Travie James was the death of me, well, right before he died. With him being a vampire didn't change who he was. He sat next to me, wearing a jet-black leather jacket, jeans that were too tight on him, his hair was dark brown, slick back, and a personality that screamed danger all over him. He was one of the bad boys, kind of like in those 1950 movies, but I didn't care. So, when he said that he needed my help, I knew this favor would be trouble.
Of course, I knew Travie was a vampire, ever since he was little, he always had a wonky face, looking like he had a half-wired broken jaw. But that was his face though. Then once we got older, he was bitten by a vamp, I tried to save him, but the change was already happening in front of my eyes. Ever since he was bitten, Travie has been mean, no good, and a snitch. I hated that. He was a cornball. Okay, make that an undead cornball. But that's only him.
We sat on a bench by the bus stop in Brooklyn. What could possibly go wrong at a bus stop bench? Hopefully nothing.
"Wanna sip?" He asked, as he tried to hand over his can of beer to me.
"No, Travie, I don't drink."
"Fair enough."
I looked at him for a second then looked down at the curb. Minding my own business. Thinking how could I get out of this favor. Probably nothing.
"What? Are you scared of me or something?"
"No, I'm just thinking. You know how I do."
"It seems like you're scared of me, Maya. I know you are, but you won't admit it," he said. "Is it because I'm a vampire?"
"Look, Travie, I never said I was scared." I lied. "You've been acting so damn different than we first met."
"Different how?" he asked.
I didn't know what to say. I knew that he was right, but I don't want him to bite me like the other vampire did to him.
"You're not going to make this easy, can you?"
"Well, what do you want me to say?"
"Anything, Maya."
"Okay, well, I'm not scared, more like concerned."
He laughed at me. "Why the hell are you concerned?"
I shrugged.
"Because I'm a vampire now, isn't it?"
"Ugh, yes, Travie, it is." I was trying my best not to tell him the truth, but the truth came out anyway.
"See, that's all I'm asking for, the truth."
At this point I'm waiting for him to say what he really wants, I mean I know he's a vampire and all, but Travie tends to get distracted easily, and that shit is annoying. "What do you want, Travie?"
"Hey, I'm just here to entertain you. Obviously, it's not working as I thought," he chuckled.
"Really?"
He shook his head. "I need someone to go kill a werewolf, and I thought of you."
"First of all, there's no werewolves in New York City. Second, I'm not flattered."
Travie's face was the look of death, even though he's dead. "You realize that there's a werewolf bar on Forty Second Street, right?"
"Wait, are you talking about Blood Brothers? That's a werewolf bar?" I had so many questions for Travie, but I'll save them in my head.
"Yeah," he said, "so since you work for the Supernatural Bureau of Investigation, I just thought that you could find one and hunt 'em down. "
All in my mind was saying don't do it. Hire someone other than me. "Why would a vampire that I know want me to kill a werewolf that I didn't know they exist?"
He shrugged. "I thought you knew that by now."
"I'm only twenty-three, why should I know that?"
"You make no sense . . . look, are you going to do it or not?"
I sighed while thinking about it. "Fine," I said. "This is the only favor I'm doing for you, though.
"Fair enough. Thank you."
I was hesitant to say something I would regret, but I'm a nice person to an extent. So, I nodded instead. Travie could tell that I wasn't happy about killing a werewolf. But I didn't know what werewolf I'm trying to kill. I swear vampires don't tell me shit when it comes to me killing supernatural creatures. "Who's the werewolf I'm killing?"
"His name is Evan Mosser. His pack and my squad had a fight and he killed one of my guys. I just want revenge, but I can't do it 'cause I'm still skating on thin ice with the law."
"When you want me to kill Evan?" I asked.
"As soon as possible."
I nodded. "Let me see what I can do." I wanted to lie because I didn't want to kill a werewolf that might tear me into shreds. Oh well.
"Thanks again, Maya."
"Don't mention it, I mean it too."
He gave a nod and dematerialized in thin air. He left at that point.
As soon as he left, my boss, Harry Winslow, called my phone. "Maya, where are you?"
I sighed. "I'm at the bus stop; minding my own business."
"I need you at the office, right away."
"Am I in trouble or something?"
