Nox's Nighttime Habit

[Black Philip]

Jeanne's arrival was timely, as Ari had nothing more to say to either of these men that wasn't utter bullshit. His relief at her arrival was showcased by a slight relaxation of the shoulders, and the muscle memory of a deep breath out. He undid his pony tail, placing the band on his wrist and shaking out his long hair. It somehow made him even more handsome, and together with Jeanne the two looked like something out a fashion magazine. He stood to give Jeanne his seat, returning his focus to Dreki and Drew.

"Allow me to introduce Venture's manager, Madame Jeanne Marie D'Arshan," Ari said with a decent level of flourish. He thought she looked wonderful as always. He could sense her annoyance, but smiled to hopefully ease her temper. He hadn't summoned her without cause. The drinks arrived, and as they were handed out to the unlikely foursome, Ari spoke with his cousin.

They are not being honest about their reason for being in the club, he sent mentally, the bond they shared as family making it easier than it would be with others. The boy seems to be covering for the neonate, and he is attempting to deceive me. They got past the barrier, but something else is a foot.

This message was sent in the time it took for everyone to get their drinks one at a time, and for Ari to bring the hot glass to his lips, sipping lightly. He kept the waiter to attend to Jeanne's needs, should she have any. "A private investigator Mr. Sullivan," Ari said to Drew, finding his vocation to be an interesting admission. "Are you investigating something for this young man," he said indicating Dreki. To the human he merely, smiled, and sent warm feelings. Whoever this boy was, he was not the threat.

"I make it a rule to never confirm or deny any one who might employ me," I answered easily. I was used to people trying to get the info on my clients. Confidentiality is a private eye's most sacred trust, and I found it rather bold for this fuckwad to ask me so openly. What business was it of these people? At least Jeanne looked hot, and not in a sexual way for me. She just had swagger, an aura without putting it forward. It made sense that she ran a joint like this, and for a moment I wondered if she was a Toreador.

"Well, it's been cool chatting, and ya know blood here is great and all that, but I gotta get Dreki home. You know," and hear I mocked whispered, placing a hand to hide half my mouth from Dreki, "he's blind."

Sorry Dreki. Love you. I was just hoping it would get us out of there.

[Maxpphire]

He was going to answer on how Drew was a friend but decided against that when Drew had answered for himself. He was concerned about why the manager of the place was now at their table and wondered if either of them were talking telepathically with eachother much like how Hofflan does with him, or how Sam had done with him in the past, otherwise why would she be there? His unease about the situation grew until Drew tried to do what he could to get them out of there. That break of the tension caused him to let loose a bit of a chuckle.

"You know that makes my hearing more sensitive, right?" He asked Drew amused, also not hiding he is blind nor mad about Drew telling them, particularly since he knew Drew was trying to get them out. He knew that Drew wasn't really trying to hide it either, but was also trying to play along with the whole thing too.

"I won't be able to get home without his help, it's my first time here so I'm still learning the surroundings," in a sense, he felt kind of sad, despite the warmth that he felt from Ari, figuring that he likely wouldn't be allowed back here either after all of this. He liked how this place operated over the White Rabbit too, everything much more, open, about vampires and others feeding from them. While he wasn't as into one night stands as he had once been, he could have at least used the place to find someone he could casually hook up with from time to time.

"Plus I do have to wake up early for a Doctor's appointment, so us leaving now would be best." He then explained, telling the truth, but also failing to realize that doctors don't do weekend appointments since for his entire adult life he'd been seeing Hofflan basically whenever Hofflan decided was a good time for them to meet, and weekends were usually best given how Dreki usually tried to keep himself very busy otherwise. He figured it was a good excuse to use here because it was something that people did sometime leave early for, as coworkers from his highschool job have done so before.

[Existentially Odd]

Jeanne watched them all prattle on, her interest in their body language moreso than their commentary. Ari's communication with her was intriguing and now she could see for herself that the visitors were made nervous by her presence, yet they didn't even acknowledge her introduction to them (with her full name, of all things! Ari was so dramatic). They were too busy trying to leave. How rude.

Ordering a glass of blood for herself from the hovering waiter, Jeanne took the chair Ari vacated for her and crossed her left leg over her right, staring hard at the young vampire. He felt about two seconds old, when compared to herself. She could only imagine how tiny such a speck would feel to someone of Charon's vast age - was it possible to be so new that he might be considered still mortal? Finding her own thoughts amusing, Jeanne smiled.

