Int. Blake's Car (Afternoon) October 27, 2025, 11:10 A.M.
A black Chevy Tahoe—a car gifted to Gabriel from his father for making detective, his father saying a man should always dress nice and have a nice ride. The sun, setting higher in the air, was beaming down the last of its heat. The air was nippy from the turn of the seasons. Gabriel loved seeing the leaves changing colors before falling to the ground. He looked to change lanes and noticed that Nadia had her arms crossed in the back, her face pouting, her eyes staring angrily at him through the rearview mirror. Gabriel let out a soft sigh as he continued driving on the road. "So, let's run down the list before we get to where we are going, which is where again?" he asked Blake, doing his best to ignore Nadia's unwavering gaze.
"So, we're heading to a club that is active during the day as well, that's run by a neutral party in the city," Blake answered.
Gabriel nodded his head. "Right, right. So, we're going to a club, during the day mind you, looking for your C.I. that also is a racist."
Blake paused for a second, making sure he heard the information correctly before agreeing with the words. "You are right, but on the bright side, at least it won't be a friendly visit."
Nadia leaned forward from the backseat, interrupting the conversation. "I think we are skipping over the most important part: that you guys have no music whatsoever playing."
Gabriel let out a huge sigh. "Can you please just let that go for one second? We like to talk about cases before going somewhere."
"I'm just saying it doesn't make sense to have a road trip with no music," Nadia muttered to herself, crossing her arms once again as she scowled at everyone in the car.
"Music part aside," Gabriel continued. "We lost the majority of our info on the case due to your car being broken, which is also why I'm driving."
Blake took a second pause to think before nodding his head in agreement once again. "Nope, that about covers it. Hopefully, talking to him will allow us to get a whole new head start on the case."
"Sigh, I have a bad feeling about this," Gabriel admitted.
Gabriel saw Nadia flexing her muscles as if showing off. "Don't worry, Mr. Grumpy, I shall protect your virtue in case something goes wrong."
Gabriel had a sweat drop form on the back of his head. He felt a little awkward at her comment and didn't really know what to reply. "Thanks, I guess?" he offered, hoping that would appease her.
Nadia nodded her head sagely. "You're welcome."
Gabriel wisely kept quiet, not wanting a new conversation to take place once again. He glanced at Blake from the corner of his eye and saw him looking out the window. Instead of asking the questions that he wanted to know, he was thinking of grabbing drinks with him after work today or tomorrow to get answers to things. Gabriel let out a sigh, stressed out over having to solve the case. Gabriel had to resist the urge to tap the steering wheel with his index finger, a bad habit he picked up from being around Blake. Instead, Gabriel kept going over the small details he remembers from the case, hoping that talking to Mark would offer more guidance. Gabriel continued driving in silence, slightly excited on making some headway in the case.
Int. The Obsidian Nightclub (Afternoon) October 27, 2025, 12:10 P.M.
Blake groaned as he stepped out of the Tahoe, stretching out his arms. "You have a nice ride with good legroom, but damn do you drive like an old lady," he complained, cracking noises coming from his joints.
Gabriel ignored Blake's complaints, deciding to instead look at the building in front of them. The building itself looked normal, kind of like going into an office building. The only defining feature was the small hum of music, and the two ropes on either side of the door, which Gabriel assumed would be to mark where people stand in case a line starts to form. Gabriel let out a small sigh, thinking it was smart this time if he took off his suit jacket along with his tie, ignoring the slight cold breeze flowing through the parking lot.
"Oh, looks like someone is getting ready for trouble," Nadia snickered at Gabriel, the loud sound of the door cutting through the air.
Gabriel shuddered, realizing that Nadia had a point. "You're not wrong," he said before pointing over at Blake. "When working with him, just assume everything will go off the rails, and it's safer to be prepared."
Gabriel heard Blake's footsteps coming closer to him and Nadia. "Usually, I'd take some offense to that, but the lad's got a point; shit tends to go off the deep end around us."
