by ID Johnson
Once they reached their goal of three consecutive scores of 30 points, they would be allowed to participate in an observation. This was Meagan’s fourth attempt at completing the modules. She had actually scored above 30 points twice before but not consecutively. She had shot a few Hunters but never a Guardian. Shane thought, perhaps, she was so worried about shooting a Guardian she wasn’t firing fast enough and hitting the Vampires. Cadence listened to everything he had to say to her because she wanted to make sure she did the best she could.
Meagan entered the simulator first. Cadence was able to access her visuals to observe how she preceded. From the very beginning, Cadence could see some things that she was clearly doing wrong. She stood next to Shane and they both reacted similarly each time Meagan missed a Vampire or almost took out a Hunter or Guardian. At the end of the simulator, she had scored 25 points. Good, not great, and not good enough to count for one of her three runs.
Then, it was Cadence’s turn. She had her choice of weapons, and she chose the Glock. She felt it was small enough that she could raise and aim it with one hand if she needed to, which would make it easier if she ever decided to carry two. For this simulator purpose, however, she was only allowed one, and she couldn’t wait to get started.
Just before she was about to start, she got a request for visuals from Aaron. She contemplated ignoring him since it was sure to make her more nervous, but she decided to go ahead and turn it on. She knew that, if she wasn’t successful this round, his feedback would be invaluable.
She entered through a black door and was given instructions to stand on the X. There was a clock counting down above her and a gentle female voice stating the time remaining. As the woman approached zero, Cadence’s nervous sensation became excitement. She waited for the woman to say, “You may begin,” and she rounded the corner, entering the simulator.
The first individual that appeared in front of her was dressed all in black and she could tell immediately that this was a Guardian so she did not shoot. However, in the corner of her eye she saw a Vampire appear to leap out from behind a piece of furniture. She shot it, hearing the soft ping from the scoreboard above her. To her right, another Vampire appeared and she took it out as well.
As Cadence continued to wind her way through the maze of hallways and small chambers, she began to wonder why this was so difficult. She had reached 30 points within the first 10 seconds of the simulator. Though part of her thought it would be less risky to play it safe and put her gun away, lest she shoot a Guardian or Hunter, she was having too much fun to quit now. There was one small Vampire hiding beneath a dumpster that she missed, and she was extremely pissed off about it. At the end of her first round, Cadence's score was a near perfect 95.
She exited the simulator to find Shane, Meagan, and Aaron all applauding her performance. “Well done!” Shane said as she placed her weapon on the table and approached them.
“That was amazing!” Meagan concurred. “I really wish I could get this like you can!”
“Thank you,” Cadence said squeezing her arm. “You’ll get it. You really well.”
Aaron stepped over and put his arms around her, “Unbelievable,” he whispered as he gave her a quick hug. She couldn’t help but beam at him. Though she was still upset that she had missed that one Vampire, she was proud that she was able to get all of the rest of them.
Meagan did better on her second turn and was actually able to score 35 points, enough to count as a round towards earning her observation. Between turns, the girls talked about which strategies were working and which were not, and Meagan said that it was really helping her to watch Cadence’s attempts. Even though Cadence was able to get her three consecutive scores of 30 in her first three attempts, and two of her scores were perfect, something a rookie Hunter had never accomplished before, she continued to take her turns because she wanted the practice, and it did seem to be helping Meagan to watch her and then discuss. By the end of the session, Meagan was scoring in the high 50s, low 60s, and she was able to get her three consecutive hunts as well.
Cadence’s prowess had drawn so much attention that many of the veteran Guardians and Hunters had come to watch her in person. Rather than just following her visually, they showed up at the gun range to collectively cheer her on. At one point, Christian logged into the system and ratcheted the level of difficulty up. It made no difference; she was still easily able to score in the 90s. And she never had a kill that wasn’t a Vampire, despite the higher numbers of Hunters and Guardians he threw her direction.
Once their session was over and most of the fans had left, Aaron and Shane conferred through IAC and agreed that there was no reason not to take both of them with them on the observation hunt that night. Even though this was Cadence’s first day in the simulator, she had proven herself every bit as worthy as Meagan, and so they decided to let her go.
“Alright, we’ll see both of you at the meeting room tonight at 9:00,” Shane said offering both women a high-five.
“What? I get to go, too?” Cadence asked, making sure she had understood correctly.
“That’s what I said,” Shane confirmed. “Be there ready to go watch our forces in action. Alright?”
Cadence was elated. Even though Aaron appeared to be in the middle of a conversation with Elliott, she couldn’t help but run over and give him a hug. She bumped into him so hard, she almost knocked him over, but she didn’t care. She was too ecstatic. “Thank you!” she said, planting a kiss on his cheek and bounding away. She wanted to get back to her apartment so she could watch some more footage of recent hunts and go over her own recorded simulator footage, all of which she could watch from the IAC.
“What was that?” Elliott asked as Cadence flew away and exited the building.
Aaron felt the color rising up his neck. “Nothing. She’s just really happy she gets to go with us tonight, that’s all.”
