Taking A History

[Black Philip]

Continued from Closing Time

I opened the doors to the small bar, and thankfully found it pretty empty. Some college looking bro was finishing up drinks with a chick who was obviously not into him, and Rohan was tending bar. I was disappointed not to see Theo, their positive energy would've been good for Dreki, and they were much better at the there there stuff than me. I picked a corner booth and tucked in, and asked Rohan for two waters. He didn't know about my fangs, and the last thing Dreki needed was more booze. Rohan graciously obliged, telling us to stay as long as we needed. Fresh out of tip money, I gave him my best winning smile, and once he was gone I turned to look at Dreki.

"Okay, start at the beginning," I said, finally feeling in my element.

[Maxpphire]

He had followed Drew into the place taking in the scents and sounds as they entered. Following Drew to what will be their booth, listening to him order two things of water. He understood that one would be for him which he had no issue for, but didn't think Vampires could drink water, which he found odd. When Rohan came back, he didn't hear Drew go for his wallet or put anything on the table, so instead Dreki tipped the water bringer, slid a $20 on the table for him. He was aware he was spending $20 as a tip, he always tipped heavy so this wasn't out of the norm for him.

"From the beginning? It's quite a story but I'll try to condense it down." He warned as he though for a moment, taking a drink of his water before he started. "My parents died when I was 16. Mom in an accident, Dad, well, he wasn't able to continue without Mom it seemed. So I ended up in foster care, they were afraid of placing me with just anyone because back then I was fully blind. They wanted to make sure however they did place me with not only had room, but had handled special needs kids before in the past. They found a place that was fostering just one other kid at the time, who ended up being Emma. She was 7 when I met her and still in diapers back then. I was naive enough to not realize that a kid shitting their pants was a sign of abuse, but it is something I learned the hard way. Emma was always mentally delayed, she doesn't have downs syndrome or anything, but her bio parents just never interacted with her. She was rescued before she became a true feral child and does have some semblance of Language and whats going on, but she really just never progressed further than what a toddler would."

He took another sip of his water.

"Anyway, our foster dad was abusing her sexually. She had her own way of telling me this, by showing me when it happened. I got incredibly mad and attacked him with my seeing cane. My memory is kind of fuzzy after that, except somehow making it to a gas station parking lot in the middle of the night with her in attempts to run away. It became a rather big thing on the News back then, and while the foster place was trying to find us a new home, the Facility stepped in. Dr. Hofflan came in person to meet with us and talked with me. He wanted to know if I had any wishes, lifetime goals, and other things of the like. As a lonely 16 year old who was ostracized from his peers for being blind, I told him that I wished that I could see and that I wanted Emma to live in a safe environment. For long term goals I told him I wouldn't mind being a teacher, as I enjoyed helping Emma learn for while I lived with her. He promised me sight, a safe home for Emma and myself, and if I still had the aptitude for it, that he would pay for my schooling to become a teacher."

He took another drink, his tone of voice stayed mostly neutral. It was clear on some of the harder subjects to talk about it wavered a bit.

"I agreed and thus he adopted us both. He then explained much more in depth what everything would entail, and they wanted to wait until I was 18 so I could consent to it legally for myself. However if I didn't consent then he could no longer promise the ability to pay for my schooling to become a teacher, so really, what choice did I have? Emma and I were both home schooled at the facility at that point, and he would take blood and other samples of DNA from me to experiment with until the time came. The day after my 18th birthday I went under and didn't fully 'wake up' until a month or two later. I don't remember much of that time except excruciating pain and a conversation they had where they didn't think I was going to make it."

He finished off his glass of water.

"After I woke up and was fine, they ran all sorts of general tests, tests they have run on me before the whole thing and compared. Think like a doctors checkup but way more incredibly in depth. He still runs those tests once a year and compares it all. Apparently I cannot get sick through normal means anymore, I heal incredibly quickly from injuries, I can see outlines of 3D objects rather than nothing at all, that physically it doesn't seem like I'm aging anymore since past 25 or so, that I can heal others at risk of my own physical health, I can generally tell the difference between humans and vampires at least, and..."

He stopped talking for a bit, looked down at his left hand.

