truth must be taken.

The meetings were, as expected, a formal affair, so he felt a bit out-of-place meeting a fellow member in an informal setting. Vera, a prodigy in her own right, possessed the type of mind that attracted a curiosity to its many workings. Joe was one capable of taking a look but whether he would was a different matter. He simply did not understand half of the things that went on in her head. Most of it was engineering jargon that he’d have to spend years studying in order to comprehend it himself. The difference between them, Joe believed, was that he was born with a gift and she was born into one.

Joe, on the other hand, stopped caring about material wealth as it used to corrupt him. Finding value in riches on top of the power of owning them consumed him to the point of doing anything to maintain his status. These days, he had adopted a more blasé attitude about the promise of anything lavish. He even found it a wonder that he held a position in the Council at all. Ultimately, Joe felt it came down to the fact that he had grown to be a familiar presence in town and its folk must have found comfort in his unassuming nature. His mark on Ashbourne was an ordinary one. If they only knew he used to be an intimidating, no-nonsense man who believed he could rid any obstacle with a few bills or a bullet.

Once his lips parted from the mug he was sipping from, Joe slightly turned in his seat across the way from her and laid his pen down, making his paperwork a problem of another time. “Vera,” he greeted, imitating her gesture of acknowledgement by tipping his head. “I don’t think I’ve seen you outside of council—well, aside from TV and magazine covers.”

“Today must be your lucky day.” Her head tips to one side, a smile curls at the edges of her lips. It was true, truth be told. As much as she willed herself to become part of The Council, the meetings were tedious. At the last couple of get-togethers, Vera has thoughts about the next gathering being at a laser tag maze or a bowling alley, at least.  But, once the meetings were finished, all the genius wanted to do was distress. That normally meant focusing in on work. “You should know what it’s like to run a business, Joe. Things constantly need upgrading, papers need signing, priorities are rearranged, problems need solving.” Vera replies, with the swift waved of her hand, as if to SHOO these problems away. Her free hand goes to the coffee mug. “In this case, it was aiding Elon Musk to finish the worlds biggest battery.” With the lithium-ion battery being created ahead of schedule, the one hundred megawatt creation is currently prepped to be energized and tested could begin in the coming days. “As for the TV and magazine covers, well, that’s just for fun.”

With one project out of forty-two finished, Vera sighs and leans back away from her laptop, spine curving to match the seat. With glazed over eyes, the blonde falls under a tired daze, staring at nothing. And yet, her mind still reels with what work needs continued or to be done. From one project to another, she creates a mental list, and Vera can’t bring herself to glance at the papers sprawled across her office floor. It didn’t help that the woman knows she can do just as fine now as she can a day before the deadline. But over time, this develops into the feeling she can’t do anything to her high-standards of satisfaction unless she’s under the gun of a deadline. Procrastination. It’s a vicious cycle.

This is why the CEO finds herself parking in front of the Ashbourne Police Station, walking up the steps and entering the building. Heels click against the tile floors, creating an echo which in turn draws all eyes to the glamorous blonde. Asking where a certain detective was located in the building, Vera makes her way through the building.  Coming up to the closed door, she knocks quickly and leans on the handle with her elbow while using her hip to push the door open. “Coffee black, two sugars,” Vera states when setting the travel coffee mug on the detectives desk with a smile. Her eyes can’t help but flicker over the officer quickly before meeting Lenny’s and saying, “Good -- Oh, what time is it?” Quickly she checks the time on her wrist, as a result, her brows raise in surprise, having no idea what time it was until this very moment. 11:15. “How busy are you at this moment?” She asks, head quirking to the side.

Helena drained more of the coffee, wondering whether it was the wolf in her that kept the drink from attacking her empty stomach. It didn’t roll, so she drank more. “Don’t knock them that much,” she said with a smile, green eyes twinkling when she looked over the rim of her cup. “The pumpkins are good in their own ways.” The detective set down the drink completely now, leaving her features open to be read. Talking about her nephew made her heart ache— but it wasn’t her companions fault for bringing it up. “Yes.” Like that, she let the conversation drop back to something else— offering a small smile at the title. “Sounds like a miniseries.”

