FicWad

Chapter Four: Welcome to St. Louis

Thinking about the events that transpired less than a month ago, I couldn't help but wonder how on Earth did I get myself into these situations. I am in a semi-erotic power partnership with a vampire and a werewolf. There's no punch line after this statement because I really am in an erotic power partnership with a vampire and a werewolf. It seems just like yesterday when I was killing these beings without a second glance. Talk about eating your humble pie. Now one of them has shared my bed and I was not the least bit regretful about it. But now I was regretful that I was not regretful if that makes any sense. Hold up. /Shared my bed/. God, I'm even starting to sound like him.

Annoyed that I was confusing myself, I decided to concentrate my attention on something I could fix, my hunger. I use to term hunger lightly since I haven't had that much of an appetite since the Richard and the park feasted on Marcus a la carte. I wanted to smack myself at the thought of the Ulfric that is currently not speaking to me. It would be my luck to be bound to a person who currently hates my guts. Not that I can totally blame him mind you, but it's no less annoying. Again, trying to get my mind off the 12 story drop that is my personal life, I went into Chancey's to get to a Chicken Caesar Salad; red meat brings up bad memories, okay. After my order was ready, I turned to leave and would have almost immediately bumped into someone if they hadn't seen me coming. Looking up into his face my bag dropped from my hand. Edward. Taking him in from head to toe, I saw he was in his black jeans and black shirt which almost was classic assassin gear. This didn't sound good.

Edward was in town and hadn't done his routine breaking and entering. I do not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The last time I spoke to him, he told me that I owed him a favor due to me killing Harvey and way he said it did not have me thinking that was a good thing. But I guess it could be worse; he could have asked for a draw down. I had no idea he was here and worse I had no idea what "business" he was on in the town. I couldn't help but wonder was he after someone and if so, who? More importantly, were they anyone I knew?

Knowing how long Edward can go without saying something, I decided to break the ice. "What brings you to town Edward?"

Handing me back my bag, he replied in a way that I wouldn't say was usual for him. He looked at me dead on in a way that I remembered from the freak party. It meant /play along or else/. "Nothing of the usual variety. I guess you could say I'm on vacation. I'm just showing my little cousin around." With that he moved out of the way and gave me a view of the young man in question. I expected a reaction from the kid at the words "little cousin" like most teenagers, but it appears he was too busy to notice because he was staring at me. He stared at me like I was a puzzle he was trying to decipher and was having problems.

He must have noticed he was staring, so he blinked and stuck his hand out and out came a clearly British accent. "Hi, I'm Matt. Nice to meet you."

I was about to respond when my hand connected with his. I felt a rush of power unknown to anything I had ever felt before. Almost instinctively, I felt my necromancy flare against the foreign magic, but I quashed it down. It felt warm. Not hot like a lycanthrope and not cold like death magic. Just warm. However, before I could analyze it any further, he took his hand back very quickly, but not quick enough to make a scene, and his stare narrowed.

Finally deciding to take all of him in, he was about a little over six feet with grey eyes and red hair hiding under a baseball cap. But there was something about the little hair I did see. It seemed like there was something surrounding his hair, kind of like the glamour I encountered at the Bouviers, but not. The kid had magic, but I didn't know what flavor. He's hanging out with Edward; who says it's his cousin. Anyone hanging out with Edward makes me wary and then add in foreign magic and his wariness of me. Yep. He goes on the alert list, but I decided to play it cool. "Nice to meet you. I'm Anita. I hope you enjoy your stay in St. Louis."

In my peripheral vision, I saw Edward staring at us with a raised eyebrow and brought the attention back to him. "I'm sure he will." I noticed he wore a smug smile on his face, one that I took as amusement. "Yeah. We will be here for about two weeks and I'm showing him all the sights St. Louis has to offer."

"What does St. Louis have to offer?" I asked wrapping my arms around me. Yeah, I was trying to pry, but this was Edward. Who knows what's going on and it was not like he was going to tell me much anyway.

Running his hands through his hair, he turned to look at me with a ghost of a smirk on his face. He knew what I was trying to do and surprisingly responded with a lot more than I thought he was. "Matt comes from a very sheltered family, so there is a lot that he doesn't know about the world in general, let alone the preternatural world. Since, he knows next to nothing, I'm trying to take him to the safest of places so he can adequately explore and learn. As much as it pains me to admit it, this is probably one of the safest places for him to learn about preternaturals. Between Jean Claude, RPIT, and yourself, you guys have done a good job keeping them in line."