"I'm certain there are things they aren't telling me. I've no idea how I've burnt my hand. I have two burn scars on my back as well, it wasn't something that happened before the facility. They also tried to train me how to fight, it didn't work out so well, so they let me loose into the world, paid for my schooling to become a teacher, and thus, thats where I am today. Dr. Hofflan will request I visit the facility from time to time for either check-ups or to hang out with Emma for bit, or something. The most recent check up for myself I remember after he gave me some shots I was incredibly sick for a bit. My memory is fuzzy so I don't remember too well what happened, but what I do remember is leaving the facility to go home, then ended up back in the facility itself. I was strapped down and sedated, and Hofflan, well he requested the nurses, to do something I was very much in no mood for. The last time I went for Emma, I learned that because of the evils of the facility she is now, expecting a child. She barely understood puberty went she went through it, and to say I'm terrified for her is an understatement. I went to try and attack him, but I quickly learned that he was a vampire himself and he very quickly put me in my place."

Those last parts, he seemed very uncomfortable talking about those two visits with obvious good reason.

"I can't say I'm not thankful, without Dr. Hofflan adopting us I'd probably be a poor blind homeless man stuck on the streets with nowhere to go, and Emma, probably become a ward of the state or something, but I can't help but feel like that would have been a better fate than where we are today. He does act like a dad sometimes. He'll check in with me just to check in, not like I really give him more than a one sentence response, but I'm at a point where I really can't deal with this anymore. I want help but I don't know who to ask or what to even ask. This isn't as simple as 'Oh I can't read a receipt to leave a tip' or something else with my blindness. I'm at a loss of what to do but I know that I need to get Emma, get her to safety, get her to a doctor who will understand that she is in no way or shape fit to be a mother, and get us both free from their grasps. If I can ruin the whole place I would because I can't imagine that Emma and I are the only ones they have wronged. Again I just don't know where to start."

He seemed incredibly willing to give up whatever information he needed, and that was as condensed a story that he could give, leaving out a good chunk of details, but spoke about what he felt would be important to Drew's case. He was ready for Drew to ask a bunch of questions, and he was more than willing to answer. He kind of wanted the second cup of water but figured Drew likely ordered it for some good reason and didn't push for it.

[ChordTerias]

When Rohan scooped the tip from the table, he could feel the wrongness coming off of Dreki in waves. Keep working, Rohan. A slight tremble in his hand. Not your business. The waver of his voice. How would you help, anyway? His downturn, unfocused eyes. Rohan sighed. ... damn it. The tragic signs, far more familiar than anyone would wish to be acquainted, brought him back to one of his earliest memories.

A child, sobbing in the forest, regarding him fear. Whose gaze seemingly went through him, too scared to look directly, but reached out a courageous hand nevertheless. The warmth of the first time someone placed their hands upon his horrifying form without intending him harm.

He looked toward that child now, tending their bar and reaching out to use those same warm hands to touch everyone who they could. He looked down toward his own hands, changed so much since their time in the Dreaming. When he put down his tray, he pressed his hands to his face to feel their warmth.

Perhaps certain debts can only be repaid when they are paid to others.

Rohan rushed to the bar, thankful for the night being as slow as it was. "Theo, three honeycombs, please." Rohan bounced with nervous energy, slightly out of his element.

His request did not go unnoticed by the diminutive bartender, "Honeycombs, you say?" Their hands were already working on the drink, grabbing of one of their unmarked bottles. "Special occasion?" Rohan only offered a nod, eyes focused and mumbling under his breath. Theo always found it adorable when Rohan would practice what he was going to say before speaking to someone new. Theo laid magic gently over the drinks as the viscous baby blue honey poured from the bottle -- mixing with the liqours to become a light purple.

"Let me know if you need me," Theo offered. Another terse, but not unkind, nod from Rohan as he loaded the shots onto his tray, and he was off -- carrying it over to the corner booth.

"Hey," Rohan said. He placed his tray on the table. He felt the pause he practiced was taking too long, so he stumbled into his next words. "Iwa- I uh. Would you two wanna do a shot with me?" Seeing Drew's expression sour a bit, he continued. "They're not terribly strong. Kind of a palette cleanser from back home when we think the drinks have gotten us a little further drunk than we were aiming." He held up the shot poured for him with a smile that was meant to be genuine but belied his nerves.

[Maxpphire]

When Dreki had finished his basic life story lesson in regards how he came to the facility and what has mostly happened since being there, came a new voice asking to take a shot with them. The sense of this person came to him as something new. Not vampire or human, it piqued his curiosity but given the nerves of this new companion of the night, he thought it best not to ask, at least not now anyway. He moved his way inward of the booth allowing space for Rohan to sit down next him and join them.

