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"Drift!! Shelby!!" Avid came running into the kitchen where Drift and Shelby were sitting at the breakfast bar looking up recent news articles, "I found a case!" His socks slipped on the floor as he rounded the corner, and he slammed the newspaper clipping onto the counter in front of them, "It's perfect!"
Drift raised an eyebrow at him, "Is it a real case or is it carbon monoxide?"
"Just read it!"
MISSING PERSON:
JACK "PYRO" PYROSCYTHE
22 YEARS OLD
LAST SEEN AT THE VAMPIRE BAR IN BROOKLYN ON JANUARY 15TH
PLEASE CALL XXX-XXX-XXXX IF YOU'VE SEEN HIM
"I appreciate the vote of confidence but do you really think we're qualified for this missing person case?" Drift pushed the paper back towards Avid, "I don't think ghosts were involved,"
"That club is a vampire club, Drift, this guy went missing at a vampire club, I think it is in our jurisdiction," Avid pushed the paper back towards her, "Plus, I have a feeling about this one, trust me,"
Drift stared at him. "Avid, vampire club is probably just a gimmick. Why would real vampires announce themselves like that.
"Maybe this is a good chance to prove ourselves," Shelby added, "If we can find this guy, then maybe we can get more real cases in the future…" She took the paper from Avid to study it closer, "…And I think we already have a lead just from this photo of the guy — he left that club with someone." She turned to paper around to show the other two.
"Fine, we'll find tthis guy." Drift sighed, knowing that once the other two got a case in their minds then she wouldn't be able to do anything to get them onto something else.
"Yay!" Avid pulled Drift into a hug, "I know if we solve this then we'll finally be taken seriously," and then went to go pin the news paper clipping onto their current cases board.
She wouldn't realize how much of a mistake it would be to take this case until much later.
Avid was gone.
They'd been on this case for two weeks, with no leads aside from maybe Pyro was taken by some nightclub cult, and now Avid was gone. Drift was just talking to him last night, before they both went to bed, but now he was missing from their townhome. She remembered him saying something about the nightclub, about how they needed to go there during an event, but he wouldn't have gone on his own. Right?
He'd never have gone alone.
Drift went through his room, looking for any clue about where he had gone. His laptop was still open to his email account, and Drift, after a moment of hesitation, clicked on the most recent email.
I KNOW WHERE HE IS. COME TO XXXX, ALONE.
She stared at the email. Avid wouldn't have gone there alone. He would've said something to her and Shelby. Right?
She shook her head — no, of course that's where Avid went. He didn't think. He'd totally ho alome, actually. That's why Drift was the one every plan was supposed to go through. She wrote the address down on a scrap piece of paper and closed Avid's laptop.
She had a new mystery to solve now — Where the hell was Avid.
"Drift..." Shelby tugged on the back of Drift's jacket, looking around nervously at the bar patrons, "We should leave..." They were being watched by everyone -- they clearly didn't belong, and everyone could tell.
Drift waved her off, "We need to find a lead on Avid first," She continued to lead Shelby further into the bar, towards the counter. Shelby stuck close to her back, nearly stepping on her heels with every step.
Drift sat down at a barstool, and Shelby sat down beside her. It took a few minutes before the bartender came up to them.
"How can I help you girls?" The bartender asked as he dried out a beer glass.
"We're looking for this man. Have you seen him," Drift looked at the bartender's name tag, "... Owen." She slid a picture of Avid across the counter.
"Hmm," Owen stared at the picture for a moment, tapping his fingers on the glass, "He may look familiar, but so many people come through this bar..." He gave them what Shelby would describe as a threatening, almost predatory, grin. She would later swear she saw fangs in his mouth.
Drift narrowed her eyes. She knew what he was playing at.
"One beer."
"Okay," Owen laughed, and then went to pour a single glass of beer.
Shelby tried to catch Drift's eyes - she wanted to leave now. She didn't think they should be here. She didn't trust Owen.
