AJ casually strolled down the road towards the office. Working on a few hours of sleep he felt surprisingly refreshed. The scrape on his head had mostly healed, but it left a noticeable mark.

Striding through security, nearly empty coffee cup in hand, he took a detour to the office he had ‘borrowed’ the hi-vis from and hooked it back on the rack. Swiping through the next set of security doors, he wandered into the empty CCTV office.

Joel must be sick again, poor bastard.

He sat on his chair, hammering his password into the terminal before him.

Why has this search stopped…

A message notification pinged in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

“Ambitious search pal, run that by me next time! You almost took the place offline. I stopped it, try smaller sections yeah?”

Marvellous, Michael. Now I have to redo the entire…”his thoughts were cut short by a log on the screen,

It was tied to an event that occurred at 3.04am.

Last night, on the same street I was… attacked,

Glancing at the door behind him to make sure no one else was watching, he double clicked the alert, bringing up the security video clip.

The footage froze his blood; there he was, last night, unmistakable despite the grainy quality.

Well it’s difficult to prove it’s actually me, nothing massively telling but… behind him, the door swung open with a soft click that sent him lurching from his chair. Regaining composure, he swung his seat around.

“AJ buddy!” came Michael’s voice. “That search, you nearly…” his eye was drawn to the footage playing. “You find a fight, eh?” He laughed.

“Yeah… it was an alarm near the Hospital,” AJ replied, his heart rate calming.

“Which one?” Michael enquired.

“Erm, St. James I think.” Something flickered across Michael's face; a shadow of recognition? There and gone in an instant, but AJ caught it before it vanished.

“Your clearance has come through right?” Michael asked, eyes locked on the recording, seemingly studying the attacker.

“Yeah, a couple of days back,” AJ replied.

“You’d better come with me then.” Michael gestured towards the door. AJ got up and walked, closely followed by Michael.

He can’t have recognised it was me, it’s definitely something to do with the place… or thing that attacked me…

Michael motioned towards a room next door to the CCTV room. AJ walked inside. He was met with a fairly nondescript meeting room.

“Take a seat,” Michael spoke. AJ complied and took a seat facing the window. Michael's finger found a switch on the wall. AJ expected the lights to brighten, but instead heard the door lock engage with a metallic snap as automated blinds slid down over the windows, sealing them in.

“What’s… erm… happening?” AJ asked, as evenly as he could muster, nerves rising.

“Time to explain the… true purpose, if you will, of the OUSR.” Michael sat down opposite. “You certainly work fast, AJ. It’s usually weeks before I have to explain this to an analyst.”

Michael leaned forward, elbows planting on the table with a thud that echoed in the sealed room, his gaze steady and unblinking. AJ shifted in his chair, the vinyl creaking under him, a bead of sweat prickling at the back of his neck despite the cool air humming from the vents overhead.

His mind raced,

True purpose? He knows, doesn't he? He thought.

The job was meant to be about surveillance, patterns, keeping the city ticking without chaos spilling over. But Michael's tone, low and deliberate, carried the weight of something heavier.

"OK, OK," Michael said, rubbing his hands together. “We monitor for the supernatural.”

AJ stayed silent at this revelation. His mind blanked for a second, like a screen flickering out mid-video.

Yeah, he knows.

The word hung there, ridiculous, but Michael's face didn't crack into a joke, no punchline waiting. AJ's throat tightened. He could hear the faint hum of the vents overhead, feel the vinyl chair sticking to the back of his thighs through his chinos.

He swallowed, tasting the stale coffee from earlier that morning.

"Supernatural," he echoed finally, voice flat, testing the word like it might bite back.

“Yeah.” Michael replied, weighing up AJ’s face. “Clearance takes a while because they don’t just check terrorism or criminal stuff. They assess your psychology aptitude as well.”

I don’t recall them ever testing my psychology…

Michael continued, interrupting AJ’s thought.

“You passed, which means there’s a lot more information you’re allowed access to.” He scratched the bridge of his nose, “however, I couldn’t just load it all on you straight away, especially after showing you the CCTV room and all its facets.”

AJ nodded, his mind immediately fixed on Eliza.

She must know that this is what the OUSR do, but to what extent?

