NIGHTSIDERS: Season One (IC / OPEN)

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Alpha Johnson- Pre-Games Night

Alpha's shoulders slumped as, like always, the worst case scenario occured. The landlady couldn't help... That meant he was probably sleeping rough for a while- There was no way he could afford transport to his parent's house.
The werewolf was about to protest, perhaps see if he could work at Sunset Grove, anything to let him stay here, when a new individual entered the lobby. Human, judging by her smell. Actually, now he was sniffing, he could smell someone behind him. Dusty, like a book abandoned on a shelf for years... Skeleton? Before he could turn around and see if he had guessed correctly, the Vampire Landlady was pushing him across the room. As if she wanted to hide something from him... Oh! She must think he was human. He'd assumed she would have been able to smell him, surely a Vampire's sense of smell isn't that bad?
But, before he could go back to the main desk, some demon (judging by the smoky smell) decided it was a fun idea to posess the newly-arriven teen.

The posessed teen went inside the office and threw money on the floor. Real mature, demon. Reallllll mature.
Alpha guessed that move was meant to be funny, but it wasn't. All he had seen was some childish demon being stupid.
The landlady went to help the teenager, helping her out the room and Alpha sighed in frustration. There goes that idea. Perhaps he'd have to hang around outside- wait until she came back...
The Werewolf suddenly became aware that their was hair around his feet and he blushed.
"Am I shredding already?" he said to himself, a little too loudly. Perhaps full moon wasn't as far away as he thought?
Kicking the hair away from himself, Alpha looked around to see if anyone had noticed...

[Talchyon]

Sunset Grove Apartments, outside the elevators
Pre-Games Night
Chet Jones

Alpha Johnson- Pre-Games Night

Alpha's shoulders slumped as, like always, the worst case scenario occured. The landlady couldn't help... That meant he was probably sleeping rough for a while- There was no way he could afford transport to his parent's house.
The werewolf was about to protest, perhaps see if he could work at Sunset Grove, anything to let him stay here, when a new individual entered the lobby. Human, judging by her smell. Actually, now he was sniffing, he could smell someone behind him. Dusty, like a book abandoned on a shelf for years... Skeleton? Before he could turn around and see if he had guessed correctly, the Vampire Landlady was pushing him across the room. As if she wanted to hide something from him... Oh! She must think he was human. He'd assumed she would have been able to smell him, surely a Vampire's sense of smell isn't that bad?
But, before he could go back to the main desk, some demon (judging by the smoky smell) decided it was a fun idea to posess the newly-arriven teen.

The posessed teen went inside the office and threw money on the floor. Real mature, demon. Reallllll mature.
Alpha guessed that move was meant to be funny, but it wasn't. All he had seen was some childish demon being stupid.
The landlady went to help the teenager, helping her out the room and Alpha sighed in frustration. There goes that idea. Perhaps he'd have to hang around outside- wait until she came back...
The Werewolf suddenly became aware that their was hair around his feet and he blushed.
"Am I shredding already?" he said to himself, a little too loudly. Perhaps full moon wasn't as far away as he thought?
Kicking the hair away from himself, Alpha looked around to see if anyone had noticed...

Pressing the button again for the 14th time, Chet was hoping the slow, outdated and inefficient elevator had suddenly become a fast, state-of-the-art and highly efficient elevator. Much to his chagrin, nothing had changed. The creaky squeal of the deathtrap elevator stopped, several floors above. Whatever - or whoever - was coming down was taking their dear sweet time, too.

A little frustrated, Chet wondered where he was going to find the money he was short on. He knew that it wasn't a lot. But he still felt bad about it. What to do in the meantime? Maybe he could find a radio trivia contest and be the 13th caller, and then get the station to mail it to him. It was a long shot, but it was at least something.

Chet's ears, however, (not that he actually had ears, but you get the gist) were working pretty sharp. Sharp enough to hear the new guy who seemed a little out of place in the apartment lobby talking to himself. Asking... wait a minute. Chet was certain the guy was asking himself if he had shedded. Already. Emphasis on already. It wasn't the kind of thing a guy said who was going bald and losing the hair on top of his head. It sounded like the kind of thing that someone does, repeatedly, as in, again and again.

And then came the clincher - Chet could have sworn that he heard this guy mumbling under his breath about whether or not it was a full moon already. That had to be what it was. Chet was certain he wasn't becoming mental.

Turning around from the elevator, he saw the man standing by himself... The creaky elevator dinged pathetically at the bottom of the shaft, empty, it's open doors daring someone to test their luck against it by taking a ride. But even though Chet had pushed the button several times earlier, now he was curious. Trying to keep to the shadows, and doing a pretty successful job at it, Chet threw caution to the wind, calling out to the shedding man.

"So, friend. I was wondering... Is it time for the full moon yet? I always get confused."

How the man reacted would tell Chet a lot about him - if he had to stay in hiding, or if he could come out and be himself.

[Insaeldor]

James Wesolysky
Sunset Grove

"Okay, codes finished." I said to myself. I was gonna paid a lot of money to take on this work from home project. I thought about all the money I'd make while I looked at the bottles of piss I had on my desk nest to me. Three days of constant coding and the only brakes I had were to go get some McDonald or shit. In my work I fused demerium I guess I figured pissing in two liters would maximize my work output. But now I just sat here thinking about how much of a fucking slob I am and contemplating on weather it was really worth it.

I went to the bathroom with all four and dumped them. Usually Eliot was around but tonight he was uncharacteristicly gone from the appartment. I didn't fucking care as long as I could dumb these bottles and not have to confront the shame of explaining my thought process on the issue was great. I dumped them and then went to the kitchen to throw away the bottles. The place covered in a thin lair of shredded fur. I made sure to keep all of it out on my room so it didn't clog up my fucking computer fans. I threw away the bottles and went to go check the fridge for a moment. I pulled out a two day old McDouble and ate the stale meat and bread. I closed the fridge and came face to face with the calander. Apparently today was game night. Fucking game night. I usually never went, usually I was in bed and resting for work the next day or writhing on my blog. But seeing as how tomorrow was a day off since I just finished the big work from home assignment I might be able to convince myself to go.

I'm not sure how sound this logic is, probably not at all. But after seeing what d done after 8 days locked in my room, the only human contact I'd had was with that fucking pigly cunt at the drive through I figured I'd just fucking do it. Even if I get black out drunk and violent it could only be a net positive for me, I e literally hit rock bottom socially so I have only one way to go. I figured it be worth doing. Shit maybe if I brought some of my good Supergoose IPA. it was a nice hazy IPA just like I enjoyed em'.

