Warlock

Hancock Hunters

"Isn't Trinity investigating the pale chef?"

"The pale chef? Oh, the quiet kid. I believe I heard one of the cop-wanna-be's talking about being sent to investigate him. He found the kid eerie and frightening. I don't see it." Loch nearly bent a spatula in frustration. Fear was preferable to people calling him 'kid'. Once he gained some more weight, he would look more his age. His age when he had last stopped aging, at least. He was in his early twenties, from what he could remember.

"Those werewolves never live up to the tough stereotype. The chef seems perfectly normal to me. If he is a warlock, he can't be a powerful one. The powerful ones always stir up trouble before they're found. I think Trinity's just desperate for more warlocks. She said she's trying to build up our defenses so that we don't lose too many people in this ridiculous war." He had heard that name before. Trinity was campaigning for election, if he recalled correctly.

Loch's eyes flicked to the clock on the kitchen wall. His four hours were up. He tossed the hairnet and gloves into the trash, hanging the apron back in its spot. Most of the volunteers had disposable plastic aprons, but he had volunteered enough times to earn one of his own. The day he had switched to a real apron, he had almost felt accomplished. Almost. Loch glanced around the kitchen and confirmed that he was alone before finishing the cleaning of both the dishes and the kitchen itself with a sweep of his hand. The kitchen did not have cameras.

A sound from his own stomach alerted him of his hunger. The café was only a few buildings over, and it was much cheaper than most of the places he had been to since he had stopped going there. He had been giving the naiad siblings the cold shoulder for long enough. Loch managed to slide out the door of the soup kitchen without someone pulling him aside for dialogue and made his way along the icy sidewalks. With the temperatures reaching below zero, the streets were much emptier than usual. This would have excited him if it were not for the cold. Packed streets were almost preferable to the overwhelming advance of snow soldiers.

The café was nearly empty, but a few tables were occupied by Others. They never had to worry about a day without customers with their dedicated clientele. Loch sat away from the window for once in order to sit closer to one of the heat vents. It was a strange experience sitting in a booth for once. He was almost tempted to take off his gloves and ball his hands up for warmth, but it was not worth it.

"The usual?" The tall naiad grinned at him. He was completely ecstatic. Loch could not help but smile a little at the sight of such a large creature practically shaking with joy.

He shook his head. "Clam chowder and hot chocolate."

A group of vampires seated nearby watched him curiously. Several of them were hiding smiles. They clearly knew about Skye's little crush. Loch shot a glare in their direction and focused his attention on going over what he had found out so far.

The humans had responded to the killings by forming a group focused on killing Others. The Others, on the other hand, were only somewhat bothered by the newspaper killings since humans were the only targets. From what he had heard, the Others were more focused on the upcoming war, the subject of which he still did not know, and the election than such human affairs. Those who did speculate about the killings assumed they were done by demons, since Others killed in a much 'cleaner' fashion. They had no knowledge of the Hancocks, so he could safely assume that the invention that allowed these hunters to see the Others was a new one. Unfortunately, none of what he had heard suggested that any species knew who or what was actually committing the killings.

"You aren't mad at me, are you?" A steaming bowl of chowder appeared before him. Loch blinked several times to rise himself from his thoughts. "I'm sorry about Lola. She's a bit domineering over... well, everyone." Lola must be his sister's name. Loch sipped from his hot chocolate in thought. He was in dangerous waters now. With all of his volunteering he had gotten plenty of information, so he did not necessarily need a friend on the inside anymore; especially one he would possibly have to date. On the other hand, the café served the best hot chocolate he had ever had.

"Not mad." He tried the clam chowder and wasn't surprised to find that it was just as high quality as the drink. They probably had a dryad as a chef. Since dryads had power over plants, they tended to have both the freshest ingredients and the best knowledge of how much of these ingredients to add.

Skelly put a palm against his chest and let out a breath. "That's a relief. So where've you been? How are you? One of my customers mentioned that you'd been volunteering at the hospital."

"Yes, the hospital and the soup kitchen." He avoided the naiad's gaze. Something about his pupil-less blue eyes was making him uncomfortable.

"Oh yes, I heard about the soup kitchen too!" Had the lovesick creature been asking around about him? Loch did not know what to think about that. "My neighbor's a lovely old lady. She volunteers there a lot and says you're always very polite and hardworking. Apparently nobody has done a better job of cleaning the kitchen than you, and your mashed potatoes are wonderful." Skye gasped. "You could work here if you'd like. We can always use more chefs. We only have one right now. Oh, but you're rich, right? I suppose sticking to volunteering would help the community more. Which do you like more, the hospital or the soup kitchen?"

Loch had managed to finish his soup in time that it took for Skye to finish his thought. "Kitchen. No sick people. Is your neighbor Darcy?" She was the only lady he knew the name of, and it was only because she was one of the main coordinators of the soup kitchen. The other two coordinators were human as well.

The vampires were watching them again. They were not unnaturally pale, but vampires were never pale unless they were not drinking enough. Their defining features were red irises and sharp incisors, so they were not as strange to look at as the dryads and naiads. That did not make their unwanted gazes any less annoying. Loch glared at them again, but when he finally glanced up at Skye he saw him trying not to laugh. "Sorry, it's funny watching you try to scare people off." If they knew what he was capable of they would not dare disrespect him. Unfortunately, revealing himself to the Other world introduced very few advantages and too many disadvantages. "She is Darcy, to answer your question. So... um..." Skye took a deep breath.

Loch raised an eyebrow and waited for the boy to work up the courage to continue speaking. When he at last did speak, all of the words came out in a rush. "Would you like to hang out later today? Like, when I'm not working? Maybe the um... park or... ice rink or... a club or something...?" His words trialed off and the blue eyes searched Loch's face for an answer.

He had been doing various kinds of work for two weeks straight. Some calm time would not hurt him. "Park sounds fine." He could not believe he was doing this. "What time?" Several gasps came from the vampire table and a few of them exchanged money. Loch held in his groan, but it took a considerable amount of effort. Why was he doing this? He hadn't even bothered making friends in four hundred years, let alone hanging out with people who wanted him to be more than a friend.

An ecstatic grin lit up Skelly's face once again. "How about five? I'll get off work a bit early." At least it was not a movie. Loch had heard bad things about what happened when people took someone they liked to the movies. Bad from his perspective, at least.

"I'll meet you out front at five, then." Loch's inner logic was warring with his boredom. He could not take this. He glanced at the prices on the menu and set down a fifty to pay for it. It was overpaying, but he did not have anything smaller. Without another word, he fled the café.