"Despite your pressing appointments, I am sure you do not wish to insult us by rejecting our hospitality and letting your perfectly good, perfectly expensive drink go to waste, Mister Sullivan," she hinted, looking pointedly at Drew's glass. She hadn't been given his name formally, but she'd gleaned his surname and Dreki's first name from their conversation. "Please. Drink."

After pinning him in place with a look, she turned to face the blind mortal. He didn't smell like any she'd ever known, which she found fascinating. What was he? "And you, Dreki," she opened with, being blunt to save time and stave off any potential confusion or belief that she wasn't talking to him (because he was blind), "what illness do you have that you must see the doctor about, in the morning?" she demanded.

She was vampire, she had no idea about doctor's appointments not happening on weekends. She'd have struggled to identify the night of the week it actually was, let alone note how odd Dreki's declaration of preparing for his appointment was. She didn't doubt the appointment. She was just curious about what it was for.

[Black Philip]

Ari formed a liquid smile, knowing that he'd been right to call Jeanne when he did. She had a way of wording things that was both clever and polite, and it was a skill Ari sorely lacked. He was more direct, or said nothing at all, and so he might've been forced to take more drastic measures to subdue the youngling. He said nothing as Jeanne said her piece, noting with displeasure how neither man properly greeted her. He would wait for now, and remain available to assist. 

Ancients can suck my...[REDACTED].

I knew once the barb about the expensive drinks was thrown, it would be very difficult to leave without making a bigger scene, and I was unaware how many ancient vampires were in the club tonight. We'd never make it out if they didn't let us leave, and while Jeanne was exercising a practiced politeness, the message was clear, you're not going anywhere.

I sat stiffly, doing my best to not look at Dreki or Ari. I looked at Jeanne instead, lifting the glass to my lips to show I was listening. It now depended on what Dreki was willing to share, which I hoped would be nothing at all. However, based on his track record I was sure he was about to spill it all. Would they believe us that hunters were here? My experience is that most supers over a certain age laughed hunters away. That stupidity led to the inquisition. Hopefully, the Venture owners would be more wily. I decided to take a risk. It was better than them pulling it out my mind against my will.

"He suffers from humans fucking with his DNA-itus," I said bluntly. "He's sick all the time because he's a lab rat for vampire hunters, and one just left your bar about ten minutes before you joined us."

I drained my glass. "Damn, this is really good shit," I complimented, holding the glass up to Jeanne. "Now I see why you wanted me to finish it."

[Maxpphire]

He was about to basically politely explain 'Oh it's just an autoimmune issue, my immune system attacks my body' and would have left it at that, but instead, Drew spoke. Dreki actually couldn't contain just how shocked he was at Drew's outburst, and looked at him. He opened his mouth as he was about to say something, but words failed him, and he just closed his mouth, looking down at the table, trying to determine his next choice of words, if he had any at all. His thoughts would mostly confirm this, with an exception.

But my adoptive father is a vampire.

"Drew," he started still not sure what to say to such an outburst, after all it was Drew who told him to not involve others, to no longer talk about it to others, and here Drew was going against said advice. Terrified at whatever the outcome is about to be to now basically being falsely outed as a vampire hunter in a vampire bar, in front of two vampires that felt more vampiric than any other vampire he'd seen vampire about. He knew that wasn't his job for them, granted he didn't really know what his job with them really was, but he had never killed a vampire before nor asked to do so.

The gravity of what Drew just did hit him physically. His nerves were starting to get the better of him now, his hands slightly shook if paid attention to, but really the very noticeable part is that his wings, while not visible, their power could be felt emanating from his back to anyone able to sense such abilities. The look on his face was more of trying to hide fear and shock than anything. He was on the verge of panic not sure what to expect next. He grabbed the edge of the table, fighting sudden instincts to run.

"Drew, I" He started again, getting some semblance of his bearings back, "I thought you said not to involve anyone unnecessary?" He sounded concerned, scared, and not sure what they would even make of that, "I wasn't even going to mention that, so why did you?" he then asked not sure where Drew was trying to go with this. He then looked at Jeanne, then Ari.

"It would be better if you forgot you heard that," he mentioned to the two elder vampires, "in fact, just pretend neither of you met me tonight, ok? I won't be coming back, I would rather not put either of you or anyone else in danger. Maybe I'll come back again once I'm free, but until then, I'll keep away." He mentioned not realizing quite why both of them felt more vampiric than any other vampire that he had been around. He was trying to isolate himself from them, mostly for what he figured would be for their own, his own, and Emma's protection. He wasn't exactly happy with what Drew just did, as in his view it just put 5 people easily in danger, Drew included in that number.