I grabbed my beer and I made my way down to the commons area. It want then till I realized what I was wearing. A stained and wrinkled white dress shirt, unintentionally half way untucked, sleeves sloppily rolled up, a tie half way undone with the top shirt button undone, blue jeans, and a pair of white new balances. I at least made sure to grab my sunglasses. I stood their in front of a tenants looking like mother fucking narrator from fight club after he beats his own ass. I look like a god damn schlub.

At least I had beer, I pulled a bottle out and popped the top and just started to drink it.

[Arctica-Aleutia]

You returned from wherever it was she had been (likely downstairs in her apartment taking care of something or another) and was undeniably puzzled by the mess she'd indadvertedly stumbled upon. The bespectacled Yuki-onna was left in charge of the office so that Mina could help Elsa upstairs so that she could sleep off her nausea. Before the two girls could disappear fully into the hallway leading to the stairwell You called out to remind them that tonight was Game Night. Receiving a noncommittal wave to indicate that she'd been heard, You turned to face the others with a profession-yet-nervous expression, fingertips tapping fingertips as she tried to make heads-or-tales of the situation that had been missed. Most of those present looked to have already paid or had had their questions answered, or were leaving, but two women sitting on the far side looked to be waiting patiently, and then there was Earnest the Ghost who looked as if he'd seen, well, a ghost.

"Are you okay?" she asked Earnest, looking to the other non-clairvoyants to be speaking to nothing.

"Death - er, Richard was right there and then he vanished. He's probably going to send me to hell or whatever it is he's supposed to do to dead people. That's why I stay away from him."

Obviously, this wasn't how Richard operated, but Earnest had become paranoid about him over time. It was understandable, since if anyone had the power to 'kill' a ghost, it was probably the Grim Reaper.

He tried to distract himself. "So you said it's game night tonight? I'd forgotten. I hope you'd be okay moving the pieces or whatever for me again... if not, I can just watch, or maybe play myself if I can focus enough..."

[WhatsamattaU]

Achillea and Pellicius Magnus, The Sunset Grove Apartments

After a nice afternoon nap, Achillea and Pellicius Magnus headed down to the parlor.

The small pair had talked it over a bit and decided that maybe an informal setting would be better to converse with the Vampire Apartment manager. It was Game Night and maybe they might have a brief word with Mina, then. Today had been a cluster.

Achillea generally swayed Pellicius in most things of a social situation nature. Pellicius had some limits as to how far the pair would go in dealing with the preternatural, but those limits had expanded over the years and the big, dark-striped, Maine Coone Cat had come to enjoy Game Night as much as his Pixie master. Manipulating dice and cards wasn’t easy for Pellicius, but he could manage them and was a fair player of Backgammon and Blackjack.

Achillea preferred parlor games, such as Charades, Questions, The Pixie’s (Minister’s) Cat and Battle of Wits. The last involved the participants declaring that they were transforming into something that was greater and more dangerous than the other competitor’s last transformation. Alternatively, there was the ‘hide and seek’ variation, where one player attempted escape by changing into something that might not be caught and the other into something that managed to still be ever present.

The pair ensconced themselves at a window seat. The draperies were closed. Seeing a large cat in a window was one thing, but a very small humanoid was quite another thing, indeed….

[Aghrabia]

Mina Harker
Sunset Grove Apartments, Bangor, Maine - October 1999

Mina was dumbfounded. Shocked, even, and incensed to the point of speechlessness. Lester, the demon bastard that he was, had possessed Elsa in front of everyone and, to add childish insult to injury, had seen fit to dash into the office so as to dump whatever cash money was in sight on the floor as if this was the most hysterical thing to have ever happened in the history of the world. He then had the audacity to jokingly blame the disoriented teenager for his own insufferable actions. Her blood boiling, Mina wanted nothing more than to tear into Lester — physically, verbally, and everything in-between — but the infuriating demon was gone before anyone could react, violently or not, the door swinging shut behind him as the ambient sunlight flooded into the lobby. Mina's skin tingled unpleasantly but she didn't care. Elsa stood where she'd been abandoned, dazed and somewhat unsteady on her feet and generally looking a bit green around the gills. Mina hurried over to the teenager without so much as considering the others who'd witnessed the not-so-funny prank. The man who'd just arrived was overlooked entirely.

"Are you okay?" Mina asked as she held onto the girl's arm to keep her from falling over.

"I don't feel too good," Elsa managed through the dizziness. Having one's self-conscious forcibly shoved aside was no doubt a jarring experience. The teenager tried to act cool. "I'll be fine after a little lie down."

An older gentleman stepped into the office to pay his rent. Apartment 203: William Cohen Jr. Human but not quite. He asked if he could help with anything, and Mina pondered if a wizard was at all capable of banishing a demon to some detestable zone of existence worse even than Hell itself, like New Jersey but worse if that was even possible. In the end she asked if he could help with collecting the money before the resident Leprechaun happened across a few strayed bills.

You returned from wherever it was she had been (likely downstairs in her apartment taking care of something or another) and was undeniably puzzled by the mess she'd indadvertedly stumbled upon. The bespectacled Yuki-onna was left in charge of the office so that Mina could help Elsa upstairs so that she could sleep off her nausea. Before the two girls could disappear fully into the hallway leading to the stairwell You called out to remind them that tonight was Game Night. Receiving a noncommittal wave to indicate that she'd been heard, You turned to face the others with a profession-yet-nervous expression, fingertips tapping fingertips as she tried to make heads-or-tales of the situation that had been missed. Most of those present looked to have already paid or had had their questions answered, or were leaving, but two women sitting on the far side looked to be waiting patiently, and then there was Earnest the Ghost who looked as if he'd seen, well, a ghost.

"Are you okay?" she asked Earnest, looking to the other non-clairvoyants to be speaking to nothing.

---

Game Night was a monthly get-together where the Nightsiders living at Sunset Grove would meet in the downstairs parlor to play games with snacks, drinks, and the camaraderie of their fellow non-humans thrown in for good measure. Not everyone participated but those who did typically enjoyed themselves. Usually. Alcohol and impassioned competitiveness were not always the best of pairs, and more than once a game of Monopoly had ended in blows, hurt feelings, and a broken chair. Game Night, however, was a tradition from way-back-when and had continued more-or-less despite the coming and going of new faces as the years wore on. A good time that had slowly become a bonding experience with those who understood what it was like to be forced to live in the shadows of society persecuted because of what you were.

