forum vita post mortem | sci-fi vampire rp

Started October 15, 2022 by @knightinadream group

tune

(alzgzfxakal sorry for the wait)

Everything is different when you are in your afterlife. Almost everything. For Narciso, prison is still terrible. He wondered if being stuck in a somewhat spacious, yet bright, cell is better than a tiny, bleak, and dim one with rats. If the VHIPA gave him the choice, he'd pick the rats.

The one he is in now wasn't even enough for him to walk on the walls. There's nothing exciting about it and they wouldn't even let him have his picture. Bastards. They have a better chance of seeing it in person, and he's the one who has to face time in prison for some reason.

Sitting in the corner, he had his chin resting on his left knee. A beep came from the other side of the cell then a guard walked in. Narciso didn't bother looking or saying anything, but the one picked up his left wrist then put some sort of tracking bracelet on him. It looked like a normal black bracelet, yet somehow made him cringe.

Narciso was pulled up then escorted somewhere. As they walked, he kept turning his head left and right, trying to take in the pathway. By the time he was able to register, they had stopped to the entrance of an interrogation room.

They let go of him, watching as he took a few steps inside. He assumed that the two guards were waiting for him to walk further in and sit down. Standing still, he let his eyes not blink. There isn't any use for him to do so. Besides, Narciso could tell that they were younger vamps to begin with. But before he could gain any satisfaction of creeping them out (or even the chance to escape), one of them closed the door.

The chair on the far end of the table wasn't his planned destination. After practically laying around in every possible way in such a small space, why not take advantage of standing? He could not believe how much he has taken something so simple for granted.

As he strolled around the empty room, his eyes glimpsed around from floor to ceiling. They looked at the tinted window for just a second then everything came to a halt. Staring at his reflection for a little, he hummed to himself then decided to sit down.

The narrow room feels heavy. Well, actually, it's generous to even call the glorified hallway a room. It's four times as long as it is wide, the white lights overhead refuse to even flicker. There's a one-way mirror taking up a majority of the long wall, peering into an interrogation room.

Lucy struggles to breathe. Her superior stands to her right with a heavy clipboard in hand. He absently clicks the pen and taps the body against his clipped papers. NARCISO AMANTEA it reads in typewriter font across the tops of every file. Lucy's only heard of him occasionally through the grapevine, only when the older VHIPA Agents stuck in the so-called glory days felt like reminiscing. Never in her now-immortal life did she ever expect to be coming face-to-face with him.

Well, not exactly face-to-face. Lucy's only there for observation. Her superior firmly instructed that she's there as an over-hyped intern. Take notes, pay attention, try not to fall asleep.

The door within the interrogation room chugs open, two guards entering with Narciso Amantea himself. The man, Lucy has to admit, is fairly attractive–but she's well aware that he's over five centuries old and probably at least twenty-five times her own age. She clicks her gum–blood infused.

"Damn," Her superior grumbles. Lucy barely glances his way. His nose is deep in some communication device. "The interrogator won't be comin'." His husky voice seems to curl around the words like a wolf. "The higher-ups are sendin' some forensic guy, but he's gonna need another person." The superior's words trail off to a mumble. He murmurs through another few sentences, and Lucy catches absolutely none of it.

"I'm sorry, what?" Lucy turns to him. "I think you have an issue articulating your words… Sir."

The superior sighs and turns to the girl. He has dark, dark eyes and Lucy forgets exactly how long this guy has been turned. "The bosses want another person in the room talkin' to Amantea." Lucy furrows her eyebrows and shakes her head, still not clear at what the guy's getting at– "I want you in there with the forensics guy."

(alksdjf)
(lucy: no absolutley not i am not doing this you cannot pay me to do-)
(av: [Dad Glare tm])
(lucy, internally: holy shit what)
(lucy: alright.)