"Now that you know, can we leave now?" He asked his tone of voice sounding as if he was holding back his emotions, holding back on the panic was that was slowly twisting his thoughts into horrifying 'what if' scenarios, "Or would that still be considered rude?"

[Existentially Odd]

Jeanne's shoulders straightened and her nostrils flared the second Mister Sullivan - Drew, apparently - told her there'd been a vampire hunter in Venture. A hunter! In the club! Her wide eyes sought Ari's for confirmation that he'd heard the same devastating news as she. The odd little blond man then began whining at his vampire friend, questioning his authority and ordering she and Ari about. The nerve! He was ruining her thinking. At about the time Dreki said 'just pretend neither of you met me tonight,' she glared at him in annoyance.

"Silence," she ordered and pressed the command into Dreki's mind, shutting him up instantly. In this manner, he didn't get the chance to finish his rambling commentary and end with an insult she would have punished him for. She thought he was incredibly insolent, this... whatever species he was. "Never presume to order your betters around," she warned the child. It didn't matter that Drew was a minute old to her, he was still the better of this... this... blond.

She stared at him a moment for good measure, intrigued despite herself. There was an odd, spongy resistance she'd felt in the process of entering his mind that she intended to return to and explore. She'd pierced it easily enough but the very fact it was there was odd. She felt it again as she commanded Dreki to remain seated as well. He'd be able to continue breathing and moving but he would find himself unable to utter a sound or stand up. She'd effectively put him on pause while she chased down information regarding what she felt to be the most pressing matter.

Jeanne turned her intent stare upon Drew. "What do you mean there was a vampire hunter in Venture?" she demanded, her every cell focused on him. "How do you know?"

[Black Philip]

Ari confirmed Jeanne's hearing was correct, his own often neutral expression cracking with a widening of his eyes and a slight opening of his mouth. On the one hand he felt vindicated that stopping these two had born fruit, but he mostly felt fear at the idea of a hunter being in their midst. Hunters had cost their family much. He thought of sweet Katherine, her noble sacrifice to make sure hunters never hurt her family again. Ari would make sure that her death was not in vain. The human's alluring scent was forgotten as he rambled on and challenged his superiors. The Huntsman wondered how exactly this youngling had fallen in league with him. Ari guessed that this was likely because the vampire was investigating for the human. Curious. Why had Dreki not gone to his District Leader?

"And who do you work for," he added to Jeanne's questions. "And please don't tell us that your clients are confidential. I will not accept that answer as you knew a dangerous person was in our club and didn't immediately alert us."

Jeanne might hear an unfamiliar tone in Ari. He sounded furious.

Well, well, well, now we were getting somewhere. Turns out pointing out their security failure had riled them up enough to listen, and that was good. I'd exposed that it wasn't me or Dreki who was their real problem. It was Nox. I didn't like the tall blonde guy especially. There was a sense of entitlement from him that reeked of an easy life. The woman's rebuke of Dreki was also revolting. He was obviously just a scared kid, and she was making it seem like he was out to cause trouble when all he wanted to do was leave. I'd wanted to smack Dreki in the mouth a few times for his words, but I'd always managed to remember the differences between us. I had the power. I had the strength. That meant showing mercy, not showing my power off. Ancients. Bah. Humbug, or some shit that sounds literary.

The substance of her question was lacking detail, and so I clarified before answering. "I'm going to assume you mean both, how do I know he was a vampire hunter, and how do I know a vampire hunter was in Venture."

I tried to drink more but my glass was empty. "Refill perhaps?"

"I know he's a vampire hunter because he was assigned to monitor Dreki here and report back to their handlers," I explained, making sure to paint a picture of the case for them. "He looks ex-military to me, and he probably also has some DNA splicing going on so I wouldn't assume you're fighting a mortal. As to the second part of the question, I tracked him here on my chopper. I followed him to the booths, and listened as some female vampire sucked on his neck. I also watched him leave around the time Ari sat us down. I didn't call it out because I was afraid there would be a violent exchange somehow, and I didn't want to put Dreki, or any of us, at risk."

I turned to Ari. "And my employer is the Black Prince. He hired me to find these people and learn all I can before he moves against them. I met Dreki by chance and he's been the best lead into the hunters that I've found."

McCloud was going to murder me for this, but hey, I could always vote for the other guy right?

[Maxpphire]

When Jeanne had strongly ordered then imputed those commands upon Dreki, something that at least Drew has never seen from him before, took place. An instant calmness washed over him, the presence of his wings instantly gone for now, but his heart rate stayed high. The intensity of his focused look disappeared and his eyes seemed unfocused, he just stared straight ahead not directly looking at anyone or anything.

