WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 168
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 29, 2024 20:13:54 GMT
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Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Aug 25, 2022 18:32:25 GMT
Stepping back from the front door of the house, Will frowned. It was silent, no signs of life behind draped windows. Somehow that made it seem all the sadder. A peek through the windows he could access had revealed what looked like a perfect life laid out in there, but it was as though with Sofia Callaway missing an invisible curtain had been thrown up over it. He could see how things had been, how the husband and wife had lived, he just couldn’t touch it or read how they were now.
Will puffed out his cheeks, his gaze skittering away from the door as he stepped back from it. The first suspect in cases of missing persons was usually those closest to them. In this case though … one look at the grieving husband and he’d drawn a line under the idea. Would that come back to bite him when it turned out his old acquaintance had harmed his wife? Perhaps. Gut instinct had gotten him this far though and in a town where there was an edge to practically every crime he’d fallen back on it more than any other investigative skill.
This time it told him that chances of finding Sofia were shockingly low – finding her alive at least.
Turning away from the door, Will walked back to his car at the curb. Dozens were currently listed as missing in Mystic Falls, a terrifying statistic that Forbes seemed to do everything in her power to hide. If people realised just how dangerous it really was to live here, they wouldn’t have chuckled nervously over stories of ever bolder wildlife at breakfast time. They’d have been clogging the roads, desperate to get out of a town where the murder rate had to have eclipsed Chicago’s years ago.
Eventually they might find Sofia’s body out in the woods and he would be back here, or at the high school, delivering the tragic news that she was dead. It would break Christian in a way that news that she’d merely left him for another man and was living her best life in LA couldn’t possibly. Sofia wasn’t in LA, he trusted his gut on that.
Tension pulled at Will’s shoulders as he started the car and headed back towards the station. The missing persons case had been shrouded in a pall from the start. There were no signs of a struggle, no evidence that anything had happened in the house. Somewhere between leaving work at the hospital and her husband coming home Sofia had simply vanished. Days of knocking on doors up and down the street had got him nowhere. Conversations with Christian had provided little detail about any trouble his wife might have bene happening, anybody suspicious who might’ve appeared in their lives of late. Everything had been perfect, right up to the moment it hadn’t been.
At least he’d seen the shattering of his own life coming. With Zoey on his mind and a sick feeling twisting at his stomach, Will drove back to the station almost on auto-pilot, his brain compartmentalising the road and the constant churning of the gears. He’d come too close to losing Zoey when the false tip based on his systems had lured her in – it had been a wake up call that there were some things that could make the divorce final where shattered hearts couldn’t. If Lex hadn’t been poking around and hadn’t realised what was happening … if he’d lost Zoey … His lashes fluttered, nausea creeping up his throat in a burning wave.
Christian and Sofia hadn’t been having troubles, they hadn’t engaged lawyers and started dividing what had been theirs into piles of what could be left, what could be parted with. It seemed neither one had seen it coming. A clean slice through what was whole that didn’t leave the edges of the wound bleeding any less.
The last time he’d spoken to Christian – just a few days ago, it didn’t matter if the case was growing cold or not – he’d tried to caution him that no news was good news. That would be no comfort, not when the detectives called you in because you were down to the very bottom of the barrel of their case, breaking your nails as you tried to find something.
Will pulled into the parking lot at the side of the station. He could see Christian already there, the vehicle he’d checked just as thoroughly as every other part of their conjoined lives. On time, early in fact – a glance at the dash proved that he would’ve been late if he’d spent just a few more minutes out at the house. Pulling into his usual spot, Will climbed out of the car, extending his hand as he locked it and approached. ”Hi. I’m glad you could come in.” Perhaps Christian wouldn’t be when he realised just how little they had to tell him, that this was more a continued fishing exercise than anything hopeful. Will’s expression flattened as he realised that it might be his boot crushing hope that the woman Christian loved had been found. ”Come on through,” he told him, clearing his throat as he stepped back to open the rear door of the station.
He tapped his ID to the digital lock on the wall, the heavy metal door clicking open. Will held it wide, his head dipping as he allowed Christian in ahead of him. ”I hope I didn’t keep you waiting out there long. I was … I was out at your home again.” Digging around in perfect lives that were suddenly not so perfect was one of the down sides of the job. ”Can I get you anything?” Thankfully his partners were out – hopefully beating the bushes the same way he had been. Will closed the office door behind them, trusting it to stay that way, and gestured for Christian to take a seat in front of his desk.
