The instructions had come as they always did. Vague, direct, blunt and via text message. She was used to it by now. Ratte had been getting the same treatment for years, since her employer had deemed her worthy and no longer needed to train her personally. She wasn't entirely sure that she would be able to pick Fallon de Meurtre out of a police line up anymore; it had been years since he had shown his pale face.

[indent][i]Vincent Morales. Shadowfell. Springfield, Fairview County. SP: AR. Car waiting.[/i][/indent]

As was customary of a mission provided by Fallon, a [url=https://landrover.ssl.cdn.sdlmedia.com/636743559620686555HH.jpg?v=1]Range Rover Evoque[/url] had been left with a full tank and instructions about how to get to Springfield. It was parked in a secluded car park and the keys had been delivered to her hotel room first thing that morning. The instructions were inside an envelope alongside an updated road map. Fallon didn't believe in sat navs due to their tendency to be tracked. Because of this, Ratte had learnt and memorized most of the roads in America through her training, so this process was normally simple. Springfield was a new city though; one she had only heard of and she hadn't heard it's name often. Rumours surrounded it; it was a magical hub; only vampires lived there; all of the magical and mysterious happenings that had spread across America since the Cold War had all started there; monsters and supernatural weapons were being build and bred there to start World War 3. Some of the rumours she believed, but most she took as drunken vampires and elves trying to scare the mundane folk.

She had set off at lunchtime; duffel bag packed and maps memorized. When she finally hit the turn-off for Springfield, the sun was setting behind her and spreading firey reds and yellows across the horizon as it went. The wide highway lead straight to the city and it grew up suddenly in front of her; tall silhouetted buildings and shimmering lights dancing more as she got closer. The city itself looked alive and buzzed with the thrum of activity. She felt excited by it. Ratte had been expecting the city to be dull and small, full of woodland creatures and elves like the stories children read suggested, but this was far from it. As a great silver dragon glided through the air over the highway, she laughed and whooped, "Damn! I thought those things were extinct!"

She sped up and made it into the city just as the sky turned inky black around her. She tuned her car radio from static buzz to the local station and caught the end of an over-excited woman updating about the city's news. She raised an eyebrow - rock worms and oozes? This wasn't your average city, that was for sure. She turned up the gritty guitar that played in ZZ Top's [i]Sharp Dressed Man[/i] and tapped along with her hand on top of the steering wheel until she saw the flashing neon sign she was looking for: Club Shadowfell.

She parked and stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut with the clash of cymbals in the song still playing in her head. The air was cool and a breeze brushed her dark bangs from her face. She tucked her left hand into the back pocket of her dark pants and made her way around to the front of the club. She eyed the guests lined up and waiting to be let inside as she stepped past them. There were some humans that she could make out, but most were more fantastical than that. She didn't think she'd seen so many different eye colours before. She winked at a particularly attractive faery before stepping up to the orc bouncer and clearing her throat. She looked tiny beside him; him being built of muscle and brawn; and her being lithe and lean but she grounded herself regardless, "Excuse me," she began, her voice clear over the hum of voices and low bass escaping from the club doors, "I'm here to see Mr Vincent Morales... I don't believe he'd like to be kept waiting any longer than he already has."