(Lucy: being a Horrible Brat)
(Av: raises one singular eyebrow and gives her a Dad Look)
(Lucy: … ok)

Av always preferred to have another person in the room with him. This was for multiple reasons. Firstly, the only reason he had been bit in the first place was because he had been alone. Now, to be quite fair, he had thought that the body in the room was, well, dead. Not undead. He had, clearly, been wrong. Secondly, when speaking with people involved in a case, it was good to have someone else in the room. Someone for whoever he was talking to to play off of, creating more opportunities for him to watch their behavior and actions. Thirdly…well, there wasn't really one.

He had reviewed all the relevant files, read everything he could. To tell the truth, he was…slightly a fish out of water here. He was a forensic investigator. He worked off of bodies, off of murder scenes. There were no bodies here. Just abductions, and abductions were a lot harder to investigate, purely from a forensic standpoint. In abductions there often was no blood, no bodies…nothing for him to work off of save a knowledge of the victim's behavior and whereabouts. This, of course, made this all the more strange. He straightened the sleeves of his white button-up, tugged lightly at the grey vest he wore over top, and then stepped into the narrow room where Lucy and the supervisor waited. His green eyes moved around the room, taking it in at a glance, and he approached them. "Averill Penn." he introduced himself to Lucy, keeping his voice quiet. He wasn't sure how much sound carried through the one-way glass, or how much Narciso could hear, but the less the older vampire knew, the better. It would make his reactions more genuine.

Av had only interrogated vampires older than himself twice; once vampires began to reach the age he had, the harsher truths of what they were began to set in. The lack of aging, something considered so innately human, often did them in. If they kept their head on their shoulders, they often melted into society and either became heads in the criminal underworld, or would unobtrusive, regular citizens. In either case, he usually never was able to interview them, as they were not brought in for questioning. He shuffled the files in his hands, fingers flicking lightly over each one as his gaze moved to watch Narciso through the mirror, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

The older vampire clearly wanted to intimidate or put them off-balance. The refusal to sit was common in the nervous, especially those who were guilty, but Av was relatively sure that that was not what was at play here. Narciso likely did not know the reason behind this yet, so therefore would have no reason to act guilty. This, then, was not nerves. A vampire as old as the one in the interrogation room would not be standing from nerves. So why? His fingers tapped thoughtfully on the edges of the files, and his eyes moved back to Lucy. "Ready to head in there? And, do let me handle most of the talking." his voice was crisp, his accent sharp. He could tell she was a younger vampire, and likely a bit overwhelmed by all of this.

(yeah i was gonna say a set order. sorry in advance for the slow responses. school's crazy)

This is quite awfully boring. What's the point of sitting in silence when you are the only one? Unless this is some sort of dream he is going through. Wait, he hasn't had any sort of dream since he had a heartbeat. God, that was such a long time ago too.

Speaking of a long time ago, it feels like he has been stuck in this room for ages. Not like it makes any difference to him. Narciso slouched down in the seat, groaning a little. It's not like these VHIPA people know anything about time. Of course a lot of them are significantly younger than him; he wondered if there were any that are as old as him.

Is it likely? Sitting up, he moved his chin in the direction of the tinted window. At first, Narciso was staring for the sake of pondering. The more he stared, the more he got distracted by observing his own reflection. Of course, he cannot see anything else, but how can he help it?

Might as well do one of things he's good at: killing something. In this case, time. If only those guards had given Narciso his watch. His time is valuable after all.

(swag! good to know)

Lucy eyes the man–the forensics specialist as he enters before returning her attention back to the window. Amantea paces the room as if he owned it. Lucy cracks her gum with her budding, sharpening fangs. They ache. At least the blood-infused chew keeps the growing pains subdued. (She vaguely remembers waking up in the middle of the day, cradling her jaw and sobbing into a pillow. An empty ibuprofen bottle lay next to her, the painkillers failing to do their singular job.)

At first Lucy ignores the forensics specialist, not really caring all too much of what he had to offer. She catches the tail end of his words. British accent. Bleugh. It's only when her superior grumbles and nudges her with a clipboard does the reality of the situation set in. Shit. Going in there, the place with the convicted criminal that's five-hundred years old with a man she's never met to do a job she was never trained to do. This is fine. It's all just fantastically, perfectly, absolutely fine.

