Apprenticed

By William Carrington

Krista Snow is fresh out the academy and on her first assignment with the Agency when the world she has been studying and preparing for becomes a dangerous reality all too quickly. Classes on the comparative biology of lycanthropes and the theory of vampiric nature become the very real day to day encounters as her team aids local authorities in solving the crimes committed by these supernatural beings. Luckily, Krista has a mentor to teach her the realities beyond the academic. Her new mentor, and head of office to which she has been assigned, is none other than Randall Magus, a man whispered of with fear and awe at the academy. And he has been waiting ages for one such as her-one with the unique blend of genetics and natural talents to become his apprentice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 3, 2018
• ISBN: 9781642983036

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Apprenticed

William Carrington

Copyright © 2018 William Carrington

All rights reserved

First Edition

Page Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64298-302-9 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64298-303-6 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgements

First, much love to my twin sons, Jon-Jon and E-bo. I would like to thank my mother, Sue, for being there my whole life. I also wish to thank my father, Kelly, and my siblings, Kevin and Beth. Candace, you were always my special girl from your tricycle days forward—my love and best wishes forever. Claudia, with whom I learned the art of psycho-Tantric massage. Eva, my empath friend who taught and explained much. April and Robert, my close and dependable friends, who had many ideas bounced off them. Any others, I will try to remember for the next book.

Introduction

ESP Agency (Extraordinary, Supernatural & Preternatural Agency): an organization which sprang into being after the existence of lycanthropes, vampires, and other creatures became widely known in the late 1800s. Originally starting as a group of specially trained inspectors to assist their Scotland Yard contemporaries, the agency responded to world-wide need and is now contracted with over twenty nations. Each local agency office is usually led by one of the senior agents from Great Britain, but is essentially an island unto itself to allow maximum flexibility in interacting with local authorities and situations.

Unknown to most, however, the Agency actually dates back to the Dark Ages as a council of mages and druids and a few knights returned from the Crusades. The knights had encountered vampires during the Crusades and, upon return their return, had sought out comrades to assist in fighting these supernatural creatures. The druids had ties to some of the Fey and lycanthropes, and the mages had experiences of their own. The individuals bound together for the mutual benefit of all concerned and for the protection of all mankind.

From its inception, it was ruled by a council composed of knights, mages, and druids. The duty of all was to protect the world from the forces which sought to control it and transform it into a realm of chaos in which to hunt and grow. The knights were given enchanted weapons and armor. The druids brought the forces of nature to bear against the forces of chaos. Their Council of Druids had declined in power by then, so those who remained joined in with those of the early Agency. The mages were the difference. They had the adaptability to aid their allies by producing magical arms and armor for the knights and working to forge stronger enchantments with the druids.

As technology aided mankind in taking control of the natural world, the last of the druids of old died as the strength of nature declined before mankind. Magic itself was lessened by technology. Strength of sword and sturdiness of armor were replaced by the bullet and engines of war. The power of the vampire grew. In some places, open warfare erupted between them and the lycanthropes. No longer able to contain awareness of the things that go bump in the night, a new way of fighting those forces had to be adopted. Inroads were laid into Scotland Yard and the Agency was born.

Chapter 1

The police were all scattered around working crowd control and trying to keep the curious onlookers from contaminating the scene. Their CSI team had already filled one and part of another box with plastic baggies of evidence and taken more pictures than a wedding photographer. The agency had been called in by Metro PD’s Special Crimes Unit to assist with the investigation of the homicide. The Special Crimes Unit handles crimes suspected to have been committed by a supernatural entity.

With the recent increase in this type of crime, the Atlanta branch of the ESPA had been contacted for assistance, and Mr. Magus had assigned himself to take lead in this new branch office. This homicide brought the total case assists up to seventeen in the 105 days since his arrival. The feud between multiple factions combined with the sloppy leadership style of the city’s prince has led to the belief the Agency may have to restructure the various elements in the area.

The body, male and mauled around the neck and shoulder area, lay partly behind the dumpster in back of the Cheetah Club. Report was that one of the dancers had discovered the body when she had come out for a smoke break. She screamed, bringing one of their bouncers rushing out. He saw the body as well, and after much commotion among the back staff, the bartender was informed and he called the police. The owner, Mr. Charles Arnold, was upstairs where the dancers performed and had come down soon afterward. He and the bartender, Chad, were off to one side being interviewed by a detective.

Magus approached the body. The upper half of the body was behind the dumpster, but the lower half was unremarkable except for the blood pooled on the asphalt of the alleyway. Not until walking around to the back side of the dumpster to look behind it could the source of the blood be found. Most of the area between the head and right shoulder was missing. Only small scraps of flesh remained; the rest had been chewed away.

