"I feel like I have been deceived." Sofya grumpily said, opening the door back to the underground building.
Following right behind her, John softly chuckled. "Fortunately, that is not the case. I was truthful in my words. You not believing them is another matter."
Despite his words, Sofya couldn't shake off the feeling. "I guess you are right." She sneakily stole a glance at the young man. "You really have no idea what you are?"
"You are asking that again here? In where anyone can hear us?"
"I already checked. There is no one around." Sofya huffed. "Just answer my question."
With a sigh, John shook his head. "Not a clue."
"Does it bother you?"
"Not really." John shook his head again. "I mean, does that matter very much? Not really. I still kind of identify myself as a human, so…" He shrugged his shoulders.
"I see…" Sofya muttered, with her quietly thinking over the boy's response for the remainder of the path.
Since there was no input in the conversation from her, John remained quiet as well.
Together, the two soon passed by the doors leading to the coliseum, with all of them tightly closed and with notices describing why of it.
Continuing on their path, they climbed up the stairs back to the casino, with them soon listening to the noise of the crowd and music.
Just when they passed through another pair of doors, John and Sofya sensed a half a dozen stared on them, but they were momentarily and they soon vanished.
However, amidst the people who took a glance at them, a man's eyes wandered a little longer on Sofya's legs, and that's when he noticed a small detail.
Even among all the vampires present, most wouldn't pay attention to this kind of detail since it was insignificant.
With his perceptive eyes, the vampire could see a few threads of the cloth on the edges of Sofya's dress sticking out. It seemed like it was recently damaged, and it was since it was a result of the woman ripping apart a part of her dress earlier.
That vampire revisited his memories from earlier in the night, when he had taken another glance at Sofya's long and toned legs. Then, he noticed why he felt that detail out of place. Her dress didn't have a cut on that side, only on the other one.
Immediately, the vampire sighed and shook his head, a little sad. Shit, someone was ahead of me. He thought, already taking what he imagined as truth.
Meanwhile, ignorant of that man's thoughts and actually of everyone around him, someone else came striding towards the pair, pushing away whoever stood before him with his two big arms.
"Boy, so that's where you've been!" Ludwig practically bellowed in his heavy accent.
Just when he was about to speak more words towards John, Ludwig noticed who was beside him and his energetic personality seemed to almost vanish. "Hey, witch." His tone towards Sofya was almost nonchalant.
Sofya, despite her usual serene and calm behavior, immediately had a vein popping on her forehead when listening to Ludwig. "Sorry, could you repeat your words? I don't understand your words due to your neanderthal accent."
"Must be the snow in your ears. You know, from living in that cold hell."
"You mean the trash alley you grew up in?" Sofya rebuked.
From then on, the two vampires started to trade barbs at each other without a care for anyone else around.
Meanwhile, Minari and Omar silently sneaked closer to John, greeting him again.
"Are they always like this?" John asked them, pointing at Ludwig and Sofya.
Minari nodded. "Yes."
"Ever since they first met in Berlin." Omar added. "However, at that time, the big man here was her prisoner."
"Prisoner?" John blurted out.
"Yes, during the Seven Years' War." Omar replied. "Ludwig was defending Berlin against the Russians and Austrians forces."
"Exactly." Sofya, listening to their words, turned to them. "You all should've seen him at that time. He wouldn't stop running through the city while screaming he was some kind of hero resurrected by God to bring salvation to Berlin." When looking back at Ludwig, she had a scornful look on her face. "What were your words exactly…?" Sofya brought a finger up to her lips, her eyes wandering around when falsely trying to remember the words.
Ludwig sighed loudly, rubbing his forehead. "Ah… don't make me remember that." He lifted the glass he had been holding to his lips and drank whatever was in it. "I woke up in a church, using a ring with a cross carved on it around my finger and not remembering much of the last days. What did you expect from me?"
"That's a unique way to wake up after turning." John commented.
"Ja." He nodded. "The local priest was a vampire. It was him who turned me into one. My bad luck was that he wasn't there at the moment to explain it to me when I woke up."
"It's just getting stranger." John said, a lot surprised beneath the mask. "But changing topics a little. So, have you two known each other ever since that time?"
"Yes." Sofya replied, a lot more reserved than usually. "I still ask myself these days why I haven't killed you that time." She had a puzzled expression when looking at Ludwig.
"Must be my charm." Ludwig smugly said, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, it's definitely not that." Sofya immediately discarded the idea. "Maybe it was out of pity, you know, when you look at a stray animal and think "maybe I can help"." She muttered, but obviously loud enough for everyone to hear.
