~~Welcome to the world of Vampire: The Requiem~~
~~Jack~~
And then she fell into the ocean after that! Jack struggled to contain the mirth after giving him a stomach stitch. "It was too late by the time we pulled her out." Everything was ruined: the dress, the hair, and the makeup.
The younger of the two, Jack, was seated on his friend's sofa. Jack was certain it was a leather sofa or a pricey substitute. The artworks were framed in an elegantly simple, smooth framework, but the walls were a solid white. The paintings themselves depicted dark subjects in terms of both hue and imagery. Although Jack could never be certain, he was certain that many of them were depictions of harsh biblical times.
But who was he to pass judgment? He liked clean, white walls without any decorations.
"Oh wow. And the gala for her high school was this? Julias, who had a smile on his face and a glass of red in his palm, was also seated on the couch across from Jack.
Julia was a jerk. No one could dispute it. Although he took good care of his body and had grown quite muscular and lean, Jack was a small man, and Julias was a big, built man. Jack was aware of this. He had wide shoulders, a tall stature, and a fair complexion. His hair was blonde and combed back flat against his skull. It was nearly unreal in the movie. Nobody styled their tresses in that way. Nobody could make those tresses look good.
Julias might. The man was dressed in a really, really, really fine suit, even though he was sitting in his living room on the sofa with a glass of red wine in his hand. Definitely much better than Jack's own. Jack estimated the cost of his outfit to be at least two months' worth of his own pay. He had at least taken off the jacket and loosened the black tie.
“Yeah. "I took her home because she was so distraught, and she missed the entire event," Jack said.
"Wow, did you take her home?”
“Ha!" "Man, I hope." "No, she abandoned me in a fit of rage after only five minutes at home."
“Ouch. Julias was trying hard not to chuckle, if only to keep his drink from spilling as he sipped it. Even if he had, Jack questioned whether it would have made much of a difference in his friend's finances.
Jack was forced to rise. It was always fun to visit Julia's home, which featured a huge TV on the wall and a wall-to-window view of the city. He took a few steps back and forth as he surveyed the structures below. marble flooring in a residence. Even without the floors, his shoddy sneakers seemed insufficient.
"Did you ever date someone after?”
The sudden apparition of Julia next to Jack nearly caused Jack to gasp. He had been silent. There is silence, and those shoes are on marble surfaces. Oh, so seamless.
“No. The first and last woman I ever dated was Ashley. After a brief moment of embarrassment, Jack glanced back out the window and put his hands in his pockets. "She dumped me before I ever got past second base either." Standing next to Julia, his own suit was a pale, dyed contrast to hers, and their shared sad optimism was clear.
"Aha, I see. So that was the main focus of this. "You asked me to help you locate a girl."
"No, well, perhaps."
"I haul your behind to the gym so frequently, Jack. Even there, you converse with individuals. You've improved since you were a helpless pissant five years ago. "Thought you'd have some confidence," Julias said, swirling his glass of red wine. It always seemed to be very dense.
"I am sure of myself."
"So what's the issue?”
"Hatred for the people of the world and their stupidity?" Jack stated.
or possibly spending too much time online creating absurd standards."
"That's right, too."
Both of them chuckled. Undoubtedly, their relationship was odd, much like how water and fire interact. Julias was stylish, refined, built, and sophisticated. Jack was a skinny little man with a sharp tongue and too much free time. They were never without a topic to discuss.
"You received that raise at Barksen's, then?" Before turning to face Jack, Julias took another taste of his beverage. He leaned against the window with his back to it and folded his free arm against his torso with his free hand hooked underneath the other arm.
Jack shrugged and said, "You know I had plans to get into law school." I must be excellent at getting people to do what I want. "Early on, Barksen wanted me under control."
"I'm not to fault him." Julias's sarcasm was almost dripping from his lips, but Jack countered with a classic wink. "You're an expert at bending people to your will."
Barksen believes I am. "He did employ me right out of high school, don't you think?"
"Yeah, but Jack, you've been trapped in that position for close to three years. Barksen enslaved you because he anticipated that you would be impoverished. Julias glanced down at his drink and made a gentle swirling motion with his hand. "He'd have to pay three times what he pays you to get that job filled by someone with a license," he said.
Before flashing his own grin, Jack slowly squinted up at the older guy.
"You're absolutely correct. I currently have the connections and money set aside. Barksen is unaware that one of his partners is considering a branch, and neither are they aware that Mr. Turner is considering a district expansion. I introduced myself to him as well.
Jack appeared to be very happy with himself. Why not, you ask? He would have a safe and steady future with this strategy. He would advance in his career, receive raises, and lead a comfortable life until retirement at a young age.
Yes, that was excellent.
"You have your ducks in a row now," I said.
"I hope so."
"No dangers?" said Julias.
"I have no idea." "Why would I take chances, really?”
"When you really, truly want something, it probably means that someone or something is preventing you from obtaining it so easily. Risks follow.”
