Chapter Text
Shelby's been having a good life, and they think that says a lot for a 200 year old vampire.
Maybe there's been bumps in the road, such as that one time they all got caught hunting and they had to flee the town because it caused the entire village to raise their pitchforks against them, but New York wasn't anything like that! In fact, they were probably the most normal people on the street!
The world was changing in ways she'd never even be able to dream of- like computers? The typewriter had its own aesthetic, sure, but computers seemed to be made for writers.
And that's not even mentioning Avid's… reincarnation? revival? They'll go with return.
They had returned to Oakhurst, as they do most years, to a pale faced Pearl and Cleo. When they brought them inside they had been rambling "we don't know how it happened, or if that's really him-" while they opened the door to their spare bedroom, and there he was, curled up and surrounded by blankets. Her fledgling almost looked exactly the same, if not for the black, leathery skin that stretched across his face and a large, dark horn growing straight out of the right side to match. Surprising? Sure. But it was her fledgling none the less. It was a tearful reunion, but one memory that still makes them laugh was the look of utter shock on Abolish's face when he tracked them down to Oakhurst; for such a composed guy, he was just so utterly flabbergasted.
Ooh, that's a good word, she should remember that.
Shelby is of the opinion that all of their lives in the coven are going great.
Drift doesn't seem to agree.
Well, actually, she's sure that's not completely true, it's just… Sometimes they'll all be together and everything will be great and fun, like the kind of moment where you think to yourself "I never want anything to change ever!" and Drift is beside them, laughing along too, but then-
Then she doesn't see Drift for months.
And they know it isn't just their busy schedule, no matter what the vampire tries to say, it's as if she goes completely off the map. There's no contact, no glimpses around the city, no words at all from her. And then, one day she just reappears, as if nothing happened.
Typically, Scott and Shelby would just leave her be until she returned, but this was the first time she'd left since Avid came back. That's why she's on her way to Drift's apartment. She'd just gotten a new one, actually, on account of some steam pipe exploding. Not only was everything a mess, but she was told the area around her apartment had been contaminated with something called "asbestos". They doubted Drift wanted to tell the police "oh I'm actually an immortal vampire, so I'll be fine", so they started the hunt for a new place to live.
Which leads them here: Standing outside her door.
They want to knock, even though they know they won't get a response.
Maybe she's back?
She's not, she knows that. She still wants to knock anyways.
She knocks. And waits. And opens the door with the spare key they were given.
Drift's apartment is really nice and cozy. While Scott & Shelby's apartment was typically where they all met and the state of the place reflected that, Drift's apartment was tidy, but lived in. The newest addition, at least from the last time Shelby had visited, she noticed was 3 potted plants on the window sill. They weren't sure what exactly they were, but all 3 of them had long stems with wide purple and blue petals at the ends. Pretty!
Maybe I should come over and water them for her.
But she throws that thought away when she sees 3 ice cubes in each pot. She never thought of using ice cubes like that, that was pretty clever actually.
Wait.
There's still ice cubes in the pots?
That must mean Drift had just put them there! So, she can't be far! They wonder if she frequently comes home for her flowers. The thought actually comforts her more than she thought it would. They know Drift can take care of herself fine, but knowing she's still close by is just nice. She isn't leaving you
They're pulled out of their thoughts by a peculiar knock on the door. Who would be knocking on Drift's door? Avid voiced his worry for her, but they told him she was going to check up on her apartment today. Besides, Avid still hasn't gotten used to the New York bustle, so they doubt he'd try to find his own way here anyways. Sausage typically comes to their apartment first whenever he visits, so she doubts it's him. Maybe it's Scott? That's the last guess she's got so it must be.
The man she sees when the door swings open is not Scott, nor is it Sausage nor Avid, or even Abolish. He's wearing a fancy looking sweater, one of those well knitted ones, under this long, dark trench coat. He's got a cool looking hat, she thinks. Despite the almost opaque glasses on his nose, they can see his face pretty clearly, so they can see their expression go from serious to shocked as soon as he notices her. Shelby is confused at their reaction and before they can try to rationalize it, it finally clicks in their head why exactly his eyes widen at the sight of her.
It might be the fact that this isn't her apartment at all.
But it's probably the fact that Jack von Pyroscythe killed her fledgling over 150 years ago.
"You!"
She lunges.
Abolish Veylocke has been missing for 4 months now, declared M.I.A, presumed dead.
Jack von Pyroscythe has never heard such utter bullshit.
According to the paperwork- and believe him, he's read the mission report 10 times over- Abolish Veylocke went missing after he took a job hunting down a rogue vampire by the name of Levana, a vampire who also cannot be accounted for.
Now, Pyro already had their suspicions on who exactly would be so bold as to kidnap Abolish Veylocke, and, to be frank, the list wasn't long; there were few people who would attempt it and even fewer who could succeed.
Levana… was not high on the list.
Especially considering she's their downstairs neighbor.
Especially considering she's been asleep for the past year.
The pair met Levana not long after they got their apartment in NYC. Previous to that, she had been known to terrorize the country sides and drain goats, but according to her, life had simply gotten boring. She ended up striking a deal with them: In exchange for not snitching on her whereabouts to their organization AND for getting her a place to sleep, she'd become a model citizen or at the very least sleep the time away until the world became more "interesting". Small victories, he supposed.