"Let you do all the talking," She mocks quietly as she pushes past the forensics specialist, taking her superior's clipboard with her. The man doesn't fight her, hell, he practically lets her steal it. "Fine," She groans, inputting a brief pin into the door handle before pushing it open.

The interrogation room instantly makes Lucy feel like a cornered animal, even though she's the one in the predator's position. She can control the situation, she's asking the questions here, she can leave this criminal stuck in here at any time. The door shuts loudly behind the forensics specialist. Lucy stares at one of the interrogator chairs but remains standing. If she sits, the criminal could pounce and that's one less chance of escaping. "Narsico Amantea…" She mumbles, mainly to herself as she looks over his file for the first time.

Av had done his best to shut the door quietly, but it was a great, thick, heavy metal thing, that refused to be shut quietly. He didn't react to the loud clang, though, taking his time coming in and setting his files on the table, carefully settling them into a neat, organized stack. Only then did he look up and over to Narciso, taking in the older vampire with a clinical, careful gaze and doing his best to remember as much as possible about this man.

"Would you take a seat?" he asked, gesturing to the seat across the table. He did not sit down himself, though he reached out to pull a chair out for Lucy. It was an instinctual thing, born of a century and a half of doing that same motion for any woman he was sitting near. It was not a sexist thing, merely a manners thing. He did it for men too sometimes. It did not matter. He remaiend standing, despite gesturing for the other two vampires to sit. He preferred to stand, as it gave him a better perspective to watch people's responses, watch their body language. Of course, with vampires, there was no heart rate to monitor, but that was fine. There were other tells he could watch for.

His main worry was that, with Narciso's age, the other vampire would have learned to mask those tells already, would have learned how to hide reactions, even the micro ones that most people never gained control of. If Narciso had indeed learned to mask reactions, it would make this all the more difficult. Without some sort of even tiny reaction, it was harder to guide the conversation.

Never before had he felt a little happy to hear a door open. The first thing he thought was, "It is about time," once he heard the little click of the door handle. Jokingly, he hoped that a century hasn't passed, although he is not sure how long the Protection Agency will keep him here anyways. Is this just another interview?

Narciso stared at the two younger vampires in front of him. His eyes respectively observed one and then the other. All was stagnant in his face aside from the curious look in his eyes. If his eyes are serving him right, the taller man is older compared to the young lady. What else he can guess is beyond him.

The fact that he is the older one, and possibly one of the oldest overall, is one that has not hit him yet. If anything, what had changed much more is the world. He still feels and acts the same he had done so long ago. With eternal beauty, Narciso's true age has not really seemed to be a matter on his mind.

Hearing the young lady mumble his name, his brows perked up. Silence soon fell after. Is that it for introduction? How horribly bland this whole thing is already. Narciso scoffed. "Oh Madone," He tolled his eyes, "If I am to be sitting here in silence with you two, I would rather be back in that wretched cell you've put me in. It's more bearable than this."

Lucy already hates both of the men. Every second for the entirety of the two minutes she's known them has done nothing but get on her nerves. She can smell the pretentiousness pulsing from Narsico; she can hear the pity and patronization from the forensics investigator. Part of her wishes this is some promotion prank, but the idea of wasting her time on something useless only frustrates her further.

"Shut the hell up," She sneers at the criminal, kicking the chair to turn it around before taking a seat backwards. She rests her chin on the cold metal, her legs straddling the back. Her bronzed bracelets and rings clink against the metal. "I'd rather be at home doing something at least valuable with my time, but I'm stuck here with your stupid ass." Lucy's lip curls. She could've tried a little better on the insult. She can't bring herself to really bother finding a worthy one. "Don't make this hard for all of us."

The files flap as Lucy slaps them down on the table, not necessarily because she's trying to be intimidating and more because she's fully aware of how underprepared and blind she's going into this entire interrogation. The investigator wanted to do all the talking. Blugh. Like she's going to actually subject herself to listening to that obnoxious accent for god knows how long.

