Of The Agency

“Wesley, wake up!”
The pale-green-eyed man awoke in an instant and sat up on the table as needles and patches were pulled out and off of his body. “Done with the new tests?”
A tall woman with black hair pulled back into a ponytail looked at him and smiled. “For today, yes. You may go now. We will call you back here when we need more tests done.”
Wes stood from the table and stretched, his bones popping a little as he did so. At the moment, he was within the confines of The Agency’s lab, in the closest location the secret organization had to his home. They had been doing tests on him for years- far more than he looked to be alive. While he only looked like he was in his teens, he was really over half a century old, as the first scientifically created zombie. And while it had brought him back to life during the hippie age, The Agency’s scientists still had not much clue to how zombies functioned, or why some where like normal humans, and some were the badly stereotyped lumbering dolts.
“Awesome”, he said, heading towards the exit of the lab. “I’ll see you for the next round.”
The woman’s eyes followed him carefully. “And don’t forget to take your—“
“I know, I know, the medicine to keep my mental status stabilized”, he said, waving a hand dismissively. “We’ve been through this God only knows how many times.”
He quickly left before the woman could say more, not caring for how she acted towards him. He was nearly twice her age, but he always felt she treated him more like a child than an adult. It was more than likely a reflex, since he had ended up with true immortality and never aged, but he never cared for it. And while most people within The Agency didn’t treat him as a child, there were some who did. He usually didn’t say much, since they had been the ones who revived him a little more than forty years prior, but it irritated him to nearly no end.
He sighed as his mind wandered into the past, and how he came to the situation he was currently in. It was quite tragic, and he hated thinking about it. Thankfully, he was quickly snapped out of the reverie when he bumped into a good friend of his. She was a tall girl about fifteen years old, with wavy black hair that reached the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her bangs nearly covered half her face and one of her deep blue eyes.
She smiled widely and waved at him, not paying any mind to the fact he bumped into her. “Hey, Wes!”
Wes smiled. “Hi, Olives. Done with you’re mission?”
The girl grimaced. “Yeah, but that was a pretty… dirty job. I’m glad it’s done with.” Her expression dulled greatly. “It was… I’d rather not talk about it.”
“I guess I can’t blame you”, said Wes. “More than half have been enough to make some go mad.”
Olivia looked away from her friend—not looking forward to the next set of events. Her last mission was barely even done when she got new orders from higher up. “So are you ready to move to a closer location?”
“Yeah, all set”, he said. “I’m all packed.”
“You think it’s really a good idea to enroll in a public school already”, asked Olivia.
Wes tilted his head some. Lately, the girl had been all but panicked about his plans. But he wanted something of a normal life, and to fill his time with something more meaningful than video games. He wanted to go back to school and graduate finally. After his accident, he was pronounced dead and was forbidden from showing up around his old town. But it had been decades and he wanted to make something of himself. He was tired of hiding from people.
Enrolling in school wouldn’t be a problem for him, as long as he stuck to the story that he had been homeschooled all his life. He’d still be orphaned, of course, but some people from The Agency would act as his foster family. A new identity would be created for him, and he would quickly assimilate back into main society. The only other thing he’d insisted on was keeping his first name the same for his new life. And he could hardly wait to start.
“My deadbeat dad never had any siblings, and my mom was estranged after I was born”, he said. “I don’t think anyone will know who I am. I never made any lasting impressions, anyway.” He rested a hand on her hair and smiled. “It’s not like you to worry about this. What’s up?”
Olivia swatted his hand away. “I don’t really want to admit it, but I’m not sure what you’ll do about your condition around so many people. You barely know anything about fitting in anymore. It’s a lot different from back in the fifties and sixties. You sure you don’t want to study society some more first?”
“He needs to get out eventually”, someone said from behind Olivia. “Come on, Ollie. If he only studies it, he’ll never get any experience.”
Olivia looked back at the coffee-bean skinned boy behind her. “Percy… I just have a bad feeling, ok?”
The boy shrugged. “He should know what he’s doin’. If he decides he ain’ ready, we’ll have him relocated. It ain’ a problem.”
“Exactly”, said Wes. “So don’t treat me like a child.”
“There won’t be anyone at the school to help you”, Olivia stated, wavering some.
“I know, you two go to a private school”, said Wes. “Look, I’ll be just fine. I don’t think anything bad is going to happen.”
Olivia held back the tears that were forming. “I just… I don’t want you to have to leave. You’re one of my few friends. Humans tend to be terrified of your kind, and are likely to come with shovels, baseball bats, and guns if they find out. And anything else… Either way, you’re met with hostility! “
Wes shook his head. “I’ll show you I can manage this. I’m not that out of touch with people.”
