VAMPIRE DATING AGENCY
ROSETTE BOLTER
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CHAPTER ONE
On the morning of the night her life was to change forever, Haley Watkins had woken with the sun.
She’d gotten out of bed, thrown on her running gear, and went for a jog through a nature reserve on the other side of the block. She stopped briefly by the duck pond, as was her routine, and skipped a few stones across the water. The last one she threw somehow evaded the plop into the pond the others had suffered, causing Haley to jog round to the other side to see if it had made it. It was a rather large stone and it had a specific red tinge to it, so Haley should have been able to recognize it.
However when she got there the bank was empty and dry – no sign of the stone at all.
“Well, I’ll be…”
She smiled to herself, her eyes shifting through the grassy horizon, as though there was someone out and about there. Someone who was watching her.
The smile then faded as she realized that she was alone, and tomorrow morning she would not be here, nor the next, nor the morning after that. It could very well be, that this was the last time Haley would see the nature reserve or its pond ever again.
“Do you have everything? Are you sure?” her mother was asking an hour later back at the house.
“Yes, I told you already,” Haley said brushing her teeth. “I packed last night.”
“What about your phone charger? Did you pack your charger?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Toothpaste? Where are you going to get your toothpaste from?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll manage.”
“Okay. We’re stopping off at the grocery store.”
“Mom,” Haley groaned. “There’s no time for that.”
“We’re stopping and that’s the end of it.”
While Haley had been focused on her own stress and anxiety with leaving home, she hadn’t really given much thought as to how her Mom would be dealing with it. You’d think by now her Mom would be glad to get rid of her since she’d been living here since like forever … but then the uncertainty was always going to leave room to wonder.
Would Haley ever see her mother again?
“I made you a sandwich,” her Mom said handing her a paper bag in the kitchen.
“Mom, what are you –”
“Alpha sprouts, beetroot, carrot, spinach and tomato on dark bread.”
“Oh,” Haley said accepting the bag. “Thank you.”
Her Mom looked nervously around the room. She walked over to the kitchen sink and pulled up the blind.
“I just grabbed this from the cabinet,” Haley said showing off the toothpaste. “Saves us a trip.”
Her mother turned around, her nails tapping on the counter.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Haley blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Go, I mean. It’s a lot to give up.”
“Well, I knew that before I enrolled at the academy. If I was successful, then this day would come.”
“But we don’t even,” her Mom murmured, “we don’t even know what’s going to happen to you –”
“I’ll be fine, Mom. Seriously. This is what I’ve been trained for.”
“But how can we be sure? What if they just throw you out to the frontline, like a sacrificial lamb –”
“If I see anything like that, I’ll just run out of there,” Haley said. “They can’t stop me. I still have rights. I can refuse. But … I mean, I’m the new recruit. I’ll probably spend the next six months in the kitchen making stew for them.”
Her Mom nodded. “Let’s hope.”
CHAPTER TWO
Two hours later and they were on the road, nearing the end of their journey. Conversation had been attempted by each of them, but the robotic GPS voice kept on interrupting. Haley had tried switching the voice off, but that endeavor ended shortly thereafter with her Mom screaming “You’re gonna break it!” into her eardrums.
At five minutes to ten, the sight of their destination came into view and her Mom slowed down to the side of the road asking Haley, “Is that it?”
Haley looked over at her. “Uh. Yeah.”
“Okay. So we’re here then…”
Haley frowned. “Are you going to drive up there? I’m supposed to be there at ten a.m. sharp.”
“We’re just looking at it for now.”
Haley inhaled, her anger rising. What they were looking at wasn’t where she was going to ultimately end up – for that they didn’t have an address. This was just an old farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. A pickup point for Haley to be taken to her next location.
The place where she and her mother would have to say goodbye.
“I’m not backing out,” Haley said. “I’ll get out of the car and start walking if I have to.”
Her Mom didn’t reply. She gradually guided them back out to the road and traveled along slowly until they reached the dirt track leading up to the barn. They turned up it and drove for a bit. They parked out the front.
“Is anyone behind us?” Mom asked.
Haley leaned over to check. “No.”
They both stared down the main road.
All was quiet. All was still.
9:57.
“When’s your first check in?”
“Tonight, 9pm,” Haley replied.
“And -?”
“Every Sunday and Wednesday after that.”
“You miss one phone call and I’m calling the cops.”
“Mom,” Haley groaned. “Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
“It’s already happening.”
Haley pressed her fingers together. She shifted her jaw.
“Make sure you contact your brother as well,” her Mom said. “God knows how he’s going to do without his sister in the house to take care of him.”
“Jesus he’s fifteen already,” Haley exclaimed. “He can take care of himself.”
“I don’t know. When your father was his age –”
“Enough. Please.”
“Alright,” her Mom sighed.
