Into Abeyance

Okay! Calm down! My nostrils were flaring dangerously and I gulped down hard, trying to control the urge to bite the blonde woman who was right in front of me on the damn elevator. Ugh! I should have just taken the stairs. The elevators are way too slow for vampires. I am a newly turned vampire and my urges kick in whenever I am in close contact with a human. I have been a vampire for two years now. Though I have been trained harder than any of my fellow peers by my Sire, I am still afraid that I might disappoint him. As per my Master, this city was my hometown, so I am petrified upon running into people I have met as a human, who I have no more memory of, for a vampire loses his or her memory as a human upon turning. The elevator opened at the third floor and the blonde got off and I let out a sigh of relief and slumped down my shoulders. I am going to have to really drink blood to the point I am nauseously full to work with these humans every day. Plus, it wouldn't look too good on my resume, if I were to murder a human right in front of the FBI's nostrils. The elevator door opened for the second time, Fifth floor-the violent crimes division. I straightened out my shoulders and walked in, taking everything in. I have been trained so hard to pose as a human that I find myself unconsciously blinking my eyes rapidly or taking deep breaths when I am nervous to calm down. Hilarious, isn’t it? A vampire pretending to breath? I have to always be on alert. The slightest mistake I make, could endanger my whole kind.  I steadied my pace and slowed down to match with the humans and headed towards the conference room where I was told to report to upon entering the FBI headquarters. I winced as I heard the shouts coming from the meeting room. Obviously, my ear and eyesight, even my sense of smell had been upgraded since I became a vampire and though the meeting room was on the other side of the corridor, I still could hear clearly every word they were saying. Sometimes, these abilities of vampires come as boons and sometimes as an utter nuisance. Right now, they were rather weighing in on the latter side. Ugh! That guy seriously needs to calm down. I feel like my ears are about to explode. I walked in faster strides towards the meeting room. The voice was getting more and angrier by the second. He had a masculine; deep throat voice and he was pissed that one of the officers had messed up the crime scene before he even got there. If that was my chief, I am so dead meat, vampire or not. That human had a quite a temper and it was obvious from the way he was talking that he had a no nonsense attitude and didn't really care what others thought of him. I gently knocked on the door and everyone went still. Ah! Peace at last! I felt a soothing feeling in my eardrums and I let out a sigh of relief. “Come in”, came the stern reply. I took a second longer to straighten down my clothes. After all, I am here to befriend these humans and I have heard that first impression counts. “Who is it?”, the man, I assume to be the Chief Commander asked a stout woman in her thirties. I assume she is the secretary as there was never a female agent in the Violent Crimes department. My master had to pull a lot of strings to get me this spot. I could hear her voice shake as she answered timidly, “That must be the new agent, Tora Gonzalez” I could hear the Chief literally stop breathing. His breathing had become frenzied up all of a sudden as if a lot was going on in his mind. Did the Chief disapprove of having a female agent in their team as well? Don't tell me that there were only sexist jerks on this team? “A female agent? In this Department? Well, that’s a first! She isn’t going to last even a day here. Why waste time? Just transfer her to another dept”, another, younger male who I assumed to be in his late twenties based on his voice, declared scoffing. I clutched my hands tightly and glared daggers at him. He however seemed oblivious of my death stares. I had used my real name and didn’t bother creating a fake ID, since my death hadn’t been reported. Besides, this was the FBI, if they find out that it was fake identity, I would be out before I could even have a chance to prove myself to my master, so I had decided to go with my real identity.  A group of five men were seated around a table. The room was filled with white boards full of scribblings and pictures of wanted criminals and the crime scene photos. This is the real reason I am here, to ensure that humans stay ignorant of our very existence......to ensure that vampires stayed a myth. A couple of new born vampires has been causing an uproar in this city, by leaving the victims in the middle of the road, with their blood fully sucked out of them. I am here to hunt down the vampires responsible before them while at the same time ensuring that they don't clue in certain aspects that may point to the existence of vampires. My eyes quickly scanned the room. I could see a lot of curious stares and one in particular unhinged me. Though they weren’t wearing uniforms and was just dressed in casuals, it was obvious that the tall, muscular man who had a look of utter disbelief in his face was the chief. He was lean but built up. He had strong, muscular arms and chiseled jaws. He was handsome in a natural, roguish kind of way. It was quite obvious from his messy hair and beard that he paid zero attention to his appearance. I understood the surprise and curious stares from the rest of them, but I shriveled under his intense stare. He looked like he couldn’t believe his eyes. One look and I could already tell that he wasn't an easy man at all and that he wouldn't be so easy to fool and manipulate. Thank god! vampires had the ability to compel humans. I gulped involuntarily, then cleared my throat and put on a fake, cheerful smile as I introduced myself firmly but politely, “Tora Gonzalez, reporting for duty Sir” And I saluted him. The rest of them merely nodded at me while the Chief continued staring at me incredulously. The woman cleared her throat loudly and he jumped in surprise, then blinked his eyes rapidly, as if he still couldn’t process what was happening. Without another word, he pointed to the chair, opposite to him and I took it immediately. The jerk didn’t even accept my salute. As I looked around and saw the men eyeing me incredulously, I let out a sigh. This was going to be a long day. It was obvious that I wasn't going to get a hearty welcome in here. The Chief locked eyes with me, then spat out angrily, “The rest of you….Out…Now!” I jumped, startled at the aggression in his tone. It says quite a lot of your temper if you can even make a vampire jump. Within the split of a second, everyone scurried out like frightened cattle. It was clear from the effect he had on everyone else that he was a formidable man, a man I should steer clear of so that I don’t risk my identity nor my Sire. While exiting, the woman shot me a pitiful look, tutting on her way out. Okay! So much for a welcome. This guy was clearly not to be taken as a joke. He still seemed to be in his thirties and he is already the Chief Commander. So, it is obvious that he is good and I need to be vigilant and on constant guard against this man. My ears picked up my team mates conversation as they exited the room. "Poor girl, she is dead meat" "Serves her right for coming here. Where did she think it was? Vogue?" "I  bet she won't last two days" "Two days? I bet she is gonna get sacked today itself." After everyone had left, he closed the curtains firmly and locked the door. I raised an eyebrow at him, perplexed. He then slammed his hands on the table furiously, and spat at me furiously, “Do you think I am joke, Tora Antoinette Gonzalez? To just waltz back into my life as if nothing had happened?”