Blood & Witchcraft
Chapter 1: Finder's Fee At Least?
Nathan rolled his eyes and huffed out a sigh. He put down the shaker he was cleaning.
"What do you want Jack?" He asked as the man approached the bar. It was a slow night, not many people in the bar so there was plenty of seating. A few people danced on the floor, a few others at the cocktail tables.
"Just wanted to see you." The man sat his tall, broad frame in front of Nathan at the bar and leaned forward. "Can't I come by to see my old friend?"
"You could, if we still were." Nathan replied, light agitation on his face and in his voice. "Now, order a drink or leave." He said calmly.
"Fine, I'll get a glass of B Negative on the rocks. Tequilla mixer." Jack ordered the drink casually with a smile, letting his fangs grow. He licked them as he flashed them with a playful grin.
"You know we don't serve that here." Nathan flatly stated. If he didn't know the Vampire sitting in front of him he'd use some magick to squeeze his brain for flashing his fangs like that. Nathan, unfortunately, did know the Vampire. They went way back, all the way to high school. They had been high school sweethearts. "And put those tiny little things away."
"Fine." He retracted his fangs. "I'll just take a vodka soda." Nathan got a glass and made a drink.
"What do you really want?" Nathan topped the drink with a lime. "I know you didn't come here for the drinks."
"You're right." Jack took a sip. "I need your witchy expertise." The Vampire leaned back and stretched his arms out and behind him. His broad chest pulled the shirt he wore tightly. A small piece of Nathan remembered the chest fondly, another piece of him...
"No, I can't turn a coworker you don't like into a toad." Nathan probably could, he just didn't want to.
"Damn." Jack leaned back on the bar, with a soft chuckle he grinned. "I need some sunlight sigils." He finished his drink, tapped the glass and Nathan made him another. "Some of my nightcrawler friends." He downed the second drink in a swift motion. Sunlight sigils were relatively simple to craft, any Witch could do it and they granted Vampires the ability to walk in the daylight without bursting into flame. They were a simple protection charm really.
"I don't make sigils for Vampires." Nathan took the empty glass and placed into the sink.
"You did for me." Jack called him out. Nathan stopped for a moment and looked at him. Old memories still fresh in his heart flooded his vision.
"You were an exception." He grabbed a glass and started washing.
"Please?" He asked, sending his blue eyes towards Nathan. "For me?" It worked. Jackson North still had his hand around Nathan Moreau's heart. All he needed to do was flash that smile, bat those baby blue eyes, or flex that bicep and Nathan would do almost anything for him.
"How many do you need?" He caved.
"Just four," Jack smiled wide. "maybe six." Nathan looked at him. The same way Jackson was able to cast a spell over Nathan with no magick, Nathan could do the same to Jack. "Okay. Ten." He admitted.
"Ten?" Jack nodded. "A hundred per sigil upfront, non-refundable. And I have to make sure I'm not giving any psychos the ability to hunt during the daytime." Nathan gave Jack a hard, stern look.
"Deal. I told them you'd probably charge $120." Jack slapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Means I get a profit."
"Oh, I forgot to mention my travel and supply fees. And for my time." Nathan smiled, finishing the glasses he was washing and placing the drying rag over his shoulders. Jack chuckled. "When do you need them?" Nathan asked.
"Tonight if you can." Jack stood up.
"Where at? I get off around eleven. I'll run home, grab some supplies and meet you there." Nathan leaned over and crossed is arms over the bar. Jack leaned over to meet him, inches away from his face. Nathan could smell Jacks breath. It smelled sweet from the drink. His cologne almost covered it. Nathan wanted to reach out and brush Jacks lips with his, but stopped himself. They'd been broken up for a few months and the wound was still fresh in a way. Jack needed to stop coming by, coming around. Nathan knew he needed to set a firmer boundary...but why didn't he?
"Bar Positive." The Vamp bar a few blocks down. The Avalon was a Witch bar. For two groups of people that didn't get along and were constantly threatening an already weak treaty between them, they always seemed to be near each other.
