Cast: John, Karasu
Location: Downtown
Time: Y-16
Synopsis: John Rainer tries to cover up his thoughts of suicide while Karasu comforts him.
Eagle Rock - Pasadena
Situated at the northeastern tip of Los Angeles City, between Glendale to the west and Pasadena to the east, lies the community of Eagle Rock, so named for a natural rock formation whose face forms the shadow of an eagle in flight at certain times of day. Surrounded by hills and the Arroyo Seco valley to the east, the basin here is comprised mainly of single-story, single-family homes in a variety of architectural styles. Nearer to, and occasionally on, the hillsides are more expensive dwellings. One hillside's western face is the home of Occidental College, a well-known private liberal arts institution designed in Spanish Mediterranean style by the architect Myron Hunt. The area was not always so tamed, however: the caves beneath the rock formation were once a favored hideout for bandits, and the Colorado Street Bridge nearby was the location of many a suicide plunge to the Arroyo below.
John seems caught off guard and surprised to hear a vaguely familiar voice and he steps back from the ledge, trying to cover up as best he can the things that plague him. "Oh hey, Karasu right? Geez I wasn't expectin to run into yah tonight." A couple of fingers rub his wrinkled cheek as his eyes look down toward the pavement
"Are you going to jump John?" Karasu smiles warmly, glancing down toward the pavement as well, holding the barrier. "It will be a long way down and probably not into up again." she explains in a playful voice. "Why should you choose that way little one?"
John takes a long while to answer that question and he looks down. "Jump?" He mutters then shakes his head then looks up his voice and expression becoming firmer. "Thats a cowards way out, I'd never even think about doin somethin like that." He purses his lips slightly
"Seneca thought otherwise." The Japanese girl scretches in the way of that she still holds the barriercurling with her body, keeping her legs and arms straight. "He thought if I remember correctly that you have to right to do suicide if you payed everything for the society. When there is not an escape, just a closing of your own life. And the Japanese tradition is also empathize the suicide and it is also a new trend. There are online sites where the lonely people searching a couple for to kill themselves together." Karasu keeps her sight down.
"It's selfish." John mutters as he looks down below seeming to find new resolve. "I can't do my job, I can't be the man they want me to be, so I take the easy way out." He purses his lips as he reaches for the flask in his pocket, tipping it back and letting the liquor go down hard. he drains the whole thing and puts it away.
Eagle Rock - Pasadena
"Why do you feel like that way John?" Karasu asks softly, glancing at the man. "YOu know I was like you not so long ago. I know it is not an easy time. I've heard some rumors about you. And that also not makes your life easier. YOu should keep a low profile. YOu are just a property in the eyes of the society and others could destroy you." her voice is caring and friendly.
John keeps looking down below. "I haven't talked to Cecil for almost three whole days now yah know that? Been so drunk for most of it I could barely walk." he sighs. "I can't do this anymore. I want my old life back. Not that it was a great life, but at least I had a chance to make things right. Now, I dont have a chance to do anything. Im just supposed to be some mindless fuckin drone that can't even think for himself." A hint of anger in his voice creeps through as he bangs the rail with a fist.
Karasu sighs and glances up to the sky, resting her weight to the barrier. "I thought taht it will be easier to be one of them. To step out from the slavery of your state. I loved my mistress with my heart and with the blood in my vines. But it was really hard times. Some of our kind requested of my death sentence because I appeared alone at the LACMA." she smiles warmly, glancing at John. "But there was something safe in that status. It is not easy to be one of our kind. You couldn't be sure what is your thought and what is not."
"Your not like the others." John mutters after a long pause." "I can tell." The grizzled veteran reaches for his flask but finding it empty doesn't bother to put it out. He takes a deep breathe then lets the air out slowly as his gaze finally turns back to Karasu he leans over and whispers something in her ear the words soft and raspy, and carried by the wind across the arroro below
John whispers to Karasu, "I need the blood inside me again. Its so thin I feel like Im dying. Can you help me?"
Karasu shakes her head, holding the barrier still. "I can't John. It is against our rule. I could cause a great problem with that act." the Japanese girl's smile turns to a faint one, keeping her intense sad eyes on the man. "You should fight of your feeling. It is an addiction with no end. You can't let yourself to it. You doesn't need it to survive."
John grunts slightly as his head turns back down toward the gulley a hand going up to rub his forehead. "I guess I'll just go back to master then." He frowns deeply.
"You should little one, you should." Karasu smiles sadly and aims a hand to stroke the man's cheek. "He would be furrious if you left him. He would kill you at sight, perhaps asking others to do that. You shouldn't do that with your family. You still responsible for your child."
"There's a lot of things I've been missing when I met Cecil. Guess this is gonna be one more thing on the list." A pause. "I'm gonna miss these talks that we have." He manages to make his lips form into a bitter sort of grin as he looks in the girl's general direction.
"I could talk with Cecil." Karasu keeps her fingers on the man. "You could spend a few nights in me if he accepts it. I promise I don't bond you, but I tell you some secrets how to survive. He need to offer me a boon of course, just to keep it in secret that it is about you. YOu should go then to yourfamily, visit your kid. You are lucky to have a kid, you know?" she smiles.
John looks and sounds a little relieved, a measure of comfort creeping through those wrinkled cheeks. "I'd like that." The man answers gruffly with a feighnt smile but then he purses his lips. "I lost custody." He shakes his head. "Thats what started me down this road." "They won't let me see her anymore." He looks down at the ground.
John adds. "But yeah, I am lucky. She's the best thing in my life."
"Yet, you should very careful by meeting with them." The Japanese girl explains. "I've saw young teenagers dying because they thought that they are threat against us. So if you want to protect them, you should protect our secret as well. More so becasue I will be responsible for you. And I am already in danger, so if you make a mistake I could be punished greatly." she keeps her smile. "But you should call Cecil and talk with him."
John seems to grow a little anxious. "No." "He'll just, make me do something that I don't wanna do. I know it." A pause as he finds himself fumbling with his cellphone. Slowly he picks it up and opens the phone up, he starts dialing a number but then stops halfway letting a long pause settle in. His fingers are shaking. "I think I'd rather be with you." a pause. "But thats not a choice is it?"
"Give me his number." Karasu asks softly. "I will call him." she offers and searches for her cell phone. "I will tell him the situation."
John shakes his head. "No." He mutters with a certain edgyness to his tone. "I'm not gonna let mastah hurt someone that dont deserve to be hurt." He takes a gulp then, finger still trembling, dials the number.
John talks with cecil on the phone
Karasu walks closer and sits into the car. "What he said to you?" she asks curiously.
John takes a deep breathe then drains the air out slowly. "He just told me to sober up and come back, and, thats Im gonna do."
Karasu says, "Tell me his number. I will hone to him. I want to talk with him."
John nods weakly. "Ok."