He laughed so loud through the phone, not only my ears heard it, but others can too. It was idiotic of him. "No, Ms. Jaxon. I just need to talk to you about something. I promise, it won't be long. I know it's your day off."
"Okay, fine. I'll be there."
"Thank you, Ms. Jaxon."
I hung up the phone.
*****
Supernatural Bureau of Investigation is the place I work as an assassin and a Private Investigator. Honestly, I'm lucky to have two jobs because I needed to make the money. I mean don't get me wrong, I kill the supernatural for a living, and also help them out, as long as they don't have a criminal background. That's the rule. If they did some kind of crime and hurt others, then I get to kill them. That's my life.
As soon as I got into the building, I saw my friend, Sophia Reynolds, in the lobby drinking her favorite coffee beverage, hot caramel macchiato. She was three years older than me but it didn't matter, she only cares about me, her husband, and her job, that's it. She was kind of like a white willowy version of me, but that's okay. She was looking at me funny like I did something so dreadful that she'll never forgive me again. That's what it looked like to me. But honestly, I didn't want to ask Sophia though, because she gets a little defensive when I call her out on things. Lord knows whatever she's thinking about in her brain.
"Is there something wrong, Sophia?" I politely asked.
"No, why?"
"Because your look is concerning. I'm not talking about clothing either."
"What? My face?"
I nodded.
"It's. . . nothing."
"Are you sure? You know you can always tell me about anything."
"I know."
I didn't want the details, so I decided to stop right there before it got out of hand.
So, I moved on and went to find Mr. Winslow. As I was walking down the hallway, I could hear Harry talking to somebody in his office. Constantly laughing and whistling. I knew that Harry was talking to another man meant something, and I'm not going to like it at all.
I knocked on the door and went inside his office, and of course they stopped laughing.
"Oh, Ms. Jaxon, sorry for our laughter, we were talking about. . . well something funny."
I nodded once.
Then a man with a darker skin complexion than mine glared at me. Even though men are scared of me, his cafe au lait glowy eyes stared into me that were set in a face framed by ropes of black licorice-like hair. Also, this man knew how to dress with his royal blue Giorgio Armani suit; I never saw someone so sophisticated and attractive at the same time. It was quite impressive. Not going to lie.
"Maya, this is Killian Rhodes," Harry said.
Killian held out his hand thinking that I was going to shake his hand, but I hesitated a little bit, but then Harry's gaze was a sign of, "If you won't shake his hand then you're fired" kind of look. So, I shook his hand. His grip was intensely strong. I thought he was trying to break my hand. "Nice to meet you, Maya." His voice was very deep and seductive, I don't know if it was me, but Killian sounded like a porn star in the seventies. Just saying.
"Likewise," I said.
"He will be your new partner now," Harry said out of the blue.
"Wait, what?" I didn't know what to say. I was in shock. "What happened to Val?"
Val was my partner and one of my best girlfriends I met in the SBI.
"She's dead."
"Wait, what?" I screamed. My heart was crushed afterwards. My voice settled down for a bit. "What happened to her?"
"A werewolf killed her last night. We just found her body lying behind a dumpster by her house."
Oh my God. I closed my eyes, shaking my head, trying not to cry. Val was the one of the coworkers who actually cared about my well-being. It was such a sad tragedy.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Maya," Killian said to me.
"I want to be left alone for a minute." My voice softened as I left Harry's office.
Sophia came running after me when I was trying to leave the SBI. She grasped my arm, trying to get my attention. "Wait, Maya," she said.
"What?"
"I know you just found out about Val, but can I be honest with you?"
I nodded.
"I never liked her. I always thought that she was weird and somewhat annoying. I know that she's your best friend, but I'm glad she's dead."
"Why would you say that, Sophia?"
She shrugged. "Because it's my opinion."
I scoffed and left the SBI.
I never thought in my entire life that I would lose someone I care about. Val was my best friend, sister, mentor, and a leader. I'll probably never be the same again. Now that Killian is my new partner, I didn't know if I could get along with him. Plus, he's a man. I usually work better with women. Not trying to hate on the men right now, but it's true. He seemed cocky to me, and I don't like cocky men. And I knew I was going to miss Val dearly.