He seemed to be trying to say something but unable to utter the words or rather sound. He would stop when either one of them spoke but would try again when they had stopped. His demeanor was otherwise very calm. He would not respond to any outside stimuli beyond questions and whatever commands the 3 of them gave him, since Jeanne had mentioned Drew was his better, otherwise it would have just been Jeanne and Ari. It was clear that something was off, or at least wrong.

[Existentially Odd]

Jeanne was busy processing everything Drew told her, a frown marring her porcelain-like skin as she ignored his boorish attempt to coax another drink out of her. DNA splicing? Hunters assigned to keep track of 'lab rat' mortals? A vampiress drank from the hunter?! Her aggravated demeanour settled somewhat at that last one, however. If the militant hunter had come intending harm, he wouldn't have got in; he'd obviously entered because he intended on offering himself. Peculiar, but their security was intact. The hunter had skated in on a technicality, one she had no real idea how to combat, for the system was as tight as they could make it.

The hunter desired the bite, he didn't come for violence. We are flawed but not vulnerable, as I feared, she shared with Ari, relief in her tone and travelling to him along their blood line. She, too, was scarred by the past and couldn't shake the feeling crawling upon her flesh at the thought a hunter had been nearby. Despite his apparent vulnerability to those he hunted, his presence here tonight was too close to bring Jeanne comfort. We will go through the security footage and identify him. We will be ready for him next time.

The fact that Drew worked for Jake McCloud was interesting but of little consequence beyond the fact that he was investigating 'these people' and its hunters. With the hunter side of things clarified, it was time for her to explore the mystery of the babbling spliced human. She turned to look at Dreki, dark blue eyes fixed intently on his as she examined that odd resistance in his mind. It was difficult to define. She closed her eyes to assist her own concentration, blocking external input so that she could examine the compressed ribbon of Dreki's mind.

The spongy resistance was both a barrier and a command. Cleverly interwoven and deeply entrenched, it enfolded something well-protected. Curiously, Jeanne moved all around it, finding its dimensions and texture similar to a Mobius strip, flexible and guarded. Hrmm. It had been placed by an experienced vampire, one dedicated to their craft but not as experienced as she with understanding the varied complexities of the mind. They were likely young - too young to understand that even the finest thread, when pulled, could unravel the greatest tapestry. All it took was one tug, one opportunity, one tiny imperfection... she found it.

What unravelled before her inner eye when she yanked that tiny thread was astounding and appalling. The strip was the containment field and protection of a facility designed - as far as she could tell - to torture its inhabitants. The whole thing was constructed by a vampire named Doctor Hofflan and Jeanne very quickly learnt the quality of his character as she watched him 'treat' and program Dreki. Once she'd broken in, she set about destroying all of his walls and barriers, the little pockets of secrecy and the blatant blackmail that dominated their relationship. He had failsafes and control mechanisms implanted, allowing him to monitor Dreki from a distance. How rude! No wonder the child had no sense of propriety, for his mind to have been manipulated and molested so. She deactivated Hofflan's active monitoring hurriedly, checking that there was nothing hidden that might be accessed via a backchannel. She found two such inroads and destroyed them as well.

At this point, once she was sure they weren't being watched, Dreki would become aware of everything she was looking at. His memories would fly past his consciousness, glimpsed for the barest of seconds as she watched his life unfold. She didn't take the time to 'clean' them, she looked at them in their raw form - meaning that all the sensory information attached to them would bombard the mortal simultaneously. Sounds, smells, tastes, textures and emotions would swamp him, along with his unique, shifting version of vision, leaving him extremely vulnerable. It couldn't be helped, she was in a hurry to sort this mess out. She was, however, sure to keep herself detached so that she could keep a clear head as she sorted through the child's entire life, to better understand the puzzle he was.

Naturally, the path led her to the monster that had transformed Dreki and captured Emma. She came to despise his methods, his corruption and his immorality. Along the way, Jeanne encountered a great deal of scarring that she was forced to debride carefully, so as not to affect Dreki's psyche. It was the most delicate part of her exploration and took her the longest to tease apart out of all of it. Once she plundered it, she understood why - and why it had such uncompromising substance. The scars were the obfuscation of the path to and the details of the facility at which all the heinous events had occurred. Dreki had had each trip scraped out of his memory (though it could never truly be wiped) into obscurity so that the blackmail of his foster sister would keep him under control.

