This is my very first submission. I welcome any and all comments. I do not pretend to be any sort of great writer. This is pure setup for the following episodes (I hope) that will deal with the subjects of incest, the supernatural, and basic human nature. If any of these subjects offend or make you uncomfortable, please STOP NOW! For all others enjoy.
I walked into the new federal building in Tampa. And I already hated it. These sealed buildings might keep out the heat and rain plus the occasional tropical storm or hurricane. However, they kept the recirculated air from refreshing. They hadn't designed a decent filter to remove the scent of Vampires or Weres.
I'd have to fall back on old habits to deal with the situation. Just like the assignment. A year out of the Federal Officer Academy and first in my class I should have been given me first choice of assignments, but someone had pulled strings and I'd been placed right where I didn't want to be.
Dampiers are extremely rare, and I was considered a powerful one. Even though I wasn't born of a vampire, and that confused the hell out of the experts. As far as they were concerned, I was an aberration and shouldn't even exist. Shows you what they know. Half of those eggheads still think that garlic and holy water are useful against vampires. Can you imagine an Italian vampire eating pasta or lasagna without garlic in the red sauce? And I've seen them wash out there mouth with holy water. Now, sunlight and silver are different stories. Depending on a vampire's age, they might be able to withstand either. A new vampire, a hundred years or less, is a crispy critter where sunlight is concerned and the same with silver. It's comparable to humans and drugs. The longer you're on them, the less effective they become. The older the vampire, the more resistance they have built up. I've seen 500 year old vampires sunning themselves in the French Riviera nude!
Now, Weres are a different story. Vampires aren't dead. Their bodies have slowed down to the point that their circulation is extremely slow. Whereas a were has a fast circulation and any poison moves throughout their body very quickly. But just like vampires and humans, they can build up a resistance to silver and even the call of the moon. But they must be very powerful weres to resist either of those.
I closed my eyes and started to concentrate, calming my internal conflict and adjusting my sensitivity to all of the scents in the building so I could function without them distracting me. Once I felt more in control, I approached the security station.
The cute raven haired receptionist named Stacy Martin looked up "Morning sir how can I help you?" she asked. "Agent Hunter Samson to see Director Nightingale." I replied. She put her hand out. "Your agency ID, please?" I unclipped my ID from my breast pocket and passed it to her. Stacy slid my ID through the reader "Retinal scan, please?" she asked, not looking at me. The scanner flipped open and rose up to my recorded eye level and began its scan. there was a ping followed by a negative response from the security station. Within half a second, there were half a dozen weapons pointing at me. I raised my hands slowly.