Truth be told, Nathan had expected the gala to be a little more magical. He'd expected little dancing pixies jumping around over a crowd of showing-off Sorcerers, fire and lightning surging through the air like fireworks. You know, some Harry Potter shit.

Hagrid was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Nathan was just standing awkwardly in the middle of some kind of high society gala, undrunk champagne in hand, feeling like he probably wouldn't have felt so out of place at Hogwarts. He had no desire to dress up, but he still couldn't help but feel a little lacking with all the suits and gowns around him. He was wearing the same jacket he always wore, a shabby thing he'd owned before he'd...before he'd met Athena. As subtly as he could, he turned his head to the side and sniffed his jacket.

He was definitely out of place, and alone in it too. Athena was off getting their stuff from Otto - it seemed he really did work as fast as she said. They'd received some dirty glances when they'd first arrived, but Athena hadn't seemed to notice. Either that or she'd just gotten used to it over time.

Nathan glanced around the party. Music was playing from somewhere, something on a violin, but he couldn't see anyone playing. Couldn't see a speaker or anything, either. Maybe the party wasn't as mundane as it seemed. As he thought that, he started to notice more - the unusual appearances of some of the guests for one, more than one having a sword at their hip. From what Nathan knew of Sorcerer society, they were most likely enchanted artefacts, passed down through the generations. They were as much status symbols as they were weapons.

There were a few people, like Nathan, who came from outside the Circle - you could easily recognize them by the nervous looks on their faces. They'd come in the hopes of building connections with Circle members, seeking to prove themselves and gain membership. The benefits were worth any amount of sucking up, it seemed.

At the center of the room was a statue of Eve, triumphantly holding the Apple aloft. Occasionally, when a new person arrived at the party, they would touch their hand against the statue respectfully. Presumably they were the more traditionalist Sorcerers in the Circle.

He idly rotated the champagne glass around in his hand. Was the champagne enchanted too - to taste better? Was that a thing that could happen? He tried it. It didn't taste any better, but then again he didn't often taste champagne. Maybe this was better.

'Excuse me,' said a voice from behind him. He felt a hand gently tug on the back of his backet. 'I'm going to talk to you for a moment.'

Bemused, Nathan turned around. That wasn't the most polite way to ask for someone's attention, but he guessed it was pretty direct.

The person speaking was a young woman, maybe a year or two older than Nathan, with long grey hair and tired-looking eyes. Behind her stood a man, presumably a relative, with similar features. Grey hair and tired-looking eyes seemed to be a running theme among some of the party-goers - Athena had pointed them out to him as they'd arrived. Apparently, they were members of the Gellenbight, a family of necromancers prominent in this city.

Necromancy was a little too close to vampires for Nathan's liking, but he smiled politely nonetheless.

'What did you, ah, want to talk about?'

'You're a wizard, right?' said the woman, looking at him with a dull gaze. It was more like being watched by a security camera than by a human being - impersonal in that way.

'A wizard?'

'A magic-user without Circle training. You're familiar with the term, or you wouldn't be here.'

Well, he was familiar with the term, but it's hard to speak coherently when you're being borderline-interrogated by someone you'd never met before.

'I guess so,' said Nathan. 'I don't have any formal training, at least.'

'You don't guess so, you are,' said the man disapprovingly, glaring at Nathan.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the two stared at Nathan, apparently awaiting a response.

'Well,' he said. 'I am, then - sorry, I didn't catch your names.'

'I think it's sad,' said the man, ignoring Nathan completely.

'What is you think is said, Ingrit?' said the girl.

'Well, Mybal, I think it's sad when wizards try to rise above their stations. They're doomed for failure, the way I see it.'

'Mm, yes,' said Mybal. 'I suppose that is sad.'

The two turned to Nathan, and he could see derision in their eyes now. Apparently, he'd failed some criteria for their approval. Well, he didn't care much about that.

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'Can you two fuck off, please?' he said. 'You're kind of annoying.'

Derision turned to rage. It seemed they weren't used to people standing up to them.

'Do you know who we are?' said Ingrit, stepping in front of Mybal.

'Addams Family rejects?'

'No,' said Mybal, shaking her head as if that was a serious suggestion. Then she stepepd forward in front of Ingrit, getting right in Nathan's face. 'We are Gellenbight. Everyone here knows what that means because they are Sorcerers, because they have proven their worth.'

Nathan noticed that the others party-goers had started to quiet down, their eyes flicking over to the brewing argument between him and the two Gellenbight. Huh. Maybe they were a big deal. Nathan would likely get into shit with Athena for this, but he honestly couldn't resist at this point.

He leaned forward, and whispered in Mybal's ear: 'Never heard of you.'

Something rushed out of the sleeve of Mybal's gown - an arm, skeletal - grabbing Nathan by the neck and squeezing. He fell to his knees, gasping for air - the arm was surely enchanted, decayed bones just couldn't be that strong. He could tell just from the few seconds after it first grabbed hold of him that it could crush his neck with the slightest of efforts. The party went silent.

