Today was the day. The bird chirping sounded like songs to her ears, and her eyes glowed with bliss. Everything looked pleasing to her.
She hummed under her breath as she prepared for work. Coming out covered in bruises, she put on her work clothes, took her suitcase, and left the room.
She waited for twenty minutes before her boss arrived. "Good morning Sir!" She greeted cheerfully, making Lucas give her a second look, wondering what she was on this morning.
He nodded and entered the car. "Good morning." She smiled brightly at the driver, and they searched for greetings.
"What's my schedule for today?"Lucas interrupted her interaction with the driver, uncomfortable by her bright smile at the driver.
"We are visiting the construction site by 10 a.m., a general meeting by 1. p.m., and a dinner with ADE CEO..." She listed his schedule, scrolling down the list.
They arrived at the office, and there was still an hour before they needed to go to the construction site. As soon as Avery's butt touched the seat, her email dinged with a notification.
She saw the money credited to her account and counted the five zeros with a smile on her face.
Before the money could warm up in her account, it was transferred out, straight into the doctor's account. She dialed his number, and it rang for a while before he picked up.
"Good day Doctor, How is she?" Her hand gripped her phone, waiting for his answer.
"it's still the same- some sharp pains in the head. We can't operate on her because of her advanced age. As time goes on, she will show signs of memory loss. She's still on the new drugs which ease her pains, but it can't solve the issue long-term." The man spoke on the other end.
"Thank you, Doctor. I have sent payment for this month's treatment. Please help me keep an eye on the caretaker." She spoke respectfully, with a pleading tone.
The older man sighed at the difficulty and burden this child was carrying. He had a soft spot for her and treated her as if she were his daughter, so he paid extra attention to the old lady.
They hung up, and Avery's happy mood cooled. Her eyes turned firm as she dialed a number, inputting a set of codes on her phone. A massage was initiated.
Typing...
"I will accept the SSS-Level Assignment, with rewards of my choosing."
"Input your secret agent code and reward choice."
"Agent 002. Changing a human to Vampire."
"Request initiated...."
"Accepted, duration 1 year."
"Life and death contract. Sign below."
Avery looked at the three messages in succession, her knuckles turning white as she saw the contract before she signed her name and wrote Grace Anderson as her next of kin in case she didn't survive the mission.
The message deleted like it never existed but a red timer on her phone screen told her deadline.
She patted her cheeks, and a smile bloomed on her lips. She has to complete this mission -failure is not an option.
She smiled, knowing Emily would soon call her or even travel over to see her, to try and talk her out of it, if her boyfriend alerts her of the mission she chose. But no one she changing her mind.
She stood up, and took her suit jacket and phone- it was time to visit the construction site. She walked, feeling her heart light, as if she solved a huge problem weighing her down.
Lucas walked out of his office and glanced at Avery from the side. Something felt different about her, he couldn't quite place it. For some reason, he didn't like a Zen-like peacefulness radiating from her, as if she had detached from wordily matters and burdens.
The elevator opened, and he placed his thoughts at the back of his mind as they entered the car. Avery sat in the back on her own initiative, surprising Lucas.
She closed her eyes, her mind blank of thoughts, enjoying the breeze on her skin.
Reaching their destination, the car parked and they both got down. A man with an engineer's cap jogged quickly to them.
Avery stood aside as they talked, the man giving a tour around the amusement park construction site, using professional terms Avery didn't fully understand but recorded on her iPad.
After three hours of checking the materials and construction progress, Lucas and Avery returned to the company.
They went through the schedules for today. In the evening, as the sun went down, Avery received a call from Tyler, Emily's boyfriend. She thought it was Emily using his phone to call.
"Please, you have to save Emily! She hasn't come back from her last mission. She said nothing would happen- it was a simple mission, I checked it- but she hasn't returned, and there's no message from her. I can't find her location." Tyler's crying and rushed voice filled Avery's ears, but from what she could gather, Emily had not come back from her last mission the night before.
Avery sat up quickly. "Where was her last location?" She took out a pen, ready to write down the address, but the line went silent.
"Hello?" Her heart clenched with anxiety, fearful something had happened to him.
"Emmy! Why are you bleeding? You were just supposed to retrieve information, not attack;" She heard Tyler's anxious cries.
Her heart settled when she heard Emily was back, but hearing she was seriously Injured her heart skip again. She wished she could be there right now, but she couldn't fly over instantly.
So she could only wait to understand what had gone wrong on this mission. The call was hung up, and Avery could only stare blankly at her black computer screen.
On the way back to the mansion, Lucas noticed she wasn't in the right mood- she seemed absent-minded. He opened his mouth but closed it again. What did he want to say? what's their relationship? Would she even tell him if he asked?
So he looked out the window, trying hard to erase her low expression from his mind, but it was difficult, and it affected his mood as well.