2014-03-30 - And Now For My Next Trick... - Sharpened Blades

Bugger. Not his scene, this Dark Lights place, but in John Constantine's humble opinion, it had a few things going for it:

1) It is loud, so the conversation he was planning on having wouldn't be so likely to be overheard

2) It is the kind of place the victims of whatever it was were likely to be found, given the information he had, and

3) They serve strong drinks.

To be fair, the latter point held highest in John's esteem. And despite Papa Midnight's earlier assertions that the rash of disappearances were not vampire-related, John himself isn't quite so sure. Something about the whole mess had him feeling a bit off about it.

So, what else was there to do, but send a message through the couple of mutual contacts he had with Blade, the vampire hunter from the other world? Hopefully the man will show up soon-- John is getting a mite toasty. Mixed drinks are a bad idea, he'd prefer a good pint, but when in Rome-- or terrible techno clubs geared towards brats half his age...

Blade had gotten the message through one of his paranormal contacts, a reliable one, so when he heard that someone who did similar work to him needed a word with him, he decided that he'd show up. Even though this was a casual meeting, he was about to step into a nightclub, a place where vampires tend to go to find their prey. But Blade was willing to compromise a little. Instead of coming in full arsenal, he settled for some knives around his belt and one of his machine gun pistols in a shoulder holster under his coat. Sunglasses covering his eyes as always, he takes a seat next to Constantine. He comments in a gruff voice. "You went through a lot of trouble to get a message to me. Constantine, right?" He orders no drink, though he does casually look around the place from time to time.

"Yeah, that's me," John replies in his Liverpool accent, offering a hand to shake. "John Constantine, magician, problem child, and right bastard." He cracks a grin. "Heard yer a bit of a monster hunter, an' figured ya might want a bit of a heads up, mate. Been some folk disappearin' in the city past month, more than usual."

Blade shakes John's hand. "Blade. Monster hunter, half-vampire, general asshole. A pleasure to meet you, officially. I've followed a few of your exploits out of curiosity." He withdraws his hand and leans back. After a moment he nods. "And you're thinking that vampires might be involved. I do admit, I haven't been watching them as closely as I usually do. A side project has a lot of my attention these days." He was talking about X-Force, but he doesn't go into detail about it. "Thanks for the heads up though. Have you ruled out elves, fairies, or perhaps Oberon? The fey love to kidnap people for their own purposes."

"Could be vamps. Or fey. Best I have after a walkabout is that it ain't people falling out of reality or somesuch-- nah, gotta be some sort of outside forces at play." Constantine taps out a cigarette and lights it, then offers the pack to Blade. "Smoke?" He sighs. "Regardless, what I know is, it's not jus' here, mate. It's here, Chicago, Los Angeles... Vegas, too. And London, my ol' stompin' grounds. Got the word out askin' about Edinburgh, Moscow, and Paris, but I'm thinkin' they probably are having similar problems. Regular folk being snatched up and disappearin', within four or five blocks, give or take, of the local watering hole for our types."

Blade takes on a thoughtful look while John speaks. He shakes his head at the offer of a smoke. "Happening all over then. This is serious. On a positive note, I don't want to go back to Otherworld, so there's that. But perhaps you and I should take a closer look at this." He grunts. "I should consult my library...maybe there is a creature with this particular pattern. Who gave you this info to begin with?"

Constantine blows out a cloud of smoke. "Know Papa Midnite? Owns Midnites, uptown Manhattan?" He shrugs. "He brought it to my attention, asked me to look into it-- hurtin' his business, you know."

Ah yes, most in the occult community know of Papa Midnite and his particular establishment. People like Blade weren't particularly welcome there, since fey, vamps, and other such creatures were allowed to come and go as they pleased, provided they didn't eat the humans or start fights. As for John, he really couldn't care less who did what, so long as they weren't eating people, stealing souls, or trying to destroy the world. So there was that.

Blade growls. "The demon...yes, I know of him. I have had no dealings with him, however the word is that he sometimes helps, and he sometimes doesn't..but that he is insanely powerful. He's on my list..but near the bottom." The List was a real thing. Beings that Blade has come across that needs killing..Dracula was on the top of that list. "I stay away from his place. I couldn't abide by the rules." He's stake a vamp wherever he found it..therefore he wasn't welcome.

John actually laughs at that. "Demon, eh?" he flicks some of the ash off his cigarette. "I'll tell him next time I see him." He muses. "Then again, I've known a few actual demons I'd trust more, so there is that." He draws another drag. "So, question is, where to go from here? Could be fey. Could be vamps-- I hope not though. Really, 'm not too fond of the bloodsuckers." He taps his chin thoughtfully. "But all the victims are normal folk, not..." he wiggles his fingers. "You know."

Blade grunts some more about that. "I have some contacts. I'll look into it. I know some people in high places that might be willing to let me do a little more in depth research. See if these people have anything in common. You know, the usual."

Constantine nods, then namedrops someone that might not exactly be on Blade's most favorite person list. "Yeah, that's what Jason Blood said he was going to do. Overly polite bloke if you ask me, but you didn't." He tosses back the rest of his drink.