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Thomas sat in the back of a taxi beside Senna, one finger exploring the deep recesses of his nose with his lips slightly parted and an expression of concentration on his face.
A sharp elbow suddenly dug into his ribs, causing him to jump in pain and stab into his nose with his finger.
“Ouch! What was that for!”
“Stop picking your nose in public, it’s embarrassing!”
“So it’s fine at home- Ow!”
Senna turned her head and ignored Thomas after that, who admired the large booger he successfully extracted before flicking it onto the back of the taxi driver’s seat. At least, he tried to, but it ended up sticking onto the window beside him instead.
The white knuckles of the taxi driver on the steering wheel showed that he was aware of it too. He seemed like he would snap and fly into a fit of rage at any moment.
“We’ve arrived… Don’t forget to tip.”
The taxi pulled over and a holographic payment terminal appeared on the back of the driver’s seat. The doors remained locked until the fare was paid to ensure people didn’t run without paying.
Thomas casually put in a tip of 3.27c and waved his phone before he and Senna departed the car.
The tyres on the taxi screeched as the driver angrily departed, cursing Thomas under his breath to vent his anger.
Not far away, a robotic street sweeper was making its way down the road with a clunking noise. It no longer functioned as it once did, but it still cleaned the street and curb all in one. Pretending he didn’t see it also break and ‘clean’ up a piece of the gutter, Thomas led Senna through the small picket fence and up the front steps of the house.
Arianna Nikolic was a single mother living in an old family home. Wallpaper still decorated the walls and the gardens were kept in good condition. The recent unchecked growth of weeds and an unmown lawn showed that she had not been in a good state of mind recently.
*Knock* *knock*
The pair first heard the sound of footsteps running to the door, before a disheveled mother opened the door with a hopeful expression.
Even though it wasn’t who she seemed to be hoping to see, she still held onto some of that hope and asked, “How is it, is there any new information?”
“Woah, slow down,” Thomas chuckled before simply strolling in through the front door and starting looking around the house. “It has only been a single night. We are here to get a few personal items of your son to help track him.”
“Excuse me,” Senna politely bobbed her head toward the woman as she followed Thomas inside.
“Ah, hold on! Let me tidy things a little first!”
Arianna shut the front door and hurried over to her dining table where an assortment of missing posters, occult book, and articles were scattered across it.
Thomas picked up on of the books and glanced over pages that had sticky tabs attached to them.
“Werewolves… Did he go missing during a full moon? No? Shadow Stalkers? I’m pretty sure they have been extinct for a long time. Mesmir… Maiden by the Creek… Siren? Not in that tiny little creek… Pied Pip- pardon?… Monster Under the Bed? This is just getting more and more preposterous. Even the information is all wrong, what a rubbish book.”
“I… I paid a lot of credits for that book…”
Arianna hurriedly defended the book, which apparently she had bought from some shady online marketplace.
“You were swindled.”
Senna, who was properly looking over everything on the table like a professional rebutted mercilessly, “I don’t think you are one to criticize others about that.”
Arianna looked like the was about to break down into tears so Thomas hurriedly changed his tune.
“W-wait, hold on second. I was wrong, it’s not entirely inaccurate or useless. Look here, vampires are indeed weak to the sun.”
He quickly showed the open double page spread about vampires, diagram and all, to the bereaved mother. He had a panicked expression on his face as he hurried to console her.
“Well, they won’t instantly turn to ash, it takes about half an hour, but they are so weak once under it that they can’t even move. Oh, they can cross creeks, and they’re not weak to crosses.”
“You’re not being helpful,” Senna rolled her eyes and commented.
“R-really? Crosses don’t work?” Arianna glanced towards the wall where there was a small figure of Jesus on a wooden cross hanging.
“Of course not. I mean, have you ever heard of a supernatural creature weak to a particular shape? Nope. They are weak to holy energy, so if the cross is infused with that, then they are weak to it. You may as well have a packet of peanuts blessed by a priest who holds holy power and any vampire who eats them will develop the greatest peanut allergy you’ve ever seen. It’s absolutely hilarious~”
“What… what about a stake to the heart?”