“True. I suppose I just haven't come across anything worthwhile to gamble on.”
After Jack said those things, Julias gave him a very serious gaze. He even gave his canines a quick lick. The elderly guy sighed and moved away from the window, heading for his kitchen. The apartment's living area, kitchen, stairs, and bedroom were all seamlessly connected. Surprisingly spacious and large, it allowed Julias to walk to his counter and refill his drink without interrupting the discussion."If you had one, would you?”If I had something worth taking the risk for, would I?"“Yes. Imagine you were engaged in a dominance struggle. Politics. How low would you go to win a campaign?" Julias waited while keeping his eyes level with his little buddy. The sudden gaze caused Jack to flinch a little because of his steely, cold eyes. Why the sudden shift in attitude?"It might depend on how I felt about my competitors, I guess.""Predators . The rest of them are predators. If given the chance, they'd murder you, let alone your campaign", Julias said as he licked his teeth once more
It was a chilly evening. When Jack's feet landed on the pavement, he couldn't help but shiver a little. The moon was visible in the heavens after the sun had set a while earlier. At least as clearly as possible in a big metropolis. People were still strolling the streets at this time. Classy dresses and business uniforms were prevalent. Without a question, there were sharks and call girls there, but at least it wasn't as overtly filthy as his neighborhood in the Alley."I appear like a low-class pleb, even to the prostitutes," he said. He had to chuckle at himself and straighten his tie. Present, present, present.It took about twenty minutes to walk to the bus stop, but it was busy and the police weren't exactly sleeping. For the most part, Jack didn't worry about the individuals. He could feel the onset of the chill and the numbing of his digits. Business sneakers weren't warm enough."Pardon me,"Jack nearly leaped. The voice next to him was soft, seductive, feminine, and welcoming
~~Jack~~Jack screamed himself awake.“God! Oh goodness!" He panickedly cast a glance around. Couch. A sofa was present. In the background are paintings. Even an enormous window. Julia's residence. He took another glance around. Julias was there, hunched over the kitchen island. Jack had to assume that the look on his face was a strange mix of relief and agony.Jack fell off the sofa and to his knees as the throbs struck him hard.Julias, my goodness! He frantically turned to Julias, asking, "What the fuck...what the hell is going on?," but he was simply standing there, waiting and observing. “Julias! Oh, dammit, what the heck. Was it all a dream, oh my god? Did..." Jack reclined back and examined his attire with shaking hands. They were still covered in blood.His buddy assured him that it wasn't a dream.“What the fuck Julias!?" Jack lifted his shirt to reveal his tummy. His blood coated his abdomen, but the wounds had already healed. He could see that they were no longer hemorrhagi
~~Julias~~Julias turned to face his young pupil. While Julias had chosen his normal favorite outfit, a navy lounge suit, two button, single-breasted with no tie, he thought the little Ventrue would look better in something a little more professional. First perceptions were crucial. He outfitted Jack in a gray double-breasted business suit, replete with a white dress shirt and a nice tie.He had a number of suits waiting for Jack. He only wants the finest for his new child.The sidewalks were freezing. People in trench jackets and furs passed by, but his gaze glossed over them even as their gazes drew to him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and appeared almost like a hit man, despite the fact that he was dressed in a suit despite the cold. He was aware of it as well. The kine passing by occasionally stared for too long, and he returned their look with a small, intimidating smile. They averted their gaze."Viktor is one of the Invictus' three elders." He is a founding member of Dolareid
~~Jack~~Jack had never known dread until that moment.It was a large, modern room with a massive wooden table in the middle and massive windows overlooking the city at night. The ceiling was adorned with an array of LEDs in ornamental designs, and the floor was made of the same black marble as the rest of the space. It didn't appear like a conference room designed for typical high-level business meetings. A quick glance around the table showed several objects that appeared to be religious in nature, though he couldn't place them. There were also folders and mountains of paper, as well as photographs of people and objects. TVs on the walls broadcast streams of data, analytics, and telemetry. Some he recognized as stocks and other economic angles, others as crime reports, and still others as product usage data. It was the head of the Xnomina corporation and all of its authority. It was tough for him to look away.But it was the folks inside that scared him.The room had only three ind
~~Julias~~ The building was already on fire. “Oh shit. God ... fuck.” Julias stood at the edge of the building, just some run down old apartment building in the old district, but the flames it gave off were starting to rise. He couldn’t go rooting through the building’s rooms, he’d be ash in seconds, but Viktor wanted that data and supposedly it was in there. He paced from side to side and looked through the windows. No fire alarms were going off; the building must have been abandoned. Probably condemned. The neighborhood was in the factory district, old and filled with typical lowlife. He wouldn’t feed off these streets. And it meant it’d be a while before the police department showed up. Which meant he had time. The fire was filling the front windows, but around back and behind maybe there was still time. Behind it, the parking lot was empty save for some broken cars and shopping carts, and the backs of other buildings that surrounded the block in the typical dead-city fashion. I