Welcome to Harper Rock

[Andrew Shedim]

The following is a journal entry dated 5/15/15

I feel like I've been on this train for ages now. Got the word old Carlo asked for me by name, wish I knew exactly what I was getting into but the Lionelli only fill me in as far as I need to be and I ain't one for askin questions. We blood thieves are rarely more than soldiers. But it's gonna be fun working with the skipper again, the man is cold and he's ruthless. He's exactly my kinda guy.

The last job we worked he was brilliant. We were sent in to collect the rest of the change one of the distributors felt he could keep for himself. Carlo was the man sent to actually do the job, I was more chauffeur/make sure no one puts a caps him in the back guy. He was going to show them you don't skim from the Lionelli and just walk away, and he was scary as hell man. So we show up at this nice little rich boys house, I go to ring the doorbell and next thing I know Carlo is tossing me to the side and just kicks the door in. And he obviously knew what the guy looked like, he just started icing people as they ran, he was like an artist.

When he had the guy alone, it was amazing how fast he gave everything up when he had both knees crushed. But he earned my respect that day (not to mention the fat pay day that came with it) and I always wanted to work under him again. Whatever it is he wanted me for it's time to find out.

[Carlo Fachiano]

“How’s you doing?”
“I got one request, boss.”
“Yea? What’s that?”
“Send Krepsi.”
“That ****.”
“Send Krepsi.”
“Alright, don’t hafta ask twice. You know that, Carlo.”
“Damn right.”
“Do this right.”
<click>

That ****….THAT **** has skin in the game.

Carlo liked Andrew Krepsi. He was a silver coin in a pocket full of copper. He had potential. Guts. Carlo needed guts on this mission. In fact, he needed someone normal to talk to. Someone who could drive like Jason Statham in that Transporter movie. Someone skinny enough to weasel his way through crawl spaces where his seasoned bones barely squeezed through. Someone to show up on-time. You don’t make way through the ranks of a crime family by kissing the other guys shoes. Well, sometimes you were on the floor licking them with a rag in your right hand, but Andrew had things right. He listened. He was loyal. He was family.

They met months back when Mickey added the kid to the crew last minute. It was an easy job. Be the lookout, pickup, and go. Boy if anything went right it was Krepsi. Carlo, Mickey, and Frankie hauled a** into a blood red Audi A5. Mother ******* bust out the door of his house with a shotgun. Cops wailing down the street, skid around the corner. Mickey had a scratch through his leather coat, blood oozing out on the leather seats. With mad skills, they were out of there, with the delivery plus one. Flying across Queens, no one was getting pinched that night, thanks to the kid that had them wishing they were chained to those seats.

[Andrew Shedim]

As the train rolled to its grinding halt the young blood thief scooped up his bags after tucking his guns back into the inner pockets of his faded grey peacoat. The ride could've been worse, even if he hadn't had a drink or smoke since leaving New York. He scanned the crowd, looking for any sign of Carlo. He spotted the vampire leaning against some advertisement on the brick wall, the sleeves of his black dress shirt rolled up just above his elbows, his jeans only slightly torn; just like Drew had remembered him, with the look of someone who could kill a man and only need to wash his hands before taking the family out to dinner.

He approached Carlo slowly, extending his hand in a greeting. He kept his voice low to keep from being overheard "good to see ya Carlo, so ya wanna fill me in on why I'm here?" The pair made their way out of the terminal and towards the parking lot "can't imagine ya brought my *** all the way up here just for a driver. Speaking of" he paused "where them keys? Know better than to ride with your old *** grandpa" he laughed.

[Carlo Fachiano]

A brief shake of steel paid less attention to breaking the kids’ hand and more glared over the crowd. He pulled his arm in and wrapped the other around his backside, he gave him a tap and broke away. No matter the strength Carlo had, Krepsi’s breed was catching right up. He was impressed. He felt good to be right with his decision. Living outside of New York for a bit, he also realized how he forgot the kid could chat. It was not that it bothered him. Had it bothered him, Krepsi wouldn’t be here. To a degree, he missed it. Carlo was quiet and limited with his words unless he needed not be. He nodded, “Get to business later.”

Carlo tossed the keys to Krepsi’s car as they reached the parking lot. “Hey, its called cruising. Took good care of her, even had it washed by some short blonde.”

He smirked as they climbed inside. “Good to see ya, kid.” He cared. There the cold tone in his voice, but he did care. He’d trust Krepsi with spreading his ashes over the red sea. Whether he knew it or not.

“Let’s get out of here.” He fastened his seat belt. “Right at the end of the street and straight on through to the next district. We have some shopping to do.”

