Worst date ever (Mason)

[Caia]

It was a relief to know if things got crazy, Mason had a way to get away. Caia had never met anyone who could teleport; that she knew of. She imagined this could be very handy, especially if you could teleport anywhere. Caia had her tome, this was useful but it only had a single destination. Granted the Crypt had several portals to take her around the city. She owned a car, but hardly ever used it; simple because it could be a hassle. Especially if you had to get away from a situation in a hurry. She had stayed out of trouble, for the most part, since having been turned. This was her first real taste of chaos. Nothing about the situation felt comfortable or natural. Knowing this was going to be a night to linger with her for a long time. Second guessing the motives of others as a new normal. Caia was glad she had those she could count on. Her sire, and employees like Mason and Albert.

Relaxed in her seat, Caia felt herself tense once again the moment the truck started up. The radio would begin to play, but Caia turned it off as Mason spoke. Listing as the woman spoke of her Wraith, Caia found herself wondering if this was to be the fate of most vampires. It was said the city had a small number of ancient vampires but Caia had never met one. She had never taken the time to learn much about the history of vampires. Wondering now, What happened to them all? and Will more of them return?. It was hard to say what sort of condition those who returned would be in. Caia felt herself sympathetic towards the wraith Warren. "I can't imagine what it would be like to have to return from the shadow realm in such a way. To never be whole of body and mind. Though being out of the shadow realm any way one can is surely a blessing." As she shared such, her eyes would linger out the window. Silently she prayed for good fortune; to go unseen.

Speaking on then, she shared something with Mason she had not really spoken of with many others. " The first time I went into the Shadow realm,I sent myself but not in the way I know how to now. Not sure what I expected, but the reality of my life felt too much to handle at the time. Figuring the afterlife had to be better, somehow. It was far from. The darkness of the realm was greater than that of my life as a vampire out in the world. It did not take me long to find my way out. Never again has it crossed my mind, to take my own life again…." She choked up on her words, but spoke on. It felt good to actually talk about it all. " When I got back, that's when I became involved in managing my own businesses. Figured if others relied on me, it was less likely I would let myself slip away so deeply into depression."

Her tone grew sad, as she went on. " I focused too much of my time on work. Neglecting one who mattered most to me. His name was Warren, actually, a man I had known for several years. After I was turned, I turned him. It was an accident but he was my responsibility. Now he is gone, and I have no clue what happened to him. This is why I trained to enter the shadow realm but I have found no trace of him and fear I never will…." Caia felt on the verge of tears, but quickly tried to pull her emotions together. "Sorry to put that all out there…. It has been a hectic night. The events feel as if I have been kicked while I'm already down. It's just when does the pain and darkness end? I keep looking for a hope of life going on for the better, but all I have positive in my life is work and my sire. I had just started to consider dating again…. We both see how well that went for me." She managed a small smile, as if she found this ironic. Simply Caia found it depressing, but was done rattling on about the woes of her life. Reminding herself it could always be worse. Hoping the night did not get worse.

[Mason]

Mason had a lot of powers that once were beyond accessible to her. That was something she'd definitely at least tried to appreciate. As a human, paladin or not, she never had access to such a wealth of abilities. It was interesting to see the difference. Of course, she realized that perhaps having been a paladin already gave her a head start over if she'd gone straight through. But it was also what had caused her so much pain after the transition. Of course teleportation was also one of the more 'expensive' of her abilities, so to speak. It was not particularly effective in a fight, but was good for leaving if you could before it got started. Or if you found a reprieve. Regardless, it was indeed very useful.

Mason appreciated that Caia turned the music off. She didn't have the attention for it right now. If Caia were to have spoken more to Warren about the subject, she might have come to the conclusion that, whatever the truth really was, he believed that. Or at least, that it was the final step that he had run into. Mason hummed in thought as she heard Caia's comment on the case of Wraiths, "I know it was something I'd have agreed to in his position." she admitted, "I'm not sure...he thinks about the difference. Or, emotionally anyway. At least he's never mentioned it to me...or maybe he did and I just never caught onto what he was saying."

