Collins Farrier St. James

Collins was glad to be in reality once more; of course he always knew what was going on but he had to live through that and pretend that this dream was his reality and that he didn’t know what was happening around him. The entire time his hand itched for what would break him from his spell of a dream so he could escape- he knew what was going to be required of him and he didn’t think he could do it. But he couldn’t say no and couldn’t leave without being killed himself. So he endured it and watched those around him fake their way through it as well following through with their missions and watched the one or two people he knew outside his group believe that this was their life and he wanted to shake them awake to the real reality. 

But it was over. They were awake once more and Collins felt like he could breath again but he knew as he finally caught his breath that sense of calm for him would be over soon enough. Others though were just grasping what they endured during the endless sleep in New York City.

“Rayn,” Collins calmed stated. 

Claire sat curled up in a lounge chair reading her favorite book in her personal library. Next to her was a kettle of black lavender tea and plate of macaroons. She grabbed one and started to take a bite when she heard a knock on the library’s doors. The familiar face of her steward opened the doors and greeted her with a slight bow. “Miss.Davenport you have a visitor. Shall I show them in?” they asked. Claire smiled and replied, “Yes of course. I wasn’t expecting anyone today, but it would be rude to turn them away. Please another cup of tea for my guest as well.”

“Thank you for seeing me so last minute,” Collins said as he entered the room. His arms were behind is back to fight the constant itch he felt to escape before anything worse could happen. 

@professorcollins-stjames

“How’s it going, kind sir?” Ghost called as he approached Collins, grin widening easily. He hadn’t seen Collins in a while, and perhaps he should leave the man alone to do whatever he needed to do, but the oneiroi was a little bored. Sue him, he couldn’t find anyone else to bother. “Settling in well?”

“You are incredibly amusing,” Collins dryly responded to the oneiroi. “I am settling in the best I can-” Collins itched to wake up from this dream and run. Run away from this life he had made for himself and before he could be asked to kill again. He knew it was going to happen soon enough and maybe it wouldn’t be the Rhodes boy but the chances were high. “What about you?”

Anton didn’t easily forget Oliver Rhodes’ demise and while it might not have been fair to ask it of the vampire, the witch believed he was best suited to continue the job. “Matthias Rhodes,” he toyed with a pen from the desk, letting the name hang between them. “I heard you’ve met him–– talked with him for quite a while.” Aerith had always been good at keeping an eye on members they believed might be struggling with choices and decisions made, “if it comes to it, I need to know you’ll keep doing the job you set out to do from the beginning.” Anton looked Collins squarely in the eyes, unwavering but not unfeeling. There was a steady tone in his voice– one that said he believed the other could do what was needed of him. He simply wanted the verbal reassurance so that Collins could hear himself say it. Anton needed to know that, if it came down to it, Collins wouldn’t hesitate to take extra measures.

“Hunters stole your family from you, they took everything and would’ve left you for dead.” He gripped the pen more tightly– a brief, minuscule movement that might’ve been missed altogether, “there is no nobility in their creed, Collins.” However much they claimed to protect those who could not protect themselves, “however old….however young…they would do it all over again. Glory is their only aim.” One might’ve asked the difference between the Rhodes hunters and the Ouroboros themselves but Anton’s answer would have remained. Their goal was not glory– it was to make sure that no one person or family could hold all the glory or power in their hands, without regard or care for the destruction they left in their wake. Anton truly believed that at the center of the families’ demise was hubris. And that was always going to be their downfall.

“Once we do this, once we get to the end, Collins– your family, Betty and Pat, will finally be able to find rest.” He clasped his hands together now, expectant, “can I count on you to do whatever needs to get done?”

Collins didn’t know how to answer that question. 

Anton was right in saying that hunters had taken away his family and left him alone for decades. Those decades spent in grief and guilt as he continued living his life without the two people who meant the most to him. He was robbed of living a happy life; a life where he would grow old with the woman he loved as they watched their daughter grow up and create a life for herself. But he didn’t have that. They didn’t have that. Their lives were robbed by hunters all those years ago. The once hunter turned vampire no longer believed in what hunter’s did. Especially the Rhodes’ hunter.

But then he had to kill young Oliver Rhodes. It was his most important task and it should have been something he had no issues with. He was getting revenge for the unjust and unfair deaths of his own family but that wasn’t the case. Oliver Rhodes was so young, only slightly older than his own daughter and when he was finally face-to-face with the hunter that was all he could see. His own daughter reflected before him. A young hunter with a long life ahead of them and now it was Collins who robbed that child of a life. He was no better than the hunters who killed his own daughter. 

