A Rose By Any Other Name (Simon/ ???? )

[jarahamee]

The invitation from Master Gashi came around 7 pm, right when the sun was beginning to set.

Neatly written in an envelope, though, as always, an accompanying email had been sent to the appropriate departments.

A request for collaboration in investigating a recent crime spree, dubbed the Black Oak murders. Murders which the Elder vampires had determined was likely perpetuated by another vampire. Or perhaps, several vampires.

So far, no witnesses or potential perpetrators could be tied to the scene, but the WDSA’s CSI had already investigated the active crime scene, and come away with…very little, for the four dead and four undead bodies that had been recovered.

None the less, this appeared to be an official appeal for a collaboration, and perhaps, would be another way that information might be distributed. Inside information, which the WDSA desperately needed.

[beastly]

Simon had heard about the murders. Eight lives ended, terrible. He was surprised to find himself one of the civil service agents sent out, he really was more of a day-to-day type of worker. And a werewolf. He wasn't about to argue if it'd been decided he'd be a good guy for this ordeal, though. If people needed his help, he'd give it. As best he could. He'd been around more murders recently than he'd liked, maybe someone knew something he didn't.

This 'Master Gashi' wanted to collaborate. Maybe he'd be able to shed some light on things, maybe he'd have ideas, maybe it'd be a waste of time. They couldn't be worse off than they were, zero minus zero continued to be zero.

[jarahamee]

The unmarked car, manned by a beautiful, longhaired man, pulled up at the agreed on place and time, to take him to see the Vampire Elder Roan Gashi. Gashi was a known collaborator with the WDSA, and had always done his best to be agreeable, and make any operations and businesses he and his Clan were involved in completely transparent. He rarely travelled outside of his territory, but was well known among both the local covens and the WDSA.

The car pulled up to the wrought iron gate in front of an impressive-looking manor house on the edge of the city, complete with a large yard and a wooded garden behind. The house itself was white with yellow paint detail, and was decorated with Romanesque columns on the front. A few free-standing statues, which seemed to be made of bronze were strewn about the lawn.

The butler pressed a button, and the front gate swung open. Instantaneously, three creatures that must have been guard-dogs loped towards the car, approaching within about ten feet and staring at it as if in suspicion as the vehicle passed down the path towards the front of the house.

The car rolled up to the bottom of the stairwell, and the driver slipped out and opened up the door for Simon.

The guard dogs, meanwhile, trotted up to the base of the stairs and settled themselves there, staring back unblinkingly at both the driver and Simon. At this close proximity, Simon then became instantly aware that the ‘guard dogs’ were three very large wolves, who were watching his every movement.

The path was open, and the front door awaited him.

[beastly]

"Thanks," Simon chirped to the beautiful man as he stepped out of the car.

He eyed the wolves carefully as he made his way towards the door. Animals didn't always respond well to him, he smelled fairly wolfish himself. He was just hoping the creatures were well trained enough/ in a good enough mood that he wasn't about to be attacked by a pack of wolves. He was familiar with Ru's wolf form, and he was pretty sure they were just regular wolves, not shape-shifted vampires.

The building itself was quite fancy, and Simon spared a moment to wonder if he should've gone the whole 9 yards and broke out a suit or something. He looked between the ornate front door and the statues. Nah.

He knocked on the door and straightened his jacket.

[jarahamee]

There was the soft thump of the doors closing behind Simon, and the sputtering of the car’s engine as the key was utilized again. The driver pulled the car away from he curb, moving around the manorhouse on a path that he would presume lead to the other side of the property.

The three canids paid the driver and his activities no heed, staying intently focused on Simon. The three wolves appeared to be Eurasian wolves, and the two largest appeared to have the greying muzzles and ragged coats of older animals. They turned, unblinking as Simon passed him, but made no effort to follow him into the manor house. Simon would quickly realize that they were actually werewolves.

As Simon reached for the doorknob, the entire door swung inward, as if it had been anticipating his arrival.

A short, androgynous figure with short purple hair and yellow eyes, wearing a military uniform, peeked out from behind the door. They then smiled upon seeing Simon, and pressed the door the rest of the way open.

Simon stood in the foyer. There was a chandelier above him, shaped like art deco flowers, and a beautiful wooden stairway to a second story. To his right was the dining room, to the left was a living area, decorated with tasteful old paintings.

An ancient-looking wolf with a ragged white coat lay on the middle of the floor, so still that it seemed as if it might be dead, though when they approached closely, the animal raised its head to look at Simon.

Another werewolf.

The androgynous person, scarcely taller than Simon, gestured inwards, leading him around the living room side. On closer inspection, the paintings appeared to be the same individual, and the sculptures all had a similar style. Perhaps the same style.

His guide said nothing, and lead him to what must have been the door to a private study, opening the door and gesturing inwards.