He said that, but still clearly remembered the incident of ten years ago, the last time he tried to assimilate into society. He was still unsure about what was going to happen this time. There was no way to tell what would happen now. It all seemed like it would be fine. He wasn’t anywhere near any of the places he’d been before. This time, he decided to go east-side of the country. And so he hoped that no one would ever know about his real past. He made the mistake once of not keeping his secret well enough, and had to go out of country for a few years just for things to calm down.
“Look, I’ll see you later”, he said, turning to leave.
________________________________________________________________
Rose hopped out of her tree as Cari finished her meal that night. Rose was still helping her adjust, even though it had been over three years already. It wasn’t strange, but they both found it irritating. Things had been going smoothly for a few months now, and Cari was pretty efficient at this point. But Rose knew that the older girl was still worried about messing something up, and as much as she hated admitting it, wanted someone to keep an eye on her for a while longer.
But the scarred girl wasn’t interested in Cari at the moment. She’d caught a glimpse of someone else in the park that she’d never seen before. Even with her perfect sight, she couldn’t make out any distinct features, as he was wearing a hood. All she could tell was his gender, and even that wasn’t a certainty. But she did know he was a little suspicious, the way he moved about in the forest, as if he was afraid something or someone was following him. She could understand why if he was a vampire or were, but he didn’t smell at all like either of them. Instead, he smelled like something entirely different.
As soon as a deer walked out, the male was on it like buzzards on a carcass. He snapped it’s neck with a harsh twist and it fell limp in his arms. Rose wasn’t sure what was going on, but was so entranced that she nearly jumped when Cari joined her.
The full vampire tapped her head to signal something, and Rose nodded.
‘Isn’t this strange’, she asked inside the older girl’s mind. ‘He isn’t at all like one of us or a were. I’ve never come across anything like him.’
‘You’re right’, said Cari. ‘Whatever he is, we haven’t had any experience with it. I know he can’t be human. I can’t even sense any blood… I don’t like it.”
Rose’s lip curled in distaste. She wasn’t above killing an animal to get her own meal, but wouldn’t normally snap it’s neck. Her method was a little more subtle, if abnormal to humans. Since she was half witch, she could use magic to cause what was essentially a heart attack. And there wasn’t the snapping sound to go with any cries the animal might make. It was a little quieter and she liked it much better than other ways.
She continued to watch the male as he knelt down with the animal. ‘I know. I don’t like it, either. He’s not human, but what is he?’
‘Hell if I know… I’d tell you if I did.’
Cari was half-minded to go and interrogate the man. But she knew if she did that, it might end in a fight, and she didn’t know what she was up against. If she knew what he was, it might be a different story. But that strange mold smell he gave off was unnerving. No other creature ever smelled like mold unless they were living with it. But other than the mold smell, he smelled like nothing at all. There was no trace of that human scent, nor was there a trace of anything else. It was just mold, and like he was decaying.
Wes thrust his hand into the deer’s chest and pulled out the heart. He’d practiced that for several decades, and knew precisely what to do and how. He wanted to cause as little of a scene in the night as possible, so that if anything was watching, they wouldn’t think much of it. There were no humans in the forest, at least, so he didn’t need to worry about them. But he was still concerned about the other creatures that could prowl the night. As it was, it was dangerous if vampires or weres were around to smell the blood.
The scent hit the girls’ noses like an avalanche and looked at each other briefly in shock. But Rose was even more visibly shocked than Cari, and she had seen and smelled more blood than Cari had. But she’d never seen anyone rip into an animal without any type of blade. It was unnatural.
She reached into her jacket and pulled out a small folded fan with a razor edge. If she couldn’t sense any blood, she couldn’t be completely sure it was there unless she checked. But at the moment, the only way to do that was aim a projectile. The only problem was if it was heard and dodged. She would have to teleport the fan back and leave with Cari.
It was risky, but there wasn’t much other option if she wanted to know the truth. And she wasn’t about to risk anyone’s safety by just talking to a potentially dangerous creature. So she opened the fan and aimed it carefully before throwing it. It managed to land a clean hit and came right back like a boomerang. But instead of blood, there was a sticky clear substance on the fan’s blade.
Cari looked from the man, who had clearly noticed what was going on, to Rose in surprise. ‘What are you doing?! He’s—‘
‘Very easily something we’ve never seen before’, Rose finished. She watched the fan as if it were poison. And with what was on it, it very easily could have been. ‘We should get out of here before—‘
Wes looked at the direction the fan had come from with worry. He had smelled something there, but hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Unfortunately, he couldn’t really tell what it had been. But now he knew it was definitely something like a human. And that was bad news for him, especially since he’d been attacked. The fan had cut straight into his flesh and left with some of the ooze that he had instead of blood. That could only mean that someone now knew he wasn’t even close to being human. The other creatures that looked human were much closer to them than he was, even though he was technically an undead human.