“Aaron, I’ve known you a really long time my friend. Do you think I can’t smell your bullshit from ten miles away? Now tell me the truth, what’s going on?”
He stammered at first, not sure exactly what to say, “It’s, uh, it’s really nothing. I mean nothing’s going on. Nothing’s happened. Not much of anything really at all.”
“Did you sleep with her?” Elliott demanded loudly enough that several other individuals within earshot turned to look in their general direction.
“NO!” Aaron said sternly.
“Please be a little more discrete!” Aaron demanded of his longtime friend.
“Sorry. That was way too loud. I apologize. I just know something must have happened because two days ago that girl couldn’t look you in the eye without turning pink, and now she’s kissing you in public like it’s just the most natural thing any one would do. Just go up to your boss and plant a big one right on him.”
“Alright, alright, that’s enough. I told you it was nothing really. I kissed her last night. She asked me to and I did. And maybe I shouldn’t have, but I wanted to and it happened.”
“Well, I think other things might be happening soon by the looks of it.”
“Listen, I don’t have any idea where this relationship is going, but it’s really not anyone else’s business.”
“I beg to differ!” Elliott countered.
“How’s that?”
“Think back to what happened last time with Ms. Whiney-Britches, ignoring your orders, doing whatever she wanted, almost got herself caught in the crossfire between two Hunters. We cannot have those types of situations, and you know it.”
“That won’t happen with Cadence,” Aaron assured his friend.
“How do you know that?”
“She always does exactly what I say. Always.”
“Yeah, well that was when you were her boss. Now you’re her boyfriend. And if she doesn’t want to do what you say or she thinks you’re being mean or you looked at her cross-eyed, she’s going to go do her own thing and put us all in danger. I just don’t like it Aaron, I don’t like it
at all.”
“Elliott, I’m not her boyfriend. It’s really not to that point. She’ll listen. You’ll see tonight. Trust me. I’ve never seen anything like her. You saw her in the simulator. She’s incredible. And if she’s ready to go out into the field then so be it.”
“Alright, you’re the boss. Just please don’t hate me when I start saying I told you so.
“I won’t because you won’t have to.”
Chapter Eleven
The Brief Meeting, held before the hunt, was an essential part of the task. If the directives were not given, if all of the members of the team weren’t clear, if the objective wasn’t stated accurately, the entire mission could be thrown off just from the poor planning.
Aaron liked to arrive early if possible so he could prepare his materials before he presented them. He wasn’t always able to do that, particularly if the location was far away. But tonight’s location was just a few blocks from LIGHTS in downtown Kansas City, so he had plenty of time to prepare.
As he was finishing the last few tasks he needed to accomplish, Cadence arrived. On one hand, he was extremely happy to see her, especially since she looked amazing in the skintight dark blue leather pants she was wearing. On the other, he was extremely cognizant of everything Elliott had said earlier, and he wanted to make sure that she did not let what had happened between them last night become a distraction. Instinctively, he went into “leadership mode,” even though he knew she didn’t particularly care for that tone. It was the only way he was going to insure she realized that there could be no level of familiarity between them while they were working.
“Hi!” she said bouncing through the doorway. “Where is everyone?”
He glanced up at her and then returned to what he was doing. “You’re a little early,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “You can have a seat though, if you’d like. They should be here shortly.”
Cadence’s entire demeanor changed. “Okay,” she said finding a seat in the back where she felt she would be out of the way. She really hated it when he talked to her in that direct tone. Considering what had happened last night, she expected him to be happy to see her. Since he didn’t seem to be, she suddenly began to wonder what it was that she had done wrong. Was he mad at her or just being short because he was in a hurry? She wasn’t sure, but either way, she felt the high she had been riding all afternoon plummeting towards earth. She didn’t bother to try to talk to him again, not now, not even through IAC, as clearly he didn’t have time for her.
Aaron continued setting up for the brief in silence, aware that he had likely offended Cadence but unwilling to become distracted by her just then. He would find a moment to speak to her before the action began, but for now, he would rather she gave all of her attention to the task at hand.
The other members of the briefing party arrived just before 9:00. No one dared be late, but they also preferred not to show up too early. Cadence didn’t recognize many of these people, and that made her even more nervous. She was hoping that Eliza or Jamie would be there, but neither of them was. She did see Christian who smiled at her when he entered the room, and she recognized Elliott, but he didn’t so much as glance in her direction. She found that rather odd since they had been amicable during Thanksgiving dinner, the last time she had spent any significant amount of time with him.
Promptly at 9:00, Aaron said, “Alright, let’s go ahead and get started. Most of you know why we are here but we do have a few items to go over.”
Aaron took about 30 minutes to explain who the Rogue Vampire was, what he was accused of, and what the plan was for catching him. Cadence listened intently. She knew she was just there to observe, but she definitely wanted to know as much about this particular Rogue’s background as possible.