"I did promise myself that my last drink tonight was the last one I had, but I think I can make an exception this one time. To what's the occasion?" He asked while looking toward Rohan. His eyes didn't quite look at Rohan but rather off to the side of his face. The outlines had started to come back for Dreki, but they were mostly just waves and not really anything defining, almost like a radio signal lost in the air. He figured the person came over with shots because they wanted to join in, and while he didn't mind telling his story, he was more worried of the ramifications of what could happen to Rohan if they found out he knew anything.

"If you wish to join us, I do have to warn you," he started, "I'm giving information to my friend Drew here, as he's investigating a place I'm trying to fully cut ties with. He's aware of the risks, and it's dangerous. I'd hate to introduce a new person into such a thing without a warning at least." He smiled, it was warm and friendly but at the same time, slightly sad. His bluntness was due to his drunken state, however if sober he probably wouldn't have made room for the new person and just politely said it was a private conversation. He didn't grab the shot glass because he couldn't see it.

"Oh! I'm Dreki by the way." He said realizing he pretty much introduced Drew but not himself. He almost reached out with his left hand to shake hands, but then corrected himself before he got too far and reached out with his right instead. His left hand was his dominant hand, and being drunk he almost went with what was natural to him rather than what was normal for everyone else. Plus he was embarrassed of the burn scar that covered his entire palm of his left hand, reaching out to meet someone with a weird textured hand would probably turn them off pretty quickly so he thought, hence why he mostly kept that hand to himself.

[ChordTerias]

"Ah, no occasion. Mystery shots is kinda An Tsi's... thing." He put on a more comfortable smile. "I noticed you were looking a little green, so think of it as mutually beneficial, this should settle any nausea right up."

He looked at Dreki's outstretched hand. Dammit. Theo told me what to do. I uh. He looked behind the bar, and Theo failed miserably at pretending they weren't looking so they gave up the charade quickly. They made some kind of upward motion with their hand. Oh! Right! The shots!

"I'm Rohan, the Fie--" Not your title, yOU IDIOT. He scrambled his words together, "ffiiii-fifth! Named after my great, great, great grandfather." Rohan took the shot from the tray and slowly put it into Dreki's hand. Seeing the way that the man's gaze was slightly off center, he clearly had vision problems, and society would expect Rohan to assist him. "Don't mind me, if you need privacy I can step away. But working in a bar, I hear all manner of things which others would probably prefer us not. Every bar knows more than its fair share of secrets."

Great job, Rohan. He smiled, satisfaction growing wide across his face. You'll be a member of human society in no time.

[Black Philip]

My time in the foster system was... different. I mean in some ways it was pretty much the same. Perverts touching kid parts, shitty foster homes, a quid pro quo for basic survival, that all felt similar. What didn't exactly click was medical experimentation, a sibling, and why anyone would become a teacher. I found a cocktail napkin and took a few choice notes, using a pen from inside the pocket of my leather jacket.

Emma
New's story, year???
Foster agency, CPS or family court?
Old address?
Fight training? Like the sheriff?
Checkup's
Internalized shame?

Once my notes were written out, Rohan was pouring me a shot. Dreki had more or less told him what we were doing, but I eyed him warily. He seemed a cool guy from the few times I'd been to An Tsi since it opened. This was a case though, and so I was unsure how close I wanted him. However, I saw Theo behind the bar, and remembered that Rohan is Theo's man, and if he's good enough for them, he should be good enough for me. I looked at the shot, and ignored it for now.

"Rohan, so good of you to join us," I said with my usual friendly sarcasm, going for a slap on the back instead of a handshake. "You finally get to see me work a case," I added, turning back to face Dreki.

"Only a few followups. One, year of the adoption; two, who handled your child welfare case, and do you remember the worker's name?"

I had a few more, but I didn't want to overload him. I already felt there was enough to dig and possibly find something. All I really needed was an address, a witness or financial records. Kindred aren't as clever as they pretend to be, especially as they get older. They get sloppy about hiding their affairs and that let's a good PI ruin their day. If I could find this doctor's failing, I could find my way to him.

[Maxpphire]

While Dreki was expecting a handshake, not the shot glass, he took it anyway with a smile. The whole "Fie" to "Fifth" didn't pass by his ears, he could tell it was a cover-up of somekind but wouldn't push it. He took the shot, and it was a nicely sweet concoction, a little on the thicker side than most other drinks, and had a strong honey taste. He enjoyed it.

