"Hey, Michael." A man standing at six foot one with dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes steps out from the building in front of you. Your contact had told you to check into the Hall first thing- it had people who had hunted in this town for years. The man has a cast on his right hand and reaches to shake your hand with his left.
"My name's Jay Selik. Why don't we go inside?"
The hall looked unassuming- you see that its a single story building with a private parking lot. You see 'Hollandale Practice' nearby and recall that 'Chrissy Hollandale' had been mentioned to you in passing. Stepping inside the Hall, you see several folding tables stacked on top of a small stage. A round table has been left up with five chairs around it. On the table are two clipped out newspaper articles. At a quick glance, one reads 'Missing Hikers, three days and no sign!' and the second reads 'No arrests made in brawl that resulted in two deaths'. There are two separate doors leading from the main room. One has an electronic key pad - quite a bit of security for a local hall, isn't it? The second door stands open, revealing an office space with a desktop computer.
"There's a bit of activity going on right now..." Jay states, his eyes flicking to the article about the missing hikers for a moment.
"I asked Chrissy to bring the others by when they get done." Jay assured Michael. Jay takes a seat at the table, shifting the papers aside with his good hand.
Michael smiles warmly, holding his worn bible close to his chest with his right hand. He takes the mans hand in his with a firm shake and nods. He was young by most standards but hard living had aged him somewhat more then father time, his hair was greying in places and a lightning bolt shaped scar across his cheek gave him a semi permanent smirk. He looked down at the articles, skimming them before turning his eyes back to Jay.
"I am well, it has been sometime since I was back in San Diego." Michael replied, "What can you tell me about the other Hunters?" He asked as he picked up the article about the brawls and read it before setting it aside. His black dress shirt was well cleaned and he wore blue jeans with riding boots. His bare forearms were covered in tattoos, the largest being a soldier carrying a wounded soldier across his back with a large cross in the background, hanging off the cross were twelve pairs of dogtags. The words 'Rangers Lead The Way' were written under the tattoo. He shifted his clerical collar and sat down.
"It seems it hasn't gotten less exciting since I was last here." He said idly to himself before returning his gaze to Jay.
Jay raised an eyebrow at Michael's first question.
"What were you told?" He redirected, meeting Michael's gaze. "For myself and Chrissy, I can tell you that we do what we can for the neighborhood." He lifts the hand that is in the cast.
"Lately that meant this-" The cast rests on the article that had caught Michael's eye. "-you can see that it didn't end well for me and it ended worse for two others. I wouldn't think about checking that out right now until you meet the others. Now Chrissy says Eli and Tal are good people. Myself, I've only heard her tell of personal merits. I don't recall any specific hunts."
You get the sense that Jay is feeling you out. He won't discuss specifics about the other hunters until he knows more about you.
"How about you, man? What action have you seen?" Jay leans forward. "Why did you come back?" Freelance250
Michael nodded as Jay spoke, putting his questions aside for now. He could see that Jay was overly curious and could understand why. He sighed lightly and smiled before answering.
"I was a Ranger with the eighty second. Served during Iraq and Afghanistan." He set his bible down on the table next to the article. "As to why I am here... well let's just say Rome has a deep interest in seeing this Cell develop into something better, they wished for me to help you because of my experience and my knowledge of the city." He continued, answering his questions effectively. "I was born here, spent a few years of my life here." He added with a warm, trusting smile of a man that had no real reason to lie to anyone.
Jay glanced at the Bible for a moment.
"Whats Rome got to do with this?" He's plain spoken, you can't detect guile in his voice. What you say has won you some trust. He says a few sentences and stops, evaluating how you interpret what he's said.
"I can tell you that this hunt is a baby of a friend of ours, Dr. Ross. She's a vet that helps us out here in town. A dog was brought in scratched up, with DNA of something that doesn't exist in the cut. The cell is out there running it down now. Myself, I think its a cryptid."
Michael scratches his chin, deflecting away from Jay's question at the moment and thinking on the new information of the hunt they were on. He picked up the article about the hikers and nodded. "I take it this is linked?" He asked as he slid the paper to him, his natural warm smile still on his face. He stroked the rough facial hair, thinking over the article intensely. He was not convinced it was a Cryptid, maybe a Monster but or it could be anything from Werewolves to Vampires. He always hated this part of a hunt, the creeping doubt that came from not knowing exactly what did the deed.
He looked up from his brooding and stroked the leather cover of his worn bible. "Rome sent me to provide aid." He replied before folding his arms across his chest.
"No doubt the others will fill us in when they get here. You're likely interested in the one's that don't hunt with the Union; that do their own thing?" He gives Michael a searching glance.
"There's Olivia, Eli, Tal, Rory and Angelo that will likely like your help. You might meet a guy named Jose. Latched onto Chrissy like a kid on mommy's apron string." Jay's voice has a tone of disgust. "Take my advice and cut him out of any of your future hunts."
Jay lifts his cast hand taps the article about two dead.
"We got a bead on a guy in a hospital. He's the friend of the two dead guys. I came in on the tail end of the thing."
Jay pauses, not bragging. Jay is letting Michael choose what interests him more.
Michael shrugged as he looked back to the other article. "I think it might be best to look into this." He replied as he tapped the article about the two dead.
He reached into his pant pocket and removes a crumpled pack of cigarettes and a lighter, he strikes up the cigarette and looks into Jay's eyes then gestures to the hand, "Why? Did he give you that?" He asked before sitting down in a chair across from Jay, he was reading Jay intently, trying to get a feel for the guy. He had seen all to well what seperation amongst members of a squad can lead to, let alone a group of armed civilians out to hunt the things that go bump in the night.
"Who? Jose?" Jay chokes out a laugh. "No, man. That's good." Jay laughs for a minute before continuing.
"Jose is a rich guy who thinks this is a Jungle safari and the spooks are lions and he's the Great White Hunter. He paid for Ethan to install state of the art security on this place and now he expects to see 'the real deal'. "
As Michael lights up, Jay shakes his head. "You didn't hear that Cali hates smoking inside? The fire alarm goes off, you're clearing it."
Michael looks down at the cigarette in his hand and smiles lightly, he dashes it out on the heel of his boot. "They say the laws of God keep us honest and the laws of man keep us flustered." He replied idly before raising an eyebrow to the mention of Jose. He tossed the cigarette into the nearby trash can and sat back in his chair, one hand behind his head with the other resting atop his bible on the table.
"Think he may be a sport hunter? Ashwood Abbey or the Hunt Club?" He asks with a curious look, he had heard stories of such groups that hunted the various Supernaturals for sport, a sickening thought. Supernaturals may indeed present a danger to mankind but hunting them out of sheer joy just makes the Hunters little better then those they Hunt.
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