I can't die like this, thought Nathan, panic swirling throughout his head. Not for making fun of some rich kids. I'm not done yet!

'Hey now. No need for that,' came a voice from behind Nathan. Cheerful, as if an attempted strangling was nothing at all. 'We're all pals here, right?'

The arm released Nathan, and withdrew up into Mybal's sleeve. After a moment, the noises of the party resumed. Mybal and Ingrit stepped back, their expressions uneasy. Nathan turned to look at his rescuer. It was a Hispanic man with a wide smile and eyes that were open just a little too wide. Long black hair fell past his shoulders. He extended a gloved hand to help Nathan up, which was gratefully accepted.

'Rook,' said Ingrit, resentment obvious from his tone. 'Why are you here?'

The man, Rook, turned to Ingrit after helping Nathan up. 'I was invited, wasn't I? You're meant to accept an invitation - that's only polite. Or have the rules of this Circle changed since I was last in town? I don't keep up with these things, sorry.'

His head snapped over to Nathan again, studying his face intently. 'Can we talk, you and me? I have some stuff I want to say to you.'

'Uh, sure?' said Nathan - truth be told, talking to nearly anyone would be better than talking to the zombie twins.

They moved over to a table in the back of the room, further away from the partygoers - and escaping the glares of the two Gellenbight. They sat opposite each other and Rook reached into his jacket, pulling out a can of coke and a coffee thermos. Nathan furrowed his brow in confusion, but Rook took no notice, taking a swig of each.

'Gotta keep the internals balanced,' he said. 'By the way, I'm a vampire.'

There was a stake in Nathan's jacket. If he was quick, he could jump over the table and plunge it into Rook's heart. But he didn't know his Blood Drive. He could have some protection. There was cutlery on the table - best to stab it into Rook's joints to impede his movements.

'That's a scary look in your eyes, pal,' said Rook, raising his eyebrows. 'This is neutral ground here. You go crazy, and everyone here'll go crazy on you. Like dominoes. Or maybe checkers.'

Nathan slowly exhaled. The vampire was right - he couldn't take on a room full of Sorcerers alone.

'So,' said Rook, after a moment of tense silence. 'From that look, I'm guessing you wanna kill me - which is a heck of a coincidence, because I really want to kill you.'

'What's this about?' Nathan was fairly sure what this was about, but it never hurt to check.

'Rhodes and Anderson. I'm sure you know those names.'

'Anderson?'

'Just Rhodes then - I'm guessing Anderson was one of your pals. I'll kill them after I kill you - or maybe before. You can never really predict how these things go, you know. Life's messed up that way.'

'They were monsters - like you.'

'Yeah, okay.' Rook accepted it as if it was perfectly fine, a casual smile on his lips. To be honest, Nathan had expected some denial, some claim that the Family were the real heroes or some such nonsense.

'What?' he said, trying to work out what Rook was up to.

'We're monsters. We kill people. That's fine with me. I mean, look around you.'

Nathan did so. All he saw was a party. 'What do you mean?' he said, eyes narrowed.

Rook scoffed. 'You think these Sorcerers just dance around all day waving magic wands and learning magic words? The Gellenbight siblings, the ones you were talking to before, for instance. The boy, Ingrit, is supposed to be some sort of prodigy. He's a big deal, but he hates me - can't imagine why. You know how a necromancer like him gets results?'

'With the dead.'

Rook laughed. 'With the living. You can work with decayed remains, but those are weak. For the best results, you need to prepare a human before they die. A genius like him...I'm sure quite a few people have gone missing in this city for those amazing results of his.'

'So he's a monster too, then.'

'Well, of course he is,' said Rook, throwing his hands up. 'The thing is - everybody knows about it. Yet he's here, drinking at a party without a care in the world.' He leaned forward. 'D'you know why?'

Nathan didn't reply. He already knew the answer - he didn't want to give the vampire the satisfaction of making him ask for it. From what he'd seen of the guy, he liked the sound of his voice. He'd tell him anyway - and sure enough, he did.

'Because nobody cares, Nate,' said Rook. 'Just like nobody cares what we do. Except you, of course - and your comrade, I'm guessing. But you're not long for this world.'

With that, he got up from his seat and looked down at Nathan.

'After tonight,' he said. 'You're fair game. I'm going to kill you, and it won't be fast. I hope you dream about that.'

He walked away, leaving Nathan to sit alone.

Nobody cared. He'd already known that, from what Athena had told him, but hearing it so bluntly still left a chill in him, like he'd swallowed ice. People were dying everyday, drained of blood to keep those things immortal, and nobody cared. Murdered to put them in power. Massacred because it was easy, because they could. And nobody cared. Nobody cared, because they were just as bad, and it didn't affect them.

Nathan's eyes drifted over to the Gellenbight siblings, looking over the party with a sort of haughty disinterest. They almost looked like corpses themselves, they were so pale. Maybe that was some side-effect of their necromancy.

Maybe - maybe people could be made to care.