Jeanne saw everything.

In all, it took her close to ten minutes to properly unwind the quixotic tangle that was Dreki's mind. Charon would've done it in one, no doubt, but she was half his age and pleased with the result she achieved regardless. When she was finished, she released her momentary clamps on Dreki and withdrew from his psyche carefully. It was a risk, to overload a mind by leaving him conscious to process all that she'd seen and made him aware of, but as she now knew, he wasn't entirely mortal. She arranged his thoughts, categorised his memories and carefully wiped away all the scarring so that those recollections slotted back into where they belonged. He now had absolute clarity and recollection of every trip he'd ever taken to the facility, how he'd entered, every step he'd taken within the facility and everything that had happened to him there. His memory was perfect. Doctor Hofflan's blinkers were gone forever.

The biggest problem with all that, of course, was that Dreki experienced everything as a blind person. He would be the expert at deciphering all of it, though Jeanne had found many of the doctor's comments alluded to the facility's exact location outside the city as well. At the very least, Dreki's departure point was well known to him and she was aware how long he travelled to reach the facility each time. The deduction process wouldn't take long, with his cooperation. She just had to be sure she hadn't completely scrambled his brain.

Opening her eyes, she smiled at Dreki and then looked at Drew. "Your friend has had his eyes opened," she warned him, alerting the bar staff to bring another two glasses of blood after all. She'd worked up a hefty thirst. "I think another drink is a good idea, actually. I believe we're going on a road trip." She quickly delivered everything she'd learnt to Ari. His vampiric brain could process as quickly and resiliently as hers and it was easier to communicate it to him that way.

I will alert Charon before we go. It could get dangerous but I believe we should move on this repulsive 'facility' tonight. The element of surprise is entirely ours. Tactically, it was a sound proposal but conventional wisdom told her it wouldn't be easy with just the two of them. Backup would be welcome.

[Black Philip]

Ari was relieved that the hunter was just some form of hypocrite. He was no different from gay bashing preachers who kept men on the side, pro life human males who made their mistresses get abortions, politicians sending thoughts and prayers while counting money from the gun lobby. Humans could be ugly creatures. Perhaps the spell needs to be altered, he sent back to Jeanne, already thinking about the footage. Mr. Sullivan would provide a description, whether or not he approved.

He mostly watched Drew as Jeanne worked through Dreki's mind, the younger vampire betraying his concern for the human with nervous looking eyes. Ari found Drew curious, and decided that he would explore his mind at a later time. He returned his attention to the human just as Jeanne shared his memories. Such sadness, such mistreatment. No wonder this young one was broken. Perhaps, the resolution of these events would fix him. He nodded at the knowledge Charon would be informed, and could sense her desire for backup. He shared it. They had no idea how advanced these hunters were, and even an ancient burned.

"You will provide a distraction," he said to Drew.  "You will not tell anyone of our involvement. Lie in whatever way you need." He turned to the others. "We should enter from some side entrance and seek our objectives, including their leaders."

To Jeanne only Ari added, should we bring Hugh and Royce?

I watched as Jeanne went through Dreki's mind, suppressing my urge to tell her off barely. When they were done, and she said she opened his eyes, I wondered what the fuck that actually meant. I decided not to ask. I'd let Dreki explain if he wanted to. When I was given orders, I felt the mental force behind them. I guess I was the distraction guy. I wouldn't be told what to do without a fight though. I'd listen for now, but once we were inside, I had my own goals to pursue.

[Maxpphire]

When Jeanne first entered his mind, he had no reaction beyond the fact that he wasn’t trying to speak when everyone else had finished at that point. Instead of his unfocused eyes staring straight ahead, his head turned ever so slightly so it seemed as if he was looking directly at her. It’s as if he wasn’t totally unaware as to his surroundings while in whatever state he was in, but also as if he still wasn’t himself. This weird behavior hadn’t stopped until she had removed all the safeguards put into place by the facility itself and Hofflan. After that had all been removed he had rather quickly put his head into his hands, leaning forward and winced in pain, tightly gripping his head, doing what he could to not yell out in pain.

He suddenly found himself mentally reliving his entire life up to this point, but only as if the fast forward button was stuck on, and felt every emotion that came with it all. To say it was intense was the really the only word he would be able to come up with in regards to this experience, but that descriptor didn’t feel accurate. It felt so much more than that, he didn’t even have words for how much more it was than that, not even in the other languages he knew. Tears streamed from his eyes as he was being overloaded with everything at once, and would have mentally asked ‘Is this what dying feels like?’ if he had the mental capacity to do so while this was all happening, but he could barely form any thought like this, let alone ask a coherent sentence mentally or verbally.