[Andrew Shedim]

He had expected Carlo to not jump to business right away, these blood drinking capo types never seemed rushed or pressed for time. Still, it was good to see the old man and knowing the guy had asked for him gave him a good sense of pride. "So this blonde, what's her hours? I'm feeling filthy over here!" he laughed before sliding into the drivers seat.

As the engine roared to life, the steel frame quivering slightly in anticipation Krepsi kicked up the e brake, his foot hard on the gas pedal. He gave the vampire next to him a mischievous grin as the car roared louder and louder, with an obvious disregard for any attention they may draw he put the brake down, instantly the tires squealed as the car speedily disappeared in a plume of a smoke.

The blood thief laughed as he slapped the wheel with his palm. "Bet ya never rode her like this eh Skipper?" he didn't want to even imagine the glare he knew would be on Carlo's face. Taking the directions given, his tone grew a little more formal. "Where to boss? I was able to get my babies through customs, barely, but if we got hits to make I may need a little extra." he fought hard not to flood the man with questions. Even down in New York he had heard some strange rumors about this place, the vampires all certainly seemed attracted to it, not to mention the amount of paladins and sorcerers he knew had migrated. But he knew Carlo would fill him in eventually, the man might expect you to give your life but he was always going to make sure you knew your purpose.

[Carlo Fachiano]

“Not sure, but I could get lost for a few hours.” He laughed hard, ending it with a harsh cough, something he kept over the years of smoking genuine stogies.

Krepsi knew the drill, prepare than plan, prepare again; if you underestimated just how intense the job would be. All this without knowing every detail about the job. In spite of that, ninety percent of jobs were all the same. Inform, bust in, get paid. Sometimes you needed an empty suit as a distraction. They weren’t much good for anything else anyway. Sometimes, you needed to get a place ready. Carlo was not sure just how much of the above they would get into. He knew one thing. He had orders and authorization to handle any problems. Oh, and where a few empty plots were to drop them.

“Auction House. You need gear and good ****, like yesterday.” Carlo did his research. It only took him a few days to pick up on all the best vampire hangouts. The clubs to be in if you wanted a scene, the blocks of offices with minimum security. This town was no different from the rest of the United States, cept it promised one thing-eternal life.

“Ain’t that cheap, but I got you covered.” He spoke. “Turn here, then another right.” Krepsi’s foot to the pedal pulled them to the North side of town in no time.

Carlo gripped the dashboard as the car came to a grinding halt, he grunted. “You’re rusty.”

The Moonlight Auction House was not really a place. He thought items had to be located somewhere in the neighborhood though. The shipments were too speedy and direct to be from out of town. He had not figured out this vampire secret, only how to get things he wanted and where to send them. Carlo guided Krepsi into an unsuspecting side entrance of the Foucault Castle. Descended down a narrow winding staircase-where the town's populace could not enter. Into a small room that could double as an office.

“I stay here-for now. Stick clear of the rift upstairs. Them goombas are the reason we are here, to do what they couldn’t.” He referred to his own family. He referred to the way he felt about the task. “Let them protect these walls. Distractions. Right?”

Carlo walked over to a tiny box of a desk. Touch a key and the monitor came to life. “Untraceable IP.” unless someone wanted to try. He clicked the bookmark marked “AH” and began to look for something ideal.

[Andrew Shedim]

He followed his boss quietly into the castle, his years in this lifestyle had trained his eyes to take in everything of his surroundings. Carlo's office was exactly as he would have expected the old man to have it, more efficient than luxurious. Taking a seat he quickly lit a cigarette "so ya ever gonna tell me what we're gettin into Skipper?" he smiled, leaning back in the chair. He wasn't feeling a little eager to get out and see the city, not to mention the craving for vampire blood that grew steadily.

He removed the phone from his pocket and hastily sent a text to one of his contacts before speaking "I'm setting up a drop now, she should have something by morning." he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees "but Carlo, I may, uh, need something, ya know." He knew better than to ask a boss directly for his blood, usually he got his juice from the guys he ran with on the streets...or take it by force when he had the chance.

The vibration from his phone briefly caught him off guard, he hadn't expected a quick reply. He couldn't help but laugh as he read it. "This fuckin dame man, parking a loaded car at the police station." he shook his head grinning, sliding the phone back in his pocket "8 am pickup. So boss, you might know where I can get some juice?" Blood from the stronger ones was always better and he remembered the rush that came from the old mans last time.

[Carlo Fachiano]

Plume of smoke filled the space. Carlo leaned back in his chair. Puff of his own cigarette. "You remember the day we met? How we recruited ya along with them chumps that didn't make it." The message was still vague, but at least Krepsi would get the second task at hand.