Krista, the most recent addition to the local Agency group, had taken the briefest of glances at the body before deciding to go back to the forensics crew to check the samples needed for testing. Attention to detail may be a strong suit for her, but she will likely be green awhile before she’s comfortable with field-work. In time, the Agency’s newest agent will likely prove to be a valuable addition. More than that, her intake evaluation from the home office was strongly worded in reference to her latent exceptional potential and certain Fey genetics combined with other unmeasured paranormal talents.

Lieutenant David Dave Holland was the senior detective on scene. He gave the signal for the coroner’s body crew to collect and quarantine the body until it was known whether or not he was going to stay dead. Right now, odds among the forensics crew were split five to one between a recently changed lycanthrope and a young or sloppy vampire. Lieutenant Holland expected us to have the answer five minutes ago. Our office does the initial testing of any saliva or hair samples from the wounds while most of the in-depth DNA and other testing is shipped off to Atlanta.

Dave approached. Surprised to see you out on a case, Mr. Magus. Anything wrong with Mr. Norbrook?

Nothing at all is wrong, Lieutenant. Just have a new team member with no field experience, so a senior agent has to supervise until she’s fully trained and certified.

Oh, you must be talking about the attractive young redheaded woman who followed you up. Dave looked back over his shoulder at Krista. She appears to have already gotten the attention of some of my men. So, Norbrook didn’t volunteer for the job supervising her?

Actually, Dave, he did the day she arrived. I reminded Norbrook of the policies relating to interoffice dating and harassment law in general. I believe he took the hint to heart the way he has been feigning indifference whenever Krista enters the room with him. In fact, unless there is purposeful interaction between them, you would think she was effectively invisible to him.

I take it his pride was compromised from having his hand slapped before he even got to open the cookie jar, huh? Speaking of the newbie, I noticed she didn’t look much at the body, but at least it looks like she dove into the scene and is going through things now that the body has been bagged and secured. She appears a tad squeamish. Do you think she’ll make it?

"I see no reason thus far to indicate she will not acclimate to the work. Her whole experience has been academic to date, but that includes autopsies and standard cadaver work with those who had suffered various supernaturally related deaths. When the body is on a cold metal slab, it is easy to dehumanize the experience and remain in a cold, clinical state of mind. Seeing someone dead out here, in the real world, you are not just processing a nameless body. You have a dead person who just hours ago had been living their life, interacting with family and friends, dealing with jobs, just like you yourself had been before meeting the deceased.

Krista appears to be finishing the packing of specimens for our own processing. We need to head back to the office to start the testing on them. Let the coroner know I will be sending Krista over tomorrow and he should wait on her arrival before processing the body. She will have our preliminary reports to drop off at his office. I will also fax them over to you when they are completed. Good night and I hope the remainder of the night is uneventful.

Dave replied with only a nod. With that, Magus left the lieutenant to get back to tying up his review of the crime scene and signaled Krista to meet him back at the Jeep. After getting the samples packed away in the back, he opened her door and then walked around and got in on the driver’s side.

Krista, when we get back to the lab, you will need to set out the samples and the reagents for the tests. I will join you and supervise the testing. Afterwards, I will certify the results and get the reports done. While I am completing those tasks, you are to write up your impressions from the scene and then get some sleep. Any questions?

No, sir.

The remainder of the trip back to the lab was quiet, with Krista staring out into the darkness. Twenty minutes into the silence, they parked in back of the lab and Magus carried in the specimens and left them on the counter while Krista started preparing the work space.

While awaiting Krista to complete readying the workbench for the required tests, Magus took the time to pull a few components from his office and worked a couple of simple cantrips to see which way to direct the testing. With the results of the spellcraft, he began to wonder how great the lieutenant’s surprise will be at a human killed outside a werecat club with a bite pattern consistent with a lycanthrope attack actually being killed by a vampire.

Krista, start the tests with the reagents looking for vampire bloodline specific antibodies. I am correct in knowing you know how to set up the old-fashioned gel electrophoresis tests. After all, we do not have access to the newer analyzers like you had access to in your laboratory classes.

Sir, it will consume most of our specimens to do the bloodline tests. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to do a basic vampire and lycanthrope assay and then test for bloodline or subspecies based upon the results? Since it’s believed more likely feline lycanthrope, I can’t see devoting so much of our samples to vampire testing!

Child, your true education now begins. Once you have started the gels, read this. It was actually written by your three times great-grandfather. I know you will not be able to get to your assessment of the crime scene as previously instructed. You are already trying to glance within the book. I think we shall make your assessment an oral presentation after the autopsy tomorrow. Now, please get the requested tests started and you can start reading while you wait. I expect you will get at least through the spell principles relating to our work. Hold your questions for our meeting tomorrow. Good night.

Young Krista was still up reading when he passed by her room to check her results and complete the reports for the police and coroner’s office.

