23 – The Friction of the Factions

The Maid entered and exited the lounge three times, each with an accompanying narration. She tried an aloof, cool entrance, in which her… character pointed finger guns and winked at various people around the room—she slathered some gel through her hair, sweeping it back like some fifties greaser. Her next attempt was a more dainty, princess-like approach, gracefully entering the room with her hands clasped together and her hair in long ringlets that should have taken hours to style… though she still wore the same maid outfit.

Neither attempt got her halfway to Erika, let alone fully into the room.

Currently, she was going for a more casual affair, like someone who came to these kinds of parties regularly. She walked up to The Warrior and struck up a conversation. A flicker of distaste crossed The Warrior’s face, but something she said must have piqued interest, because both The Warrior and The Strategist started chatting, both relaxing in a way that made Erika wonder if something odd was going on.

Erika glanced around the room, trying to figure out what The Maid was doing. The tension in the room felt diminished somehow. Nobody really glared at The Maid anymore. The vampires of The Galleria had been unable to take their red eyes off her for her first few entrances, but now Erika felt more angry stares on her than what The Maid got.

The Maid laughed at something The Strategist said, lightly touched his arm, and moved on.

For how frosty their initial reactions had been, The Null warmed right up to The Maid as she made her way to them. Even though they were closer than The Puppet, Erika couldn’t make out what they were talking about. That was, in part, thanks to Vechs growling loud enough to drown everything out, all while staring in Erika’s direction.

Or, rather, toward The Orderly.

“Does this room feel larger to you?” Anna asked before Erika could comment on the odd situation. “I don’t remember seven couches when we walked in.”

Narrowing her eyes, Erika counted seven couches, just to make sure Anna wasn’t imagining things. Now that she thought about it, halfway across the room should have been only a few steps, yet The Maid crossed twice that distance in her aborted attempts to enter the room.

“It’s growing to accommodate all the people?” Erika asked, not quite sure. “Or something more sinister?”

Anna curled her lip. “I don’t know. I don’t like it. They say we’re here to learn about our place in their future. What if they mean trapped forever in some maze of a manor?”

“I’m still pretty sure I can break us out of any prison. Whether I have to break chains in the process is another question.” Erika glanced over, finding The Orderly holding a small vial of luminescent orange liquid, gently shaking it back and forth almost like it was just a little fidget toy. Half-sitting on the armrest, she asked, “Did The Prescient’s fortune cookies have anything to say about tonight?”

“Not particularly. He thinks the magic around this place is interfering with his visions,” The Orderly answered, eyes remaining glued to her vial. Like an iodine clock, the entire orange concoction flicked to a deep ruby red.

The Galleria, all five at once, snapped their eyes toward The Orderly. Paying them no mind, The Orderly twisted the cap off the vial, brought it to her surgical mask, and lifted the fabric just enough to down the small amount of liquid.

Erika felt tempted to lean forward and get a glimpse under that mask. The moment she started to move, a sudden disquiet wormed its way into her bones. Erika jolted upright, scanning around the room with the full expectation of finding something watching—massive eyes peering in through the window like it was a dollhouse or a portrait with the eyes cut out and someone lurking behind—but she got nothing. The Maid chatted with The Null, The Cicada was off on their own, The Puppet minded their own business, The Eclipse and other Hunters were on the other side of the room.

The Galleria still stared, but Erika knew their eyes did not trigger that feeling. They had been watching from before.

By the time Erika looked back to The Orderly, the moment had passed. The surgical mask was back in place.

“You guys piss off the vampires or something?” Erika asked, a little disappointed. She hadn’t greeted The Galleria early on because they hadn’t looked too approachable, but with the way they stared now, she worried they’d bite her head off if she got too close.

“The parasitic creatures which drive ‘vampires’ are not capable of extreme emotions,” The Orderly said, tone neutral. “Because of that void, the host still exerts will on their being, and they can feel emotion, but I don’t know why any would be upset with The Castle. The Doctor even offered to remove their parasites too.” She shook her head with a casual shrug.