They were on the roads soon, Mason had both hands on the wheel but they were fairly relaxed. If someone saw her, there'd definitely not be a sign of the situation they were in. Dulled down by the violence she'd already seen. Even if she wasn't used to Warren's riddles, she'd still have caught the meaning of the first sentence. She could understand the choice, even if she hadn't made it herself. If she didn't already know vampires could come back, and how fast, she might have attempted it herself. Mason glanced at her a few times, it was strange, how the shadow realm effected people. In Mason's case, it had an almost mellowing effect. Stripping away the anger against vampires she had. And herself. But also leaving her lost in goals. She had none anymore, and couldn't even remember what she might have had before she became a paladin. Maybe she should pick up some hobbies. Start drawing instead of just appreciating it.

Distracted. She returned to listening. She raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly as Caia said the one who mattered to her was named Warren also. Mason wondered slightly if they had anything in common. She also wondered if one day, Caia's Warren would become like Foster had. Probably not a pleasant route. Caia explained that was why she wanted to go to the Shadow Realm, understandable, but her experience in the place made her wonder if it was even possible to find anyone else. She smiled sympathetically as Caia apologized, again a reminder to the dead body in the truck. Caia ended on a sad note, and Mason decided she should speak, "Yeah. It wasn't great. But..." Mason held a hand out gesturing to the world around them, "You live in Harper Rock. Probably the most corrupt area on the planet. I can go for a ten minute walk and find a gangster, a thief, a zombie, a cop, maybe all within a few blocks of each other."

She sighed running a hand through her hair, "Do anything, and you're at risk. Dating, that's no different. Until I got killed, I'd been fighting things almost daily for...awhile. Had a lot of anger during that. But I met someone kind still, knew him as a paladin, met him again after I turned. We both liked art, he drew and I just liked to look at them. I still have the one he made of me. We didn't have any romantic relations, but just him existing I think helped me. Don't see each other often still."

A breath before continuing, "What I mean is, a lot can go wrong. Maybe the pain and darkness won't end. But in my Wraith, Warren's words, 'It doesn't matter.' I'm...calmer than I've been probably for years. Things that used to cause me so much pain just don't anymore. Time...erodes things. It hurts when joys are taken from us, but there'll always be more to get somewhere. I originally summoned Warren begrudgingly, but sometimes he does say things that are...well, wise. Don't cut yourself off because of these bad moments, it'll only hurt more. At least, that's my opinion."

She tried to speak softly and give what comfort she could. But Mason had never been the most skilled speaker. She, ultimately, ended up being far more of a fighter than anything else. An occupation that would once have been very unfitting, yet, this place bred changes of the most extreme. And hers was hardly the most strange.

[Caia]

As the truck drove on, every bump, light and person caught her attention. Thankfully they did not pass many bystanders on the street, and so far none of them had looked to be a soldier or cop. There was a time where Caia once found the sight of such a uniform comforting, in some cases even attractive. Now she felt uneasy when seeing those who wore such uniforms out on the street. Certainly did not want to see one tonight. Prayed she could have a hint of luck. Paranoia was cruel, never before had Caia felt it so strongly. She nodded in agreement, as Mason spoke of the corruption of the city. It was literally all around them. Chances were good Alex was not the only blood thief, let alone human killed tonight.

Finding herself wondering, how are things still so bad, with such a strong military and law enforcement presence? Listening on, she knew Mason's words to be true. With most things came risks. Even with dating. Reminding herself of the last serious relationship she had, while still human, and how poorly it had gone. Having a handsome face did not equal being a good person. Still, part of Caia was completely torn up over what had happened. Had she been human, this whole situation would have played out differently. They could have gone to the cops. It was self defence. Was it not? A small voice of doubt was held. Such force was a necessity, he wanted to take me. Caia reminded herself.

It was interesting then to learn of Mason's interest in art. Like herself, she was more of an observer and enjoyed art type. As they drove, Mason had many words of wisdom of her own to share. Caia appreciated the conversation. It was not often such words of the city's darkness and hope were shared so casually. Finding herself wondering if Mason felt her life to be better, since having become a vampire. Caia was torn. Sure there were several things she missed about a mortal life. If honest with herself, there was joy with experiencing the powers she now had. Walking on water was exhilarating. Not to mention the ways of going unseen if she wanted. " Life is not without it's good moments. Some days they are just harder to recognize. " Knowing if not for this situation, Caia might not have gotten to know Mason a little better. It was always nice to be reassured about hiring the right person for the job.