"Don't say 'us.' I try to follow the rules, and I also don't go around brandishing my gun at every single person like an idiot," Gabriel shot back.
Blake raised his hands as if trying to calm Gabriel down, though Gabriel noticed the smirk on his face that irked him. "Sometimes you have to have aggressive negotiations if you want to succeed as a detective in this city."
"Aggressive negotiations," Nadia mouthed at Gabriel.
Gabriel rubbed his temples, ignoring Nadia that was trying to get his attention, a budding headache beginning to form once again, which tends to happen when he gets around these two. Gabriel suddenly felt an arm go across his neck. "Come on, Rook, loosen up a little, especially when we go in here. We will be dealing with some interesting people, so keep your cool, yeah?"
Gabriel dropped his hands to his side, looking at Blake, his jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing, the words "keep your cool" replayed through his head. "Yes, Sir, I will do my best to keep my cool," he finally answered between his clenched teeth, doing his best not to lash out at Blake's provoking.
Blake slapped Gabriel's shoulder before removing his arm from his neck. "Atta boy. Let's get going," he commanded, a happy smile on his face, quickly walking toward the door.
Gabriel shared a glance with Nadia, and an uneasy gaze went between the both of them, the feeling of something growing stronger in Gabriel's gut. Breaking the gaze, he went to open up his car, thinking it was smart to grab his belt, with his gun and other things. Reaching into the side panel, he remembered his gun never got replaced after it got knocked out of his hands at the warehouse. Gabriel slammed the door with a huff, quickly marching after Blake. Gabriel was grateful that Nadia didn't say anything, keeping pace with him as he caught up to Blake, who was already opening the door and walking inside.
Gabriel and Nadia made it to the door a couple of seconds after Blake walked through. Pulling on the door, Gabriel noticed how heavy it was. He took note of how it seemed as if it blocked out any light that could come from outside, tape lining the sides to make sure no light could enter. Gabriel thought it was weird, but kept moving as he heard Blake's laughter just up ahead. Stepping inside, it was like a complete difference. The cold of the autumn air quickly changed to a warm temperature. The hallways had black and white diamond pattern floors, which were surprisingly clean. The walls were painted black with white clouds flashing different colors. Once Gabriel's eyes adjusted to the dim light, he saw Blake talking with a guy standing in front of another door with a chair to the right of it.
Gabriel noticed Blake waving him forward. With heavy breaths, he took a couple of steps, Nadia hot on his heels. "Jim, meet my friend Gabriel. Despite the way he looks, he is actually reliable. The woman standing behind him is Nadia, his girlfriend," Blake introduced as soon as the duo approached.
Gabriel could feel Nadia vibrating with excitement for some reason, but he couldn't help but frown at that introduction. He chose not to correct Blake due to not knowing the full situation. Gabriel had learned already if Blake knows someone, it's best not to get involved lest someone gets mad. "Nice to meet the two of you," Jim mused as he went to shake Gabriel's hand.
Gabriel noted that Jim stood an inch or two taller. Jim's grip was also really tight, almost hurting Gabriel's hand from the small exchange. Even with the dim lights, Jim was very muscular, his entire body looking like a bodybuilder. "Let's cut the chase, is Mark in there?" Blake went on, his tone changing from the happy tone to one more serious.
Jim didn't say anything before holding out his hand. Blake, understanding, quickly reached in his jacket pocket before handing Jim a stack of money. "Be careful with people working today. Mark paid for protection to keep you out," Jim told Blake before turning to Nadia and Gabriel. "Be careful in there. I don't know how far you are into this world, but watch your back, and run outside if you feel in danger," he finished, then walking past all of them, heading out the door they came in.
Gabriel could see Blake's grin was sinister, his eyes flaring, before turning away from Gabriel and quickly opening up the door. "HONEY, I'M HOME!" Blake screamed over the music as soon as the door opened.