Erika raised an eyebrow, wondering if The Doctor’s offer wasn’t more of a reason than The Orderly made it sound. “What about The—”

Once more, the lounge door opened and another small group entered. Just a trio, this time, one woman and two men. They looked… average. The Galleria and The Null obviously looked odd, and half The Eclipse were obviously inhuman. But these guys looked like the kind of people Erika wouldn’t think twice about passing on a busy street.

One of the men, who Erika would call the leader based on him standing in front of the other two, wore slacks and a button up shirt with short sleeves to show off a fairly muscular build. The woman had a shaggy wolf cut and a slew of piercings through her ears. The last guy was the oddest of the bunch, but that was just because of his long trench coat and large hat, neither of which were so strange that Erika thought to comment.

She had a few more comments when he removed his hat and, with it, some shadow over his face vanished, leaving him with a stubby muzzle rather than a proper face. A thin layer of dark brown fur covered his visible skin. Floppy, fuzzy ears dropped on either side of his head.

The trio looked around, mostly neutral in their expressions, until they spotted the vampires. Metaphorical sparks jumped between their stares, The Galleria looking even more hostile now than they had when The Castle entered the scene. The woman spoke to the muscular man, and the trio headed off to the opposite end of the room from The Galleria, putting them near The Eclipse.

“Know anything about them?” Erika asked as they walked past.

The Orderly’s six-faceted eyes followed after them, and she sniffed the air, muffled by her mask, in their wake. “I do not recognize them, but from the woody scent and the animalistic musk, I suspect they are The Lost Boys.”

Anna snorted, covered it with a cough, then got a funny look on her face. “Wait, like Peter Pan or the horror movie?”

“Yes,” The Orderly answered, eyes fixating on Erika. “If you happen to come across blood, hair, or a significant quantity of sweat—in descending order of importance—I would be most appreciative if you handed it over. Ah, but don’t ingest any… or any other bodily fluids you may come into contact with.”

Erika started to wonder why there had been any question about the other faction’s reactions to The Castle. “I’m not exactly in the habit of eating weird things.”

“Really?” The Orderly paused, head cocking to one side. “I would consider The Stalker to be—”

While Anna snorted again, this time not bothering to hide her laugh, Erika knocked a knuckle against The Orderly’s forehead, making the woman blink. Her face under her surgical mask didn’t move, but the slight narrowing of her eyes gave Erika the impression that she was smiling.

“You’re very funny,” Erika said in complete sarcasm, “but The Hanged Man is just over there and I don’t really care to have some kind of weird battle of the evil ex tonight.”

“Especially without The Stalker here to cheer you on.”

Erika shot Anna a light glare, then turned her attention back to The Lost Boys. “That makes eight. Since we know The Church got an invitation, we’ve seen all nine factions.”

Following Erika’s look, Anna hummed in consideration. “They didn’t seem particularly upset with us or our association with The Orderly. Good thing we weren’t chatting with The Galleria though. Should we say hello?”

Erika started to nod, but paused and looked around the room again. “Is it odd that we’re the only ones interacting with other factions?”

“The Cicada went up to The Null,” Anna said. “And The Maid is…”

Both of them looked over. The Maid had left The Null behind, now talking with The Hunters. Sofia was obviously unenthused, and Rick didn’t look like he knew what to do with her. If The Maid cared, she didn’t show it, prattling on about something on her blog—or so Erika guessed based on a few keywords she managed to hear. There was something different about The Maid now, a nervousness that hadn’t been there when she had spoken to The Null and The Puppet. She fidgeted more and kept glancing over to The Eclipse.

“I have no idea what The Maid is doing,” Anna finished, looking away.

“Same,” Erika said, shaking her head. “As long as she isn’t picking fights that’ll drag us in.”

“I see your point though. It could just be that they all know each other already, whereas we’re new,” Anna said, nodding to The Cicada again. “Or maybe there just isn’t much culture around meeting other factions?” She looked to The Orderly, expecting an answer.

