This was truly disgusting, on principle. Monty had definitely seen worse, had handled messier dealing with aircraft, and at least his car wasn’t trying to squirm out from under the spray like a certain puppy had a tendency of doing after rolling around in the mud, but still. Worms. Entirely too many to be normal, and they had squished into the grooves of his tires (and been ground into the driveway) when he’d gotten home the night before. The easiest way to get rid of them, he’d decided, (and the fastest way of dealing with them before Simon saw just how many worms had fallen victim to his tires last night) was to pull out the power hose and deal with the dead worms after they were no longer on his car.

Not very far up the driveway, with music playing from his car radio rather than earbuds, he could hear when footsteps along the sidewalk slowed as they approached the stretch that connected to the driveway. “Sorry,” he called as he paused in blasting one of his tires with water, “I was gonna sweep them all up once I’m done here.”

          Lucio had seen a lot of things. A lot of strange things in Edgewood even, but this was a new one. There were so many worms. He personally didn’t have a problem with worms, in fact he thought they were actually pretty cool creatures. However, the amount of worms was what was disgusting. It was everything he could do to not to step on them as he walked around town. They were everywhere. When he’d gotten the call early this morning that there was a worm problem, he almost thought it was a joke until he walked outside. He’d seen weirder, stranger even in Edgewood. But this was a new one. 

          Walking around trying to find something to do, he spotted someone squirting their tires with a hose to get them off. “Do you want some help?” he asked, as if he had anything better to do. He didn’t know what time this problem had even started. He’d been asleep. “It’s honestly probably the least I can do to help.” This worm problem was going to be a mess. He just hoped it wasn’t going to get worse.

“So then that means that there’s no harm in you telling me then, is there?” Xavier asked, eyeing Lucio where he was at the bar. “Come on, you can’t leave me hanging like this.” He said, wiping down the counter with a rag but focused more on his conversation than the task at hand. Luckily it wasn’t all that busy at the moment and he could indulge in the conversation without guilt.

          “Alright, alright,” Lucio said with a laugh. “So I get called to this lady’s house because someone is apparently across the street and had just been there staring at this single mom for a whole day and at this point she’s terrified. Since I was the only person free, I got sent. I get there, ready to arrest some creeper, but instead all I find is a cardboard cutout of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Turns out, her neighbor and her were in some prank war. I guess this means the neighbor won.” 

February 14th, 2020

Lake House Bar and Grill

Closed

          Lucio had signed up for this event after his sister complained he still hadn't made that many friends yet. So he showed up and was given two names of people to meet. Dating wasn't on the table yet; new friends were always nice though. "Oh!" he exclaimed as Bea walked up to him. He hadn't recognized the name, but the woman who walked up to him, he had met before. "I know you. Sort of. I'm Lucio."

Beatrice grinned, recognizing the man in front of her-Lucio, he introduced himself. "Hey, yeah! I made you jump in leaves. It's Beatrice. It's nice to have a name for the face." She said, pleased at the turn the night was taking.  He wasn't technically a new person, but it was still a positive interaction!

“Vampire lore?” That was one Simon didn’t hear every day. Even rarer for it to be genuine, and not some kind of bizarre or unkind joke made by a passer-by who didn’t take the shop itself seriously. Simon’s brow furrowed slightly. “Well I would be able to tell you if I have seen it or know something if you would show me what the symbol is.” The statement was uncharacteristically cross. Simon had to wonder, though, what the point was in rushing over to the shop to ask a question if he intended to let his question go to the wayside until there was a chance to ask someone else who he was, apparently, familiar with. 

If he intended to let Simon go about their day without interruption, why wait until he already had?

“I know a little, but it is not Edgewood-based,” Simon warned fairly, pulling their hands from their pockets to cross their arms against the cold, “so unless your symbol is very old or not just here…” It was up to him if he wanted to ask, really, but Simon did wish he’d pick one way or the other, so they could then decide whether to stay there on the sidewalk or step back into the shop to talk.

