The Crucivire

Chapter Twelve: When the Odds are Against You

After an exhausting day of training, Captain Wagner sent Alice and the other recruits to the trainee quarters on the facility's first floor. This was the only floor above ground and served as the facility's cover story. The top floor took the form of a lavish mansion known as Aguillard Manor, constructed in the art nouveau style with lots of columns, arches, and curving flourishes. The family that owned the manor had been associated with the Night Hunters ever since the mansion's initial creation. According to Wagner, they kept the trainees on the top floor because they weren't ready for active duty. If there was an emergency requiring evacuation during sleeping hours, this was the fastest way to evacuate the trainees so the full hunters could deal with the problem.

The elevator to the underground floors was disguised as a normal hallway wall that slid open. When Alice stepped out of the plain white elevator into this mansion, she realized she'd seen it before. Her family would pass it on the interstate sometimes, like when going on road trips. To think that it had been here the entire time and she never knew, but apparently every major city had a facility like this nearby to keep an eye on things, according to agent Walker at least.

Agents Thompson and Swan led them down the hallway to a T split. Agent Thompson led the men to the right, while Agent Swan led the women to the left and held up a clipboard.

"Remember," said Agent Swan. "While we expect you to maintain your mental discipline on the job, we are well aware of how straining this line of work will be. We have psychiatrists and religious leaders from various faiths on level five if you need to talk to someone. And trust me, chances are that you will need to talk to someone at some point. Now, when I call your name. Take the assigned room. You'll have normal sleeping hours tonight but be prepared to have that schedule change. This job will sometimes require you to perform it at night. Now, recruit Paulsen, room twelve..."

Agent Swan called out names until Alice was assigned room seventeen along with another woman, recruit Perez. The room in question had two beds with a change of clothing and boxes filled with tactical gear and a place for their firearms. Alice took one bed, and the other woman, recruit Perez, took the other. As they both prepared to get some sleep after a wearying day, the other woman watched her from the corner of her eye.

"So," said Perez. "Looks like we're roommates."

Alice glanced at her, seeing a woman of Hispanic descent with dark, wavy hair.

"Yeah," said Alice nonchalantly as she continued preparing her bed. "I guess we are."

"I'm Marcia," she said. "Marcia Perez."

"Alice Hayes," said Alice, doing the bare minimum to be polite.

"Crazy day, huh?" asked Marcia. When Alice grunted, Marcia continued, "So, how'd you end up joining the Night Hunters?"

"Look," said Alice. "I'm not really in the mood to talk. I just want some sleep."

"Oh..." said Marcia, shrugging. "Okay."

They didn't share another word until they went to sleep.

###

Even through the fog over her mind, Penny knew it was all a lie. The ballroom they danced in looked exquisite, with a diamond chandelier and golden light illuminating the white walls and marble columns. In truth, it was pitch black, with cracks on the walls and dust everywhere, the chandelier missing entirely. She seemed to be wearing a fancy white dress with a rose tucked into her ear. She knew she was wearing the same clothing she'd been taken in. She seemed to be dancing with an enormously handsome man but knew she was dancing with a monster.

On some level, Penny knew that he couldn't do any of this normally. The vampires that had attacked their farm hadn't done anything like this. Was it because he'd drunk her blood? That had to be it. That somehow made her a part of him. Gave him power over her. Gave him ownership over her...