Worst date ever (Mason)

[Caia]

The moment Mason declined to go, Caia could feel a rush of relief wash over her. She had not wanted to put anymore of this trouble on the other woman, but she was beyond grateful to not have to do this alone. Her hand would rest over her unbeating heart, as she expressed her gratitude. "I don't even know how to fully express in words how thankful I am to have your help Mason. Thank you." With hearing mention of the Shadow Realm, and Mason admitting to feeling lost, Caia was surprised. Mason came off as so strong and together, Caia never would have guessed such a thing. "I am truly sorry you have been dealing with such a thing. If there is ever anything I can do, please let me know." Caia truly hoped the woman had people in her life that were helping her through the transition of returning from the realm. She hardly knew Mason, but after what they had experienced together she would do anything she could to help her.

Mason would go on to mention security cameras footage and making changes. Caia thought this a brilliant idea. She had nearly forgotten all about the surveillance. Her words would be cut off, as another voice spoke then. The words sounded almost like a riddle, but from the look Mason gave it was clear she understood. Caia figured then this must be the wraith she had mentioned before. Mason went on to translate and elaborate on options. Caia would think over it all. "If you would, please thank your wraith for me. Or can the wraith hear me? Ofcourse, forgive me... Thank you, for your help. It is truly appreciated…" She went on with the last of her words, to thank the wraith for all the help. It was not as if she had never met a wraith before. Just recently Caia had been training with one.

Her attention shifted back to Mason then, as she spoke. " I can't imagine going into the river here. Perhaps if we weighed him down enough, that would do the trick. Burying him deep within the woods could be an option, but we would have to be quick about it. Surely you know fae are not a friend to our kind. Should we linger too long, they would likely attack us. Especially if they see what we were up to. Not to mention the earth would be hard to dig. The ground is surly frozen, with the weather we have had. I do have shovels out back. They are from one of the other places I own. We do installations of some of the plants we sell sometimes. " She could feel herself rambling and offering very little helpful information.

"If you were going to handle the security footage before we go, I think I will change first. I always keep a few things in my office. Likely something would fit you, if you wished to change before we go. I can have your clothing cleaned or pay to replace anything damaged." Excusing herself then, Caia would head back to her office. Pulling out a few things, she would set some items on the desk for Mason, should she want to change. Clothing in hand, Caia would head to change in one of the restroom stalls. It felt nice to have on jeans and a simple soft t-shirt. To be covered up, felt calming. Walking out,she stood before one of the mirrors over the sink. When she looked, there was no reflection but she knew there to be blood on her face. With a wet paper towel, Caia tried her best to wash away what she could. Going on to scrub down her hands and arms. It was likely she had missed a few spots on her face and there would be no getting it out of her hair for the moment. This would have to wait until later, when she would head home and shower.

No amount of hot water was going to wash away the way she felt though, Caia knew this. Pulling out her phone, she would shoot her sire, Mora, a text. * Will you be at the Crypt later? I really need to see you. It has been a horrible night and I don't want to be alone.* Hitting send, the thought of seeing Mora comforted her. She felt much like a child, in the way one longer for their mother in times of distress. Mora was all the family she had now. As Caia headed back to the dining area, she would have a seat, in a clean area, to put on her socks and tennis shoes. Her eyes could not help but linger in the direction where all the chaos had taken place.

[Mason]

Mason smiled at the woman's gratitude. Kind of felt good knowing she had appreciation somewhere, it being something violent didn't really bother her. She was rather used to life being like that. Then the woman offered kindness after Mason had talked about the Shadow Realm. She stood still for a moment, just trying to ponder it. It wasn't that she'd never had kindness, even now there were people kind in spite of what she was used to. Though, usually those people did not necessarily know her. She could not come up with anything particularly good to say, so instead she just said, "Thanks."

Mason chuckled slightly at the woman's reaction to Warren, she couldn't hear Warren's reaction. She wasn't even really sure what it would be. She thought he might be amused but it was honestly hard to tell what his personality was really like. It had become so warped and distorted by the Shadow Realm the little bit that leaked out didn't tell her much. She was about to speak to explain that he could indeed hear her when he spoke again, "Offerings of eggs, fresh, full, unprepared. Foxes and nightmares and withering touches."

