But First Coffee

JP with Trustno1, Jaxx and Cindy

Alyssa was in the lobby waiting for the team to be ready. She carried her laptop in her backpack slung over her left shoulder as she absent-mindedly squeeze a firmish stress-ball that looked like a small globe. Her mind drifting to the events of last night. Her nightmare. She knew it was a nightmare. The feeling upon being woken from one was unmistakable. Certainly wasn't the young woman's first and wouldn't be her last but ...

Her mind played back to the day her father went missing, as it turned out there was also huge gaps in her memory from that day.

Not just that day but every nightmare since then nothing, and she could could vividly remember dreams before then. There was more but not what Alyssa was focused on at the moment. Why was last night's nightmare different? Why did bits and pieces of it hang her mind. Her parents, black nothingness, a few words spoken, those hideous teeth but nothing else. The images were jumbled as well changing as the day went on. She now saw the blackness engulf her parents, the teeth were green. And for the life of the woman, there was no remembering the images that came before and less, and less of them were invading her brain. Leaving more empty spots in her mind.

Agent Powers did his best to not bump the other staff and hotel guests as he passed by. He was trying to look professional but ended up giving everyone a smoldering grin. Eventually he met up with Alyssa and gave her a smoldering smile as he said, “Ready to roll?”

The sound of Max's voice came as a jolt to Alyssa who had been lost in thought. She jumped slightly, "Max. Hi. Sorry, um..." What did he say? Ready? "We're just waiting on Peter.”

He arrived in the lobby anxious, "lead the way Alyssa.”

Agent Powers replied, “Oh just saying I’m ready to roll when you are,” Do we need to bring or do anything?” Agent Powers looked dashing as he put his hands on his hips.

"Any ideas Alyssa?”

"Nothing I can think of. I guess we wait until we get there." The computer hacker replied.

She lead the two men to her van and unlocked it. "Max, I'm sorry I can't give you more space than the back of the van." Though it was more spacious than the front but still. She crawled into the back of the vehicle. Put her laptop back into its place and started it up. Typed a few things in and the equipment she had shut down started back up.

She then typed a few more things. The mointors for the cameras went blank, the one still focused on the Halliwell house. She kept typing.. "I'll be ready to go in a minute.”

Agent Powers nodded and grinned as he replied, "It's cool. I am used to it. i just hope I don't break anything by accident." Then he did his best to get secured for the ride. He quietly watched Alyssa and Peter try to figure out their next move. As he watched them work he felt out of place and was reminded of the huge gap in experience they shared. At best he was an average student he felt even dumber next to Alyssa who was a computer genius. All Max could do was play a few games on his phone and use simple apps. Then that Peter guy seem to know a lot of stuff even if he came off as a bit of a jerk by ignoring him during conversations. Most of Max's experiences involved learning to survive in horrible places and honing his combat skills in life and death situations such as being dropped off in a South American jungle full of cannibals and told to make it to an extraction point if he wanted to get home. Sadly this meant his social skills were very warped and he struggled to make friends thus making dating an impossible option. However he needed to prove to his father that he could still be a good agent so he was given the opportunity to work with others for a change. It was awkward for him and he didn't know what to say outside of work. As he saw Alyssa he noticed she was tired and had dark circles under eyes. He wondered if she was also having a hard time in her life. Sadly he had no idea how to bring that topic up.

Sartre sat in the front. "What are you typing?” He then added, "We leave here, hopefully with them to see if they can handle The End Rite in the basement at the manor. "Should we tell them that the Templars took the Book of Shadows?”

When Peter asked what she was typing, Alyssa held up her index finger to tell him to give her a minute. Then said, "There." The screens showing the cameras, except the one for the Halliwell Manor, had changed. She had hacked into other street cameras.

Alyssa got up from her seat and pointed out the different images, "I'm going to keep this one on the Halliwell house." Pointing to the different screens as she went. "This one is Sung's house. He has a long and somewhat odd background with the Dragons. I can't be sure but he might be in charge of the mission. This one is our hotel, with all the weirdness going on, never know if that will be useful. This last one is our destination today. P3." Alyssa paused. "Hey, Max if you want you can keep an eye on the screens. Especially P3 and let us know of you see anything usual." Forewarned is forearmed after all.

Agent Powers was puzzled by this shadow book they kept mentioning so he decided to ask about it, "Uhhh sure. What is this shadow book you keep talking about?" He moved in position to see the screens.

Satre would let Alyssa answer.

"Oh, I went over the surveillance footage of the house and saw the Templars leave. They didn't take the Book of Shadows." Alyssa moved into position in the driver's seat. "The Book of Shadows is basically a spellbook. It was in the attic of the Halliwell house.”

"They used it for at least 8 years. If it's still there, then they won't be upset.” Peter added.

"True. It probably had protections on it. Maybe, the Templars didn't want to mess with that?" Alyssa said.

When everyone was seated, and the ones on the front buckled in, Alyssa took off out of the parking garage and down the street.

"First, coffee." Which is what she had said at breakfast.

The sign read Sycamore Coffee, clearly a local place. She pulled into the drive-through. "Anybody want anything?”