" I'm glad things are better for you. I hope it continues. We have not known each other long, but I'm very grateful for you. There are not many in my life who would willingly help me in this sort of situation. " Looking towards Mason, before a light grabbed her attention. Just a street light. As she took in the sight as they drove past it. It was nearly enough to give one emotional whiplash. To go from panic to relief in a moment. Perhaps when this was all over, she would go home to shower, and then head into The Rose. The smell of flowers always held a calming effect over her.

[Mason]

Mason was keeping her eyes open for any potential issues. But she also had to make sure she drove perfectly fine, if she did something wrong, then they might have reason to try and stop her. Strange wasn't it, hiding from the law. The law she once hoped would rid the world of the disease that was vampires, at least that's what she had thought at the time. Now...things were different. She found herself incredibly neutral, yet more caring at the same time. Even before she'd become a paladin, she'd have never gone this far. Course, she also probably would have had a lot more panic back then.

Perhaps it was looking on things in a new light, after returning from darkness. She could finally see the flaws that her former belief's had. Could finally see how far she'd gone. To say she had guilt might not be quite right. But she definitely had a new light on things. She now saw how downhill things could go with each mistake. Maybe covering this up wasn't right, but at the same time, if they didn't, Caia might suffer for it for a very long time. It wasn't even just one lifetime anymore. It could be eternity. In light of that, she had to make her decisions.

She nodded as nodded in agreement as Caia said there were good moments, but weren't always noticed. They were indeed. Perhaps she'd have been more attentive to such things if she wasn't so corrupted by the disgust she'd had as a paladin. Or the fear before that when she was human. Strange, how calm she was now that she'd been thrown into the deepest end of the pool.

Mason smiled as Caia spoke again, and mentioned the rarity of people being willing to go this far to help her. "In fairness. I would have been one of them for a long time." she admitted, "I guess there are things that just need to change. Immortality is such a weird concept. I guess I'll need to learn to have a lot more patience."

She had gotten a little distracted by the concept. But she was still watching the road. Shouldn't be too long before they could get to the river and find somewhere abandoned enough. She knew a place where the road was in the forest, but where they shouldn't be touched by the fae. Safe enough to drop a body, but not so deep that the fae would come for them.

[Caia]

In agreement with Masons shared thoughts, Caia glanced in her direction to comment. " Harper Rock certainly needs to change. Suppression of all vampires is not the answer. There is a deeper problem within our city, and the government and others are too distracted by what to do about vampires…" Her words trailed off, before she ended up on a rant. It was something she held in for so long. There were not many people she could speak so openly about such things. Most of her employees were humans, and though they seemed ok with her, she didn't know how they truly felt about vampires in general. She had heard comments made about vampires in passing, when they didn't think she could hear them. Like the time Meredith's car was stolen, how the woman claimed it simply had to be a vampire who had stolen it. Not that it wasn't possible, but sure felt vampires took the blame for a lot of stuff lately.

Her attention lingered back out the open window. Thinking more on Masons words. " Immortality is very weird indeed. I once thought the idea blissful, but it certainly holds a dark side. An immortal life in this world is never promised. The shadow realm is like a vampire hell of darkness. In all my times in the realm, I have never seen another. Dark and lonely…" She almost teared up, thinking of how horrible things must be for her friend Warren. He never asked to be a vampire. Caia had taken his mortality from him. Finding herself wondering, is this all just bad karma for what I had done? The thoughts were quickly shoved to the back of her mind. Reminding herself of all the good she had done.

The ride felt to be going well, Mason was obeying all the rules of the road. So when the flashing of red and blue lights light up behind them, Caia would share a look of panic with Mason. It was only one cop, perhaps this would not be a problem. As they pulled over, it felt like forever before the officer would exit his vehicle. " I can't think of a single reason we would be getting pulled over. Perhaps if we just play it calm, we will just get a ticket and be on our way. They can't search the truck without a warrant or probable cause, or is that just how it works in the states? Not that it matters, if figured for vampires they can do whatever they want." She was silent then, feeling her words were only making herself feel even more upset over the situation.

Caia regained a false composer, but jumped a little as a banging sound came from the back of the truck. The officer was out of his car, and looked to be doing something at the back of the truck. For a moment the man's face would catch in the light. " I think I might know him…" This could play in her favor, if it was who she guessed it to be. He looked an awful lot like Drew Clark. Caia had known Drew from living in Harper Rock growing up. They had not spoken since she moved away, but she had heard he had joined the military and later became a police officer. Caias grandmother had kept her up to date on the gossip and the lives of those around town. Where Warren had been the bad boy next door neighbor, Drew had been the respectable young man down the street.