Within was a beautifully decorated room with an extensive collection of hand-bound tomes and various trinkets and devices arranged artfully. A handsome olive-skinned man sat behind the desk, hands folded, wearing a fine suit, hands folded one over the other. He stood up, putting down a handful of papers as he rose to greet Simon.

“Ah, Agent Groves. I apologize for the hassle.”

[beastly]

Werewolves. Alright. Weird. He always felt weird around other werewolves that were just hanging around in their wolf forms. It was utterly foreign to him that people could enjoy spending time they didn't have to as wolves. Didn't you want to use your hands? Or wear clothes? Or speak? A distant part of him was jealous of that ability. He knew himself well enough though that he understood that his confusion was the weird thing, not the wolves. Their shifts were not things they didn't get to control and were likely more pleasant. He held up a hand as he passed them. What were they doing, working? Did they get paid to hang out? Were they just friends with the vampires here?

Simon smiled at the person that appeared to open the door, walking in and taking in the fancy foyer and chandelier. He held up another hand to the wolf on the floor as they walked past, hi, and followed them into the living room. Someone had done a lot of paintings of one particular person. Must be someone important.

Simon smiled at the handsome man, presumably Master Gashi, and approached with one hand outstretched to shake.

"Hey there, it's no hassle. Thanks for the invitation. There's, uh, quite a bit going on right now and we at the WDSA greatly appreciate your reaching out."

[jarahamee]

Most of the paintings seemed to be of one individual; a handsome man with tanned skin and a dark beard and mustache. His eyes were large and somber. In some he wore a military uniform, in others he wore a long tunic and pants with boots and a turban.

Master Gashi smiled and took Simon’s hand in his, shaking once. His grip was gentle, as if he was afraid of harming the smaller man. His pale green eyes glinted like gemstones as he briefly made eye contact with Simon, before settling himself back down into his plush chair.

“Yes. I am Elder Roan Gashi, head of House Kaplan.”

He leaned back in his chair. This was going to be a long conversation, and perhaps one of the Enforcement agents should have been here. Still, there was always time. The one thing he had in excess.

“You have heard of the death of Elder Rosenthal, and the destruction of three of his vampires. And unfortunately, four humans who were, perhaps, unwillingly employed by him”

Master Gashi placed one manicured hand on top of the other, resting it there. He seemed thoughtful, as if wondering how best he should word the next few statements.

“We believe that a faction of rebel vampires, or vampires who are against the established order of the vampire houses, are responsible for these actions. They seemed to have moved here several months ago, and made this a kind of base.”

He looked down at his hands again.

“There is a third, more complex factor as well. The murdered master vampire, we have found, has been involved in illicit activities. Feeding illegally, human trafficking, sexual assault. We uncovered a trove of evidence when we were investigating the murder.”

Master Gashi sat up straight in his chair.

“I am unsure if this is a targeted attack related to his illegal activities, or if this was merely coincidental. The other individuals they have targeted appear to be humans, from what we can tell in retrospect. We are also unsure if there is a motive there.”

[beastly]

Simon listened attentively, a frown quickly forming on his round face as the details became increasingly grim. This... This was now even more complicated than he'd walked in thinking. A faction of rebel vampires had made their home in Wathias, and apparently had turned vigilante. Potentially. It could've been a coincidence.

The werewolf ran a hand over his head as Master Gashi finished speaking.

"Oh...That's... That's real bad. I'm sure we at the WDSA will do all we can to help get to the bottom of things."

He fished a pocket sized notepad out from his bag, jotting down the details so he could accurately share them and remember. He bit his lip, looking at the facts plainly written made it seem even worse. He exhaled, and addressed the elder vampire. Ask some questions, Groves.

"Woof. Okay. Got a few questions, please bear with me. You mentioned you believe the 'rebel vampires' moved in months ago. How do you figure that? Have these 'rebel vampires' attacked previously at all, or made other moves?"

[jarahamee]

Master Gashi placed an elbow on the table, and leaned into his hand as his bright green eyes stared through the wall to the right of Simon. His smile had disappeared entirely, replaced by a somber frown as he appeared lost in thought.

“It is the same group of vampires who traveled through Seattle just a year ago. We don’t have close connections with the covens there, but we are fairly sure they were what started the vampire civil war there.”

The vampire rubbed his face against his cheek, as if rubbing his eyes would make the problem go away.
“You see, there is a lot of tension even within many of the old vampire families. Many vampires agree to human treaties now, but some of them are very old. When you are very old, your sense of morality becomes… different. It is hard to understand the changes that people feel are important now. This means that within the families, some of the vampires did wrong to others, so there is already fuel. The rebels just..set the fire in some of them, which has gotten out of control.”

He picked his head up, looking fairly miserable.

“The rebel vampires have been… picking off targets around Wathais. Targets no one cares about, in their minds. Human hunters. People who they feel are..well…subject to their own moral outrage… So far..not many ‘innocent’ people, as they would call it.”