“Now this is a closely guarded Government secret, so there aren’t any papers or forms, or emails with this stuff on,” Michael continued, bridging his fingers, “it’s all word of mouth. Colleague to colleague. OUSR agent to OUSR agent. You’re to keep it that way. Any hint of this information leaking outside of authorised people and well…” he traced a slow line across his throat with his index finger, his eyes never leaving AJ's face.

“We get killed?” AJ blurted out.

“Worse, you get to live, just not here, or with your memories intact,” Michael laughed.

What could that possibly mean? AJ thought to himself.

“Do you understand, AJ?” Michael asked. AJ nodded again.

“Good. The creature that you saw is what we call a ‘Type-V’ entity, a Hemovore. The frequent that area near the hospital; I assume that the infirm make an easy target. Come to think of it, there’s a support ticket in for a camera on that road, always cuts out in the night for some reason.”

AJ's stomach plummeted as the implications of Michael's words sank in.

So no one has actually investigated it yet? - He regained composure, before clearing his throat.

“I can pick that ticket up for you if you want,” he said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

“That’d be a load off my plate, thanks,” replied Michael. He studied AJ’s face, a shadow of curiosity fleeting across his aged features. “Usually, when I’ve told analysts about the supernatural, they’ve been a lot more vocal, or scared, or… I dunno, showing some sort of reaction. You’ve been curiously silent and calm.”

AJ took a deep breath.

Shit, I need a clever reply to this… - his mind raced through theories. I suspected? No… I was attacked by one last night and nothing is surprising to me anymore after what Eliza said? Also no… oh! I know!

“I’ve always been into that stuff,” AJ said, forcing his voice steady, like he was discussing last night’s game rather than blood-sucking monsters. The words tasted rehearsed in his mouth, but he pushed them out anyway, watching Michael’s face for any flicker of doubt. “Urban legends, cryptids, all that. Read too many forums growing up. So when you say ‘supernatural,’ it doesn’t hit me like a brick, it’s more like confirming something I half-believed already.”

Michael leaned back, the chair creaking under his weight, his eyes narrowing just a fraction.

“That’s fair,” he said, finally blinking. "Alright, since you're already halfway there with your forums and legends, let's cut to it. Type-V entities. Hemovores. Vampires, if you want the street name for 'em. They’re not the only things that exist, but they’re what’s popular in Leeds.”

AJ nodded, listening intently.

God I feel like I’m drowning in all these secrets. On one hand Michael is telling me Vampires exist but we can’t tell anyone and on the other you’ve got Eliza telling me not to call them Vampires… - another realisation sank in.

How does Eliza know about vampires?

“So when you get a clip like you did this morning, report it using the correct escalation channel and purge it from the system,” Michael continued.

“Purge it? As in delete? Why?” AJ's forensics training screamed foul play; evidence being deleted before proper documentation? It went against everything he'd been taught about investigative integrity.

“Leaks. The report is enough.” Michael got up from his chair and flicked the switch, returning the room to normal.

It could make sense, secretive government stuff…

“Carry on with your day, unless you have any other questions?” Michael asked. AJ did indeed have one.

“What do we do if we come face to face with a… Type-V entity?” he asked.

“There are a few things, but that’s mostly saved for the field agents,” came Michael’s reply, as casual as a weather report.

“Do the entities know about this building?” AJ followed up.

“If they do, they’ve not made themselves known yet,” Michael laughed.

They have… - AJ thought, getting up from his seat and heading to the door. Michael put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry too much buddy, I’ve worked here since the inception of the OUSR in ‘05 and it’s only the field agents who have ever been targeted.” He gave AJ a gentle push back towards the CCTV room, and walked off in a different direction.

I’m working for vampire hunters. Mum always said playing too many games would get me nowhere, well look at me now(!) - he thought callously. AJ trudged back to the CCTV room. He collapsed into his chair, the vinyl squeaking in protest as he buried his face in his palms, fingers digging into his hairline.

After a minute processing the weight of revelation, he looked up at the monitor in front of him. He noticed his username in the top right corner of the screen had changed to italics.

Must be to show I’m now ‘initiated’, I guess - He decided to search his other colleagues' usernames until he saw one which was familiar. An old school friend.