Secret Supernaturals: The Witch

Introductions

- WILLIAM -

“So, this is Christopher’s boy?” A tall, muscular man approached us and slung an arm over my shoulder just as Uncle Arthur was about to open the doors. He looked around the same age as my father or uncle. I tried to move away, but his grip on me was firm. ”You’ve surely grown a lot. The last time I saw you you didn’t even reach my elbow yet and now you’re taller than me.”

I was about to respond but uncle beat me to it, laughing loudly as I tried and failed to get away. “That’s enough. Let’s go inside.” The tall man removed his arm from my shoulders, and Arthur swung the entrance open to reveal two people huddled together on the other side.

Arthur cleared his throat, which made them all look up simultaneously, turning their attention to us. “Everyone, this is William Chase, my nephew and our boss’ son. He’ll take over this… business... someday.” They all nodded in greeting.

“Hello everyone. Just calling me Liam is fine.”

The one we met outside stepped up first. “Jared. I manage most of the operations. I make sure things go exactly the way it was planned and make sure things get fixed when s**t goes wrong.” He extended a hand to me and I shook it firmly. “I’ll make note of that for when I inevitably f**k up in the future.” He smiled at my statement and gave me a clap on the back. “You’re alright, kid.”

Another man stood up from his seat and came forward. He was built like a tank, broad-shouldered and intimidating, like he could snap someone in half. “Luke, I handle all the staff.” he said with an extended hand. I shook his hand firmly, just like I did with Jared. He went back to his spot and immediately talked to Jared.

The other guy peeled his away from the screen he was staring at. He looked younger than the rest of them, almost like he was around my age. “David, I work on the intel and research stuff.” He stood up and approached me, holding a hand out awkwardly.

I shook his hand solidly before speaking up. “Intel? Sounds interesting. What do you do exactly?”

“I just look for info about the people involved. Clients, targets, whoever.” He had my full attention now. “Can you find people’s locations?” He looked like he was considering it but I never heard his response.

“Liam,” Uncle Arthur put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me away from David. “Let’s leave these three to do their work. I have other places to show you.” I nodded and moved away from David, making a mental note to contact him later. David went back to the screen he was working on previously, and joined the hushed conversation of his colleagues while we closed the door behind us to continue our tour.

Arthur pointed to the room we came from. “That was the meeting room. I wasn’t expecting it to be in use when we came but at least you got to meet the guys.”

We start moving. “There’s three main... departments, I suppose we can call it that, that forms our organization. Each is managed by the three guys you just met in there. I do hope you get along well with them, you’ll be working with them very closely in the future.”

He then gestured to the three doors next to it. “Their office is behind each of these three doors, we’re not going in there.”

“On this side,” We cross to the other side of the wide hall. “This door leads to the training grounds.” He tapped on the square beside the door again, and I followed him through the entrance.

”Does that card open all the doors?”

“It does.”

He slid the card back into his pocket and led me to a wide room. We were in some kind of balcony overlooking the room, which gave a good view of the entire room. The walls were gray with high ceilings, weapons lining up the walls. Guns, knives, axes, bats, you name it, we had it.

There were various targets on the other side and a closed-off space separated by glass from the rest of the room. In the middle open space were pairs of men fighting. It reminded me of the locker room brawl Eric got into last week when someone blamed him for our team’s loss.

“This is where all of the field staff train.” He informed me. I nodded in acknowledgement and motioned over to the corner where the glass divider was. “What’s over there?”

“That’s the simulation room.” I waited for an explanation again but he didn’t say anything else. Instead, he turned to look at me. “Do you want to try it?” I thought on it for a few seconds before shaking my head no. “Alright then, let’s move on.” We quietly made our way back to the main hallway and were met with shouting the moment the doors opened.

“I swear I had nothing to do with it!” Two men were dragging someone through the hall. The one being dragged was yelling at the top of his lungs, begging to be let go. He looked terrible, eyes wide with panic.

He caught sight of Arthur as we exited the door, trying to run towards us. “Boss! I swear I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t know what the f**k happened.” My uncle was no longer himself though. His face was emotionless, and he watched as they continued to drag him away while the prisoner struggled in their grasp. He didn’t care at all. I, on the other hand, was just confused and didn’t know what the hell was happening.

“They just disappeared! I swear I had nothing to do with it!” He screamed as they headed for one of the doors. One of the men opened the door and the three of them disappeared into the dark, gone as quickly as they came. Silence took over gain as soon as the door closed and I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to him.

“Well, that was interesting.” Arthur shot me a smile, clasping his hands together. “I think it would be for the best if we wrapped it up. Let’s head to our final stop: your future office.” I was still bewildered, but followed him anyway.

“Does that normally happen?” I asked after a long period of silence. He didn’t answer, just kept walking. We eventually reached a set of double doors, and he tapped the card into the receiver screen but there was no beep or a green flash. Instead, a panel slid up and Arthur stepped closer to it. I didn’t know what he did, but it finally beeped and we went inside.

The room was similar to Uncle Arthur’s own office except it was bigger. There were no windows, only a bookshelf against one wall and multiple screens mounted on another. They displayed the same thing as the ones in Arthur’s office, and I found myself looking back again to that one spot, thinking of her.

He handed me a glass and led me to the desk in the middle of the room. “What happened earlier isn’t a common occurrence. But when it does happen, you can’t let it phase you.” He gestured around the room before settling down on one of the couches. “This will all be yours in the future and all of the people who work for us will look to you for direction.” He paused, letting me absorb his words.

He drained the contents of his glass in one gulp.“Do you think you can handle that?” He asked as he refilled it again.

I sat down on the chair opposite his, and nodded in affirmation. “Of course I can.”

“Oh, my boy, you have so much to learn.” He smiled and raised his glass. I lifted my own and we drank in silence, each of us thinking over our own problems.

Arthur shifted in his seat after some time. “Have you chosen which colleges to apply for?”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Nah, I’m not rushing yet.” He gave a big sigh, muttering under his breath about how me and my siblings were all the same. “Well, wherever you plan to go, I hope you consider how it will affect your future.”

“There is a lot more you should be learning here. I know you plan on moving as far away as possible, but consider staying close to home so you can learn all about what we do here.”

The reality sank in slowly to me. I had people who will depend on me in the future, and I could no longer do anything and everything I wanted.

This was my life now, and I could already guarantee that it would suck.