"Thanks for that," he warmly spoke, "A mixture of a heavy subject and a little much to drink for sure made my stomach turn, whats the name of this so I can keep it in mind?" Once he received the name of it, he thanked Rohan then turned back towards Drew.

"I believe it happened in 2007? I'm pretty sure Dr. Hofflan is a vampire who is able to mess with people's memories so mine does kind of get fuzzy on some details. I know for certain I was 16 years old, so math would dictate end of 2006 or most of 2007." He said going with the more likely answer, given his birthday is in October, there was more of a chance that he was adopted in 2007.

"The state handled my welfare case, I believe the case workers name was Ian Penz, Penzi, Panzer? Something of that sort." He seemed to be having a hard time with the last name. "The first name I'm sure of. He was older, kind of slow moving. Not old enough to be dead naturally, but maybe in his 50s at the time. He was a sloth of a man, sorry for the description, I want you to be able to find him if he still works there. There had to be paperwork right? Well I want there to be paperwork." He said then froze a moment. He remembered at least writing that phrase to someone else. A girl, latina? and dominating flooded his thoughts. A Police station? That police station thought again.

"I uhhh, think I've had this conversation with someone else before tonight?" He said unsure of himself. "My memory of it is extremely fuzzy, but I remember being in a police station vaguely."

[Black Philip]

I added the notes on names and dates, running out of napkin so turning it over and using the other side. Then there was the comment that this Dr. Creppy was a vampire. Why would a vampire work for humans doing experiments on us? It didn't make any sense. Was it the ultimate form of an Uncle Tom? Did this vampire "doctor" hate our kind so much he was helping them capture us? I doubt Dreki's angel DNA was donated. I could use the mask name though, and decided to research where Dr. Hofflan went to medical school. I also started thinking of who the good cobblers in town were. I should pay one a visit and figure out how exactly someone could get that level of proper fake I.D.

When Dreki had his sense of déjà vu, I made note of the venue. I knew plenty of cops on the force. If there was an arrest or detainment, and I brought that bitch in records Marge a doughnut, I was pretty sure I could gain access to the records. I had my follow up's ready.

"Any physical descriptors of who you might've talked to at the police station, and any timeline for when that happened?"

"You said they tried training you to fight, how, and did they ever tell you why? Did you train with anyone? Last question, the next time they call you for a checkup think you can send me a text before? If I know you're going in I can find you again when you get out and check for memory loss. I can also place a GPS device somewhere on you and track you that way. If this dude is a vampire then he has to be seeing you at night, right?"

[Maxpphire]

He felt himself grow increasingly sober, and quick. The wave of lines, formed shapes, and eventually steadied out all in solid lines. He looked down at the little shot glass and if he knew if this was it's effect, he'd rather have waited on having it. This was not easy for him to talk about sober, and his whole body language would seem less relaxed and much more tense. While he trusted Drew, he was unaware of this place's special protections and was now concerned that Hofflan would actually pop in and stay to listen.

"It happened not long after our first meeting," there was more of a coolness to his voice, more of a sense of professionalism to it, and a small sense of uncomfortableness given the subject matter but he seemed to hide most of it well beyond that, "It was a woman, she was likely about an entire foot shorter than me but I believe she was Latina. She had a hint of accent to her voice that implied she grew up learning Spanish, and sung along with Spanish songs on the radio. She was very much domineering and harsh, but not in a bad way. I think her name might have been, Lucy? Lainey? It began with an L and ended in a Y and was two syllables, last name was also something that seemed Spanish but it's not coming to me." He said giving the best descriptor of her that he could, he was thinking hard about it when speaking, trying to go back there, but the mental fog was pretty heavy.

"It was some form of a martial art, they had a trainer on duty and I was taken to what amounted to be like a Gym room. It was alone for a while, until Hofflan felt like I wasn't progressing any that way. They got a group of us similarly aged together and had us train against each other, I was faced up against a fairly cocky kid and he beat me so hard I ended up passing..." He stopped talking. The memory of that event hit him, which triggered the fact that this was the second time he was remembering it all again, which in turn triggered the whole scenario surrounding him remembering it that first time, of him being in that police station. After that, he started talking again.