He had to leave quickly, but he couldn’t just leave his meal where it was for whoever was there to investigate. If he did that, The Agency would have their hands full with his latest problem while he hightailed it away from the town. And he didn’t want to leave his only two friends behind. Olivia and Percy were his only source of excitement, and he was their friend from another time they could actually relate to some. Sure, he was old enough to be their dad, but he still had the body of a teenager. He didn’t want to have to start over somewhere else, anyway.
Cari cursed silently as she watched the man hurry away with the bloody deer. What she wouldn’t have given to have some tranquilizers with her at that moment to stop him. Then she could have him taken somewhere for questioning. It was a little extreme, but that was the only thing she’d risk doing. Whatever he was, he was dangerous enough to warrant a few extreme measures without any other knowledge of the situation.
But at that very moment, neither girl had anything, and Cari knew Rose wasn’t going to risk anyone possibly seeing her perform a little magic. She was particularly anal about doing that even after dark when no one seemed to be around. And even with the current circumstances, she wasn’t likely to take her chances. If someone just so much as stumbled into this, there could be a lot of repercussions and questions to be answered. Neither one wanted a run-in with The Agency, even if things turned out alright.
‘We should just get home’, said Cari. ‘Talk to your parents and tell me what you learn, if anything. I’ll pick my dad’s brain and find out if he by any bit of luck knows anything.’
Rose nodded and teleported away. She had it easy, while Cari had to flit out of any scene and hope she didn’t get caught. But all the same, the vampire still left quickly and carefully.
________________________________________________________________
“Have you lost your damn mind?!” Rika glared at Jake, who still looked pretty serious. “I’m all for believing in magic and stuff, since I live with it, but really? Zombies? Do you want to be put into a mental institution?”
“I thought you said they were all killed when the Spanish Flu broke out almost a hundred years ago”, said Cari. She sat at the table with a few of her friends in the little hut in the forest. And currently, she wasn’t amused.
It was early morning, a few hours before anyone had to be at school, and so a few people had decided to show up there to talk. Cari had called a few of the others who would be awake and said she and Rose wanted to talk to them about something important. Rose hadn’t found out much about the ooze, but her mom had said she lost a leg because of one of the monsters biting her. At any point when a zombie attacked anyone, amputation was the only cure, if even in time enough.
The things had once been intelligent in general ancient magic mythology, but had eventually become lumbering dolts. Some bokor had done something wrong with a homemade zombie, and a virus had spread through them, so it had been said. At some point, they had begun an ageless battle against them to deal with the situation. And only in the last century had they supposedly been wiped out.
Shane took the vial of ooze Rose had collected from Jake and examined it closely. “Apparently a few escaped. Dad always talked about the zombie hunts from when he was a kid. But he said the only ones he saw were pretty smart for lumbering dolts.”
Jake snatched the vial back. “Honestly… Mom always said there was a lot more to them than we knew. We don’t even know what caused the pandemic to even start. And this guy… The one Rose cut with her fan seemed to have acted pretty intelligent for the ones we know from history. Anything that snaps a neck can’t be completely dumb.”
“If it’s really a zombie”, Rika reiterated. She had been convinced since the start of this that zombies only lived in games like Resident Evil. “Can we please think of something more logical? Seriously…”
“You’re the last one to mention logic”, said Rose. She took back the sample of ooze she’d taken. “Doesn’t magic defy conventional human logic?”
“Well what do you suggest we do”, asked Cari. “I mean, we can’t ignore this. That guy didn’t even smell…close to anything we know. He smelled all moldy and decaying. Just what the hell he is, is all I want to know right now. We can worry about dealing with him later.”
“Hey, I can’t try to test that if I don’t—“
Rose kept the vial from Jake’s reach. “I doubt any of us can find anything out from this. Mom and Dad found nothing.”
________________________________________________________________
Olivia smiled brightly at her table at lunch with the people she hung out with. Oddly, she didn’t sit with Percy at their school. They didn’t even have the same class schedules. They could have sat together at lunch, but she always hung out with him during their time at The Agency. And neither wanted to risk anyone finding out about their work.
