It had been days since the Romania headquarters had been attacked and set ablaze and if had been days since my father and I arrived here. The fire was finally starting to go out and the barrier containing it was weakening as well. It seems as if the witch that casted this spell had intended for it to last for a couple of days, which meant that any and all evidence was burned to a crisp and there was no way for us to even get footage or DNA samples to determine who it was that killed those within this facility.

Not to mention that for years we had asked the branch in Romania to be part of our program where all footage will be sent to a large database, which holds all footage, DNA samples, member information, and many other valuable things, but they didn't want to. They believed that there wouldn't be a day where something horrible would happen to them, but now look at them. Everyone from this facility is dead and there's no way in which we can identify them at all.

"What's the plan?" I asked my father. Out of everyone in this situation, he was the one that was the most angry out about this. He couldn't believe that one witch managed to slip by and kill almost everybody within this facility and cover their tracks in the most malicious way.

"I'm going to have you stay until this barrier goes away and until the fire dies down. Once that's over, I want you and a team to wear protective gear and go in there to see if anything can be recovered," He answered, "If nothing can be recovered, then contact me immediately."

"And if we find evidence of the one who did this?" I inquired.

"Send it straight to our headquarters. Don't waste any time with it at all," He replied.

"Yes, sir," I nodded.

"Make sure that every single person within the team is given a thorough background check. We need to make sure that there isn't one of those damn bitches within our team," He said.

"You think that's how they managed to infiltrate the facility?" I asked.

"Yes I do. How else would they be able to slip through without anybody noticing? They blended in with everyone else and revealed themselves when the tome was right," He responded.

"So we're looking for a witch that's a master of disguise?" I questioned.

"Yes we are. We're also looking for someone who knows Ioana very well. Someone that was very close to her while she was alive," He answered.

"The only person we know that was close to her was that woman," I told him.

"She was, but she's been in hiding for centuries and it's going to be hard to pinpoint her location," He said.

"From what our records say, she moves around a lot and changes her name," I informed, "It also says in her record that the last time one of our members had come into contact with her was 1945 and this was at some type of party."

"Do we have a picture of her in that record?" I asked.

"No. They saw her, but she made sure that it was hard for them to ever remember her face. It's like every single time they try to remember what she looks like, they draw up blanks," I explained.

"She's intelligent. I'll give her that. She couldn't have survived a couple centuries without knowing how to completely conceal her face," He remarked.

"However, one of these days we'll capture and torture her," I said.

"And when we do, she'll beg for mercy," He agreed.

"The background checks are going to be started tonight, then tomorrow morning we'll start the recovery of any evidence," I informed.

"Good. Make sure all of you comb this entire area thoroughly," He nodded.

"As for Ioana's house, we can probably send a small team over there to see if we can find any type of pictures or videos of that woman," I replied.

"This makes me all the more confident that you'll succeed me," He smiled softly.

"Not until you drop dead, old man," I responded.

"And now the happy moment is gone because of you," He muttered.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get ready to go home already," I waved him off.

"Fine. Make sure you report back to me on what you find and leave no stone unturned," He added.

"I will," I said. He left the room and went back to his own room to pack up for his flight home.

As for this recovery mission of both the facility and Ioana's house, this seemed like it was going to be a very hard task for us, especially if certain things had been burned. Somehow, I highly doubt we'll find anything in the Romania facility, but we have to try. There must be no room for errors.

On the other hand, all of our branches are now tightening up security and improving it as well. I can't blame them because the date of our members in Romania was a horrific fate. You can tell that they were in pain when they died by not only the fire, but her hands.

Speaking of her, I have a feeling that she's using her magic to try and resurrect Ioana. If I were her, I'd do the same thing if this was a very good friend of mine. I'd also make sure that those that killed said friend would suffer in more ways than one. This entire thing has led me to believe that she was probably acting more out of emotion than anything else.

Maybe. Just maybe if we can have an incident like this happen again, then maybe she'll act out of emotion once again and get sloppy. This time she was extra careful, but what will happen when she isn't? Or maybe we can find some way to trap her. By trapping her, we can capture and torture her.

"Axel, I'm almost halfway through the background checks. So far only five out of the twenty people we have on our one hundred person team have been weeded and executed," Max informed.

"So only eighty-five checked out?" I inquired.

"Yes, but that's why we have a second team that will merge with our to help," He answered.

"Good. We'll need all the help we can get and then some," I said.

"Not to mention that I've had some of our forensics team to survey the area for any type of clues as well. She might have been extra careful at the base, but there has to be some type of slip up on her end," He explained.

"Nice work, Max. You're three steps ahead of me," I said.

"Thanks, man. Now, as for the idea you have in your head. Tell me about it," He replied. We've known each other so long that we can read each other like a book.

"I don't have a fully formed idea, but I'm thinking that the only way we can at least capture her is by somehow tricking her," I murmured.

"You talking emotional and mental manipulation?" He asked.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Well considering how she's older than the both of us put together, I don't think it'll work unless there is some type of way to conceal your mind in a way that will not reveal your true identity," He said.

"You've thought about this throughly haven't you?" I asked.

"Yes. I was a hundred steps ahead of you," He joked.

"As per usual, you brainiac," I chuckled.

"Anyways, there's no type of technology like that on our end. Plus, she's older than us both combined. She's probably experienced men who will manipulate her emotionally and mentally during these past centuries," He added.

"God. So that won't work at all," I muttered.

"No, but there's a dangerous way of doing it," He said.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well, you know how we usually decommission any of our informants that spread too much misinformation or the ones that initially think they can handle the job, but break?" He questioned.

"Yes," I nodded.

"We can erase any and all memories you have of this organization and store them in our memory storage unit. Once you gather enough intel about her, then all you have to do is contact us," He explained.

"How will I remember to contact you?" I asked.

"Hmm...I'll have your memories of everything important to you from me, your family, where you went to school, and such stay with you. The one thing you'll have to do is just meet up with me on the third Saturday of every single month," He clarified.

"That sounds like a good plan. We'll have to bring it up to my father once we finish here," I said.

"Alright, but how long would you want this plan to go on for?" He questioned.

"Let's say a year and a half," I replied.

"A year and a half sounds good to me," He nodded.

"However, are you sure that is meeting up on the third of every month isn't your way of asking me on a date?" I joked, smiling faintly.

"No, jackass. I already have a boyfriend," He rolled his eyes, "Plus I'm not into the wannabe edgy, lone wolf."

"Wannbe? Now that hurts," I said.

"Yeah, yeah. Shove it up your ass," He shook his head, "Anyways, I'll get right back to not only screening our team, but figuring out how to make this plan of mine work without a hitch."

"Okay. Let me know how that goes," I nodded.

"I will," He said, leaving the room.

This plan of his might or might not work, but this is our only chance to finally catch her after all these years and make her pay for her crimes against our organization and humanity. It's not going to be an easy thing at all, but we'll definitely achieve our goal of exterminating her for good.