The Meeting

McCree Cemetery

For the most part, the cemetery seems to be a quiet and serene spot for both the souls that rest below and those that come to pay respect to their loved ones. A packed dirt pathway continues through the grounds boxing off expanses of green lawns that have gravestones of different shapes and ages.
Off in the southeast corner is an area of the grounds that seems to have gone forgotten. Overgrown with weeds, vines and various other plants, a cluster of old and broken gravemarkers clutter the area. Even on the sunniest of days, this section has an extreme sense of foreboding to it.


Winter will soon be coming to an end, but for now the cool claws of the season have dug firmly into Texas. Grey, overcast skies. Still-damp ground from the rain of the last few days. Chloe has donned a jacket over her black pantsuit. She's still in mourning, and is being oddly traditional in her manner of dress. Then again, it's not really /strange/ for her to be strange in life. It's pretty normal for her.

She is, unfortunately alone. Standing at her father's grave. Peering at the place where the gravestone will go once the Spring comes. Hands are in her pocket, and not for the first time does she wish that Mischa were with her.

She might be alone, but she wont be alone for very long. It might be the incorrect Two-Natured, but at least she'll get the company of one of the secret furries. In her distracted state, she might not notice the still, calm thought patterns of Eli as he crosses the graves. Or maybe she will. And maybe she'll smell the telltale trail of cigar smoke in the air.

Brains can always be detected, even if she can't pick up on the thoughts. Once Chloe is aware she is no longer alone, she slowly turns. The cigar smoke is seen before the scent is noticed, but until the man tells her that he is who she's waiting for she doesn't say anything. She simply waits. Playing dumb as Mischa told her to.

Eli doesn't speak. He barely registers Chloe's presence up until he moves to his place directly beside her, staring down at the grave in a grim fashion. "It's a tragedy when somebody's life is taken from them prematurely." He offers, voice a low, almost fatherly gruff. "I trust he was a good guy, eh?" Hooded eyes travel over to the side, fixing themselves onto Chloe's person with respectful reservation.

"That's a matter of perspective, but he was a good father." Chloe can't say she got along much with her dad after her breakdown, but she knows he tried his best. Arms fold over her chest, and she glances at the man beside her briefly. "If you'll excuse me for being blunt, are you Mr. Donato?"

"Aye." Eli grunts, lifting a hand to pluck to cigar out of his mouth and blow a stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry for your loss, and that we had to meet under these circumstances. You must be the Cornett girl, the friend Alexandrov had mentioned he would send to me." Replacing the cigar in his mouth, he turns to face her with his hand outstretched in her direction.

Stern and abrasive. At least Mischa wasn't wrong on that summarization. Chloe simply says, "I'm sorry for it too." The man's hand is taken and given a brief, firm shake. As though she were conducting a business meeting of sorts. "I apologize that Mr. Alexandrov can't be present as he'd hoped, but I will answer the questions that you need to ask to the best of my ability." Beat. "My mother is not yet out of the hospital, they will be letting her out in the morning." Which gives her exactly twelve hours to convince her mother to be caged.

Eli nods as his hand falls to his side. "It may sound harsh, but I hope you understand that she must be caged. Come full moon, she will transform into a creature she has never before been, one you have never before seen. It's not uncommon for the bitten to turn into monsters and attack those they are emotionally attached to, and even less uncommon for them to attack random civilians if given half the chance." Beat. "I need to know the details of what has happened. I fully expect to exact justice on the two-natured who did it. And, at the same time, I'm here to answer whatever questions you might have."

Chloe shrugs her shoulders at the fact of it's harshity. Being caged is far better than the alternative - being shot. So she takes a deep breath, exhales it slowly and turns to face the man. "You will have to understand that I wasn't /there/ when the incident occurred. What I do know is that my parents got home, opened the door, and were attacked by a large black wolf. The police said it was rabid, and that would have been that except…" How dumb is she supposed to play? "I have reason to believe otherwise, based on what I heard said by a vampire." Which is likely not going to go over well at all.

Eli takes a long, elaborate drag from his cigar, glancing up to the cloudy skies as she speaks. "Fair 'nough. I'm going to ask you to allow some of my men to look over your parents property, so we can examine the scene of the crime and see what information we can glean from it. I also ask that you don't bother the scene of the crime until the inspection has taken place." There is a pause, during which he looks over Chloe. "Mhmm. What did the vampire say, exactly?"

"The only one that's been in the house, to my knowledge, besides the police was me. To get the suit for the funeral home, and get the documents for the lawyers." Ergo, her scent will probably still be at the scene. "Ah. Well I can't recall the exact words, it was during a very stressful situation, you understand." She's trying to play dumb, she is. "The general gist was that it was /someone/ they knew, and that they were sent to draw me out."

Eli is an experienced man. He is an army man. And judging by the way he proceeds to look over Chloe, he is a man that doesn't quite believe what she happens to be spouting about 'not recalling the words'. "I see." It's a gruff dismissal. "If you find any more information, it is important that you come to me to it. Otherwise, it'll be difficult to help you." Shuffling on his feet, his fingers adjust the cigar. "Well. If that's all you know, and if you've given me permission to check the home, then I believe my end of the bargain here is done. Do you have anything you want to say?"

"Yes, you'll need the keys." Chloe reaches into her pocket, and pulls out a key ring. She detaches the portion that holds the keys for her parent's home. "One for the door, one for the garage, and one for the shed out back." She frowns at the man. "You're very shrewd too. I understand you want to keep your pack a secret, and I respect that, Mr. Donato, but in all honesty the vampires still have a few secrets left as well and I have to protect those too." She offers the gruff man a smile. "She said that the /werewolf/ was sent to draw me out, but considering she was an evil bitch, I don't know for certain that she can be believed."

"The vampires have no secrets as far as I'm concerned. I'm no longer a pup, Miss Cornett. In fact, I'm pretty old. I have worked with and against vampires ever since I was a child." But Eli will respect her wishes and not bother to press the issue for more information. Instead, he holds his hands out to receive the keys. "Mhmm. I don't expect that you'll tell me exactly who she is, will you?"

"I don't know who she /was/," Chloe said, "except a bitch." Licking her lips, she grins a little. "She's dead. She was torn apart by a tiger, and had her head chopped off by someone else. I /will/ go out on a limb and say that she likely worked with a not-so-nice vampire, though even I'm not privy to that information."

Eli nods slowly, his eyes on Chloe's person thoughtfully. "Well then…I'll leave you to your mourning, then. I'll be in contact, to try and facilitate your mother's change. If you need me, go to Alexandrov. He knows how to grab me." He starts backing up then, nodding in her direction. "I will be seeing you, then."

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