Percy wasn’t quite so secretive, but Olivia told no one why she and her brothers really had such nice stuff. All she would tell her friends was that there was a large inheritance in a trust fund to go along with money her dad had before he died. Even her brothers didn’t really know where the money was always coming from. They weren’t oblivious to what she was really like, but she didn’t want them to know that she had done things she didn’t like thinking of. And her first mission, just by itself, was horrendous enough.
One of Olivia’s ‘friends’ poked her with a baby carrot. “Are you sure there’s no one you like?”
Olivia blinked. “I told you, I’m not interested in anyone”, she said, giving a very innocent, childlike expression. Well, she wasn’t particularly interested in anyone. She liked Percy, but was still figuring out her feelings in general.
One of the girls laughed. “You’re so innocent”, she said. “It’s so cute.”
The black-haired girl just smiled, but she hated the way she let everyone treat her like a child. But at the same time, she liked the game, itself. And if everyone thought of her as innocent, she could get away with a few more things for a little longer. And she could play the innocent girl who seemed to actually be too dumb to fool. In the end, the rush of keeping secrets and playing dumb was worth the condescending she faced.
She swore if she wasn’t working for The Agency, she could be an actress one day. But she knew acting didn’t have the same rush as real life missions. It was only that particular work that she really felt comfortable in.
Olivia just tilted her head and went back to eating. She had to remember to be careful, since she could go over the top with her act and expose it as such. It wasn’t precisely easy, but she knew where to draw the line so that didn’t ever happen. Although she still wasn’t sure how long she wanted the deception to last, since it would potentially be strange for an adult to seem so naïve. Eventually, she’d probably have to give up just to avoid many truly massive repercussions. As it was, she felt she was beginning to push her luck some now.
________________________________________________________________
Yuki sighed as the bell finally rang for lunch and she could leave the class for a while. She stood to gather her books and headed towards the door, but heard a light snoring coming from somewhere. She almost ignored it, but figured it really wasn’t fair to let the poor sap, whoever it was, get caught by the English teacher she swore was heartless. So she walked back to find a boy with black hair with his head laying on his arms.
“Hey”, she said quietly. She tapped the boy. “Wake up, or you’re going to get a riot act from the teacher.” She continued to prod him until he finally woke up.
Wes blinked the sleep out of his eyes and stifled a yawn. He looked at the shape-shifter and tilted his head. “I was asleep, wasn’t I?”
Yuki couldn’t believe he was actually asking that, and sighed. “Yeah, or I wouldn’t have had to wake you up. Mrs. Eleanor is a pain in the butt about falling asleep, even when you didn’t sleep at all the previous night. Believe me, I know that very well…”
The much older being stood and gathered his things. “Well, thanks. It’s time for lunch now.”
“Hey, want to sit with me and my friends”, asked Yuki. “You might get lonely if you don’t have anyone to—“
Wes waved a hand dismissively and headed out of the classroom. “I don’t really mind, and I hate to butt in, anyway.”
He smiled and made a quick getaway before the girl could say more. It wasn’t that the girl gave him any bad feelings or anything. But Wes just didn’t want to attract any more attention to himself after what had happened several nights before. There was no way to tell who had been there with him, and he really didn’t want to take the chance the girl was the one who attacked him. To others, it might have counted as paranoia, but it was completely logical with his current circumstances. And he had only barely just settled into his new life and identity. He hadn’t been in school again for even quite a week yet.
But instead of heading to the cafeteria after dropping off his books, he made his way straight to the bathroom. He didn’t have to go, but he did have to hold up appearances of being something close to human. Regardless of whether he ate anything or not, he never had to experience those inconvenient trappings that mortals faced. The food was completely absorbed into his system after it was processed by the acids.
Acids that he’d found to be dangerous to life—the same acids that ran through what his blood was supposed to travel in. It wasn’t dangerous if it was cleaned away relatively quickly, but prolonged exposure could cause something to rot away over time if it wasn’t reinforced with magic. It had caused more than a few bits of technology at The Agency to cease functioning before they figured out the problem. After that, they always took precautions when analyzing what they called his ooze, for lack of a better term.
After a few minutes spent in the bathroom, he walked out to head to lunch so he could eat. Despite what people thought about his kind, they didn’t only eat raw flesh and organs. He, personally, could never live like that for his little piece of eternity. Were they to actually want to, they could easily eat anything they desired. Though it included various things that weren’t expected to be eaten, as well. In private, he could easily be found nibbling on substances other intelligent creatures couldn’t digest without massive indigestion.
He had to admit, he really liked the school. It was big enough he was able to get lost among the all the other students and not stand out too much. There were many interesting people, and that’s what he’d wanted. Here, he could blend in again. There were too many students for him to make much of an impression on anyone. They could even hide his very unnatural scent. This particular place was perfect.