You stacked the boardgames atop one another on the end table beside the disgustingly-patterned sofa, the cardboard battered and faded with age, keeping the larger table to playing and another for snacks (chips and whatever else was brought along). She'd also bought a case of cheap beer, one of which was already missing from the neatly ordered rows. Half-empty in the hand of Mina, the girl sitting sideways in an under-stuffed armchair with feet dangling over the arm, irritated as she discussed the situation that had transpired earlier in the day.

"I should evict him," she said, sipping at the beer. It was pretty bad, and she'd need to drink a lot if she wanted to feel anything thanks to her vampiric physiology and its resistance to toxins, but Mina wanted a buzz if at all possible; to be drunk if she could help it.

You opened a bag of BBQ potato chips with some strenuous effort on her part. "I think you're overreacting," she reasoned.

Mina's scowl deepened. "The demon bastard violated Elsa" — who was currently asleep in Mina's bed — and his idea of a joke is about as funny as having a root canal." The girl had never had a root canal (nor had she been to a dentist) but could only assume the procedure to be excruciatingly painful given what was shown on the television. She took another swig of her drink. "I'd rather shove a cross down his throat. One with the little bearded guy nailed to it so that he chokes on it. But since that's 'overreacting'" — she made air quotations with her free hand — "I'll just double his rent since he likes throwing money around so much."

"What about the Sterns?"

"Collateral damage." Mina was angry and wasn't too empathetic to whoever was caught in the crossfire.

It was well after midnight. The humans who lived in the apartment would be asleep and the Nightsiders who were interested would be arriving soon. It was a risk to have such a gathering underneath the as-of-yet unsuspecting noses of the humans, but nothing had come of it thus far, and the doors to the lobby were squeaky enough that no one would be able to sneak up on them without them hearing. They'd have a good time and likely drink too much but everything would be fine like it always was.

And after today Mina could use a good distraction.

Bill Cohen
Apartment 203

Bill nodded, smiling slightly as he ignored the popping in his joints, leaning down to grab some of the loose notes that had fell on the floor during what he presumed to have been Lester's stunt- he understood her concern about the shorter of the O'Malley "brothers". The look on her face suggested she was thinking of something slightly different to just money, though, and he'd hate to disappoint her if she asked for something more substantial from him i.e. banishing a demon (a trick slightly outside his repertoire). Theoretically, he could dampen her emotions slightly to make everything easier on everybody, but he doubted that was a particularly good idea on his part. That you should NEVER use magic on your landlord is a lesson that should be taught in every school. Especially when they're a vampire. It didn't take very long to complete the task at hand, though, so he soon relieved himself from the office, making his way to his second-floor apartment.

It had been a long day, so the one thing he didn't want now was anything too strenuous. Take a nap, perhaps? Put a record on and just chill out? Maybe both at the same time? Why didn't he think of that in the first place? So with his course of action decided he extracted one of his many records from the shelf and eventually got it onto his turntable. As the music started to play he lay down on the most comfortable seat in the apartment and just started to doze off...

...only to be woken up again suddenly. Confused he grabbed his watch from the bedside table where he had left it and saw that it was, in fact, midnight now. Trying to remember what day of the week it was.

"Oh shit, yeah, it's games night tonight," he exclaimed to himself. He had almost forgotten.

Stretching as he got up from his chair, Bill grabbed the record from its place on the record player and gently slid it back into its sleeve, before replacing it on the shelf. Yawning as he went, he climbed down the two flights of stairs between him and the lobby. He saw exactly what he had seen every games night he had been to ever since he had started living there. There were already a few people in the parlor by now, all of whom he knew, some more than others. Grabbing a can of beer, he gave James a wide berth, who looked... unkempt- to put it lightly. Bill understood nothing about the human's lifestyle and found it completely alien to him. Through the window drapes on the opposite side of the room, he saw a cat- the shape of which was fairly familiar to him. In the corner, though, he saw Mina and You sitting there. Mina looked angry, naturally, given what had happened earlier in the day. Walking up to them, he gave a small wave, before going back to drinking his beer.

"Hey guys," he announced with his gruff voice. "You decided what to do with Les yet?"

[Beiarusia]

You Fujioka
Sunset Grove Apartments, Bangor, Maine - October 1999

"Death... err, Richard was right there," the ghost said, a bit shaken with having seen the Grim Reaper.

You glanced back to where Earnest had indicated, saw nothing, and then waved away the ghost's concern with a friendly grin. "I'm quite sure Richard isn't coming after you. He'd have done so by now otherwise. And I'll help you tonight if you come by, deal?" You was more the type to watch as opposed to participate so did not mind assisting Earnest in enjoying himself. Moreover, she couldn't say that she understood what it was like to be a ghost, intangible to the world around you, and could only assume it to be a lonely existence, so even a small kindness could go a long way.

---

Mina Harker
Sunset Grove Apartments, Bangor, Maine - October 1999

It wasn't long before those interested in Game Night arrived.

James Wesolysky, human, wandered into the parlor looking a bit stale after hiding away inside his apartment for the better part of last week, but, hey, he'd brought along some beer. His roommate, Bigfoot, showed not long after, looking a bit more presentable despite his being nothing more than seven-feet-plus of hair. The little pixie and his cat were next to arrive, Achillea and Pellicius respectively. They were in the window. Next came the leprechaun, Shaemus O'Malley — his brother, Eamon, had the misfortune of working the graveyard shift — followed by Bill Cohen. "Hey guys," the older man greeted before asking, "You decide what to do with Les yet?"

"Shove a cross down his throat," muttered Mina as she took another swig of beer. She was still sitting lopsided in the armchair, just like a child, and to those unaware that would be a reasonable first impression.

"Mina has some... ideas," You added before greeting the newly arrived Earnest.

As if on cue the demon himself arrived. Mina couldn't help but to give Lester a hard stare before turning away lest she say something spiteful, which she'd normally do regardless, but tonight was Game Night and she didn't want to ruin the atmosphere more than necessary. Of course, if the demon was smart he'd refrain from stoking the embers anymore than his presence had already done.

Two vampires came next: Sebastien and the more energetic Salem. Edward England shambled in immediately behind them.

That appeared to be most of those who were normally interested in Game Night (aside from those coming late for whatever reason) so they wasted no time in jumping right into it, which meant opening the snacks and passing around the alcohol, after which came the typically long and tedious debate on what game to play. They had playing cards, Uno, Monopoly, Risk, Catan, Scrabble, and whatever games they could play without a board such as charades. There was a small television set in the parlor so video games were an option but never really considered.

