SEPTEMBER 3RD

“You know, you can’t just hide from everyone forever.” The unmarked black van sitting in the parking lot of the Chik’n Out was a normal sight. But normally, the brunette came alone and opted to dine in. Today, she had gone through the drive-through and was sitting in the parking lot, and hadn’t even spoken to the staff there.

“Maybe, but it’s best for both of us if we stall as much as possible.” Gaius looked at the large amount of food in front of him with a look of apprehension on his face. It was one thing when she did this to him with home-cooked food, but this was probably a week’s worth of calories in front of him. “We can’t invite Eclipse to your front door without some kind of plan, or allies.”

“You’re overthinking. They wouldn’t do anything too brazen in the middle of non-magical territory.” Charlotte reached inside her bag for a sandwich. “And people know that Eclipse is up to something, they wouldn’t just side with them blindly.”

“You’d be surprised how far influence can get you.” Gaius forced a handful of fries down his throat, then immediately reached for his drink. “The other mage clans and magical communities don’t want to oppose them on my word alone.”

In hindsight, when he blew the whistle, he should have kept the focus on Eclipse’s wrongdoing and not his marriage problems. He tried to think of something to make the situation sound less dire. “Plenty of individuals are wary of Eclipse, so at the very least, I don’t think we’ll be complete outcasts while we work to find your father. But for now? We’re on our own.”

Charlotte wasn’t responding, and stared out the window while she ate mindlessly. After a moment of silence, Charlotte took a bite of her sandwich, and immediately gasped in pain. 

She scrambled to open the door, and spat out what she was chewing on the spot. She grabbed her drink and tried to take a large swig, but it barely helped. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm, and the pain became a lot duller. She looked over to her partner and tried to smile.

“I’ve numbed the pain, but that’s only going to work for about five minutes. We need to get help.” It looks like he had no choice but to go in with her. The idea of being seen by strangers, let alone talking to them, made whatever it is that replaced his heart race. He led Charlotte inside with him as she locked up the van.

Vampires are infamous for the sheer number of weaknesses they have, and one of their biggest weaknesses is their fragile digestive tract. Garlic was historically a very good way to make sure a vampire never bothered you again, but capsaicin was far more effective. Anything spicy could debilitate a vampire instantly, or do even worse.

In the meantime, another car had been sitting in the parking lot the whole time as well. The sedan was somehow even more generic looking than Charlotte’s van, and the windows were also tinted, but to a lesser extent. The man inside the car watched the scene unfold, and waited until the two were inside before leaving the car himself. He was easily middle-aged, and his hair was in the later stages of greying. He still appeared physically fit beneath the denim jacket, but looked quite tired.

Gaius escorted Charlotte to the front counter, and could instantly tell something was off. The cashier was wearing a hat that didn’t appear to fit correctly over his red and black hair, and he was wearing quite a bit of eye makeup. He knew what was going on, but had to act natural. 

“Hey, there was a mistake with my friend’s order. We need to get some milk, she can’t handle spicy food.” Gaius looked displeased, but was careful not to raise his voice or make any sudden moves.

Charlotte placed her card on the table. While she wasn’t actively in pain, she did have the look of someone who had just went through a harrowing experience.

The cashier looked genuinely alarmed, and reached for a carton of milk. “I’m…” He seemed to hesitate before finishing his sentence. “I’m sorry. There’s uh… no charge.”

Gaius handed the carton to Charlotte, and while she was working on that, turned his attention to the cashier. He locked eyes, and spoke calmly and directly.

“Alex, what the fuck are you doing?”

Without any warning, he reached over and lightly swatted the employee’s hat. The hat was knocked straight to the floor, revealing a pair of cat ears. The cashier was somewhat startled by this, but quickly regained his composure, before his friendly grin reappeared, only more sinister.

“I don’t think I’m killing the vamp today, but I’m still bringing you in.” He pulled out a keyfob, and there was a chorus of thunking noises that were unmistakable as doors locking. 

