I walked into a room, after following the directions given to me from a werewolf, and saw a person sitting across from Johnathan. They both looked up at me from the mahogany table they were sitting at. “Ah, Rose. This is the person I wanted you to meet. His name is Zola. He’s, uh, not big on words.”

The boy sitting across from Johnathan, Zola, was actually kinda cute. He looked 15 or 16. He had smooth hazelnut skin, bright green, almond shaped eyes. He had green hair too, although his roots were black. His hair was ear length, and it was curly too.

He wore a white t-shirt with a blue and black flannel over it. His broad shoulders made him look bigger than he actually was.

He looked up at me and smiled, it was a small smile, just enough to notice. But his smile wasn’t what I saw. I saw the scars on his lips under where his fang’s would be. When they were out at least. On his neck he had two marks about two inches apart, where he was bitten. When he looked back to Johnathan, I noticed the scar on the back of his neck, running down his back.

It looked like a whip mark.

“So, you any good in a fight?” I asked, to which he nodded yes. I’d have to take his word for it. “You know stuff about Vampire’s that would be useful to my team I assume, would I be correct?” He nodded again. He really didn’t say much.

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“So, you know anything about the vampires in New York back in 2018?” I asked, not expecting him to answer, but pleasantly surprised when he did. “It may not be of use, but I do. And to add to that, I was only 12 at the time, so my facts may not be completely accurate.”

His voice was soft and gentle, yet he talked with a deep sadness that was more that a little disturbing. I didn’t know much about vampires, with my little interaction with the underworld and all, but I had killed a fair few of them, and they all seemed to have a tragic backstory. Some lashed out in anger because of it, others hid. I’ve gotta say, tragedy can really fuck someone up.

“That’s all right,” I said, “We don’t need super-specific details. We just need general knowledge.” He nodded, going back to his silent type thing. I turned to Johnathan. “You sure you want to send a kid though. You said some shit about don’t hurt kids and I wouldn’t want to watch them suffer.”

“Yea, I do believe that I shouldn’t send children into a warzone. But there are two reasons why I’m sending him. First, he’s seen some shit. Blood, death, and carnage are nothing new to him. Second, I’m sure you’ll take care of him.” Johnathan said, Zola nodding in agreement.

“Well, thanks for the vote of confidence I guess,” I replied sarcastically.

I turned to Zola, “We head out tomorrow morning, get some good sleep and pack your stuff. We have some ass to kick.”