Dorand grabbed another object from the drawer and held it up to examine it. "This," he said, "may be the most important of the gadgets at your disposal. It is a... tranquilizer." They looked at him with seriousness and renewed interest now. Who or what would they be knocking out? "Together with the Memory Eraser," which he quickly lifted from the drawer and waved at them briefly, a smallish box shaped object, "you will take memories of paranormal events from people's minds. So no mass panic will erupt, and no unnecessary public knowledge of our secret agencies' programs will occur."

They stared at the tranquilizer, which he still held in his hand. It looked like a small dull grayish metal squirt gun. But rounder, almost like an egg, more toward that shape. He knew he had their rapt attention again. More than ever before. He smiled. "A small pellet is discharged when the trigger is pulled. The pellet contains the tranquilizing agent and erupts just under the skin of the person it is fired at. The wound it leaves looks like a small insect bite. The drug works immediately. It gives the person the sudden urge to lay down, to avoid unnecessary injuries. Then they are unconscious. The effects last for 15 to 20 minutes. The drug also erases the memory of the person from just before the pellet hits them to just after they arise and take whatever position they were in before. Sitting, standing..." At this point he took another tranquilizer gun from the desk drawer, identical to the first. "Just to give you an idea of what this feels like—" He suddenly turned to them and shot them both at once. They immediately closed their eyes and slumped where they sat in the comfy couch. Dorand chuckled happily and set the guns aside, and went to eat his lunch.

Emily and Will slowly came to consciousness again, opened their eyes, and sat up straighter. They looked like they were in a daze. Then as if they were snapped on again, they were suddenly alert, and back to listening for the story to continue. Dorand was in the same spot, but no longer held the guns in his hand. 'I must have spaced out for a moment,' Will thought to himself. Emily had a similar feeling swimming in her brain. But she felt well rested. Why was that?

Dorand saw the expectant looks come back onto their faces and continued as if nothing had happened. "You were chosen because we had been surveilling and studying a number of people in the area, seeing who would be best suited for this job. But then you," he looked at Will, "Were bitten by that vampire and we decided it may as well be you who we made the offer to first."

Will looked incredulous and shook his head as if he hadn't heard right. "I was bitten by a what?"

Dorand looked surprised, "Oh, didn't you know you were bitten by a vampire?" Maybe Will had repressed the memory.

Will answered with another disbelieving chuckle, "I thought I was bitten by a psycho."

"Ah," Dorand said. Not repression, only denial. "Vampire, psycho. Potato, potahto." He shrugged his shoulders.

Will gave him a strange look.

Emily looked only slightly surprised by the news that it was a vampire. She still wasn't sure it was a real one. Maybe some crazy man who believed he was one? Pretending to be one? She sighed. This was becoming a long exhausting day. Brain-wise.

"The two of you are apparently good employees, smart, open to the odd and unusual, judging from your avid reading of science fiction novels and renting of science fiction DVDs."

The couple looked a little taken aback by this personal knowledge thrown back at them.

Dorand went on, "You have high SAT scores—"

Will interrupted, "You have our SAT scores? How did you get those?"

"Do you really want to know the boring particulars?" Dorand asked.

"No." Will slunk back in his seat and continued to listen, suspicious.

"We find that married couples make good teams. For us anyway. Mostly because people have a hard time not telling their spouses what they do at their jobs. Having both members of a couple working for us solves that problem." Dorand walked around the desk and opened the files and began sifting through the papers in them, looking for something. "If you choose to begin working for us, you will have to sign a contract, with a very sturdy confidentiality clause. You will then have 3 days of tests, both physical and psychological, to see if you really are well equipped to deal with this job. Once having passed said tests, you will then have 7 days of intensive training where you will learn basic maneuvers and protocol. In future, I will be your only contact within the agency. I do not work in this town. I will give you a cell phone number only. Should any problems arise, you will contact me using it. Any updates to your job description, technology you are using, or definitions of paranormal creatures and phenomena will be sent to you in a timely fashion through secret but reliable channels." Finding the papers he was looking for, he set them neatly on top of the other papers, folded his hands over them, and looked at the awestruck couple on the couch in front of him. "Should you choose not to accept these jobs, I will erase the memory of these conversations you have had with me and it will be as if we've never met."

Will laughed again and said, "You can't really do that."

Dorand gave almost a half smile and said, "I can. I could prove it to you, but you wouldn't remember." Dorand smiled a bit wider now, in love with the private joke he had with himself. Will looked at him even more suspiciously now.

"We pay well enough, with insurance, etc., the usual benefits. Interested?"

Once more Will chuckled. He and Emily looked at each other. They shared a silent "Is this guy for real?" look.

Dorand got up and said, "I'll give you a moment to talk it over." He left the room.

Will and Em stayed speechless as they stared at each other.

Finally Emily spoke, in a hushed voice, "How can we not do this?"

Will looked surprised by this.

She continued. "I mean just to see if it's real, see what happens. It's like an adventure, no?"

"I guess..." Will said, slowly coming around to her way of thinking. "This has got to be a crazy hoax of some sort, Em," he said.

"I know it could be," Emily said smiling. She spoke in even more of a hush now, excitedly, "But what if it's not?" Her eyes lit up.