Later that night at the northern part of campus, the same small raven-haired girl with sunglasses who is wearing a black jacket, black button-down shirt with blue jeans and boots was headed to Dr. Harker’s office. Sprinting up the steps she was about to enter the building until a voice stopped her.

“Looking for some vitamin E?”

The startled the woman as she turned around to see three Crucis Sentinels— Gamma Crucis, Delta Crucis, and Epsilon Crucis —staring back at her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the woman said.

“You understand me,” Epsilon Crucis teased. “You came here early this morning. On what kind of business, Miss--”

“My business,” the woman cuts off. Finding humor in this, Epsilon Crucis walked up the steps to meet with the raven-haired woman.

“Yeah, that’s really cute,” Epsilon Crucis heckled. “You see, my little friend has a nose for smelling others a mile away. I have that kind of power, too. And right now, I smell a pig…”

“I’m not a cop,” the woman taking offense.

“No, you’re a fed,” Gamma Crucis clarified. “Special Agent Carmela Winters, intelligence division? Your people are working with the mayor jointly. She gave us the information and told us to come to find you.”

She tried to play it off as the best she could, but she would waste her time and energy. She dropped the tough girl façade and acted more like herself: being professional and prompt.

“So, what gave it away?” Carmela admitted.

“Your jacket and your shoes. Yeah, sweetie. They all scream Sears department store, 75% off,” Delta Crucis criticized.

Carmela took offense to the little girl’s smart remarks. She worked very hard to blend in with the students at the campus. She really thought she was convincing enough. At least to the faculty, who saw her as another student…

Rightfully so, Carmela was flustered, “Bullshit, I got the shoes from Nine West— wait, why am I defending myself on what I wear? You all like you came straight out of an anime show. All we need now is a dungeon and a large bug monster, and it will be a mediocre hentai webcomic.”

All three of the Crucis Sentinels found humor in this as they laughed it off.

“Yeah, point taken…” Gamma Crucis openly admitted.

“You won’t see me writing that uninspired bullshit,” Epsilon Crucis added.

“How did you know I would be here?” Carmela being curious.

“You left your Sim card behind,” Delta Crucis specified by showing her the chip.

“That bitch. I knew I dropped it somewhere! She’s working with you, isn’t she?!” Carmela outbursts.

“Be careful who you call a bitch, Winters!” Epsilon Crucis admonished.

Carmela was a bit stunned by having her cover blown, but she should have known better to maintain her composure, “O-okay, I’m sorry. But who are you again?”

“We are the Crucis Sentinels, sent by the Aethereal Queen to end this murderous nightmare,” Gamma Crucis elegantly stated.

Maintaining her composure flew right out the window when Carmela heard that by busting out laughing, “Are you fucking serious? Don’t tell me that those stories I hear in Quantico are true?”

Gamma Crucis shot her a nasty glare and crossed her arms as she pouted, “That is correct.”

There were a lot of rumors and federal reports about “magical females” or “Valkyries” aiding soldiers and policemen. There is even a particular department in the bureau that has these specific files archived. Many people don’t know about this, yet there are a few who do and would rather not do too much. Carmela has always heard the stories about these females and always thought they were daydreams of her male colleagues.

Now, Carmela has proof standing right in front of her. “But you guys look like teenagers! You must be old and have some power to look younger! Or something…”

“We are preceded by many others. When our time is over someone else will take our place,” Delta Crucis explained.

They chew you up and spit you out. Sounds like the FBI, Carmela thought.

“How long have you been doing this investigation, Special Agent Winters?” Delta Crucis asked.

There is no point in hiding any secrets now. Special Agent Carmela Winters quickly explained to them what she had discovered so far, “Three months. They sent me to investigate Delta Theta Omega fraternity. I got nothing until I found another supplier. Something being homegrown here in school.”

“Somebody’s cooking their own stuff,” Epsilon Crucis finished.

Carmela nodded in agreement, “Seems like someone took the Delta Theta Omega’s drug business right from under them. According to our gathered information, someone was deliberately attacking the members of Delta Theta Omega last year. It became a federal matter when we had seven identical murders in the city.”

This entire situation has gotten a lot more understandable but remained just as dangerous as it was before. Now, most of the puzzle pieces that didn’t really seem to fit are slowly coming together and taking form. There was no doubt that Dr. Harker was involved in the drug distribution of LSD and Ecstasy. But no clear ties with the lycanthrope and their newest discovery.

Gamma Crucis knew it was a wise idea to warn Carmela about the impending danger, “We took your Sim card, dumped your cell phone records and someone called you many times today coming from this building. You weren’t in your dorm room, so we came here waiting for you. Let me guess, the drug distributor you are investigating told you to get here tonight?”

“Yes,” Carmela relented.

“The Larsons?”