"Her name is Lacy Velez. The Detective I talked to. I uhh, have a necklace of hers back at my place, she gave it to me to try and protect me. I don't think they did anything to her directly, but once I was retrieved and brought back to the facility Hofflan did say by the end of the day that the only evidence of her meeting me would be her own memory as a punishment for her trying to get involved. I remember not being in full control of myself, like I was told to do something and the urgency of doing it was so important I couldn't stop myself from doing it, I felt sick and would have rather laid down, but I couldn't. I was forced to walk into Traffic and get hit by a car. It was, on a really busy road, any mortal would have died from it. I remember feeling like my back was on fire and that I gripped what felt like a red hot pipe or something and I ended up attacking the car that hit me by what felt like gliding through the air directly at it. Not the person inside just the car. I couldn't see what I gripped, it looked like nothing to me so it was really weird. Afterwards the thing went away but my back still hurt incredibly so. Lacy said that she saw that I had wings. I had this happen once before, when they stopped training me had to fight, That cocky kid who came at me, nearly beat me to death. It only stopped when I made him stop, I uhh, cleaved him in half."

He seemed really uncomfortable with himself all of a sudden, his thoughts fragmented together to tell a story that terrified Dreki himself. He couldn't bring himself to look at Drew.

"They didn't train me to fight after that," he spoke quietly, and more out of shame than anything else, "In fact it was not long after that where Hofflan said that he'd be allowing me to go to college and be out in the world, provided that he was to watch over me. He told me it was ok to ask him for money or help if I needed it like any other Son would do with their Dad. I don't always go during the night but the Facility mostly doesn't have any windows. It does have a metal detector so I don't think the GPS tracker would work out very well. I will 100% text you the next time they call for me, and I'll tell you were I'm told to wait so if able, you can at least follow. I should probably return her necklace and explain to her that I remember, she wanted to see me in 3 days but I never showed up. I probably should follow up with her."

He knew what he was going to do tomorrow, he was going to stop by the police station he was brought to and ask to speak with Lacy, he would return her necklace and hopefully get help from her as well as to what to do next as well. The more people he could turn to and ask for help, the better off he might be, but he was worried as she was now involved. While Hofflan did already say what her punishment for getting involved was, he hoped that was the end of that.

[Black Philip]

So he met Velez. She's a tough bitch, and even worse to work with. She busted me a lot when I first started. She even tried to arrest me once when I looked too close to a case we were both working. She ended up solving it before me, but I still got paid since she wouldn't share evidence with my client. I didn't know what to make of the whole necklace bit. Then I remembered Velez is catholic. She's always wearing that stupid cross. I never pegged her for a wack job though. Was the power of God supposed to protect him or something? Christians are morons. If she was involved it meant the CPD was involved now too. Perhaps this facility wasn't government run. I'd heard of think tanks of mortals hunting monsters, and while these people seemed more advanced than the ones I'd heard about, anything is possible with enough cash.

The mind control stuff had me crinkling my brow, and when combined with being actively surveyed Dreki was probably the biggest risk to his own case.  I made a note not to share my findings until he found a way to keep himself under control. It wasn't personal, but a good PI doesn't give the people their after any hints. I decided I'd follow him next time, but I'd suggest a payphone or burner instead of our main lines. Rohan had been sitting mostly in silence, and I turned to him as I scribbled the stuff about the traffic accident.

"Not the average night in An Tsi, huh?"

To Dreki I said nothing for the moment. The scratch of my pen on the napkin was the only other noise around me.

[ChordTerias]

Rohan blinked.

He looked from Dreki. To Drew. Back to Dreki.

Vampires. Torture. Cleaving.

Rohan let loose the tension in his body with a deep exhale. They're like me.

Well. Kinda. But enough.

"Ah, I couldn't tell you." He answered Dreki's query about the shot, feigning ignorance. "Theo does this 'mystery shot' thing frequently, and I have to say this is one of their successes."

He sat awkwardly as they nodded and continued their conversation. It continued to grow more strange, and the more absurd it grew, the more at home Rohan felt. He was startled when Drew turned the conversation back to him, realizing he had just basically been all but intruding on their conversation.

Uh. "I'm a familiar." He blurted out. He blinked again. He felt their astonished glances -- not out of the ordinary revelation, but rather it's seemingly random timing. Oh god, say something else. "Uh, I was a deer. Like. Not you know 'my dear.' But like... " He pantomimed the area where antlers formerly protruded from his head before quickly abandoning the attempt and coughing.

