"What is her problem?", John asked while handing a cigarette to Dorien. Shaking his head at it, he responded "Well, which part? The drinking blood bit or everything else about her?". "All those things you just listed. Explain them, please.", he said back. Adjusting his scarf, Dorien remained stoic as he prepared to answer his questions. "Damn. You got a lighter?", John asked, realizing he lacked one, to which he simply shook his head again. John put his cigarette back in the box before walking with him. Dorien thought for a while as they walked the streets past Miss Sokolova's studio.

"Truthfully, I don't know why she drinks blood.", he said with a slight chuckle. "What, she's not a vampire? She doesn't have porphyria or something?", John said with a chuckle of his own. Dorien sighed, "No. You watch too much television.". "One more question?", John asked, to which he nodded in response. "Who's Anderson?". Dorien stared forward for a few seconds, before responding with a low hum in his voice. "Mr. Anderson. He's a friend of mine. But how could he help...?", he muttered to himself. John raised his eyebrow, saying "Uh, hello? Earth to Dorien!". He suddenly snapped out of it, his catlike golden eyes darting back to John.

With a warm smile, he said "Apologies. I was just thinking. Perhaps he could forge a lock for the book. We both know our fair share about this book, and I'm sure he could help.". "Sounds good to me. Where does he live?", John said in return. "I know the address. Can you call another cab for us, John?". "Yup.". Not long after that, they heard footsteps behind them. "Dorien!", a high-pitched Russian voice said. Dorien rolled his eyes, turning to see Mimi running towards him and John clad in a white fur coat with blue satin gloves. "Please, don't make me miss out on all the fun!". Suddenly, Dorien grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the wall, to which John laughed and cursed under his breath.

"Listen, Sokolova. I'll bring you along. Only because I might be able to use you as bait.". Mimi practically purred as she let out a low giggle. The two were in their little world, while from John's perspective, the silence was deafeningly loud. "Alright, Dorien. Stop being more dominating than the actual dominatrix here, and let's get in the cab.". Dorien stood for a second before removing his hands from Mimi's. "Alright. But before we go...", he said, returning to her. "Mimi. Listen to me, and don't interrupt me, got it?". She nodded nervously, her black eyes unusually alight with fear. "On this mission, you will go nowhere without me. You will do nothing without my express permission. Got it?", he said, an angered tone to his velvety voice. She swallowed and nodded before Dorien headed off towards John. "Let's go.", he said, returning to his usual calm tone.

Not long after, Mimi walked back towards John, who was well behind Dorien at this point. "You know, when it comes to Dorien, you are mega submissive for a dominatrix.", he chuckled. She smirked under her mask, saying "Please. He's a total switch, I could dominate him easily if he wanted. But... You would be too if you knew what he's capable of. Wait until you see him when he's angry.". "Well, now I'm scared.", he responded. "Don't be, Gospodin. You're not a threat to him... At least, not yet.". After a bit longer, they found another cab. "Where you heading?", the driver said with a heavy Boston accent. "108 Kingsley Street.", Dorien responded. "Will do.", the driver said before starting to head off to the address. Mimi sat beside John, with Dorien on the far right of the cab, staring out the window. "Your name is John, yes?", she asked. "Yeah. What about it?", he said in his usual curious time.

"I knew a client named John. He was quite nice, and looked a bit like you.". "Well, I can promise you, it wasn't me.", he responded. "Of course not.", she said, her black eyes slightly shaded with curiosity. John raised his eyebrow, saying "I got a question for you.". "Go ahead, John.", she said, smiling under her mask. "First of all, don't call me that. Second of all, are those contact lenses?". She glared at him before saying "Yes. They are.". "Oh shit, for real? What's your actual eye color?". She glared once again before responding "That's none of your business.". "They're blue.", Dorien said out of nowhere. "Dorien!", Mimi screeched. "Hey, why are you so angry? Blue eyes are hot.", John responded with a laugh, trying to calm her down. "Sokolova, I've seen you naked and you expect me not to know your eye color?", Dorien responded, still with a stoic expression. "Woah, I didn't need that information, alrighty.", John chuckled.

"It was a shower! We were on a mission together and we had limited resources, so we had to shower together. Ripley wasn't there because she had an office job to deal with.", Mimi growled. "Don't go thinking it was like that, Gospodin!". "If that makes you feel better, then believe it.", Dorien said with a chuckle. Mimi growled and raised her hand to him before John grabbed her wrist. "Woah, woah, calm down! Look, who's gonna care if you showered with him or did the horizontal mambo with him? I mean, he's pretty hot! So why would you care? You work with that sort of thing.". "Oh, thank you, John.", Dorien said, with another chuckle. 

"Ey' lovebirds, we're here.", the driver said. "Thank you sir.", Dorien said as they left the car. They stepped out in front of a seemingly abandoned warehouse with broken windows. "You two go in. I'll pay for the taxi cab.", Dorien said as he pulled his wallet from his breast pocket. John nodded and grabbed Mimi's arm, leading her in. They were immediately met with the smell of motor oil and the sounds of things being worked on. "Oi! You two!", a young girl said. She had fluffy, curly hair in half-up, half-down space buns, with a yellow T-shirt, short denim overalls, and sneakers. "You friends of Xander?" she asked. John looked around saying "Who, Dorien? Uh, yeah. He's outside paying for the taxi. Who are you?".

