Secrets and Lies

Mr. Powell led me across the hall to the small meeting room, where the two of us stopped just inside the doorway.

There we found a half dozen other people seated around the oblong table, plus two empty chairs among the six that were already occupied. Rather than joining the others immediately Owen began the introductions while the two of us were still standing there at the front of the room.

"This is Dr. Grace Bishop," he gestured towards the middle-aged woman seated at one end of the table. "She is a medical doctor, but Grace also has experience doing scientific research for both the military and the government. And perhaps the main reason she's here, Dr. Bishop spent several months studying the Anomaly in Oxfordshire. She's probably the nation's top expert on the subject."

The doctor looked to be a tall woman, and in fairly good shape. Her pale blonde hair was done up in a bun at the back, while her sharp blue eyes tracked up and down over me. She was dressed in a business casual style, and her demeanour struck me as professional. And once again it crossed my mind that I should have worn something more appropriate.

Dr. Bishop nodded once towards me in acknowledgement, but neither she or I had the opportunity to say anything as Owen had already moved on with the introductions.

He gestured towards the two younger girls and said, "You've already met my daughter Alys. And next to her is Emma Rhys. The two of them work together on general research, and that includes keeping an eye out for any strange or unusual social media or news reports that may indicate the presence of other anomalous entities."

Alys gave me a friendly wave from across the table at me, while Emma just smiled at me. Like on Friday the second teen was dressed in another gothy outfit. Today she wore what looked like a modern take on a Victorian mourning dress, all black with long sleeves and lace. Her make-up was black lipstick and dark eyeshadow, and she wore some shiny silver jewelry.

Once again I didn't have a chance to greet either of them, so I just smiled back while Owen continued talking.

"Emma's also got the gift of Sight," he commented as if it was a perfectly normal thing to say. "That means she can often help track down particularly elusive entities, among other things. Both Emma and Alys technically report to Dr. Bishop rather than myself, but in practice we're usually not that formal."

"You're already familiar with Martin Smith and Co- I mean Phoebe Campbell, sorry." Owen nodded towards the tall Londoner and the short Scottish redhead seated next to each other at the far end of the table. "They're both experienced field agents. Martin and I have worked together for a number of years here in Wales, while Phoebe is an old friend of mine. She used to be stationed up in Edinburgh."

Smith was dressed sort of business-casual again, in a shirt and sports jacket but no tie. Campbell however looked very different from when I last saw her back in Yorkshire. In fact I had to force myself not to stare. I had trouble keeping the shock off my expression though.

Instead of the forty-ish year old woman I'd briefly worked with just a fortnight ago, Phoebe looked barely older than Alys and Emma. If I didn't know better I'd guess her age to be twenty at most. And while I knew from personal experience that sort of age regression was possible thanks to the spell I'd used for my transition, I also knew there hadn't been enough time for Miss Campbell to use it. The next full moon was still another two and a half weeks away.

As my shock over her age faded I finally noticed the redhead's outfit, and I found that to be nearly as surprising, all things considered.

She'd dressed in a small black jacket that hung open over a long green scoop-neck tee. The combination easily showed off her curves, and even revealed a bit of cleavage. Dark leggings accentuated her wide hips and narrow waist. And her ankle boots had small heels on them. Her long red hair had been styled into large loose curls that hung down past her shoulders. She wore some bright cheery make-up, and a pair of large gold hoop earrings were dangling from her earlobes. She even had a little purse hanging from her left shoulder by a long thin strap.

Then I noticed Phoebe's cheeks were starting to colour as her lips shifted into a small pout, and that's when I realized I'd been staring after all. I quickly tore my eyes off her and paid attention to Owen again, as he introduced the last person at the table.

"Terrence Jones is our technical man," our boss explained. "He's got a real knack for just about anything electronic or computerized, and he's equally comfortable working with both hardware and software."

Mr. Jones was an attractive younger man, I'd guess somewhere in his early thirties. He was slightly-built, and stood perhaps a few inches shorter than myself. His dark skin appeared smooth shaved, and his tightly curled black hair was trimmed short. He was dressed casual, in what looked like a pair of old jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie he hadn't bothered doing up.

Terrence had a friendly smile on his his face as he chimed in, "Call me Terry, yeah?"

Owen spoke up again before I had a chance to reply, but this time he was addressing the rest of his team. "Most of you already know her, but this is Trillium Sharpe. She's spent the past thirteen years with the Metropolitan Police Service, and as of this morning she's now part of our team."

"Hello everyone," I finally said.

That's all the time I had though, before my new boss directed me towards the empty chair in between Martin and Terry. Meanwhile he took the spot between Grace and Alys.

As soon as he was seated Owen spoke up again, "Diving right in, Grace and I only just got back from the Lakes District on Monday and neither of us have had a chance to draft a detailed report on our investigation there. Grace, perhaps you can summarize our findings for the team?"

