This Job Bites Pt 01

The elevator opened on the executive floor of Card Enterprise's headquarters, the second tallest building in New Chicago. A young woman stepped out and looked around the lavishly furnished reception area. She was thin, with pale skin and bleached blonde hair that bordered on being white. Her attire was extremely nerdy, she was wearing a skirted business suit with a feminine bow tie and thick glasses. She looked extremely naive and it was clear that this was her first time interviewing for a corporate job.

Behind the reception desk, another woman, several years older than the one who had just stepped off the elevator, cleared her throat. "Oh!" the younger woman said as she spun around. "I'm terribly sorry...I have an appointment for an interview today." She said, beaming with excitement. Her voice was very soft and innocent, and made her sound far younger than a woman old enough to drink.

The receptionist simply looked at the young woman for several long moments, blinking in a rather bored fashion. Finally, in as an annoyed tone as she could manage, she said "Name?"

"Oh! Right! Kelli, my name is Kelli. I have an appointment!" she said excitedly.

The receptionist rolled her eyes and verified that a 'Kelli' did, in fact, have an appointment. Instead of trying to fight the young woman for her full name, she simply clicked the intercom and stated that the 11:30 appointment was ready. A voice with a distinct Eastern European accent simply replied with "Send her in."

--

As Kelli walked into the office, her emotions were a mix of absolute excitement, and utter and complete terror. This was the office of the famed Alan Card, entrepreneur and businessman. A man famous for his innovation, his artistic eye, and his smile. The office was relatively dark, and there wasn't an overall light source to be found anywhere inside of it. Instead, there was accent lighting illuminating the paintings on the wall, the pottery and antiques on the tables, and a low glow that hung over the main desk against the far wall. Of course, that desk was empty.

Kelli looked around, confused, until a voice spoke from behind her. "Welcome, miss." A figure stepped out of the shadows with a smile on his face.

Kelli screamed like a little girl in a haunted house...then immediately turned beet red from embarrassment. "I am so...so sorry, sir, I didn't mean to..." she started.

"It's alright...it's alright. I like to have a little fun with my employees. It helps to make the workday go...a little quicker, don't you think?" He said with a warm smile as he motioned her to a sitting area on the right side of the office, where two antique couches and a table sat under recessed lighting.

Smiling nervously, she made her way over to one of the couches. "I guess it might, sir..." she answered nervously. She looked at the couch cautiously. It was old, something you would expect to see in a movie about Victorian England, complete with claw feet at the bottom of its legs. She carefully lowered herself onto the couch, worried about how it might feel, but to her surprise it was probably the most comfortable thing she had ever sat on.

The CEO moved to a small bucket and pulled out a bottle of red wine, pouring a glass for himself and offering one to Kelli as well. "Would you like something to help...calm your nerves, miss?"

She looked at the wine glass and then at her hands. They were still shaking, although she wasn't sure whether it was from the startle she received at the door or simply from her own nervousness. "Thank you sir, but I had better wait until I stop shaking...if that's ok with you. I'd hate to spill on...well, anything in here really."

Alan smiled and held the glass under his nose, appreciating the bouquet coming off of the wine. "A good choice. That shows self awareness, I like that. And the table in front of you is nearly 400 years old. It was made from the timbers of the Santa Maria...when Columbus no longer had a use for her." He slid his hand over the table and closed his eyes. The expression on his face made Kelli wonder if he could almost feel the history in the table. "The wine, on the other hand, is from a vineyard in France...that was destroyed in 1647. I'll save you a glass." he said with a warm smile.

Kelli smiled, nodding slightly. "I'd like that very much."

"Well then," Alan said as he sat down across from her, flipping open a folder that contained her resume and the job description. "let's get to work, shall we?"

They talked for what felt like hours, and Alan spent a great deal of time and energy explaining the position that he had in mind for her. It was a research position, part of Card Enterprise's business charter was to explore strange new ideas and concepts. To seek out new technology and new innovations. To boldly go out and buy newly made companies. It was a kind of Money Trek. As the executive research assistant, it would be Kelli's job to not only find out the history of the companies and technologies that they were looking to acquire, but to also do a more...hands on investigation. She would act as a kind of corporate probe by meeting the people within the companies and seeing how they were run. Sometimes she would do this openly, as a representative of Card Enterprises, and other times she would do it covertly...as a corporate spy.

The job itself was right up Kelli's alley...well, most of it. She was an expert at doing research, whether it was online or in an old fashioned repository, digging through papers and microfiche. If it existed...anywhere...Kelli could find it. But there was one part she was unsure of. "I really do think I could do the job, Mr. Card..." she started nervously "But, I'm not really sure I would be good at being a corporate spy. As you can tell from my demeanor, I get really nervous in high stress situations." The moment she finished that sentence, she realized that she had basically admitted she couldn't handle the job. Her heart sank, and it was visible on her face.