Wait one minute. Did Edward just comment me? Better yet, did Edward just comment Jean-Claude? No fang face. What's happening with the world? Next, Dolph is going to be singing show tunes when I go into RPIT headquarters. This was not Edward behavior and I was about to remind him of it when I remembered his guest whom he clearly didn't want to know about his occupation yet. Just when I was about to formulate a response, I was cut off by Edward glancing at his watch. "Sorry to cut you short Anita, but Matt and I have to make our show. I'll see you around." He glanced up at me with a smile and went for the door with his "cousin" dead behind him and leaving me slightly gaping at the bar.

After standing there for a moment, I made my way the jeep replaying the interaction in my head. Did Edward just dish out comments? Hell, did Edward just smile? The unEdward like behavior threw me for a loop. Can you imagine a congenial Edward? That's what he almost was. With the behavior change, he managed not to seem so assassin like to his "cousin" yet head me off at the same time. That bastard! Being around Jean-Claude, I should have known better by now. I was just manipulated and manipulated well. What do you know? Point to Edward.
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"What the bloody hell was that?" I demanded of Alex as soon as we got a good distance away from the restaurant. I had never felt power like that before in my life. It was so cold that I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up before it abruptly ended like she had control over it.

"What?" Alex or should I say Edward responded looking puzzled despite the fact I could see the humor in his eyes. After a transatlantic flight, changing clothes and appearance like an Unspeakable, and the overall stress of what's going on, I did not have the time or the patience for this.

"What? What?" I asked lowering my voice to keep from attracting attention. "Well, /Edward/, I would like to know who the Hell that lady was and why the Hell did I feel cold to my bones when I shook her hand. What's with the alias, /Edward/? You confirmed my identity, but with all that is going on, I'm thinking maybe I need to do something to confirm yours."

The amusement in his eyes spread to the rest of face and kept walking until he got to a green automobile. He leaned on the door and crossed his arms. "Good time to ask. You know /Draconis/, for a cunning sharp Slytherin, you have been very off your game tonight. If I had wanted to do something to you, I could have slipped you something a lot more interesting than Veritaserum in that water and you know it. You were always a cranky one when tired and you let everyone knew it too."

Yes to all of the above. First, this was definitely Alex. He was the only person who would ever call me Draconis despite it not being my name. Second, I was not nearly as attentive as I should have been when I got to that table. There are plenty of nasty potions out there that look just like water. Again, I am tired and cranky and therefore, I am not at best, or worse depending on whose evaluating it.

Cringing at the Draconis, I replied "Damn straight. But getting back to my initial question, what the bloody hell was that?"

"That my wayward cousin was Anita Blake," he said as he opened the doors the vehicle, "vampire hunter, lycanthrope hunter, and necromancer."

"Necromancer! She's a necromancer!" I said as I probably turned two shades paler in pallor, "And she still walks the streets." What little I did know about necromancers was that these were people that you did not want to mess with. They had an affinity for death and death magic of course was deemed dark magic. In Britain, anyone caught practicing death magic was sent to Azkaban, no excuses.

Continuing on as almost as if he didn't hear me Alex stated, "What you probably felt was her magic reacting to your magic, which she felt. Better yet, I know she felt, but she doesn't know what type of magic. That's why I left so abruptly to avoid the twenty questions. It's probably going to bug the hell out of her for ages."

Attempting to pull this all in I restated. "Okay. First, I'm in the muggle world where necromancers walk around with no restrictions or recourse. Second, she sensed my magic and I was scared nearly to incontinence by her magic."

"Yeah. That's about it for now. Now get in the car." He said with amusement coloring his voice.

"/For now/. That sounds nice and ominous."

"Why do you think we are here for two weeks? I know you are aching for a bed right now. But in the next few days, prepare to have your mind blown. Oh and seatbeats." Seeing my puzzled expression, he added, "The band of fabric beside the door. It keeps you from bumbling about like you do on the Knight Bus."

