"My name's Adeline. Is this your friend? Boyfriend? No? Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, he broke my window. And he entered my room without permission. I think we should totally send him off to the hunters."
Florence flushed at Adeline’s initial guess that the talkative vampire was her boyfriend of all things. She was about to open her mouth in protest, but the other girl brushed over the comment as if it were a joke. Florence relaxed a little. Somehow she wasn’t surprised to hear that the male had broken into the hotel room. He’d already proven himself to be reckless with his earlier shouting. She shook her head, a small smile forming on her lips when Adeline sarcastically mentioned throwing him to the Protectors. Despite her resolution to avoid other vampires, Florence was beginning to like this girl. She realized Chatty was talking again and looked over at him.
"…I'm just seeing how you are....I haven't seen you in a long time, well I think so at least. I just want to know how you are, since I'm the friendly neighborhood vampire and such." He shifted his attention to Adeline. "In this town there called Protectors, I know it's stupid but that's what they are called... but you can call them whatever you want...You sure ramble on a lot don't you...Adeline?" Yeah, you’re one to talk, Florence thought, listening to his seemingly endless banter. "But seriously, this place gets boring after a while, is it too much that I want to know how my neighbors are doing?"
“You keep acting like you know me,” Florence said slowly, after a moment’s pause. “But I don’t remember ever meeting you. So how, exactly, do you know my name in the first place?” She knew it was an awkward question – especially if they had met in the past – but she couldn’t stand it any longer. She didn’t even know his name, but he talked to her like they were old friends. Maybe that was just his personality, but still, that didn’t explain how he knew her name.
“May I come in?” Florence asked Adeline politely, shooting Chatty a sideways glance. She might not be very socially adept, but at least she had the manners not to break into someone’s hotel room. “It’s a little chilly out here in the tree.” She was about to move to come in, when a new, gruff voice startled her.
"Sheriff's department. I know it’s you in there Valis, and you also know that I'm not here to hurt any of you, if you run I will find you, and that I'm just here to make sure everything it alright... I understand a woman purchased the room last night with a large sum of money? May I please come in?"
Florence didn’t have to be told that the voice belonged to a Protector, and his close proximity betrayed the scent of blood on him. He was obviously a strong one. She shuddered. He said that if any of them tried to run he would find them, so fleeing was out of the question. Perhaps this forceful situation was her ticket to an ID. That thought gave her a flicker of hope, and she forced her shaky legs to move her from the tree to the room.
She hoped neither of the other vampires would screw this up.
"Alright. You can come. But you do what I say... you have permission to ignore Zach."
"Wow, I am shocked; shocked!" Zach made a hurt gesture. "After all the McDonald's I've brought you through the years, this is how you repay me?"
Zach followed Ben and Chris out of the cabin, only half-listening to the verbal lessons the senior protector was giving. He'd already heard the same things multiple times, and had them memorized by heart. He was curious why Ben was planning to approach this situation unarmed, though. Zach himself felt a little uneasy about facing the vampires without his cutlass at the very least. Well, he wasn't totally unarmed. There was always the pocket knife he kept with him if things went wrong. He trailed after Ben and Chris as they entered the hotel. The innkeeper spotted them right away.
"Oh Sheriff! I heard the sound of shattering glass a while ago before the sun came up, and muffled noises... I know how they can get when caught off guard, so I reported it instead of trying to resolve it myself... The room belongs to a pale woman, didn't give a name, but Nancy said she gave her a 100 dollar bill..."
Zach tilted his head in thought. These vampires obviously weren't trying to hide their presence with such reckless behavior as smashing windows. He also highly doubted that they were ID'd. Either they didn't know about the Protectors, or they didn't care. He walked silently up the stairs after Ben, matching the other's slow pace. At the door, Zach heard the muffled tones of three vampires: two female and a male. He really wished he brought a bigger weapon than his dinky little pocket knife. Ben, forever the peacemaker, shouted to the vampires through the door.
"Sheriff's department. I know its you in there Valis, and you also know that I'm not here to hurt any of you, if you run I will find you, and that I'm just here to make sure everything it alright... I understand a woman purchased the room last night with a large sum of money? May I please come in?"
So obviously Ben was familiar with one of the vampires already. That in itself was probably a good thing. Zach didn't let his guard down though, not around those blood-suckers. After what happened to his parents, he had a very hard time trusting anything that called itself a vampire. He stood motionless, waiting for a reply from inside the room.