Ellie threw herself down on the mattress in her room, landing with a thud. "Today was weird. I didn't expect getting fired so fast," she sighed, glancing at the skull in her hands. "How was I supposed to know that 'take a walk' doesn't actually mean take a walk."

"Fudging manager. I'll kick his ass…" Skully grunted loudly. 

The sky was darkening fast outside; Ellie pulled the note with Oleander's address out from her pocket, staring at it as her lips curved into a smile. She was absolutely certain he had to know more about vampires, which would help her in finding Skully's missing memories. 

"Oh. I almost forgot. You said you had some vague memories in the temple, right? You remembered it looking different, with a goddess…" Ellie remarked and looked at the skull again, "Oleander said that before The Cataclysm it looked different. So does that mean you are older than The Cataclysm?" 

"Fudge me. I guess it does… I remember him saying that —the goddess Lorelei." Skully paused, "So I'm at least four hundred and thirty-nine years old, well older than that I guess, since that's how many years ago The Cataclysm was." 

Ellie placed Skully down and jumped up from the mattress. "That's it. I'm gonna change and we're gonna go to Oleander's place. I can look for a new job tomorrow. I can't believe you're older than The Cataclysm. This is huge," she said in the most excited manner. 

"For the record I still think going to his place is a terrible idea. You don't even know him," Skully grumbled as Ellie walked off to the bathroom. 

He didn't push it too much, if it turned out to be a terrible decision which put her in harms way then he would just possess Ellie's body, as he had many times before when she had been in danger. That time with the bear had been the worst one though, luckily any injuries had been avoided. He would do whatever it took to keep her safe… To him she felt akin to a little sister. 

Ellie barged back into the room, wearing jeans and a navy blue t-shirt. She swooped the skull up from the mattress, stuffing him yet again into her worn-out yellow backpack, "Let's go." She quietly exited, careful not to stir the woman she was renting the room from. 

She fished out a map from the side-pocket of the backpack as soon as she set foot on the street, searching for the right street name. "Aha. It's near the river, still in Old Dawn, so we can definitely walk from here," Ellie mumbled and started strolling down the street with a spring in her step. 

The lantern lights flickered as the sun fully set, creating warm halos all along the sidewalk. The narrow streets quickly became wider as she turned a few corners, making her way toward the Dawn river. Bartholomew cawed from above as he made his presence known, following her closely. Ellie suddenly felt excitement building up, all the possibilities of Dawn lay before her.

After a while she stopped in front of an entirely beige river-side apartment building, staring up at it, and looking down at the address on the note. "This seems to be the place…"

She carefully walked closer, noticing a doorman at the building entrance. Taking a deep breath she decided to approach the doorman, "I- I'm visiting someone…" She muttered, "Um- Oleander-" Her eyes fell onto the note again, "M-Monroe"

"Ah- Come right inside, Miss…" He opened the doors wide for her, his friendly face gave her a smile, "Mr. Monroe told me to look out for a girl matching your description. Let me send you up." He hurried toward the lift, pressing the correct floor for her.

Ellie smiled awkwardly as the lift doors closed and she disappeared up. Skully chuckled from the backpack, something about the doorman amused him. Before she knew it they were on the top floor in front of Oleander's door. Ellie felt nervous for a moment before knocking the door ever so lightly.

"I don't think he's gonna hear you. That was like a mouse knock," Skully said jokingly.

The door swung open before he could say anything else, "Lenore, you made it," Oleander said and gestured for her to come inside.

"I- I used a map, also, Ellie," she blurted out as she entered.

"Maps are probably a good idea in Dawn. I get lost all the time," Oleander chuckled, "I should probably get one too."

Ellie's eyes dashed from side to side, the apartment was quite large with tall windows overlooking the river and downtown. On the side wall was a large board covering almost the entire wall with a massive map of Dawn, newspaper clippings, and pins.

"Is this your investigation?" Ellie questioned as she took a closer look.

"Oh look, he does have a map," Skully grunted. 

"Uh, yes. That's it. Not much to see to be honest." Oleander sat down on the brown leather sofa next to the board. "Want some food? I had my butler cook a few dishes because I wasn't sure what you might like." He glanced at Ellie, admiring her long hair as she studied the map. 

"Oh. You have a butler? Wow," Ellie exclaimed and looked back at him, "I'm not hungry yet though. Maybe in a while? I wanna take a better look at this. And hear about vampires." 

"Of course he has a butler, this place looks like money. I still find him fudging suspicious," Skully said sarcastically. 

Ellie ignored the skull, and was intently trying to find any meaning to the pins and clippings on the map. Missing people. Dead people. She squinted her eyes, one of it was from today. 

