To hell with Cal and his damn authority! The next night, Judas quietly left Southern City. He wasn’t going to settle for this shit any longer. He needed to find out the answers, and if no one would provide them, he’d find them himself.

First, he needed help – he couldn’t deny that. And the only one he knew that could help was that human he took home the other day. There had to be a reason why Lucious had him tagging along other than the fact he was a clairsentient being. Even that was a great skill to have, but there had to be something else special about him.

Unfortunately, the house was empty. Even inside the patio, where he swore he left the human four days ago, was vacant. He scanned the area around him—yes, they were gone. Nice place, though. Why would anyone just leave their house unattended like this?

Judas was lost. He could try searching for answers himself but wasn’t sure he’d find anything. If he did, and was caught, he’d be in a helluva lot of trouble!

Even browsing through books at Cal’s house months ago got him an unnerving side-glare from his maker. But in those books were years of vampire history he didn’t know existed. From ancient vampyres to vampires of today... from that point, he instantly knew something was different. It wasn’t until the happenings of the last few days that he felt those intuitions were true.

He found himself in Central City, wandering the quiet streets, looking for anything or anyone that could help him. There were no vampires, no humans... he really didn’t think the city would be so dull as well.

Perhaps this was just how a vampire’s life was supposed to be. Boring. Dull. Tedious. What was the other word?

He stalked a group of chuckling women with his eyes, wondering how they would taste and which one was easy to seduce into his arms? Ah, fun times. Too bad he couldn’t go back to those days now that his curiosity had piqued. If only he could find that man...

Around the bend and a few more steps, he spotted a familiar figure asleep on a bench.

“Hey.” Judas leaned in, nudging the man awake. “What are you doing here?”

The man staggered up, sleepy-eyed. His clothes were stained; hair a tangled mess. A thin layer of dirt was spread from his cheek down to his chin. “Huh, what... What do you want?” He wiped at the mess on his face, spreading it across his skin.

“You shouldn’t be here. I left you --” Judas cleared his through. “What’s going on?”

The man shook his head. “He... B-Blaine found me sleeping outside. I don’t know why. How did I get out there?” Tears wetted the side of his face, washing away the dirt.

“Calm down.” Judas held up a hand. He wasn’t sure if he should hug the man or shake him down. “Just, why are you here?”

The man glanced up at him with glistening eyes. “Blaine dumped me! H-he... dumped me.” The human whimpered. “S-s-said I’ve never disappointed h-him like th-that. W-what did I d-do?”

“Uh...” Judas drew speechless. He’d never had to calm down a rejected human before. “Umm, I know what you did.”

The man’s eyes widened. “Really?” He hiccupped. “You were there when I lost my job?”

“No,” Judas whispered. “I wouldn’t know that... Umm... You’re a psychic, correct?”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, you see, a couple days ago, I saw you hanging around a vampire,” Judas said, hoping the truth might jog the human’s memory.

“A vampire?” The man jerked. “N-no way.”

Okay, so the truth had no effect. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. You were with a vampire named Lucious. You were helping him, I think, to find his partner? Something like that. Tell me if any of this rings a bell.”

The man sneered. “You’re crazy. I wouldn’t be so dumb to hang around a vampire, if they existed.”

“Then, maybe I could help you remember.” Judas stepped forward. “Stand up, I need you to follow me.”

“No way. Get the fuck away from me—“

Judas swooped in, catching the man by his collar, and heaving him up to a stand. Before the man could move, Judas swung to stand behind him. A little bit of seduction would have to suffice.

“You’ll follow me tonight, got it?” Judas whispered in his ear.

The man swallowed but nodded. He shivered in Judas’ grasp, and Judas realized he didn’t quite have enough power to fully seduce anyone. He’d have to get better at this.

“Tell me, what’s your name?”

A hot breath tickled between his fingers. “A-Angel.”

“Perfect. Angel, you understand me, right?”

Angel nodded again.

“Great. Let’s go.”