In the end they settled on Uno.

Dragging whatever chairs they had to the table, the tenants gathered around as You shuffled the black-and-colourful cards. They probably wouldn't play this all night, but it was a start, and as the night wore on things could only get more entertaining. It wasn't often that someone was sent on a beer-run but maybe they'd get around to it this time around.

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Sunset Grove Apartments, outside the elevators
Pre-Games Night
Chet Jones

Alpha Johnson- Pre-Games Night

Alpha's shoulders slumped as, like always, the worst case scenario occured. The landlady couldn't help... That meant he was probably sleeping rough for a while- There was no way he could afford transport to his parent's house.
The werewolf was about to protest, perhaps see if he could work at Sunset Grove, anything to let him stay here, when a new individual entered the lobby. Human, judging by her smell. Actually, now he was sniffing, he could smell someone behind him. Dusty, like a book abandoned on a shelf for years... Skeleton? Before he could turn around and see if he had guessed correctly, the Vampire Landlady was pushing him across the room. As if she wanted to hide something from him... Oh! She must think he was human. He'd assumed she would have been able to smell him, surely a Vampire's sense of smell isn't that bad?
But, before he could go back to the main desk, some demon (judging by the smoky smell) decided it was a fun idea to posess the newly-arriven teen.

The posessed teen went inside the office and threw money on the floor. Real mature, demon. Reallllll mature.
Alpha guessed that move was meant to be funny, but it wasn't. All he had seen was some childish demon being stupid.
The landlady went to help the teenager, helping her out the room and Alpha sighed in frustration. There goes that idea. Perhaps he'd have to hang around outside- wait until she came back...
The Werewolf suddenly became aware that their was hair around his feet and he blushed.
"Am I shredding already?" he said to himself, a little too loudly. Perhaps full moon wasn't as far away as he thought?
Kicking the hair away from himself, Alpha looked around to see if anyone had noticed...

Pressing the button again for the 14th time, Chet was hoping the slow, outdated and inefficient elevator had suddenly become a fast, state-of-the-art and highly efficient elevator. Much to his chagrin, nothing had changed. The creaky squeal of the deathtrap elevator stopped, several floors above. Whatever - or whoever - was coming down was taking their dear sweet time, too.

A little frustrated, Chet wondered where he was going to find the money he was short on. He knew that it wasn't a lot. But he still felt bad about it. What to do in the meantime? Maybe he could find a radio trivia contest and be the 13th caller, and then get the station to mail it to him. It was a long shot, but it was at least something.

Chet's ears, however, (not that he actually had ears, but you get the gist) were working pretty sharp. Sharp enough to hear the new guy who seemed a little out of place in the apartment lobby talking to himself. Asking... wait a minute. Chet was certain the guy was asking himself if he had shedded. Already. Emphasis on already. It wasn't the kind of thing a guy said who was going bald and losing the hair on top of his head. It sounded like the kind of thing that someone does, repeatedly, as in, again and again.

And then came the clincher - Chet could have sworn that he heard this guy mumbling under his breath about whether or not it was a full moon already. That had to be what it was. Chet was certain he wasn't becoming mental.

Turning around from the elevator, he saw the man standing by himself... The creaky elevator dinged pathetically at the bottom of the shaft, empty, it's open doors daring someone to test their luck against it by taking a ride. But even though Chet had pushed the button several times earlier, now he was curious. Trying to keep to the shadows, and doing a pretty successful job at it, Chet threw caution to the wind, calling out to the shedding man.

"So, friend. I was wondering... Is it time for the full moon yet? I always get confused."

How the man reacted would tell Chet a lot about him - if he had to stay in hiding, or if he could come out and be himself.

Alpha heard a voice from somewhere in the room. Whoever it was, they seemed to be trying to hide from him... Perhaps it was that skeleton he smelt earlier, hiding from him until he knew if he was human or not.
Still, it wasn't like Alpha didn't know where he was, he was in a rather conveniant spot by the elevator. Or, at least, that was where the voice was coming from. Maybe they could throw their voice quite well?
Either way, Alpha's response was a simple shake of the head. However, his eyes fixated on the patch of shadow, he did inform the skeleton that full moon was about two weeks away.

[WhatsamattaU]

Achillea and Pellicius

The first choice of game to be played went badly for Achillea and Pellicius... UNO. The big, dark-striped Maine Coon Cat didn't have the dexterity or size to easily manipulate more than a few cards at a time and while Achillea was quite dexterous the size of the cards was something of a difficulty.

They moved over to the bar, to drown their sorrows, well maybe just wet their sorrows, with a thimble full each of Irish Mist. Achillea was happy to see that someone had remembered to buy the liqueur in the small sample bottle. The honey-whisky concoction sometimes brought Achillea to the notion that they must, one day, visit Ireland.

Achillea noticed that Mina had decided not to join in the first round of the card game, so he climbed back aboard Pellicius, after the cat had had his shot, and they sauntered over to the manager for a chat.

Pellicius gave a warm, "Meow" in greeting, trying to get the lady vampire's attention. Achillea followed with a, "Hello, Miss Mina. I trust you're satisfied with the lack of rats about the Sunset Grove this last month?"

[Ameriganastan]

Apartment 101
In a building with actual ghosts it, one resident seemed even more elusive than the actual thing. Said resident was finally coming to after his previous night of hedonism.

"Bozhe moi..."

Even his two roommates barely saw anything of the guy. But the whole building had heard him. Or more specifically, his annoyingly loud music.

"Well, least I'm not waking up in a ditch again. That was a weird night."

He rolled out of bed...quite literally, as he rolled straight into the floor.

"Vodka and scotch. Lesson learned there. Do not mix them..."

He finally stumbled to his feet. Or hooves, anyway. He grabbed the shirt from the previous night, contemplating on what he wanted to do. He had no gig to get to today.

"Eh, don't feel like going anywhere. Work on set-list for next job."

He rummaged through a box of vinyl records, finding the one he wanted quite quickly. He slapped it on the turntable, and cranked the volume up.

"Time to make the beautiful noise."

Apartment 101 was soon drowned in thumping noise. As was any apartment nearby. It was probably a good thing he was rarely seen. His neighbors probably wanted to kill him.

[Nuridia]

Apartment 101
In a building with actual ghosts it, one resident seemed even more elusive than the actual thing. Said resident was finally coming to after his previous night of hedonism.

"Bozhe moi..."

Even his two roommates barely saw anything of the guy. But the whole building had heard him. Or more specifically, his annoyingly loud music.