She could definitely see Mason furrow her brow at his response. Even with hearing him more often than most, he still sometimes just...didn't make sense to her. "I'm not really sure what his intention was for that one, but he did hear you. He can see and hear things and speak he just can't seem to move anything really. Or be seen."

"The eyes are wrong."

"Also the Shadow Realm kind of screwed up his mind. We made an agreement, I have him as my wraith, and outside of helping me, he can go and look at things." She explained shortly. It wasn't exactly a full story. But they weren't exactly in free time.

She nodded as Caia said she didn't want to go into the river, and that while they could put him in the woods the fae were not friendly. And they'd likely need to hurry, add onto that the frozen ground, and it wasn't the greatest of options. Mason clicked her tongue, "Ah, forgot about that bit. Otherwise we could probably be in and out before they got too irritated. River probably is the best option then."

Caia offered her extra clothes, which Mason was extremely grateful for, "Oh yes, please, I'm not exactly keen on walking the city around in anything bloodied. Especially not in this case." it certainly wasn't the best time to be caught with blood on her.

Then she went off to change the security records. She was, after-all, new here. So if she'd screwed up the security tapes was it really all that of a surprise? Some accidentally mistaken recordings were certainly important on the legal scale, but it would be much worse for them to find it...probably. Evidence that it was them specifically to kill him was an issue. So hopefully nobody would ever find the body, at least not until the evidence was sufficiently gone.

As she finished she heard Warren again, giving her directions to the place in the river least likely for the body to ever be located. He said something about cuts and bruises which she took for meaning something about the formation of the earth in the river, she'd have to trust him on this most likely. Then she went to a mirror, quickly cleaning off anything she could see on her skin, that was one advantage of being a Mystic. You had a reflection.

Caia might be stressed, Mason had far less fear in the current situation. Perhaps she'd been involved in just too many deaths. That certainly was how she saw it. Life was violent and she wasn't bothered by that. The moment she'd become a paladin it was that way. She'd certainly remember today, somewhere, But she wouldn't place it in any special spot any more than most of her days. Except, maybe, that Caia might be worth trusting.

[Caia]

As she finished tying her shoes, with shaking hands, Caia would stand to head back to her office. She would quickly return, bringing out the clothes she thought might fit Mason. Setting them on one of the clean tables, before heading over to shut off the music in the dining area. The silence that followed, felt eerie but Caia went about doing some of the normal closing tasks. It gave her a sense of normalcy, until her eyes would catch sight of the human shape wrapped in black plastic. Closing the blinds of the front windows, she would then check to be sure the front door was locked. The closed sign was already up, but she made a mental note to get a sign up to just keep the dining area closed for tomorrow. They were already at limited capacity, due to the pandemic. Most of the food they sold as of late was take out anyway.

Caia would be sure to take care of all the staff. She had been saving over the last few years, and thankfully had not had to let anyone go during these hard times. The employees depended on her, and she had no intention of ever letting any of them down. Without her places and the distractions they provided, Caia didn't know what or who she would be. Phone in hand, she would shoot out a text to the restaurant manager about her plans for tomorrow, but gave no details as to why. One of the many perks of being the owner, not having to explain her reasons for things. This had taken her some time to get used to. She was used to being a grunt worker, one who took orders and did as she was told. Those days were behind her. Work certainly paid better now, but each day seemed full of new stresses and issues to deal with. Tonight definitely held at the top of her list. Covering up a murder was an adventure she never hoped to face again.

Walking over, to where Alex's covered body lay, Caia would reach for the weapon she had taken his life with. There was nothing special about the gun. Grabbing one of the white cloth napkins from a table, she attempted to clean any prints from the gun. It was not a task she was familiar with, but had seen done before on many television shows. It was likely they would be disposing of the gun also, but probably not where they dumped Alex. For a moment, she almost started to feel sad for him. What sort of end was this for a human being? Caia was quick to remind herself that he was a monster. She would stuff the gun into an empty black trash bag and set it on the table where her date had begun and then ended so tragically.

