Volume 1 - Chapter 17

The Green Yards

Looking briefly through the folders, I knew I had stumbled upon a goldmine if useful knowledge.

Hours could be spent reading through everything that was collected and organized. I didn't have time for that right in the moment, so I quickly flipped through them.

Billy Sadler, a known associate of The Cortez Family, was booked for embezzlement, skimming gang revenue from an under-the-table deal with Owney "The Owl" Johnson, now deceased.

I kept reading, and learned about the man's past. Months earlier, a witness claimed they saw Sadler try to kidnap a woman near Lantern’s Pharmacy on Draven Court. Sadler was arrested and booked at the time, but couldn’t be held due to a lack of evidence.

The woman claimed in her police report that Sadler had promised The Borrell Family would be gentle, and that she wouldn't be turned.

He'd offered her a lot of money to give some of her blood to a vampire. She'd finally agreed, but when he refused to pay, she tried to leave. That was when he tried to take her into the building by force.

I considered the connection. It meant The Cortez Family and The Borrell Family at least had some sort of working connection. Packley had confirmed this by telling me someone from The Borrell Family owned Lantern's Pharmacy.

I immediately disliked both of the other gangs the same way Donovan did, and I had only looked at the first page of Sadler's folder.

Lantern's Pharmacy was the thickest of the documents, with dozens of pages dedicated to evidence collected during stake-outs, and various police reports over the years.

Audia Villarreal's folder had a description of her at the top of the stack. Multiple people had described her as a vampire having long, flowing dark hair that cascaded down her back, adorned with elegant accessories. Her dark eyes were mesmerizing, and she dressed in sophisticated, dark colors.

She was believed to be the primogen of Seres Huecos, one of several vampire groups known to exist in the dark shadows of the city. Audia was considered almost a myth, as no photographs or recordings of any type had ever been seen or heard.

As I continued reading, one of those cold spikes of knowledge blasted into my brain. I had to close my eyes as the freezing pain shot through my head. It was the worst one I'd experienced, and it forced me to close the folders.

"The Baroque period?" I asked myself, still fighting off that burst of knowledge that shot into me from reading about the vampire.

I had no idea what years that meant, and once again I didn't have a smartphone to simply look it up. All I knew was that authorities believed Audia was born in Spain around two hundred and fifty years ago.

"Damn," I said, thinking she was old as hell.

I stood for a few minutes, just absorbing the knowledge I'd already gathered from the first pages. It was too much for the moment, and I knew I couldn't just walk around with stolen information like this.

A wider picture of my new dark world was beginning to unfold, but I needed to put them away in my apartment until I had more time.

It was a quick trip to my apartment unit, where I hid the three folders beneath my five-drawer dresser. Anyone searching would only find them if the entire dresser was toppled over.

As I left my apartment unit and headed towards The Green Yards, I mulled over what I'd learned about Lantern's Pharmacy.

Mia being an investigative writer, I figured that type of story was exactly the mission best suited for her character. Perhaps our paths would cross again.

Reflecting on the amount of information in those folders, and what might soon appear in my screen tabs, I realized that knowing more players in the game would become a critical source of good information.

Unless there was a talent for players to hide their summaries, I could get a basic overview of their progress and story whenever I wanted. It seemed like an invaluable tool, and I would need to meet more people and stay on top of the updates.

Samuel Donovan's summary updated to reflect his impatience. Even though it hadn't been that much time since he'd given me the new mission, he wanted it done immediately.

I was supposed to get back to him as soon as I had more details on Stalvek Dyomin and the security at The Bleeker Building.

The Cortez Family tab updated to show me their alignment with The Borrell Family. Unlike The Green Fists, they showed an orange color with one another.

I wondered if Sadler's arrest changed anything between them.

Stalvek was going to be a thorn in my side. I needed a way to find out more information about the player without him knowing. Or, at the very least, without getting myself killed in the process.

My limited knowledge of the mafia from back in my real world reminded me that hits went back and forth with increasing violence. Regardless of who did the hit, each side would think the other did it, and things were only going to escalate.

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Something weird was going on with Billy Sadler, so I read over his information I'd learned about his long list of trouble with the law, having constantly been arrested and released.

I wasn't sure what to make of that limited information. Coupled with his attempts to kidnap and sell a woman to some vampires, I immediately hated the man.

The Borrell Family tab had updated, but after reading all that other crap I was getting brain-fatigued. It was a full summary of what I already knew anyway, just reflecting much of the same information.

I made my way out of the police station and into the harsh morning light. A full day still awaited, and I had a window to fix.

The streets were just starting to come alive with activity. Old cars bumbled by me on the street. Shopkeepers were unlocking doors, and plenty of other NPCs were going about their programmed routines.

My destination was The Green Yards, a neighborhood in the heart of The Grims that I hadn't yet ventured into even though I knew the area well. My character had been there multiple times previous to the new me showing up.

From the descriptions I'd read, it seemed like one of the few pockets of normalcy amidst the chaos and decay. I had in my head the image of little motor court apartments clustered around a few shared yards, and it almost seemed quaint.

Almost being the operative word. This was still Grimsborough Heights, and there wasn't much to be desired. Quaint was likely just a front for something more sinister lurking beneath.