“Yes and no. I mean, Donovan knows nothing, but Britney and Dr. Harker are in on it. The wife makes the stuff, and her boss handles the transfer.” Carmela explained.

“Dr. Harker? The fat ass?” Epsilon Crucis said.

“Yeah,” Carmela being annoyed by the pear-shaped magical ‘girl.’ This was all a bit too much for her to digest. She was here to deal with drug dealers and even apprehending a few. But not dealing with monsters. She still had a job to do. “Look, I appreciate the magical backup, but I don’t need any help to take down a middle-aged drug distributor.”

“Appearances can be deceiving. However, we do believe that the lycanthrope will strike tonight, Special Agent Winters,” Gamma Crucis explained.

This kind of worried the undercover federal agent, “R-really? And you think the monster is in there waiting for me?”

The Crucis Sentinels didn’t want to say it upfront, but Gamma Crucis vaguely put it out there, “You are a loose thread, so it is possible.”

“Aren’t you gonna go inside?” Carmela wavered.

Knowing that Carmela is scared herself, Epsilon Crucis teased her, “I thought you didn’t need our help.”

“I don’t…” Carmela being stubborn.

Epsilon Crucis shrugged her shoulders, “Okay.”

Of course, Carmela didn’t want to go in all by herself. However, many federal agents they have dealt with in the past have this sudden pride and ego about them. They are trained to deal with the worst of the worst that society has to offer. But it does not equip them to deal with threats like these.

And Carmela is no different from all the others they must deal with, “But, are you going to go inside anyway to kill the lycanthrope?”

With the cheeky grin, Epsilon Crucis knew she wanted help and was too prideful to ask for it. She couldn’t help herself playing on her fears, “Aren’t you a federal agent? I thought you didn’t need our ‘magical’ help--”

“TO FIND THE DRUG DEALER, YES! NOT A FUCKING LYCANTHROPE OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT TO CALL IT!” Carmela finally snapped.

The Crucis Sentinels knew Carmela had enough embarrassment, so they went inside along with her.

“Ever done a breach before?” Delta Crucis asked Carmela.

“Our instructors drill that into us every single week.”

“Okay, the old-fashioned way then,” Delta Crucis suggested.

Single file and in a straight line, they went into the building. Deciding it was safer to take the steps instead of the elevator, they hiked up three flats the stairs to the fourth floor. Dr. Harker’s office was on the fourth floor and three doors to the right.

Gamma Crucis pulled out her assault rifle and led the pursuit as they flanked on the left side of the hallway, keeping close to the wall. They made their way to the broken door of the research facility.

Behind all three of them and watching their blind spot, Carmela was impressed by these teenagers’ skills, “you ladies are coached up well to be a couple of magical girls.”

Epsilon Crucis who was in front of Carmela turned her head and acknowledged her, “Get woke, were always enlisting.”

“Pass…” Carmela declined.

One by one they bum-rushed the office. No one was inside. Alpha Crucis gave them the information on Dr. Harker’s secret little laboratory in the back during their meeting. As they went in, someone destroyed the whole lab, just like the laboratory they breached in yesterday. The team spread out to search for Dr. Harker or anyone else who was alive. No one was here.

“Shit, he got here first!” Epsilon Crucis exclaimed.

Coming down from her adrenaline rush, Carmela thought more about what is indeed happening, “No!” She rushed to one of the desks in a laboratory. She went underneath the desk to find a moderately big safe that was left wide open.

“Ah, this shit!” Carmela slamming her fists on the table. “She took the money and everything else she can carry out of here!”

“She must’ve been in a hurry. Fat ass forgot her chicken sandwiches in the fridge,” Epsilon Crucis emerging from the kitchen area, eating the sandwiches.

Being disgusted by her behavior, Carmela confronted the so-called magical female, “Why in the hell are you eating that? And what’s with all the goddamn jokes?! This isn’t fucking funny!”

“There is a reason why she ran, Special Agent Winters,” Gamma Crucis tried to explain. “Look at this room. It appears someone knew what was going on and took matters into their own hands. Dr. Harker caught a whiff of what might happen to her and left before the lycanthrope did. That is an admission of guilt to me.”

She was alive for which she was grateful for. But in days to come, being mauled by a werewolf would be welcoming of the storm she is going to face by her superiors. She let her target get away, and now she could be anywhere.

Carmela wasted no time getting on her cell phone and calling for backup, “This is Special Agent Carmela Winters. Yes, Harker’s in the wind. Give me a tech team down here, now.” Carmela then quickly turned her attention to the Crucis Sentinels, “So, what are you guys going to do? You guys got a ‘lycanthrope’ to catch, do you? Let me handle this.”

“We will leave, when your team arrives,” Gamma Crucis insisted.

Despite them being a bit too weird for her taste, at least Carmela was appreciative for their assistance, “You’re too kind…”