Brian Mason was a normal guy. Beautiful wife who could bake a mean apple crisp, 3 demonic kids all under the age of ten and a decently exciting job as a journalist. But he had a secret, a secret that doomed him to die.
However, Mr. Mason knew of no such peril and was in fact, just walking home (Mr. Mason was a firm believer in walking for one's health) from The Globe when it happened.
A noise came from behind him.
Like every other human being with a sense for danger, he whipped around. His briefcase twisting in his hand. Scared blue eyes darted back and forth across the dimly lit street but he saw nothing. Shoulders tensed, he slowly turned back around.
The noise came again. A sharp grating sound that shook Mr. Mason to his core. As he turned sharply on his heel, to peer behind him once again, the handle of his briefcase twisted violently in his grip before sliding right out of his hand.
It hit the ground with a thud and the poorly made latch snapped, thrusting out his papers into the night.
"NO!" Mr. Mason wailed hopelessly forgetting the noise momentarily in his anguish over losing a week's worth of rough drafts and interviews. He snatched as many papers as he could while some drifted lazily onwards down the street
That's when a new noise rose in the air.
And this one sent a bolt of fear down his spine.
He had heard a growl. A bloodthirsty, deep throated, terrifying growl.
He cast a small glance over his shoulder and saw what appeared to be a wolf slinking in the shadows. The only part he could clearly see was a set of deep, bright blue eyes glinting from the light of the moon overhead. With that quick glance he sprinted away. A part of him knew he'd never make it. But maybe...MAYBE a car would come and scare-
A force that was the equivalent to that of a few well thrown bricks hit him in the back and he fell flat on his stomach. He painfully tried to crawl away from the monster but he felt every inch of the claws as they dug through his thin steel grey jacket. He gasped as the razor sharp nails pierced the base of his neck and slowly ripped downwards. A scream was torn from his lips. Blood oozed down his back and he felt his flesh being peeled back as the monster tore out its claws and left him breathing heavily with cheek smashed against the pavement.
He felt it's breath on his neck.
It's mouth hovering over the back of his throat.
He opened his mouth to scream.
But he was too late.
The monster bit down, crunching on the bones.
Mason's blue eyes glazed over, his body limp as the monster released his neck from its jaws.
Then it was gone. As quickly as it had come. Leaving behind what was left of Brian Mason and a few blood splattered pages.
Eventually a car did come by, it's yellow headlights flashing over the remains.
But it came far too late.
Some secrets have bloody endings.
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Marley huffed as she plopped behind the steering wheel of the black 2005 Chevy Malibu. It was plain, it was boring, and it let her fly under the radar, just like the company wanted. She cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders getting all of the kinks out. The Motel 6 beds were not exactly 3 star worthy. Probably not even 2 stars if she was giving an honest review.
She jammed the keys in the ignition and started the drive back to base. She never called it home. It had never felt like that for her. Yeah she slept there but so did other coworkers and her boss on occasion. Marley ran a hand down her face as she continued driving, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. It has been a long night and as previously mentioned, the bed situation did not help. Under the corner of her right eye she felt something. Her steel gray eyes flicked to the rear view mirror as she looked to see what it was. An eye roll quickly followed as she realized it was just a speck of blood. She licked her thumb and wiped it off.
It was about a 4 hour drive back to the base in Kent, Michigan which meant she had about 4 hours left of peace and quiet. She reached her hand over and pressed play on the CD player before turning up the volume on the magic that is Bon Jovi.
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The car slowed to a halt outside of the metal gate that was blocking the entrance to a compound that appeared small, but Marley knew just how deep it ran underground. After all the massive lawn wasn't for show; who in their right mind would mow that?
The guard cleared his throat jerking Marley back from her thoughts. She grabbed her ID card from the cup holder in the middle console and handed it to the guard. James maybe? She didn't remember. It didn't really matter to her. The man's heartbeat had quickened and Marley took that as her que to extend her hand for her card back.
"M- Ms. Fletcher."
It was almost comical how flustered he got, how flustered they all got, upon realizing who she was.
Marley Fletcher. Boss's "daughter". Highly skilled special operative. Killer.
The guard entered a code into the computer and the gate opened. Marley often found herself wishing that that gate wouldn't open, that she wouldn't have to go back, that she would leave and never come back. But she knew the consequences of that. So she stepped on the gas pedal and drove up to the entrance. There she hopped out and grabbed her small bag of gear and her backpack from the back seat before flipping the keys to yet another guard stationed at the door. It was then that she noticed a third guard that normally wasn't there. Her gaze met his and he smiled at her. Clearly he was new. Guards did their jobs emotionlessly and very rarely made contact with a soldier unless it was absolutely necessary. Well at least he hadn't talked so he wouldn't get in troub-
"Hi I'm Mike. I lost my number can I have yours?"
The reprimand from the other soldier came faster than Marley could raise her eyebrows at the pathetic excuse for a pickup line.
"Sorry ma'am. It's just you're really pretty-"
Again. A reprimand.
The guard went to apologize but Marley stopped him and addressed Mike.