Walking away, she headed to the back to speak with Albert. The place was empty, and the old chef was putting away a few last things. " Almost done, and I will head out to the dining room… He would cut his words short, after taking one look at her. It was as if he could see all the anxiety she was holding over the situation. He would stop his work, throwing his arms around her to hug her. " It will be alright. You did what you had to. I know you are a good person." With his words, Caia felt on the verge of tears but would hold herself together. Hugging him back, she would speak after he pulled away. " Thank you. Don't know what I would do right now without you and Mason. " The old chef would shrug off her words, before replying. " You don't need to find out. I am always here for you. For anything. Anything you hear me. I knew your grandmother, and even you when you were young. You're like family. "

She would thank him again, before suggesting he just burn anything with blood on it. Even her clothing and shoes that she had left in the bathroom waste basket. Albert assured her this would not be any trouble. She would give him one last hug, before heading back out to the dining area. She would wait for Mason, and when the woman made her way out would offer her the clean pair of clothes.

[Mason]

At this point they were too far gone to avoid real problems if they were caught. This would have to be done without error, or they'd pay for it. She came out to see Caia, and the bagged body. She was cleaning the murder weapon. Right. She still wasn't used to this Mason remembered. She watched her head away to speak to the helpful man again.

She hoped he was trustworthy. Their safety very likely hinged on him. She kept a distance but watched their interaction quietly, looking down and waiting patiently as she heard the discussion. Furrowing her brow, especially at her position in this. How had she ended up here? The question no longer held the same disdain it once had. Now it was just...a question. Uncertainty more than hurt.

She was now on the opposite end, in some ways. Helping vampires? Just a year ago she would have tried to kill people like she was acting now. Though, maybe not. She realized right now she was a lot more powerful than she used to be. Strange how that worked. She stepped away for a little thinking before she came back to find Caia in the dining room again offering her the clothes.

"Thank you. Don't...don't think about it too hard afterwards. What's done is done. We can't change it anymore. All we can do from here, is what we can do." She said, furrowing her brow, "Oh...that sounded like Warren. What I mean is that worrying won't help once we've finished this. What needed to be done was done. That's just how it is." she hoped her certainty of this might at least be of some help.

Mason took the clothes and would find somewhere to change before following her plan of checking to ensure she was as clean as possible, of blood at least. That would be a pretty telling sign. And if caught you could be sure soldiers would be quite happy to test that blood even if they'd already gotten rid of the body. She did have a fake ID that might help, and she had a reflection on top of that, so proving she was a vampire would rely a lot more on a temperature check.

Her return would be fairly fast. She was a bit uncomfortable wearing someone else's clothes but it was all that could be done right now. Better that than what she had on moments before. This would be a real issue if they ran into soldiers. But, maybe, she could figure it out. If it worked, she might just be able to teleport the body elsewhere. If that even worked. But hopefully they'd run into no such issue. It occurred to her, if she used her fake ID and Caia was seen with her, and Mason was discovered, they'd have reason to mess up Caia too. Hm, that was a problem. She'd have to take care about that part. Maybe being a telepath would be something she'd have to rely on more if they were found out.

Either way she was back and ready to start moving. She called on Warren again to check and ensure they were clear to move the truck while they got ready to move the body and the weapon, "I can...take that. I can leave the city easier than some. Figure if we bring it somewhere else entirely it might be harder to connect. Only after we're done here though. It'd be easier, but longer because of the trip and care needed."

[Caia]

As Caia handed over the clothing, Mason once again was offering her words of advice. It was comforting to have someone who seemed to care and wanted Caia not to hold onto the dark acts of the night. It was the mention of the name Warren that caught her off guard. Likely this was noticeable. She felt saddened then, for a completely different reason. Of course Mason was not speaking of the Warren Caia had known and loved. She would guess this to be the name of Mason's wraith. What were the odds? Fate had a cruel way of reminding us of things. Most of Mason's words that followed were a little lost on her. All she could think about then was Warren, her Warren. Who she had taken for granted that he would always be here for her. Until he was gone and she could not help but feel that it was all her fault. Caia didn't even know what had finally taken him from the land of the living.