Drift ignored her. She knew Drift wouldn't leave until she got answers.
When he came back over Drift grabbed the glass, threw money on the counter, and asked again, "I bought something, now tell me what you know about him."
Owen looked amused - like Drift and Shelby were two eight week old puppies and he was a kid in a pet store. He wasn't taking them seriously.
Shelby got the feeling that it would be really bad if he took them seriously.
"I think he came in yesterday yelling about vampires." Owen rolled his eyes, counting the money Drift left on the counter, "Quite rude, if I'm honest. He left with some tall awkward guy about thirty minutes after his arrival." Owen leaned against the bar, into Drift's space, "Should'a kept your friend on a leash here if you didn't want him disappearing."
Drift looked at Shelby, finally, before looking back to Owen, "Thanks for the information." She slid a five dollar bill across the counter and then stood, grabbed the glass and Shelby's hand, and led her out of the bar.
"I don't trust a word he said." Shelby was the first to speak once they got back to their townhouse, "He knows more then he was letting on."
"I know," Drift was pacing across the room, "He knows where Avid is." She stopped in front of the corkboard they had made for the Pyro case and stared at it. They were missing something. She knew it. She just needed to figure out what.
Shelby stood next to Drift, staring at the same spot on the board. She looked to Drift, "Avid found Pyro." She stepped closer to the board, and closer to Drift, tapping a printout of the email Drift found on Avid's computer, "Or, Pyro found Avid, and they're in the same spot. And Owen knows where both of them are." Her hand fell back to her side, "But I don't think Owen tell us that information."
"So how are we going to find him." Drift stared at the email printout, every possibility swirling through her mind. Avid could be dead. He could've been killed in that bar, on that night he went alone, and what they were looking for now was a body.
"We'll find him." Shelby grabbed onto Drift's arm and led her away from the board, to the kitchen, "He's alive, we'll find him, we'll solve this case. But first you need to eat something." She led drift to a seat at the island counter before stepping into the kitchen to look through their meager fridge and pantry.
"Do you want…" She moved aside a bag of moldy fruit in the fridge, "Eggs and toast or toast and eggs."
When Drift didn't respond Shelby grabbed out the carton of eggs and the half-empty bag of bread from the fridge and started cooking. Drift just watched her in silence, still stuck in her own head.
Shelby pushed one plate in front of Drift, then took a seat beside her with her own plate, "Eat something, then we'll go back to looking for him."
Drift started eating slowly, in silence.
They were back at the bar.
Drift knew Avid was here, somewhere. He had to be. He was here, he was alive, she would find him. She had to find him.
Shelby squeezed her hand tightly as they walked into the bar, through the crowd of drunk and high partiers, and walked right to the bar, behind the bar, into the back room. No one stopped them. No one even noticed them. (Drift really, really expected someone — Owen — to stop them, to ask what the hell they were doing, to start a fight. She knew Shelby saw his fangs - she was prepared to take them out.)
There was a door at the other end of the storage room, behind the rows of shelves and boxes of food and alcohol. Drift let go of Shelby's hand in favor of grabbing the knife from its sheath at her side, and she pushed Shelby behind her as they walked towards the door.
"Do you think…" Shelby started speaking softly, looking back over her shoulder nervously, "Why hasn't anyone stopped us?"
Drift shrugged, not speaking. There was red stains on the floor — blood? She kept walking forwards.
The pair made it to the door. Drift opened it, slowly, wincing when the hinges squeaked. Beyond the door was a staircase, leading down into the darkness. Drift couldn't tell how far down it went into the darkness, but she could see blood on some of the steps.
"Drift." Shelby tugged on Drift's sleeve, "There's someone-" Shelby was cut off by someone pushing her, and Drift, into — down, really — the stairs, into the darkness.
The last thing Drift saw was the door being slammed shut as the pair fell, and the last thing she heard was a whispered, "I'm sorry." as she and Shelby fell and everything went dark.