Immediately after, Ludwig said something back. And in no time, the two of them were discussing once again.
Meanwhile, John shot a look towards Omar, expecting answers as he subtly looked at the bickering pair.
The vampire, as smart as he was, didn't need to see the young man's full expression to know what he was subtly asking.
And very subtly, he shook his head.
John, still suspicious when seeing Ludwig and Sofya arguing, tilted his head again in search of one more confirmation.
Omar just quietly chuckled, telling the young man through his faint gestures to believe in him.
While everyone was occupied with their own conversations–be they loud or quiet–Minari somehow ended up standing between John and Sofya.
The woman was taking a very close look at Sofya, noticing a few things amiss on her clothes and some even smaller details on her hair that could be missed if someone didn't observe attentively.
After some time, Minari dragged her eyes to the young man, noticing a few strange things on him as well.
Quietly, Minari reached out her hands towards the two individuals. She pinched both of them at the same time, or most correctly, she caught a small bit of dirt on the surface of their clothes or skin between her fingers and held them before her.
Such an action would obviously be sensed by both John and Sofya, with both of them immediately turning their heads towards the japanese vampire to see what she was doing.
Ludwig and Omar did the same, and their eyes of curiosity just further deepened when seeing the bits of dirt and sand on Minari's hands.
"What are you doing?" Ludwig asked.
Minari didn't promptly reply. Instead, she looked over Sofya and John a little more.
She had noticed things.
For example, Sofya's hair was slightly different from earlier, and her clothes had threads of texture sticking out in certain parts – with the boy's sleeves suffering the same.
Not to mention, they both had some dust and sand on them, as if they had been rolling on the ground somewhere else.
Hm? And that was when a thought crossed Minari's mind.
With that thought, she lifted up her head and looked at Sofya, the latter giving her a strange look.
"And they call me a Femme Fatale." She muttered, letting the sand and dust fall off her hands.
As her words echoed, puzzled looks took over the group. Even those who weren't part of the conversation and were just nearby, listening to them, didn't immediately understand what Minari meant.
However, no one here wasn't stupid. So, in a strangely slow and quick moment, they all seemed to understand what Minari was trying to say.
The first ones to realize were John and Sofya, with the woman widening her eyes so much upon the realization it seemed they would pop out at any given moment.
But the first person to truly react to it loudly wasn't either of them. And when the thought crossed his mind, Ludwig's lips trembled before his mouth opened wide and he laughed like never in his life.
"Bwahahahahahahahaha!" He laughed as loud as any person could, echoing as a thunder through the room.
He wasn't the only one, actually. A few other people around who were paying attention to the conversation also had the desire to laugh, even if a little. However, they held it, a little bit scared of Sofya due to her reputation
However, Ludwig wasn't like them. He was unrestrained, with him already having to bend slightly forward to hold his stomach while he laughed more and more.
"Haha! Nice one, young man! I can't believe you tamed the witch!" He pointed at John, tears forming on the corner of his eyes.
John didn't react, still a little bit fazed at how things came to this.
In his place, someone else reacted to Ludwig's words, and that someone would be Sofya.
Primarily, she had her eyes set on Minari, who cowered away under the stare.
Then, as Ludwig's voice echoed more and more, Sofya turned her head at him. Her expression showed no sign of embarrassment or of being flustered. Instead, she had a deep scowl while her eyes locked on the man.
Feeling a deathly stare on his very soul, Ludwig instantly knew where it was coming from.
"I… will kill you…" Sofya muttered, her nostrils flaring. The only thing stopping her from breaking the man's neck was the rules of the casino. If not, Sofya would make sure Ludwig would see only the next sunrise.
Ludwig knew that was the reason as well for him to be alive right now. Still, under such a stare, he didn't find in himself much strength to laugh anymore.
"Haha… ha…" His laughter slowly died out, with him looking at all places to avoid Sofya's killing stare from piercing his soul.
After some time, Ludwig could only lower his head and rub the back of it as he awkwardly said. "I am fucked, right?"
Sofya didn't respond, her stare was enough of an answer. However, one person didn't resist commenting.
"You think so?" Omar humorously said, finding enjoyment in the future misery of his friend.
[Scene Break]
"Heh, it certainly took a while to explain to them the situation without revealing much." John's words were followed by a chuckle of his.
Walking alongside was Sofya, with both of them leaving the main area of the casino.
The woman snorted, showing a bit of her annoyance. "You could've helped more by saying a few more words. Instead, you remained quiet most of the time."
"Sorry, that really took me by surprise." John replied, scratching the cheek of his mask. "It's not everyday someone assumes I had sex with someone I know for less than a day."