          “Yes,” he said, almost matter-of-factly, as if he believed in this stuff. Which, of course, he did. The general public didn’t believe in that sort of thing though. Lucio didn’t want to establish himself as a hunter. He knew what kind of hatred and fear people had against hunters. He was different than them though. There was something else going on in this town and he wanted to do his best to figure it out. Something worse than supernaturals hurting innocent people. “I mean, that’s fine if you don’t know. I figured it’d be best to start here instead of asking random people.” There were probably better people that knew what he was asking. Maybe she knew. He didn’t know unless he asked. 

          The officer held out the book, and pointed the symbol out. “I don’t know if this is Edgewood based or not. I don’t know much about... lore.” Specific Edgewood lore. He was still learning. This was getting to be dangerous territory for him to talk about. “How much Edgewood supernatural lore is there?” he asked, a casual tone. “I’ve always found this sort of thing interesting.” 

Being a bartender, Xavier was used to patrons telling him all sorts of stories, and he’d been the receiver of many confessions and the keeper of many secrets, but he couldn’t help but take pause at this most recent revelation. “Is it still a secret if I know about it?” He asked.

          Lucio was making a better attempt to get outside of the house at night after work. Now that he considered himself to have a grip on his reality, he could make an effort to figure out Edgewood After Dark. Which is how he ended up talking to Xavier at the bar of the club. This wasn’t his usual scene. “No, I guess not. It’ll probably end up in the police blotter anyway.” 

“If there is anything I can change of a weekend, it’s to remove Monday.” 

          “I think removing Monday wouldn’t be as beneficial as making Friday a weekend. Tuesday starts to the week are always a little chaotic for me.” 

The woman let out a hum. Caterina couldn’t say she wasn’t disappointed - she was. Getting the inside scoop from a cop would be fascinating. Of course, they were not ready to share, and she was not about to get a new officer in trouble. This story was not her real interest anyways. “Well, then, no worries. I have you down as ‘no comment’ and will keep you out of the article.” She was a woman of her word.

The woman nodded at that. When some citizens couldn’t call the police with their ‘anonymous tips’ they turned to journalists. Of course, they were always the result of paranoia, so she could only imagine what people at the station had to sift through. “So is that why you’re here then, keeping an eye on things? I, personally, agree. I think with suspicious running rampant in the town, people are bound to act out of paranoia.”

Caterina had forgotten about the crazy storm, because she’d been out of town. “It is odd those two weird events happened to Edgewood in the same year. I mean, I grew up here and it does seem this town draws an unusual crowd. But, nothing like this before…where did you live before you were here?”

          Lucio knew that it could sometimes be troublesome to get quotes for newspaper stories. He’d heard Claudia talk about that sort of thing before. Sometimes being a cop was the same way. Not everyone wanted to talk to a cop. It wasn’t his job to change people’s opinions on people like him, though he tried his hardest to be a good one. “Oh, thanks.” He smiled. “I’m sure there will be an official statement sometime soon.” He wasn’t sure if there would be, but the public was going to have a lot of questions on this one and he wanted to do his best not to anger the other people he worked with, even though he considered some of his sister’s friends his own friends. 

          “Sort of,” he nodded at her question. “I’m not officially signed to the case, but there’s been a lot happening at the station these past few weeks. I’m helping out as much as I can to keep the public safe.” Lucio’s first goal out of everything was to make sure that the innocent people were safe. Everyone deserved that. “Yeah, we’ve seen what paranoia in the past has done to people. I’m here to keep the peace.

          “I’m used to unusual stuff, but Edgewood... well it just seems like a bunch more strange stuff happens here in comparison to other places. Maybe it’s just me thinking that though. Not sure.” Lucio laughed at the other question. “It’s more like where haven’t I lived? I’ve been all over. Chicago before coming here though.” 

