2200 hours, Camden Town Hookers. Camden Town.


He buttoned up his jacket as they walked down the alleyway towards the Camden Town Hookers. It was a cold night, so cold that Virgil's cheeks and nose were a telling shade of pink. Over a month after Nemo's run-in[1] with the vampires on this side of town, they were finally going to get her cigarette case. He would have gone with her sooner but.... life got busy. The Ministry got busy.

"Do we have a plan?" Virgil asked as the front of the pub came into view, a brick building like any along the row. Its warm lights looked welcoming in the dark of the urban winter. "Just stroll in and ask for your case? Are we going to pretend we're here for a drink?"

Or, he supposed, pretend they were there to be the drink? The idea wasn't an unattractive one. Virgil was curious about what it might be like - as a way of getting high, an experiment. He'd read books in which wizards went in for that kind of thing, and sometimes you'd notice the odd vampire lurking around The Closet.

But tonight was about Nemo so he wasn't going to let himself get too distracted. This was just... dipping his toe into the pool. And hoping the pool didn't decide to take a bite out of them.

1.	22nd Oct - Don't Cry, Bone Dry

Nemo tugged her red hat down lower over her shaggy blonde hair, then pulled up her black hood overtop.

"You're too excited about this," Nemo replied. She'd been as excited as he was the first time she'd come here.[1] She'd had a plan then, she'd gone in hot but went out chilled to the bone. Nemo left on her own two feet but was sent on her way by a unambiguous order not to return.

But this time? No plan. Only a shaky stubborn wounded pride, what she hoped was a defensible loophole, and Virgil Carstairs. Who wasn't charmed by Virgil? Good man in a storm, that Virgil. Smartly dressed, starry-headed, well-spoken, connected, passable as her brother, wise-for-his-years, and an aloof way of standing that invited curiosity. And he knew Tristain Vaillancourt.

"The plan is....  play it by ear," she said and gently mimed the stroke of a bow over a violin, a reference they had in common. Nemo put her hand on the big iron handle but held it there. What are you doing here, a voice asked. The lyric was 'the case' but the counter-melody was more complicated. She couldn't stand to be shut out and not from such a morbid and magical place.

Then Nemo squared her shoulders and checked her eye make-up. With one last look up at Virgil, Nemo pulled the door open and headed in.

1.	22 Oct 2011 - Calamity's Child

Hooker was pouring a glass of absinthe from behind the counter, chatting to a patron[1] who was way too dressed up for this side of town and clearly looking for a bit of danger after being broken up with by a witch. They got his type in all the time. Your lass cracked your heart in two? Come walk on the other side a little bit. Terry'll make you glad you're half-alive.

In the great mirror behind him, only three of the dozen customers were reflected. The others lounged about in booths cradling tumblers of blood or tinkering with the Wireless set in an attempt to find a station that played music from a different era.

The doors opened and Hooker looked up. His first instinct was to snap his fingers at the closest of his coven, a dark haired woman with sunken eyes and a wide mouth. "Look alive," he said to her as he slid Earnest the glass of Absinthe and turned around to return the bottle to its shelf.

His dark gaze flicked to the reflection of the pair who had entered. The girl Nemo and a pale boy who was looking around in quiet curiosity. Hooker took down a few glass, pretending to ignore them as he poured whisky.

1.	Earnest Carstairs

The hard part had been stepping over the dual thresholds, a bit paradoxically. But now they were in, Nemo's familiar steady confidence of act-like-you-belong-and-you-will welled up. As with last time, a few vampires paid them mind with a long look, but most others ignored them. A crackle of Edit Piaf played over the radio, a mournful chanson about love and loss. As Nemo pointedly ignored the one called Terry, she allowed herself a grin at the sweet music and nudged Virgil over to a booth near the bar. She slid her bag and herself into the seat where she could see to the bar.

"The one behind the bar. That's Terry. I think he runs this shit." She looked over her shoulder. She didn't see the Ministry one, Vaillancourt and she didn't see the vampire from the bridge, Lazarus.[1] She leaned forward and smiled lightly at Virgil as if they  were casual as could be. Despite her bolstered confidence, they still didn't have a plan. Last time she'd just walked on over.

"I'm just going to do it. You think they have a lost and found?"

She rather doubted it. Honestly, they were the lost things. And Nemo was half daring to be found.

1.	18 Nov 2011 - I am and so are you.

He didn't dare peer into their minds.

Virgil followed Nemo to the booth, cocking his head to the side as he took a seat and glanced over at the vast mirror. The three other humans in the pub - their thoughts were clear as day. Everyone else was.... radio static; not impenetrable but a warning perhaps. He shifted uncomfortably, recognising the wizard sitting at the bar with his back to them. Cousin Earnest. Wonderful. Perhaps he'd be too drunk to recognise him, not that Virgil thought he would tell anyone.

            "I'm just going to do it. You think they have a lost and found?"

"Wait, do what?" he looked back at Nemo, tugging off his jacket. "Talk to Terry?" It felt strange that the vampire was minding his own business. "He doesn't look like he's going to kick us out. I suppose we could just... go up to him and ask. Perhaps we ought to get a drink first."

