Collaboration Between Fallen and I.



Vaega stretched out his arms from side to side exposing a wing span of 6’ roughly proportionate to his height from the feet up. He sat comfortably in a rosewood chair with a desk in front of him, a lamp to his right illuminating the table top which supported a journal and book. He wasn’t more than a day out of his awakening, and already back to work. If he were to ring back the Maestri society, rid himself of this demon, and continue his father’s legacy, there’d be no time to rest. In his mind technically, he’d been resting for too long as is, with Baal nipping into his psyche.

Room 13 in Todder Manor had underwent an immense transformation from when Vaega awoke, mainly in part due to his mother’s expectations of what her son’s residency experience should be like. Decor and items were brought to Vaega’s room on a fairly regular basis to outfit it with an atmosphere that best suited Vaega’s personality, and current state of mind. He needed items that grounded him, and promoted a certain state of direction such as study. This room would be his base of operations considering it was the most guarded location out of the Maestri society due to its activities.

No one typically wants to enter a mental facility designed like the Minotaur’s labyrinth. Vaega’s index finger slipped between two pages and pushed the present page over to the next. He used his other hand to write some notes as he scanned through its content and made mental notes of what would be important to take with him into the next book. He was currently exploring the material of his own father, his mother along with the decor and items, sent him documents and books to explore that his father wrote before passing. It was an odd experience to dive into the mind of a man he aspired to be, since now it was no longer an aspiration but a duty to become him, and surpass him.

“Knock knock!” Baal’s voice surged through the space behind Vaega’s eyes.

“What is it?” the irritated voice of Vaega said with discontent to the timing while trying to focus on the literature in front of him.

“I am beginning to become quite impatient, I give you time to get me my desire and you still doddle in a room, with a book, AND NO PROGRESS!” The last part of the comment boomed in Vaega’s head rattling whatever intentions of learning was left.

“Fuck! You can’t rush this, we made a deal, I intend to hold my end, but if you push me to a point where I can’t be of use to even myself, then we lock back up in a place that neither of us want to be again.” The logic and assertiveness in Vaega’s voice silenced Baal for a moment, the reasoning was sound, Baal knew just as much as Vaega did that it wasn’t his show to run. His impatience was burning but it didn’t create any other outcome than frustration between the two of them.

“Fine, but can we please -” Baal did not finish his sentence as both felt something different elevate in the energy of the room.

“Somethings here.” Baal said redirecting his attention and fading his presence back into Vaega.



A child, thin and dressed in a 18th century fashion, stood outside the Todder Manor. His white skeleton suit was stained with darkened spots along his neck, chest and shoulders where water appeared to have engulfed his upper body. The skin held a sickly pale blue coloring even in the dim street lighting. Casually his ginger red head tilted upward to stare into a curtain covered window nearest Vaega’s room as if to see beyond the wall itself. He slowly closed his ringed eyes then opened them, appearing in the 13th room. Unfazed by his sudden trip, the boy reached into his pocket to pull forth a leather hacky-sack. Holding it out from him, his voice quietly asked a simple question.

“Do you want to want to play a game?” Water dribbled from his blackened lip with each word.

Vaega felt the presence emerge into his space and turned his gaze from the desk to the door, and there in the center of the room was a child in a skeleton suit. The child definitely appeared sinister in nature, but did not necessarily give off a threatening vibration. It almost seemed more curious than anything else.

While Vaega and Baal both processed the emergence of this thing it spoke and cracked the silence with a question, “Do you want to play a game?” and at that moment it simultaneously revealed a hacky-sack.

Vaega leaned back in his seat, he wasn’t feeling anxious, but he did feel an immediate interest in understanding the purpose behind this thing’s intention of coming here. Was it summoned by one of Vaega’s enemies within the Maestri community? Was it looking for Baal? Was it something all of its own volition?

“I don’t play games with strangers little one, let’s start with names, what’s yours?” Vaega said using his inside voice.

The child stared at Vaega a little longer then lowered his hand, resting it by his side. The hacks-sack still gripped in his cold, wet fingers. He inhaled, the water bubbling out and dribbled down his smiling face.

“Why are names important? My mama called me Charlie…”

Vaega really didn’t care for the name, but wished to open up some dialogue with “Charlie” as he now called himself.

“Charlie is it? And what brings you to me, Charlie?”

“You're…,” Charlie paused looking for the right word, “different. Not like the other humans. I was curious.”

“Your motive is curiosity?” Vaega now became curious because this thing was curious, and he had to chuckle a little inside from the paradox of it all, “What game did you have in mind?”

The child smiled. The atmosphere turned slightly colder and a heaviness weighed into the room’s air, his hand held the hacky-sack out once more.

“What fun is knowing it?” Amusement laced into the boy’s voice.

At this point Vaega knew the best thing to do was pull away from this thing’s appetite, but at the same time, Vaega survived a demonic possession from within, so maybe what this thing had to offer was another approach to the bigger picture that he was attempting to piece together.

