The Anonymous Warning
[INCIDENT REPORT: CASUALTY #06]
[LOCATION: CLASSIFIED BRIEFING ROOM 4]
Agent Moe Alkins stood quietly beside the latest body, the sixth one found this week. Around him, the other FBI agents looked just as shaken. People in town were getting scared, whispers turning into rumors. Elias Svendsen, the lead agent, tried to calm everyone down with a made-up story, but Moe could tell it wasn’t quite working.
As Elias Svendsen and Moe drove back from the site of the murder, the silence between them was heavy with tension. Elias finally broke it. “Ugh, this is frustrating. Hopefully, we can finally find out exactly what those creatures are—the ones responsible for all this—in the meeting.”
Moe looked at him, surprised. “Wait, what meeting?”
Elias glanced at him briefly, then back at the road. “They haven’t told you yet? Of course not. There’s a briefing scheduled with the rest of the FBI task force, along with military officials and scientists. Apparently, the scientists have confirmed what those things are.”
Moe, still trying to process the news, asked, “So, is that where we’re heading now?”
“Yeah,” Elias said firmly. “Although the rest of the team is still back at the site, gathering evidence. They want at least two agents there early, just in case anything else happens.”
“I see...” replied Moe, wandering off into his thoughts.
After about eighteen tense minutes, Elias and Moe arrived at the facility. From a distance, it barely looked like a place anyone was meant to find. Cold concrete walls, no signs, no markings, just a strange, silent structure buried deep in the middle of nowhere. To Moe, it looked less like a lab and more like a bunker, the kind not meant to be seen. As they approached the huge metal door, two armed guards stepped forward. The taller one spoke first, his voice sharp.
“Yes?”
Elias pulled out his badge without hesitation. “Lead FBI Agent Elias Svendsen.”
The guard examined the ID, then glanced at Moe’s. His eyes flicked between them in silence before giving a brief nod.
“Go ahead. Dr. Iris Radic is expecting you.”
Moe’s curiosity flared. Without a word, he moved ahead, eyes scanning the dim corridor. He didn’t notice how far ahead he’d gone until a voice echoed from the shadows ahead.
“I’m over here.”
Dr. Iris stepped into view. Her face was serious, which set off alarms in Moe’s mind. She was rarely like this. Something was wrong. Behind him, Elias finally caught up, slightly out of breath.
“God, Moe… ever heard of walking like a human? I’m exhausted enough as it is.”
Moe gave a curt glance.
“Apologies, sir.”
Though truthfully, he hadn’t noticed Elias was left behind—not that he really cared. From the far corner of the room, a figure emerged. Dr. Larson Soren was hunched over a stack of documents, flipping through them with visible frustration.
“Good, you’re here,” he said, not looking up. “Follow us.”
Iris gave a nod and turned, leading the way. As Elias and Moe followed, she began to speak.
“We’ve reviewed the latest footage. Studied the cells. Cross-referenced every sample we’ve collected on these creatures.”
Her voice dropped lower.
“And the truth we’ve uncovered is disturbing.”
They entered a lab strewn with research papers, data drives, and half-drained coffee cups. The air inside was heavy, almost claustrophobic.
“What exactly did you find?” Moe asked quietly.
Dr. Larson paused. His eyes didn’t meet theirs.
“We’ll go over the full report in the meeting,” he said finally. “But know this: the threat we’re facing is far more dangerous than we ever imagined.”
Moe felt it then. A cold weight settling in his chest. Something terrible was coming.
Not long after, Moe found himself seated around a table with the others, the air thick with unease as they waited for the scientists to begin. Dr. Amara Mendoza quietly set up the CCTV footage, her face unreadable. Across the table, Dr. Iris took a deep breath, her voice steady but low.
“As we all know,” she began, “the recent events and the unknown creatures our fellow FBI agents have encountered—”
“They’ve also been spotted by the military,” Luka, the youngest of the military cohort, cut in, his tone casual but with an edge. He stretched his arms as he added,
“They looked human from a distance. Can you really call them creatures?”
Saylus Novak, ever the one to downplay tension, leaned back in his chair and replied, “Yeah, well, you military types saw them from way off. Isn’t that right?”
Moe subtly tried to signal Saylus to stop; the agents weren’t supposed to interrupt the scientists, but Saylus kept going, even after noticing the warning.
“We in the FBI have seen them up close. Sure, they look human at first, but their features… they’re off. Abnormal. Like—”
“Excuse me!?” Dr. Iris snapped, her voice rising sharply, “I was speaking.”
Saylus raised his eyebrows as if to say chill, but Dr. Iris wasn’t finished.
“Honestly, Saylus, could you take things seriously for once?”
Saylus rolled his eyes and glanced at Moe, who shot him a ‘are you flipping serious?’ look. Taking a breath, Dr. Iris regained her composure and continued.