"Okay." I said as I fastened the band around me and then we were off. As I felt myself drifting off to sleep I heard Alex mumble.

"Incontinence Drake? Can't you say piss your pants like other sixteen year olds?"
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Once reaching the hotel, the conversation was reduced to null due to overall fatigue on my part and as for Alex part, it appears that he was just used to silence unlike other people who would just start rattling off about nothing to just feel said silence. I must admit that it was a much welcomed difference.

After a decent night's sleep, I was more amiable and awoke to Alex coming into the hotel with a decent size bag.

"You're up early. I didn't know you were gone." I said rubbing my eyes as I got out of bed. Alex glanced at my recent state and nodded.

"Yeah, we're going to have to work on that. I went ahead and ordered breakfast while I was down stairs. It should be here soon. But for now, I need you to make a choice and you are going to have to live with this choice for at least the next two weeks." After giving that statement, he pulled five small boxes out of the bag. Reading the boxes, I noticed all of them were titled Loving Care and the only differences amongst them were the pictures of the people on the boxes. The hair colors were different ranging for dirty blonde to jet black. Putting two and two together, I turned to Alex and gave him my view on the idea. "No."

"Draco. You can't walk around with your natural color. It's too noticeable and it's natural. You're trying to avoid attention, not seek it out. Genetically, very few people are that blonde. As much as it pains me to admit it, the Malfoy's are known for their hair color if nothing else. You will get a bunch of questions that you will be unable to answer."

"So why not another glamour charm then?" I said glancing at one of the boxes that said auburn delight with the pseudo-redhead smiling on the front.

"Other than the fact that I can't cast any spells right now; charms and spells can be cancelled. People with magical eyes can see through them easily and some people, even some non-magicals, can sense the energy that goes into long lasting charms like that. With chemical dye, the only thing you have to watch out for is you new growth. No worry of cancellation charms because it's not magic." Alex responded. Knowing I didn't have anything to stand on other than just being difficult, I moved on to another area of interest as I perused through the different colors hoping to catch him off guard.

"Why can't you do magic?" He looked like he was about answer when he put up a hand halting any conversation. I don't know how he could tell, but seconds later there was a knock at the door.

After a quick breakfast, I showered and emerged from the bathroom as a redhead for the sake of consistency to get a rundown of our stay in St. Louis. I was a little more than shocked that for the whole course of this stay, we would be going around as muggles on a holiday. During the daytime, we would just go around and explore muggle culture and customs and to get to know the city itself. However at night, I would learn about what is called "preternatural" St. Louis. Goody.
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Over the next two weeks, my fragile little world was turned upside down, well more than it was already. On the first day of this adventure that is St. Louis, Alex bought me some more clothes to help me blend in more with my age group and we toured different parts of the city ranging from the arch to actually going on the campus of Washington University. Matter of fact we spent a good amount of time on the campus and I must admit that I enjoyed the sights, all of them if you know what I mean. While there, Alex began explaining to me some of the basics about the muggle world.

"What some people lack in magic, they make up for in ingenuity." Alex said as I sat taking in the sight of young men and women around my age going to their classes with devices attached to their ears. Some talked back to the devices while others didn't. Others were laid out in the grass with devices in their laps that they typed letters into and communicate with people from all over the world according to Alex. It looked like it might be something really of interest.

However, if I was amazed in the daytime, few words could describe what I felt at night. For my first step into the preternatural realm, Alex took me out to dinner at a place called the Lunatic Café. Going in, I was initially disappointed looking at the people who frequented the place, but not in the way one would think. Now that I think back on it, I don't know what I was looking for, but it wasn't the casual bar restaurant feel of the Three Broomsticks with what appeared to be muggles of all types bustling about. With that in mind, I looked at Alex in question as we took our seats.

"This is the Lunatic Café. Other than selling pretty good food from what I heard, it is also one of the main hangout spots for Lycanthropes. Speaking of which, the main groups in the city are the wolves, rats, leopards, and lions. The wolves are the largest in number, but the rats may be stronger right now due to a power shift in the wolf pack."

The man had only spoken four sentences and I was already confused. "Rats? Leopards? I'm sorry, but you are going to have to start from the beginning. The only thing I know about is the wolves that turn on a full moon." And that wasn't much.