Shaking off the cynicism as I made my way down Jameson Avenue, I tried to make myself enjoy the hard work NexaTechNeuro had done in this game. It was mid-morning, and the sidewalks were already getting crowded.

I was jostled more than once, and met with glares and muttered curses whenever I stumbled into someone's path. The air was thick with engine exhaust and a million other stenches.

When I finally made it back to Whitaker, I could see The Green Yards up ahead. The motor court units were tightly packed together, surrounding small patches of green space.

I had no doubt they were once lovingly tended, but now I was paid to push a rotary mower over them once a week, and that was about it. I barely managed to get that done, but I was going to up my game moving forward so I didn't give Mr. Gallagher any reasons to disappear me.

The cheery pastels of the homes had faded and peeled, marred by urban grime. Thomas Gallagher had considered giving me a little more pay to do additional work, but he'd decided just to stick with emergency repairs for now. It probably didn't help that he didn't think I was reliable.

I checked my map and headed for the Bluebird Apartments at 1740 Whitaker. Unit 3B was my destination. The tenant was named Ms. Harmon, and according to my mission screen she was usually awake by 8 a.m.

Glancing at my watch, it was just a few minutes after that by the time I arrived and found a faded pink apartment.

The curtains were closed, but I could see the shattered window pane from the courtyard. There was a rectangular thin crate leaning against the wall near some bushes, and I assumed that was the new glass.

I stood before the cracked pane of Ms. Harmon's window, taking in the sad disrepair. The wooden frame was weathered and splintered, the glass fractured in a jagged spiderweb pattern where a baseball had hit it.

At the door, I raised my hand to knock, but then hesitated.

Movement in my periphery caught my eye, and I saw a blue-named player character strolling down the sidewalk towards me. I quickly lowered my hand, watching him approach with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

As he drew nearer, I recognized the name above him.

Jason McArthur.

This was the same player I'd briefly seen just minutes after I first loaded into the game.

He seemed to spot me at the same moment, his pace quickening with a bright grin across his face.

"Hey, you're that guy I saw the night we started! Ethan Jones!"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Ethan Jones. And you're Jason McArthur."

"You got it!" He swept in with an easy familiarity, clasping my shoulder. "Damn, it's good to see a familiar face around here, even if I don't really know you. How're you holding up in this madhouse? You sound American? Are you American?"

Before I could respond, he barreled on, the words tumbling out in a torrent. "I'm from New York, baby! Can you believe this place? I'm already on my third mission trying to find some stupid secret jazz club. One of my neighbors had a husband that snuck off to a jazz club and now she's worried sick because he hasn't come home."

Jason shook his head, letting out a short laugh. "Crazy broad. As if I don't have enough to deal with already without taking on side quests for randos. But I need the experience, you know?"

I couldn't get a word in edgewise as Jason launched into the latest dramas he'd uncovered. He talked about a crooked cop on the take and a vampire nest operating out of an old theater on Monroe Avenue.

His eyes danced with excitement as he talked, and I noticed my affiliations screen updated to include his character and all the topics he was bringing up.

I decided to just let him keep talking. The more info he dumped on me the better.

"Get this," Jason continued, his voice lowering conspiratorially as he leaned in. "I was casing that old theater on Monroe the other night, you know the one, it's abandoned. Figured there might be some good loot to grab. But when I got there, the whole place was lit up and crawling with people."

He paused for dramatic effect, eyes wide as if reliving the thrill. "Only they wasn't normal people. Vampires, man. A whole freakin' nest of them, or whatever they're called. I think I read about clans primogens somewhere in my screens. Anyway, can you believe that?"

I shook my head slowly, trying to feign surprise, and I wondered if he'd watched the introductory video. It was full of vampires. Still, I let Jason have his moment anyway.

"That's not even the half of it," he went on eagerly. "There was this cop there too. Name was Officer Mackson. Swaggering around like he owned the place, talking to them like they were best friends. Dude was so clearly on the take it's not even funny. They were handing him dollar bills like they were buying his protection."

My ears pricked up at that. An Officer Mackson working security for a vampire nest? That was the kind of information Samuel Donovan would be very interested in.

Mackson was also the name of the desk sergeant I saw at the police station. I wondered if he was one and the same.

"What else did you see?" I pressed. "Anything at all, like any officers besides Mackson?"

Jason waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, I didn't stick around long enough to find out any details like that. Just looked around and hauled ass out of there before they turned me into a human juicy fruit.”

I nodded. It sounded like he'd had an exciting first day.

"But hey, enough about me," he said with a dismissive wave. "What've you been up to since the start? You gotta tell me about your missions so far!"

Before I said anything, I considered how I felt about Jason McArthur. He didn't sound or act dangerous.

He'd quickly shared some of his own adventure, and seemed friendly enough, but I knew anything I told him would appear in his screens the same as they did for me.

I decided it wouldn't hurt. Information gathering had quickly caught me up to speed, and Jason McArthur was a talker. I wasn't in this to use people, but he seemed like a valuable resource.

I recapped my meetings with Samuel Donovan, only leaving out a few details I figured I shouldn't share, like who actually killed The Owl. Then I told him about my drama with Stalvek.