Raiden would be an idiot to assume that Lucio wasn’t at all suspicious of his behaviour by now. They were equally wary of one another and Dryad was gradually beginning to put some puzzle pieces together; it started forming an answer he really didn’t like. Trawling through the forest, he kept his senses just as alert at her rear as he did ahead of him. Brushing aside outgrown branches and ducking underneath larger ones.

Lucio’s answer to Raiden’s statement was both a little snarky and a reminder that full moons were not the best of nights to be out for him. But there was something out in public during thing one. From behind Rai, a beam of light passed by his arm and shone ahead of them. Resisting a laugh, he couldn’t help but feel amused that it was the solution to Lucio’s sight. What more do you expect from him - he’s a cop, they have flashlights?

“Good idea.” Raiden jabbed, attempting for it to come across like it he actually cared for the wavering beam. It was unnecessary for him, but he couldn’t tell the officer that. Especially if Raid started believing that there was more to the police officer than just met the eye.

They were gaining on whatever the source of blood was, Raiden could tell, but the howls has stopped completely - there was nothing else teasing his senses past the blood. The only concern he had was keeping up a front to Lucio when they found whatever was left at the end of their search. “Nothing will happen to me, officer, but I understand your duty.” he ended up murmuring towards the man behind him, eyes narrowing in the distance where he thought he could see movement. You’re stuck with me this evening. That earned the vampire’s displeasure, the thought of being glued at the hip with a cop was not how low profiles went.

Despite the caution Dryad felt about Lucio, he seemed genuine; like he did care for the well-being of the other man, which was not typical of what Raid’s head had been building around what else the officer could be behind the badge. Then, rustling ensued from behind Raiden and he turned to see that the officer was fishing for something in his backpack. Quietly, he watched for what he would recover from it.

Lifting his head at the sight of the taser, either Lucio was packing to punch whatever was out in the night, or he was playing a game with Raiden. Maybe both. “Is it just wolves that are vicious when they’re hungry, officer?” He asked, a little edge to his tone as he went on about standard issue as if Raiden hadn’t seen the very not standard issue Lucio was a skilled marksman in. “And that involves getting close enough to one to be in range, wolves are fast, Lucio.” he continued to warn, glancing between the taser and the cop’s face as though daring to make a move. “You’re better off with your knives.” Dryad added with a smirk, stepping back as if to continue on their prowl, they were so close, a distraction like this now wasn’t needed.

Raiden would have it out with the officer after they’d tended to whatever injured person was out there. And what’s having it out with him entail, hm? Rai was over the newfound weapon in the other man’s hand, he didn’t exactly want to be on the end of it, but it would be Lucio’s mistake to try. “I hope you brought a medic kit in that bag of yours.” The vampire jibed from in front, fingers brushing out towards a tree trunk where a small spatter of dried blood stained the wood.

For a moment, Raid halted, confused by his own tracking. Now he was so close, the scent faltered, as though it was running, rapidly. He wasn’t sure how or why, but the trail stopped almost like a magical barrier had cut him off from the source. That was a frustration he couldn’t release in the presence of the officer; his fingers gripped the trunk tightly and he turned back to the officer to relay the findings through gritted teeth. “It’s gone - whatever it was, it’s gone.” More irritatingly, he didn’t know why.

         At this point, the dance they were having around each other was getting boring. Lucio knew that Raiden was suspicious of him—Lucio was suspicious of Raiden. They knew this. Both of them knew that they didn’t trust the other. But hopefully, Raiden hadn’t put the whole puzzle together. He really didn’t need the rumor going around that there was a hunter here, even if he claimed he was different than the other hunters. Lucio was different than the other hunters. He knew though that other people weren’t going to see him in a good light because of that rumor. Someone might try and send him a message. Worse things had happened in the past.