Vera chuckles, rolling her eyes. "Alright, fine. I'll take your word for it about the pumpkins." With that, the conversation about Lenny's nephew is dropped and Vera doesn't mind the quick switch. There was a smile back on the other woman's lips and that's what Vera liked. “I’ll get my people on it. But, in the meanwhile, I should get back to the office and finish off the powerpoint that’s going to show how I can save the world.” Finishing off the latte and tosses the empty cup into recycling, Vera gives the detective a dazzling smile. “I’ll see you around, Lenny.”

“Not a fan,” though he doubted she’d approve of his music either. “I’m not particularly worried. Just curious.” There she was, fully aware a drink would get to her head pretty quick on an empty stomach, drinking anyway. Was there a reason why she just wanted to get drunk? Maybe. Maybe she just liked it. Either way, he was drawn to that sort of personality, the kind that went against common sense. They were unpredictable, harder to read, harder to manipulate. You never know what they’ll do next. 

Her comment shifted his attention from the crowd back to her. “You seem to know something about that.” He did too. It was due to his own discretion that he still had a head on his shoulders. If people knew about half the things he’d done, he wouldn’t survive the week. Sure he had his fair share of conflicts in town, but the truly dark deeds — they were buried in his past, never to be spoken about, not by him. It was risky for someone like him to settle into any one town, if his past caught up with him, his enemies could swarm into Ashbourne looking for payback. He hoped the lengths he’d gone to cover his tracks would be enough. He liked what he had in that strange little town, it was more than he had in centuries of wandering around. “Since… July 1st?” The opening date, what a pleasant night that was. “I love this place,” he said and took a drink from his glass.

“Curious?” Vera echoes the word slowly and tips the drink to pass her lips. She took better to that than the stranger being concerned about her wellbeing once the alcohol flooded her system. “There’s a number of other things going on in this club that should better at holding your curiosity, isn’t there?” Her choice to drink on an empty stomach was an odd thing to be interested in.

six; when you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

“I think that it’s truly amazing looking as great as I feel.”

twenty-seven; an angel appears out of heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “be brand-specific” it says. man! what are you gonna say about that? even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

“I've done five interviews this year, and this is the easiest question I've gotten. Springbank Single Malt Whisky.”

thirty-six; have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

“Fun fact: I have never stepped foot in a hospital. That’s probably because of the mini infirmary I have in my home. Prior to coming back... I never got sick or hurt enough to go.”

fifty-nine; do you sing in the shower? or do anything unusual in the shower? explain.

seven; what shirt are you wearing?

“Just a simple white, silk button-down shirt by Gucci.”

thirty-three; the celestial gates of beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. death appears. as it turns out, death is actually a pretty cool entity and happens to be in a fantastic mood. death offers to return the friend/family member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

thirteen; your worst enemy?

“When you’re at the helm of a one point fifty-seven billion dollar company, everyone is your worst enemy.”

twenty-six; you just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. where are you going to go?

“If I could go anywhere in the world, right now at the drop of a hat, I would go to Singapore. Back to Singapore, that is.”

forty-seven; if you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

twenty-one; if you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

Answered.

twenty-four; you can only have one kind of sandwich. every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

“Not trying to be difficult, but, would this be a bad time to mention that I don’t like sandwiches?”

thirty-four; what was your last dream about?

Answered.

thirty-eight; what colour are your socks?

“Light grey with black geometric shapes and designs.”

forty-six; are you reliable?

twenty-one; if you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

“I don’t know what I would look like exactly, but I do know for a fact that I would still have a jawline you would be jealous of.”

twenty-two; do you have a secret talent? if yes, what is it?

“My secret talent is so secret that if I secretly reveal it to you, then, that secret will no longer be called as a secret and it will no longer be able to serve its purpose of being secret.”

twenty-three; what is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

“Your emotions.” She says deadpanned, looking completely serious. She wasn’t, but if it deflected from the topic of fears effectivly, she’ll pretend to be serious for as long as needed.

twenty-eight; you discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. you make the rules. what is the first rule you put into place?