"About time you learned how to pick and choose some, cause I'll need your hand in it. Don't **** this up, all my marbles are on you, kid."

"8 am pickup. So boss, you might know where I can get some juice?" Blood from the stronger ones was always better and he remembered the rush that came from the old mans last time.

"8 am. Good. You can make nice and pick out the cell our asses will end up in if we get caught up in business."

Krepsi was human blood thief. He needed vampire blood to stay strong. "We gotta fix this. Nothin strange about til a rift vampire seeks ya out for numming their mate." Carlo meant siring, but there was no rush in the matter as he was getting good use out of a human who could walk in the day and handle things without supervision.

"Let's go. I got a glass of car wash dame waiting." Carlo winked knowingly that Krepsi had a taste for the girl too. "Don't worry, I'll warm her up fer when you can have some real drinks."

Carlo began to explain a bit in the drive across town. He rarely ate in the same place he slept and he'd not let Krepsi follow different orders either. "Ya see there are vampires in this town. Then there are "Vampires". Then Lionelli. Sure there are other shitty breeds too, but lesser on the food chain. Vampire ain't good eats, but it will be-for now. Find em hiding out in the corners of apartments or dark alleyways."

They stopped at the gas station. Carlo pointed off to the outdoor rest rooms where one could possible hide out the day. Make nice nesting spots for loose vampire types. Carlo filled up the car with premium leaded gas before he wandered into the station. Miss car wash was not on ****, but Stacy the ginger was.

"Pump 57." He winked to her while pushing money across the counter.
"Aye, I seen you. Where's your friend?"
"Using the John. Where's your boss?"
"Why-is there a problem?" She stammered and stood tall with a mighty chin held high, chewing away on her doublemint gum.
"When is your break? I need some funyuns, none on the shelf?"
"Oh." She cashed him out and wandered into the backroom.

Carlo looked around the station. No other customers pulled up yet. Krepsi was still gone, so he assumed he found something to naw on. He loosened his jacket and followed the girl around back of the counter and through the storeroom door.
Fifteen minutes later he stepped out of the station and hopped into the car. He did not harm her, not enough for her to squeal to the police. Just a pinch of liquid life to continue on his merry way

[Andrew Shedim]

He gave the old man a silent nod. Carlo had put his own *** and reputation on the line plenty of times before for the blood thief in the past, it always gave Krepsi even more motivation. The way he looked at it now, Carlo was taking his biggest gamble yet, bringing him up here for whatever he had planned.

"We're golden boss. After the pickup I'll get meet you back at the castle, give everything a run through to make sure it's all legit and we didn't get ripped off." He had gotten the vibe from Carlo that whatever the two were going to be doing it was serious. Long ago he gotten accustomed to the skippers game face; the man had a sense of humor but when it was time to do a job he didn't **** around. Whatever was on his mind though, he seemed a little stressed and tense.

Pulling into the gas station he took a quick peak at the attendant, giving Carlo a playful nudge "don't think she's gonna be too much for ya? Know what they say about those redheads." he laughed "maybe I'll come save you after I find some juice." he smirked before stepping out the car, eyeing the dilapidated buildings. "Looks like plenty of places for them hide." lighting a cigarette he made his way to a building with promise, finding a vampire still in their torpor felt like it was going to be only too easy around here. The night was still young enough most were yet to rise.

He pushed the board covering one of the windows aside and hopped in. The air was thick and stale but he could feel it in his bones, a vampire wasn't far off. Taking long, deep drags from the cigarette, he looked around "if I were a vampire, where would I be sleeping" he laughed to himself "sure as **** in a better place than this." The bottom floor seemed empty, the two rooms he had checked had been nothing but broom closests and he found no loose floorboards. Upon reaching the second floor he felt that familiar tingle that pulled him to the blood, he could almost taste the creature. It wasn't much of a search until he found her, tucked away under layers of particle board and discarded clothing, probably just another product of some careless vampire unable to control himself; there really should be a method of spaying blood drinkers.
But who she was was irrelevant, it was what she was the blood thief was concerned with. Gripping her wrist he made an incision with his blade, the blood pooling slowly before running in drips to the floor. The taste was slightly bitter and metallic, she was still in her fledgling phase, she wasn't going to give him much but it would be enough. When Drew had enough he plunged the dagger into the vampires heart, startling her awake but he had drawn his pistol and put one in her brain, she was ash before she'd grasped what was happening.

Hopping back into the car he blared the horn, no sign of Carlo or the attending lady. He laughed, so the old man wasn't sparing discretion, good on him. Knowing he wouldn't be waiting long he took a minute to clean his weapons, this rush wasn't even going to get him through the night and he never hunted with dirty gear.