Music Lover's Alert: "Memories Fade" by Tears For Fears

Chapter 18: Agent Saunders

The electric blue eyes of Timothy Saunders snapped open. The sun had just set, and it was time for him to go to work. He sat up and touched an electronic panel beside his bed. Immediately, a flat-screen television lit up before him. It was the only light in the room.

A man black suit with darkened eyes who worked for Stellar Defense appeared on the screen and began to speak. The only clearly visible feature of the man's face was a pair of gleaming white cuspids that flashed as he spoke. "We have a special assignment for you tonight, Agent Saunders. We have identified an individual who seeks to undermine the integrity of our government, and we want you to eliminate her."

"Define 'eliminate,' sir," Timothy requested. His own brilliant white canines glistened in his mouth as he spoke.

"We want you to remove her from society. Bring the body back to us. Make it clean, but feel free to take her blood as long as you don't leave any evidence. We are not providing you with sustenance tonight, so you should have plenty of room. She will be easier to carry without her blood. Just don't spill any."

Agent Saunders stared at the screen in bewilderment. He had never before been asked to take someone out completely. The agency usually provided him with sustenance, and then sent him to patrol the streets looking for signs of mischief. "What did she do?" Timothy asked.

"Her name is Joan Black and we caught her trying to remove Industrial Illusions monitoring software from her computer."

A chill ran down Timothy's spine. Could this possibly be the same Joan he loved? She had expressed interest in removing the software from her laptop on the very day he first met her, but she was not stupid enough to try it on her own. She had been looking for an expert computer geek to do it for her. Plus, that wasn't her last name… unless she had gotten married.

The Stellar Defense employee continued, "We let her think that she succeeded, and she subsequently sent e-mails to her rebel friends. Unfortunately, her friends have actually succeeded in removing Industrial Illusions monitoring software and have made their e-mail accounts untraceable. Therefore, Ms. Black is useless to us now. Your task is to eliminate her before the other rebels can get to her and take her underground to work with them. Is that clear?"

Timothy steeled himself against the possibility that he might be forced to suck the woman he loved dry. He had tried to protect her by keeping his distance from her, but if it was her, then he would just have to do his duty to the government no matter what. Nightmares had prepared him for this moment, and the longer his heart cooled, the easier it became to bear those thoughts. "Yes, sir," he said coolly.

"Good. I am sending you her dossier now."

The image of the Stellar Defense employee flickered off the screen and the image of a sixteen year-old girl appeared in his place. She had dark brown eyes, but the computer noted that she liked to wear color contacts often. Her black hair was streaked with red and done up in a messy bun. However, this was another feature of hers that was subject to change. Timothy focused on her bone structure and permanent facial features instead. She had a tiny nose, thick scowling lips, and her eyes slanted upwards. Definitely not my Joan, Timothy thought. She also had piercings in unusual places. Even if she removed the jewelry, he would still be able to see the holes with his enhanced eyesight.

After memorizing Joan Black's dossier and her expected location for the evening, Agent Saunders stood and stretched his muscles. Although the government had given him many special powers, it still had not made him taller. Agent Saunders stood at a mere 162 cm, much shorter than the average government agent. However, his short stature was not the first feature people tended to notice when they met him. They were captivated by his electric blue eyes and his immaculately neat brown hair. His jaw was lean and handsome at the same time while the rest of his features were classically ordinary. He was in almost every sense of the word a perfect man, except for the fact that he was no longer a man. He had ceased to be a man the day he started working for the government.

Timothy Saunders dressed quickly in a set of simple blue jeans and a fitted black button-down shirt. He took no weapons other than the ones he already had in his body. The point was to blend in with the average human population anywhere he went. Agent Saunders then grabbed the keys to his black Porsche and hit the streets of Tokyo.

Joan Black was incredibly easy to track. Although she had tampered with her laptop, she had not thought to remove the GPS tracker that came standard with all Global Communications electronics from her cell phone. Timothy Saunders used his own government phone to trace her to a hip club, which apparently she had been able to enter with fake ID.

Agent Saunders discreetly flashed his government badge at the bouncer and was immediately let into the club. He then slipped through masses of pulsating, scantily clad flesh looking for his mark. As he searched, he became aware that his thirst was growing more powerful by the second. If he did not find Joan soon, he knew he would have to feed on an innocent club patron.

Timothy found the girl at last. She was wearing a black tank top and rocking out to the music. She wore a hairstyle that was very similar to the one in her dossier and her upper lip contained a metal rod. She wore exotic fuschia contacts that stood out sharply against her black eye makeup.

Not wasting any time, Timothy Saunders swiftly got behind her and started running his hands over her tight jeans and stomach. With all of the heat on the dance floor, his cool touch felt refreshing to her. She responded well, grinding her buttocks into his pelvis. Timothy glanced around to see if anyone was looking, and saw that everybody was too absorbed in their own dancing to pay attention to what appeared to be a young couple. Plus, the darkness of the dance floor was broken only by strobe light.

Timothy kissed the girl's neck slowly until he found the right spot to satisfy his cravings. Then, he clamped his hands tightly around her and punctured her jugular vein with a single tooth. She screamed in pain, but nobody could hear her above the music and the excited, happy screams of other club goers. Timothy pressed his lips over the wound and sucked up the warm, syrupy fluid that gushed out of her. She thrashed and struggled for a few seconds while he drained her, but she could not break free. Her resistance grew weaker as her blood flow slowed to a trickle and finally stopped.

Once she was completely limp, Timothy draped one of her arms around his shoulder and dragged her out of the club. The bouncer noticed that Timothy was leaving with someone whom he had not brought into the club, but did not stop him. To the club's patrons, who had not paid any special attention to him when he first arrived, it appeared that he was simply taking home a drunk girlfriend. A few of them shook their heads in disapproval at the girl's state of unconsciousness, but otherwise left him alone.

Timothy hoisted Joan Black's limp body into the back seat of his Porsche as easily as if she was a rag doll. He looked down on her for a moment, expecting to feel remorse or guilt or something. Instead, he simply felt full; not satisfied or unsatisfied, but just full. Her blood was richer and fresher than the stuff he usually received from the agency, and Timothy felt he could get used to routinely eliminating government threats like her. Without a second thought, he got into the driver's seat of his car and brought her body back to his boss to prove that he had completed his mission.

Closing Note: I made a virtual avatar of Joan Black with Doll Divine. You can find her on my Facebook writer page along with other surprises. Be warned, though. There are some spoilers there as well.