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CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY
Hunter
Posts: 95
Played by:
Julia
“There's nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Last seen Dec 1, 2024 19:14:58 GMT
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Post by CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY on Sept 23, 2022 16:46:21 GMT
 ━ let death fear you ━
He’d learnt the hard way that there were shades of grey in this job (the unofficial one), but did that include helping your wife end her second life? Was there a pass once she’d become a vampire, as if his vows of ‘til death do us part’ had been fulfilled━even without his knowledge?
Pain scored deep. The lines etched by Sofia’s betrayal would remain… perhaps forever. They were undoubtedly still intact when Alix shared her truth with him, but he’d found differences in those situations. Alix wasn’t his wife, nor had he known her for the same amount of time as he had Sofia. She didn’t owe him the truth as much as his wife did. Had. It was what brought him back to her the night after the full moon, and every night since, though there was still a tense air between them.
It wasn’t Alix’s fault. He knew that. It hadn’t been Sofia’s, either, but she’d embraced what she’d become and leaned into it. She’d destroyed others, but Alix…
Even if her eyes were blue, he believed her. He tried to, anyway.
Playing along with the detectives on his case was part of this whole thing. Alright, Christian didn’t think of it in such an ugly, deceitful way, but that’s what it was, wasn’t it? Be nice, be helpful, and they were less likely to suspect anything. Thankfully, his old friend was put on the case.
They’d gone out for drinks or food on a handful of occasions since reconnecting at the event in town, though that was likely to stop now that William was working on a case involving Christian. He figured this was still in his favour, though, even if William would likely try to be as unbiased as possible. Things like that just happened in the human brain; it was inevitable.
Pulling up to the station a little early (which was actually on time, as he’d always said), Christian waited in his car for a few minutes. He breathed, tried to calm his nerves and clear his head, and figured he was a bit better off by the time he’d climbed out. Will was there in moments, clasping Christian’s hand for a firm shake.
Christian offered a weary smile that wasn’t at all forced; this life was weighing on him, and he didn’t know how much more he could take.
At least he wasn’t alone.
“Of course.” Christian nodded firmly, “I would say it’s good to see you, but I’d be lying under these circumstances. I guess there’s no escape from those we’re a product of,” He sighed lightly, knowing Will would relate on a level many couldn’t. It was nice, sometimes, to discuss things like that with people who weren’t his siblings━this wasn’t the time for it, though.
Striding through the indicated route, Christian realized he almost didn’t need assistance navigating the way to Will’s office by now. Within moments they were inside, and Christian politely shook his head at the other man’s words. “No, it’s alright; I haven’t been here very long.” His stomach clenched at the mention of his home, forcing a deep frown on Christian’s lips. The bodies weren’t there anymore, they’d been disposed of and everything was cleaned, but it was still… jarring to think of it as home. It wasn’t, not anymore.
He waited until they were in the office before asking about it, moving to the indicated chair. “Perhaps some water, please. Thank you.” Christian said lightly, waiting until William was ready before he sat. He didn’t settle or relax, though━there was no way he could.
“Were you able to find anything of note at the house?” He asked, knowing they’d swept through it dozens of times to no avail. He’d have to sell it eventually━whenever they gave him the go-ahead. Perhaps it’d seem suspicious, but what would he want with a home filled with the memories of someone who was gone?
Christian normally sat perfectly straight, but his shoulders rolled forward, deflating with a sigh. How long would they keep up the charade that anything was being done? Would they keep him on edge for years, pretending there was any way to solve this case? “Is there anything else I can do to offer help or support? I assume there was a reason I was called in today━have you found a lead?” He kept his focus on Will, unaware as to what would come next, but hoping to read the detective’s expression in any case.
WILLIAM CARNEGIE | no notes. |
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WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 168
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 29, 2024 20:13:54 GMT
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Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Oct 13, 2022 17:40:26 GMT
Disappointing people came with the job. For a lot of officers that meant family and partners above all - it didn’t matter if you were off the clock, you still had that invisible blue line tied around you tight - running out of the house in the middle of the night, missing all those important small moments that made up a life, most of which you couldn’t get back. He’d never experienced that with Zoey, although Will suspected that there were many nights where they’d argued that Zoey felt that drain, one or both of them having to break away from trying to patch together their crumbling marriage when the call came. Would that understanding be back there now, somehow repaired by their time apart? Perhaps, but it would do nothing about the other disappointments that came with the job.