Alan watched her face closely as he perfectly hid a smile of delight that he so desperately wanted to express. Instead, he simply let out a soft "hmm" and took a small sip of his wine. He set the glass down and let a perfectly calculated, warm smile wash over his face. "My dear Kelli, that is exactly why I asked you here today. In the position that you are going to be in, you will have power and authority. In the corporate world, these things come with an air of...animosity from other corporate types. But you have an innocence, a naivete to you that cannot be faked. We can teach you how to hone that emotion, that innocence, so you can use it on command. And we can foster the confidence that I see hidden deep in your eyes. If you would be so good as to simply...accept the job I am offering you now."

Kelli had already resigned herself to not getting the job, so much so that the offer took her completely by surprise. She looked up at Alan with a mixture of shock and hope on her face. "Wait...really? Are you serious?" she said, the excitement in her voice plainly evident as she leaned forward in her seat.

Alan smiled and stood up, extending his hand for her to shake. "Absolutely, if you'll merely...accept my offer."

"Absolutely!" she practically screamed. Without thinking, she stood up and extended her own hand to shake Alan's.

But something happened when she did. The second she touched his hand she felt a wave of energy, a tingling, wash down her arm and up into her shoulder. From her shoulder it spread out across her chest and up into her neck and head. For a split second, she thought that she saw Alan's eyes turn an unnatural shade of yellow. But a split second was all that thought lasted. In fact, it was all any of her thoughts lasted. The wave of energy washed over her brain, her mind, her very soul, and left her stuck in place and staring ahead at her new boss. Her face held the same smile it had when she touched his hand, a slight flexing of the muscles implied that she might have been about to gasp, but never made it that far. The only noticeable change was that the light seemed to have faded from her eyes.

To Kelli the world had gone completely still, and yet at the same time there was a flurry of movement around her. The clock behind Alan seemed to be both stopped and spinning out of control. And through it all she felt a voice softly, seductively, speaking into her mind. She couldn't move, she couldn't think, it was as though she was in a bubble of furious movement, even though her body and mind were on pause.

The handshake ended as soon as it had started, and with it went any memories her entranced mind might have tried to create. She found herself staring at Alan across the table, a look of confusion on her face. "Well then, I will see you here bright and early Monday morning. Now go home and get some rest, I have a feeling you're going to be dead tired this weekend." He said with a slightly ironic smile.

--

As Kelli walked out of the office a moment later, she couldn't help but be surprised at how late in the day it was. Maybe that explained why she was feeling so tired, so...drained. But even with all the excitement of the day, she shouldn't have felt this tired, should she?

Just as she made her way to the elevator, another door opened on the executive level. A tall, red headed woman glared out from between the opened door; her deep blue business dress stood out among the dark hardwood finish of the frame. She didn't say a word, she simply...watched.

--

Later that evening, Kelli sat on her couch and watched TV. She had had a wonderful day, but felt like she was about to catch her death of a cold. True to form, she was dressed in a pair of pink fuzzy pajamas, the long sleeved kind that covered literally every inch of her body all at once. Her hair was up in a set of pigtails, one on each side of her head. She looked like a little kid about to come down with the flu.

Her fuzzy mind was snapped back to reality by a frantic knocking at the door. It startled her so much that she jumped at the sound. Slowly, almost nervously, she moved to the door and peered out through the window. She was relieved to see an innocent looking middle aged woman, wrapped up in a jacket and standing out in the pouring rain. Behind her, on the street, a car sat with its hood up as smoke billowed out from underneath, disappearing into the rain as it did.

Kelli cracked the door open a bit and looked out at the woman, who spoke up as soon as the door opened. "Oh thank god! Could you help me, please? I need to call my husband...my car broke down and my cell phone died... can I please use your phone? Please?" The woman pleaded desperately as she held her dark cell phone in her hands and huddled under her coat from the rain.

Kelli smiled warmly and closed the door for a second to undo the chain lock, then opened the door for her. "Of course you can! Please, come in out of the rain." she said inviting the woman in.

The woman smiled as she stepped inside and huddled near the door. Kelli handed her a blanket and smiled. "Make yourself comfortable and get out of those wet clothes. I'll go grab my phone!" she said as she turned and shuffled towards her desk.

She picked up her phone from the desk and politely asked "Would you like something warm to drink?" before turning around to find herself staring face first into the yellow eyes of the woman she had invited into her home. The woman's hand gently touched Kelli's chest, and she let out a small gasp as a familiar wave of energy washed over her body, and her mind.

The woman smiled, revealing a pair of elongated fangs. You know the kind associated with vampires. "Now that you mention it, my dear..." she said with an almost sadistic smile as she shoved the poor young woman against the wall, leaning in to lick her neck softly. Her jacket fell from her shoulders to reveal an elegant, deep blue business dress, and red hair. "I wouldn't mind something to drink. Not one bit."

She laughed sadistically for just a moment before sinking her teeth into Kelli's neck. The helpless young woman could only let out a sigh as the light faded from her eyes even more.

To Be Continued...