"Her name is Stella.", Dorien said, walking in and kneeling in front of her. The girl's face lit up as she ran towards him, hugging him tightly. "Oof! I assume you missed me?". "Shut up! Where the hell have you been?", she pouted into his shoulder. "I've been busy, darling. You go get Anderson, alright?", he responded. "Don't baby me... Alright, fine. Anderson! Dorien's here!", she said, running into some backrooms. Getting back on his feet, he turned to John and Mimi. "Ladies first.", he said, motioning Mimi towards the backrooms. "You're like a dad to her, huh?", John said. "Of course. I've known her since I first got the book.", Dorien responded. "She and her sister mugged me. The two of them tried to steal it, and I've loved her ever since.". "How cute. Never thought you would be the soft type, Dorien.", John chuckled. "I'm not. You'd know that if you knew me.", Dorien said, his expression remaining calm, despite what he just said. "Hmph. Creepy.".

The three of them found themselves in a mechanic shop, strangely enough. People were working on cars, gadgets, and things that could only be described as thingamabobs. "What the hell is all this?", John confusedly asked, staring at the strange creations. "These are some of Anderson's creations. These people are his workers and friends.", Dorien responded, his amber-toned, cat-like eyes scanning the room as he walked. "This is the strangest place I've ever been in...", Mimi said. "That's something considering-", John said, being cut off by someone else. "Shut up.", the voice said. "Alright, jeez...", John muttered to himself. He turned to see the man and Dorien shaking hands. "Good to see you, Anderson.", he said. "Oh, you're Anderson?", John asked. "I have a first name, you know.", he responded.

"Oh, yes! This is John Doe. John, this is Lucas Anderson, a good friend of mine.", Dorien said. Crossing his arms, Lucas responded, "Flattery will get you nowhere. Now, what do you need?", his luminous violet eyes looked like they were boring a hole into Dorien's soul. Seemingly unbothered by this, Dorien continued speaking. "I need help with the book.". "The book? The book?! Oh, uh-uh, jefe! Nope, not not here!", Stella said, wiggling her finger. "I am so sorry, but you need to go!". "Déjalo hablar.", Lucas said. Sighing quietly, Stella responded with a pout. "Si, Anderson.".

"Thank you, Stella.", Dorien said as she walked away, muttering something under her breath. "So. Get to the point, Dorien. What about the book?", Lucas said, his violet eyes still staring straight at him. "Oh, yes! John?", Dorien said, turning to John. He stood there confused for a few seconds before reaching into his jacket and pulling out the book. "Huh. I dead-ass thought you were joking about this.", Lucas said, staring at the book in John's hands. "Hot damn... that is the book.". Suddenly, a woman came out from the backrooms before anyone else could say anything. She had pale greyish skin and bubblegum pink hair, and a black face mask covered her mouth. Seeing her black dead eyes made Mimi swallow, and John muttered under his breath.

"Melody. Back from the archive?", Lucas asked with a smile. Melody simply nodded, and it was at this point that John realized she had a black tote bag hanging from her shoulder. She lowered the bag, pulling out a few books from it. All fancily bound, in various colors of emerald, rose, and sapphire. All of them had fancy writing in different languages and strange symbols, accompanied by the silver or gold ink that made them. "Uh, who's this?", John asked Dorien. Nodding, Dorien responded.

"Oh, that's just Lucas's wife Melody. Say hi, Melody.". The girl, expression not changing, waved at John. This slightly disturbed him, since he noticed the withered skin on her hand. "Huh. Never knew zombies were his type.". Lucas looked annoyed at this joke, eyes darting back over to him. "Is that supposed to be funny?". John looked scared, shrugging and apologizing. "Why does she look like that?", he muttered to Dorien. "She passed away from a disease, but Stella came up with a way to revive her.". "Oh, god...", John muttered under his breath.

"Anyways, why are you here in the first place? What about the book?", Lucas asked Dorien. "We need to get it to The Lady Fox.", Mimi spoke up, seemingly unimpressed by how long the crew was taking. "The Lady Fox? You're giving it to that shady bitch?", Lucas responded rather bluntly. "Who else are we to take it to? She wrote the thing, so how are we to dispose of it if we shouldn't take it to her?". Lucas rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, Mimi. Couldn't we just burn the thing?". "Wouldn't that just release all of the entities?", John said. Immediately, all eyes turned to him, in turn making him nervous. "I, uh... I was just thinking. If opening the book releases them, wouldn't burning it, in turn, open the book, releasing the entities?". Dorien nodded, his golden eyes darting around a bit before moving back to John. "You're right. That means we need to get to The Lady Fox! It's settled. But first, can we stay here for a while?". Lucas nodded, saying "Sure. Melody and I will go set up your rooms.