The bottles and Earnest's glass indicated that the Camden Town Hookers did really function as a regular pub as well. They could benefit for a little liquid courage.

Nemo nodded, a glint of daring in her eye. If the old spook was going to kick them out that was his problem, she thought. She wanted her damn case and to prove all their drama didn't worry her. Even if it did. She cocked her eyebrow, placed both palms on the table and got to her feet. She waited a moment for Virgil to follow, left her bag in the seat, and approached the bar leaving a few stools between herself and the young man with the cloudy green drink.

She leaned on the bar, and drummed her fingernails waiting to be noticed as if she hadn't a care in the world. Behind the bar she could see her reflecting, her hair spilling out from under her hat and hood; she swept her bangs to the side. Good. She looked as solid as she wanted to. She didn't drink alcohol - hated what it did to her head - but she knew what to order. The young man looked over and Nemo waved to him, like they were both old regulars at the vampire blood bar, like she was ten years older, like she belonged.

Behind them, the front doors opened to admit Lazarus Blackburn with a book under his arm. He ambled in silently without haste or hurry, the speed of a sort who had decades to get where he was going, which was the bistro table by the blacked out windows. He lifted his chin to Hook and noted the two little ones - ah, it was the wee sparrow. Strange to see her.

Terry felt eyes on the back of his head, preceding footsteps approaching the bar.

He turned around with a dishcloth in hand and began wiping down the spotless counter. It was cute. Real cute, two of them sitting down and then coming up here like kids at a birthday party. Can I have some cake please? The girl was trying to play it smooth. Her friend, though, looked Hooker right in the face. Hooker stared back. Somewhere in his periphery, he acknowledged that Lazarus had returned.

What was this pasty white kid even try-- he felt a gentle brush against his mind, against the part of him capable of holding mortals in thrall[1]. Terrence hissed, leaning over the counter slightly. A couple of his coven glanced over.

"Rude."

The wizard dropped his gaze right away, flushing. "Sorry."

Hooker stood straight and did something complicated with his jaw. A licking of his fangs. He drummed his fingers on the bar, nails long and pointed, gaze sliding from one kid to the other. Used to be fun, playing with food. They weren't even aged enough for a good game.

"Come on, then. What's it going to be?" he jutted his chin out at Nemo. "You. Open your maw or get out, luv."

1.	Thrall - vampiric ability to hypnotise.

Despite herself, Nemo snapped her gaze between Virgil and the vampire. What did he ...? The short exchange, Virgil's sudden downcast gaze, it threw Nemo off so that when Terry turned his attention back to her, she faltered and without noticing she pulled her hands back off the counter and crossed her arms. Vaillancourt had been teasing but tender before; Terry here had been hungry.

"Now who's being rude," she said, her voice almost shaking even as she turned up the sass. "Coffee. Black. V?"

She looked over to her friend, searching him for some support, praying he'd follow her lead.

 At the front of house, Old Laz didn't miss Hooker's lift in energy. With one finger, Laz tipped up his hat and had a look. Hook didn't hackle without good reason and was the coven's gatekeeper supreme - must to do with the girl's initial supposition that Laz had found her on the tower at Hooker's behest. What had the tiny one done to earn that reaction, Lazarus wondered. He shrugged to himself, crossed his legs the other way, and spared half an ear to whatever verse was being spun.

He congratulated himself for not stepping back or, you know, pissing his pants. Virgil felt thoroughly reprimanded for trying to look into the vampire's head - he had only wanted to see if it was possible to infiltrate the static but it was clear that Hooker was sensitive to even a slight foray. Not an experiment to be repeated.

            "Coffee. Black. V?"

Nemo's expression didn't leave room to doubt her intentions. Hooker himself was eying the little witch in amusement. "A shot of Somniac's Soju, if you have it, please." Virgil didn't meet him in the eye, observing the rest of the pub instead. Another vampire had joined the fray - hat man.

           "'Course we have it." Terry intoned, while a woman vampire joined him behind the bar to work at a dusty old coffee machine. "We take payment upfront, mind."

He raised his eyebrows at them, holding out a hand. Virgil reached into his pocket before Nemo could - he felt guilty for giving her a shock - and dropped a few sickles into Terry's open palm. Was he even paying the right amount? It didn't seem like they'd be getting any change back, and Virgil wasn't going to complain.

"I'm Virgil," he offered politely as the man reached behind him and tall bottle of soju darted into his grip. Telekinesis! So he was rather old. Had to be, Virgil supposed, if he was leading a coven.

           "Didn't ask, mate." Hooker poured the liquor and handed it over. "You come lookin' for Unicorn blood too?"

"No." Virgil quickly replied, glancing at Nemo in alarm. "Nothing like that."

The vampire only smiled at her sass; Nemo's test of the water showed it was warmer than she thought. Didn't make her feel any less secure - being in the coven still wasn't safer than being out. Or so it was said. The living came here for fun, for a drink. Like that fancy guy a few stools down. Still. 'Get an inch take a mile,' she thought. Luckily all she wanted was her case back.

Virgil ordered something sophisticated and paid. Terry levitated the bottle and Nemo's eyes went wide.

