The assignment was more like recon than a really dangerous mission. Some ambassadors who worked outside the office and gathered field intelligence had reported that multiple people were experiencing the same mysterious event. Young men and women claimed to have gone to clubs, left at midnight with a stranger and then woke up back in their homes with a peculiar mark on the palm of their hands. The job was to question the people involved in the event and check out the strange mark they were describing in order to decide if the cases fell under the Society's jurisdiction or had to be handled by the human justice system. Because it was a low level mission that once she got used to it she could do on her own, she was allowed to go as long as a higher level employee accompanied her.
"Sorry for having scared you before. It's a very simple mission, but I needed to know if I could tell you about the Angel's aura or not," Sandy said with a reassuring smile.
Rose felt conflicted. She was relieved that her confusing feelings had a simple external explanation but felt deeply uneasy that Locious hadn't told her. Even though she understood and 100% agreed with the necessity of the test the lack of immediate trust—that sting of being an outsider—still hurt profoundly. Sandy appeared easygoing and carefree but after this encounter Rose knew she wouldn't hesitate to make her pay if Rose ever hurt Locious or the Association. This possibility was scary yet the knowledge that Locious had people who would protect him at all costs was surprisingly reassuring even if their mistrust was directed at her.
"It's okay, I understand why you did it. After all, I'm an outsider," Rose replied, the bitterness in her voice sharper than she intended.
"Oh, don't worry about that; you are absolutely not an outsider, and we all went through this test. I remember that when I found out, I wanted to punch Locious in the face for making me go through it the first time I met him. I mean, Locious is handsome, but there's no way in hell I would see him as a man, y'know? I didn't go crazy like other people or lose my mind, but I still felt dirty for days until, I guess, the Angel Aura effect wore off." Sandy shuddered, the memory clearly bringing a look of disgust to her face. Rose knew Sandy wasn't talking about her, but her cheeks still went red. I am indeed one of those crazy ones.
"Speaking of the devil," Sandy muttered as her phone suddenly rang, displaying Locious's name. He sent Sandy a text message reminding her that her thirty minutes were up and adding that it would be better for her if she hadn't played with Rose's eyes. Sandy laughed out loud, rolled her eyes heavenward and quickly pocketed her phone. Rose had no idea what the message was about and since Sandy didn't offer any explanations, just signaled her to follow, she didn't dare to ask. Sandy left the armory, followed by a really confused Rose, and met Locious at the front door.
Again the sight of him left Rose breathless, but now a new voice inside her head reminded her that there was a reason for her reaction. It's just a mythical and psychological reaction, focus, she told herself. The bittersweet feeling was still there, now mutated. It wasn't just confusion; it was all a fantasy. Having fake feelings for him was bad, but knowing that the feelings themselves were an illusion was somehow worse. He greeted them and had a brief back-and-forth with Sandy about the delay but Rose couldn't pay attention to any of it. Her eyes were fixed on his broad shoulders. Her heart pounded as if offering itself as a gift, and her mind shouted at her to understand that nothing about her reaction was real. This is exhausting, more exhausting than field trips with Steven.
She didn't even remember getting onto the motorcycle much less the ride to the house of the first person they had to interview. Actually the next thing she knew was the sound of the engine stopping and Locious's voice breaking through the fog in her brain.
"We'll ask them what happened and you'll also have to practice the memory eraser trick, because people who meet Angels forget everything about us once we leave but they'll remember you so you'll have to use the enchantment you were taught during training," Locious explained while helping her get off the bike.
Rose's hands grew sweaty. She had only practiced the charm in theory; never on a real person. However, when they finished the interview and it was time for her to make the young woman forget, she found herself surprisingly at ease. She gently pressed her fingers into the girl's forehead and began to chant the words they had learned, while softly saying the girl's name.
After they left, they looked back through the window to see the effect. They watched as the girl's eyes glazed over, then went back to normal. She looked around and continued doing exactly what she had been doing before they arrived.
"Wow, I didn't think it would feel like that," Rose said genuinely surprised.
Not only did the girl seem to remember nothing about them, but Rose was also astonished by the surge of energy she felt while chanting. The spell took the energy memories from the subject, placed them into the caster's body where the memories were changed, erased, and replaced with new ones, and then the modified energy was returned to the owner. They usually practiced with Angels, but their pure energy was too strong to be manipulated so the spell was almost ineffective. When done with humans however, it was a completely different experience.
"Glad you liked it! You'll have to do it at least twenty more times today," Locious said with a laugh, already mounting the bike to head to the next house.
A few hours later, they returned to the Association office. Rose wrote down everything she remembered, and then Sandy and Mike were called into the meeting.
"Rose will share the notes she made while I explain what we've learned so far," Locious announced, waiting for her to hand over her paper.
Mike made a face of obvious disgust as if he couldn't tolerate her handwriting but quickly returned to his usual stiff expression. However Sandy read it as if nothing was wrong with it. She is my greatest ally in here, Rose thought. Sandy might be a hurricane but when I'm near her I feel like I'm in the eye of it: safe, free, and protected from the outside chaos.
"We still have a few people we should interview, but what we've learned so far is that the only two things they have in common are the marks on their left hands and that they blacked out after meeting a random person. They went to different clubs and met different people; the descriptions of the people they left with were different in each case. They all lived in different neighborhoods, and there was nothing missing in their homes," he explained, picking up a sheet of paper while Mike and Sandy wrote the information in their own notebooks.
"Can it be something human? Like a drug to..." Mike began, clenching his jaw, as if he couldn't say the word. His obvious condemnation for the physical crime was a given; what truly paralyzed him was the realization that it also represented the ultimate spiritual violation—a violation of the greatest rule they lived by: freedom of choice.
It was an awful common crime that often happened in clubs and people were taught to be extremely careful with their drinks and aware of any strangers. The problem was that the blackout victims mentioned they didn't find any signs of having had sex or assault. They were in the exact same clothes, in the same place and not a speck of dust was disturbed. This didn't rule out the possibility of a despicable human act but it seemed highly unlikely.
"I thought the same at first, but when I saw the mark they had, it looks more like a demonic pact or some kind of ritual. However it's something I have never seen," Locious said, showing them the drawing he had been fiercely working on. It was the symbol they had seen in the hands of the people who went through the disturbing experience.
Suddenly, a loud gasp made them all turn and focus on Sandy, who was staring at the drawing with a look of horror.
"Oh, God! This is bad…" she exclaimed, and left the room in a dash, leaving all of them shocked, worried, and speechless.