The Preppy Murders

Rafael was at a private party in Southside when he got a panicked call from a pack member, telling him that Salvador had gotten into a fight with a vampire in The Cherry Pup. “Slow down,” he said into the phone at the woman’s paced speech. “Did you see who the vampire was?” he asked as he placed his glass of gin on the table and went outside of the house, heading in the direction of the notorious club. Rafael had spent the past years researching vampire history, clans, and families. And his werewolves knew well of what names to avoid, however they didn't know nearly as many of their faces. The werewolf described his looks, but it was no one that either she or Rafael recognized, so he hoped that it was a minor fight and nothing that needed further backup. He’d meant to join her and Salvador later, knowing that it was a dangerous place to be outnumbered. But still, he hadn’t foreseen a vampire hurting any of them as there usually was a larger crowd of werewolves in that club. “Alright - No, there’s no need to call anyone else - I’m on my way.” The moment the phone hung up he got on his motorcycle to drive the few blocks down to the club’s location, to a seemingly empty street, where a young woman in a black dress stood outside. Rafael parked his bike beside a row of others before he walked closer to her.
“I think there’s a clan in there… Are you sure we shouldn’t call Malcolm and the others?” she asked, wanting to make sure that he stood by his decision. Most of the members in his pack had a certain bloodthirst for vampires. And it wasn't just to take an eye for an eye. Their intentions were usually much worse. But creating a large fight at a club was hardly the best call, and if things got worse, there was a good chance that he could get help from his allies. “It’s okay… I will deal with it. Just try to get Sal outside,” he said, looking from her to the house as he walked up to it. He placed his hand on the part of the brick wall that opened the secret door and watched as a dark corridor appeared.

Once they'd gotten through security he stopped to get an overview of the crowd. Looking for Salvador. “He was knocked to the ground on the other side of the dance floor,” she said, discreetly nodding in the direction she’d seen the takedown. And wasn’t it for the vampires in proximity, she would have fought back. Rafael walked past the crowd of people until he saw the poor wolf with streaks of blood on his face and clothes, seeming on the verge of passing out. His red-glowing eyes darted to the vampire next to him with a bloodied fist, forcing him up against the wall, mostly just to get him away from Sal so Willow could help him. “What is the meaning of this?” he growled, exposing his sharp fangs as he looked into the eyes of the vampire. Resisting the urge to bite him. Because if he did with multiple vampires present, that big fight he was trying to avoid would inevitably happen.

Rafael glared into the eyes of the vampire as he anticipated his answer. He then grabbed a tight fist of his shirt as he pushed him harder against the wall. “Hm?” But still no answer. A powerful voice cut through to them, and as if she owned the place, the music stopped the moment the word had left her lips. Once she confronted the vampire, making Christoph look down in shame, he finally moved his gaze to the woman. His eye color fading to a dark brown. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was a vampire, he could have easily mistaken her for a Greek goddess as she stood there in her white dress. She stood out from everyone around her. He looked at her for a hesitant moment as she asked him to put his fangs away. He didn’t at first. He just pulled his arm away from the vampire and stepped back, glancing to the spot where Salvador had been, then raising it to the door to see him with an arm around Willow for support as they walked outside. Good. With the knowledge of them retreating to safety, he withdrew his fangs. It was clear by the way people behaved around her that she was their leader. Perhaps the leader of the clan he’d spent the past months researching into. And he knew better than to attack a leader, let alone any vampire when outnumbered. He looked back at her with the same glare, until she suddenly snapped the neck of the vampire who’d attacked his pack member. He was quite baffled at this, and even more so, at how normal it seemed to the other vampires. And then the music began. As if nothing had happened and the party now could continue. He turned his gaze to her, crossing his arms as he assessed her. Wondering who the hell she was.

He arched a brow when she said she meant no trouble, using the excuse of him being newly turned. An excuse that he in no way validated. But he supposed she had created some sort of justice for his action by murdering him. The problem was just that it might happen again some other time. He couldn't just trust her word on being able to control them, after all. “I can,” he replied, letting her know that he indeed knew what it felt like to lose someone to an enemy. He had lost his whole family to vampires. In fact, they had taken everything from him. So, of course, he knew of that rage. It had stuck with him ever since the night of their murders. As well as his wish for revenge. But Salvador had nothing to do with this vampire's loss. “All right. Let’s talk.” He raised his gaze to look around her, observing just how many vampires she had with her. “You can start by telling me your name,” he said as he returned his eyes to her.

For a moment he was confused, truly thinking that she'd just murdered the vampire. He knew that decapitation murdered them, so who was he to know that a broken neck wouldn’t? He straightened his back as he looked at her, trying to remain unaffected and stoic in his expression. There was no way he’d reveal to her that he didn’t know such a thing. He should know those things. He had studied all about her kind for years. And even if he didn’t, he was the last person to show any weakness or lack of knowledge. So, even if she’d caught onto it, he wasn’t going to either confirm or deny it. And in all honesty, he was equally shocked to see her harm her own clan member in that way. It was something Rafael would never do to his own. “No. It’s just that I know no pack leader who would do that to their own members. I guess vampires follow a different set of morals,” he said contemptuously, looking into the depths of her brown eyes, trying to decipher if he had seen her anywhere before.