By now, the older man was sitting in the corner of the restaurant with a book, carefully covering at least part of his face at all times. Nobody would bother with him if he didn’t draw attention to himself, he was sure of it.

Charlotte, for her part, immediately reached over the counter and grabbed him by the shirt collar, almost dragging him over the surface. She snarled enough so that her teeth were very clearly visible. “Oh really? I’d love to see you try.”

Alex was still able to reach for something in his bag, but not before the both of them noticed. Gaius dived for the small bag and crashed behind the counter. After a split second, there was a crackling firework-like noise. The flashing lights that came from the satchel were almost blinding, except… no, scratch that, Gaius actually was blinded.

Charlotte wanted to look over, but was pre-empted by a warning from him. “I’m fine, don’t get distracted.”

“What’s the matter, Reach? Too out of practice from your time in the lab?” The cat-eared mage turned to the man on the ground to taunt him. This gave Charlotte an opportunity to lift him fully, and suplex him, throwing both of them to the ground.

With her would-be assassin pinned to the ground, she shouted over to Gaius. “Yo, you okay?”

“I’ll need a moment. How about you?” Gaius was making his way to his feet while he was scrambling to try and restore his vision the best he could. It sounded like she won, but he can’t be sure.

“Get off of me, you bitch!” Alex protested. He wasn’t struggling that much, and between Gaius’s blindness, and Charlotte’s lack of attention, neither of them noticed that his hand was glowing.

Before either of them could react, Alex placed his hand on Charlotte’s back. The unnaturally harsh cold caused her to reflexively leap to her feet before turning back to her opponent. He grinned from ear to ear as he tried to get back to his feet. “What’s the matter? That wasn’t even a real attack.”

Gaius couldn’t do much beyond listening and attempting to watch. He had depleted his magic just trying to get his vision back to what it was currently. He could barely tell who’s who, let alone try to use his own magic.

At least, that’s what he thought. He could feel that his magic had already regenerated somewhat. From here, he weighted his options; he could try and heal his vision a bit more to fight hand-to-hand, but Charlotte was already working on that.

As Alex rose to his feet, Gaius could just barely see his silhouette, including his ears. He had one shot at this, and secretly wondered if he was taking an unnecessary risk. With Alex’s attention turned to Charlotte, Gaius leaped forward and grabbed Alex’s arm. He could sense that Alex didn’t have enough magic for any more big stunts, but it was still possible that he had something prepared, and the older man had to act fast.

Before Alex had the chance to react, Gaius used as much magic as he could safely muster to attempt to slow his reaction time. Alex tried to respond by swinging, but it was easy to dodge even with Gaius’s terrible vision. Charlotte wasted no time in grabbing her victim’s arm and biting down. The red-haired man only fought for a few seconds before drifting off to sleep.

“Seems like your friends have found us already.” Charlotte slung the unconscious man onto her shoulder. “It’s been a few days since I bit anyone, the sedative should last fifteen minutes. We can dump him someplace where he won’t bother him.”

“Actually, I know this is a big ask, but…” Gaius tried to think of a way to ask this that wouldn’t cause her to judge him. Failing that, he just spoke up. “I don’t want to let him go just yet. I want to talk to him first.”

“Are you talking about an interrogation?” Charlotte wasn’t about to dismiss his request outright, but she still didn’t know him well enough to know if she should go along with this. She wasn’t above some kidnapping and questioning, but there were boundaries that were all too easy to cross when it comes to this.

“No, I mean I want to talk to him. Even if he’s loyal to Hikari, he shouldn’t be pulling stunts like this, especially if he can’t commit.” There was a look of concern in his face, the same way a disappointed father might look at their child.

“Okay, fine. But it better be just a conversation, okay?” Charlotte felt uneasy agreeing to this, but when your enemy literally comes to you, it would be foolish to not take advantage of this.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of doors unlocking. Charlotte looked over to where the front counter was, and noticed the middle-aged man who had been watching them. The man tossed a set of keys over to Charlotte.