"Well, least I'm not waking up in a ditch again. That was a weird night."

He rolled out of bed...quite literally, as he rolled straight into the floor.

"Vodka and scotch. Lesson learned there. Do not mix them..."

He finally stumbled to his feet. Or hooves, anyway. He grabbed the shirt from the previous night, contemplating on what he wanted to do. He had no gig to get to today.

"Eh, don't feel like going anywhere. Work on set-list for next job."

He rummaged through a box of vinyl records, finding the one he wanted quite quickly. He slapped it on the turntable, and cranked the volume up.

"Time to make the beautiful noise."

Apartment 101 was soon drowned in thumping noise. As was any apartment nearby. It was probably a good thing he was rarely seen. His neighbors probably wanted to kill him.

"Well I'm heading to Game Night...I would have been there earlier but I was debating whether or not to go." Tomi Juergens said to the living room at large as she grabbed her green hoodie and threw it on, wand in her side jean pocket.
"Coming Mugs?" she called, the gray rat scurried into the blonde witch's outstretched palms and then into the pocket of her hoodie where he curled up.
"Later!" she called before leaving and heading down to where Game Night was usually held. Some nights she went, some nights she didn't. And tonight she just felt like going. And because she hardly trusted a soul with her magical items, she actually managed to put a competent and strong locking charm on the trunk in her closet where she kept them. After about eight or nine tries. Walking in, there was an assortment of unusual people. Well not unusual around these parts. There was a redheaded vampire, and Mina, the landlord. And that old dude with the sax...where had she seen him before? She only saw glimpses of him here and there, but he reminded her so much of a picture her mom had.

[Insaeldor]

James Wesolysky
Game night

Fuck it, I though to myself as game night started to wind up a bit. I put the beer down on the game table as the snacks were opened, I only brough enough beers for five people since I took and opened mine with a multi-tool. I used the pliers to unseal the cap. Normally I'd just do what I always do a just hook the cap on the edge of the table and smack it. I however never crossed Mina but felt if I damaged property for such a reason she'd lose her shit.

I started to sip generally on my beer, it was a nice one, a little less hoppy and a sort of better carbonation. It had a flavor that budpiss really didn't have. Although watery and dull beers were nice if you wanted to get thrashed I chose the slightly more challenging stuff because it kept me from doing just that. This was a beer, that to me was one that couldn't be thrown back, it was to dense with flavours and the like. Not to say it was superior, it was just not as easy to carelessly throw back. I powered through about half of it fairly quickly, the other half would last me the night unless I really felt like getting buzzed.

"Anyone gotta clue what we're playing? My votes on uno." I said as I slowly looked around at everyone. I wasn't sure if what to say. I mean I lived with all these people but I still did know nor any idea how to interact with them. Probably a good thing I came down this way tonight in that case. My thoughts were interrupted by a meow and a squeaky voice. I looked down to see a cat a tiny little person thing. Normally that freak me out, but I live with a 7 foot tall Sasquatch who wrote books for a living and in an appartment full of these things, my land lord was a vampire which aside from being a great titile for an addition of "anime I wish they made" segment was all to real. I reached down I gave the cat a quick rub behind the ears and I turned back up. I pulled out a half finished back of Lucky Strikes from my chest pocket, where I usually kept them when to at work and pulled one out.

"Hey Mina, it cool if I smoke in here? Or does that like violate my lease or something?"

[Talchyon]

Sunset Grove Apartments, outside the elevators
Pre-Games Night
Chet Jones

Alpha heard a voice from somewhere in the room. Whoever it was, they seemed to be trying to hide from him... Perhaps it was that skeleton he smelt earlier, hiding from him until he knew if he was human or not.
Still, it wasn't like Alpha didn't know where he was, he was in a rather conveniant spot by the elevator. Or, at least, that was where the voice was coming from. Maybe they could throw their voice quite well?
Either way, Alpha's response was a simple shake of the head. However, his eyes fixated on the patch of shadow, he did inform the skeleton that full moon was about two weeks away.

The simple shake of the man's head was hardly enough to get the ball rolling. Though maybe it meant something. Maybe he didn't trust his voice speaking on such matters, if they indeed were close to home. But there was one thing about it. The guy seemed to know exactly the time of the full moon. Which meant that either he was an amateur astronomer... or he fit in at Sunset Grove Apartments with the rest of the residents.

Chet said, still from the shadows, "Because, you know, if there was a full moon, that's when werewolves come out. Which, personally, is fine with me. I got nothing against werewolves. I'm sure they're really great people. And one other thing... If there was a werewolf, I bet he would fit in here in this apartment complex..."

Come on. Take the bait. Either admit you're a werewolf or run out screaming because it's too weird. Either way will work! Chet had to wait for the man to answer...

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Sunset Grove Apartments, outside the elevators
Pre-Games Night
Chet Jones

Alpha heard a voice from somewhere in the room. Whoever it was, they seemed to be trying to hide from him... Perhaps it was that skeleton he smelt earlier, hiding from him until he knew if he was human or not.
Still, it wasn't like Alpha didn't know where he was, he was in a rather conveniant spot by the elevator. Or, at least, that was where the voice was coming from. Maybe they could throw their voice quite well?
Either way, Alpha's response was a simple shake of the head. However, his eyes fixated on the patch of shadow, he did inform the skeleton that full moon was about two weeks away.

The simple shake of the man's head was hardly enough to get the ball rolling. Though maybe it meant something. Maybe he didn't trust his voice speaking on such matters, if they indeed were close to home. But there was one thing about it. The guy seemed to know exactly the time of the full moon. Which meant that either he was an amateur astronomer... or he fit in at Sunset Grove Apartments with the rest of the residents.

Chet said, still from the shadows, "Because, you know, if there was a full moon, that's when werewolves come out. Which, personally, is fine with me. I got nothing against werewolves. I'm sure they're really great people. And one other thing... If there was a werewolf, I bet he would fit in here in this apartment complex..."

Come on. Take the bait. Either admit you're a werewolf or run out screaming because it's too weird. Either way will work! Chet had to wait for the man to answer...

Alpha sighed quietly to himself, slightly irritated by this stranger's questions. Surely he must already know he was a werewolf, or were most people's senses so dead they couldn't identify one werewolf on the other side of the room? He shuddered, wondering what life was like for them. Surely they felt weak...
And, anyway, these were very specific sentances. He must know already to talk like that, you wouldn't go up to any human and start talking about how great werewolves were. Still, he decided to humour the stranger and outstretched his arms.
"Yes, okay! I'm a werewolf, is that what you wanted to hear??"
He winced as soon as he finished talking, not meaning to come across so harshly.

