It had been around 3am when Lock found herself awake, very awake, in her bed. Her body had been drenched in a cold sweat. A constant build up of pressure inside her skull caused her to fear that it could explode at any moment. "Damn it." Were the words which had parted from between lips. This was no ordinary pain. No this was the sort of pain which required her to take a set of pills. Pills which when introduced into her body. Broke down and circulated into her bloodstream, and up into her brain. The affects of these drugs were to ease her "gift". Lock had reluctantly rose from her bed. Her bare chest exposed. Through out her years as an agent. Lock developed a habit of sleeping nude. This was mainly brought on by the severity of her dreams, and the violent way her body reacted to said dreams. After one extreme night of tossing and turning. Locked had found herself being almost strangled by said clothes as she tried to breath. Since that night. The agent has made it a point to sleep naked just in case.
She reached over towards her nightstand, and turned on the lamp. A cup of water had already been placed on the stand for her. The pills were placed on a paper towel next to the cup. She reached for the pills with her right hand, and took hold of the glass with the left. She popped the pills in her mouth, and gulped down the water. They tasted horrible, always have. Yet they did the trick,and with the pills in her system. Lock forced herself to fall back to sleep. Yet sleep would not come. She cursed underneath her breath, and decided to forfeit the fight for sleep.
With that notion in her head. Locked stood up out of bed, and approached her bathroom. The sight of her sleep deprived self in the bathroom mirror caused her to wince. She disliked herself in the morning. The frizzled look of her hair. The pale red blotchy spots that marked her skin. Add the constant mental strain of her migraine. Even once cured. Made her hate mornings, and preferred the comforts of the night. Though there were some things about the mornings she did enjoy. One of those things being her morning tea. She reached for her bathrobe, and covered her pale, blouchy, nude self.
Her tea was the first thing that she went for in the kitchen. You see for Lock, tea was one of those things that seemed to sooth her weary mind. It didn't matter the type of flavor tea that she preferred. It was something about the leaves, and the texture of tea that brought to her troubled mind some peace. "Hello old friend." She whispered with smirk as she had already prepared her tea kettle the night before. All she had to do was turn on the stove. Place the kettle on top, and waited for faithful sound of the kettle's whistle. Which didn't take long at all. Soon she had herself a warm cup of tea, a seat by the fireplace, and a good book in her hands.
By the time Lock was dressed in a sweater and a pair of blue jeans. The rest of the team was wide awake. Lou noticed the teapot on the stove, and knew that Lock had another rough night. "What was this one about?" Inquired Lou as he took a seat across from her, a cup freshly brewed coffee in his hand. She smirked, and took a sip of her tea. Lou knew this had to probably be her 3rd or 4th cup. When she had nights like these. She always had more then one cup. "I am not sure how to describe this one." Lou shook his head with a chuckle, and pointed towards the fireplace. "Then show me." Lock took one last sip of her tea. She knew what he meant as he gestured towards the fireplace. For Lock was one of C.U.L.T.'s "Special" agents. Which simply meant she was better then other agents, and they knew it.
Lock glared intently into the flames of the fireplace. It was there in those flames that the scenes of what she had dreamed began to take form. Lou watched as obscure, and terrifying imagery crackled within the bright glow of the fire. She explained in detail the world which she had envisioned. "There was no real form of light there. Except maybe for some type of glow that shined down from a pale sky. It wasn't natural, but neither was this world." Lou continued to listen as his partner narrated this strange dream. "There were monuments to beings much..much older then anything we knew of. It was a wretched wasteland filled with jagged structures that jutted out of the ground. The whispers of a language familiar but unknown called out to me. A mammoth sized gate stood before me in the distance. One which when I approached it glowed an eerie yellowish glow. I wanted to run, but my legs would only lead one way. I found myself at the gates, and as i stood there. A chill struck me, and there it was...Those eyes..." The flames from the fireplace burned hotter and brighter until a explosion of flames flew out of the fireplace. Lou grabbed Lock's hands, and brought her back to reality. "Lock!" He yelled, which startled her. The flames died out completely and extinguished as her attention was now on him. "Thank you." She uttered in a hush whisper.
The rest of the morning was the team prepping for their op. The mission was simple. They were to meet a contact in the town of Baskerville. Where many of these sightings had taken place. "Do we have our badges?" Asked lock as she threw on her coat. Lou responded with a nod. "Yup." He too was dressed in his coat, and scarf. Which covered several of his old battle scars. The rest of the team were dressed in simple flannel shirts, pants, and caps. They were to look like locals, and even had adapted the accents of the local flavor. C.U.L.T Agents like many spies, specialists, and other "secretive" forces. Were well versed as bilingual and multi-skilled field operators who could easily hide in crowd. This is what allowed them to function on a global scale. In many ways. It proved them to be too skilled, and sometimes have thrown them into the line of friendly fire.
"Alright boys and girls." Lou called out as he placed his pistols in their respective holsters. Looks likes we are ready to head out. Let hunt ourselves a hell-hound!" So the teams were off to the races. Lock and Lou caught a taxi, and the rest of the team members rode off in pick up trucks. The team were to arrive first, and provide some recon of the area. While Lock and Lou were to arrive later. This was how the agency operated. One team went in first with some bigger guns. The next team were usually the gifted ones who went in second. As Lock and lou finally approach the town. They were greeted by the sounds and smells of sheep,pigs, cows, goats, and other simple farm life. The cab, which was paid some extra pounds for taking them there. Drove off faster then you could blink. They glared at the cab, and back towards each other. Lou smirked. "So..we aren't the only ones who heared of the beast then?"
_________________ “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” H.P. Lovecraft
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