The sun shone bright through Aunyaunca’s window around noon. Lazily, she tossed the blankets to the foot of her bed and threw her legs over the edge of her bed, rubbing her tired eyes. She got up too close to the curtains to her bay window and yawned, stretching her arms as far as they would go. It was just another meaningless morning to waste on doing nothing. Nothing ever really happened until night. As her routine went, Aun slumped down the stairs into her kitchen to start her morning coffee and closed all of the curtains while she waited for the coffee to finish brewing. She hated how her maids opened them everyday, knowing that they were just going to be shut again. The maids always nagged on her for her backwards-sleeping hours and for decorating her walls with foreign swords. She had been raised with swords and guns. The coffee maker released its annoying beeps, like it had every time it was finished. Aun stumbled back to the kitchen and poured herself a large cup of the steaming brew. She wandered into her living room, plopping onto a large Victorian couch. Finally showered and dressed, Aun grabbed her jacket and fled out the door after saying bye to her dog. She tossed her coat onto the seat next to her in her decked out Silverado and forced the keys into the ignition. Before pulling out of her driveway, she turned on her stereo, putting in her favorite rock CD and peeled out of the driveway. Aun parked her car outside of a large business building. As she walked towards the large double doors, people in nicely pressed suits and briefcases headed out to their cars with bland looks on their faces. Others in almost identical suits were entering the building with leather suitcases and cups of Starbucks coffee in their hands. Then Aun studied her own attire. She was dressed in a pair of faded jeans that were tearing at the bottom because they were too long and she walked on them so much, her old converse shoes popping out from under them. On her top she wore a black wife beater with her pentagram necklace that she went nowhere without. The pentagrams she had tattooed on each shoulder were fully visible, along with the numerous scars she had on her arms. She had gotten most of them fighting and wore them proudly as battle scars. The only thing that was the same between her and the entering people was the coffee in her hand. All heads turned in curiosity as she entered the building. This isn’t what someone entering this building was expected to wear. This was an office building that prided themselves on the success of each corporation located inside. But there was always a downfall to every corporation. Where Aun was headed was just that. Everyone that worked inside dressed just like everyone else on the street. No one really knew what went on inside that floor that she and the couple other people went to. No one spoke of it out loud, really. But they did look for a reason to get them out of it. Of course, they didn’t have any real reason to get rid of them, except for the fact that they made everyone else look bad. Aun made her way inside the packed elevator, squeezing in with random people that were all heading off to their various offices. No one said anything when they entered. They simply pushed the button for their desired floor and hugged their briefcases to themselves during the entire ride. Aun smiled and sipped on her plain, black coffee. The elevator door finally opened at the 18th floor. A wave of disgust wafted out of the compact area as soon as the double doors slid open and Aun’s foot planted on the wood floor. Everyone did their best to hide the fact that they were searching the floor with their beaming eyes. However, the only thing that they could actually see is a narrow hallway that turned the corner after only a couple feet. Aun turned the corner and pushed through a thick, wooden door that was merely a short distance from the turn. Behind the door was a relaxed area with a few desks with high tech computers perched on top with trinkets decorating them, an old plaid couch that had been there for many years, a couple filing cabinets, and two more doors that lead to a bathroom and a small backroom. “It’s good to see that you did wake up sometime today, Aun.” Warren, one of Aun’s good friends and coworkers greeted her from behind her computer. “Morning.” Aun smiled while setting her coffee down on her desk and leaning over to turn the computer on. “It’s the afternoon.” Kharmatica, Aun’s older brother entered the room from a door on the opposite side of the room. “You’re such a lazy ass.” “I didn’t see you out last night.” Aun barked at him. “Well,” he shrugged off her comment. “I suppose I can’t nag on you about being here at 1 o’clock. Brice got here and went to sleep in the backroom and is still in there snoring like an ox.” Aun immediately ran for the door that Kharmatica came out of. She quietly eased the door open and entered the small backroom, shutting the door behind her just as quietly as she had opened it. The only things that were inside were some filing cabinets and another raggy couch that had been there for as long as they had been. On that couch was Brice, a 6-foot tall man with shaggy, dirty blonde hair and deep brown eyes…when they were open. Now he was sleeping on the couch, snoring softly. Aun crouched down next to his ear, her lips mere millimeters from it. “The squirrels are there again, Brice.” Brice squirmed a little on the couch. “They’re big, mutated squirrels,” she continued in a soft, motherly voice. “With razor sharp teeth and claws. Each one is equipped with a paper clip and a large bag of rubber bands.” Brice wiggled a little more, face cringing. “Squirrels…” he muttered. “Watch out, Brice. One is about to jump you from behind!” Her voice grew more excited, but not louder. Brice rolled to his side, face pressed into the back of the couch. “BAM!” Aun yelled, slamming her fists down on the side of the couch. Brice jumped out of his sleep, flipping over on his stomach. His frantic eyes shot around the room before they picked out Aun, who was giggling to herself. His chocolate eyes narrowed at her. “Bitch.” “Get your ass up.” She grunted, rising from the floor. “It’s one o’clock and you’re still sleeping on this flea infested couch. Don’t you have a bed to sleep in at home?” “It’s not as comfy as the couch.” Brice smothered his face in the couch cushion briefly, then turned back to face her. “Even if it is flea bitten.” Aun scoffed. “Just get up and get out here.” Brice pulled himself up off the couch and followed Aun out into the main room, shielding his eyes when the sun shone brightly on him through the large windows. Kharmatica craned his neck so he could see Aun out of the corner of his eye before locking them back on the papers he held in his hands. “Did you get your assignment done last night?” “It was an easy one.” Aun made herself comfortable behind her desk. “I don’t see that the big problem was.” “Do you remember how it was the first time that you had to fight?” Kharmatica lifted his eyes from his business again. “Quit your bickering.” Warren butted in. “We got a call last night of some disturbance over in Eastern Sacramento. They said that there has been a small manor that’s packed full of them every night for sometime now. People have been lost to it, the whole story that we hear all too often.” “I really hate it when people wait for so many people to be lost before calling it in.” Brice grumbled from the other faded plaid couch he was now laying on. “Do you have directions to where it is?” Aun asked. “She gave up quite the elaborate directions and repeated it all about three times.” Kharmatica butted in. “She’d lost her daughter about two weeks ago, and just now decided to call in. Her husband protested against it.” “Does she know the conditions of the call and the payment?” “I drilled everything into her head.” Warren explained, pulling out a stack of papers from her top drawer on her desk. “We’re supposed to go out to her home this afternoon and clear the manor tonight. It’ll take us about an hour and a half to get out there, so we’ve got a little bit of time to suit up before we have to be out of here.” Brice grumbled on the couch. “Can I stay here? I mean, you guys can cover something like this, right?” “Being hung over is no excuse to not go.” Kharmatica barked at him. “Now get your ass up and get ready.”