[Talchyon]

Sunset Grove Apartments, outside the elevators
Pre-Games Night
Chet Jones

Alpha sighed quietly to himself, slightly irritated by this stranger's questions. Surely he must already know he was a werewolf, or were most people's senses so dead they couldn't identify one werewolf on the other side of the room? He shuddered, wondering what life was like for them. Surely they felt weak...
And, anyway, these were very specific sentances. He must know already to talk like that, you wouldn't go up to any human and start talking about how great werewolves were. Still, he decided to humour the stranger and outstretched his arms.
"Yes, okay! I'm a werewolf, is that what you wanted to hear??"
He winced as soon as he finished talking, not meaning to come across so harshly.

Hearing the right words, Chet grinned - which is completely how he normally looked, having no lips. But this new guy was in fact a werewolf! Great!

At this, Chet stepped out of the shadows, noticing that everyone else who had been in the lobby just recently had all gone, and it was he and the new guy left there. Chet made sure his coat was buttoned up first so the guy wouldn't think Chet was trying to flash him or something. And coming out, Chet said, in his kind of nasal and neurotic sounding tone, "If you're a werewolf, then you'll fit right in. Um. RIght, so I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Chet. Chet Jones. I live here. And I've never met a werewolf before, or at least, I don't think I have." Holding a bony hand out to try to shake hands, Chet hoped his grin was noticeable.

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Sunset Grove Apartments, outside the elevators
Pre-Games Night
Chet Jones

Alpha sighed quietly to himself, slightly irritated by this stranger's questions. Surely he must already know he was a werewolf, or were most people's senses so dead they couldn't identify one werewolf on the other side of the room? He shuddered, wondering what life was like for them. Surely they felt weak...
And, anyway, these were very specific sentances. He must know already to talk like that, you wouldn't go up to any human and start talking about how great werewolves were. Still, he decided to humour the stranger and outstretched his arms.
"Yes, okay! I'm a werewolf, is that what you wanted to hear??"
He winced as soon as he finished talking, not meaning to come across so harshly.

Hearing the right words, Chet grinned - which is completely how he normally looked, having no lips. But this new guy was in fact a werewolf! Great!

At this, Chet stepped out of the shadows, noticing that everyone else who had been in the lobby just recently had all gone, and it was he and the new guy left there. Chet made sure his coat was buttoned up first so the guy wouldn't think Chet was trying to flash him or something. And coming out, Chet said, in his kind of nasal and neurotic sounding tone, "If you're a werewolf, then you'll fit right in. Um. RIght, so I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Chet. Chet Jones. I live here. And I've never met a werewolf before, or at least, I don't think I have." Holding a bony hand out to try to shake hands, Chet hoped his grin was noticeable.

So it was a skeleton! His senses hadn't failed him.
The skeleton introduced himself as Chet, grinning and holding his hand out. At least, Alpha thought he was grinning... It was hard to tell, he was pretty sure skulls smiled in that creepy way normally.

The werewolf took Chet's hand and shook it. "Alpha Johnson. Hi."
He didn't really see the point of introducing himself, he was going to have to leave pretty soon. So he told the skeleton this. "I imagine I would fit it... However, I won't be. I just had most of my money stolen by some taxi driver... I can't afford rent from anywhere now. I'll be sleeping on the streets from now on, perhaps we'll cross paths again?"
He doubted it but, hey, he might as well be be friendly.

[The Olog-Hai]

Edward England
Sunset Grove Apartments, Bangor, Maine
Game Night

Game Night. It was a thing that they did, here at Sunset Grove, for Nightsiders and people who were aware of the existence of the Nightsiders, an important distinction, as there were still a few who lived here who were entirely oblivious, even when the facts were right in front of them. Oblivious or in denial. Either way, it was in effect the same. Mina said to leave them alone, so he did. Edward was pretty sure that this was the last place he could stand living, or at least existing, with others like him. And so, to not set himself apart, Edward went to Game Night. They always played such... interesting games, ones the Edward had some trouble understanding at first, but now he's decent.

There was also usually alcohol at Game Night, something that was an upside for him, though he couldn't get drunk any more. It had to do with him being a zombie, and not needing to eat or drink. Someone explained it to him once, but it was using terms he didn't really understand, like "biological processes." Still, Edward would have a drink every once in a while, because for some odd reason he could still taste, and he liked the tastes of certain alcohols. Sometimes he would bring something with him, something very old he picked up on his travels. People told him they could be worth a lot of money, but what was he going to spend money on? He didn't need to eat or drink, and he had plenty of gold to pay Mina for his rent. Tonight he hadn't brought anything, though. He wasn't really in the mood for drinking tonight, since he had serious business to attend to: talking to some of the others here, and seeing if they knew of any job opportunities he could take. His gold was finally running out.

The group started out by playing a game of Uno. This was a game Edward had played a few times before, and he sat down to play with the others.

[Talchyon]

Sunset Grove Apartments, outside the elevators
Pre-Games Night
Chet Jones

So it was a skeleton! His senses hadn't failed him.
The skeleton introduced himself as Chet, grinning and holding his hand out. At least, Alpha thought he was grinning... It was hard to tell, he was pretty sure skulls smiled in that creepy way normally.

The werewolf took Chet's hand and shook it. "Alpha Johnson. Hi."
He didn't really see the point of introducing himself, he was going to have to leave pretty soon. So he told the skeleton this. "I imagine I would fit it... However, I won't be. I just had most of my money stolen by some taxi driver... I can't afford rent from anywhere now. I'll be sleeping on the streets from now on, perhaps we'll cross paths again?"
He doubted it but, hey, he might as well be be friendly.

Chet looked at the forlorn looking werewolf, and briefly felt bad. It was a pithy pretty pity party. But, as Chet had lived in the apartments for some time now, he had an idea.

"Hey Alpha. You know? Ok, so, I'm sure you can track down this taxi driver and get your money. But until then? You can room with me. I'm pretty respectful and I don't think I'm a slob or something. Tell you what. Why don't you think about it, and then tonight at game night here at the apartments, you can stop on by and we'll see if the landlady is ok with that? Sound good?"

Chet had never had a roommate before - at least, not that he could tell. He had been in skeletal form for a few years now. Had woken up in the alley behind the Apartments with nothing but his library card that told him his name. As far as he could remember, he'd never had a roommate before. But, you have to help when someone needs help. That's what Kent Graham was doing for him. And that's what Chet would do for Alpha. If he didn't mind rooming with a skeleton.