A few moments passed.
Her Mom leaned forward. “Maybe they’re not coming.”
“It’s not ten yet.”
“I’m just saying, what if –”
She was cut short, as a black car suddenly appeared on the horizon. They both watched in silence as it approached them, slowing down gradually and then turning up the dirt track.
“That’s them,” Haley said pushing her door open.
She got out and her Mom joined her. They opened the trunk together.
Haley got loaded up first with a backpack over her shoulders, then a gym bag in her right hand, and another carry bag in her left.
The car creeped forward and came to halt before reaching them.
A man in a suit and sunglasses was sitting behind the wheel.
“Who is that?” her Mom whispered. “We don’t know him.”
One of the car’s back doors opened and a professionally dressed woman wearing a dark green blouse and skirt stepped out of the vehicle. She walked towards them, carrying a manila folder at her side.
“Haley?”
“That’s me,” Haley beamed.
“And you’re her mother?” the woman question.
“Yeah – yes,” her mother said nervously. “Jennifer Watkins.”
“I’m Ms. Armistice.”
She walked to the trunk of their car and placed her folder on it, removing one of its pages.
“Can you both come here
please?” Ms. Armistice instructed.
They walked over.
“I’ll just take both your signatures here. Help things move along smoothly.”
“What is this?” Haley’s Mom asked taking the paper. “Certified Release Notification…”
“It’s just to say that Haley is now in our care, and you understand the conditions.”
“What conditions?”
“Excuse me,” Haley piped up. “Not to be rude, but why does my Mom have to sign anything? I’m eighteen.”
“You’d be surprised at the slander that gets thrown of us. Things go wrong in the field and then moms and dads try to get even by saying we kidnapped their children against their own will. So now, extra precautions are required.”
“What do mean?” her Mom stammered. “Things go wrong in the field?”
“I wouldn’t worry about that Mrs. Watkins,” Ms. Armistice smiled. “Just put your signature here, please. Yes … over there … thank you.”
Her Mom looked weak in the face.
“Now you, Haley.”
Haley dropped her bags and moved in to quickly sign.
“Thank you.”
Ms. Armistice collected the paper and her folded, tucking it under her arm.
She then reached forward and picked up one of Haley’s discarded bags.
“We’ll take it from here, Mrs. Watkins.”
“Oh. Oh … okay…”
Haley looked from her mother to Ms. Armistice.
“Haley? Shall we?”
Haley quickly nodded.
She turned to her Mom, and gave a half smile.
“Talk soon.”
Her Mom nodded stiffly.
Haley followed Ms. Armistice to the back of the car and put her things inside the trunk. She was then led round to the backseat with the door opened for her.
She waved to her Mom, and then got inside.
Ms. Armistice joined her.
“Buckle up.”
Haley quickly complied, doing up her seat belt. Ms. Armistice reached down to the floor of the car and picked up piece of dark cloth.
She handed it to Haley. “Put this on.”
Haley unfolded it.
It was a blindfold.
“Um…” she began.
“Look, we’re you’re going is one of the most secret and classified locations in the entire country,” Ms. Armistice explained. “If you’re not ready for this, then I suggest you get out and run back to Mommy while you still can.”
“No,” Haley said lifting up the blindfold.
She pulled it over her eyes.
“I’m ready.”
CHAPTER THREE
It was probably another hour for Haley in the car, but it felt a thousand times longer. Throughout the entire journey the car was completely quiet. Ms. Armistice didn’t speak to her or the driver. No one received any audible messages or phone calls. And so Haley was left to just sit there and live in her thoughts.
She was going through all the preplanned and expected emotions: fear, excitement, anticipation, eagerness. This was so much bigger than anything she’d seen or been a part of that she could remember. Her house located in the white-washed suburbia seemed as small and forgettable as ever. Her mother, while she partly felt sad for her, was nothing but a grain of sand in the ocean that now awaited her… Even after sitting still for an hour Haley felt like she’d just downed three Monster cans she was so pumped.
When the car finally stopped and the ignition cut out, she was itching to take off the blindfold.
“Not yet,” Ms. Armistice said, already ahead of her. “You’ll have to walk a little before it comes off. I’ll help you.”
They exited the car, the concrete below and echoes in the soundscape suggesting they were in an undercover car park.
Ms. Armistice took her hand and led her through. They stepped into what Haley judged to be an elevator, went either up or down, and then walked through a series of corridors. They passed people along the way, but no one said anything to them. Haley could hear conversation coming from the walls around her, but nothing upfront and direct. She also heard a number of strange sounds including what appeared to be a washing machine rattle, followed by an electronic buzzing. They eventually reached a door which Ms. Armistice opened, leading out to a small carpeted room.
“You can take it off now.”
Haley removed the blindfold. They were in Ms. Armistice’s office.