"I get it." Sofya nodded, sighing.
"Thankfully, everything was sorted out. So no need to fret over it anymore." John said.
Sofya didn't agree totally with his words as she shook her head. "That's quite the difficult task since I can still hear that idiot's laughter echoing in my ears."
John stole a glimpse at Sofya's expression. "You two seem kind of close. But you don't seem to have – or had – that kind of relationship."
A short silence followed the young man's words, with Sofya just absently staring ahead.
It took until they fully left the main floor of the casino that she said anything. "It is complicated. Not in the way you refer, but… well, complicated."
"Hey, I won't be the one to force answers out of you." John said, climbing a couple of stairs to get to the cashier's cage.
In there was the same attendant who John met earlier, with the same wide smile and sparkling eyes.
Before she could say anything, John pulled off the poker chips he had earned and put them in front of the cashier. "I would like to trade my chips for money."
"Of course, dear customer." She kept smiling, gathering the poker chips.
She quickly verified if they were not imitations and truly belonged to the casino. After all, just like any casino, it was more common for customers to get out of here with less money than more.
After some time making sure they were authentic, the attendant counted how much they were worth and gave a value to John.
"After a subtraction of the casino's share, you have earned a total of 9.357.500 USD." She professionally announced, not sounding the slightest surprised by the absurd amount of money. "In case you are not aware, dear customer, our esteemed establishment, The Blood Rose, has multiple ways to give you this amount of money. For example, if you wish, the amount can be cashed out using paper money, precious gems and metals, crypto coins and many other ways." The woman passed a small pamphlet made of some hard paper to him. "All our options are here, dear customer."
"I will take a look at it." John said, followed by a slight nod of thankfulness and with him retreating a few steps back, giving some space for Sofya to deal with her own matters while he read the options.
But as he attempted to think of what he should do, a thought continuously lingered in John's mind.
Nine million dollars… That's an amount of money I thought I wouldn't own so soon. John internally sighed, a little stupefied by the number. I came here expecting to get only enough to pay my debt to Alaric. But with this, I can pay for ten of those rooms for a year and most of the money will still remain. So… what shall I do with it? Before he knew, some more interesting thoughts than how to receive this money appeared in John's mind.
And while the young man quietly thought, Sofya soon finished her matters.
"Thank you for your patronage." The attendant said, smiling.
"Thank you for your services." Sofya said, putting some distance between her and the cashier's cage.
Then, when she turned around and walked closer to John, she noticed he apparently still hadn't decided on anything yet. "Need some help to choose?"
"Hm?" John woke out of his stupor, shaking his head. "No, no. I already know what I will get. Thanks, anyway." He said, walking back to the cashier.
Sofya just stood by and waited as John changed a few words with the attendant. After that, she walked deeper into the cashier, probably to get whatever the boy asked for.
Right at the same time as the woman retreated, John put out his phone and sent a few texts to someone. It seemed his response came fast as he immediately wrote a few more words back from now and then.
A few minutes later, the woman came back, and seemingly in perfect time for John to finish whatever the matter he was dealing with on the phone.
The two of them exchanged a few more words between them, then the attendant passed a few stacks of cash to John through a small rectangular hole in the reinforced glass that separated her from everyone else.
"Thank you." John said, grabbing the notes.
"The Blood Rose is thankful for your choice to come to our establishment, dear customer. Please, come back soon." The woman cheerfully said, opening a big smile.
John softly smiled. "Let's see." He said, turning around and walking back to Sofya.
Seeing him approaching, Sofya immediately asked. "Where is the rest of the money?"
"In a bank account." John replied.
"And you will walk, or you know… fly," She whispered, low enough just the two of them could listen to her words. "out of here with this much money in hands?"
Despite most of the money being sent somewhere else, John was still holding two hundred thousands dollars in his hands. That would be troublesome in the long travel he would take.
But as they started to walk towards the exit, John shared with Sofya his simple idea. "I have a bag I left prepared before coming here." He said, putting some stacks in his pockets. "And you, what did you get?"
Sofya raised her purse, shaking it weakly. A metallic sound came from inside it, as if small objects were hitting themselves. "A few pieces of gold." She replied, bringing her bag down. "A suggestion for you, always have some reserve of gold. You never know when the country you are residing in can disappear or some other shit can happen."
The first few words from Sofya didn't surprise the young man, but he felt something else in the last half of the sentence.
"Personal experience?" John turned to her.
Sofya nodded, sighing just after. "I lost a little bit of money across the ages with the passing of some ruling states." When reminiscing about past events, the vampire couldn't help but frown. "Worse than losing money is hearing that all your properties suddenly have been revoked by some new government taking command of the country they were in."