"You come lookin' for Unicorn blood too?"

Nemo's cheeks went pink and she pursed her lips. She didn't want to play that game. Virgil had at last convinced her of the implications of her previous purpose for approaching the vampires.

"Yea, no, dude," she spoke up, meeting Virgil's look. "I left my cigarette case here. Just here to get it back."

She lifted her chin and had a proper seat on the stool. "Please."

As Nemo spoke, his comrade turned about to set down a plain white cup of black coffee. Its rich and nutty fragrance was at odds with the Soju - for the vampires in the room these were only another layer of scents added to that of their customers. Hooker crossed his arms as he leaned against the bar and breathed in what he could. Of the two he would have liked to try the boy - but the girl was probably Tristan's preferred vintage.

"Cigarette case?" he shrugged, smiling a little wider. "Don't know what you're talking 'bout, lil sprog."

Someone at the Wireless laughed but Terry didn't look away from the two. "Maybe you could describe it to us," Hooker's switch to the plural was lighthearted, "and see if it trips anything, yea?" The drumming of his fingernails against the counter again.

Along the bar, Earnest had shot back his absinthe and the woman vampire went to top him up. If it weren't Unicorn Blood they wanted then maybe Terry could have a spot of fun.

'Us.' Nemo glanced behind her at the rest of the room; could've sworn she felt more eyes on them. Terrence was taunting her. He knew perfectly well what case she meant, she'd left it on the table. At worst, it had fallen into the banquette. But it wasn't likely that calling the vampire a liar was going to get her anywhere. She remembered very well how quickly he'd turned the moment she'd stopped playing his game.

She returned his flashy smile with an irked smirk and pulled the coffee to herself.

"It has a cat on it."[1]

Nemo sipped the bitter coffee and looked again at Virgil, checking in. She'd warned him.

"Come on, Terry, haven't you ever lost something?"

1.	Le Chat Noir

           "Come on, Terry, haven't you ever lost something?"

In one moment he was behind the counter - and in the next he was on the other side, having hopped it in the blink of an eye. His feet hardly made a sound hitting the floor; they levitated just an inch above the wooden boards. Terrence bowed over Nemo, placing a single finger right below her chin. The blonde boy had grabbed her by the shoulder in a panic but hadn't moved yet.

"Only my friends call me Terry," the vampire stepped back and lowered his hand, gaze shifting from the witch's face to her neck and then back up again. He could smell the road on her clothes, underneath that pale skin. Bird like this, who was gonna miss her? Went astray all the bloody time, in backrooms of pubs just like his own. People ask questions and then they stop asking questions because life went on.

The music changed, a more contemporary song coming on. Someone else was fiddling with the Wireless - the wizard who'd drained his glass of absinthe, oblivious to the goings-on around him.

Terry wasn't feeling hungry tonight and the new moon was far yet. "You call me Hooker, yea?" he reached for Nemo's face, as if though he were about to brush a lock of hair behind her ear, and then quickly twisted his hand about, procuring her cigarette case out of thin air. He held it up teasingly.

"I'll play you three rounds of black jack for it, girl." Hooker glanced at Virgil for a second. "Your mate here can deal. If you win, it's all yours."

Nemo's body jerked in panic but froze stock still, eyes wide at Hooker's finger on her chin. "Shhi..." was as much of a reaction as she could get out after her lungs paused to see what was going to happen, as her heart started a race. The teenager was only vaguely aware of Virgil or anyone else.

Call him Hooker. She made an almost imperceptible nod. Nemo couldn't remember a time she'd been this afraid. She'd been afraid before, plenty of times, but if she was in danger her voice was loud and her claws where out. She'd wonder later what scared her more - the vampire or the fact she couldn't move. Made her angry, too. He was looking at her like - like she was food. He'd done that before.

She flinched when he moved again. Her case! She knew it! But it didn't matter as much to her at the moment. It had never been about the case. All she could see was Hooker's eyes and that smile. It took her a moment to get her voice to work. Her teeth clicked together and she swallowed a lump in her throat, and after a long few seconds she managed to say, "okay."

In the corner, Lazarus set down his book and put a hand to his chin to watch. "Having fun yet?" he asked in Hooker's mind. Hooker hurting the little sparrow would be a pity. Brave and foolish sparrow.

Virgil thought his legs were going to give way when the vampire suddenly appeared on their side of the bar - and if he was being honest, grabbing Nemo’s shoulder was as much about needing something to hold on to as it was a protective reflex. This wasn’t what he thought tonight was going to be; aesthetically, perhaps, but ever since they entered the pub he had felt like they were walking on broken glass. And then Hooker looked at him.

            “Your mate here can deal..”

It didn’t sound like Virgil had much of a choice, because a few moments later Nemo agreed to play the game. What? Just like that? His eyes darted from one to the other, heart just about ready to cave in.

“Wait,” he interjected in a shaky voice. “What if we lose?” There was a lot Virgil didn’t know about the world outside of Hogwarts or the Ministry but he definitely knew that nobody plays a card game without putting something on the line. Hooker had thrown Nemo’s case into the pool, so what did he expect them to bet?