He had been a reluctant member to begin with but after his orders to kill Oliver that was when he started to question everything. Of course none of his concern were voiced allowed but he shied away, pulled back more, and started to defy the orders given to him. He had let the innocent bystander leave which had played a factor into a fellow member’s death and then compelled her to leave rather than kill her once he was ordered to deal with the loose tied he had created. 

Now they wanted him to kill again. Not a stranger but Matthias Rhodes. They had met once, when Collins had come upon him in the hospital post the New Year’s antics. He felt awkward and uncomfortable spending time with the Rhodes after what he had done but he stayed. Talked to him. Was even nice to him as he stayed for far longer than he had wanted because of the guilt eating away at him.

He had thought he was doing the right thing but he wasn’t so sure. Could he kill again if he was asked. He wanted to avenge his family, Betty and Pat, but he tried not to think about what they would think of him and his actions. Would they be proud of him? Would they be disgusted with him like he was with himself?

“All for the art of making money. I think putting people at risk like that though is definitely a moral issue. I think I’ve heard too many stories of people getting hurt cause of occupancy issues. People really can be so self involved” She replied shaking her head. There was humor to her tone, but she did believe what she said, even if it was said in jest to someone she was pretty fond of. “ Was anywhere safe to begin with?” She laughed a bit. It as easier to make light of it a bit to not have to think about the actual issues. “ Are you telling me you have some theatricality hiding behind that very kind smile? Now that I would love to see” Rayn smiled towards Collins. “ Probably. I didn’t have a lot of choice on the matter considering, but I found the best place I could. Eventually I would like to leave. Please do. I promise you we would have a good and safe night.Whenever we decide that night to be “

“I think most of today’s population don’t know about the Cocoanut Grove fire. We sadly have to thank that fire for the modern safety codes and standards we have today,” he mused. The vampire was only a young boy at the time of the fire but it was something that affected the 1940s and the future decades to follow. It astounded him that people never seemed to learn; time and time again the same mistakes were made by a new generation. “I promise no theatrics behind my kind smile as you said,” he laughed. “It sounds like a plan.”

“Well, yeah, it’s one of the dead languages now. The Chinese have kind of held their own over the centuries, though. I dunno, I still feel like they have something there. Though the other options are what? Us all learning Spanish? German? Arabic?” 

Collins looked down at the watch on his wrist and then back to the man in the bed. He had overstayed his welcome and was itching to walk out of the room. The vampire didn’t like to be around hunters after the death of his family but the guilt of killing the youngest Rhodes was the only thing keeping him here. “I am sorry but I must go. I have a meeting and didn’t realize I would be here as long as I was,” he vaguely stated. “I do hope you feel better.”

“So your students are always waiting on their papers?” Elio grinned, “or is that what TA’s are for?” He assumed Columbia gave a professor of Collins’ status and experience several TA’s. The basilisk had never gone to a conventional university anyway, always art schools throughout the years, so papers weren’t as common a thing he dabbled in. “I suppose not, probably adds to the, you know, off beat professor vibe you’ve got going on.”

Now the vampire had peaked the basilisk’s curiosity because Cyrus didn’t believe that Collins would just settle for him as the first and most convenient option. Or maybe he’d misjudged the vampire? It was always a possibility, though Cyrus doubted it. He was pretty sure that he would always be close to Collins’ last pick for anything. He pulled the shirt on over his head, “Not at the moment. Lucky you.” Cyrus flashed the vampire a smile as he repeated the word the other had used but his face relaxed and his tone calmed as he said, “Come now, St. James, what can I help you with?”

“I guess. It is one of the hot topics in this city,” he gave a little smile, shrugging. Because if the transportation here didn’t work, no one and nothing else did. What had happened at Grand Central and the chaos that ensued afterwards pretty much proved that. 

“Is it?” Collins asked him, laughing slightly. 

“True. You almost never meet your social quota, these days,” Ghost teased, though his smile was kinder as he looked up at the man again. The oneiroi always respected the members of their gang who wanted to be on their own, but he also felt responsible to try and get them out more. Sometimes, people just needed a little push. “Well, still, you’re smart. I’ll trust you with a lot of questions,” he hummed. “Spring break sounds fun. Are you gonna do anything? You want me to take you to Hawaii? I will. Let’s go. I’ll teach you to surf.”

“It has never been my strong suit. So my thank you for helping me meet this quota is buying you this dinner and all these drinks?” Collins jokingly asked. “Thanks,” he said with a short little laugh. “Going to Hawaii and surfing isn’t what I imagined at all. A lovely offer but I do have to decline- I planned on reading and preparing for the rest of the semester so I am bored once classes begin again. If you have any more local ideas then feel free to share.”