"How do you normally deal with that kind of situation?"
"Compelling or by force." Sofya said, pushing open a couple of doors to leave the casino. "But I can't push much without bringing major problems, so I just get back what I cherish the most and stop there."
"Fair enough." John followed right after her, the doors behind him closing.
Interestingly enough, it wasn't the same path John took alongside Nikos a few hours earlier. He didn't see any staff in it, with only him and Sofya present.
I wonder where this leads to. He thought, taking a very good look above him.
Noticing how the young man had been walking for the last half a dozen steps looking up. Really staring into the ceiling.
"If you were someone else, I would consider it a strange behavior. But since you are strange already, what are you doing right now?"
"Believe it or not, I am looking through the ceiling to see where exactly we are." John replied. "Basically, I am using X-Ray vision."
"…" For a moment, Sofya went completely quiet to process what she just heard.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, with her finding difficulty in speaking what was in her mind. "You… you are not an alien, right?"
"Didn't I say I was partially human?"
"And you specified to not know what the other part is." She said, a shocked expression taking her face.
A humored snort came from John. "I was born on Earth, if that helps. If not, then just know that I know as much as you." He said, dropping down his head to look ahead.
Despite his words sounding honest and truthful, John knew they were lies.
Right, he knew not what else he was. But from his mother's words, what John inherited from his parents certainly didn't belong to Earth.
But like hell I will confirm to anyone that I, in some way, shape or form, am part alien. John thought, noticing that Sofya was now looking at him differently. Way more differently than when he revealed to her he wasn't a vampire.
"What?" He blurted out, narrowing his eyes.
"If you can see through things, does that mean-"
"No." John cut her before she could finish her question. "It doesn't work that way."
"No?"
"No." John shook his head. "If I use it on you, I won't be able to see your nipples or anything like that. At most, I will see your skeleton. Through other methods, I will be able to see your veins and such. But no, I can't take a peek at how you are below your clothes."
"I see…" Sofya's words hung in the air, a bit of relief in them. "But still, it seems that every time you speak about yourself, I get more surprised."
"That's a good thing, right?" John asked, taking a turn. "After all, it is not everyday you get to learn about such fantastical things after living for so long on this Earth."
"Ah… I guess you are right." Sofya slowly nodded. "But what did I say about talking about a woman's age earlier?" She gave a threatening look at him.
A dismissively scoff was all that came from John in response.
Together, the pair walked a bit more, with the young man taking notice of a few doors that led to places that were not connected to the casino or the underground coliseum.
This place is immense. John thought, with his destination finally in sight after a couple more minutes of walking.
Standing before the elevator that apparently would help them leave this place, Sofya and John patiently waited for it to come down.
When it reached their floor and the doors opened, Sofya stepped in first, followed by John.
The vampire pressed one of the two buttons on the panel, with the doors quickly shutting close and moving upwards.
"Where are you going from here?" John asked. Making use of the moment since he didn't know when he would meet Sofya again.
Sofya leaned on the wall, arms crossed. "There is a job I am interested in. It is of apparent low risk and it is a decent reward, so chances are I will take it. I will just give it a more in-depth investigation before making a decision."
"I see." John said, but his words didn't stop there. "Excuse me if I am asking something inappropriate, but don't you have the thought of stopping?"
"You refer to the mercenary job?"
"Yes." He nodded. "I don't believe you don't have by now a big enough wealth to live well for ages. So, why continue on with it? Is it simply a way to evade boredom?"
"You are basically correct." Sofya promptly confirmed. "I am incapable of stopping now. After all, it is what I have been doing for the past centuries." She flatly explained her reasons. "I once tried giving myself a break when Klaus Mikaelson died. I tried to see if I could live a more calm and peaceful life. It didn't last more than a month, with me taking the first job my contacts got me."
"What did you try to do during that month?" John focused on that part.
At the end of his question, the elevator came to an abrupt halt, alerting both of them they had arrived at their destination.
"I tried to take care of a small farm up in Montana." She replied while the doors of the elevator opened. "It is a lovely place, it reminds me of home for most of the year. But I guess that life is not for me anymore."
Waiting for her to walk out of the elevator, John followed soon after. "Well, if you find yourself bored, I can think of a way or two to help you with that without you having to fight or kill anyone."
"Hmph, bold words, young man." Sofya snorted.
"You know that's not what I meant." John said, taking a look around. "Hah, I didn't expect the entrance and exit to the casino to be such a place."
"How did you get inside then?"
"I don't know if I can reveal that information." John said, walking out of the back room of what seemed to be a bar if the smell of alcohol and popular music was anything to go by.