When Mason went to change, Caia would pace the dining area a little. " Oh Warren, how I wish you were here. You would know what to do. I likely would not have been in this situation if you were still here. I'm so sorry…." She spoke aloud, but her voice was quiet. Speaking to those who were gone was something she often did. Even if they couldn't hear her, she found comfort in imagining they could. She let her mind wander to when she had returned to her grandmother's old house, after having been turned into a vampire. She had been unable to get inside, because her key didn't work. Warren had thought she was an intruder, when seeing someone climbing a tree to sneak into a window. He had been quick to action, pulling her down. They had both been surprised, and overjoyed to be reunited after so long.

He had been the boy next door she had crushed on for as long as she could remember. When her mother moved her away to Florida, Warren had been someone she missed most. That and her grandmother Rose of cours. Warren had watched after Rose while Caia was away. Coming back after the funeral, they had grieved her loss together. " I miss you so much Warren…." Her quiet words held with deep sadness. Recalling how she had turned Warren. She had trouble controlling her hunger. He had offered himself so freely, but Caia had been unable to bring herself to stop. She had no choice but to give him her blood to bring him back to her. Because a world without him was unbearable to think of. A truth now she was having to live with. Because now he was gone.

Mason's words would snap her back to attention, and away from thoughts of the past. " Oh! The weapon, I actually had an idea of how to dispose of that. My sire has a place that I can tome to. There is a set up for disassembling weapons and rebuilding them. Figured I could take the weapon apart and then melt down the pieces in a forge. This way it could never be found or identified." She felt confident she could do this. Caia could not build any working weapons, but the destruction of one surely could not be that hard. "I might have some paving stones out back also. Maybe some rope too. Perhaps we could use those to weigh the body down, if we tossed him into the river? " She was trying to be creative in her thinking of what they had on hand that could be used.

[Mason]

Caia had an odd response to the reference to Warren. Mason, of course, didn't know who Caia actually thought of when she'd heard the name. There was no reason for her too after-all. She was however pretty sure Warren was quite old, Caia didn't act like she was, but maybe Warrens name had come up at some point? Or maybe that was a stretch. Either way she had to get changed and so wouldn't hear Caia talking. 

Mason did not remotely have the relationship with Warren Foster as Caia had had with her Warren. Warren Foster and her had an agreement, a deal. It was fairly straightforward, he gets to journey, and she gets to call on him for help when she needs it. That was it, no other rules, no other requirements. Originally, as far as she was concerned, that was the end of it. Warren Foster seemed to...test that. Often giving unwarranted advice or comments that, 75% of the time, didn't make much sense. She tolerated him only because his existence was dependent on her. At the time, she still hated vampires even though she'd become one. Over time he became less irritating, and easier to understand. And her recent death had obliterated what hatred and disgust for the vampire race remained.

Now Caia responded on the matter of the weapon, she was planning to take it apart herself. Mason cocked her head in thought. "Yeah, that seems the best way to go about it." she agreed. There was risk affiliated of course, but that was the case with anything. At least here the gun wouldn't even be in enough of one piece to properly be identified. At least she hoped that was how that'd work.

She also mentioned paving stones and rope. Mason nodded, "Yeah that'd be good." she felt a weird feeling of dissociation. A flicker maybe of the Shadow Realm still. How little she cared about the death of a human, how little emotion was going through her for any of this scenario. Perhaps it would return later, maybe it was just the situation itself.

Could always ask Foster about it, just in case. Not that she could be sure she'd understand him.

[Caia]

With Mason's confidence in her plan of destroying the weapon, she felt even more sure of the idea. You can do this. You have to do this. She told herself. Life was full of difficult tasks and situations. The only way one survived them, was to power through doing the best you could. This had been what Caia had been doing since she had come to the city. Working through the troubling shadows of her past to better herself. She was a successful business woman now, but even this had come at a cost. Destruction was usually easier than creation. At least this is what Caia hoped for in this situation. She must have crossed the forge down in the crypt hundreds of times. Not once had she attempted to use it, but it was certainly something she planned to change. Knowledge could be power, and this entire situation had opened her eyes to just how little she was prepared for certain things and how to handle them.

