. I just don't know what you would call my sister Victoria."
Tim sat back and got comfortable. "Your sister was granted a very special power at her birth. She is what people call a white witch with the power to create and protect the good and seek justice against the darkness that surrounds us. You know that Collinsport is a portal or what this group calls a hellmouth. That is why we have a lot of supernatural things happening in our town. I know in a small town up the coast from here they have a residual backlash from what is spawn in Collinsport only they call their supernatural events troubles."
Penney nodded, "I had heard rumors that in HAVEN there were issues similar to ours but did not know they were related."
Tim shook his head, "They are not related to ours they have a backlash from what we are incurring here and their people suffer from that backlash. They have their own team that assists them. What we have is somewhat the same but different to some degree we are unique in what we have and deal with on a daily basis."
He leaned forward to fold together and balance his hands between his legs by resting his arms on his knees. "What we have is a darker side to what life would throw at us. The reason your sister has always attracted the darker elements such as Vlad Tepes, Baal, and Radu is she has that pure inner light that apparently you witnessed the other night when she dispatched Silas Morgan. They. . "
He indicated the apartment and the screen with the Supernatural-Hunter- Advisory-Deployment-Other Worldly Services, Operations group had a term they used, "What they, this group, terms what Vicki has is the Guardian's Light. She actually looses some of her life years when she has to use her power. Currently, Vicki is about 70 years old but looks like she is hardly 28 and the reason for this was she had been turned into a vampire by Dr. Lang. Who then took some of that vampiric life force and used it to bring Adam to life."
Penney stood shocked by what she was hearing. "So she was turned when she was pregnant with Josette? What did that do to Josette?"
Tim sighed and rubbed his temples and sat back. "It made her into what is called a day walker. She actually does have vampiric abilities but does not suffer the side affect because her bad part of that curse went into Adam when they did the life force transfer. However, she retained special abilities. Now the other part of this is that Vicki, Josette, Jeanette, and JB all are what this group calls Time Folders. They can bend time and shift through it like a knife would cut threw butter. So if something is messed with by a dark powered being in the 1500, 1600 or even in the future they can go back and correct it so we don't have what they fear would be is a cascade affect where the universes of alternate realities and conjecture of those realities fall in on each other thereby eliminating them all."
Penney paused in her furious pacing and held up her hand. "Wait we are talking about physics which is way beyond me and my comprehension level."
Tim laughed, "Look Pen, what I am giving you is the Reader's Digest version and no there will not be a test. What they will expect from you is to keep this organization totally secret and they will put you on their payroll and use you to assist them and in return you will get great perks. Like weapons to deal with the crap that is coming at you from all sides. For instances what we think attacked you the night you got your skull fracture was a demon like an Orc. I don't know what name they have identified it as but it was what caused Rucker's Rampage that is being played off as a Rouge Bear gone berserk."
Penney nodded and then paused, "But why would it put me in front of the café and then knock on the door to let them know I had been hurt?"
Tim shrugged, "We think you were found after it attacked you and someone else put you there."
Penney shook her head. "That really does not make sense. Then what is the deal with these drained bodies and attacks on the prostitutes?"