Gabriel walked quickly behind Blake. The club itself looked like an average one, the same white and black pattern continued on from the hallway. To the left was a DJ booth without a DJ at the moment. Straight ahead was a dance floor that was slightly big, and a little further from there was the bar that went from one side of the club to the other. Gabriel could also see that there was a stair that led upstairs, but didn't really look too closely. A man's head at the bar popped up, his face looking nervous as he saw Blake. Gabriel knew the man was Mark by the way he quickly jumped behind the bar, running out a door that blended in with the scenery, a bright light coming through before it closed behind.
Blake quickly took off after him. "Stay here and for the love of god don't do anything stupid," he commanded, already halfway across the dance floor.
Nadia let out a sigh before looking at Gabriel. "Would you like to share a dance?" she joked, trying to ease some of the tension.
Gabriel went to reply, but felt the hair on his neck raise. He started looking around the room, trying to see anything out of place. Gabriel blinked as a black blur came at him. Gabriel didn't have a chance to respond, just seeing Nadia quickly stepping in front of him, her feet sliding back against the floor, but was able to catch a punch seemingly aimed at Gabriel. Gabriel watched as Nadia used the fist she caught to pull the person in and knee them in the face. A loud crunching sound was heard as the person went flying backwards.
Gabriel was stunned, not knowing what was going on, or that Nadia could even move that fast. "Duck," he heard a person whisper in his ear. He quickly dropped and rolled to his right. As soon as he moved, the ground broke up, dust rising up as the figure stood up.
"I guess my movements were slightly slow, a pity for you I'm afraid," a silky voice sneered.
Gabriel saw a man in an all-black suit, with red trim around his clothes, his hair slicked back. The man was wearing a pair of black dress shoes, but his skin offset the look with how unnaturally pale his skin is. The man opened up his mouth, bearing his teeth, four of them looking overly long and sharp for a normal human. Gabriel went to open his mouth but found the world spinning as he was moved out the way, Nadia holding him in her arms as her leg blocked a claw swipe aimed at his throat.
"What the fuck, you nasty blood suckers!" Nadia spat, her skin looking a little red, though Gabriel chalked it up to the lighting in the room.
The man jumped back, cocky at Nadia, though Gabriel felt more confused than anything. He felt Nadia release him, the sudden movement making him stumble a bit before he caught his footing. "So you know of us then?" the man asked, his tone neutral.
"Yeah, I know about you foul race, a stain on this planet," retorted Nadia. Gabriel could see her muscles flexing as she slowly got into a stance.
Gabriel looked between the man and Nadia, his thoughts trying to catch up with everything going on. "Not going to lie, I'm lost," he admitted, holding his hands up.
The man sneered, "Shut up, boy, let the adults talk."
"Don't tell him to shut up, you devil's reject, my people had a ritual to banish fuckers like you," Nadia lashed.
Gabriel scratched the back of his head. He could feel the tension in the air, but was still confused about the situation. "I'm older then here" he muttered under his breath before speaking up"So, based on the conversation, you just want to check, you're a vampire, right?"
"YES, YOU DUMBASS, KEEP UP!" Nadia and the man both yelled back at the same time.
Gabriel, trying to keep calm, nodded in return. "Gotcha, gotcha. And how do you know about vampires?"
Nadia got out of her fighting stance as she looked at the man in front of her. "Do you mind if I answer the idiot's questions?"
The man just shrugged, giving a thumbs up in response. Nadia gave a slight bow of her head before turning towards Gabriel. "My family are descendants of people who use to hunt monsters, so I know all about people like him. There is even a monster book at my house we can go over. That there is a vampire, and with his strength, he seems like a head of coven or close to it. Also, I was trained at a young age to fight, to unlock my inner chi. Does that answer everything?" Nadia explained.
Gabriel thought for a second before nodding his head. "Yeah, we're good. I'm caught up now."
"Good," Nadia replied before turning towards the vampire. "Can we continue the fight now?"
"Yes, yes we can. What amusing mortals I've found this time," the vampire chuckled before taking off his jacket top.
Nadia spoke no more words as she charged at the vampire, moving so quickly that Gabriel barely caught sight of her.