The book fascinated Krista. She had very little knowledge of her lineage. Her mother had been half-Elven. Her father was one of the Fey, but as is typical for them with their less than full-blooded offspring, he was gone before her birth. The great-great-great-grandfather who wrote this work was obviously human, and appeared to have greater knowledge of the mystic world than anyone she had ever read about. His writing was insightful, detailed, and at the same time almost unrolled into her mind. His words built upon themselves into a structure which was as solid as the bedrock upon which the great cities were built.

The building blocks, upon which life was built, DNA, were described as biological manuals within each component held in its core. They carried the instructions for the creation of each creature. This included not just man, but animals, plants, the fey races, everyone and everything else. The fluids of the vampires, the lycanthropes, and other such creatures contained pages which inserted into the manual of the wounded being. If successfully integrated, they would become like the attacker. If not successfully integrated, then death was the usual outcome. There was also the requirement of an adequate number of pages to be introduced or else nothing would happen.

Here is a book written centuries ago which gives a simplified, but nonetheless accurate, accounting of genetics and the supernatural viruses which are responsible for vampirism and lycanthropy. The relative thresholds for infection with the various conditions were given. Herbs to try and halt the infections and their preparation and administration were listed.

Next were listed the works of magic to determine the flow of life energy. Described in detail were the draining effects on these energies by the vampiric condition. Beyond the draining of blood, but drawing the life force, feeding on emotions by the psychic-vampire subspecies. Lycanthropes are connected to the wild animal energies of their counterparts. With the use of a few simple spells which can trace life energies, most of the creatures can be identified, and through the use of special components, the nature of small or even minute amounts of the source creature can be discerned.

This is how he knew!

With this mystery solved, curiosity sated, Krista yawned and decided to go on to bed. Alarm clock set, nightshirt donned, sleep came soon and deeply.

Chapter 2

Krista awoke to her blaring alarm clock. Sleep had been filled with flashes of various scenes, some from her life, others from times gone by. Collecting her thoughts, she arose and went to the bathroom for a quick shower to help finish waking up.

The book filled her thoughts. It was handwritten, had a few simple illustrations, and was written by her ancestor. Then, a thought struck her: Mr. Magus had an original handwritten copy of her ancestor’s book. He knew of her ancestry. It couldn’t just be coincidence of her first assignment to be with him, could it?

There had been rumors about Mr. Magus. He had once taught at the Agency’s training academy and still sat on its board of directors. He was said to have been the original chairman when the Agency began. His name was on its charter. Could he be the same Randall Magus as was on that first council over three hundred years ago and oversaw its integration into Scotland Yard? Most accepted that he is the descendant of that Mr. Magus who founded the Agency. Rumors circulated, however, that he was one and the same as that Mr. Randall Magus. Other rumors allude to him not as just Mr. Magus, but the Magus. He is said to be the one who ultimately inherited the title from Merlin.

Krista turned on her laptop, and while it booted up, she fixed a quick breakfast of oatmeal. A quick e-mail to four of her fellow graduates from the academy, asking them to make quiet inquiries about Mr. Magus, was sent off while the oatmeal was cooling and consumed. It must be impossible, but could Mr. Magus have actually been alive that long and thus known her ancestor? What does he know about her family? What questions could he answer?

Krista picked up the report for the coroner and rushed off without even looking at it. Her thoughts were all about the meeting with Mr. Magus afterward.

The body was in heavy metal restraints on the autopsy table. Mr. Magus had already called ahead, so the body had not been removed from the steel restraining board it had been placed on at the scene, and heavier restraints had been added as soon the call had been received. Victims of vampire attacks have frequently enough come to life within the first three days after attack.

Dr. Austin was double-checking the restraints when Krista entered the room. Sun was up, but evidently, he had no interest in taking any chances. Krista handed him his copy of the report as she joined him at the table.

We will need a 5 cc sample of blood from the heart and two 10-gram tissue biopsies, one from the site of the bite, the other from the liver. These are in addition to whatever other samples you need to send to the CDC for processing.

Just over an hour later, Dr. Austin was completing the autopsy. No unexpected findings were noted on gross exam, so only the microscopic and biochemical analysis remained. Krista packed up the specimens she had been requested to attain and headed back to the agency.

Mr. Magus reviewed the results of their tests again. No vampires of the shifter bloodline were supposed to be in this area, but the test had been definitive. His callback to the home office this morning had confirmed this. Apparently, the intelligence reports were more than just paranoia. Someone may indeed be trying to create a foothold on the Eastern Seaboard.

First, the old prince of Savannah had been promoted to Atlantic City after its prince had disappeared without a trace. The second-in-command in Savannah had been made prince. However, the new prince, Colbert, lacks the ability to master and properly manage the political nuances as Prince Penrose Winthrop had.

Second, rumors had spread about an ancient Garou item of power being lost in one of the swamps west of the city. This had triggered the influx of several types of lycanthropes into the area. The lack of control by the prince has only escalated the tensions between the various factions now within the city.

Lastly, some unknown power has been sending ripples through the Ether, subtle, but perceptible to those sensitive to such. The sites involved include central Europe, the