He followed her to the bar, sitting down next to her which left them slightly closer to each other than he'd prefer. Josephine van Alen. He wanted to frown at the information because he’d not heard any vampires of that name. That surname. He squinted his eyes at this before he looked at the bartender who poured her a drink. He gave a slight nod to her offer which the bartender noted. Once he poured him a glass of whiskey, he took a rather large sip of it. He’d surely need it for this conversation. He looked back at her when she asked for his name. Rarely seeing the point in lying. Because if someone was determined to know about you, they’d figure out the truth eventually. And she’d probably heard the names of his two pack members already. “Rafael Silvera. Alpha of The Crimson Lycans,” he introduced formally as he turned slightly more towards her. Of course, she’d know by his accent and surname which origin he had. But he’d only really expected her to know about the pack he’d established here in Gaia. “So, you’re interested in a truce I take it?” he started, thinking that was why she’d been willing to talk with him. Not wanting anymore trouble after the attack on Salvador.

Rafael furrowed his brows as she chuckled after he’d presented himself, clearly not seeing the humor in it. He could only assume that meant she’d heard of him. But he wasn’t so sure if this information was good or bad. He raised his brows as she turned it to be about what he had to offer when it’d clearly been her member who’d been out of control and attacked Salvador. To be honest, he wasn’t so set on the truce himself. But he also had to think of what was best for his pack, and whatever clan she ran, it seemed to have a lot of influence. Far more than he had at the moment. He averted his gaze from her as he contemplated his next move, swirling the whiskey around in his glass before taking another sip. “Look, I can’t promise that I won’t hurt a vampire should they cross my pack again. But I think it’d be in both of our interests to avoid such an incident, so if you keep your vampires in line, I’ll do the same with my wolves.” He turned slightly to face her again. “I won’t offer you anything; I don’t want to exchange information or otherwise pretend that we could be on good terms. I just want you and your little nest of vamps to stay out of our way.” He wasn't the type to make promises he didn't intend to keep. And he wasn’t going to pretend that they could make something other than that work. It wasn’t in his nature to do so. Not with the history he had with her kind. “That means, you stay out of the Wolf's Den and the bars in Atheria.” He turned his head to look at the establishment they were in. “And if you've taken an affinity to this place, we'll stay out of here,” he added before he turned his eyes to her. This was as best as he got to a truce.

He nodded to her information about having been in Canada. He supposed that explained why he hadn’t heard of her name before. A vague smiled formed on his lips as she asked why he’d come to Gaia. It was a question people often asked him. “I heard of it when I lived in Madrid and since then I’ve always been curious to see it. And now I'm living here.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but he couldn’t exactly tell her that he’d come because he believed the clan who killed his family were in Gaia. The clan who’d burned his whole village down and taken away anyone he’d ever loved. But it’d only intrigued him to know that it overflowed with all supernatural beings, and hence, more werewolves as well. He'd been without a community like that for most of his life. And since he had no family, he hadn't sacrificed much in that regard. “Why did you move from Canada?”

He didn’t trust that she’d keep her vampires in line. Tonight had certainly proved otherwise, so only time would tell if she'd do better in the future. He lowered his chin slightly as she apologized for thinking they were on good terms, but it wasn’t what he’d said. He’d only said that he couldn’t pretend that they'd ever become exactly that. It simply wasn’t in his nature. He hated the guts out of vampires. So if it stood between being on her good or bad side, he’d undoubtedly choose the latter. However, he hoped they’d come to a more neutral ground. It was the whole reason he even agreed to have this conversation. “Josephine, sweetheart, I could never be on the good side of someone like you. The best I can do is try to avoid you. My sole interest is for your vampires to not attack my wolves empty-headedly. Otherwise, we’re going to have a problem.” He tilted his head slightly as he looked at her, still not sure about how much she hated werewolves in turn. He couldn’t anything but smile at the fact that she said he couldn’t tell a girl what to do. Because he had many times. Dominance was his game.
He was satisfied to know that she agreed to his terms, of her vampires staying out of the wolf’s den and Atheria. “Good,” he turned his eyes to the drink before he raised it to his lips and downed a large sip. As she added her request of his wolves to stay out of the Devil’s Point he sighed disappointedly. “They’re not going to be happy about that. What, do you work there or something?” he asked, slightly mockingly as he looked at her over the brim of his glass. A vague smirk playing on his lips. It was the only reason he could think of why she wouldn’t want his wolves there. And although it was unfortunate, it being one of the better strip clubs, he did give her an affirmative nod. It was a fair trade-off for the places he'd asked her to stay out of.

“I’ve heard of Umbrella. There are many rumors about it. Cruel lab experiments for one. Although I’m sure it is but that. Rumors.” He observed her face for the slightest reaction, wondering if that rumor was true or not. And he hoped that if she tried to lie about it, he’d catch on and know for certain. However, her telling him this had only made him that much more curious about her. After all, Umbrella Corporation was a rather influential company. “Maybe you could enlighten me? What is it you do exactly?”