Unfortunately, he was so lost in his thoughts that he barely noticed he was going to run into someone else until he actually did. He stumbled back a bit as the girl fell to the ground.
Rika cursed under her breath and looked at who she’d run into in her hurry to the cafeteria.
Wes bent down a bit and offered her a hand to help her up, of which she graciously took. “Sorry about that”, he said.
Rika stood and watched the man carefully. There was something off about him, but she couldn’t tell what it was. There was just something unnatural about him that she didn’t like. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be cordial with him. “Well, it’s not like I was paying much attention to where I was going”, she admitted.
He nodded a little to say he understood. “I wasn’t paying much attention, myself”, he conceded as well. He quickly let go of her hand—he wasn’t used to a lot of physical contact.
“You’re new here, aren’t you”, she asked after a short pause to gather her thoughts. “I’ve never seen you around before.”
Wes would have blushed if there was the blood to rush to his head. Surely she couldn’t know everyone who was at the school. “Yeah, started a few days ago. My name is Wes Collins”, he said.
The black-haired girl smiled. “Rika”, she said. “Want to join me for lunch? I can introduce you to my friends.”
He gave a nervous chuckle. “Thanks, but no. I’m just—”
Rika’s smile turned into a grin and she grabbed his wrist before dragging him along behind her as if he’d said yes. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to them.”
For a few seconds, he was dragged along behind her with no control of where they went. But he really wasn’t in any mood to follow along like a puppy at the moment. And this girl looked suspiciously like the kind of person one was almost afraid to trust. So no, he really didn’t like this at all. There was definitely no way he was letting her drag him off even farther to wherever her friends were at the moment. He wasn’t ready to really try to make friends yet.
He pulled his wrist back with a sharp jerk and glared at the girl as she stared at him. “I said no. I’d have thought you heard me.”
Rika blanched and gave the most sheepish look she could. “S-sorry… I just…” She paused briefly to hope his glare would fade. It didn’t. “You looked lonely”, she said as a last defense.
“I’m fine”, he said. “And I’m still getting the hang of public school.”
________________________________________________________________
There wasn’t much for Percy to do but wait as he sat at a picnic table in the local park. It was well past midnight, and he probably shouldn’t have been allowed there with a gun. But no one knew he was there besides the person he was waiting on, and only they knew he had a pistol shoved into his large jacket. At the moment, he was perfectly safe from any authorities. Although if anyone else did show up, he had his Agency ID on him to quell any problems that could arise.
After a few moments more of waiting, he heard movement and glanced around, hand subconsciously moving towards his pocket. Of course there was the chance that someone else might show up. The vampires and weres seemed to like using the park as hunting grounds for deer, squirrels or other animals. It wouldn’t surprise him if at least one was still out at that time of the night. In fact, he would have been a fool if he hadn’t thought someone might be out for just that.
He relaxed, however, when he saw a familiar figure approach him and sit down. “Yo. Yer late.”
Wes pulled down the hood of his jacket and gave a nervous chuckle. “I stopped for a late night snack”, he said. “And of course, that involved cleaning up, too. I told you my last attempt was interrupted.”
Percy just sighed and crossed his arms. “Oh, gimme a break… Ya’ve been at this fer wha’, forty years’r so?”
The white man just gave a weak laugh. “This place has a slightly higher population of non-humans and you know it.” He regained a little composure and looked at his friend. “So what did you call me out for?”
“Olives would’a been here, but she said her brothers were startin’ to get suspicious”, said Percy. “Anyway, we think somebody might be on to ya.”
Wes gave a frown. “Who? There are too many humans around me for my weird scent to really permeate my immediate surroundings. Who would be able to figure something out?”
Percy scowled. “I don’ know fer sure. But we think it’s somebody at yer school.”
“School?”
Wes forced himself to think back to everyone he’d met at the school so far. It had been a few weeks since he started school again, and really hadn’t met anyone who really stood out intellectually. So who would have—could have—figured out something was completely off about him? His alibi was flawless, and he wouldn’t be there if The Agency thought it wasn’t. The only kink in the plan, he had to admit, was that he couldn’t tell whether someone was human or not. His senses were by no means dull, but they were definitely not good enough to tell what someone was very well.
“Did anythin’ suspicious happen in the las’ few weeks”, asked Percy.
There was a short pause before Wes spoke. “Now that you mention it, there was something a couple weeks ago…” He frowned in remembering. “I was out here with a deer, and something cut me. It was… circular, like a disk.” He watched as Percy’s expression became slightly alarmed. “I don’t know, but I think it acted like a boomerang, so whoever did that…”
“Probably knows somebody was here that ain’ supposed to be natural”, said Percy. He watched his friend uncomfortably. “I know ya wanna stay put, an’ so do Olives an’ I… But I think maybe—“
Wes sent him a glare. “I’m not leaving unless I get exposed for certain”, he quickly interrupted. “I like it here.”