“These creatures have been sighted repeatedly and now, for the first time, caught on camera. Dr. Amara, play the footage.”
The room fell silent. The screen flickered to life.
What they saw made the air feel colder. The grainy footage showed a humanlike figure moving strangely. Then, right before their eyes, it began to shrink, ears twisting, limbs warping, its hands stretched and thinned until they split into grotesque wings. In seconds, the creature had fully transformed into a bat and launched into the air.
“What on earth!? Is that what we are really dealing with!?” Agent Niko Petrov shouted, pushing back from the table.
No one answered. The silence was heavy until Dr. Iris spoke again, her tone grim.
“We believe they’re vampires. They shift into bats. The bodies we’ve recovered all showed signs of exsanguination. And not one has been found during daylight hours.”
Agent Elias’s voice was low but urgent. “Then I’m afraid we’ll have to use force. These things are far more dangerous than we thought.”
Moe noticed Elias's voice sounding a whole lot more serious than in their conversation earlier.
“Not so fast,” said Dr. Larson, firm and unwavering, replying to Elias.
“We need one alive. At least one. If we want to understand what we’re dealing with.”
Victor Kustov, the military captain, crossed his arms.
“We’ll prepare weapons. This won’t be a clean operation.”
Luka Orlov nodded. “Yes. That much is clear. These things aren’t here for peace.”
Dr. Iris gave Luka a sharp look.
“Whatever you do, we must have at least one taken alive,” she said.
Elias stepped forward.
“The FBI doesn’t kill unless necessary. But if it’s life or death… we won’t hesitate.”
Moe gave a slight nod. “Thankfully, we’re trained for situations like this.”
After a few tense moments and hushed discussions, Dr. Iris stood.
“Meeting dismissed.”
Moe walked out of the facility, exhaling slowly as the reality settled in. Vampires… This might be tougher than I thought. The memory from years ago flickered in his mind—quick, uncertain, but unforgettable. Was that thing really a vampire?
“Moe! Hold up!”
He turned as Saylus jogged toward him, stopping beside him with that restless energy he always carried.
“So,” Saylus smirked, “ready to shoot some creatures?”
Moe raised a brow. “What’s with you and shooting everything? We’re supposed to capture at least one alive. Relax—not everything’s going to happen instantly.”
Saylus stopped walking, giving him a look. “Moe, we’re talking about vampires. We don’t
know how many there are or how fast they move.” He lifted his hands in mock innocence, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “What, you expect them to sit around like, 'Oh sure, come capture us when you’re ready!?'"
Moe tried not to smile, even though the picture was ridiculous.
“Besides,” Saylus continued, tapping his gun, “they’re bloodsuckers. I doubt they’ll wait politely for us. And they never said we had to catch all of them alive.”
Moe blinked, a hint of unease slipping in. “You’re actually willing to kill them?”
Saylus shrugged, less joking now. “Only if we have no choice. Like the boss said—the FBI doesn’t kill unless necessary.”
Moe nodded slowly, thoughts settling into place. “You’re right. We’ll do what we have to. I’ve never dealt with something like this before… but I guess we’ll figure it out.”
[PERSONAL LOG: AGENT M-732]
[UNTRACEABLE SIGNAL DETECTED...]
Moe walked through the city streets, a heavy bag of groceries in one hand and a weary sigh on his lips. Just a few more hours until the night shift… He shifted the weight of the bag. Working during the day had been so much simpler.
He reached his building and climbed the stairs, nodding to a neighbor in the hall. “Busy at work, Moe?” the man asked. “Yeah,” Moe replied, forcing a thin smile.
No one outside the meeting could know about the vampires. The stakes were too high to risk a citywide panic. Moe dug the rusty keys from his pocket, unlocked the door, and slipped inside. The apartment was quiet, save for the hum of the refrigerator. “Now… that board,” he muttered to the empty room.
He reached into his closet and pulled out a large corkboard with photos of suspects pinned and a web of red string linking them to two people in the middle.
One by one, Moe began unpinning the faces. “Well, one thing’s for sure..” he said, his voice low. “None of these people did it. It was definitely a...vampire.”
He stared at the empty spaces on the board, his thoughts already racing toward the next lead. Then, his phone rang. An unknown number flashed across the screen.
“Hello? Who is this?” Moe asked, unease tightening his chest.
“Listen carefully,” a voice whispered. It was distorted and urgent. “I have to tell you something about the vampires… they… they have the ability to—”
Ping. The line went dead.
Moe froze, staring at the black screen. What the–was that a prank? No—only the FBI, the scientists, and the military even knew they existed. Ability to what?
He tried calling back, but there was no answer every time he tried.
“Saylus must be joking around,” he told himself aloud. But his heart was drumming against his ribs and his hands wouldn't stop shaking.
He tried to go back to the board, reaching for a stray piece of string, but his eyes kept darting to the phone.
