Bad News (Janice)

(3 days until incident/ midday)

I wake up in my bed completely naked. I lay on top my satin sheets drenched in a cold sweat. Another nightmare? I couldn’t remember. The usual as expected. What wasn’t usual was how tired I was.

I rolled out of my bed revealing a large wet matted imprint where my body had been. I sighed.

“That’s the fifth time this week,” I groaned.

It usually isn’t this bad. Maybe a cold sweat here or there. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night freezing in a completely warm room. Recently, however, it’s been different. Recently, I’ve been waking around extremely exhausted and unnaturally late into the day. Unnatural for me anyway.

I rush into my bathroom and look into the mirror.

“Dear god,” I whispered, “You look a mess.”

It was true. My eyes were blood shot. Bags had formed under my eyelids revealing the exhaust I tried to hide so well as High Chancellor. My skin was pale…. Paler than usual. My long black hair, that reached all the way down my back, was also a tangled mess.

I looked terrible. Despite my good Vietnamese genes and vampire/succubus blood, I was showing my age. Which, I don’t mind at all. But when it comes to my job, it’s best I try to keep up appearance.

I turn on the facet to my sink. My bathroom counter was a mess. All the makeup that I had lay sprawled out in disarray. Completely unorganized. Very unprofessionally. Then again, it was my place.

I begin to wash my face with water. Lightly, I rub the drowsiness from my eyes. Wiping away the grime, sweat, and drool covering my face, I look back into the mirror.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” I thought.

Something was, very much, off. I could feel a light tug forming on my stomach. My skin began to crawl. It was as if a million small needles were puncturing my skin.

I need to sit. I rested myself on my toilet. My head was throbbing immensely. Something was very very off.

Head in hand, I make my way out of the bathroom. I work through the discomfort and make my way to my closet. I grab one of my robes and make way to my desk.

“Dezbra*(*open software),” I commanded.

Instantly, a holo project of a blue screen formed right in front of me. A small woman could be seen in it also. She was at least 4”11. She had really long black hair with lightly tanned skin. Her eyes were a blinding bright hazel. One of the many marks of a werewolf.

“Hello Panfil,” I said.

“Hello High Chancellor,” she replied, “We have a problem.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s the issue?”

“Generator 42 is down.”

My face face grew dark as the last words escaped her mouth. My lip quivered slightly.

“Is anyone hurt?” I asked. Concern riddled my voice as continued to glare at Pan.

“146 were brutally killed in the middle of the night. It looks bad. The building that housed the generator was blown to bit. No civilians outside the building were har-“

I cut her off. I took in a deep breath. Anger entered my blood stream; boiling me from the inside. The drowsiness that I had flooding out.

“Why wasn’t I told about this?” I hissed.

“The board-“

I didn’t need to hear anything else. Disgust rattled my body as I continued to glare at Pan. I wasn’t mad at her. She was just doing her job. However, the board on the other hand… that’s a different story.

“What else is there?” I questioned.

Suddenly, Pan’s body disappeared off the screen. The screen suddenly stretched to fit the entirety of my room. I was in an alley and it was raining; hard. The Generator 42’s building sat in front of me. It was now a smoldering ruin of fire and smoke.

Something was running towards me. It was panting hard; clearly out of breath. As it got closer, I could make out what it was.

“No,” I stammered, “that can’t be right.”

I paused the scenario and walked towards the creature. The closer I got, the more sure that my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.

“Oh. My. God,” I whispered, “What in the Hell is that?”

It was a completely, utterly normal, naked human man. He looked like he was ripped out a goddamn history book. I stepped closer to examine him.

He was a decently sized man. He was bulky, yet tone. His muscles remained flexed as sat frozen in perfect running form.

He was a mixed man. A mix of what I couldn’t really tell at the moment. His hair was dark black and completely messy. He had sharp features and he wasn’t bad looking. I would have even called him handsome…. If he didn’t look so damn angry.

Something was wrong. Something was very very off about this man. I could feel a sense of unease resonate from just from his hologram alone.

“Schedule a meeting,” I said.

I had planned to go see The Count, but it seems he’s going to have to wait. Right now, I have more pressing matters to attend to. If the High Table find out about this… we may have a war on our hands.