         He smirked as he pulled the flashlight from his bag. Clearly Raiden could see well enough in the dark that he didn’t need a flashlight, but it was a clever comeback to Raiden’s obvious jab at him being human. The hunter tried to come prepared. The moon was high in the air tonight and even if he could see by moonlight if he wanted to, the flashlight was better for investigating. His bag was filled with a bunch of other things he might need tonight. Lucio just hoped that he wouldn’t need them. Since he’d rather have Claudia as a partner than trust in Raiden to help him if something bad happened.

         Though he wasn’t about to tell Raiden that he didn’t trust him to help if the situation turned south fast. “Right.” He smiled, trying not to seem like he was suspicious. This was getting exhausting. At this point, he could just outright ask Raiden, even if it would compromise himself. He didn’t know how much more of this he could talk.

         He couldn’t stop himself from scoffing at Raiden’s statement of nothing happening to him. “This i Edgewood. If you really think that, then maybe you ought to think about the town you’re living in,” he pointed out. Lucio knew that as a hunter, he had the tools to fight different supernatural creatures. He knew that everywhere he went. That didn’t mean that he was safe. Being a supernatural didn’t mean someone was safe either. And if Raiden believed that, then Lucio wanted to know what planet of denial Raiden was from. Anyone was dangerous to anyone given the right circumstances. Tonight he hoped that if anything, he could keep one person safe in town. Even if that one person was Raiden. Even if that one person didn’t trust him. Even if he didn’t trust that one person.

         Either Raiden didn’t know anything about lore or had picked up on the question that he asked. He clearly wasn’t a werecreature though. Lucio knew that. He didn’t know enough yet to rule out anything else. “No, of course not,” he said, and looked directly at Raiden, “anything is capable of danger when they’re hungry.” He caught the edge in the other man’s voice. “How about you?” He doubted the question would return an answer, though he was going to ask it anyway. “Uh, no. The one you have to get close to someone with is a stun gun. This is an actual taser. I can be as far back as twenty feet.” His knowledge on weapons was more advanced than most others was, but he’d been learning about them since he was young and knew the dangers of them.

         “You say that as if you think I’m going to get hurt, when I learned to fight at the academy. None the less, I do have medical supplies with me. A few in case something terrible happens. Along with a bunch of other useful items, just in case.” He said that as if he thought Lucio wasn’t a threat—which clearly wasn’t the case given their previous interactions. It seemed slightly stupid to keep this tip toeing around each other up. There was more to him than a simple cop and by now Raiden had to know that. He was more than a simple cop. He always had been.

Simon had a thought. An image, there in mind: a dog when a fly landed on its ear. Generally, the dog would simply flick the mentioned ear and continue sleeping, or whatever else it was doing. Likewise, they were tired, and a little grouchy and, as one might expect, tempted to stick to her no way and take the offered out. Their shift was over. They had swept the floor and clocked out and locked the doors. He could come back in the morning… but…

“.. What book?” That was the curious bit, wasn’t it? What kind of book sent someone to a witching shop looking for answers? Assuming, of course, the book hadn’t come from the shop to begin with, there was very little Simon could think of that would lead there. Simon stuffed their other hand into their pocket, seeking reprieve from the frigid wind. “I have a minute or two.”

          If the answer was no, Lucio would have walked away and not given it another thought until the morning. Usually, he wasn’t this rude. He was better at time management. There were some subjects that he just got sucked into more than anything. That was the thing that made him a good hunter though. He looked at all the details, not just what it looked like on the outside. There was more to every story than one person’s point of view, more to it than several people’s points of views sometimes. The truth was an unusual thing. He wanted to keep people safe, innocent people that didn’t deserve to be hurt, but he knew that was more complicated than it sounded. 

          “It’s... uh,” he responded, letting out a sigh, then let out a little chuckle. “Well, here’s the thing. It’s on vampire lore. I don’t exactly know how much you’d know about that.” Witches were different than vampires after all. “I found a weird symbol is all and I’m wondering if someone who’s been here longer than me could tell me if it’s been spotted around here.” Lucio knew that it wouldn’t sound crazy. This was Edgewood. Unusual came with the territory. “You know what, I can ask Claudia tomorrow. It’s, uh, she might know.” 