"I just mean to say that you're not alone." He looked to Dreki. He wasn't the type to offer physical affection, but his forthright stare was welcoming. "We know what it's like to do things without remembering. Or things we wish we could forget. Or even wonder what we really are." He shrugged and turned to Drew, "So I guess I'd say a little above average."

How on earth could I make it more awkward to talk to other supers than when I try talking to humans? His uncertain smile found its way back to his face.

[Maxpphire]

He noticed that Drew didn't directly respond to him yet so in the meantime he listened to Rohan. Now that he was sober and could see the outlines, he was much better with eye contact.

"I see, it is interesting but I may have to pass on that next time. I wasn't expecting to become sober just yet, he doesn't like being in my mind while drunk, and well, I don't want him to hear this conversation." He explained, his tone neutral, his expression that of a light-hearted worry with a smile, even though deeply he knew if Hofflan caught him spilling as much beans as he as been, he'd be in a world of trouble.

"Although giving your description, I don't know what else I could have expected from it." He said as a thought hit him. How could Rohan give a description on what should be a mystery shot. He didn't push it as it could be a trade secret thing and he didn't want to make a second bar angry at him in one night. He had froze for a moment directly after saying that and then shook his head lightly when figuring it best to not ask.

When Rohan had interjected with him being a deer familiar, his face would show more curiosity than astonishment. He could tell Rohan wasn't human or vampire, but to find out what he was so quickly without having to ask he didn't quite expect. He wanted to know more of what that entailed but didn't want to be rude by asking. He has never came across a similar energy/aura type as Rohan's before so he wondered if that was specific to just familiars and he never came across one before, or if it was specific to deer familiars, but thats something that he'd only learn from experience.

When Rohan further explained that he just wanted to make Dreki not feel so alone, there was a small crack in his more cold professional look. He almost wanted to cry in relief but was able to hold his composure enough not to. His smile seemed warm but his eyes almost seemed sad to an extent.

"Thank you, Rohan." He said in a calm and grateful tone, warmth exuded from his voice. "I guess if you haven't caught on via the conversation, I'm part Angel. To what extent I'm not sure, but it was done by probably a very illegal human experiment. My genes were spliced with that of an angels. A bad idea in hindsight, but not much I can do about it now other than make sure it doesn't happen again to someone else, and try and get free. I'm glad but not, to know that I'm not the only one who has those issues. It's nice to know that I'm not alone, but at the same time I wouldn't want to wish on anyone the experiences that I've gone through or anything similar." He seemed not emotional about it compared to when he was drunk. This time around he stated outright as a matter of fact, nothing more, nothing less. His tone being even and didn't falter once when he spoke.

He was a little surprised that he hadn't felt Hofflan make any attempts to enter his mind but still worried about it happening. He didn't show this worry and knew to stop talking if it had ever happened, but he felt safe here. It was hard for him to put into words why, but he felt relaxed, and Rohan trying to connect with him felt comfortable. However his comfortableness faded when his phone chimed off.

"Text from Unknown Number" He heard the muffled tone from his pocket. He knew exactly who it was, but was more curious as to why he was being texted rather than contacted mentally. He had looked down when he heard it ding just to listen to who was texting him, in case on the off chance it was Sam, but looked back at the group afterwards seemingly not acknowledging beyond that.

[Black Philip]

I've heard of many species that inhabit this dark underbelly called the supernatural, but I'll be dammed if I ever met a deer. My face showed my surprise, rising eyebrows and lips letting out a blubber sound. I tucked my note napkin in my leather jacket and placed the pen back on the table. Well, I supposed if you had to be something a deer was about as innocuous as you could be. It made me wonder more about what Theo was, and I hadn't the courage to quite ask. It seemed rude somehow. I also like to pride myself on what I know, and to just ask took away the fun of figuring it out. I gave Rohan a nod and looked at the shot sitting in front of me. I wanted it to be a hot steaming glass of blood so bad, but it stared back at me, unaffected.

I'm glad Rohan was hear to do the emotional heavy lifting. I hate that shit, and established earlier in these notes, I'm shit at it. Some of us are born good at math. Some of us are natural sprinters. I'm a bloodhound for information, and a crude but effective tool in the game that is the truth. Emotions don't come with that package. Even with Zeph I had doubts if I could really let him in. His laughter soothed me, but I drank just as much as before. Dreki didn't need someone like me saying shit like there, there, or it's gonna work out fine. It would sound fake because it would be fake. I'm nobody's shoulder to cry on, and ain't nobody getting close enough to try.