“I came to talk to you both, but looks like you’ve got your hands full.” He casually strolled over and firmly placed a business card in Gaius’s hand. The still-blind mage placed it in one of the pockets that were recently sewn into the inside of his coat.

“The employees are locked in the closet in the back. I’d deal with it, but I’m sure they’d rather see friendlier faces than mine. Call me when you’re able to.” There was a hint of worry as he made his way towards the door with no further explanation

Charlotte made her way there first, with Gaius following the best he could. She opened the door and immediately started working on the hostages’ ropes, before Gaius caught up and quietly intervened. He placed a hand on the ropes themselves.

“Hold still, I don’t want anyone getting hurt.” This wouldn’t require much magic, but it would require some precision. He carefully singed the knot and let the ropes fall before moving onto the next hostage.

“Charlotte? What was that all about?” One of the women looked straight at her with worry in her eyes.

“Just a random psycho. He won’t bother you again, okay?” Charlotte smiled compassionately yet nervously while they both rose to their feet.

“But that was a mage, he came in wearing the cloak and everything. And are those bite marks on his arm?” She leaned over to look at the body Charlotte was carrying.

“He’s just a hooligan who happens to have power. We’ll be taking our leave now.” Gaius answered defensively.

“Look, this neighborhood is very dangerous lately. Just stay safe, okay?”

Charlotte took Gaius’s cue, picked up their captive, and left without any further explanation. She’d explain more later. Or better yet, she’d just go to the other location a few blocks over so she doesn’t ever have to explain this. As the duo left the restaurant, the staff started gossiping immediatly. Charlotte was still able to hear, and slowed her walk so she could eavesdrop.

“Did you see those glazed-over eyes? The bite marks? And that coat? He was definitely a vampire.” One of the women swooned.

“Just what is he doing with Char, anyway?” One asked rhetorically. “Anyone can tell that she’s a-”

Charlotte got in the van before she could finish hearing the conversation, and grumbled to herself. Just what did they mean by that? Any other day, she would have stuck around to listen, but she has more important things to do right now. With the captive in the back, she got into the driver’s seat and drove off with her partner.

“You okay?” Gaius couldn’t see the expression on Charlotte’s face, but her silence spoke volumes.

“Oh, yeah.” Charlotte chuckled. “Just overheard a conversation on the way out. Those girls were swooning over you like crazy.”

She could hear an indoor conversation from that distance? Even if it was in the dead of night, that was impressive, even for an immortal. Gaius raised an eyebrow, but not because of that. 

After a moment, Charlotte’s shoulders sagged, and her grip on the steering wheel tightened “Guy, I know we just met, but just be honest. Based on your first impression, is there something wrong with me?”

“You stormed a semi-militarized facility full of mages. There is something very wrong with you, but I wouldn’t be here if you had better judgement.” Gaius was a little too honest, and Charlotte chuckled at that response.

“But to answer your question, you might be one of the most ordinary people I’ve spoken to in a long time.” It wasn’t hard for Gaius to figure out that she was just being insecure, and he could almost deduce why. “But I have a feeling you’re worried about someone else’s opinion of you.”

Charlotte sighed. “They were wondering why you were hanging around me, like you’d have to be blind to want to be around me.”

Gaius glanced over to the faint image of her and raised an eyebrow, prompting Charlotte to shake her head while keeping her eyes on the road. “I mean, not literally. But why is it so unbelievable that I could be friends with someone like you?”

Ah, there it is. He could be wrong, but Gaius was starting to get the bigger picture. He’s been teaching post-secondary long enough to pick up on certain patterns when it came to people. “Are you sure you’re not misinterpreting the situation?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Those employees knew you on a first name basis, and turned to you for an explanation. They wouldn’t act that way if they didn’t like you. But there may be something that they can see that you don’t.”

“Like?”

Gaius choked. He could answer honestly, but he was still a relative stranger, and suggesting what was on his mind would definitely be overstepping his bounds. He quickly came up with a lie. “I wouldn’t be able to say, really.”

Despite the fact that the rest of the evening was going to be very trying, it was almost a relief when Charlotte pulled into the driveway.