“I guess I should start by telling you what this place is,” she offered, cooled off now that she was away from Victor and whatever mystery had originally made her angry. She actually seemed pretty nice. I was strangely comfortable around her. As an introvert, this was weird for me, to say the least.

“That would be helpful,” I agreed.

“We are called the Infinite and we guard against…erm, let’s call them alternative threats.”

“Alternative threats? What, like sleeper cells full of Pearl Jam fans? I don’t want anything to do with that kind of evil,” I joked.

She actually laughed at that.

“No, nothing like that,” she giggled. “There are things on this planet that can’t be explained.”

“Like immortals?” I asked, a bit more serious this time.

“In a way. But immortals are still human. Post-human, maybe, but we all were—are—human. What we protect the world from are threats of a different nature altogether. It’s hard to explain—and you wouldn’t believe me if I tried—so I’d rather just show you. Let’s start in the holding cells, and we’ll go from there.”

I have to say, Marla’s “alternative threats” had me intrigued. There are things out there that are harder to believe than people who can’t die? And they’re a threat to the people who can die? And this organization battles those threats and wants to recruit me? She absolutely had my attention and I was interested in seeing where this led. At this point, I had nothing left to lose.

“Lead on,” I told her.

After following the ridiculously good-looking and newly calmed redhead down several hallways, we stopped outside a thick steel door with no handle. Marla pressed a button on the wall, and a globe of black glass sprung to life with a retina scanner that dragged a blue beam across her right eye. After a second, a pleasant tone sounded, and the heavy door popped open. She stepped inside and I followed.

“I have to warn you; this is some serious shit you’re about to see. But I need you to understand that it’s all very real—we are not in the business of making expensive jokes.”

I didn’t really understand.

“I understand,” I lied.

“We call this area the Block, and it’s certainly the most interesting place in the building.”

Just to our left, I noticed a huge black ring with purple lights inside. The whole thing was on casters so that it could be moved, but it looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. It looked like something out of Event Horizon.

“What’s that thing?” I asked.

“A purifier,” she explained. “We use it when something comes in with an unconfirmed origin—cryptids, artifacts, weapons, whatever. Uses highly concentrated UV light to disinfect whatever goes through it. We don’t use it much, but it’s definitely nice to have around. Don’t want to infect the world with some ancient or extraterrestrial virus, you know?”

Though I had no clue what the hell she was talking about, I nodded as Marla and I rounded a corner where we came upon the first cell. I must admit: I was not, in any way, prepared for what was inside.

There was no beating around the bush, I was looking at a goddamned werewolf.

“Is that a werewolf?” I asked.

“Lycanthrope, yes,” she confirmed.

“They exist?”

“They do. And they’re surprisingly easy to kill. No need for silver, lead works just fine.” She patted the gun on her hip.

“And why do you have it locked in a cell?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Well, eventually, he or she is going to revert back to its human form, and when it does, we’re going to ask it some questions. And if it doesn’t talk, we’ll beat the answers out of it. Some people here are very good at that kind of thing.”

The lycanthrope seemed to react to this and charged the clear glass wall, slamming into it with a dull thud. I flinched, Marla did not. I got the feeling that she was one of those people she’d just mentioned.

“Three-and-a-half inches of solid Lexan,” she said, lightly rapping on the glass with her knuckles. “It would take a lot more than this mutt to get through that.”

Without a word, she walked further down the hall.

The lycanthrope growled and glared at me as I walked away. It didn’t look happy.

The next cell held an equally impossible creature.

And I had no idea what it was.

“We call these guys ‘Thinners’ for two reasons," Marla told me. "One: They’re super skinny. But they’re wiry, so don’t underestimate them. And two: they hunt in packs and they will thin your numbers out faster than you can blink. Unexpectedly dangerous.”

I nodded, “Comforting.”

The creature was naked. Humanoid, pale. No eyes. Limbs thinner than the thinnest person you could imagine. Long black claws tipped its white hands and black teeth filled its too-large mouth. It tilted its head to the side and made an unsettling clicking noise. It wasn’t facing me, but I’d bet anything it knew I was there. Aside from the tilting of its head, it was deathly still. Eerie.

Marla kept walking.

“This next one is a little different,” Marla prefaced. “These fellows are not from around here.”

I reached the next cell and saw something I’ll never forget.

I’m not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens.

“Holy shit.”

“Right?” she laughed. “These guys aren’t so bad. They’re dangerous, but not necessarily hostile. In fact, they’re in there for their own safety, not ours or anyone else’s—and they can leave whenever they want. It’s a long story…and one that’ll probably leave you with more questions than answers.”

I nodded slowly, staring at the two not-so-horrifying-but-totally-bizarre creatures calmly sitting in the cell. I’d have to ask her to tell me that story some time.

Throughout our tour of the Block, we passed other cells holding all manner of creatures mythical, magical, and unknown. It was a lot to take in, even for someone like me. I mean, learning that monsters and aliens and all kinds of other fictional beasts were real—and real threats—was overwhelming.

It was only when we got to the very end, to an office with Marla’s name on the door, that my mind was truly blown.

I’ll explain.