Jeanne and Ari would see it all, and Dreki’s life wasn’t easy from the get go besides the whole blind issue. His home life before his parents died was also riddled with abuse. All in all a few moments would stand out more than the others. His biological dad had kept him incredibly sheltered, barely letting him go outside on his own, and if he gave push back, he would be punished. As a result his hobbies mostly came from what he could do at home alone, which was read and play music. One time he snuck out to be with his at the time longtime highschool girlfriend for a bit that night, and when he came back the hostility of the argument between him and his dad ended with a slap to Dreki’s face. Dreki’s Dad was also blind and used that as ammo to keep Dreki more sheltered than one should have. While at times his mom would step in and allow him some freedom, there were some fights that she just couldn’t win. When his mom died due to an accident, and his dad a couple of days later due to suicide, it would be unsurprising when the cops and foster placement people refused to read to Dreki the suicide note.

His Foster Father seemed kinder on the surface, but took Dreki out of school and forced him to break up with his aforementioned girlfriend. The Foster parents were evangelical christians, and thus decided to homeschool both Dreki and Emma. Beyond that they would treat Dreki as if he was otherwise normal, having given him a list of chores that seemingly neither of the foster parents wanted to do, which mainly involved cleaning the house, dishes after dinner, and changing Emma’s diaper when she needed it. Dreki’s own opinion of Emma used to be low, and changing her used to be a pain in the ass because she would fight every step of the way. It wasn’t until she kicked him in the jaw one day and he yelled at her for it that they really started to communicate. He had learned that she could understand some things, and even communicate back even though it took her some time to actually speak words to him.

Not too terribly long afterwards the two were inseparable. She would often mimic his action to try and help him with the chores, and he would teach her how to help out in small ways that were easy. She would bring him coloring books and crayons to color with him, and he would ask her where the lines were and what color she thought he should use and have her hand him the crayons. He used his love of music to convince the foster parents that the band “They Might Be Giants” was pure enough to play for Emma, and they agreed. As a result he sung to her a lot of their children’s music, and some of their other music as well and she loved it. He would tell her bedtime stories without the use of books as the only braille books they ever bothered to get was a copy of the bible and whatever school workbooks he needed for homeschooling. Most every morning when he would wake up, he would find Emma in his bed cuddled up to him, on top of his blankets but under her own that she brought with her. The most he could gather was that she was having nightmares. She would call him ‘D’ as his first name was a bit too difficult for her to pronounce.

It would be clear to most people they had more of a Father-Daughter type relationship rather than a sibling one, but it would never be something that Dreki would ever willingly admit. All the father figures in his life has been not great in one way or another, and felt he would turn horrid if that were the case. So when the night came where Emma showed him that she was being abused by their foster father at night, it made perfectly clear sense as to why he attacked first and didn’t bother to deal with any of it verbally. It made sense why he took her in the middle of the night and ran away from the home. His desire to protect her was stronger than his own desire to protect himself. The whole thing made it to news outlets and was likely how Hofflan even targeted him, even Dreki suspected that.

Then there was Hofflan, who at first seemed to want nothing to do with Emma, but Dreki had refused to go with him without her. He wanted to keep her safe, and even from the very beginning, while Dreki likely couldn’t see this, it would likely be obvious from the viewpoint of Jeanne and Ari, Hofflan had used her as a bargaining chip against Dreki. Used her to see what he could get away with and what he couldn’t. It was obvious to those less naive that Hofflan always planned on adopting them both from the very beginning. It was also obvious to those less naive that Hofflan carefully worded everything to give Dreki the illusion of choice, forcing Dreki to shoulder the blame for any of the choices made, rather than the facility itself.

It was Dreki who managed to get Emma adopted along with him
It was Dreki who agreed to train to be able to fight and was his fault he killed another
It was Dreki who believed that learning multiple languages would be helpful
It was Dreki who consented to have his DNA altered once he was an adult
It was Dreki who decided what to alter his DNA with
It was Dreki who wanted to be able to see
And thus it was Dreki who would hold the blame in his own eyes for things going so sideways in his life and not Hofflan or the Facility itself, or at least that's what the idea behind Hofflan's tactics were, and it mostly worked up until he started to use Emma for experiments himself.