Even ignoring all the damning evidence, it was already obvious to Pyro what had actually happened, or at least who was behind it all.
That meant the question now was: What reason did their shadow organization have for abducting Abolish?
The facts are as follows:
On September 15th, 2007, Abolish Veylocke had left their apartment early in the morning to have a follow up meeting with members of their organization, and never returned home. Over the years, in person meetings had become rarer with the rise of new technology, but it wasn't unusual. What was unusual was the fact that he had just met with the same people 2 weeks prior. In order to "keep to the shadows", communication to operatives throughout their branch is limited; they'd receive information on their latest mission, and that was all. So, to even speak to the heads of your sector twice in one month was unheard of.
That leads them into the motive:
Which, unfortunately, was a lack of one. Considering the two meetings Abolish had, all they could really infer right now was that this all was planned.
Abolish gave his life to this organization. Why would they-why would- what even-
He's been trying really hard lately not to panic. Really hard. But after 4 months with no leads, no motive and no word from Morcant, they think they're allowed to be a little panicked.
Right near the end of month 4, however, their prayers are mercifully answered when he spots a familiar face around the city. Mr Windrow has not been an active operative in quite some time, but they do know that nowadays he is considered an important figure in the New York sector of their organization. If anyone knows what happened to Abolish, he has to be him. Pyro slips into the shadows and follows him home to a rather rich part of NYC. One would think that members of a secret agency would live in the shadows, yet Mr Windrow seems to have a nice set up for himself. Keeping up appearances, they supposed.
Issue number one immediately arose: they couldn't actually get into the man's house without an invitation. Shit. Working with Abolish meant the luxury of an open invitation to go wherever he did, and it's now that they're realising how very necessary that was to their job.
Issue number two followed: Pyro absolutely cannot be seen snooping around here. Not even because he's a spy- he'd be a terrible spy if he was so easily noticed- but if they get seen here, then they'll know he's looking for Abolish, and if they know someone's out looking then they'll up their security and then he'll have no chance at catching them! Issue number two then gets rid of their only other idea of tricking Windrow into letting them in. Anyways, Windrow already knows who they are, there's no way he'd just let the vampire in! It's hopeless, they'd need someone he wouldn't know, or even someone who didn't need an invitation, like a human.
Hell, what they needed was a detective!
A detective…
It's been maybe 30 years since him and Abolish moved to New York, and for the last 30 years, they've done all they could to dodge the New York City Coven, as they call them. And it's worked; for all they know, Pyro died back in Oakhurst all those years ago. It's not like they'd never want to see the coven, they'd love to see Shelby again, it's just…
It doesn't matter now. This isn't about him. If they want Abolish back then they have to get help. He'll start small, he'll go to Drift, she'll know what to do, he can trust her. Well, he'll have to find her first. They watch Windrow's lights turn off, and head back home.
Their own apartment is quieter than they'd like. There is no pen scratching on paper, no clicking from a keyboard, no whine from the kettle, like they wished there was. Instead, when he kicks open his door, the only thing that greets him is the ambiance of the city.
He's not here to stay for long, they tell themself, he just needs to find out where exactly Drift lives. They have a faint memory of Abolish telling them about her newest apartment, but nothing comes back to him at the moment. What they do know is that Abolish keeps a journal on the ongoings of both the lives of the coven and his own, and they know for a fact that he would have written down her new address. They just had to find it. There's a stack of books on their kitchen counter, yet at a glance none of them were the thin red journal he was looking for. Speaking of the kitchen, it's now that Pyro realises how hungry they are. It hasn't been that long, has it? They have a nice thing going with this butcher downtown, she's nice, doesn't ask questions despite knowing them for 30 years with no change in appearance from either of them. Abolish usually goes down there every week. The fridge is empty.
They can eat later. Leaving the kitchen, he finds there's no books around their living room, so he opens the door to their bedroom, the space he probably should have checked first. They had no luck upon checking through the desk, but rummaging through their bedside tables resulted, finally, in the book they needed: bent and coffee stained in all its glory. Starting from the end, they begin sifting through pages, until a loose Polaroid caught their attention. Turning to the page that held it, he is greeted by Abolish's face trying not to look too amused at the other three in the photo. Scott, and Shelby, who seems to be holding the camera, smile straight into the camera, while Drift is focused on pulling Abolish into frame.
They look so happy.
He could have had that.
Nothing to do about it now. When he skims the left side of the journal, they're relieved to find the page they were looking for; Abolish had jotted down his own thoughts on the day, but most importantly an address. Perfect, exactly what he needs. It's when they go to shut the book that Pyro makes the fatal mistake of glancing at the page on the right.
Three small words are the first to catch his eye: "Got the ring."
And, no, they're not going to cry at this right now, they can't cry right now because they've got other things to be doing, Abolish is still out there, and anything he wants to ask he can ask to their face. They do not let themself wonder what ring he's referring to, he does not let himself hope because if he hopes, he's gonna start crying and if he starts crying then they're gonna be in this apartment way longer than they intended to be, so no, they're just not going to think about it. He has the address. He shuts the book down. He has a detective to find.
But the world never quite seems to go his way, because they do not find the detective at her address.
They find someone else entirely.
"You!"
She lunges.