The Crucivire

Chapter Eleven: Diving in the Deep End

Two days later, Alice was cleared from the hospital wing. She would have to take iron supplements for the next two weeks but otherwise was cleared to be inducted into the Night Hunters and begin basic training. By this point, the only hint that she'd been attacked were the two pricks on her neck and the three scratches on her cheek. The bandages had been removed, but the wounds had scabbed over and still looked pretty ugly. Still, that wasn't going to stop Alice. She was ready to begin.

The standard uniform of the Night Hunters was almost identical to a U.S. Military uniform, only it was pitch black. That made sense, Alice thought. Their job would likely take place at night most of the time. She would also be expected to work in various clothing in preparation for different cover stories, but for now, she had this uniform, which she changed into inside a bathroom.

Once changed, Alice met agent Walker in his office, where he briefed her on Night Hunter protocol. The office itself was pretty innocuous, with file cabinets to the side, photos and a lamp on his desk, and a computer to his right. The protocol was almost indistinguishable from U.S. Military protocol, which made sense to Alice. This job was probably as demanding as the military, if not more, due to the things they fought.

Before Alice officially started training, Agent Walker asked, "Any questions?"

"Just one," said Alice. "The Night Hunters fight vampires a lot. Right? Why don't the uniforms have crosses on them? It seems like that would protect you for a little bit."

"They do have crosses," said Walker, grinning, pressing a button on his desk.

The lights went off, and a black light lamp on his desk turned on. Alice, looking down, quickly realized that the black light was illuminating crosses on her uniform.

"Those are invisible to the human eye," said Walker. "But to a vampire, they're like cross shaped lights. It protects us while allowing us to remain somewhat inconspicuous."

He pressed the button again, and the lights returned to normal.

"And this Agent Phoenix?" asked Alice. "Why does he wear them so openly?"

"He had them before he joined us and is...as you may have noticed...rather stubborn."

Yeah, thought Alice. Arthur could be pretty stubborn.

"Speaking of the Phoenix," said Walker. "Our people finished their audit of the vampire Kenneth Noble. I can't go into detail about our methods until you get a higher security clearance, but we were able to track his movements to California, where someone got a picture of a child traveling with him at the time. Agent Phoenix already told us that Noble took him there and reluctantly admitted that this child was him."

He handed Alice a photo of a boy being led into a car on a busy street corner. Alice took one look at the boy and almost choked up.

"Yeah," said Alice. "That's him. That's Arthur."

"Then there is no doubt," said Walker. "Agent Phoenix is your brother. What are you going to do?"

Alice thought about it and thought of her mother still in the hospital wing.

"Right now," said Alice. "He doesn't want anything to do with me. I think, for now, I'll just focus on training."

"That's probably wise. Now, that leaves one more thing. You need to contact your Chief of Police."

"Yeah," said Alice. "It's going to be strange if I just quit my job. Have you people prepared a cover story or something?"

"That won't be necessary," said Walker. "A few police officers other than your partner have gone missing. We've been forced to inform the Saint Vivia Police department of the situation so they can better prepare themselves. That's not a decision we take lightly, but I'm sure you don't find this surprising. Regardless, you can tell your chief of police the truth."