Not like Hofflan would ever feel bad about doing any of this, but it was just another layer to his manipulation, one that Dreki would have to undo himself. He hoped that keeping himself and the facility free of blame in Dreki’s eyes would also help prevent Dreki fighting back against them, and it had mostly been successful. There was a time where Dreki had attacked Hofflan and got his ass handed to him, before his second most noticeable augmentation and because of the fact that Hofflan decided to start using Emma for experiments as well. Even if it would take him time to unravel the blame off of himself, it wasn’t going to prevent him from fighting against them any longer if he was given the opportunity. Little did he know that the opportunity has suddenly fallen into his lap.

Once Jeanne had finished filing memories away properly and left his mind, he was able to attempt to gather his bearings again. No longer mentally bombarded with his whole life, he no longer seemed to be in a confused state of pain. He removed his hands from his face, wiping his eyes and cheeks of the tears that had formed and gripped the edge of the table, while calm but confused. He wasn’t sure what to make of what took place. He felt exhausted and nauseous, as if he had just gotten off of a rollercoaster ride from hell. He listened to everyone speak as he felt himself slowly remember how to form thoughts and speak on his own again.

“R-roadtrip?” he asked confused, tired and verbally shaky due to Jeanne’s help with his mind, not mentally comprehending what was about to happen as he was still trying to gather himself after having relived his life mentally so quickly “Roadtrip where? Who are we distracting and why?" He sounded out of it.

[Existentially Odd]

Jeanne frowned at Ari, listening to him tell Drew that he would be a distraction while they entered from the side - he made it sound so easy, considering the only information they had came from the odd visual stylings of a near-blind man. They wouldn't clearly identify a side entrance from the front without some reconnaissance - and she wasn't sure there would be time for that. When Dreki also asked querulously what she meant about a road trip, she leant forward to place a comforting hand on his knee.

"Be calm, mon cher," she assured him quietly. "It is my intention that we capitalise on the element of surprise and go to your facility to rescue your sister tonight. Your doctor will soon become aware of my undoing his controls upon your mind and he will find he cannot get past my protection. This will make him unpredictable. I suspect, if we do not act swiftly, we will lose the chance to go on the offensive and we will only have defensive options available to us. That is an unacceptable consequence."

Jeanne turned from looking at Dreki and stared at Ari instead. "I am not sure Mister Sullivan will be much of a distraction. I think he will be in great danger in such a place, at his young age. As for Royce and Hugh, I shall ask Charon. They may be too young to be of much use, also." As if the thought prompted her, she turned to look at Drew. Two glasses of blood were placed efficiently on the table between them as she met his gaze. Jeanne picked one up and took an eager mouthful, swallowing heartily with a quick swipe of her tongue upon her lips to clean up any residue. "Mister Sullivan, I urge you to refrain from accompanying us this night. I fear I will not be able to protect you as well as Dreki and I do not want to be responsible should any harm befall you."

While she listened to the responses of the three men with her, she reached out with her mind for a fourth. She was not as powerful as Charon, her mind could not travel the distances his could on a whim but she didn't need to. She'd learnt that all she needed to do was to summon him with an impulse along their blood line and his mind would seek hers out, doing all the work for her. When she was assured of their connection, her eyes glazed over somewhat as she switched from attending to her companions, to speaking with her grand-sire.

Grand-père, I have grave news of a facility just outside the city that has released at least one hunter into the world - he was here, at Venture, tonight - as well as employing a kindred doctor who splices mortals with supernatural DNA to create hybrid creatures. I have one such being with me here now. I will share with you what I have learnt but I want to ask your permission to go to this facility tonight, to surprise them, to halt their torture of innocents and end their reign. I would kill this imposter-Frankenstein and burn this facility to the ground. Ari wonders if we should bring Hugh and Royce also but I am afraid they are too young. What do you think?

Jeanne quickly revealed what she'd learnt from Dreki about the facility, his history of torture there, the foster sister that was being kept captive and the way she'd uncovered his secrets by digging in his mind. It was less of a revelation than Charon plucking the information straight out of her mind, really.

[Trillian]

Charon was at Penbrook, about to enter his safe and remove the book he'd taken from Kerr's portal-vault. He paused when he was summoned by Jeanne and sought her mind out, grasping onto her connection and solidifying it so they could communicate mentally instead of just with emotions.

What she said to him had him closing the door of his safe and locking it again before he replied.

You will require my assistance if this is a facility full of hunters. We will not lose you and Ari like we did Catherine. Hugh will be helpful because he is a tactician. Royce will come because he requires a chance to prove his usefulness. Ari will have to collect him as he is not here. Tell me where Hugh and I are to meet you.