As Simon stepped through the door, there was an initial second, an enveloping hug of cold, that they couldn’t help but puff a breath out into the world. They watched, smiling to themself, as the little cloud spiraled up and away into the sunset-red sky. The moment passed, and the keys in Simon’s hand were already unreasonably cold. They wasted no time turning the lock and checking the handle. They even gave the door a good shove to make sure it was secure; it was sealed up tight.

What incredible timing, then, on the part of the person who slipped up to Simon’s left, some sense of wanting hanging off of them as they came down the sidewalk- or at least, that was the meaning Simon took from their slightly hurried steps and puff-puffing breath. No way, Simon thought. They shoved their hand, fingers curled around their keys, deep into their coat pocket. I’m going home.

“Sorry, all closed up for the night,” Simon informed them politely. And, just to field the next question, should it be coming, they added: “We open tomorrow morning at eleven.”

          He was trying to get to the shop before it closed. There was something in a book he was reading about lore that just didn’t make sense. Maybe it was the age of the book or something, but Lucio wanted to get to the bottom of it in case it was important. He knew he’d be close to closing though if he went to go ask. But it didn’t stop him from heading towards the shop, ignoring the color of the sky and the beauty of this town he lived in because of his own curiosity. The second he arrived, he hopped out of his car only to see the doors being closed as he did so. 

          “Oh, well. I guess I’ll be back tomorrow then,” he’d only had a quick question. “Unless... you can just answer a quick question for me about something I found in a book. You don’t have to. I can come back tomorrow.” The hunter smiled at Simon. Either way, he’d be fine if she’d rather wait. “I know when I’m finished with work, I always want to be done for the day.” Although when he was finished with work, he had his own investigations to deal with. 

No matter what Raiden was feeling about Lucio; the suspicion; the unease; the fact that this human police officer had some sharp skills that earned Dryad’s wariness; it had to wait a little longer. He wasn’t out to get into an altercation, he wanted to find the source of the inhuman noise and now, he wanted to scout the source of the tendrils of blood wafting through the air and sending his senses into alert. There wasn’t time for small talk – Lucio made that clear to him too when he shut down the sarcasm.

“Exactly. You never know what’s in the darkness – how’s your night vision?” he asked, withholding the quip from entering his tone at the question. It didn’t take the vampire another moment to turn and begin prowling further into the forest, assuming the officer would be on his tail. Despite listening out for the noises in the distance, he was making sure to be able to hear each footstep Lucio made at his rear. Hearing the man scoff at his continued remarking, Raiden paused and turned his head a little questioningly. You’re not going to blurt it out are you, even as a joke? Of course, he wasn’t. Dryad wasn’t intending to out himself purely for his own amusement – there was more riding on his stay in Edgewood than he cared to admit.

Raiden didn’t try Lucio on it. The fact that he had already put together enough suspicion about him to put him on edge told him enough to not expose any further weaknesses – not until he’d sussed the male behind him out completely. Who throws knives in the night; goes snooping for howls without backup? The questions didn’t pose pleasant answers no matter which way Dryad chose to look at it. In fact, it led him into the territory of whether Lucio was dangerous to him – assuming a lot more of Lucio was better than underestimating him.

Rolling his eyes, he could understand that Lucio had a duty out here, to usher him away from danger – protect the public. Raiden wasn’t exactly one of the most ordinary men and he felt more than capable of handling whatever was out there. Are you? But that didn’t mean he was going to concede or let his guard drop out of misplaced confidence. “Appreciated,” he murmured, wavering his arm over the cautionary warning. “but unnecessary…” he trailed off when he took a few more steps into the forest, a sharp wave hitting his senses in a sudden gust that almost sent his fangs rocketing from his gums. If Lucio wasn’t pinning his gaze on him like a hawk, he would have been gone in the wind by now. Instead, he opted to look at the officer, no more jokes in his tone. “We need to move.”

