Jade ced a hand over her head and exined, "I did mean to tell you, but I sort of just got lost in everything else that was going on."


    Rubbing his eyes, the Director said, "Okay, take it from the top. Tell me exactly what happened from start to finish, and don''t leave out any details." Jade nodded and spent the next 10 minutes recounting the fight with V and the subsequent events.


    After listening intently, he reflected, "I wonder why he is obsessed with you. You''ve said when you saw your dead boyfriend in your dreams, he was in a skeletal form." Jade confirmed, "Yeah, that''s right."


    The Director, looking perplexed for a moment, added, "I just don''t see how you tie into all of this, but if we are going to stop him and get the jump on him, we need to figure out what piece you are in all this."


    "But sadly, we do have a bigger problem if you wille with me," he concluded, signaling a new urgency in their conversation.


    Jade, a bit shocked, responded, "Uh, sure, but what about this stuff?"


    "You cane back to that a bitter; this is regarding pulling you from the front lines," the Director exined. Jade paused for a moment before responding, "Sure, what is it?"


    "Follow me," the Director instructed. They walked out of theb and down the hall toward the elevator. "Get in, please," he said as they reached it.


    "What you''re about to see is beyond top secret and the only case that Ash has found... Uh, sure, yeah, that''s fine," Jade replied, her curiosity piqued.


    As the elevator began its descent, it moved deeper and deeper, eventuallying to a halt. The doors opened.


    "This is pretty far down. Is this around where the crystal is?" Jade inquired.


    The Director nodded, "Yeah, a bit higher, but that''s a good guess for our general location."


    As they stepped out of the elevator, the floor wasced with a rocky surface with lines of red running along the surface. He led Jade to a single room. After moving down a long corridor, she looked around and saw dozens and dozens of other rooms covered by pure ck doors.


    What is this ce?


    The Director, with a solemn tone, stated, "This also is to just stay between us both. This is the ultimate prison for anything that will never see the light of day again, for one reason or another." He paused before continuing, "But what we locked up yesterday, courtesy of delivery from Ash during her travel to Brazil, it was one of her students at one point."


    Jade, puzzled, replied, "I''m not sure I''m following what you mean, sir?"


    "Yeah, it puts a pit in my stomach seeing so; I will just show you," he said, his voice heavy with unease. Pulling a key from his pocket, he ced it into the lock before turning it slightly, forcing the door open as the room was engulfed in pitch ckness.


    "What is in there?" Jade asked, her curiosity tinged with apprehension, just before arge growl echoed across the room. A figure emerged from the darkness, rushing toward Jade and the Director before a chain snapped back, causing the creature to fall to the ground, screaming and struggling against the chain.


    As the creature steadied itself, it fixed its gaze on both the Director and Jade. Its skin was ashen, with red and blue veins protruding along its face, and blood trickled down its eyes and mouth.


    Jade, unable to mask her disgust, ced a hand over her face. The smell of the rotting boy made her want to hurl. "What the hell happened to her?" she eximed.


    The Director replied, "From the letter Ash gave, she said she was bitten by a creature they were fighting before Ash was able to kill it. She is staying in Brazil for the rest of this month because she feels something big ising into that region."


    He continued, "She stated before she killed the creature, itughed and mocked her, stating, ''The true gue will be upon us.'' On top of that, our machines have begun to go off the charts, so we''re trying to be proactive here as best we can."


    Jade nodded in understanding. "I see. And what exactly do you want me to do?"


    "It''s pretty simple," the Director stated as he rolled up his sleeve. A blue trail of energy began to highlight along his forearm as he pointed it at the creature chained to the wall. In a blink of an eye, he was holding a piece of its flesh.


    "I want you to try and see what happened to him and if it''s possible to find a cure, even. It''s a long shot if I ever put money on one, but at this point, I''m desperate for anything," he exined, his voice tinged with urgency and desperation.


    "I see, it will take a good amount of time to do this, even with these eyes. It just gives me information to work with and doesn''t give me the solutions. Like it shows me how something is made, but if I don''t know the molecule on it, it''s next to pointless till I figure it out if that makes sense."


    "The director stated, "I see. I think we are still missing something about those eyes, but for now, I''m piled up with keeping the country safe and having a meeting with the president. We will likely start getting the actual government involved more. I know you saw some of them when Ash took you out, right?"


    Jade nodded. "I''m surprised I haven''t seen them more during these missions."


    The director nodded and stated, "Usually, they are there to get an idea of how to keep people from not trying to walk in or stuff like that, but we will begin training them actually to handle creatures and what to look out for."


    Jade stated, "I never thought about using guns on them. How effective is it?"