Av inhaled slowly as soon as Lucy began to talk, his gaze turning to her with a withering, almost parental look in his eyes. It was very much a disappointed sort of look. After a moment, he turned back to Narciso, already adjusting his approach. "My name is Averill Penn. This is…" he trailed off, thinking for a moment. "Lucille Huang." she was not his associate, nor his coworker, nor his partner. She meant nothing to him, in the grand scheme of things. "We're here to talk to you about a recent series of disappearances." start simple. Start easy. Build rapport, if possible. He suspected that building rapport with Narciso would be difficult, if not impossible, so he stuck to professional. Calm. Easy.

He just hoped that Lucy did not make this too difficult. If she continued with this attitude, it would be very hard to get Narciso to talk to them about…well, anything. If the older vampire was offended, or angry, and stopped talking, then they wouldn't be able to get any information or ideas out of him.

Av's hair was neatly combed, save for a single hair that had fallen across his forehead, which he carefully smoothed back before opening some of the files, setting photographs onto the table. "Do you recognize any of these people?" some of them were vanished people. Others were vamps, old suspects in these cases that had mostly gone cold. Others were random people, completely unconnected to the case or, as far as Averill knew, to Narciso.

Good Lord. Can such a young vampire act in such a manner to someone like him? Why should he even talk to these younger vamps anyways? As much as he can practically hear things a mile away, he doesn't even want to listen to these children anyways.

Narciso crossed his arms. Yes it is a rather childish thing to do, yet he argues that it gets the message across. Something valuable with time? He is the one that is wasting time and should find somewhere more valuable to be! He wasted an hour with some wealthy Florentine and look where that got him!

Averill Penn and Lucille Huang, how lovely. Narciso rolled his eyes. He sort of paid attention. Half of the time he didn't make any eye contact. Then the other half he went back to staring and not blinking. He wanted to see if these ones can get distracted. Hey, what can he do? He's bored and talking about disappearances isn't something new.

Leaning forward, he watched as Averill sat down each photo. His eyes scanned each of them carefully. At certain photos, he stared at some longer than others. He does known a few vamps and people; one he hadn't seen since the 1980s. Then his gaze flickered up to the two in front of him.

"Why? Did vampire hunter vigilantes get them? I am sure you two know that they wouldn't make a VHIPA and local work together on a stupid case like that," He yawned. Well, fake yawned. "Your point?"

God, if Lucy was 6'4", absolutely jacked, and didn't have her supervisor watching, she would not hesitate to deck this motherfucking ancient bag of arrogant dust. She would send him and his chair skirting back to the wall with a thunk and then- Nope. Stop. No violence, Lucy has to physically jolt her head to knock herself out of the fantasy.

She watches as Averill sets down the individual photos. She recognizes the faces from her superior's desk, from the massive whiteboard in the main VHIPA Investigation Offices. However, Lucy can only say that she confidentially knows three of the names. Three out of the thirty. She feels like she should know more… But after all, she is the lowest ranking member in all of the VHIPA hierarchy. She's only been a vampire for thirteen months, only been alive for nineteen years.

"They're gone," is all Lucy supplies. "We don't know what the hell happened to them." She looks at him steadily, trying to pick out the older vampire's mannerisms and tells through heavy mascara. "Since you're as old as dirt itself, we were hoping that you might have some idea where they went." She glances to Averill, then to the one-way mirror. She's saying the right thing. (At least she hopes she has some semblance that she is.)

"I'm not a local." Av replied. Sure, he had worked in New York for the past 50 years, roughly, but he was not a local. It was still a fraction of his life. "And Lucy is barely VHIPA." he cast a warning glance to Lucy when she called Narciso "old as dirt". Just because she was right did not make it, well, right. Antagonizing Narciso would get them nowhere. "And I apologize for her lack of decorum, as well."

He brushed back the loose strand of hair from his face, keeping his gaze on Narciso, making a mental note of which ones the vampire had looked at for longer. Some were victims. Some suspects. Others completely unrelated, which was…interesting indeed, though it did not necessarily mean anything in the context of the case. How long had Narciso been locked up? He could not remember. "Our point, in any case, is that thirty people in three years is too many. Yes, it comes out to only ten a year, but the similarities between the cases are too much for them to be unrelated to each other, especially when they all took place in and around Cagnol." some of the victims had ties to each other, but there had been no tie connecting all of them. None that had been found, in any case.