“I know”, Percy said uncomfortably. “But if it means ya keep liv—“
“I can hardly be considered among the living”, said Wes. “Remember what I am? Yeah, that’s hardly what anyone can call living.”
Percy was taken aback slight, but just sighed. “Ya know wha’ my point is…”
Wes sighed and looked away. “Sorry… I just don’t want to think about that… I don’t like hiding away all the time.”
Percy was about to speak again, but stopped himself and pulled his gun out, aiming at somewhere in the forest. He glanced to see Wes quickly pulling his hood up and focused back on the trees. Someone was there with them, he just knew it. That wasn’t good at all. Whoever it was, there was a good chance they heard something. And that was definitely the last thing they needed right now. If someone from Wes’ school was onto him, there was a good chance that person was with them now.
He stood and walked closer to the edge of the forest. “Come out with yer hands behind yer head”, he snapped.
Up in a tree, Jaden jerked awake and nearly lost his balance. He had no idea what was going on at the moment, and had only wanted some rest in his natural element. Unfortunately, it seemed he had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he definitely didn’t want to come out if someone were so hostile. Though he seriously had to wonder what was going on that had him in what was about to become an even more precarious situation. If he was lucky, he could simply sink into the tree and hide until whoever was there was gone.
His body quickly dissolved into the wood and he watched for whoever was there to come closer. There was no doubt that they would—at the very least, the male who had snapped him awake. He couldn’t accurately tell what someone was all the time, but he was fairly certain the male was a human. But there was something else that he couldn’t place at all. That definitely wasn’t good. Was it possible the other was the creature that Rose and Cari had found a few weeks ago? If it were, then he definitely wanted to stay in the tree, as he had no idea what would happen if he came out.
Wes stood and joined his friend as the other stepped into the forest where Jaden was. “Are you sure it’s not just an animal”, he asked quietly.
“I’m sure of it”, Percy ground out. “I said get out with yer hands behind yer head!”
As the two boys neared Jaden’s tree, the sprite caught a whiff of what smelled like mold and something decaying. It was absolutely awful and he wanted to make his way home and away from the stench quickly. Unfortunately, it would also mean coming out of hiding and risking being shot. He really didn’t need to explain to the police or a doctor and some nurses exactly what he was doing out in the woods so late at night. That was just opening up for a can of worms he didn’t want to be involved in. His status as a sprite was a secret, and everyone liked it that way.
When Percy reached the tree he was certain someone was in, one way or another, he switched the safety off and aimed up into the branches. He didn’t have the patience for someone playing games when that person had probably overheard his conversation with Wes. Though he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to shoot, as that would undoubtedly cause more paperwork than he really felt like dealing with. Still, he wasn’t about to let whoever was there go without asking them some questions and possibly getting them to the nearest Agency building for a memory wipe. One person was infinitely easier to deal with than a whole bunch.
Farther into the forest, a goth teenager weaved through and around the many trees there. “Oh, God, where is he”, she muttered impatiently.
She’d heard snapping, and knew that Jaden was there somewhere taking a nap. That would undoubtedly mean someone woke him up and he probably wasn’t particularly happy with the rude awakening. It wasn’t that he didn’t like to wake up, but really didn’t like his sleep being interrupted. He was particularly adamant about getting at least eight hours of sleep at night. Otherwise, someone was going to have their hide handed to them in one way or another. He wasn’t the most violent, but setting his temper off was usually a very bad idea.
As soon as she was close enough to see someone in the night, standing in front of a tree and holding a gun, she raced forward. Cursing under her breath, she tackled the black boy holding the gun and shoved him to the ground. Though her eyes quickly widened, and not from his glare. She quickly got back up and backed away. There was a putrid stench emanating from very close by, and she assumed it was the other male with them. She held her nose in what amounted to disgust and backed away to the nearest tree, ready to do what would probably be copying her older brother.
Percy got back up and glared between the tree and the girl, about ready to curse someone out. “Wha’ the hell are ya—“
“I could ask you the same thing”, Nebula quickly snapped. “And what is that awful stench?”
Wes quickly recognized the girl, but made no outward indication that he did. The last thing he needed was for the chance she recognized him. So he just remained quiet.
“Tha’s none of yer business”, said Percy. “Wha’ are ya doin’ here?”