"The world is too connected for this sought of ignorance. No offence to you, but you have to admit something is off Drake." I nodded in agreement wondering about who's, the whys, and the how's.

Alex continued, "I'm just going to give this to you in the American non-magical perspective. Lycanthropy is viewed as a lifelong disease despite the fact they have a type of magic. The wolf form is the most contagious form and therefore is the most heard about. However, there are various types ranging from the big cats, to bears, and even snakes. Due to it being viewed as a disease here, it is technically illegal to discriminate against anyone."

Having heard him say that, it made me think about Lupin who was one of the decent defense professors we had. For the few times I did see the man, he constantly looked like he had seen and lived in Hell. Better yet, what made him stay in Britain when he could have been living it up here? "So you are saying that they are just like everyone else except that they can lift the both of us over their head without breaking a sweat and can turn into animals once a month?"

"No and no." Alex replied appearing to look behind me, at what I don't know. "No matter how much some of them want to, they will never be just human. Animal instincts will always be there whether they fight it, embrace it, or compromise with it. They usually form groups for protection, support, and a means to retain order. Whether its pack, pard, flock or school, there will a select few at the top keeping the others in check and this is usually based on those animal instincts. As to the second part of your question, they can shift anytime they want and some can even partially shift to a man beast hybrid form."

Trying to get a grasp of the situation I asked looking up at Alex, "So other than their groups, what's to stop them from suddenly deciding to rip me to pieces if they ever so desired?"

However, my answer didn't come from Alex, who was looking at the man suddenly standing at my left with something I'd like to call calculating indifference. "It's the same thing that keeps you from waking up one morning and deciding to blow away all of your classmates. Right, Edward?"

With that I turned around and saw the man looking at Alex straight in the eyes yet his expressions seemed to alternate between disgust and resignation. About what, I don't know. But I also saw something else, determination. Before I could take in anymore of his features, my attention was directed back to Alex with his one word response. "True." Sensing there was a story here that I knew nothing about I decided to sit back and watch were it went.

Our mystery person was about to say more until someone yelled out. "Hey, Richard! You've got company."

The stranger named Richard turned in the direction of the voice and I could have sworn the temperature shot up a few degrees in our immediate area. I turned glanced towards Alex and I saw him looking in the direction of Richard's gaze, or should I say glare. Making her way over to our table was again Anita Blake and from the looks of it she was trying to mask shock. However, before I could begin to wonder what Ms. Blake was shocked about, Alex stood up. "Come on Matt. We gotta go." The movement from Alex must have jogged Richard from his own thoughts and he tried to say what ever he needed to say, "Edward, I just wanted to tell you..."

"Don't worry about it. I have a feeling you have bigger issues to worry about and I just realized that I had someone else I had to meet up with." Alex responded already beginning to move through the tables with me struggling to keep up. Taking glance behind me I saw Richard storming off into another section of the café, leaving Ms. Blake in a quandary. I took it she followed after Richard considering she didn't follow us out of the restaurant.

Once outside, I found myself repeating words that I had found my self saying a lot these past few days. "Now what was that all about? Because if I didn't know better, it would appear that you were chased out of a restaurant by a girl."

"And this is one time you would be right because I did not feel like playing twenty questions and I sure did not want to listen to what was about to go down between those two or should I say three." Alex said running a hand through his hair.

"Three?" I inquired trying to get some semblance of what happened.

"I'll give you the whole story later. It will require plenty of background. If I tell you now, you will have more questions than answers. Back to our main reason for being here, would you believe that over three-fourths of the persons you saw in that café were lycanthropes? "

"I don't really know what to believe anymore. No one looked abnormal to me." I replied.

"Yeah. For the most part they can look just like you and me, but there are some telling characteristics that can't be hidden. You'll learn the rest of these when we get home among other things." Alex stated walking ahead.

"/Among other things/. Is it me or do you just like being vague?"

"What can I say, it's a gift."
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A few days later our focus moved from the lycanthropes to the vampires and Alex took me to the circus of all places. From what little I retained in muggle studies, the circus was primarily for kids. All Alex told me was that this was not an ordinary circus, but a circus ran by vampires. Now who in their right mine would bring their kid to a circus ran by vampires? All Alex said was that that had been a question for the ages.