"You need to be more careful how many people you invite into this," I said bluntly. "Rohan and Theo here don't need any trouble, and with Velez, me, and possibly the central district in the know you've got a lot of people, in addition to the doc, who know about you. That's my professional advice as your PI."

It may have come across harsh, but it was said with his best interests at heart. It's not that I didn't trust deer boy, but he wasn't the only person out there. If these hacks were any good they'd have spies everywhere, even if they had Piano Man wire tapped. To Rohan, I turned, and smiled at him.

"Vampire, although I assumed you guys already knew," I confirmed. "Got to say, the after work crowd is really good here." I followed it up with a wink that could almost be called flirty.

[Maxpphire]

"You have a point," Dreki responded to Drew, looking over at Rohan. "Honestly I don't know what's come over me as of late, to be fair Velez kind of forced it out of me, but Rohan didn't need to know. I'm sorry." The apology for sure aimed at Rohan. "If any trouble makes it to your place by my fault, by all means let me know and I can at least, never show up again this keeping you safe. Hell, ban me if you need to." He said more than willing to accept the punishment of his actions. Of course he didn't want to bring trouble to possibly a bar better suited his speed, particularly on the first visit, but Drunk Dreki was much more loose lipped than Sober Dreki. Part of why he wanted to be drunk because it was easier for him to talk about stuff, perhaps too easy. He turned back to Drew.

"Also what do you mean the central district?" He asked still not fully aware of how the city was split up and how things were governed. He was aware enough to know of Jake, or at least the name and knowing it was someone important, but not who, as Jake used to own both the district he lived and worked in, but not of Zeus or any other changes that happened around the city. Just then his phone started to ring, "Call from Unknown Number", Dreki's face soured.

"I apologise but I need to take this" he said, answering it, while also turning up the in call volume. He more hovered it over his ear knowing it would be loud to him, but hoping Drew could at least hear it.

"Hello?" Even though he was sober, he was making himself sound drunk, he was fairly convincing.

"Dreki? Oh good you're still alive, for a moment I thought you might have actually succeeded this time. I can't reach you mentally, where are you?" Dreki seemed a little confused if anything, the voice on the other line seemed only a mild bit concerned, rather than a huge concern.

"I'unno, some bar. Been hopping with someone I plan on taking home." He lied, still sounding less than sober. The voice on the other side seemed to heavily sigh.

"Fine then, stay safe. Info for a doctor's appointment will be coming in soonish, expect it" and the call was disconnected. Dreki put the phone back in his pocket and looked relieved.

"Sorry about that, if I didn't answer, he'd call a wellness check on me. He has in the past." Dreki explained with an embarrassed smile. "Its my own fault that he does that now but it isn't like I told him I was doing something out of the ordinary either, the sigh was telling enough that he bought it." Dreki seemed confident, and he wasn't wrong. Dr. Hofflan did buy his lie, however, that didn't mean Hofflan wasn't making note of the fact that he couldn't mentally pop in and check in on Dreki, and planning to investigate the cause.

"Anyway, about that whole Central district stuff." Dreki re-mentioned, wanting some form of an answer from Drew now.

[Black Philip]

When Dreki confirmed my point, and apologized to Rohan I smiled. The kid meant well, and it wasn't his fault the facility was up his ass. He just needed to be safe, and I admitted my concern for him wasn't entirely professional. I liked him, as much as I like anyone. It's why I didn't want him to end up dead. When the phone rang, I leaned in to listen. My hearing is pretty great since I'm a vampire, but I really wanted to commit the speaker's voice to memory. If I did break into this place and overheard a conversation I wanted to know if it was him. I closed my eyes to focus, and by the call's conclusion figured I had enough to recognize the doctor. Dreki's drunk impression wasn't bad. Maybe he should be a PI. A random image of a cop show featuring a blind boy and a grumpy a vampire popped into my head. What they call the show?

The Angel And The Grump
The Adventures of Dreki and Drew, no Drew and Dreki.
Too Much Booze, But Not Enough Cases

It was a stupid idea. Then Dreki asked about the Central District. It took me a second to figure out what he meant exactly, but I responded nonetheless.

"Well it depends on what they know, and what they plan to do about it. I can't protect you from them. I live and operate in their turf and policing this kind of stuff is their job. The Black Prince is known to be a real screw when it comes to the masquerade. I'd say change your route daily, but if they pull you in don't fight them. Vampires don't always prioritize human lives."