[Wheatley Laboratories]

Sunset Grove Apartments, outside the elevators
Pre-Games Night
Chet Jones

So it was a skeleton! His senses hadn't failed him.
The skeleton introduced himself as Chet, grinning and holding his hand out. At least, Alpha thought he was grinning... It was hard to tell, he was pretty sure skulls smiled in that creepy way normally.

The werewolf took Chet's hand and shook it. "Alpha Johnson. Hi."
He didn't really see the point of introducing himself, he was going to have to leave pretty soon. So he told the skeleton this. "I imagine I would fit it... However, I won't be. I just had most of my money stolen by some taxi driver... I can't afford rent from anywhere now. I'll be sleeping on the streets from now on, perhaps we'll cross paths again?"
He doubted it but, hey, he might as well be be friendly.

Chet looked at the forlorn looking werewolf, and briefly felt bad. It was a pithy pretty pity party. But, as Chet had lived in the apartments for some time now, he had an idea.

"Hey Alpha. You know? Ok, so, I'm sure you can track down this taxi driver and get your money. But until then? You can room with me. I'm pretty respectful and I don't think I'm a slob or something. Tell you what. Why don't you think about it, and then tonight at game night here at the apartments, you can stop on by and we'll see if the landlady is ok with that? Sound good?"

Chet had never had a roommate before - at least, not that he could tell. He had been in skeletal form for a few years now. Had woken up in the alley behind the Apartments with nothing but his library card that told him his name. As far as he could remember, he'd never had a roommate before. But, you have to help when someone needs help. That's what Kent Graham was doing for him. And that's what Chet would do for Alpha. If he didn't mind rooming with a skeleton.

Alpha frowned for a moment, wondering if the skeleton was messing with him, taking enjoyment from tricking somebody. However, there was no change to Chet's expression or body languge, so the werewolf allowed himself a rare smile. It was rare to find people this nice, so he best not mess this up and start rambling again like most of the time.
"Hey- urm- thanks! I'd love to room with you." Alpha replied to the skeleton. He visibly cheered up, his smile growing as he realised his accomadation was now more-or-less sorted. Assuming the landlady thought it was okay...
"Once I get my money back, I'll pay you back. Or pay half future rent, I don't know. Urm... I guess I'll head back here when game night is on... It's midnight, right? I think I read it on a flyer or something."
Grabbing his bags, the photographer headed outside. "I'll see you later, Chet."

[Segral]

Les Claybeach

It had been quite the eventful day today.

After his little stunt, he had seen Bill Cohen, the jazz man in the lot. He had always liked Bill, he was a nice guy and they both loved music. He then had gone to the hardware store and picked up the stuff he needed, and headed back. Mina had shot him an evil glare when he had walked in, which, admittedly, made him feel a tiny bit bad. He hadn't meant to offend or hurt anyone, he just...sometimes these urges to create chaos that he couldn't control. It was weird. Anyways, he had headed upstairs, and cleaned the carpet in his room. It had taken all day. He first vacuumed, then spot-cleaned with a rag (and boy were there spots) and then shampooed. It had been hard work, but it was rewarding to have the cleanest carpet in the whole building. He had then went out to work, tending the bar and impressing the young ladies with his flair spins and ability to pour three shots at once. He had then packed up early, smuggled some cocktail stuff from the bar and headed home for game night, one of his favorite days. He was hoping Chet was there, Chet was always a fun guy...er, skeleton.

Les walked in and put all of his cocktail mixes and glasses down on a nearby table and quickly took a swig out of near-empty glass of beer. Chet wasn't here. Huh. Mina was still glaring at him, and James was having a smoke, but no sign of Chet. He then pulled out an envelope of cash he had in his bag, that he had picked up from an ATM, and walked over to Mina's office, and dropped the envelope on the desk. There was a note inside that read, in his sloppy handwriting:

"Mina, I'm sorry about my shenanigans. Hope Elsa's alright. Some extra rent enclosed. Thanks, Les."

He then walked back into the lobby. No sign of Chet still. He sighed and decided to just watch some TV and drink some beer until Chet arrived.

[Aghrabia]

Mina's response to his question was just pure gold. "I have a crucifix if you want it." Giving a hearty laugh, he finished his beer and went off to get another one. He liked Les, but sometimes he did push people's buttons a little too much. Possessing someone against their will, for instance, went past even that.

Things had started to speed up, though, with more people arriving by the minute: Les, more vampires (including the new resident, Sebastian, if he was correct), the pirate king Edward England himself, and someone who was of much more personal significance to him- Thomasina Juergen, to give her her full name. He saw her glance at him for a second, but that passed quickly. Bill would rather avoid her at this point than risk the awkwardness that would inevitably come if they were to talk.

Uno, though, was a game he knew, and something he felt entirely unawkward playing. He pulled up a chair and watched intently as You shuffled the cards.

[Beiarusia]

Mina Harker
Sunset Grove Apartments, Bangor, Maine - October 1999

Mina sat out of the first game (won by the lucky Edward England who had only a tenuous understanding of Uno at best), opting to finish her tasteless beer while bumming a cigarette from James as a "cigarette tax — smoking was allowed in the parlor so long as the window was open as a courtesy, which it was, thus no complaints to be had. Sitting in the armchair a bit away from the table and from the others, Mina was enjoying the drag of low-quality nicotine when her attention was drawn to the floor by a soft "meow" as an old cat wandered over with the tiny pixie riding atop. "Hello, Miss Mina, " said Achillea. "I trust you're satisfied with the lack of rats about Sunset Grove this last month?"

"Guess I haven't seen as many as usual," Mina said. The building was very old, a century almost, and mice had long since made themselves at home. The pixie was living rent-free due to his obvious inability to find work but had taken it upon himself to rid the apartment of the pesky rodents as a form of repayment. Mina considered asking if Achillea would be willing to rid the grounds of the stray gnomes that had drifted in from the nearby woods but thought better of it. Gnomes preyed upon pixies, after all. The vampire asked how he was doing instead. "How's the attic? You don't need anything, right?"

Her attention was divided by Lester taking his leave. The demon walked over towards the office, and although it was difficult to see from where she was sitting Mina was fairly certain that that was were Lester had gone, and resolved to blame him for anything that turned up missing in the morning. She could have gone after Lester now but decided against it lest he piss her off.

[Talchyon]

Midnight Game Night
Chet Jones

Les Claybeach

It had been quite the eventful day today.