Erika didn’t think any of The Castle were the right people to ask. She might not know much about these other groups, but Erika doubted any of them isolated themselves to the same degree that The Castle did. Given the looks The Castle got, what little outreach they did do had not fostered positive relationships.

“Whelp,” Erika clapped her hands to her thighs, standing from the couch. “Things turned out well enough with The Null and The Cicada. No harm in saying hello.”

“I will remain here,” The Orderly said, hands resting on her thighs, back straight. She made no move to stand.

With a casual parting wave, Erika and Anna headed around the room—it was definitely bigger than it had been—and approached The Lost Boys, getting a good, up-close look at them. The big guy in the trench coat was some kind of dog-person, Erika was mostly sure. The other two were less obvious, though now that she got closer, she got a distinctly cat-like impression from the muscular guy.

That might have been confirmation bias based on the other guy being a dog. Getting closer, Erika noticed slight pointed tufts of brown hair that, if she squinted, resembled the pointed tips of cat ears sticking up out of the top of his hair. His eyes, slit vertically, got that reflective green for a brief moment as he turned to face her.

“Evening,” Erika said, watching as the woman pivoted to face her.

She had a crop top showing off her midriff and short jeans frayed at the hem, but no obvious signs of anything strange going on. Her hair looked like hair, layered and dyed but nothing more, her eyes were bright green but not so green as to be suspicious, and she had no fur or tails or odd ears.

Perhaps a human attendant, like Simone was for The Puppet? Or otherwise just not obviously anything strange, like a good half of the room.

“Are you our hosts for the evening?” the muscular guy asked hesitantly, wide eyes looking back and forth between Erika and Anna.

“Ugh. No,” Erika said, making a face.

“We’re The Hunters. The Agent,” Anna said, gesturing toward Erika, “and…” She sighed. “The Widow.”

“You can pick a different name,” Erika whispered, nudging her lightly.

“I almost did, but we already told everyone else that I’m The Widow.” She waved Erika away before addressing The Lost Boys properly. “It’s fine. We were just saying hello, greeting some of the other factions.”

The muscular man stared, eyes wide, barely moving. Erika might have thought he was shocked or surprised, but that didn’t quite feel right.

She didn’t get a chance to think more before the dog-like man pushed to the front of the group, hand extended to shake. “Hunters?” he said, grabbing Anna’s hand. “That’s fun. My paw and I used to go hunting every winter…” He trailed off, looking down at Anna’s hand like he wasn’t sure how he got hold of it. He didn’t let go, he just stared until Anna lightly tugged her hand back to herself. “Deer, coyotes, rabbits,” he said, seeming to recover but still staring at Anna.

“That’s great,” Erika said, hoping her smile wasn’t too forced. She wasn’t quite sure what was up with him, but felt stepping ahead of Anna was the better decision.

Not that Anna couldn’t take care of herself, but anything to avoid a fight here and now.

“We’re not really those kinds of hunters though,” Erika finished. “Ghosts and gods. Got trouble with either, give us a call.”

“Should have Ri—The Sword draft up some business cards,” Anna said with a small laugh, though it felt a little forced as well.

“Gods?” the cat-like man asked. “Such as enshrined deities? I didn’t think those were common in North America.”

“No, not really. I think The Hermit called them Old Ones?” Anna said, looking to Erika for confirmation.

Erika just shrugged. The Hermit said a lot of things, at least half of which Erika felt like were just there to make her sound old and wise. “And The Null brought up true gods and created gods and… we’re not actually sure which is which, but Old Ones seems fitting enough.”

All three of The Lost Boys looked to one another, just a quick glance to see if someone knew what an Old One was supposed to be. They came back with nothing.

“Sounds ruff?” the dog-man said, grinning a little.

The woman nudged him in the side, making Erika think of all the times Rick said something dumb and earned himself a nudge from Anna. She whispered something, leaning close to the dog-man’s ear. The ears were too floppy to perk up, but they did lift a bit as his eyes widened in surprise.