“I already own an island, and the rule there is that it won't become a society by any means necessary because humans ruin everything. The only human allowed there is me in a large, beautiful bamboo hut.”

thirty; your house is on fire, holy shit! you have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. so what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

“Quite the humor on you for asking this question. I'd save the fire extinguisher so that I can make it out for stupidly running into something I can't survive on my own.   Which reminds me that I should really start working on new flame retardant technology.”

thirty-four; what was your last dream about?

Helena’s lips bowed and she met them with a sip of her coffee. The drink was bitter on her tongue, but it was comforting and familiar— her fingers drummed against the side of the paper cup, swallowing leisurely before she spoke. “I got a better offer.” She was settling back into her skin, shedding aside the nervousness that had gripped it’s fingers around her throat and threatened to throttle her. “Or rather, better company.” Sharing a drink with a pretty blonde always seemed to pull ahead in her preferences over hauling pumpkins out of a flat bed truck. Lenny had been dreading taking the vehicle back, putting the duty into someone else’s hands would likely make her feel guilty later— but as of now, she revelled in the freedom. Vera’s words made the smile slip from her features as though they had been pinned onto oil; it wasn’t her fault, but her heart sank to somewhere in her boots. “Was.” Ashton’s death still troubled her, perhaps they had all never taken the time to properly grieve. She set her cup down, keeping fingers knitted around it. “Blondes for a better Ashbourne. We need a business card.”

Whether she knew it or not, Vera went with probably not, Lenny was able to keep a smile on her rosy lips, she had realized. It had been a full - Vera shakes out the watch around her wrist that was being hidden by her coat - fifteen minutes. Given, she was still nervous in this busy atmosphere. Those many who were getting their coffee’s in the late morning shifted into lunch. People busied themselves around the two women chatting and everytime someone came near Vera couldn’t help the reflex of her fingers flexing around her coffee cup, ready to throw it as a defense reaction. “I’d call me better company too over a bunch of pumpkins and doughnut loving coworkers.” She chuckles, taking another sip from her chai latter. After swallowing, Vera pulled her bottom lip between teeth, then nods. It wasn't difficult to understand the one-word answer, and it makes Vera’s throat close. She knew what loss felt like, looked like, and no amount of apologizes could make the feeling any better. "Still can be. In his memory." She gives a composed shrug. Her own parents might have had questionable morals, but she couldn't deny the fact they she did have her good moments with them. "The CEO and The Detective. That has a nice ring to it."

Georgie wasn’t exactly listening as the blonde went on, ears attuned to the madness headed for them. She looked at her with observant eyes, scanning her for any apparent injuries once and then nodded at the description of the berserkers. “Sounds about right.” Two very large animals that were out of their minds– that had to be put down. Any other time the original might’ve argued, insisting she stay back for her own safety but recent events had proven that Georgiana, while well meaning, didn’t always make the right calls, something she’d find difficult to admit. Instead, she nodded curtly. “Alright. The moment they look your way then you run. Got it?” Because the moment they looked her way, she’d have mere before they were on her and Georgie took advantage of their distracted state. “I’m Georgie, by the way,” the original said as she took off in the direction of the berserkers, knowing the other would follow.

The blonde was about to let the other woman realize that she wasn’t here to be just a distraction and that she wasn’t going to leave her to fend off to huge, rabid wolves by herself, but Vera bit her tongue, knowing that it would only waste time. “Right. Got it.” She replies shortly, using the fact that she was upset that she wasn’t going to voice her thoughts to give the facade that she was being commanded to run.Vera follows, jogging beside the brunette before giving her a grin, “Politeness despite knocking on death’s door. Admirable. Hi, Georgie. I’m Vera.” Passing by Dave’s dismembered body and wrecked car, the two follow the wolves, which wasn’t difficult. All they had to do really was follow the bloody paw prints into the forest.

It wasn’t long before the sounds of threatening growls echoed and Vera stilled while glancing towards Georgie that read get ready for the signal. Moving to a clearing, she puts her fingers in her mouth and lets out a shrill whistle. It didn’t take long for the snarling werewolves to show themselves. It also didn’t take long for one of the wolves to attack. It leaped forward. Vera gripped her small weapon and pressed a button which elongated the object and created each end of her weapon to light up with volts of electricity. Unfortunately, Vera didn’t use it in time and the animal charged at her with strength.