Talking About the Weather (RP)

The way the crowd reacted made it clear that the "fairies" they were talking about weren’t the delicate, butterfly-winged beings she had read about in childhood stories. She could already tell from their reactions—half awed, half fearful—that these creatures were something much darker, far removed from the harmless, whimsical fae of fairy tales. There were hundreds of different types of Fae she'd come across in books, ranging from mischievous sprites to the terrifying, bloodthirsty entities, but her 'knowledge' came straight out of the pages of literal faerie tales. The Fae of the real world could be nothing like them. Whatever they were like, she was curious to know more, maybe even meet one - as long as she could do so without losing her life in the process.

Once again, the uncomfortable sensation of someone watching her with unsettling intensity returned. She tried to ignore the hungry gaze of the shabby man standing next to Benji, but it was hard to shake the feeling that she was a potential meal. She did dress to attract a vampire tonight, but this man wasn’t the kind of vampire she’d planned for. He looked more like a corpse that had crawled out of its grave, and it took everything in her not to flinch when his gaze locked with hers, like a predator eyeing its prey.

Shaking off the chill creeping down her spine, she focused on something—someone—else.
"Do you know much about fairies? Or demons?" she asked Hali, trying to sound as casual as she could, though her eyes darted to Benji, silently pleading him to join them

""No fairies... anywhere in England?" Emma was half-incredulous, half skeptical. "And what were these... 'werewolf wars'? What was that all about?"

Her curiosity was piqued, but she was also a little irked. Every answer Hali gave only opened the door to ten more questions. It was as if she was enjoying dropping these strange names and cryptic references just to see Emma struggle to keep up, deliberately trying to make her feel small and out of her depth. And the fact is that she DID feel exposed and vulnerable, but she wasn’t going to show it to her. She was therefore happy to see Benji finally joining them, greeting the vampire with a smile of relief:

"Hi, Benji!" she greeted him warmly "Oh, yes. The party’s been great. Met a lot of interesting people. Learned more in the last hour than I ever thought I would"

She stopped to glance at Hali, and back at him "How are you doing? I don’t suppose you know why Elliot hasn’t shown up, do you?" she tried not to look too concerned, but it was Eliot who was the one to invite her, and the one who vouched for her safety. And yet, here she was, alone in a room full of vampires assessing her from every corner, with no sign of him "It’s not like him at all, to miss a gathering like this"

"My purse is in the cloakroom. Would you mind giving him a call?" she begged Benji. She was concerned about what happened to Eliot - not because she had any soft spot for the narcissistic vampire lord, but because she was worried for her own safety. His inexplicable absence didn't leave her comfortable enough to venture the castle with Hali, whom she just met, and knew next to nothing about

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Lady Halifax" she smiled thinly at the woman "I would have been happy to join you, but I have to find out what happened to Eliot first"

"Darling, I wouldn't advise wandering these rooms alone," Jacob remarks. His enthusiasm for Emma joining Crowley's plans is lacking, but he can't leave her behind. Besides, she's Benji's friend. "Actually, you both should join us. Elliot can manage on his own," he concludes, shrugging.

"I don't remember his phone number, no" she sighed inwardly to herself as she considered her options. If something DID happen to Eliot, it was in her interest to 'get the ins' with someone else. And with Benji accompanying them, she would feel that much less at risk
"Alright. Maybe a short tour around the castle. But give a quick call to Teddy, if it's not too much trouble?"

"This can’t be good" If the tracker in his Jaguar wasn’t responding, it could only mean one thing: foul play. Someone had deliberately tampered with it, which meant it couldn't be a mere accident. It wasn’t entirely surprising someone was out to get him. Eliot wasn’t exactly known for being particularly friendly. She was sure he had made himself lots of enemies, but even so, her dislike for him didn’t blind her to the broader consequences of his disappearance. The power vacuum left in his wake could be catastrophic.

Benji told her all about Eliot's brutal rise to power. If he was gone, it would leave a gaping hole at the top of the vampire hierarchy, one that any number of ambitious pretenders to the throne would rush to fill. There would be blood on the streets, unless he somehow miraculously reappears before sunrise.

"Traffic on the way here was diverted today because of an overturned lorry. You think it might have had something to do with it?"