Mushroom Blood

Chapter 10: Training

            Inside 1-T was a military-like room; LED screens lit up the walls like expensive wallpaper, computers were whirring and beeping independently. Only ten people were in the huge room controlling the machines. I didn’t pay much attention to them… the screens were almost hypnotizing.

             Reece led the way through the room. My boots clicked across the immaculately clean floor as a looked up at the bright screens. Some pictured the United States and other countries from satellites, others were maps with different patterns on them; it seemed that the patterns marked water and oil sources, population, and technology. It was really quite an overwhelming experience, my human brain would have been racing to keep up with the information being thrown at me, but the vampire side of me found it easier to comprehend bigger chunks of knowledge with ease.

            Men were scattered across the room, sitting in large swivel chairs and paying close attention to each and every one of the computers’ beeping. Reece turned left at the end of the long room and stood behind a large vampire at a computer.

            “Hello, Reece,” said Ferenz in his deep voice.

            “Ferenz, care to tell us what the status is?”

            Ferenz turned his chair around and explained to us that he has contacted Scott Grimes and made him “remember” how they are old college buddies from Duke. “He seemed all too thrilled to reconnect after he went on and on about how we were best friends and lab partners at the university. So easily are some people fooled, too bad Ingram and Bitar have stronger minds. We’ll just have to meet in person,” He smiled a dark smile at Reece and me.

            “And what of Grimes and Ingram’s relationships with their wives?” Reece looked at me and snickered. That’s right, I’m supposed to seduce them…

            “Grimes hates Dolores, he’s had several affairs in the last two years, he won’t be hard to win over. I am not sure about Ingram’s status, but with her looks we’ll have this job done soon,” he points to me and looks and Reece. “She will do this won’t she?”

            “Look you can talk to me, you know!” I had raised my voice a bit louder than I expected, the others in the room stopped their work for one second to see what had caused my outburst, but then got back to their diligent work.

            “She’s feisty ain’t she?” asked Reece. “Alexis, save the energy for until you need it.”

            I scoffed, “And yes, I’ll do my job, what else would I do? Go back to Pennsylvania and wait for doomsday?” I told Ferenz.

            “Good, can’t have you back out now, I’d have to kill you.” I rolled my eyes, Reece nudged my shoulder and looked down at me in the corner of his eye… I backed off of Ferenz then.

            “Well, when does training commence?” I asked both of them, a small smirk across my face, for some reason, I liked the idea of the power behind this mission.

            The young men looked at each other and said, “Now.”

            “Now? And what exactly do you expect me to do?

            At that moment, the bright white lights in the room shut off, and red lights at all corners of the ceiling switched on. My vampire eyes adapted quickly to the lighting yet I didn’t see Reece or Ferenz. The LED screens pictured snowstorms, blasting unpleasing static into my vampiric ears. I crouched down into an instinctual pose and scanned the room… the men were still at their stations, paying attention to computers which no longer pictured anything of importance. I decided to call Reece out.