“I can tell there isn’t any for you in sharing it, so...I’ll entertain you for the moment.” Vaega lifted himself from out of the chair and reached his hand out with his palm facing down. He pressed his hand on to the hacky-sack, and looked Charlie in the eyes. Vaega had a feeling the next part was not going to be an actual game of hacky-sack.

“It becomes warm when it is near something that will assist you in your search. This game is about finding those things or beings. It grows cold when I'm near and ready to assist you.”

The boy released the toy into Vaega’s grip before turning to leave. He paused just in front of the wall before turning and adding one last nugget of wisdom.

“I suggest exploring the world outside this room… your studies will only get you so far without the right tools.”

Vaega grasped the hacky-sack, as Charlie mentioned the words warm, it became warm, and as he mentioned the words cold, it became cold. The usefulness of a such an item seemed to be without a catch, but Vaega knew there was one somewhere, it would reveal itself at some point...but in the meantime he needed all the help he could get.

“Ok Charlie, let’s play.”

Charlie vanished as quickly as he had appeared, and it was back to the silence.

“Do you think he knows?” Baal whispered as he contemplated the little child’s intentions.

Vaega walked over to the chair and sat down slouching in the seat pocket, “I don’t know, but I don’t think so either.” Vaega let out a sigh.

*RING RING RING*

Vaega looked over to his bed where his phone had been laying for sometime, given to him by his mother for emergencies. He looked over as the glass surface reflected the name, “Cae”. Quickly Vaega got right back up and answered the phone, “Caelum?”

“Yes sir, I found the whereabouts of Desmond, I thought you might want to meet me at the North Safe House and attend the meeting he’s planning.” Caelum announced over the phone with a bit of enticement.

“Awesome, thank you Caelum, I will be there soon.” Vaega hung up the phone and walked over to the door of his room, turning the knob to reveal a hallway with a few Maestri guards standing in the middle.

“Roger, Caroline, and Dirk, can you please ready transportation to the North Safe House, and inform my mother of my leave, thank you.” The three nodded, Roger peeled off down the corridor to the elevator, Caroline pulled out her phone to inform Evelyn, and Dirk began approaching Vaega, “Are you sure it’s ok to leave?”

Vaega shook his head, “No, but it’ll never be ok, and that’s why we have to.” Dirk nodded, “After you sir.”

Mistakes Were Made

Loom General Hospital
7:25 AM

Robert quietly left the cafeteria as he moved through the hallways, his eyes flickered along the individual room numbers. Silently he repeated the two targeted room numbers in his head over and over. His pace slowed down when he neared JP’s room, his hand reached out for the door knob just when it opened up. That’s when he came face to face with the first target of interest causing him to snap his head from left to right, then gestured for the patient to back into the room fast.

When they both inside, his hand clicked the door shut behind them. Robert didn’t want the nurses or doctors entering at a critical point in the conversation.

“Detective Norton, I’m here to investigate your case. Authorities believe it was a burglary gone wrong and you were involved. May I ask you some questions?” He skipped right to the point rather than waste time easing into the subject, his time was already ticking down thanks to his delay earlier.

“Uh...sure, but may I see some identification first, monsieur?”

JP was backed into his room by this mysterious detective, someone he didn’t recognise. He instinctively moved up against one of the walls, keeping himself as far away from this man as he could. Something was off about him; no presenting of identification, such a quick introduction and he was right to the point.

Robert sighed then reached into his back pocket. HIs hand wrapped about the identification used for his cover then presented to JP, letting the man get a good look. It appeared all in order, through the man would get a off vibe to it that he couldn’t place. Feeling that JP had seen enough of it, Robert placed it back into his coat before continuing.

“I understand you’re likely still rattled from your experience so I’ll make this as brief and non stressful as possible, monsieur. I still have to question your friend before returning to the station,” Robert explained.

“Y-you’re… Okay then, whatever.”

JP, inwardly, was balking at the fact that this man was not who he claimed to be. He was certain of it. The way he held his identification card so that it concealed...something, the way he was quick and to-the-point, almost as if he was rushing for time. It made every single one of his work senses scream at him that something was wrong, but he had to continue trusting the man if he wanted to get to the heart of the problem.

“Well, uh, detective Norton, what sort of questions are you going to ask me?”

“The most obvious question is: do you recall what happened this morning? At least, what you can recall clearly,” Robert began, his hand dipped into his pocket and held there.
He followed JP back inside the room.

“I...well I… I remember hearing a commotion in my neighbour’s apartment, it woke me up. So I went to investigate and I found this...weird looking animal in her apartment, biting into her shoulder.”

“Do you recall what this animal looked like? Any notable features or markings? You friend was found without any injuries according to the medical report,” He pointed out.

His hand silently clicked the door behind him, ensuring no one would interrupt their conversation. Robert paced around JP then indicated he might want to take a seat while they talked, his arm reached and pulled up another chair nearby.

JP, still wary of the stranger’s approach, sat in the chair opposite Robert as he rubbed his chin in thought.

“It was, uh...very pale, emaciated. Humanoid looking. No hair.”

“That doesn’t sound like any known animal…” Robert stated, his right leg crossed over his left while he studied JP.

“Are you sure it was an animal? It sounds like a home invasion like in the reports.”

