Pretences (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter Five

    When Olivia opened her eyes she was standing in the middle of a large, busy, bustling room. People were rushing past her left and right. She sighed a little. She hadn't really missed this place. But she started walking towards a set of large glass doors anyways. When she entered the main office a small woman with curly blonde hair looked up from her desk.

    "Oh, Olivia! Dear, I haven't seen you here in a while. On a job tonight?"

    Olivia smiled. "Yes, Nancy. Headed into Hemming City tonight."

    "Well you be careful dear. You know how those Weres can be."

    Olivia just continued to smile and went through another set of glass doors. It was obvious the large, bald man sitting behind the equally large desk hadn't heard Olivia arrive. So she contented herself with sitting in one of the comfortable chairs until he spotted her. It wasn't very long before the man realized he wasn't alone. Looking up, a smile broke out on his face.

    "Olivia." Her name was said endearingly. "I've missed seeing your lovely face."

    "I've missed you too, Nathaniel." Nathaniel Ambrogio was the head of The Agency of Paranormal Entities. He was also the father Olivia never had. There were many times that Nathaniel was the only aspect of The Agency that Olivia even liked. He was always there for her and she didn't know what she would do without him.

    "Are you all set for tonight?"

    "I am, yes."

    "Good, good. Now you'll be going down into Hemming City. We need you to bring in Michael Rodalfo. He's not particularly dangerous, but you'll need to be careful nonetheless. Try to bring him in unharmed if possible. I don't foresee him being difficult, but in case he is, do as you see fit."

    Olivia nodded. "Is there anything else?"

    "That is all for now." Nathaniel paused. "How is Sage? Are you and Rylan settling in fine?"

    "Yes." Olivia smiled. "We've met some neighbors already who are very friendly. It did a world of good for mom and Rylan to meet them."

    "What about you?"

    Olivia sat quiet for a moment before answering. "There's a boy. He's quite infatuated with me."

    "Nothing unusual about that my dear." Nathaniel chuckled.

    "I'm fairly certain he's in love with me. We just met."

    Nathaniel's brows raised in surprise. "How odd."

    "Indeed." Olivia said, rising from her seat. "Well, I'll be off now. I want to get this over with."

    "Alright. Be safe and report back when you're done."

    "I will." And Olivia left the office. She waved goodbye to Nancy and exited the main office. Walking through the large busy area again, she branched off down a hallway and continued on to the very end. The door she exited out of led her out into the dark, foggy night. Hemming City was an hour's drive from The Agency's headquarters in Echolalia. Thankfully, though, Olivia wouldn't have to take that long to reach her destination.

    Once again closing her eyes, Olivia pictured the dark, rugged city in her mind and split second later she was standing in the middle of Hemming City Square.

    Passersby looked at Olivia strangely but didn't stop to speculate. Olivia took a quick look around and headed in the direction of the nearest pub. She entered Moonlight Howl discreetly and took a seat at a secluded table in the shadows. A serving girl stopped by to see if Olivia was interested in a drink. After ordering a mug of whatever beer was cheapest, Olivia sat back and began to observe.

    She had the picture of Michael Rodalfo etched in her mind, so she would know who he was when she spotted him. According to the file, Moonlight Howl was a pub he frequented on an almost nightly basis. She was confident it would take no time for him to show up. And sure enough, about five minutes after Olivia received her foul smelling beer, Michael waltzed through the door.

    Michael Rodalfo did not look intimidating in the least. But Olivia knew better than anyone that looks didn't mean anything. She watched as he strode over and took a seat at the bar. The bartender greeted Michael in an obviously familiar manner. Olivia continued to observe Michael for at least an hour before he took his leave. Surprised that his visit was so short and that he had drank so little, Olivia waited a few moments before getting up to follow him.

    She trailed behind the Were for sometime before he abruptly turned off into an alleyway. Olivia's senses kicked into gear and she tapped into his mind, discovering that he was aware of her presence. Since her target already knew she was there, Olivia saw no point in putting it off any longer. Stepping into the alleyway, she came face to face with Michael. They simply stared at each other in an evaluating silence.

    "You are following me. Why?" Michael asked. His European accent was thick, indicating that he had spent time in the human world.

    "I'm sure you're aware that you've violated several Entity Laws. I'm here to take you in."

    "Ah. An Agent. Well I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you know that I will not going with you."

    "If you want to do this the hard way, that's fine. Annoying, but fine."

    The Were looked at Olivia curiously. She continued to speak. "Honestly it would just be so much easier if you came along quietly. I'm not really in the mood to drag this out."

    "Sorry, my dear. But I'm not going with you. End of story."

    His body had tensed into a fighting position and Olivia sighed heavily. Reaching into his mind, she avoided the sudden attack he laid on her. He was taken aback by her actions but didn't let that stop him from attacking her again. As she easily avoided his every move he became increasingly aggravated. So much so that in a burst of rage he began to transform.

    Seeing that the fight had escalated to something more serious, Olivia whipped out her pistol. She pointed the gun straight at the Were and cocked it. He froze in mid transformation.

    "If you continue to transform anymore I will be forced to shoot. This is your only warning."

    Michael stared at Olivia for a moment in silent debate, but she could see that his fury was consuming him and in a matter of seconds he completed the transformation. Olivia fired off three shots. One to his right arm and two to his left leg. Her aim impeccable, she hit her target directly. He stood for a moment, paralyzed by disbelief. Then he fell. Olivia put her gun away and pulled out her cell phone. She was going to need help transporting this one.

    Dallas got back to his house sometime after 1:00 am. His mom's car was parked in the driveway so he made sure to be quiet when he entered the house. When he made his way into his bedroom he swiftly changed into a pair of faded sweats and a T-shirt. He found that he wasn't especially tired, but didn't know what to do.

    He hadn't had that much fun at the party that night. A lot of his friends were there but they were all busy getting drunk, which Dallas had no desire to do. His mind kept wandering back to Olivia and how she had vanished. He kept this to himself, knowing that Slate and the others would think he was crazy. But he couldn't get the image from his head. Dallas looked out his window and just stared at Olivia's house. He was getting a weird feeling that something was going on with her and her family. He just didn't know what.

    Dallas's train of thought continued on in that matter for quite some time before switching over to just Olivia herself. He could tell she was going to be a difficult one to get close to. But he could also tell that it would be worth the time and effort. All he had to do was figure out how to make the first move. He thought about all the ways he could start to get to know her but steadily became more and more tired. As two o'clock rolled around, Dallas had almost given in to sleep when it happened. One minute he was looking at Olivia's empty front porch about to fall into oblivion and the next he was staring wide eyed as suddenly Olivia was there. He watched as she looked around and froze suddenly. She turned her head in his direction and made direct eye contact with Dallas. She quickly turned back and went through her front door into the house.

    He definitely knew something was up now. He just had to figure out what.