He paused for a long moment, debating how much of their hand to show. The more information they gave Narciso now, the more problematic it could prove later on. But yet, that was a double-edged sword. Without more information, the older vampire would be useless. With it, he could be even more dangerous. And that all depended on Narciso being honest, which Averill knew well could not be trusted to happen. Narciso had been alive for two or three times he had, and could have had plans and such in the works for longer than even Av had been alive.

Looks like they all are getting off on the right foot. If they were not in some VHIPA building, he most likely would have been incredibly offended, but today he decided to not to be. After all, compared to the other two, he's the oldest. Not to mention, he holds information that they would never be able to get without him. It's like he is the key to get into everything. How quaint.

He waved Av off. "No no, it is alright. I like to say that I am old as Renaissance masterpieces," Narciso chuckled. Then he mumbled to himself while picking up a few pictures, "If only those bloodbags knew how to truly appreciate art or anything of the matter."

One of the pictures was of a vampire with short blond hair, probably around two hundred years old. He rolled his eyes. "If you think I have some part of this or that disaster of a group did it, then say so….You younger vamps always dance around things…"

Narciso held up the picture for the two to see. "He is or was part of the Crimson Sect. Too prideful, I may say…." Throwing the picture across the table, he sighed looking down at the other two. "Bloodbags….foolish ones too nevertheless."

Lucy wrings her hands together in her lap, giving them something to do rather than bang her fist on the table. (She's fully aware of her own short temper and low tolerance for pretentiousness. It's taking every ounce of her self-control to not flip the table.) She may be young and new to this whole scene, but she knows she has a job to do. There are thirty missing people to find. They could be dead for all Lucy knows, but it's her duty (as of five minutes ago) to find them.

Old Renaissance masterpieces my ass, Lucy seethes internally, once again fighting the overwhelming urge to throw the clipboard at Narciso. Pushing past her own internal anger, Lucy studies each one of the pictures individually, locking away any sort of information Narsico feeds them deep in her brain.

"So he's a cult member?" Lucy simplifies. "Are any of these other guys a part of the Crimson Sect?" She's going to have to educate herself on the Sect as soon as she gets the time. It's… something from before her time. She was barely nine when it was disbanded, all of the members rounded up by human and vampire police alike.

Av studied the image for a moment, not remarking on it and instead looking over at Narciso, gaze thoughtful. "You say we are the ones dancing around it, but you are not sharing your thoughts on the matter frankly." he replied, accent easy to hear even after his years here in America. "You are dancing aroud the matter as well, Narciso." he adjusted a few of the photos, gaze moving for a moment to the stack of the files, then back to Narciso.

He had not once looked at the mirrored window. Had not once glanced back to check, as Lucy had. He was older than the vampire in there, and was not beholden to the supervisor in any way. He knew how to question someone, and glancing back would only betray nervousness and anxiety that, frankly, did not exist.

"So why don't you tell me what you see? What you think is happening, based on these photos?" he paused for a moment, letting Narciso consider his words. "And I am well aware that you do not know much of the case. That is fine. I merely want you to extrapolate from what little you do know." he picked up the files, pulling out a few of the older ones and setting them down. "If you would like, you may read those as well, to gain slightly more insight into the matter."

Narciso rolled his eyes. So God is making him repent for whatever he has done by making him deal with the two most unamusing VHIPA federal traitor vamps ever. One who is British and another who has no sense of decency. Great. As long as he can repent or get out of this hell-hole as soon a possible, perhaps he can deal with these two.

"I don't think I know that fancy English word…..extrapolate…." He rolled his eyes. Taking a brief look at the file, he barely lifted the front up before pushing it away.

He went back to looking at all the photos collectively. For five minutes he spent looked at every individual one. "I only know about ten personally….but maybe I have seen others somewhere around Cagnol…."

