Benjamin drove through the driving rain to the SIB headquarters. He'd grabbed a long coat before heading out the door, but had forgotten his umbrella. That was fine, though. If it was still raining come morning he would just turn up the collar of his coat and be on his way.
He pulled into his parking spot in the underground garage, taking the secret steps that led further downward instead of up, and as he made his way into the bowels of the earth the sound of the rain soon faded behind.
The office was empty, as he suspected. Most of his coworkers were likely already upset at having been called in over the weekend and wouldn't be offering any further extra hours unless required. Benjamin's first step was to get a pot of coffee brewing. The little bit of caffeine that he'd ingested while Celesse was at his house had already worn off, and he was bone-weary. He'd likely be pulling an all-nighter, so the hot bean juice was a necessity.
Once he had filled his mug, Benjamin settled down in front of his computer, booted it up and began searching for files on Lucien. There was another name that popped up occasionally in the files regarding the werewolf leader - some man named Lucius. As the SIB agent continued to delve into the depths of the system, he found that Lucius was a high-ranking member of the vampire faction, and that neither of them had been on very good terms for some time now.
---
Benjamin had been researching for a few hours when suddenly the power flickered and he lost his computer. Frowning faintly he glanced at his watch. 1:24am. In the silence that followed that moment, he felt the hair on the back of his neck raise. Benjamin stood and looked over the dividers of his cubicle, searching the room. Nothing. He made his way to the gun safe anyway.
His service pistol was fine in a one on one fight, but Benjamin couldn't help but think of Celesse's message - They're watching you. Perhaps sleep deprivation mixed with copious amounts of coffee was making him paranoid. But Benjamin always trusted his intuition. It rarely led him wrong. He'd been growing ever more concerned with the seeming lack of security in the building, too. How had no one known about Harold's connections within the werewolf faction...? And he was fairly certain someone was making all the files he was looking for disappear. It was no coincidence that they were all missing.
He grabbed a pump-action shotgun, his favourite home defense weapon, and loaded it with shells that were packed with various anti-supernatural pellets. Spherules of wood, silver, incendiaries, etc. A single shot likely wouldn't kill any one supernatural, but it would significantly weaken any number of them. He slid a handful of extra shells in his pocket, popped two in the chamber, and pumped it.
Back in the office section, someone had turned the lights out. The only illumination came from the green 'EXIT' signs in the corners, and the blue of his computer screen booting up. Benjamin kept his back to the wall. Something was hunting him. He remained perfectly silent, listening. A slight rustling to his left. Another to the right. Something moved on the left and the ex-soldier aimed and fired all in one smooth motion. He didn't have time to gloat over the sound of squeals of pain, as he was full-body tackled from the right. He grunted as he was slammed into the wall for the second time in twenty-four hours, but the shotgun was pinned between he and his attacker and before the creature could move away he had fired a round at point-blank range. The shadowy being was blasted away from him and Benjamin snapped the weapon open, popping out the used shells and sliding in two new ones. He had just closed the chamber and pumped a round into place when he was hit again from the side, this time knocking the gun out of his hands.
They slid together across the floor, scrabling against each other for purchase, but soon Benjamin felt a large hand close in over his throat. He gritted his teeth, hands searching in the dark for the attacker's face and, upon finding it, digging his thumbs into soft eye sockets. The creature roared and slammed him back against the floor, Benjamin's head cracking on the thinly carpeted concrete and leaving him dazed.
"Enough!" A high, clear voice rang out, and Benjamin felt the grip on his neck loosen slightly, though the massive hands still held him securely. "Don't damage my toy. I need to have my own fun with him first." The lights came back on and the new Senior Lead Investigator saw above him the young, almost childish face of a woman that he felt like he should recognize. "Take him to the bathroom. It'll be easier to clean up in there," she said, surveying her long, pointed nails.
The creature that had tackled Benjamin the second time was an absolutely massive vampire. He was almost grotesquely huge. He grabbed the human by his arms and lifted him bodily up onto his feet, despite Benjamin still trying to fully regain his senses. He stumbled slightly as he was pushed forward but regained his footing quickly. His mind was racing, trying to put pieces together. At least three attackers. He'd shot two of them. This one behind him though didn't seem like he'd been hit, or if he had he'd either healed already or was so huge it just hadn't affected him.
"Sarge, bring us a chair, would you?" the woman called out as she followed behind Benjamin and his captor, her hips swaying as she walked. She was short and thin with hefty curves in all the right places, eyelids heavy with thick lashes. Benjamin was struck suddenly as he realized where he had seen her - he'd caught a glimpse of her at the club last night.
Just as they reached the men's restroom, the other large vampire that Benjamin had shot in the chest limped by with a straight-backed chair he'd pulled from the break room, setting it down in the middle of the cramped bathroom. "You look tired," the woman said tenderly as she approached her prey, running a fingernail down his cheek. "Why don't you sit?"
Benjamin's jaw locked. "I'd rather n-hng!" his voice caught in his throat as he was shoved down into the seat by the Behemoth behind him. He didn't like the look of this. He still had his service pistol in its holster off his shoulder, but these were vampires he was dealing with. He knew how fast they could be. Faster than him, that was for sure. He might not be making it out of this one alive.
"That's more like it," the woman smiled as she looked down on him, the large vampire tying his hands behind the chair. "Now, maybe you don't know me," she said as she approached Benjamin, a vicious glint in her eye. "But you killed my boyfriend, so we're about to get... acquainted."
Benjamin felt his heart sinking in his chest. Isabella... Harold's vampire girlfriend. From what very little he'd read on her (there were more pressing matters to attend to), she was a bit of a psychopath. She had a history of 'collecting' humans and 'playing' with them before she drained them dry. How she ever ended up with Harold, who couldn't even bring himself to kill a coworker, was beyond him. "Wish we could have met under better circumstances," he said.
Isabella pressed her hand to his heart, closing her eyes as she felt his pulse and smirking faintly to herself. "You're awfully calm for someone who is about to be tortured," she said, grabbing his shirt and ripping it open, buttons flying and revealing the dark pattern of tribal tattoos underneath.
"Sorry, am I upsetting you?" Benjamin asked, mentally steeling himself for what was to come. "I can pretend to be scared, if you'd like," he joked darkly.
Isabella's eyes narrowed. Her hand shot out quicker than lightning, slicing open his abdomen just below his ribs on the left side. "I appreciate your attitude, but I'll have you squirming soon enough," she said as she came in close, licking a dark line of blood from the fresh wound.
Benjamin could feel himself beginning to grow cold and sweaty. The wound was clean, but it was deep. His body was going into shock. He had learned how to compartmentalize these things, pushing his physical body's reactions to the background so he could keep his mind clear and focused, but there was nothing he could do to stop what was coming. He watched as Isabella's fingers traced up his stomach and then began disappearing into the wound, grunting in pain as he felt her hand inside him, pushing organs out of the way.
"Let's see just how fast we can make your little heart beat," she looked into his eyes with a vicious smile.