Nebula wasn’t sure she wanted to answer, but didn’t want the gun pointed at her, either. She had no real choice. “Looking for my brother”, she said indignantly. Even if she had to answer, she wasn’t about to make it the most polite thing ever. She was in a foul mood, and was going to make sure they knew it.
Jaden could see where this was going, and he really didn’t like it. Nebula had an attitude at times, and with someone holding a gun in the mix, that wasn’t good. Now, there was little he could do but come out of his hiding place and try to get it all sorted out. Though he was probably in no better mood than she was right now, seeing as his sleep was interrupted. He was about ready to curse someone out something royal.
Deciding it was definitely best, he pulled out of the tree, glaring at the two other males. “What is the meaning of this”, he snapped.
Percy and Wes were caught off guard and shared a glance. Percy glared back at the obviously cross-dressing sprite and clutched his pistol a little tighter. “I wanna to know who ya are an’ why yer here!”
“Jaden Hail”, he said defensively. “And you woke me up when you started yelling! If I wasn’t careful, I could have fallen out of the tree!”
Percy’s glare intensified. “Asleep”, he stated. “You were sleeping in a tree. What are you, homeless?”
Jaden had to control the sudden urge to hit the teenager before him. He wasn’t known to be violent, and didn’t feel like making a bad first impression, even if he did have the right to snap. “I am a nature sprite”, he hissed. “I like trees in particular. It’s natural that I want to sleep in a tree every now and again instead of a bed. Are you stupid?”
Nebula held back a snort—now really wasn’t the time for that. She didn’t want Percy’s attention to return to her. Still, if she say something, Jaden might really snap and let him have it. “Ok, seriously. What’s going on here?” She glared as soon as Percy and Wes looked back to her, “Who are you two? And why does one of you smell like mold? You could knock someone out with that stench.”
Wes glared from under his hood. “I’ve never knocked anyone out.”
Nebula pulled back some. “What the heck are you? You can’t be human.”
Jaden glanced between his current companions. “Well?”
Percy pulled his gun up carefully and reached into a pocket for his wallet before pulling an ID of some kind out. “Percy Price, Agency operative”, he said easily.
The two sprites paled a little and shared a quick glance. This wasn’t good. The last thing either of them, or their friends, for that matter, ever needed was a run-in with anyone from The Agency. Their many operatives did a wide range of jobs, but they were all combat trained and could fight in the event of what could be classed an emergency. At least, that was the rumor. All employees were fairly tight-lipped about what all they did, if it was known that they worked for The Agency.
“Well, I’m Nebula Hail”, the girl said, finally introducing herself. She glanced to the hooded boy with a glare. “And are you from The Agency, too? What’s your name?”
Wes was really uncomfortable at the moment, but he felt compelled to give an answer. “Not exactly…” He pulled the hood back down and crossed his arms. “But I’m a little more aware of what they do than most people.”
Jaden’s eyes widened and he cleared his throat. “Wes Collins”, he said, trying to contain most of his surprise. He glanced to his sister for help, but she just shrugged. He looked back at Wes. “Do I even want to know?”
“Probably not”, said Wes. He paused. “So you’re both nature sprites.”
“Yes, we are”, said Nebula. “What are you? Percy is human, but you’re not.”
If it were possible, Wes would have paled in the face.
Jaden paused a moment. “Wait, a friend of ours described someone with a moldy, decaying stench who bled a translucent ooze”, he said. He watched Wes for a few silent seconds. “And you have that same stench about you.”
Wes tried not to let his eyes widened, but he felt trapped. “Seriously”, he asked almost flatly.
Nebula focused her attention on Wes. “Yeah, apparently that’s what a zombie smells like. And that ooze crap.”
The zombie in question straightened up. “And what makes you think they even exist? Don’t they just belong in games like Resident Evil?”
“Dang, I’m surprised you’re not in hiding”, said Nebula. “Or that people haven’t gone after you with fire yet. ‘Cause seriously? How long have you been around?”
“Tha’s a dangerous insinuation”, said Percy. “Why do ya think he’s a zombie? ‘Cause zombies are supposed to be lumberin’ idiots, right?”
“Hey, as long as you’re not eating people, you think we care”, asked Jaden. “We just want to know because our friends were out for a meal of their own a few weeks ago and caught someone they said snapping a deer’s neck.”
Wes wasn’t happy, but there wasn’t much he could do. “Why would I eat people?”
Nebula shrugged. “Do you?”
There was a short pause as everyone stared awkwardly at each other.
Wes finally broke the silence. “No. I don’t eat people.” He paused again and averted his gaze. “My body was used as an experiment in the seventies by The Agency. I was an a car crash, and…”
Jaden tried not to groan. “You’re not supposed to go around reviving people”, he said.