“Manners. Of course. I’m The Scrounger,” the dog-man said, then stepped aside, using both paw-like hands to gesture at the woman. “This is The Links—that’s L-I-N-K-S, not L-Y-N-X,” he added with a laugh, like it was a common mistake. “And lastly—”

“The Cornerstone,” the cat-like man said, though he remained a step back. “We don’t usually have troubles with ghosts or… anything similar.” He sniffed, nose wrinkling like he caught a whiff of something unpleasant. The way his eyes remained locked on Erika made her think he was deliberately avoiding Anna. “If you’re looking for jobs, you should look elsewhere.”

“Nothing like that,” Erika said, smile waning. “Just saying hello to some unfamiliar faces. Politeness, you know?”

The Cornerstone grunted an answer, leaving a lingering awkwardness in the air. A silence came over the group, leaving both sides doing nothing but looking at the other.

Growing fed up, Erika snapped her fingers, motioning as if she just remembered something. Everyone but her shuddered, but she didn’t give them time to think. “Got some more people to talk to before our hosts come back. Nice to meet you all,” she said, linking her arm with Anna’s.

She did not have to drag Anna away; Anna was more than happy to put some space between her and The Lost Boys. Erika was not particularly enthused with them. They kept staring at Anna, or avoiding her—either felt gross… even if Erika herself wound up unnerved on occasion.

“Should have expected that,” Anna grumbled as they made their way back toward The Hunters and The Eclipse. “Did you know that my neighbor’s dog barks at me every time I enter or leave my house? Like angry growling barking.”

“No?”

“She didn’t used to. She was a friendly little puppy. But after The Castle put me back together…” Anna trailed off, scowling at nothing. “Not just that dog. Every dog I’ve seen keeps at it, barking and pulling at their owner’s leashes if they’re out on walks. Cats run away. I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s become pretty apparent that something is different.”

“And The Lost Boys treat you poorly too because of whatever? Did The Doctor forget some sweat gland that makes you smell normal?”

“No idea. Haven’t talked to them about it.”

“Now might be a time. The Orderly is right over there, and The Maid…”

Erika trailed off.

The Maid sat on The Eclipse’s couch, earning herself a done-with look from The Hermit. Not that she noticed. The Maid’s eyes were glued to the hulking form of The Tower as his tentacles wiggled in a way they did when he was speaking. She was letting someone else speak and didn’t even have her phone out. More, she kept touching him, friendly little taps to his arms or thighs as she laughed like he told a joke.

“Oh,” Erika said, putting a few pieces together from throughout the night. “Oh. Good for her, I guess?”

“Everyone I know has strange tastes in partners,” Anna said, completely flat-toned.

“No,” Erika said, looking The Tower up and down. He was tall, muscular, and had large tendrils. “I can see the appeal.”

“The Stalker will literally kill you.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Erika said, a little offended.

“In The Stalker’s eyes, looking might be more than enough.”

“Well, that’s… like… not untrue, but we have rules. Healthy, communicated rules. I’m not going to fuck her over and she’s not going to harass every single person I interact with.”

“Uh huh,” Anna shook her head, looking to The Orderly. “I’m going to go ask—”

A heavy, brass gong thrummed. Anna, Erika, and a good ninety percent of the rest of the room jumped, all wary.

One masked man near the lounge’s entrance set a large mallet down on a table, touching his fingers to silence the ringing metal. “Dinner will be served soon. If you would kindly follow me to the dining hall…”

A loud grumbling undercurrent welled up as the gathered supernaturals both calmed from the startling noise and got to their feet. Erika breathed out a small sigh, almost having forgotten where she was.

“Later, I suppose,” Anna said, looking after The Orderly. “Did we ever figure out the odds of the food being poisoned?”

“Based on everything, I’m starting to think Daniel was right when he said The Monk is just going to yap about all the benefits of joining The Mummy.” She narrowed her eyes, sweeping her gaze over the room.

There was still one faction missing. Neither The Analyst nor The Banker had made an appearance.