Like many others of the neighborhood, Drew often stopped by her grandmother's house; even after Caia had moved away. As he neared the driver side, it only confirmed that it was indeed Drew Clark. As he neared the open window, he held up a flashlight, speaking as if he knew who the driver to be. " Al, that tail light is still acting up. It was out, but I gave it a tap and it came back on…. Oh, you're not Al." Shared as he took in the sight of the two women in the truck. "Good evening ladies. Does Albert know you have his truck?" Caia was quick to respond. Praying he would recognize her and not give them too much trouble. " Yes, officer Clark, Albert is an old friend of mine. He let us borrow his truck." Drew looked surprised she knew his last name, that is until he realized who she was.

"Caia! Oh wow! I heard Al was working for you. Kept meaning to stop by the restaurant. I will definitely have to do so now." Drew would smile at the two, this had Caia relax a little. They were not being busted, but part of her was still on edge. " I'm Drew Clark. Caia and I have known each other since kindergarten." He introduced himself to Mason. " I'll not keep you two. The light should be alright, until the truck gets shut off. Then just give the light a tap and it should work alright. Just be sure to pass along to Al about getting that fixed." He would step back. " You ladies have a nice evening. Was good seeing you again, Caia." With those words, Drew was on his way back to his car. She knew they were in the clear, when the flashing lights were turned off and the squad car drove off out of sight.

Caia was in shock of how easily they had gotten out of that. She looked to Mason as she spoke. " That was terrifying! What luck, it happened to be someone I knew….. Though if things get out, I hope he doesn't come to any conclusions." Despite the situation, she was still worried. The best they could hope for, would be to get this all over with as fast as possible. Surly Mason had better places to be, what a first night on the job! Caia hoped this whole situation didn't scare Mason off from working for her. Tonight was a lot to ask of someone.

[Mason]

Mason nodded, the suppression of vampires was hardly efficient. It wasn't accomplishing enough, even for what they wanted. Strategies would have to change. Whether that would be giving up on this failed plan, or trying to push even harder, she didn't know yet. But something was going to happen regardless. "Sooner or later, something will happen. It'll loosen or it'll get worse. I don't know which. I could leave, it wouldn't really be that hard. And I imagine if I really wanted to, I could go under the radar for a very long time. I have a reflection now. Being pale can be hidden with makeup if I really wanted, and I used to not have that, maybe I could get a human complexion again. Then the only sign, would be heat. I bet even that I could find a way to replicate." She sighed, "But that feels pointless. Not impossible...just that it wouldn't be worth it."

The Shadow Realm was always a threat, as Caia mentioned. Before her first visit, she would not have considered that the case. She did consider it a sort of temporary prison though. It was why she was willing to send vampires there. She still saw the possible use of it as such. It wasn't like you could really contain a vampire. But maybe limit that to extreme cases. "It's unpleasant to say the least. I can see how easy it is to lose yourself in there. I can see how wraiths become the way they are, and I was only there one week." she realized this might not be the best discussion right now, and shut up on it.

And then...lights. She winced and let out a breath, slowing down and pulling off to a stop. If she had a beating heart, it probably would have accelerated. As it was she simply hid her stress as best she could. Lying was never her skillset. She nodded as Caia said that they should just stay calm. But, as vampires, they really had no rights. Maybe she could just use her human license, maybe that would help them get away with it.

But then Caia said something that might give her hope, or more concern, depending on the person maybe. He came up and Mason kept her hands on the wheel, he spoke as if he was talking to the actual owner. In a place like this it made sense that could happen. And then he realized it wasn't him. Mason might have spoken, but Caia did first.

The interaction between the two made Mason smile. Friends, that was better. He introduced himself, apparently they had known each other for awhile. Mason smiled, "Mason Dunn." she gave simply before he left not too long after giving his bit about the light.

Mason smiled this time with relief as he left and they started off again. She chuckled slightly with Caia's reaction as well, "The luck of that was crazy." she admitted, "Barely even got my name out."

As they continued she cocked her head, they shouldn't be too far away, but there was a random thought on her mind, "This is going to be really out of place, but you know, I've never figured out if I should introduce myself as Mason or Macy. It's not like I have any issue with being called either one, but a lot of the people I know well call me Macy. Legally, it's Mason. Parents had a name before they knew if I was a boy or a girl and just decided it fit either way. Never could choose for sure myself."