Standing up, he kicked the chair away. Once he turned back, he started to pick up certain photos. Might as well help these foolish souls a little. "These three were in Phantasma and took the same road I did…" He took the three photos then set them towards the left side of the table. Then Narciso picked up another two, "Crimson Sect banished these two. They tried to escape and got what they wanted sort of…"

Throwing those two in a different pile, he took a look at the other five. His finger point at them. "They frequented at clubs in the Sanguine district, you know the one that Crimson Sect used to run…Last time I remember, two of them are still bloodbags."

Lifting his chin up, he stared at Av. "Clubs….secret groups….and some spent the night with me….There….Satisfied?"

To be honest, Lucy entirely tunes the British guy out. His accent annoys her. She just knows he says some fancy detective-level things and slides the files and photos over to the oldest vampire in the room.

Alright, alright, at least Narsico handed them some information. Cults and banishments and the implied… intercourse. (Blugh.) All of it, truly, is above Lucy's pay grade and experience level, but she'll be damned if she has to appeal to her superior. Lucy knows her being here instead of an actual professional is a recipe for failure, but she's sure as hell going to succeed and show that she is capable, goddamnit.

She follows the old vampire with her eyes, narrowing them and making her eyeliner even sharper by doing so. "The ten you know personally–" Lucy flips Narsico's documents over on the clipboard before sliding the blank backside over to him. "Write down what you know about them." In the process of doing so, Lucy takes in Narsico's piles of photos. "Enemies, allies, business that could get them abducted or killed." She lists them off casually before turning her glare to Narsico. "The works."

(sorry for the wait!)

Av tipped his head faintly as Lucy instructed Narciso on what to do, brows twitching faintly. It was a good idea, in truth, and he likely would have eventually suggested something similar. He still had not specific to Narciso which of the ten were actually involved in some way; that might now pay off in their favor, if the things Narciso wrote down could be tied into the case, or not tied in at all. Of course, it all still depended on honesty from the older vampire, and older vampires were not exactly renowned for their honesty.

He absently rubbed the pad of his thumb across the lines of his other palm, gaze still resting on Narciso as his thoughts wandered, pulling in all the information he knew about the case and about Narciso, along with the Crimson Sect. To tell the truth, he knew the least about Narciso. The files that he had received on the old vamp were not the most extensive, and had contained only the barest of details about him. That was rather a problem, as it left him doing more guesswork about the vampire's temperament than he would have liked. Thus far, sure, Narciso had proven to be prejudiced towards humans, and rather superior in his behavior, as if he were better than them all. Av didn't like it, but it didn't point towards guilt. Not, of course, that he believed Narciso was involved in these kidnappings. The vampire had been here for a bit too long to be involved, though there was always a possibility that someone the vamp knew or once knew was involved in it. That, after all, was why they were here.

He paused with his repetitive motion of his thumb, studying Narciso again and watching to see how the old vampire would react to being given orders by Lucy. Lucy was so young, by vampire standards and by human standards, so many older people would have bristled at being ordered around by her. Listening to her orders could mean anything, but it would be interesting, if he did. Granted, if Narciso did not listen, it also told Av a deal about the vampire's character.

Two roads diverged leading onto the same path. Narciso found himself right in front of two, but what is he to do of this? The blank side of the paper stared at him. There was a slight shaking in his hand. Biting on his bottom lip, he stared back at the paper.

He just gave a couple of words and now he is expected to write things down. Can't they just use a recording device like they used to in 1970s? Although, it would be funny if he just wrote "no" on the middle of the paper or some sort of insult in Italian. It would be as funny as it would be useless. Neither of which would get him out of here. The same goes for it he does write anything down. They'll just chain him to them till they get their use out.

Crossing his arms, he sat back down. Turning his neck, he made eye contact with his reflection. "My handwriting will not provide any benefit for your investigation," He hummed. "I will tell you whatever it is that you want. You do the burden of writing it all."

Tapping the side of his arm, he bit the inside of his cheek. Only when Narciso relaxed did he decide to look at Av and Lucy. "English is complicated to learn in all aspects. Believe me, my writing is not as exceptional as other parts of me. And I will tell you anything, not like there's anything holding me to say otherwise."