“There are very few common variety supernatural creatures who can survive once their heart has been destroyed. After all, ‘if in doubt, go for the heart’. See, Senna, I can be helpful.”
“…Great, now can we please get down to business? Miss Nikolic, can we have one of your son’s personal belongings? Ideally, we need something that was close or precious to him.”
The semi-fallen fae girl sighed in exasperation as she finished combing over everything on the desk, and even checking all the books, which was surprisingly a lot.
The bereaved mother was fanatically asking questions about supernatural species, as if she had only just been introduced to the supernatural world and was a complete novice, something not entirely untrue. This was common in a world where supernatural species and powers were no longer just myths and legends.
As Thomas pointed out, though, there was no evidence that anything supernatural was related with her son’s disappearance.
“Here, I have kept all his laundry, just in case it was useful!”
Arianna placed a washing basket full of clothes that caused both Thomas and Senna to scrunch their noses in disgust.
“Lady, we aren’t sniffer dogs. Jesus, do some washing. Just an article of clothing that he wore a lot and maybe something that he frequently had on his body. That is enough.”
“H-here, this was his favorite shirt. You can find him with this, right?”
She pulled out a shirt that had clearly fresh and old food stains on it from the middle of the washing. Thomas could swear that it stunk more than the rest of the basket together.
“…Sure.”
Holding it at arm’s length, Thomas then accepted a basketball that he used with a lot before finally bidding farewell. Before they left though, there was a knock on the door, which Arianna quickly rushed to answer.
Outside the door stood two men in suits, both seemingly in their 30s. The one on the left was bald with some light stubble on his chin and broad shoulders, while the other was a bit slimmer but had much more defined muscled. He had mid length brown hair and similar eyes, but his gaze was that of an experienced fighter.
“Good morning, Madam, I am Agent Mason from the Department of Homeland Security, and this is my partner Agent Patterson. Are you Arianna Nikolic?” The bald man showed an official badge with the DHS logo on it, along with his portrait photo and credentials.
“Y-yes?”
“We are here to investigate the report you filed in regards to your son who went missing. Do you mind if we come in and ask you a few questions?”
Arianna seemed a bit bewildered as she hadn’t expected but still agreed.
“Of course. Please excuse me for a bit though, I still have two guests.”
The two agents’ brows rose curiously while Thomas came out from around the corner with Senna.
“No need to mind us, we already have all that we need. Senna will keep in contact with you to keep you informed.”
Arianna looked between the two people and seemed uncertain as to what to say. Thomas could see her reconsideration in regards to the cost of his services as federal officers had arrived in regards to the issue.
Looking at the agents however, he couldn’t help but have a short smirk dance on the corner of his lips. Senna also furrowed her brow and scrunched her nose up at the two, also detecting the blood that they had experienced in their lives.
“Excuse me, but who are the two of you?” Agent Patterson looked at the two before focusing his gaze on Senna.
Thomas’ grin turned into a smile as he casually pulled out a business card and slipped it into his chest pocket.
“Thomas Smith, a supernatural private investigator who can solve any problem. Arianna is our client.”
“And her?”
“Senna is my daughter. It’s bring your daughter to work, today.”
Agent Patterson almost snorted in derision and declared, “She must take after her mother.”
“Oh? What gave it away?” Thomas asked in a tone that didn’t seem to be feigning surprise.
Agent Patterson’s temper was riled by this but the bald Agent Mason placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
“Apologies Mr. Smith-”
“Please, just Thomas.”
“…Thomas, but we may follow up with you and require you to submit your findings and or answer some questions.”
“You have my number~”
The pair then left after one final farewell to Arianna as a cab driver pulled up out front of the house. Seeing that it was the same cab driver who dropped them off, who also happening to be pinching the bridge of his nose in unhappiness, a great big smile made its way to his face.
Senna was busy constructing a file for the case when she asked, “Thomas, were those two agents really from the Department of Homeland Security? They seemed…”
“Like Hunters?”
“They stank of blood, and not human blood, after all.”
“They don’t seem like government agents, but who knows, there are lots of small subdivisions within the government for various affairs, even taking care of dangerous supernatural creatures. It’s not as if everything is left to the Protectorate.”
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