There wasn’t an exact location in mind, Rai couldn’t pinpoint the place he’d scented the blood but there was definitely something out there that was either injured – or had hurt someone. His gut clenched at the prospect, unsure about what he’d find at the end of the trail. Raiden during his perusing through the forest, glimpsed back towards Lucio, recalling another thing he couldn’t shake about the man. It probably shouldn’t have passed the vampire’s lips. “Before,” he began, tongue snapping on his teeth thoughtfully at the way Lucio had been each time they’d encountered. “you asked me if I could take on something, what are you expecting to find out here, Officer?”

         He’d been in weirder situations before with people far sketchier than Raiden. He was trying to give the other man the benefit of the doubt, but still there was something there that he just didn’t trust. He’d figure it out—probably wouldn’t take that long if he was careful about it. Though right now that wasn’t the first thing on his mind. People could be in danger right now. As much as he wanted to sit here and figure out what was going on, try and get Raiden to talk, there was something bigger going on tonight. He had no idea why anyone would want to be out on a full moon, but he wasn’t going to mention that because it was suspicious.

         Lucio bit his tongue from saying something stupid. Obviously, he didn’t have night vision. He was human. He couldn’t see in the dark no more than any other human. Although he did have night vision goggles back at home if he ever needed them. He didn’t in Edgewood so long as Claudia was around helping him—he’d admit that there were some benefits to having his sister around to help him. “It’s a full moon,” he responded, as if that hadn’t already been obvious. So long as the moon wasn’t behind a cloud, he could see. “And it’s better with this,” Lucio pulled his flashlight out of his bag. At least he wasn’t ill prepared.

         He hated the feeling of unease that he got around Raiden. There was no proof that the man wasn’t anything but unusual. That in Edgewood could mean a lot of things and he had no proof that Raiden was dangerous or had committed any crimes. Therefore, he couldn’t do anything about it. All he could do is smile and pretend not to be suspicious of Raiden—though he was sure he was failing at that. Lucio knew better than to act without evidence. His father had drilled that into his mind, and it was the one rule that he always followed no matter what. He didn’t think hunters had the right to take out supernatural creatures just because they were threatened by them. The justice system said innocent until proven guilty and Lucio knew that extended to the supernatural in his own book.

         Despite all that, he still had to at least act like he was just a regular police officer. Raiden might have seen him in the woods throwing knives, but that probably was one of the least sketchy things happening in Edgewood at any given moment. “Right, well, I appreciate your appreciation. However, it’s my job. And I’ll never forgive myself—or you—if something happens and I just let you go on your own.” He wasn’t on duty. Though he took his job seriously and even if he wasn’t on duty, if someone was in need, he was going to help them. “So, like it or not, you’re stuck with me this evening.” He narrowed his eyes at the other, knowing that he was right about needing to move.

         He sighed, following the other further along whatever route he’d obviously decided they were going. Lucio wasn’t going to ask how Raiden knew where he was going—though he had a few guesses. He wasn’t an idiot. There were a couple of things he could do to test gather more information from Riaden—one, he could involve Claudia or two, he could handle it on his own. Lucio slung his backpack from his bag, looking into the pack for a moment before digging around for something. “Ah,” he replied, finding what he was looking for and carefully taking it out before putting his bag back on. “I can hear wolves out tonight. They can get vicious if they’re hungry. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt from one of them.” He looked over at Raiden. “Ever used one of these?” the hunter asked, holding up a taser. “Standard regulation requires us officers to have them. I prefer it to a gun. This one’s my personal one though. Can’t be too careful living in big cities and I’ve lived all over. You can turn up the voltage pretty high on this one.” He carefully studied Raiden’s reaction to it. Any were might be slightly uneasy by the weapon. 

