Hey, ya'll! Dakota here! I hope the new year finds you kicking ass! As much as I enjoyed the holidays, it's hard to keep any coherent writing schedule, hence the lateness of this chapter. Fear not, though, I'm back to keeping normal office hours so future chapters should be arriving regularly, barring any unforeseen foibles in The Real World.
If you're a new reader, welcome! This chapter is essentially the middle of a novel and so, if you like picking up a random book, cracking the spine at page 200, you'll love this. If not, I recommend you start at chapter one. Don't worry, we'll wait for you.
Returning reader? Hi ya! Glad to have you back. Thank you for the kind comments and messages. I love hearing from you, even if I can't respond back. Please like, comment, and fav as it helps others find my quirky story about vampires, witchcraft, and ancient gods.
Anywho, on to the story . . .
Their mission was simple: steal as much silver nitrate as possible.
The reagent was ubiquitous in college chemistry labs because it was generally safe to use and a precursor to many other compounds. James, however, was going to use it to fashion a weapon.
It was clear that silver bullets hurt, but didn't kill, divine beings. James was taking that principle one step further and was going to make a bomb that aerosolized the compound, putting silver into the air. If James was right, it would act like a cloud of fire to Anubis and his new assistant, the snake goddess Qebhet.
The University of Washington campus was situated on the north side of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which cut Seattle in two. It was nearly midnight by the time they reached it, mooring the modest yacht at the campus docks near the marine sciences building.
Ash agreed to stay and guard the boat with a plausible story ready should an errant security guard come snooping by.
For James, it felt like a lifetime since he'd been on campus and he had to remind himself it'd only been a few days. He'd figured that part of his life, the part where he studied environmental science, was over.
Angelica informed them she'd been doing a work-study part-time as a lab assistant, which basically meant she was an underpaid janitor for the chemistry and biology departments. It had the benefit of giving her access to the supply rooms of both.
They made quite the trio, James realized, as they walked across campus. He now wore the sweater and canvas jacket Angelica had purchased for him. Lenore seemed underdressed for the fall chill in just jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt. Angelica herself was nearly invisible in her black on black on black goth getup, her pretty pale face practically floating in the dimly lit campus lights.
The chemistry building was a four-story key-shaped structure near the center of the sprawling campus and they approached it directly.
They tried a side door first but it was locked, of course. Angelica was ready with her badge. She pressed it up against the reader and . . . it flashed red.
"Shit," she whispered. "It should work."
"You never have had to use it when the building was closed, have you?" James asked.
"Well, no it's just that it works on every other door in there.
"Step aside," Lenore said. "You didn't bring me along for my sense of humor."
She disappeared.
Sort of.
Lenore seemed to fade in front of them, her skin becoming translucent, until she was gone. Her clothes fell to the ground revealing a gray cloud that hung in the air.
She'd referred to her ability to turn to mist before but, to James, it was more like a cloud of smoke from a vape pen.
"Spooky," James said.
"Badass," Angelica agreed.
The smoke cloud disappeared under the door, sucking itself through the narrow gap.
A moment later, the door opened and they were greeted by a very naked vampire.
"Enter, if you dare."
"Nice tits," James said as Angelica gathered up Lenore's clothes.
Lenore made no move to get dressed, deciding to saunter down the hallway.
"What about the cameras?" James asked. "We're not exactly going to be hard to identify after the whole museum thing, especially if one of us is naked."
Lenore just pointed down the hall, a narrow grin on her lips. "Which way is the supply room?"
Angelica pointed up. "Second floor. Those are the gen chem labs. Two pairs of big classroom labs that share a supply room."
Lenore nodded and turned, ran two steps, and disappeared again. This time, the burst of smoke coalesced into several dozen black shapes.
Bats.
They went screaming down the hall in a dense wave, bouncing from side to side in formation like a squadron of fighter planes. The bats swarmed the several security cameras in successive order as they chittered down the hall.
James and Angelica slowly followed and he could see she hadn't destroyed the cameras so much as gouged their lenses and covered them with saliva. Honestly, unless the school had security guards constantly monitoring them, no one would notice the cameras were damaged for a good while. And when they were noticed, anything recorded would be a blurry mess.
They followed the bats into the building, up the stairs, then into a big hallway.
Lenore reformed into herself at the door to the chem labs, her nudity making her more intimidating than less.
"I'm so fucking turned on right now," Angelica whispered to James, echoing his own thoughts.
"She can hear you, you know." James tapped his ear. "Super senses."
Angelica's cheeks flushed.
Lenore's satisfied grin confirmed that when they reached her. Angelica held out her badge to the reader.
"Wait," she said before scanning it. "Won't this record that I was here? Shit, I didn't even think of that."
"Let me see," Lenore said, holding out her hand for the badge. "Nah, it's an older system. Likely the card is set to one of a few levels of security. The doors are set to open for whichever level it's set to but the card itself probably isn't coded to you."
"How do you know all that?" James asked.
"I'm well-studied in going places I'm not allowed."
Angelica, emboldened, scanned the card at the reader and opened the door.