Percy sighed and put his gun away carefully after switching the safety back on. “Yer not tellin’ anybody ‘bout this”, he said. “Wes is a good guy.”
The sprites raised their hands in surrender. “If he wasn’t, I’m pretty sure there would be missing people and he might already be… fully dead”, said Nebula. “But our friends will want to know. We’ve been trying to figure it out since two of them found—“
Wes sent her a deadpan look. “I’m not about to endanger my un-life”, he said quickly.
“Hey, if you’re with The Agency for something, then none of us have any place to do anything”, said Jaden. His gaze shifted to Percy. “You can explain all that, right?”
“Tha… might get me more paperwork”, the boy sighed, crossing his arms. I ain’ ‘bout to get myself more of that right now.”
“Do they have to know”, asked Nebula. She laced her hands behind her head.
Wes glanced to his friend. “Until they absolutely have to know, I don’t think it’s a problem…”
Percy turned and glared at him. “Comin’ from the one who wanted it kept a secret the most…”
The man just shrugged. “Maybe I want friends I can talk to who go to my school”, he said. “If they’re not going to do anything to me, at least.”
Jaden smiled a little. “Just questions. A few of our friends are heavily interested in history. And you kind of count as that.”
Wes shot the cross-dressing sprite a glare. “I’m not—Ok, I am at least fifty years old”, he conceded. “But that wasn’t funny.”
“Oh, I thought it was”, Nebula said, earning her own glare.
Percy sighed. “Well, ain’ no way of arguin’ now… But when are we gonna explain wha’ happened? I was gonna spend time with my girlfriend.”
“Bring her along”, said Wes. He glanced to the others. “Ollie might be kind of innocent, but she does know about the… other part of society.”
________________________________________________________________
When the two sprites lead him to their table of friends the next morning, Wes was pretty sure some divine power was testing his last remaining strands of sanity. Still, he put on a fairly friendly face as he silently joined them with the sprites. He had been the one to agree to their proposal in the first place of joining the group. So it was only natural he be cordial. With any luck, he would find himself actually accepted and not outcast again. He was tired of feeling like he had no real place to go.
He glanced at everyone, trying to remain impassive. They looked like a fairly odd bunch of friends, and he wondered what common ground kept them together. Or was it something more along the lines of just mostly having common friends in each other? He decided it wasn’t his place to ask yet, since he didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side right away. Maybe if he actually managed to become friends with them, he could ask. But right now, he wasn’t about to risk it when he was fairly certain someone would know there was something that wasn’t quite right about him.
“Good morning”, Jaden said, earning a few groans from those who were still clearly tired.
The silver-haired teenager reached over and smacked him irritably. “It’s too early”, she griped. “Not all of us wake up smiling.”
Wes glanced to Garnet, noting the odd hair and her vaguely irritated expression. Though his sight was mostly caught by her hair—that couldn’t be natural at such a young age. “Er… Hi”, he said awkwardly.
Garnet turned her attention from Jaden, who was rubbing the side of his head, to Wes. “Yeah, who are you?”
Rika’s attention quickly perked up. “Hey, you’re Wes”, she said in surprise. “Did Nebula coer—“, she caught the goth’s glare, “convince you to come over?”
“Well—“
Cari glanced to their new companion and quickly wrinkled her nose some in surprise—it was that moldy, decaying smell. “Hey”, she quickly interrupted, trailing off some. “What—“
“We can explain later”, said Nebula. “I think for now, we just keep t hat on the down-low.”
Garnet gave an irritated sigh. “Yeah, otherwise someone is going to get the fire out.”
Wes frowned and looked back at the silver-haired girl. “Wait, I know who you remind me of”, he said, quickly changing the subject. “You look like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII.”
The girl’s cyan eyes lit up vaguely. “Someone who I don’t have to explain the idea of my hair to? Great.”
There was a short pause before Wes spoke. “So you style your hair after him.”
“Well, duh”, she said. “Did you think it was a coincidence?”
“Well, I… Um—“
Yuki found herself giggling at the way Wes fumbled over his words. “Just say no and she might not kill you.”
Wes closed his mouth and sighed. “That’s not a very comforting thought, you know… I don’t feel like dying.” He paused. “Again”, he muttered.
There was another pause, and then Jake spoke. “Wait, what?!” His expression was that of unadulterated shock. “You’re a—“
“We’ll talk about it later”, Jaden said insistently. “Once we all meet up after school with someone from The Agency.”
“What”, Jake asked flatly.
“Nebula and I had a long night”, Jaden replied sheepishly.

The End