As we moved through the crowd of men, women, and children baring edible pink clouds and painted faces, Alex continued in lecture mode. "Nonetheless, it's one of the most popular family attractions in St. Louis. Since we don't have an ID saying you are of age yet, I can't take you into some of the more risqué preternatural hotspots."

"Risqué?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, there are some nightclubs ran by the preternatural and there is also a strip club or four with lycanthropes and vamps on stage." He replied as we finally found our seats.

Feeling a little cheeky, I could not resist the opening given. "Strip clubs? And how would you have inquired knowledge of these strip clubs dear cousin?"

He turned toward me gracing me with a smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Our conversation deteriorated into barbs ranging from sexual preference to sexual prowl ness, or the lack thereof, being thrown back and forth with Alex winning with a snide remark having to do with the words pretty, vampires, bisexual, virgin, and blonde. Git. I do not look like vampire boy meat! ...And definitely not male vampire boy meat!

Alex must have noticed my stewing. "Let's face Drake. Malfoy males happen to fall more on the pretty side of good looking rather than the handsome."

"The same can be said for you." I stated noticing the lights dim in the tent.

"Yes it can, which is why dying my hair and getting a tan were among the first things I did after leaving England." Alex replied. "The show is about to start and I want to you to bring your shields up to their full capacity."

I followed his heed thinking about the introduction he had given me on vampires. I didn't even want to think about how a true pureblood supremacist would feel if they found out that they were just as much prey to a vampire as a muggle. Occumency could clue you in to the fact that you were being rolled, but in the end you were just as defenseless as a muggle. The only thing Occumency could remotely fight against was mass rolling and that was likely due to the spread resources on the part of the vampire. Then you add in the fact that most wizards don't even know occumency. During certain parts of the show, I could feel something seeping through my shields and knew it was the mass rolling as the trapeze troupe did some interesting moves did some interesting aerial stunts moving almost too fast to be seen.

All in all, it was actually entertaining until a pretty woman wearing a pretty revealing outfit stepped into center ring. At first everything was beautiful and she was beautiful as she moved hypnotically to the beat of the music resembling a temptress luring you into a trap of some sought. Little did I know that that was what her dance appeared to be about as the music grew darker and at least twenty snakes gravitated towards the woman and moved to bind her legs as she writhed sensually to the music and to the movement of the snakes. I vaguely heard in the background the ooh's and awe's of other audience members as they watched the spectacle and I had to admit that it was bloody amazing that she had that much trust or training in those snakes to interact with them in that manner. However, as the snakes started to remove themselves from the lower part of her body, my awe turned into fear, and I just felt this suffocating presence surrounding bringing back the last three weeks and all that occurred. In place of the woman's legs was the body of a snake and looking even closer, I could see the woman's mouth moving. But the movement of the tongue and lips resembled no language known by common man. So far I had only seen it spoken by two people: Potter & The Dark Lord. So much for my mood/. I felt my self stand up and I felt Alex pull me back down as I struggled to rid myself of that suffocating feeling and the things this language represented in my life. The pressure... The Dark Lord... My mother... My father...My line...My Future... My /life/. I take it I was losing my battle for air when I noticed other patrons asking Alex if I was okay between the fuzziness appearing in my eyes. As darkness finally swallowed people me, I couldn't help but wonder is there a record somewhere for encountering three parseltongues in a lifetime and living to tell the tale. /Wow, aren't I'm special?
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As I came back through, I wondered what had happened to me. I had never felt so suffocated in my life. Before I could think anymore on the issue, I heard voices surrounding me.

"He's coming through." A foreign male voice said.

"Good. We should be out of your hair soon. Just give him a few minutes." Alex replied as I felt him come towards my direction.

"It is of no inconvenience Monsieur Edward. Are you sure your charge doesn't require additional assistance?" A new voice questioned; it was one that was French in origin and oh so cultured.

"If you want to know if there will be any action taken against the circus or the lamia, the answer is no. Matt had a phobia of snakes and it was my fault for failing to remember this part of the show. If there is anyone who should be asking Matt for apologies, it should be me." Alex replied with a hint of a smile in voice. "Don't look so contrite Jean-Claude, it's not like I'm going to kill you or something. This was Matt's problem and it is something he needs to face anyway." 'Contrite' And you talk about my vocabulary. Pots and cauldrons, Alex. Pots and cauldrons.