“It was... It definitely sounded like an animal. My neighbour, she was bitten by it. And, uh, it was like some sort of...feral thing? I’m not too sure.”

“What happened to her wound if you were sure she was bitten?”

“I...I don’t know. All I remember now is bringing her back to my apartment, keeping her wound covered with cloth and then...I passed out.”

Robert leaned in, his eyes fixed on Jean-Phillip. His hand pulled out of his pocket with something clutched in the fist. He targeted the last bit carefully.

“Was there any sensation before you passed out? You have to be very specific. It’s important.”

“I… It felt like my stamina was leaving me? Or something along those lines? My memory of that point is very fuzzy- w-what’s the purpose of these questions, monsieur?”

“One last thing before I answer that… catch this,” Robert gently tossed as small orb to him, an easy enough throw to catch.

With a short yelp JP barely reacted and grabbed the sphere out of the air.

“I- what?!”

The orb abruptly glowed at the man’s touch. A dim, but steady light poured across the skin and darkness.

Robert smiled when his instincts were dead on. He leaned back in his chair as he began to explain, “Your friend was bitten, but it seems you did something to mend or reverse the effects. You’re not exactly normal so why don’t we cut the shit and be fully honest with each other? It’s much easier for both of us.”

“Wait what?!”

As soon as the orb started glowing, JP dropped it, like he’d grabbed onto something unbearably hot. He stared with mouth agape at first the orb, then the man he definitely knew wasn’t a Loom PD detective.

“What the hell is this?! I-I I am perfectly normal! I don’t even know what you’re saying right now!”

“That orb says otherwise. It only glows in the grip of someone’s who is magically talented,” Robert gestured for the orb back.

“Calm down. I figured you might be relieved you’re not crazy after all, especially after you see your friend is perfectly fine and safe. So now trust your memory and describe everything that happened.”

“A-as long as you’re not going to kill me. Do I have your word?”

Robert busted out laughing. He appeared unable to resist it as his arm wrapped about his side, the cuts threatening to rupture from the hard movements. After a few moments, he calmed down.

“I’m actually here to recruit you or prevent you from revealing the truth, not hurt you. In fact, the Bureau rarely kills unless it’s unavoidable. Both supernatural and normal people.”

“Then you should understand my apprehension, monsieur. It is no laughing matter.”

JP sat back down in his chair and sighed, resting his head in his hands as he tried to recall everything that happened.

“Okay….okay. I… I went to check on my neighbour. And I saw this...creature. Humanoid, pale skin, long claws, looked like a vampire out of a novel or something. It had its mouth on her shoulder… I dragged her back into my apartment after this other young man appeared out of nowhere and attacked the thing. Then after I got my friend into my living room, I pressed my shirt against her shoulder, made a little prayer to heal her, and then I passed out.”

“I suspect that was healing magic. From your words, I take it you never learned how to properly cast a spell?”

“N-no? I...magic exists?”

“Yeah, you did see what attacked your friend right? If that thing exists, why can’t magic?” Robert pointed out.

“I...okay.”

“There’s things that go bump in the night that you’re not suppose to be aware of. Things that Angels and Bureau want to keep hidden from the light of day. So, believe when I say I can relate to how you’re likely feeling right now,” Robert admitted in a more gentle tone, his voice softened in empathy.

“I was a graveyard custodian before I was attacked by a ghoul scavenging for some sort of meat. I didn’t know what hit me before it took a chunk out of my arm and tried to pin me down. I managed to get to my car before driving off. The Bureau contacted me later then recruited me.”

“Who is…the Bureau?”

“It’s not who, but what. An organization designed to keep the supernatural hidden and humanity safe. They aren’t exactly a paragon of pure intentions, but they are much better than what’s actually out there.”

JP steepled his fingers in thought. Many, many things crossed his mind as he contemplated the man’s words. After a few moments, he spoke.

“What about my friend?”

“It depends on how cooperative she is. I was sent to determine how much you two have seen, evaluate the best course of action and possibly follow through with it,” Robert stated bluntly, seeing little reason to lie.

“If she remembers as much as you do and unable to be convinced it was her mind playing tricks on her, then I have little choice but to recruit her too. Even if she refuses it.”

“I… I hope she is okay. I… I have a lot to think about, monsieur. This is a lot to process all at once.”

“It is. However, I’m afraid once you peer past the veil of what goes bump in the night, it won’t leave you alone. It’s like these creatures have a sixth sense for this. Everywhere you look or go, the paranoia will eat away at you.”

“I am good with paranoia. Those thoughts rarely cross my mind anyway. It is the sheer...incredulity of it that is boggling me right now. Is this even real? Or am I dreaming?”

“You’re not the only one to question your sanity after an experience like this. Let me reassure you, you’re very much sane. The fact you’re questioning it proves it.”

“Okay...well, are you going to talk to my friend now?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. From what the woman at the register told me, she’s doing well for someone that was attacked. Now if you will be excuse me,” Robert lifted up from his chair and turned to the door, pausing long enough to add one last thing.

“We’ll stay in contact. Good day, monsieur.”