Nathan pulled away. "I'll be there." He walked away, further down the bar and found work to do. Jack thanked him and started to walk away. "Hey Jack," Nathan called out to him and he stopped, turning to face him. "you may not need an invitation to come here, but next time...don't." Nathan tried to set a boundary, settling back into sense. Jacks' look shifted from the hopeful one he'd had from the positive interaction, to a neutral one.
"Sure, I'll call next time or something." He replied, a hint of sadness.
Nathan nodded and Jack left.
"Hi, welcome to Avalon. What can I get you?" Nathan said to the next patron who approached the bar.
*****
"Julia!" Nathan called out from his room. "Have you seen my sunstones!"
"Kitchen windowsill!" She called back from her room. "We had them charging today remember!"
"Well why didn't you take them out of the window! The moonlight will undo all the charging." He mumbled as he walked into the kitchen to get them. "They aren't here." He said to her.
"I moved them." Celia appeared.
"Ah! Celia!" Nathan jumped. "You scared me."
"Sorry." She apologized. "I put them on the bookshelf." She pointed at the shelf in the living room.
"Thanks." He told her. She evaporated then reappeared next to the shelf as Nathan approached. "What did you do today?" He asked.
"Oh you know, watched TV, read a book. Went on a long walk to the window where I watched people live." She responded in her ghostly sullenness. Celia
was
a ghost so anytime she said anything it almost always had a ghostly resonance to it. She had been the victim of a serial killer in the 80's, the killer had been caught but Celia hadn't been able to move on for some other reason. Her soul bound to this apartment. Nathan and Julia had tried to release her, but just couldn't. Some things magick couldn't fix.
She was benevolent and a good roommate, so neither of them cared she lingered. The did worry she might lurk during "adult playtime" but she promised she didn't.
"Hm, sorry. I am working on a way to give you more leave than the apartment. But I need a piece of your body and I don't want to disturb your grave. Your family still visits too much." Nathan explained with a grimace.
"Oh, it's fine." She waved him off. "Besides, I'm a great security system. No one is going to try and break in when they see me looking out the window so sadly and creepily." She joked. She made the best of her situation, but both Nathan and Julia knew it bothered her. She'd tried to leave before, but the second she stepped out of the front door she disappeared and reappeared inside the room she'd just left. If she tried to walk through the walls to the apartment next door she got sent flying across the room, Nathan and Julia actually found this quite funny but made sure to never laugh out of respect.
"Still, I'll figure something out for you eventually." Nathan put the rest of his supplies for the spell crafting in his bag. "You should at least be able to go to the courtyard like that old cat lady who fell off her balcony a few years ago." He walked to the door.
"At least you made me corporeal so I can at least be seen by everyone." She said.
"Silver linings, now I have to go. I'll be back soon. Bye Julia!" He called out.
"Okay! Wait, where are you going?" Julia popped her head out of her room and her long blond hair dripped water onto the carpet.
"I'm gonna go make some money, give out some sunlight sigils to some Vamps." Nathan told her. "You're dripping."
"Oops. Sorry." She grabbed her towel and wrapped her hair, catching the water. "Can you bring back some chocolate pretzels? I'm craving." She asked as Nathan walked out the door.
He might.
*****
The next Vampire sat in front of Nathan and opened the top buttons of his shirt to allow Nathan access to his heart.
"Hands first." Nathan outstretched his own hands. The Vampire matched the pose.
Nathan closed his eyes and focused, trying to read the Vampires' energy. It was harder to get a read on other supernatural's - other than fellow Witches anyway - but with focus and practice a good Witch could sense whether or not the Vampire was trustworthy or hid ill intentions. This one seemed fine, so far he hadn't had to turn any of them down. Nathan did get a strange feeling that this particular Vampire was into some kinky shit, but as long as everyone was consenting Nathan wouldn't judge...at least in front of him.