[Black Philip]

I did my best not to insult Jeanne for her pandering concern. Her sudden need to look after my welfare tasted like ash, something false about it. She was likely trying to take all the glory of cracking this case for herself, and her club. Well fuck that. I did all the leg work. I wasn't backing down now. Besides, I owed it to Dreki to see this through. These people didn't even know him. He was my friend.

"Thanks for your concern, but I can handle myself, and I got my own reasons for wanting to go. I won't get in the way, and I don't need a babysitter."

I took a long drink, and listened to any reply that she, Dreki or Ari said. "Besides, I know exactly where it is. I followed Dreki there recently. I can get you in without anyone noticing, if you trust me."

Ari rolled his eyes at Drew. He was arrogant, rude, and entitled for one so young. He had no respect for the great concern Jeanne had showed for him. Ari debated ripping the information Drew promised directly from his mind, and Dominating the little whelp into going home. Then again, he reminded Ari vaguely of Royce's arrogance. Damn. Perhaps he was misdirecting some of this aggression.

Ari felt the buzz of talking family members, and assumed his grandsire was being informed. When Jeanne related Royce and Hugh were to come after all, the blonde ancient smiled. It was far past time they joined in on something like this. Hugh needed to feel like he was defending the family, and like he was truly a part of it, while Royce needed to prove to Ari, that when family called, he would answer. Betraying family was the one sin even Ari wasn't likely to forgive. Because of the bond they shared, Ari was able to summon Royce directly. He felt his fledge begin to move towards them. He wasn't far.

"Royce is surprisingly in the area. He will be here by the time we are ready to leave," he informed Jeanne, mostly so she could share that fact with Charon. He turned to Drew.

"If what you say is true, then your assistance will be helpful," he said as kind as he possibly could muster for the PI. The punk smirked back in an almost McCloud like fashion.

"Thanks Eric," I mocked, Ari's resemblance to the fictional character being an easy and obvious swipe. "I'm sure we're all going to get along great. Right Dreki?
 

[Maxpphire]

"Drew would be better at navigating than I would be," Dreki started, explaining why, "they always drove a different path to get me there, also I'm blind. Sure I have a unique way of seeing but it doesn't involve being able to see through glass, and I was never allowed to have the windows down in the car. I could only tell you when to turn and not where, plus depending on traffic, how well or poorly they followed road laws, lights, it really isn't that accurate of a way to navigate." He effectively would have solidified Drew's reason to go from a logical standpoint. He didn't really bother with the whole 'but I want him there' viewpoint figuring that neither Jeanne nor Ari would take that into account over the whole navigator argument.

"Also, I'm fully down for rescuing my sister tonight and am incredibly thankful for what has been done and what's about to happen so please don't take these next words wrong." He said, and physically composed himself a bit better. Sitting more uptight, trying to come off rather professional, but while still nervous. He took a moment to think about what he was going to say next.

"Bring all the help that you're able to. I'm sure you saw I was originally trained to become a hunter but failed. I wasn't physically strong enough. They have a full time security team of which I'm sure have been trained as well, if not then that's just idiotic on their part. Some might even be altered, a few of them didn't quite feel human when passing them by. So even with Drew I suppose being young was it? And with these Hugh and Royce friends you have mentioned, bring them. The more help with this, the easier that it will go down. Please trust me on that." Dreki was showing concern in return. He knew what this facility was about, he wanted it gone, but he didn't want anything to happen to Jeanne. She was the one who fixed his mind, and just so stated that she was willing to help him without him even asking. He didn't want anything bad to happen to her or anyone due to their selflessness in helping him. They didn't seem too keen on taking orders from others, but he hoped that they would at least take his words into account. He did feel slightly better when he heard that at least Royce was nearby and would be joining them.

"My only other request is that the medical records from this place is saved. I know I'll need mine and likely Emma's for our own purposes after tonight, but I cannot imagine that I'm the only one like myself out there who may need them someday." He was planning ahead even. He knew he was supposed to see Hofflan again in like 6 weeks for more medicine to help keep his stomach issues under control and that he almost died without them. He wasn't going to free himself just to die 3 months later, he was going to find his footing. He wanted to live and have the will to do so for once, and this would only be the first step in it all. Excitement and nervousness hit him at the same time. Drew had asked if they were all going to get along, Dreki looked at Drew and smiled.

"Even if just for the night, I think so." Which was his way of saying 'Please play nice for the night, this means more to me than you can ever understand.' and it wasn't just directed at Drew, but at everyone. He wanted this to go well, and was nervous it wouldn't.