Return to HQ was less Triumphant than we thought it would be. The older agents steered clear of us, even in the break room and workout areas where we would regularly get bothered.

  The others didn't think much of it, but it bothered me, it was like we had broken some unspoken rule.

  Benz had given us each the "Special Agent" badge, I had gotten another badge, the Slayer badge, which I was told designated me as their go-to for dealing with level 100+ threats.

  Only one other Houska agent had gotten this honor, and that was Benz himself.

  After receiving that badge, no adult outside of Benz, Pilum, or Singleton wanted to talk to me, even going so far as to leave the restroom when I entered it.

  They feared me.

  That fact, to Green, was exhilarating, it put a little more swagger in his step that these people, grown-ups, previously so dismissive of and even antagonistic to us, now felt genuine fear at our approach.

  He used this to get our squad good seats in the mess, to walk grown men out of the workout areas, swiftly turning into what I hated the most, a Bully.

  Regardless of my qualms, my team saw nothing wrong with it as this was the norm back at Trigram, the biggest and meanest usually got their way amongst the JABs, Wolf, Love, or Edge would correct him if he went too far with the menacing, telling him that he was being a shithead, so I suppose even they had limits to his BS when it came to the strength hierarchy stuff.

  One day, however, as we were working out and chilling, on my way to the bathroom I ran back into MAL, who I hadn't seen since the incident with Doctor Sharp. She was wearing a sports bra and sweat pants, with her bright red hair up in a ponytail, and not wearing any makeup, she somehow looked twice as beautiful.

  She looked down at me with disdain, no doubt having heard of what Green had been doing.

  The look hurt me in my deepest parts, I hated this, she was the first person to lift a finger to help us and now she thought I was worth less than the ink she wrote into the letter she had sent us that fateful night.

  "Move." She said, indicating the treadmill behind me, "I need to use that machine."

  Green was still running off the high of being feared and decided now would be a good time to be a little prick.

  "Make me." Came out of my mouth 2 seconds before the entire room went dark.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I tried to look around but everything was pitch black!

  "You disappoint me, Agent Green." Came a whisper that nearly carried me off to sleep, my eyes fluttering as I struggled to keep my feet.

  I can't explain it, but MAL's voice had an aggressively soporific effect on me, that combined with her apparent ability to induce Sensory deprivation made me contemplate what she could be, while I was genuinely interested, Green was furiously calculating the odds of what strategy would work best to defeat her.

  ~need a sweeping solution, Gas? Unavailable.~

  ~Sword? Didn't bring it.~

  ~Fists?? No indication of success, but we work with what we have.~

  I felt his thoughts waver as she laughed, a soft chittering, halting noise that once again sent me spiraling deeper into tiredness to the point where I felt like I was speed running my sleep deprivation training back at Trigram, it felt as if I hadn't slept in a full 24 hours, I still couldn't see.

  ~ I'm certain there will be an attack from behind, the moment something touches you, lash out and strike at weak spots.~

  ~What weak spots?~

  It was then that I felt a hand on the back of my head, cold, she was ice cold to the touch and though I could no longer turn my head, I caught a glimpse of her face as she peered at me through the darkness. Deathly pale skin, her eyes were still silver, but luminesced in the gloom of this supernatural darkness, her mouth slid open into a vicious grin, revealing sharp sickle-shaped teeth that sprang from beneath her gums like cat claws, circumventing her normal teeth and turning her face into what resembled an organic bear trap.

  "Nobody can help you now."

  ~HOMO SANGUISUGA, MAL IS A VAMPIRE~ green shrieked in my head as we continued to weakly flail to absolutely no effect, she held us fast and we were getting tired as we did so, her chuckling voice causing my strength to ebb, even as Green bolstered our muscles with adrenaline and Dragon strength, nothing could fight the oncoming black wave of sleep.

  NOTHING we'd ever been taught about Homo Sanguisuga involved anything like this.

  On Vampires

  Species name: Homo Sanguisuga

  First known account: 1047 AD

  Last known account: 2000 AD

  Defining morphology: every instance of Homo Sanguisuga is characterized by pale, taught skin, growth of a human tapetum lucidum, retractable fangs hidden under the gums, and a lean body structure.

  Contrary to popular belief, Homo Sanguisuga are not demons, but victims of the blood infection Hemovorus Pandemus Tenebris, this disease is believed to have been an extremely early attempt at a bioweapon in medieval Russia, concocted by an alchemist at the behest of Yaroslav the wise of the Kyivan Rus.

  The disease gives superhuman abilities such as incredibly long life, imperceptible heartbeat and other biological processes, enhanced strength, speed, and endurance as well as incredible healing speed, as a trade-off it eats through the phosphorus in the body, the waste product left in its place being white phosphorus, which is why Homo Sanguisuga bursts into flames when introduced to sunlight. The need for consumption of blood is also caused by the disease's hunger for phosphorus, once most of the phosphorus in the body is consumed, the host will need to find alternative sources or die when inevitably all the native phosphorus is consumed. However with a steady supply of victims, feeding nightly, a single Vampire can prolong its life ad infinitum.

  At the middle stages of the infection, caused by rapidly lowering native phosphorus levels, a previously logical victim will become delusional, believing itself to be demonic or undead in some way

  Later stages of the infection, caused by lower native Phosphorus levels, will cause the Vampire to take on a completely unique appearance as the genetic traits from its most frequent prey animal will begin to appear on its body, this will cause the vampire to develop anything from claws to antlers to wings depending on the most frequently consumed fauna.

  Known weaknesses: Fire, Sunlight, piercing the heart, removal of the head or otherwise destruction of the brain, exsanguination via destruction of vital arteries, temperatures over 100 degrees, bright lights, depending on the religion the vampire followed before it died, the holy symbols from their religion may scare them if they are in or past the 2nd stages of infection.

  Edge's advice: keep your distance, keep it in your sights, and aim for the head and the heart, unless you have superhuman strength, you don't stand a chance against a vampire, even an unarmed vampire can tear you in half without a second thought.

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  You see? NOTHING about mental powers in there.