Oleander sighed, "I guess I don't have much choice but to tell you what I know, huh… Well, the red pins are locations where Sorrows have been spotted, the blue pins are dead hunters, and the yellow pins are, well, dead humans. I'm not sure if the latter are related to anything, but they could be. The missing people are an indicator of humans being turned into vampires," he tried to explain, folding his hands together, wondering if he had made the right choice in inviting her over. 

Ellie placed herself on the sofa next to him, "Dead hunters? Is this some conspiracy plot? Who turns a human into a vampire? Other vampires? Do they all turn to dust?" 

Oleander swallowed hard, "Uh…" His eyes met hers, and he caught her peculiar scent —pleasant, yet so different— "There are more dead hunters than usual, which is concerning. I don't know if it's a conspiracy. True Vampires can turn a human, and they do also turn to dust when they dies. All vampires are bound to become dust, I suppose there is a vast nothingness at the end of eternity," he said softly, eyes shifting down to find grey marble floor. 

Ellie raised an eyebrow, "They all turn to dust? That's not possible." 

"I assure you it is quite so." He bit his lip and shook his head. 

"Then how do you explain this?" Ellie suddenly pulled Skully out from the backpack, placing him on the coffee table in front of the sofa. 

"Hey. What the fudge?" Skully grumbled, wondering what Ellie was doing. 

"Your prop?" Oleander stared at the skull with a puzzled expression. 

"I lied. Sorry. He's not a prop. He's real," she exclaimed, searching Oleander's face for an expression. 

He stared at the skull, how could it be real? Vampires turned to dust. There was no way. He reached out and plucked the skull up from the table, examining the teeth. 

"Ellie. He's touching me again. I don't like it," Skully complained. 

"Unless its some kind of demon, and not a vampire… " Oleander mumbled as he kept examining the skull. 

Ellie kept watching him, not saying a word. What would she do if he didn't believe her? Why would he believe her? She clenched her jaw and leaned forward, waiting. 

"I'm no archaeologist, so I can't really tell if the skull is real or not. Are you absolutely certain? It could be a demon perhaps…" Oleander remarked, still staring at the skull. 

"Demon? What the fudge? I'm no demon!" Skully growled, lights flickering faintly. 

Ellie snatched the skull back, "He's a vampire. He can talk, um- well- only to me, that is." 

"Talk?" Oleander looked even more confused, though the confusion swiftly turned to a serious expression. "I suppose he could be immensely powerful. So powerful that even a severed head wouldn't kill him… Though that seems quite impossible," he said with a touch of fear, because even to him that possibility seemed frightening; a vampire who could never die —a true immortal. 

Ellie glanced at Skully and grinned, "Powerful, huh? I like the sound of that, and I will ask you more about it. But first I wanted to know more about your investigation actually… Are we doing any investigating tonight? Going to check out the latest scene of disappearances?" 

"Hold on… You're not gonna ask any more questions about me? Apparently I'm immensely powerful… You heard that part, right?" Skully said, trying to get Ellie's attention. 

Oleander couldn't help but smile, there was something so strange, yet charming about her. Honestly he didn't want to think about how powerful the skull could be; if it was indeed real then he would rather go out into the night —which also frightened him a great deal— than stay and find out more about this skull. 

"I was probably going to go take a look at the area where the latest missing person was last seen," he said, biting his lip. He hadn't planned to go out, but he also didn't want to seem like a complete coward.

"We can go now. It's still early," Ellie exclaimed and jumped up from the sofa. 

Oleander swallowed hard and nodded, reluctantly agreeing to go. Hopefully it wouldn't end up like last night. He had a human with him, so running into hunters wasn't such a big deal, he could hide behind Ellie. What a horrid thought, using her as some sort of shield. He clenched his fists as they left the apartment, more than happy to follow Ellie, no driver tonight. 

"Map says it's this way," Ellie pointed down the street, they were still in Old Dawn. Bartholomew followed from above, cawing now and then. 

Skully grumbled. "She's always distracted by something." 

They followed along the cobblestone streets until they reached an eerily quiet corner, the lanterns were out, darkness engulfed the street in front of them. Oleander narrowed his eyes, sensing something. Was it a Sorrow? 

Ellie wandered straight into the darkness, glancing around carefully. Bartholomew perched on a windowsill, cawing louder as Ellie walked on. 

"Be careful," Oleander said softly. 

She stopped and glanced up at the crow, and then back at Oleander again before she heard a familiar snarl. Swiftly Ellie turned around, standing face to face with a Sorrow. 

Her heart beat faster, and she desperately wanted to scream, but felt herself being dragged into a dark oblivion instead. A green light flashed, unseen by most, Skully knew he was in Ellie's body again. 

"Fudging Sorrow," he growled at it.