[Caia]

Back on the road, Caia silently prayed that was the end of excitement for the evening. A hope held for no more surprises. Her attention stretched, as the surroundings of the night were taken in. Her eyes lingering out the back window an extra moment longer. Taking in the sight of the large bags of trash, knowing what was beneath. Thinking about Alex, Caia tried to recall if he had mentioned certain things about himself. Like did he have a family? Who had she taken him away from? These were the individuals who would want justice. With the way of the world, and views on vampires it was likely someone might take justice upon themselves, and send Caia to the shadow realm. Or find an even worse way to get revenge.

Looking at Mason, it had been nice to see her smile. Caia had to agree, the luck of that was crazy. She was glad Drew had not lingered for long. Despite knowing him, Caia knew she would have been unable to control her nervous energy for long around an officer. Likely someone who knew her would easily take notice of such. "It was nice to see a familiar face, but not sure how I feel about seeing him again soon. Just hope he doesn't ask any questions. Like what we were doing out so late. Definitely going to have words with Albert. If he knew the tail light was acting up, he should have said something. Might not have crossed his mind. Things did get a little crazy…" Words trailing off, thinking of what Albert was likely doing now. Working late after hours, cleaning up blood from her failed attempt at a date.

Mason's words surprised her then. The change of topic light and refreshing. With a smile, Caia gave a shrug before responding. " Both are very lovely names. So you don't prefer one over the other? Would you like me to call you Macy? Is Macy short for Mason? Always wished I had a name with variations. Caia is an alright name. Better than the first name my mother had picked out for me. Not that it was a terrible name. Just that it had been the name of a dog my mother had growing up, that had passed away. Glad I'm not named after a dead dog…" Laughing then at how odd it was she had shared that. Likely her mother sounded a little crazy, and that was true in ways. Caia knew her mother had issues, just another reason she got as far away from her now as could be.

" Always wished I had been named after something from nature. Maybe a flower, like Rose or Lilly. I have always held a deep love of plants. Gardening these days is a lot different. Never thought I would be doing half the things I do now out in the dark." Her voice sounded wistful, remembering back to what it was like to work out in the sun. Back when she lived in Florida and all the long hours spent at the plant nursery she had worked at. Sun burnt summers where she went home exhausted. Times had changed in so many ways. Looking out at the road, Caia wondered how close they were to the river now. They would likely be there soon, and it would be time for action. Caia had been thinking about how best to get Alex into the water. Wondering if he were weighed down, if she would be able to walk on the water and simply dump him in the middle of the river.

[Mason]

Things were certainly interesting as a vampire, to say the least. As a paladin, she was used to watching things from a sort of outsiders perspective. Of course there was her desire to "rid the world of the disease" but noticing vampires going about life as if they were normal brought a peculiar sense with it. Now, however, she was dealing with it herself. For awhile when she was turned, she made few efforts to truly appear like a human. She kept to herself, avoided the issues, and continued her 'work' with nearly no distractions. But now there was some weird sense of normalcy. Not that it was normal, merely that this was a...maintainable existence.

She turned her head slightly, though kept eyes forwards, as Caia mentioned the tail light and Albert. She furrowed her brow and hummed, "He was surprisingly calm given the situation." she admitted, now slightly suspect of it. It was Harper Rock though, that could mean nearly anything. She did not voice this, but she was tempted to investigate the man more later. Technically, that wasn't quite required of her. But she didn't feel particularly like taking chances. Of course, it seemed at least to Caia he might be loyal. Still, she was curious.

The change of topic she'd tried to provide seemed to have worked, at least somewhat. She shrugged at whether she preferred or not. "I don't mind either way. Though sometimes people do get the wrong idea from Mason." she admitted. She'd chuckle slightly at Caia's comment on her possible name having been from a dead dog, "Guess your parents nearly pulled an 'Indiana Jones' on you eh?"

Caia talked about wanting to be named after a plant or flower. Mason hummed again in thought as the car slowed down as they were about to finally get out and have to deal with things. She also talked about doing so much in the dark now, "I got a little more used to that while still human. Still...it's not great. The thought of immortality brings some wild concepts with it to say the least. The thought of a society living in the night almost exclusively is an odd one."

she stopped the truck and took in a breath, unneeded as it was before pushing open her door. "Ok...we're here."