However as I sat up and opened my eyes, I noticed I was not the only one slightly baffled with Alex's vocabulary shift. Besides Alex and myself, I noticed two more blokes in the room. One was standing at the door in a relaxed stance. Combining this with his dirty blonde hair and blue eyes gave him a lighthearted vibe of a sort. Right now however, he was looking at Alex as if he had flashed him. The second guy however drew my attention the most, namely his clothes did it for him. The shirt he was wearing was something I had recognized. The problem however was that I had recognized the shirt from the portrait of my six times great uncle Glodius Malfoy painted in the year 1657 by Eduardo Valdez while on business in Spain. Even in the Wizarding world, billowing puffy shirts weren't the norm. He finished the look off with knee high black boots that met a pair of actual knickers, and not the underwear kind, that looked like they were painted on to almost openly tell the world if one was gifted or cursed if you know what I mean. Shaking myself off from the shock of the clothes, I finally turned my attention to the man in the clothes and I had to pull back a smile because I had finally found someone paler than myself. Similar to the Malfoys in this respect, the man fell more on the pretty side of good looking with aristocratic features and a shoulder length crown of loose curly black hair that reminded me of my mother's relations. He stood there looking at Alex with nothing on his face, which probably meant he was either surprised or in a deep ponder about something. But I must admit I had never seen anyone hold themselves with as much stillness as this. Snape flexed his hands and Lucius was a feet tapper. The point being was that almost everyone had an outlet if you looked for it, even the most stoic. It was almost like this bloke was dead. Just when I was about to get to eyes, Alex walked into my field of vision.

"Matt, do you remember what I told you about vampires?" He asked with his voice taking a lecturing tone. I nodded in response. "Ok, well then you remember the number one rule when one encounters a vampire?"

"Never look them in the eyes." I replied as I stared at Alex. Feeling the need to redeem my self I replied, "I had just woken up and I didn't even know until I noticed the 17th century dress."

"I know eye contact was instilled in you, but most won't notice the difference if you look at their foreheads if you are unsure." Alex replied taking a glance at now identified vampire behind him before turning back to me with a smile that looked a little teasing. "One slipup can cost you your life, your blood, your freedom, your dignity..."

However before Alex could continue, my opinion about the light-heated blond was solidified when he interrupted Alex. "Jeez, talk about putting the fear of God into the kid. Aren't you just a ball of sunshine?" Glancing over at me, he threw a hand in the air. "By the way, I'm Jason."

Alex shot the newly named Jason a look I couldn't see. If the Jason's facial expression was any sign, I believe it was not a nice look. "He has to learn. Consider it a gift. I could be teaching him other means of dealing with preternatural creatures." His tone was one I had heard plenty times from Lucius when he was dealing with business partners and the ministry. It was polite and amiable, but somewhere in between you felt the promise of unpleasantness for whomever it was directed. From the silence that had permeated the room, these two felt that promise and I couldn't help but wonder who the bloody Hell Alex was. I still knew next to nothing about his life.

The silence that was at least five second and yet felt like five hours dissolved when Alex turned back to me. "Are you okay?" I nodded in response before taking a quick glance at the vampire who was watching Alex with great interest. Alex must have noticed my lack of response and followed my gaze because he suddenly went back into lecture mode. "Aside from the basic information I have given to you, there are some others who rise above this level and become something that they call Master Vampire. They are usually stronger magically and physically than regular vamps and have some amount of control over vamps who aren't masters." He gestured his hand out to the vampire. "This is Jean-Claude. He is one of the vampires that run this Circus. How old do you think he is and how powerful do you think he is?"

Thinking it over, I responded. "Well he could technically choose to wear clothes from any century he wanted just as much as you and me, but I think everyone would feel a special kinship for the century they were actually born and the fashions of its time. So I would go out on a limb and say somewhere around 400 even though he doesn't look a day over thirty. As for strength, looks can be deceiving. He doesn't exude that 'I am powerful bow down before me or fear my wrath.' aura that some persons in charge exude. On the contrary, he may just be that secure in his power and position that he doesn't feel he needs to put on a show. We're just two humans, so we are really no threat technically." I then noticed a look exchanged between Jason and the vampire in question. "In terms of power and strength, I have no clue."