His name was Henry and he had been killing humans with no regard as to whether or not they fit the correct description to be considered fair game by a Vampire or not. In fact, he had even killed some human children quite recently, and that was something the Guardian and Hunter Passels both took extremely seriously. Three Independent Hunters had chased him into the Kansas City area a few days ago. All three were present and all three looked rough to Cadence. Their names were Sam, Finn, and Camille and they had worked together as a team for almost one hundred years. Sam was the oldest looking of the three. He had a large handlebar moustache and wore a slouch cowboy hat and boots. Finn was so angry looking; Cadence imagined that’s what someone must look like who just drank piss in place of orange juice. He had shoulder length blond hair and was very scruffy looking, though, she did think he might actually be attractive if he didn’t scowl and considered purchasing a razor blade. The lone woman of the trio, Camille, was a middle-aged looking African-American woman with long black braids. She didn’t smile, not even once, not even a little bit, and Cadence thought they could all benefit from some play therapy.
Nevertheless, these three were the most familiar with Henry’s story. They knew what to expect, and they knew how he would react when he realized the position he was in. Aaron had given strict orders; his team was there to assist in whatever way Sam, Finn, and Camille needed, but they were in a supporting role here and were not to take the lead under any circumstances unless specifically directed to do so by him. All of the Guardians and Hunters in the room agreed and Aaron stepped aside so that Shane could give some information about the location they would be traveling to. The bar Henry was known to be frequenting was called “What’s Happening” and it was located near a railroad track on Prospect Avenue. Though Cadence had grown up in Iowa, even she was familiar with the idea that you never went down Prospect Avenue at night. It was believed that Henry may have been utilizing the railway to travel from one state to the next and they believed, if they were unsuccessful in his capture or termination this evening, chance are he would disappear on the next available train. Shane covered the exits of the bar, a front door, a back door, and the bathroom windows, which were big enough for Henry to escape through, and he went over the positions Henry’s direct team would be holding. There were only two other Hunters present, besides the visiting three, Meagan, and Cadence. Their names were Paxton and Smith and they were relatively new to the team. Besides Aaron, Shane, Elliott, and Christian, there were two more Guardians present. One was a tall blond named Destiny and the other was an older looking man named Rusty.
When Shane finished, Aaron asked if there were any other questions, and there were none, so he gave the order to turn their IAC’s on to the current team members and to load up.
They walked outside to see an assortment of dark colored vehicles. Shane was directing everyone into the proper rides for his or her location. He told Meagan and Cadence they would be riding with him, and in fact, they would be staying with him at all times.
Cadence looked around for Aaron and saw him standing near his motorcycle talking to Sam. She noticed Sam seemed to be gesturing at her and Meagan, and she wondered what in the world he could possibly be talking about.
She slid into the backseat of the Mercedes ATS and buckled her seat belt. Meagan joined her in the backseat, and after a few moments, Shane climbed in and started the car. “Alright, let me go over this one last time,” he said in as stern a voice as either of them had ever heard him use. “We are observing. All three of us. Just observing. We are not helping. We are not interfering. We are not saving the day. Does everyone hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” Cadence replied instinctively. “I mean, yes, of course. I hear you.”
“I understand, too, “ Meagan chimed in.
“Okay, good. We are going to be located off to the side of the bar so that you can see how the Hunter and Guardians work together to surround the Vampire and corner him. After the mission is complete, I also want you to see how Elliott goes about cleaning up our mess. Alright? Questions?” They had no questions, and so the three of them sat in silence for the next few minutes it took until they reached the location.
There was an art to congregating so many non-hum
ans in one place without anyone detecting anything strange and the Passel had it down. The vehicles spread out and parked in specific locations already determined ahead of time. In fact, Cadence could see just how much planning truly went in to this and she became even more impressed by what Aaron did every day.
Shane pulled the car into a parking lot a few blocks from the bar. They made the short trek to their station and took up a spot in the alley between the bar and an abandoned building. Judging from the drawing Shane had shown them during the briefing, Cadence believed they were on the side of the building with the bathrooms. There were two windows large enough for a typical sized adult to squeeze through. She remembered that Paxton was to be stationed outside of the bathrooms and that their observation party was to be on the other side of the building. Just as she was about to ask Shane if he was sure he knew which side the bathroom was on, Aaron approached her.
“Cadence,” he said in that rushed tone he reserved for business purposes. “I need to speak with you for a moment.”
Shane and Meagan were conversing about something a few steps away, and even though Cadence wanted to talk to Aaron about how he had made her feel earlier, she really didn’t think this was the time. “Yes?” she said quietly.
“Listen, Sam and his gang have some trepidations about you and Meagan being out here. He thinks that your presence is an indicator that I’m not taking this seriously. I explained that you’ve both met the requirements, and I even told him your background, but he’s still not comfortable. This is their hunt, we’re just supporting so just do your best to stay out of the way alright?”
She could tell by his distracted expression that he was getting lots of chatter on his IAC that he needed to attend to. “Okay,” she said.
“One more thing,” he added. “This is completely against protocol, but since I’m in charge of protocol, I’m doing it anyway.” He slipped a Glock out of his waistband and handed it to her. “Do you have some place you can keep this?”