"Well, the way I understand it you and I are actually in the same business. All one requires to be an occultist is a vested interest in the supernatural and the means to seek it out and learn more." Greg explained to Nicole, gesturing with his hands as he spoke "It is a rather... varied profession if you can call it that. Some people take the skills sets needed to harder extremes than others. Take you and I. You claim to be a real private investigator who has an interest in these things, whereas I am a student of the occult with only some amateur skills in investigation. Our skills sets lie in some different areas but we work toward similar goals."
Upon hearing Nicole and Daysha talk about searching for a missing person, he turned around to the board and looked at it again. Yes, that's right, that was one of the cases on there. Missing woman, claiming people were wearing her face. And no progress had been made on it for several months. That's just terrible... Hmm... Seeing an opening, Gregory took a chance. "Is it just the two of you working that case?" he asked Nicole, looking at the board with her "You and... Jacque?"
"Eh, its going all right." Nicole replied to Daysha, turning away from the board. She addressed both Daysha and Gregory, addressing both of their questions."Yes, Jacque and I are running it down. Dr. Quinn had to head into work on a client emergency. We're still starting out... need to track down some more ideas on where she could be."
She glances to Daysha.
Hows your lead shapin' up?"
The Old Man listened to April, nodding minutely as she answered. His face was rather inscrutable.
Was he interested in the college students? In why one was in his bar?
It was a toss up as he drifted away from April and Lynx wordlessly, moving to another patron who looked as though he was molded to the bar stool.
Marion quickly shook his head. "Actually, it has more to do with the fact that I don't like my first name. And that I don't quite want to compromise my job if one of those... Things goes human when it dies." He paused for a bit. "No offense intended by that statement, of course."
He quickly looked over Daysha before shaking her hand, trying (and not really succeeding) to match her grip "Jack Smith, FBI. Glad to meet you, Detective." There was a slight spark of energy that came into his eyes the topic turned to Maria's disappearance, but he returned to his formerly drowsy look when he heard about the nuances of the case from Gregory. Damn. I was hoping that fate would be nice enough to have that thing poke out its head when I had just found some people who could help me out. ... Ok, that just sounded selfish as hell.
He listened to the conversation a while longer before speaking up again. "So I take that there's more of you that are a part of this?"
Gawd what is with the bragging. It’s one thing to share knowledge, but come on.
The Detective took a drink as she listened to Greg. Wondering if
Rory
and this kid would have anything in common.
Looking to Nicole she spoke in a normal tone. “There’s a few things starting to surface, but it’s like we’re dealing with the ghost version of Christine. We’ve been checking out the Janet Dawson case on the wall.” Daysha turned to Jack with a smirk on her face. “Funny thing… a J. Smith put that note up there.” Wondering if in fact this guy wrote it, but she doubted it.
Nodding to Jack. “Yeah, there’s more of us. I swear we should get some sort of fucking club pin or whatever to single us out. Try not to talk about it too much upstairs though. Especially around Derevko, he seems to get all pissy when we do.” Daysha took another drink of her cider ale. Hopefully skippy will get it now.
The expression from the Old Man didn't bother him much, and Lynx hardly noticed when he walked away, his attention fixed on April.
He beamed at her laughter and got caught up in it himself with a chuckle. "Masters, eh? A brilliant mind to highlight your brilliant smile," charmed Lynx shamelessly as he put out his cigarette in his drink after finishing them both off. "I'm an alumni myself, Portland Community College for Forensics & Criminal Justice, and advanced training at the Academy. Though I was never ambitious enough for a Masters in anything. What field did you end up studying in?" He asked enthusiastically.
She nodded as Daysha explained.
"Yeah, as I said, Jacques has become involved in finding Maria. " She glances towards Daysha.
"Derevko haven't met him yet..."
Her musing tone suggested that she would like to rectify that.
"So you two are new to the bar; but not to the hunt?" The blonde glanced between Gregory and Jack.
When Nicole asked that Gregory thought briefly of where he used to live. Greenfield Township, Lackawanna County, PA: Population 2,106. The very definition of small, rural town America. Nothing but farmland and forests for as far as the eye could see. Clear skies, green grass. Gregory's favorite place to go out to eat was the Finch Hill Restaurant and Dairy Bar, simply because it was the ONLY place to go in the town.
But that simplicity was merely a facade, as Greg learned one afternoon walking home from school as a kid. He remembered seeing a girl, about his age, sitting on her knees beneath a tree. Her back was turned to him. Beside her was another girl their age, but she was just lying there and not moving, like she was asleep or something. Then, first thing Greg knew, the second girl opened her eyes and slowly sat up.
He might have thought she was just sleeping if the girl's mother and father hadn't come running out of the field nearby, crying her name and hugging the dazed girl tightly. The girl on her knees explained to the father "She fell out of the tree and hit her head. But she woke up after her mom left to get you, so I think she'll be okay."
That was the day Greg first met his childhood friend Genevieve. It took many more years of supernatural education and training to find out who... what his new friend was or to begin to contemplate what might have actually happened that day. What had Gregory seen?
"I've... seen enough." he told Nicole finally, nodding his head, his eyes coming back up from his pondering "I've been educated by my parents from a very young age on how to recognize a lot of the stuff out there. So if you need a third man to replace the empty spot in your case, I'd be happy to volunteer."
Derevko wasn't exactly sure why he kept coming back to the Spiral. Particularly now that he had a horrible feeling that people there seriously believed in shit like vampires. It was just the fact that it kept getting... mentioned. Over and over. He'd have believed it less if Jackson had mumbled something similiar while drunk, but that one thing just stuck out in his mind.
Sure, he could easily believe the stupid kid was just stupid, and took Halloween costumes too seriously. But Jackson? He'd known of the woman vaguely, back when he'd been in Homicide. Maybe he was just taking it more seriously because he respected cops. But fuck, how could she actually think that sort of shit?
On the other hand, he was both thirsty, and banned from a lot of bars. His temper hadn't quite pushed him that far in the Spiral yet. And it was quiet.
Normally fuckin' quiet. What the Hell?the scarred Agent thought, as he pushed the door open. Aw fuck it, I'm here now. Let's get a jack and coke and try not to think about the fucking mental health of these guys.
"Usual," Derevko said to the Old Man, as he approached the bar. It was rare for him to have a usual. Maybe that was why he kept coming back.
The Old Man drifted over from the other man that Derevko vaguely recognized as being a regular. The Old Man glanced towards a woman in a black dress and her companion as he dropped the usual in front of Derevko.
The Old man paused in front of the agent; wiping a dirty glass.
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