Her eyes would linger upon the lifeless sack containing Alex. " I'll go get a cart, to help us move the body to the truck. While I'm out back, I will check on the pavers and rope." As she spoke, emotions overtook her once again. Replaying over the events of the night. Before arriving at the restaurant, she had envisioned things going so differently. Caia had been into Alex. He had been attractive, confident and made her feel something again. It had been refreshing to feel desired, she had just not realized the deep darkness of his desires before tonight. Be mad. Be pissed off. She told herself in the moment. He was nothing but a lie, set on getting what he wanted no matter the cost. Just as she had been set on making sure she or Mason being in danger were not the cost of his desires.

There were those who thought little of the well being of vampires. Alex had clearly been one of those people. She was nothing but an object he wished to use for his own wants and needs. With one last look to Mason, she would manage to share a small smile. It was hard not to continue thanking her and apologizing over and over for the whole mess. As she walked to the back, she would think on the upcoming holiday and what sort of Christmas bonus she could send her. A BIG one. She told herself Mason deserved this and then some. Out back Caia would find the pavers, and even better a couple of cinder blocks. The rope she would find in the little shed out back, and would toss it into the back of Albert's truck, along with a couple of the cinder blocks and a shovel just Incase.

Grabbing one of the long metal carts out back, Caia would head back in. She didn't see Albert in the kitchen, but figured he had to be somewhere. Finding her way back to the dining room, she would head near Alex. Caia would look to Mason, " Ready for this? Would you mind driving? " Caia didn't know if she wanted to be ready but knew she had to. This was not a problem that was going to handle itself. She would wait for Mason to help her load the body on the cart. Once they had done so, she would find her purse and stuff the bagged weapon inside. Caia planned on pulling the cart to the kitchen first, and placing a few bags of trash atop the body; as not to draw too much suspicion if anyone happened to see them outside.

[Mason]

Mason had just a little experience in mechanical crafting, mainly traps. She'd tried guns, but getting them to a worthwhile quality just was beyond her skill level. She hadn't really done the traps in awhile either though, those weren't her style. She preferred the much more direct methods. Arguably much more dangerous, but often more effective. A random trap was unlikely to do that job of a real confrontation. Mason saw again Caia look at the body, again reminder her that Caia wasn't used to this. True Mason wasn't either, she usually didn't hide the bodies. But at least she was used to things dying. She hoped she'd be alright, but there was really no way she could know.

She said she'd go get a cart, managing a smile on her way out, which Mason returned. This could be impactful for Caia. For Mason, she'd gotten more desensitized to the violence. But this wasn't just violence, this was deceitful relationships. That could make trusting hard in the future. And while it was important to be careful where you put it, under-use the trust was sometimes just as bad she figured. That was what she dealt with most often, she'd been so much of a lone-wolf when it came to actually taking care of herself, that might have been what cost her. Maybe if she'd had allies, she wouldn't have gotten killed. Or at least, it would have gone a little better maybe.

That was irrelevant right now, she checked the keys and chose to look over the truck. Making sure she knew where everything was, including insurance. Just in case. Figured she should do that while Caia worked on getting some of the stones and rope. She came back a little before Caia did, she nodded as Caia as she asked if she was ready, and if she'd be up for driving. "That's good, I was just checking the truck out a moment ago. Wanted to look familiar with it." she explained.

Mason of course would help with the process of getting the body in the cart, and follow along with Caia in regards to the trashbags. But as she was doing that, she was using some of her skills to check regularly, trying to sense if and where any people were if they were near. She had gotten pretty good at using her skills to follow information that normally wasn't available. Her vampiric senses and abilities most assuredly aided with that. It wasn't always perfect, but more often than not, if she was using it, she'd know some details. She realized just how useful that would be in this case, unfortunately, trying to use that in the car would be far too difficult without looking suspicious. She was good at it, but that was too much going on at once for a real extended period of time.

"If...we get caught." She didn't want that to happen, or even consider that as a potentiality. But it was regardless, "What would you do? I can't wipe memories. And I'm not keen on...just killing people. Best I could do is teleport them elsewhere and hope they can't prove anything, but that'd still go really wrong proof or not."

