With caution Mode slowly rose and walked toward the door. His heart was beating a tattoo against his ribs and he placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Though wildly nervous due to the position he found himself in, Mode was able to at least maintain a calm outward appearance. As the door opened he saw the well tamed red hair of officer Calleigh. “Come on in, I have a pot of tea that should be ready. We can have a cup and hopefully have a calm discussion about this.” Calleigh nodded and carefully looked around before cautiously stepping into the book shop making sure that no one had seen her entering and that she wasn’t being followed.

    As Calleigh walked behind Mode into the bookstore the smell of old books and dust struck her square in the face mingled with the scent of the tea that was in the screaming kettle that hung over a small fire that burned low yet hot in the fireplace that was to the right of the desk at which Mode regularly worked. Mode gently took the kettle from the fire and placed it on a kettle holder which sat on the end table next to his desk which was the only uncluttered space at the moment. Then from a cabinet to the right of a fireplace Mode pulled out 2 teacups and filled each one with tea. Once filled he placed one in front of the chair on the desk in which he usually sat and the other he sat on the other side of the desk and then pulled up an old yet comfortable looking armchair and motioned for Calleigh to have a seat.

Looking at the seat cautiously while keeping an eye on Modeus. Mode calmly walked to the otherside of the desk and had a seat sighing as he did so. "You know, if I were going to make a meal of you, I've already had the ideal opportunity." Calleigh immediately realized he was right, remembering the time they were alone in the alley together and sank down into the chair but still cautiously eyed the tea in front of her. "I think it may be best for you to start at the beginning Mr. Operandi" Mode nodded in agreement, taking a sip of his tea then leaned back in his chair. "You know officer I haven't told anyone about my condition in well over 300 years." He took another sip of tea as Calleigh gave him a look of curiosity before he continued. "By the way, the tea is safe. I didn't put anything odd in it and you watched me pour it just now. But if you don't like tea that's another matter I suppose." Calleigh looked at the cup before lifting it gently to her lips allowing its warmth to wash over her and as she did so she found herself settling more into the chair in which she sat ready to hear out Modeus. 

     Mode noting how she had finally begun to relax picked up a book off the pile in front of him and after looking it over for a few moments he let out a sigh and began. "You know I've been living here off and on for the last 300 years and this town is only now approaching the age of 100 years old. But I've been living here mostly on my own only taking time to travel to nearby villages when I was in need of feeding, which allowed me to boost my collection that you see before you." Mode waved his hand at the entirety of the book store. "Of course now I have multiple copies as this works best to sell some as well as maintaining those that I wish to keep." 

     Calleigh gave a confused look for a moment. "Then how do people not notice that you've remained unchanged for the past hundred years?" Mode gave a slight grin, "People are easy to fool when you have access to potions that allow you to change things as small as the color of your eyes or even a simple hair style. This is the first time in about 70 years that my hair has been this long and my eyes their natural color."

     Calliegh blinked in surprise realizing that if he'd been around this long he probably had a few tricks up his sleeve. "Have you…always…been this way?" She asked hesitantly, trying her best to not sound rude, keeping in mind that at this point it was now her word against his and he had the upper hand since the tavern owner had seen him helping her with her search.

    Mode let out a heavy sigh, "believe it or not, no. There was a time a little over 400 years ago that I led a normal life like everyone around me. Until I turned 18 and suddenly I couldn't control the thirst inside me. It took me around 100 years to really learn how to control it along with a lot of isolation." "Oh…" Calleigh responded as she started to realize that she probably wasn't in the path of any harm at the moment, but was embarassed by her own boldness. Her fingers moved nervously tracing the edges of the cup she was holding in her hands. "Well you can't be going around and just feeding off the residents of the city Mr. Operandi." Mode ran a hand through his hair letting out a softer sigh, "I am aware of this officer and I know my kind isn't exactly welcome but I do no harm to them and they have no memory of what happens when they wake up. In fact there have been times in my life I've even hunted my own kind to protect the likes of yours. I was once referred to for a while by the name Van Helsing. So what do I need to do to prove myself to you and to keep you from trying to out me?"