After his little stunt, he had seen Bill Cohen, the jazz man in the lot. He had always liked Bill, he was a nice guy and they both loved music. He then had gone to the hardware store and picked up the stuff he needed, and headed back. Mina had shot him an evil glare when he had walked in, which, admittedly, made him feel a tiny bit bad. He hadn't meant to offend or hurt anyone, he just...sometimes these urges to create chaos that he couldn't control. It was weird. Anyways, he had headed upstairs, and cleaned the carpet in his room. It had taken all day. He first vacuumed, then spot-cleaned with a rag (and boy were there spots) and then shampooed. It had been hard work, but it was rewarding to have the cleanest carpet in the whole building. He had then went out to work, tending the bar and impressing the young ladies with his flair spins and ability to pour three shots at once. He had then packed up early, smuggled some cocktail stuff from the bar and headed home for game night, one of his favorite days. He was hoping Chet was there, Chet was always a fun guy...er, skeleton.

Les walked in and put all of his cocktail mixes and glasses down on a nearby table and quickly took a swig out of near-empty glass of beer. Chet wasn't here. Huh. Mina was still glaring at him, and James was having a smoke, but no sign of Chet. He then pulled out an envelope of cash he had in his bag, that he had picked up from an ATM, and walked over to Mina's office, and dropped the envelope on the desk. There was a note inside that read, in his sloppy handwriting:

"Mina, I'm sorry about my shenanigans. Hope Elsa's alright. Some extra rent enclosed. Thanks, Les."

He then walked back into the lobby. No sign of Chet still. He sighed and decided to just watch some TV and drink some beer until Chet arrived.

What a day! Not only was he going to be helping a poor guy out, but he had also found the missing money in his apartment! Chet was pleasantly surprised to find three separate $20s being used as bookmarks. Ok, so it would probably be smarter to use one of those twenties and buy a bookmark or three, instead of just using the twenty itself as a bookmark. But, that could wait. Now, Chet could actually pay his rent on time. A few minutes past midnight was close enough to the original day.

Deciding to take the stairs, Chet thought better of the deathtrap that was the ancient elevator that would eventually creak its way to the certain doom of some unlucky tenant. Besides, he could use the exercise. He was pretty sedentary at work, just standing around and not really doing anything. Plus, Chet was thinking he was getting kind of fat. He caught himself looking in mirrors and checking out his hind quarters. Yeah. All 40 lbs. of him. Definitely fat. And it didn't help when some people tried to give sympathy and say something like, "You're not fat. You're just big boned." To Chet, being fat and being big boned was equally devastating and not at all flattering.

Getting down to the bottom of the stairs, Chet heard the noises of the apartment chit-chat going on in the multipurpose room. But the lobby wasn't empty. There was one of the tenants he knew. Les. Les Claybeach. Kind of a hothead sometimes, but that's kind of an occupational hazard coming from a demon. Les and Chet had an interesting relationship. Les was one who would assert that he knew what mattered most, and Chet was one who would question how he defined what mattered most. Besides, Chet didn't know if Les knew that Chet had won several radio trivia contests before. If Les did know, he wasn't telling Chet. So Les might know that Chet knew what he knew, but not if it was new. You know? No? Whatever. Be it as it may, Les was kind of a mixture between acquaintance, friendly rival, and then not-so friendly rival. Again, he was a hothead sometimes.

Chet walked up to his on-again, off-again rival Les, and said, "Hello, Les. Heck of a night."

[Ameriganastan]

"Va-va-Vasily, Ukraine's greatest love machine. There was a goat who really was gone..."

Whatever peace the lobby had was soon left for dead as Vasily descended the stairs. Wearing a shirt so covered in sequins, looking directly at it would probably make you see spots. And just to offend the others senses, his tone-deaf singing would make Helen Keller cover her ears. Not to mention the cologne he seemed to have bathed in on his way down. The smell was in the room before he was.

"Look out ladies, Vasily is about to hit the town...there are no ladies here...I should really meet the other people here. I'm sure there is one attractive lady in this building. She'd be lucky to share my bed."

Donning the $5 gas-station sunglasses he thought completed his ensemble, he scanned the room. All he saw was a guy he didn't recognize and a skeleton.

"Ah. So that wasn't just that bad batch of ganja I had on the way home the other day. There really is a walking skeleton around here. Good to know. I was about to call Roy and ask for a refund."

Deciding to be neighborly (For him, anyway) he strolled over.

"How goes it, bone man? I'd ask if you want to join Vasily on what little nightlife there is to be had in the town, but you seem a little...skinny for it.""

[WhatsamattaU]

Mina Harker
Sunset Grove Apartments, Bangor, Maine - October 1999

Mina sat out of the first game (won by the lucky Edward England who had only a tenuous understanding of Uno at best), opting to finish her tasteless beer while bumming a cigarette from James as a "cigarette tax — smoking was allowed in the parlor so long as the window was open as a courtesy, which it was, thus no complaints to be had. Sitting in the armchair a bit away from the table and from the others, Mina was enjoying the drag of low-quality nicotine when her attention was drawn to the floor by a soft "meow" as an old cat wandered over with the tiny pixie riding atop. "Hello, Miss Mina, " said Achillea. "I trust you're satisfied with the lack of rats about Sunset Grove this last month?"

"Guess I haven't seen as many as usual," Mina said. The building was very old, a century almost, and mice had long since made themselves at home. The pixie was living rent-free due to his obvious inability to find work but had taken it upon himself to rid the apartment of the pesky rodents as a form of repayment. Mina considered asking if Achillea would be willing to rid the grounds of the stray gnomes that had drifted in from the nearby woods but thought better of it. Gnomes preyed upon pixies, after all. The vampire asked how he was doing instead. "How's the attic? You don't need anything, right?"

"Oh," replied the Pixie, "it's quite nice. I have a number of plants that do well without a lot of direct sunlight and the gable windows supply enough sunlight for the plants that need more of it...."

Then he said, "Not as many as usual? I'm astounded that you've seen any! Pellicius Magnus is the terror of rodent-kind! I am amazed...." Achillea trailed off briefly and looked at his feline compatriot. The two raised mirrored eyebrows and looked back at Mina. "So many vampires in the place... any chances one of the tenants is summoning more rodents?"

Pellicius gave Mina a purr, his self assurance totally intact against a slur on his reputation.

Achillea decided to change the conversation. "I think there might be a witch in the town that I hadn't discovered before. Then again, it may be a case of typical human bad-mouthing and slander. Have you checked out The 'Flower Power Natural Remedies' store?"

The Pixie waited to see if the topic had any interest to Miss Mina....