Demitri knew that him investigating on his own would cause people to question him, but that didn’t make him nervous in the slightest. In fact, he was amused. “Keeping an eye out?” He repeated, a chuckle escaping his lips. “You can’t blame people for being curious, surely?” He folded his arms across his chest as he tilted his head to the side. “When people are afraid, they try to find out answers on their own. Especially if they aren’t getting enough of their questions answered by authoritative figures.” 

His eyes flickered towards where the crime had taken place, then to the entrance of the hospital, and then back at the other male. “And what do you do to those that try to investigate on their own?”

          Of course he couldn’t keep people form trying to investigate on their own, but he hoped people weren’t stupid enough to try. He was hoping that people wouldn’t look for answers on their own because that was dangerous. Maybe he could look because he was a hunter and that was his job, but he wasn’t going to without Claudia. Not this time. Not with something that was clearly more important than just an average werecreature attack. “Curiosity killed the cat,” he responded. “Authority figures are there for a reason. We keep order and peace among people. And maybe the public needs to know answers, but we’re the ones equipped to handle getting those answers. Not some person off the street that has no clue what sort of thing they’re about to investigate.” 

          Lucio pursed his lips, feeling uneasy. He wasn’t sure the vibe he was getting from this conversation, but he didn’t like it. “Nothing,” he huffed out because they couldn’t do anything. “But I can’t guarantee the safety of anyone that tries.” How much did the other know about investigating something like this? “I’m here to make sure people don’t get hurt. That’s my job. That’s always going to be my job. But people that try stupid things make my job more difficult.” 

The woman couldn’t help the sigh that passed her lips at the answer. Since she was flipping between notes, she hadn’t really taken the time to see who had made the comment, and assumed it was someone being snarky. But then she looked up to see Lucio. Right. He was with the police department. “Well, I can’t fault you for that, we’re both just trying to do our jobs and figure out what is happening in this town. Even if through very different means,” with that, the journalist put away her recorder. It would be a while before she would need that again.

“Nothing in particular. No one really seems to know what has happened. Most of what I have heard so far is almost ludicrous speculation. That, and a very wide array of opinions on how people feel about the town still throwing weekend events and going about ‘business as usual’. Is there anything you can say about this whole ordeal?” Normally, Caterina would divert to pleasantries and personal conversation if it was evident that an interview would not be happening, but right now timing was of the essence. If there was a thread of information she could get, she would fish for it.

         He wanted to be helpful, but he also couldn’t give away anything that he knew from an open investigation. On something less important, it probably wouldn’t have mattered—but this wasn’t a normal investigation. This was… terrifying. What happened during the full moon wasn’t normal at all. And he wondered if it was just going to get worse or if this could be stopped. Lucio knew better than to blame the creatures that did this. It likely wasn’t the fault of the beings. But he also didn’t know what to think. “Yeah,” he agreed, sighing. “Really wish I could help you. I just don’t want to get into trouble. And I’m not actually on the case either. So, all I’m hearing is office talk about it—nothing you’d want to know.” He, of course, had another way to get information, but only Claudia knew about that.

         “I think that’s… not uncommon. When strange stuff happens like that it’s… well people have a difficult time with figuring out what actually went down.” He nodded at her statements, then paused at the question. Most of his job so far had been answering calls from concerned citizens. As long as it wasn’t getting published, he didn’t see why he couldn’t comment on the safety of the town. “Off the record, but I know the people involved in the case are doing their best to figure out what happened and as soon as they do, I hope they’ll inform the public. I personally don’t believe that events are a good idea until more information is revealed, however that is not up to me. I do know that what happens will have adequate protection.” Even if Edgewood PD didn’t send someone, Lucio would attend events to make sure innocent people weren’t hurt. “Hopefully, whatever happened won’t happen again and we can go back to regular business. It’s like the whole thing with that weird cloud. That only happened once. You know, Claudia told me Edgewood was weird, but I didn’t expect this sort of weird.”