“Take a seat.”
Haley sat down while Ms. Armistice stepped in behind her desk. She opened a laptop on the table and started playing round with it. Haley looked over her shoulder at the closed door.
“My things,” she exclaimed. “They’re still in the car.”
“We’ll take care of them for you,” Ms. Armistice said without looking up.
“But…” Haley began. “But … when do I get them back?”
“When you need them.”
“What if I needed them now?”
Ms. Armistice looked up. “You’re not on any medications are you?”
“No –”
“So what do you need then?”
“Well, nothing.”
“Glad that’s sorted then.”
Haley breathed uneasily. “My Mom’s gonna freak if I don’t call her every Wednesday and Sunday at 9pm. I have to call her tonight as well. Just so you know.”
“You can drop the Momma’s Girl act now.”
“What?”
Ms. Armistice smiled and turned back to her computer. “It’s true we get a few kittens in here sometimes, that manage to slip through the cracks. But not you.”
“Not me?”
“I’ve seen your test scores. Aced everything. They put you in Project Z during the second year and you made it through that as well. Your examiners labeled you a ‘bite-sized killing machine.’”
“Oh,” Haley gasped. “That’s really just an exaggeration. I haven’t even fought anything for real –”
“Of course you haven’t. But the simulations can provide some accurate insights. All I’m saying is you’re a woman now, not a girl. So act like it.”
“Okay…” Haley murmured. “Are you saying that calling my Mom is going to be a problem?”
“I’m not saying it will be a problem,” Ms. Armistice said, “but it absolutely should not be a priority. Your priority is the work you’ll be doing for us.”
“Um…” Haley chuckled. “Okay.”
Ms. Armistice leaned over the desk. “This is funny to you?”
“No, I’m sorry –”
“This isn’t a game, princess. You want to play cops and robbers? Go join the FBI. What you’ve been trained for, and what you’ll be up against is a day in, day out threat to your life. You know how many recruits make it through the first year?”
“They said … like, forty, fifty percent,” Haley recalled.
“Not even close. Try five percent. We only get fifty new kids in here a year, fifty kids who show up looking like they’re up to this. Most of the blokes think this will make them hard, that they’ll get a steroid prescription and a license to carry an assault rifle that they can impress their friends with. You know what happens to them?”
“No. What?”
“They wind up getting their arms ripped out and theirs eyes gouged, cause they picked the wrong person to fight. Not every time, but it does happen. Now, we get a much less percentage of female recruits, though they do often test better than the boys do. You know what their misconception is?”
Haley shook her head.
“They think being a paranormal detective means they’re going to be sleeping around with bear and wolf shifters, and one of them is just going to whisk them away off into a happily ever after. Well guess what. You know what happens to them?”
“What?”
“They wind up getting drug addicted, pack raped and turned into a slave. Even worse is when they send them back to us all fucked up and brainwashed, looking to steal our secrets and take down
our task force.”
Haley cringed.
“Not to … scare you off,” Ms. Armistice chuckled. “But seriously it does happen. Best case scenario you wind up with a broken heart and stood up at the altar. So, rule one, don’t develop feelings for whom you’re investigating.”
“I … um…” Haley smiled lightly. “I won’t.”
“Good.”
Ms. Armistice punched in a few keys into the computer, and then stood from the desk.
“We’re all set up now,” she announced. “Good to proceed forward.”
“Oh.”
“I feel like some coffee now though, so I’m just going to step out for a minute. Can I get you something?”
“I’ll … I mean … I’ll have a coffee.”
“Good girl.”
Ms. Armistice went for the door.
Haley stood.
“Wait here please,” Ms. Armistice said and exited.
Haley sat back down. She exhaled.
She wasn’t exactly sure what was coming next, but whatever it was, Haley had doubts she’d wind up working in the kitchen.
CHAPTER FOUR
With a mug of coffee each between them, it was time to get down to business.
“Tell me, Haley. What is it you see yourself doing here?”
Haley took a sip from the coffee and set it down on the desk. “I get a say?”
“A say. Yes.”
“What are my options?”
“That depends on our caseload. But I’m thinking more broad at the moment. Tell me why you signed up for the academy.”
“Oh shit,” Haley murmured. “I knew I should have had answer for that.”
“Just tell the truth.”
“Cause I hated ordinary school,” Haley confessed. “I kept getting bullied and I wanted a way to protect myself. I … wanted to fit in.”
“How did you find it?”
“At first it was hell. But … it kept my interest. I’m just fascinated that there’s the whole other paranormal plane where these entities come from. When I first learned about it, it one of the most defining moments in my life. Everything was different after.”
“What would you say if I put you in the field right away? Starting today. Would you see that as a challenge? Or would the prospect be too much for you?”
Vampire Dating Agency Page 1