"Just so you know, the newbie card wears off pretty quickly around here so I'd learn how to do you're job just a little bit faster. But thank you for the compliment."
At this Mike beamed and was about to say something along the lines of a "you're welcome" but he nearly choked on air when Marley smiled at him, flashing him a glimpse of her canines that could easily rip out his throat. With that flippant smile, Marley entered the compound and rolled her eyes. New guards were always fun to mess with.
She began making her way to her room. Well it was more like a mini apartment, ya know kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, tv, the whole 9 yards. She could use a shower. And a nap. But first bacon. Oh yeah she could really go for some bacon. She didn't know if it was part of the wolf in her or what, but she was always craving that part of pig. So yeah bacon first, the rest of a body's basic needs could wait until after the bacon. She quickened her speed, the thought of the meat almost making her drool.
"Hey Fletcher!"
Marley mentally groaned and slowed to a stop. She turned around and came face to face with another soldier.
"Boss wants you in his office for a debrief. Now." Marley gave a crisp nod of her head and headed towards the office. As she walked passed the soldier he called after her. "Don't let your tail get caught in the door!"
Marley growled but forced herself to keep walking. She couldn't pick a fight with him. There was a strict no fighting outside of the sparring ring policy. It didn't matter what comments were made, what jokes were cracked, or what pranks were pulled, whoever threw the first punch was responsible. Now you could defend yourself, in fact that was almost an unspoken requirement, but if you threw the first punch the punishment was severe.
The guards had it the worst with this policy. The soldiers felt like they could pick on them with ease because, well, they could. Thankfully there weren't very many soldiers, only about 30 of them. They were trained to do what they were told without question. There are about 110 guards working at the company. Their job was rather simple: be emotionless and make sure nothing gets in or out of the compound without clearance from the boss. The rest of the company was composed of about 270 "researchers". That term covered a large range of jobs but mostly were doctors, scientists, computer geeks (as Marley liked to refer to them), research specialists, and the weapons team. Doctors obviously were there in case a soldier was injured, but they also worked with the scientists. The only people the scientists work with is the doctors, the boss, and Marley. Their job mainly involved discovering the extent of what Marley could do. The computer geeks hack into any database they can and therefore can help give soldiers the maximum amount of information about a mission. The research specialists' job is to look into people and find out as much about them as they can. And finally, the weapons team. They designed weapons, created weapons, perfected weapons, whatever a soldier needed they would have for them.
A sharp 3 knocks on the door caused the boss to look up from the newspaper he was currently reading.
"You may enter."
The door opened to reveal a caramel-brown haired girl that immediately caused him to smile.
"And how's my favorite soldier doing today?"
"Fine thank you." Marley's response was flat as she closed the door behind her and then stood with her hands clasped behind her back facing the boss.
The boss, whose official name was Peter Clemmins but nobody used it, cocked his head at Marley before sighing and letting his smile fall. She was a strange kid ever since the moment he had first seen her at a foster home. She was a very inclusive person that seemed to carry a weight on her shoulders that he couldn't quite place. But it wasn't a weight from something she held, it was from something she had to suppress. She was trained o be a soldier, and she was a great one. But being a soldier meant always having your guard up and always following orders. Marley could never be herself. On the outside she was obedient and stood at attention waiting for orders, but on the inside she was biting back every joke, every witty comment, every snide remark, every sarcastic retort. She had pushed down her personality into a small box that was slowly splintering every day. And one day that box would break, but today was not that day.
The boss cleared his throat and picked up the paper before reading from it.
"Wolf attack in Kenosha, Wisconsin leaves local news journalist dead." He flipped the paper around to show Marley the front page. "Congratulations you made the front page."
"Yes sir."
He looked back at the paper and smiled. "Remind me again why you killed him."
Marley's hands clenched tighter behind her back. She knew it was her fault but that didn't mean she liked being reminded about it. But this wasn't a request, it was an order.
"He was publishing stories that lied about other people. Stories that ruined those people's lives. It was never officially confirmed by the research team but they believed there was also a pattern indicating that the people he was targeting would lead to him rising in status and wealth."
"And what do you believe?"
"I-" Her jaw clenched. She knew to tread lightly. So instead of giving an answer she responded with a question of her own. "I don't understand sir. What are you asking?"
"Do you think he was doing it for his own gain or was he just a maleficent jerk?"
Her jaw tightened again. She knew she had to answer. "I think people usually have a tendency to pick the easier path in life, which isn't always doing the right thing."
"Mm. How very poetic of you." The boss could always tell that while Marley was an excellent soldier, she never quite had the desire for the job like the others did. But she was, quite literally, his pet project, so he kept after her and made sure she did her job.
"Good job on completing your mission, you're dismissed."
"Thank you sir." With that Marley headed out of the office and once again started the trek to her room.
Was it bad that that whole time she had been thinking of bacon?
So yeah that was long. Hope you guys enjoyed and if not that's cool. Hopefully you will like it more once the story actually starts getting some traction.
Thank you all for choosing to read my story!! #SPNfamily ❤️