The Ravens.

And so the game begins.

Nathaniel Ion was not having a good day. In fact he was having, what he thought at the time, the worst day of his life. He was wrong. But for the time being, he didn't want to think, he didn't want to hear or breathe or see. He didn't want to remember. So while he was sitting at the bar, drinking cup after cup of cheap liquor, he saw something that would help him forget.

He had been drinking for a long time, his limbs were heavy and his eyesight foggy. Everything went too fast and too slow, it made him sickeningly nauseous. But even he noticed the attractive, tall girl that entered the low-ended bar. Her face was one of unforgettable beauty, her limbs slim and long. Her eyes were dark and stunning but on her lips was something that was so completely out of place on a pretty face like hers that it made Nathaniel take a second glance. That strange smile.

She strolled casually, so casually it radiated a sense of danger like a wolf blending in with sheep, and on her lips remained that crazed, manic smile. "Another one, Nathan?" Nathaniel peeled his eyes off the odd girl and to the voice that called his name.

Theo stood behind the bar, rag over his shoulder, his brown hair in his usual rugged style. His eyes were always dancing with gossip and the excitement of something new, but his smile was kind and sympathetic. Sympathetic, Nathaniel thought, just another word for pity. He held up his empty glass as a silent answer and Theo complied, pouring some more cheap and shit-tasting liquor.

The brief relief the strange girl gave him by unknowingly providing something else for his brain to gnaw on, flew away, the painful memory of his boyfriend and sister in the same bed together returned. And it was all he could think about. All he could see, all he could smell and hear and remember. He forgot all he was and was contracted to that one catastrophic memory. So Nathaniel Ion drank and drank and drank, praying to whatever wretched, merciless god that he could wipe everything away. That maybe, just maybe, if he drank enough, he could feel something other than pain.

The group had sent Cleopatra out to run their errands. Something that they, surprisingly, did not do often. She knew they were worried, well as worried as minds like there's possibly could be. Either way, Cleopatra was pissed off. Of course she didn't let it show as she sauntered into the corner bar that was just two blocks away from the Auto Shop. It was also where a boy named Theo worked, and conveniently so, Clara had slept with Theo and now the poor boy thought that they were dating. Pity he doesn't know that Clara doesn't do romance. But he very conveniently gave Cleo free beer everytime she stopped by, always asking her to tell Clara to call him back when he does. And Cleo always sends him a smile and says she will, knowing damn well Clara doesn't remember the boy.

Theo smiled at her, the type of smile you give someone when you are desperately hopeless, the type of smile fools give, and the type of smile geniuses copy and give out purposefully. The type of smile Cleo returned intentionally when he walked over to her after serving a man who looked like he was drowning in his thoughts. " Hey Cleo"- no one called her that unless they were family, and Theo was certainly not family- " here for another one?" It took a lot of energy to resist putting a bullet in his brain. 'Cleo' was a privilege people have bled for. A gift she gave out when she was utmostly pleased with someone.

" Can I get two this time?" Her voice was steady and clear, programmed to reveal nothing that was going on in her scrambled mind, " Shade is not having a good day." Theo glanced quickly at the lonely figure at the end of the bar.

" He wouldn't be the only one," Theo mumbled, moving towards the back room. Cleo looks back at the man sitting on the stool. The bar was empty other than them two, but that was expected since it was near dusk on a Wednesday. The man looked lost, his lids heavy and his finger lazily circling the edge of the glass. He looked like he needed some help, but couldn't ask for it. Like he wasn't accustomed to something like that, asking for some help.

Cleopatra smiled to herself. She was no therapist or saint, but she could help the poor man out a bit. Shade had taught her that the best customers and clients were the ones who were drowning. Xander had taught her that the best ones to play with were the ones who were lost.

She leaned on her elbows on the faded black painted wood of the bar counter, turning her head towards the man, her eyes unwavering as she stared at him intently. It only took the man a few seconds to feel her intense gaze before he drunkenly twisting his head towards her face and manic smile. Cleo widened her toothless grin, leaning the side of her head on her hand.

The man lifted his near finished glass wobbly as if to say 'cheers' in the most melancholy way and downed the rest of his drink. His eyes were clouded, he was so far lost that Cleo almost thought she was too late. If he was already suicidal then there was no point in trying to help. She felt the plastic poking into her skin and remembered how much it had cost the group for her last little stunt. And she had failed it anyway.

So she took the shot in the dark and pulled the trigger, " you don't look so good." She already lost it. Her voice was too lifeless and bored. Xander would have scolded her that her tone would send people away and Shade would have said that she would scare the customers. But the man doesn't even meet her gaze again, he just leans forward and stretches his arm to the other side of the bar, plucking the entire bottle of liquor and untwisting the cap.

"I don't feel so good," he said, and to her delight, his voice was more listless than hers. Completely empty and broken. Cleo could almost taste the sweet sugar of his pain on her tongue. She could easily get him hooked, with his fragile state of mind, and then he would be another source of income and become another addict. She pushed off the counter and walked toward the man, he only looked up at her from his seat when she gripped the bottle and took it easily out of his hand.

She spread her sickening smile across her face once more, and put the bottle out of his reach, " that bottle doesn't seem to be helping.

" It's helping enough," he grunted out as he leaned forward again, obviously pissed off at her. With one swift motion, Cleo reached into her bra and pulled out the plastic packet. It was the last batch Shade had made and she held it in front of the man's face, stopping him cold. His eyes didn't leave the packet in her hand. He was handsome, Cleopatra thought, giddiness smoldering in her stomach, the attractive ones are so much more fun to play with. He swallowed, wrestling with the demons in his mind. She knew what they were saying, his demons, they were saying that he should do it. That it would take away the pain. She knew because she was going to be one of them. "What is that?"

Cleopatra didn't even try to stop her grin from spreading wickedly. She shrugged leaning her elbows on the counter. She knew she shouldn't be holding out the substance in the open like this. He could be a cop, he could snitch. But Cleo was mad that her old fun didn't work out and now she was horrendously bored. " It can be whatever you want it to be," She leaned closer to his face, " but I promise you it will help." She tilted her head to get a better look into his dark eyes. They had gone so dark that it was completely black, but Cleo could see her kin fighting in his mind. Could see the way his light faded as he let the darkness and demons in. As he let her in.

" How much?" His voice was cracked and deep, pain laced with every word. Shade would be pleased, Cleo thought joyfully, she got him a new customer. She had seen men like him before, they get hooked so intensely and easily and take shoots until they get rehabilitated or end up dead. And they bring a shit ton of money. She opened her mouth to name her price but heard the shuffling of Theo coming out of the backroom first. She quickly and smoothly stuffed the packet back into her bra as the brown haired boy came back out.

Theo looked at the both of them as he placed the two full cases of beer in front of her. He smiled that same foolish smile and said, " on the house, Cleo." Cleopatra made a mental note to ask Shade to set up some boys to beat him up one night. Maybe she'd do it herself. But for now, she smiled back and thanked him before looking back at the man.

" Ask anyone in this town where the Ravens are," she smiled at him her sweet smile, the one she practices in the mirror, " you'll find me."

And so Cleopatra left the Corner Bar with her scrambled mind in higher spirits. Her luck was turning around, she could feel it.