We headed inside. There were two desks, one on each wall, and she motioned for me to take a seat. I obeyed, because she scared me, and I sat at a desk that clearly didn’t belong to anyone, as it was empty. She casually flopped down into the opposite chair and threw her feet up on the edge of the desk that I assumed belonged to her. She tilted her head and looked over at me with a playful grin.

“So, now that you sort of have an idea what we do and what we’re up against, you still want to work here?” she asked.

I laughed.

“It wasn’t actually my choice to come here in the first place. Your boss kind of publicly abducted me. It narrowed down my options just a little bit.”

She smiled but didn’t respond. I got the feeling she’d been recruited in a similar fashion. It was like an aggressively polite press gang.

“Although, I don’t think it would be so bad. The people are nice,” I joked, gesturing to her. She giggled at that.

She opened her mouth to speak when, all of a sudden, a plastic cup filled with pens and markers slid to the edge of her desk, tipped over the side, and crashed to the floor.

Without thinking, I leaned forward to pick up the mess when her laptop tried its hardest to follow the pen cup. My reflexes kicked in and I shot a hand out to catch the falling computer before it met the same fate as the stationery.

I handed Marla her laptop, “You’ve got ghosts, too,” I joked. This time she didn’t laugh or smile, just watched me with interest.

I leaned down again to pick up the pens and markers when I felt my knife being withdrawn from the sheath at the small of my back.

With one quick motion, I caught the grip of the knife with my left hand, stood, and threw a swift right elbow in the direction I assumed the thief was in.

I missed.

Or, more accurately, there was nothing there to hit. The room behind me was empty.

I tilted my head in confusion, but didn’t have much time to think, because the coat rack near the door tipped in my direction. Easily righting it, I turned to Marla. A drawer in the desk next to me opened on its own.

“You do have ghosts,” I insisted, and this time she smiled.

“Thane, come on out,” Marla said, giggling again.

And an actual ghost appeared in the room, I shit you not.

This thing was mean looking. Incorporeal, but still solid enough that you could feel its presence. Black, demonic eyes, and wicked fangs. Horns. Claws. It was wild.

I took a step back.

“Enough, Thane. He’s new,” Marla commanded with a laugh.

Suddenly, the demonic apparition before me vanished, and a dapper young man stood in its place. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties, dressed in an old-timey three-piece suit, complete with pocket watch and chain. His dark hair was slicked back, accentuating some admittedly cool muttonchops framing his angular face.

The all-black eyes and transparency, however, remained.

“Greetings, chap. I am Thane Hudson, of the Infinite’s IT Department,” the ghost declared, with a proper turn-of-the-century London accent.

A joker—I almost laughed.

The spirit held out its hand. I shook it and it felt real.

“Jack Fox,” I introduced myself.

“Odd,” the spirit replied with a tilt of his head. “You don’t look like Miss Keene’s usual type. Speaking of typing, do you know much about computer-machines? I know great deal about them,” he announced, keeping the IT gag running.

I grinned.

“I won’t lie; you are the first ghost I’ve ever met.”

“And most certainly the last!” Thane barked, immediately morphing back into the demonic form.

This time, I didn’t flinch or shy away.

“Now, that is cool,” I admitted, leaning close to check out the details of Thane’s demonic presence. Abruptly, he changed back to his human appearance.

“Oh, I like this one,” he told Marla with a grin. “He’s not like the others.”

“If I was a ghost, I’d want a terrifying demonic form, too,” I added with a shrug, sounding like a ten-year-old talking about action figures.

Marla leaned forward.

“I’m so glad you two are hitting it off,” she beamed, sarcastically. “You can go, Thane. I have to go over some things with Jack—see if he really wants to be a part of this madness.”

As Thane disappeared while taking a dramatic bow, he reached out and casually tipped over the trashcan next to me—and I thought I might not hate working in a place like this.

“So, Thane doesn’t bother you?” Marla asked when she was sure the ghost had departed.

“After all of the impossible things I’ve learned today, the reality of ghosts is at the very bottom of the list of things that bother me,” I admitted, still having trouble adjusting to this bizarre new reality.

“Hmm. Thane makes most of the immortals that work with us uncomfortable. I think it has something to do with the realization that there is a life after death but none of us will ever experience it.”

I furrowed my brow and nodded.

“Wow. That was incredibly dark. Thanks for the shot of optimism,” I deadpanned.

She laughed, then moved on.

“Obviously, the few examples you saw today are just a drop in the bucket compared to everything that’s out there. There are thousands of supernatural creatures in existence and it would take hours just to list them all but, with time, you’ll learn what’s what.”

I nodded. I was at a loss for words, still overwhelmed by everything I’d learned.

“Do you have any questions? Anything you’re curious about?” she asked, folding her hands on her desk.

“I’m curious about everything,” I admitted, but shifted gears and made a turn into dangerous territory. “Can I ask about you?”

Marla hesitated.

“That’s…not a good idea.”

“What do you mean?” I asked as she checked her watch.

“Bookmark that—we’d better get back to Victor. It’s almost time.”

Anxious, I shrugged and followed Marla back to the big man’s office where a surprise was waiting for me.