[Caia]

As Mason spoke, Caia pulled the cart along. One of the weels made a funny noise and wobled a little but it worked alright. As they neared the back door, she would turn to push it open with her back, as she pulled the cart through. It was heavy, but the trash didn't help with this; not to mention her adrenaline rush was fading. The smell was a little off-putting, but that was not the body she was smelling. If she had to guess someone had thrown out something that had gone bad. Beyond bad. The truck was just right out back. Albert always parked close and was netorious for taking smoke breaks by it durring his shift. It was not uncommon to find an empty beer can now and then on the ground, or tossed into the truck bed.

The truck itself was an older model. It's red color was more rust it seemed, but Albert kept it running in perfect condition. Caia would pull the tailgate down, it would take her a moment as the handle was finicky. She considered Masons words, as she looked in her direction. If we get caught, what will I do? She knew one thing for sure. "I know one thing, if we get caught you just bail. Ok? This is my mess, and I appreciate everything you have done. If we get into a situation if you have no way of bailing I can give you this tome I have. It will take you to a safe place. I have my ways of getting away. I can escape into the Shadow Realm if needed. Albert can get another truck. I can buy him one. Let's hope things don't come to that."

As she spoke then, Caia would lift one of the bags of trash, tossing it into the back. " Maybe the smell of this trash will prevent anyone who stops us from looking too hard back here. Gawd that smells awful. " Once the trash was in the back, her eyes would look to the bagged Alex. " Hope I never have to do this ever again." She knew this city held it's darkness. Likely things like this happened all the time. "Ready to put him in the back?" Asked as she stood near the front of the cart, ready to lift Alex into the back of the truck. With Masons help, she would get him into the back.

Only after they had him in the back, would Caia push some of the trash bags over him. Jumping out of the back of the truck, she would shut the tailgate. " Do you think your wraith could go out ahead of us? A path simply avoiding all cops and soldiers would lessen our chances of being caught? If we need to get away, I can created a darkness. Hopefully strong enough to create the distraction needed for us to get away." After this, Caia would head to the passenger side. Of course the door was unlocked, and the window was even down. It was a wonder the truck had never been stolen. Caia imagined an older vehicle was often overlooked by those interested in such things.

[Mason]

Cart wasn't prime material for this sort of thing. But it could also have to do with the weight it was carrying. It wasn't like an entire human body was particularly light, and on top of that of course was the trash and blocks they were going to use to weight the body down. Still, it was doing it's job. Soon they managed to get the body in the back, man the smell was strong. Maybe it would serve a purpose of its own though.

Mason raised her eyebrows as Caia told her to just bail if they get caught. She was actually just a bit surprised at the thought-fullness of that. Not that Caia didn't already come off as a person that was willing to care for other people, maybe it was just Mason's way of dealing with things that caused that. She didn't really consider outs very often that didn't result in an out for everyone. She had become so mechanical in her way of dealing with things that she hadn't even considered that an option.

"I...alright. I can teleport myself somewhere probably. If it comes to such a situation. Better we both vanish and they have to figure out what happened then we both get seen I guess." she responded. She didn't really know of any other good plans, the fact that Caia could just enter the shadow realm of her own will was a power Mason definitely was going to try and explore. That sounded useful, then again, it's draw on her mind last time was very strong. She wandered if it could harm her if she did it of her own accord.

Caia would also voice what Mason had thought about the smell, "Yeah...I am so glad I don't work in garbage." she said, just imagining how much she'd have to deal with if that was her job. Another strike as Caia said she hoped she'd never have to do it again. Mason would nod as she asked if she was ready to put Alex in, and they'd get him in. Followed by the trash bags, covering him fairly well even if someone were to look.

She asked if Mason could have her Wraith search things out before they headed off, make sure the route was clear. As well as commenting on how she could help with further decreasing chances of them getting cought. As Mason got into the front and started up the truck she bobbed her head side to side, "Warren is uh...hard to understand sometimes. I could maybe get him to actually lead us where we need to go by speaking, cause I can't see him myself...but I doubt he could relay a path with any level of understanding. The Shadow realm, I think, has done some things to his mind that I'm not sure are repairable. Sometimes he can be really wise, other times...I can't understand a word."