Coming closer to the couch I was sitting on, Jean-Claude spoke. "Monsieur Edward, your young charge has an excellent sense of deductive reasoning. You are correct sir in your estimation of my age. I am 415 years and was 26 when turned. As for my power level, I am a master." In the background, I could have sworn I heard Jason snort.

Alex nodded, "Good answers. There are also some Master powers that may vary by vampire. They are flight, the ability to control an animal or were animal, the ability to rise early, a resistance to silver, the ability to call shadows, the ability to obtain a human servant, which we will get into more in depth later. They also have the ability to draw blood from a distance, the ability to drain the power from vampires they have personally sired, and the ability to create an emotional or hypnotic link with their voices."

"An accurate description, Edward." Jean-Claude said and I immediately jumped up from my seat much to the amusement of the others in the room realizing Jean-Claude had the power of voice. That was just wrong. I am very secure in my preferences, but the feeling of the silk sliding over my skin threw me off guard. Then add in the fact that it was another male and that I had met just five minutes and that is technically dead.

Alex looked at me with a raised eyebrow as he stood to go towards the door. "I see your feeling better. We won't take up any more of Jean-Claude. Thank you."

"It's of no consequence, mon ami." Jean-Claude replied as Jason followed us through what appeared to be a huge under complex and out into the night air.

Once we got to the automobile and a little ways from the circus, Alex asked the damning question. "What happened in there Drake?"

I didn't even want to think about it, let alone talk about it. So I did the natural Slytherin response to a question I didn't want to answer. "So how do you know them?"

Alex glanced at me and he must have seen something in my face because he let me change the topic. "Anita. So what did you think of the two?"

"Well from what I've seen, Jason appears to be an alright bloke even though I can't help but wonder why he is hanging around with a vampire. As for Jean-Claude, the massaging voice thing spooked my out a little. Otherwise, he seemed pretty decent. With the powers at his disposal, I can't even begin to think what some others would do." I turned to see a look of puzzlement on his face.

"Massaging voice? So he can make it selective." Alex mumbled to himself.

"Are you telling me you didn't feel anything that felt like silk running across your skin?"

Glancing at me, Alex shook his head with a ghost of a smirk on his face. "He knows that due to my line of work, I am may not react kindly to such surprises."

Tempted at the opportunity to finally gleam some information about him, I asked. "What do you do?"

"I track down people. I'll give you a longer explanation when we get home." Hmm. Maybe he's an auror or an investigator of some sort. Possibly a muggle auror.

"Where's home?" I said getting comfortable in the seat.

"New Mexico for now. Now were you wary of the two?"

"No more than anyone else that I am meeting for the first time."

"Wrong. Number one rule Drake: Looks can be deceiving. Don't forget it. Jason is a werewolf and Jean-Claude is the master in charge of most the other vampires in the city. They could each rip you apart faster than you could say /Accio/." I could feel the blood draining for my face.

"Are you just telling me I just met the bloody Master of the City?! Next, you're going to be telling me Jason's the head wolf." I grumbled. Did this git seriously find this funny?

"No, that's Richard." He replied with a cat that ate the canary look on his face.

"Do you like to get your jollies off playing with me like this and with potentially dangerous people like this?"

Alex answer I could see all humor was gone from his voice. "Why do you think we are here? This is the only place where we can play around and return in one piece. And that is because I have an understanding with them. You are here to live and you are here to learn. I ensured your mother that I would do everything in my power to make sure you would do as such because considering the circumstances; it appears you are going to have to learn in order to live. The point of this lesson was to get you in habit of treating everyone as a potential threat at first. I know it's not the most satisfying means of existing, but it will keep you alive. Most of the people you have met during your time here have been fatally dangerous even if they don't look it. Recognize that and you will get far."

After that, all we had was silence. After about five minutes, I actually debated turning on the radio he had taught me how to use. Right when I was about to reach for the button, his amused voice cut through the silence. "Although, I can't deny being amazed and amused in your ability to go from healthy pale to alabaster white in zero to five seconds. I almost can't tell the difference between you and a fed vampire when you're scared shitless." /Gee, thanks for the compliment Alex/.