At the main part of the place, where there were a couple dozen tables and a bar counter, John wasn't surprised to see almost no one in here but an old man and a woman.
Surprisingly, the old man was Nikos. He was standing behind the bar, near the beer taps, cleaning cups with a white towel.
He quietly sent a look towards the young man, then he went back to his business.
Strange old man. John thought. "Well, I guess that's where we go our separate ways." He told Sofya, who also took a glance at the old man.
"I guess so." Sofya nodded, putting a rare gentle smile. "It was good meeting you, young man."
"I never told you my name, right?" John seemed to finally notice that small detail.
"You noticed that just now?"
"Well, in my defense, I was trying to keep my identity a secret." John said in self-defense. "You still will have to search for me to learn my face, but just know that my name is John."
"Sofya." She jokingly said, reaching her hand out.
However, instead of taking it for a shake, John just pulled her closer and gave Sofya a hug. "Where I come from, hugs are the norm for greetings and partings."
"I see." Sofya said, not shying away from it.
After a moment, she stepped back and gave one last look at him. "It was nice meeting you, John. Strangely, I hope to see you in the future."
"Be well on your path, Sofya." John said back.
With these words said, Sofya approached the door of the establishment and walked out through it without looking back.
Soon after, the sound of wind surged and disappeared just as fast, indicating Sofya had parted.
Now "alone" in the bar, John didn't wait any longer before removing the mask off his face.
"I feel like I am breathing better without it." He muttered, holding the magical artifact with both hands. "If I were you, I would recommend the witches to improve this aspect of the mask. Also, an idea. If possible, change the mask from hiding someone's expression to putting an illusion on their faces. Walking into a place with a mask with no one else wearing one made things strange. In the end, I was more bothered because I was wearing it than what I imagined I would be if I went there without one." He said while approaching the bar counter.
"I will write down your suggestions for later, Sr. John." Nikos said behind the counter, lifting up his head.
Subtly, John glanced at the woman by his side. But his staring didn't last long, with him looking back at the old vampire. "Okay, then." He placed the mask on the counter, pushing it to Nikos. "Thank you for your help with the small details. I will be sure to tell Rebekah of how much trouble you saved me."
Just then, the woman with her face planted on the counter slightly shook. It seemed she was trying to restrain something.
Before John could give her a strange look, Nikos responded.
"My Lady will be delighted to hear it." He said, bringing the attention to him.
Still, John looked between him and the woman before slowly nodding. "Okay… Then, I will see you in a later time, Nikos."
"Farewell, Sr. John." Nikos nodded in his direction.
Walking to the door, John opened it and left the small bar, greeting the sight of a lonely street under the embrace of the night.
In such a big city such as Las Vegas, it was unusual to find a deserted place, even more so when only a couple hours were needed before the sun rose from the horizon.
But to be honest, John ignored it and just took a deep breath.
"Damn…" He let the word escape as he breathed out. "The night didn't go exactly as I planned, but it was still a great experience." John muttered, taking a good look around to know better where he was.
Covertly, he shot up to the skies and gave himself a panoramic view of the district he was above.
Immediately, John recognized to be a few streets away from where he had landed earlier. He also noticed the mansion a few further away.
He immediately moved to where he had landed earlier, to the place he stored the bag and kept it hidden.
However, as he flew over the roofs of the few houses and establishments in the area, John noticed something, a small detail that made him feel the environment a little strange.
There is not a single soul on the streets. He thought while landing on the alley he had landed earlier, his senses still stretching outwards. Not a single sound of a car's engine or a motorcycle. The whole city block seems almost like a different place from the rest of the city. John reached out his hand and the bag he had hidden inside in the alley came flying to his hands.
It was hanging from a street pole the entire night, with an illusion spell around it to hide it from anyone who could pass by.
When he grabbed it, John dusted it off and started putting the money he earned in his hands in the bag.
After he did so, John put it on his back before taking a look at his phone. He wanted to see if there was any new message, but to his disappointment, the person he was talking to early didn't reply to his last text.
What are you gonna do now? Was what he wrote to Rebekah after he gave her the information Sofya shared with him.
Right after, she didn't write anything else and it seemed she wouldn't any time soon from the feeling John was having.
I just hope whatever she is doing or planning, it goes well. He thought, going to a different chat.
Seeing the profile picture of who he was sending a text to, a smile created onto John's lips. It's been not even a day, and I miss her. He thought, sending one single text to Hope before putting his phone back into his pocket.
Taking a look at the starry sky over his head, John moved towards it, disappearing amidst the darkness of the night as he made his way back to the school.
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A/N
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