Dr. Bishop nodded once and began, "As you know we were very alarmed to find evidence that three separate entities had all converged on the same area. In a stroke of luck however the matter seemed to have resolved itself before LIES was even aware of the situation. While at least one of those entities was responsible for some deaths, we were able to confirm that the other two were generally non-hostile."

As she spoke I noted her accent, which sounded like the product of a Cambridge education. I was fairly sure the doctor probably originated from somewhere in the south-east though, like Sussex or Kent.

Meanwhile she continued, "Owen and I were able to locate and interview one of the entities, a self-described succubus. She admitted to unintentionally travelling to our world through the Anomaly, but unfortunately she had no idea how it actually worked, or why it brought her here."

That surprised me, in fact I was more than a little shocked at the thought of a real live succubus here in the UK. I had at least a dozen questions on the tip of my tongue, but forced myself to stay quiet and listen as Dr. Bishop continued her report.

Grace's expression remained neutral but she sounded slightly amused as she commented, "We also met with one of the entity's partners. They proved to be a local resident, a non-binary individual who'd transformed themself into a 'wolfby' during the second wave."

Alys interrupted with a wide grin, "That'll be the 'werewolf' we kept hearing about!"

"Yes that was them," Owen sighed. "Anyways we'll share our full report once Grace and I have had a chance to finish writing it up. In the meantime, Emma I understand you have something for us? You've identified another potential entity?"

The goth teen nodded, "I'm sorry we didn't spot this one sooner, because it seems serious. Over the past few months there's been a series of vicious attacks in the New Forest, with some worrying implications."

"The first occurrence was on the night of August eighteenth, at a farm just east of the village of Sandy Down," Emma continued after referencing some notes on her phone. "Something disturbed a farmer's dog late in the evening. He went out to investigate the barking, which stopped not long after."

Then she sighed, "The following morning the family realized the man hadn't returned after checking on the dog. They went outside to investigate, and found the dog had been mauled to death and the farmer was missing. Police investigated, the area was searched, but no trace of the man was found and he hasn't been seen or heard from since."

"The dog's death was attributed to wild animals," she added, "Police dismissed it as unrelated to the man's disappearance."

She glanced at her phone before moving on to the next event, "The morning of September seventeenth a young man's body was found on the side of a road north of the village of Setley. He'd been mauled to death by wild animals, and police attributed the incident to an unfortunate run-in with a pack of wild dogs."

"Number three took place in the early morning of October seventeenth," she went on, "A farmer living just north of the village of Pilley went out into his fields to investigate a disturbance among his livestock, and later that morning his mutilated body was found in the same area. Once again the death was blamed on packs of wild dogs."

Emma tapped her phone once more before concluding, "The final attack took place two weeks ago, on the evening of November fourteenth. Just east of Brockenhurst a woman set out for an after-dinner walk in the nearby woods, where she too was viciously attacked. And once again the official conclusion was an unfortunate encounter with wild dogs."

Martin spoke up at that point, "I admit it seems suspicious with the attacks happening almost exactly a month apart. And the 'wild dogs' thing sounds a little too convenient. But apart from that, is there anything else that makes you think this isn't just a few unlucky people and a lot of coincidences?"

I already knew the answer, as I recognized all of those dates. Alys beat me to it though.

The teen recited a list from memory, "Fourth wave was the morning of August nineteenth. Fifth wave was September seventeenth, in the afternoon. Sixth wave happened in the very early hours of October seventeenth. Seventh wave was before noon on November fifteenth. Each of these attacks took place in the hours preceding the full moon reaching its peak."

"Seriously? Another so-called werewolf?" Phoebe interjected in a sarcastic tone. "Owen and Grace just debunked the last one up in Cumbria, so you two've gone and found us another one?"

Emma frowned at the redhead, "I didn't say anything about a werewolf. Just that whatever's attacking people in the New Forest seems to be timing its activity to coincide with the full moon. Which seems like mighty odd behaviour for a pack of wild dogs."

Dr. Bishop commented, "One disappearance and three deaths means four police reports and three coroners reports. That's not much to go on."

"Ah, sorry I wasn't clear," the goth teen responded. "The fourth victim survived. EMTs attended her on the scene, then she was rushed by ambulance to hospital in Southampton where she underwent surgery. She was discharged from hospital a week ago, on Wednesday the twentieth."

Martin smiled, "So we have a survivor we can interview. That should make things a lot easier. Was it wild dogs? Yes or no."

"There'll also be medical reports," Grace added. "Assuming we can get our hands on them. If we're very lucky there might even be some samples of whatever attacked her retrieved from the wounds. Same with the two deceased, if we can access the ME's records."

Owen looked thoughtful for a few seconds as he considered everything we'd heard so far. Then he asked the goth teen, "Was there anything else?"

"Yes," Emma nodded. "A whole second potential case, unrelated to the New Forest situation. Although to be honest I'm a lot less confident about this one."

The older man gestured for her to continue, so after glancing at her phone again she did just that.

"This past weekend, the night of Saturday November twenty-third just before midnight, three men were walking in the little market town of Fordwich in Kent when they witnessed an angel manifest in front of an ancient church."

"The structure dates to the Norman era," she added, "It's even got some Anglo-Saxon elements. The church itself is actually disused, but it's a Grade I listed building and it remains open to the public."

Then she continued, "According to the three witnesses they observed some small glowing lights in the church yard. The lights got brighter and clumped together, then took on a human shape. When the light faded it revealed what they described as a 'tall beautiful angelic being, complete with a halo and wings' standing before them."

The teen grimaced slightly at that point, "That's it though, no further information on where it went or if it said or did anything after it appeared."

Once again Phoebe was the first to comment. She wore another sarcastic smirk as she pointed out, "Saturday evening just before midnight, odds are they were heading home from the pub. These blokes probably had a few pints too many, got themselves drunk enough to start seeing things."

"Maybe?" the witchy teen shrugged. "I've had a few pints too many in my time though, and I've never seen any angels. I'll wager the same goes for everyone else here."

Dr. Bishop looked to Owen at that point and asked, "Have you ever come across angels before? I mean in your previous work, did your people ever encounter any during your whole 'war on gods' thing?"

That was one of those 'wait a minute what?' moments that left me staring at both Grace and Owen in shock. And needless to say it left me with quite a few more questions. I kept quiet though, and listened to Mr. Powell's response.

"No," Owen shook his head. He looked like he really didn't want to discuss that subject at all, but he did elaborate a little. "The Brotherhood's focus was on smaller or ancient 'cult' type gods, and I don't recall ever hearing anything about angels in that context."

Phoebe nodded in agreement, "No angels. No werewolves or vampires either for that matter."

Owen was looking thoughtful again, but after a few moments he sort of set his shoulders and took on more of a 'take charge' demeanour. He looked across the table at Smith and decided, "Martin, you and I will look into this possible angel sighting. It may be nothing, but better safe than sorry. We'll set out for Kent this afternoon if that works for you?"

"Sounds good," Mr. Smith nodded.

Owen focused on me next, "Trillium, will you be comfortable working with Phoebe on the New Forest case? Interview the survivor, and see if you can't speak with the doctors as well. Maybe even some of the police who attended the scenes if possible."

I hesitated a moment as I glanced at the short redhead. She was pouting again, and blushing slightly as she stared down at the table. I couldn't help wondering how she was disciplined, and if her age regression was somehow part of that. Either way she certainly didn't seem hostile or even threatening, which was a lot better than the people I'd been working with in London.

"Yeah that's fine," I told my new boss. "And taking statements or conducting witness interviews is all pretty routine for me. My concern is I didn't pack an overnight bag when I came here this morning. I was expecting to meet you about a potential job offer, not to immediately set out on a new assignment. I'm really not prepared to rush straight over to Southampton this afternoon."

"Actually the survivor isn't in Southampton," Emma chimed in. "She doesn't live in the New Forest either, she was just there on holiday. She's back at her residence in London now, she lives in Clapham, near the Common."

Owen looked to me again and suggested, "You and Phoebe could head to London this afternoon, then perhaps arrange an interview with the survivor tomorrow? After that the two of you can make your way down to Southampton and the New Forest, to follow up with the hospital staff and the police."

As I nodded in agreement I also noted the boss didn't ask Miss Campbell for her input or opinion on the assignment at all. He seemed to just take it as read that she'd be ok with immediately going to London with me. Indeed his attention had already shifted to the next member of the team.

"Terry I'd like you to try and get your hands on copies of all the police and medical reports," Owen stated. "Make sure you forward whatever you find to Dr. Bishop along with both Phoebe and Trillium."

"I'll see what I can do," the young man replied, and now that he'd said more than a couple words I could tell his accent was definitely south Wales. Meanwhile Terry added with a sigh, "It's not going to be easy, since I burned my best back door trying to cover our tracks up in Whitby."

The boss gave him a sympathetic smile, "Do your best."

"And Grace," he said as he finally turned towards the older woman seated next to him, "Are you ok coordinating things from here?"

Dr. Bishop agreed, "Oh yes. The 'field work' was interesting, but I think I'm more comfortable in the office. Or a lab."

Owen nodded once then announced, "Right then. Grace is in charge for now, everyone make sure to keep her in the loop. Alys, can you package up Emma's notes and forward the files? New Forest case to Trillium and Phoebe, angel sighting to Martin and myself? Then you and Emma can keep ontop of the research, if any new information turns up be sure and send it along."

"Yes dad we know how to do our jobs," Alys said as she rolled her eyes.

The boss looked like he was stifling a sigh, then he got to his feet. "Alright people, let's get moving."