Telling people that there was nothing that could be done about the death of their loved one, or the loss of all their worldly possessions to theft or deception. Some light went out of eyes already dulled by grief, and out of the officers delivering the bad news. It drained you in a way and some officers could never handle it, they didn’t have the things, the people in their lives, to fill that hollow back up. Will would have given almost anything to take on a little more of the hollow, to drag the investigation out until they were somehow struck with some luck - Sofia walking back into town, at worst, the discovery of her final resting place - just to have something more than ‘I’m sorry, we’ve run out of leads, the investigation is being set aside’.
The number of leads in this case had been small to start with. Mystic Falls wasn’t New York, there weren’t security cameras on every corner - although in this day and age homeowners had a tendency to pepper their homes with them - just in case, or just to stick their noses deep into their neighbours’ business. They’d gathered proof that Sofia had left work at the hospital on the day of her disappearance - alone and seemingly unharmed, but there the trail went cold, and so did he.
That icy ball of grief, sympathy and sick anticipation filled Will’s stomach and lodged itself up in his throat as he got out of the car and walked towards Christian. He’d spit up with with a thousand apologies, but it wasn’t likely to provide one bit of comfort. Perhaps he should’ve done this away from the station, couching it as just a check in, a casual drink that just happened to have more weighty circumstances, so weighty that it felt like he was walking through concrete.
Will tried not to let that grim certainty that they would never get the answers they needed fill his eyes as he returned Christian’s weary smile. ”Unfortunately not,” he said tightly. ”I wish it were under different circumstances.” Or with better news. That wouldn’t have waited though. He’d have spoken it over the phone, trying to shove aside the burden he could see crushing Christian as fast as possible.
He had seen the lines of strain it had caused when he’d responded to that first call. His notebook in hand, that hope that Sofia had merely gone to see a friend and had lost track of time still there, for a few minutes at least. Sofia hadn’t. There had been no easy explanation and when there didn’t seem to be a single glimmer of hope or light in any different, only the dark and doubts remained. Will studied him out of the corner of his eye as they walked down the hallway to his office, his own brow furrowing as Christian accepted his apology. ”I hate being late to anything. It always drove my father crazy,” he offered lightly. Dalton had been the King of late arrivals, always preferring a crowd to make his entrance, but God forbid anybody keep the man waiting. If there was one thing he was good for though, it was providing fodder for small talk with a man who understood the pressure of such high flying parents.
A pressure of a different kind had fallen on Christian now, although it hadn’t squashed his manners from him, leaving his mood abraded as it did so many others in his shoes. Will waved Christian towards one of the chairs set in front of his desk - the only neat one in the room - and snagged two bottles of water from the mini-fridge (another of his additions) and two glasses to set down on the desk. Christian settled as he did, obviously not at home in the station (a poor choice of words even mentally considering what home must have been like for him now). ”Nothing more, I’m afraid. We’ve had our lab technicians sweep the house and we’ve spoken to every neighbour on your street, but, I’m so sorry, we haven’t pulled together anything more than you could give us on that first morning.” And that had been shockingly little.
The scraps they did have were written neatly in the notebook he carried everywhere, typed at a snail’s pace into the digital files he was forced to keep, and mapped on the white board in the corner of the room, thankfully not flipped back around by one of his partners while he was gone. Will’s lips curled faintly, a tired smile that bled sympathy. ”It’s quite the opposite, I’m afraid. There’s a complete lack of them. I know it’s not what you’ve wanted to hear, but I believe in honesty, especially when there is that trust between us.”
The heavy, dark brows furrowed further, his forearms planted lightly along the edge of the desk. ”I know you would have called if you had remembered or seen anything since, but I have to ask. Have you? Have you been back through the house? I take it you’ve not stayed there since?” Would they have been able to drag him away if the shoe had been on the other foot and it was Zoey who had gone missing from their marital home? Will pictured himself walking the house for hours on end, desperately trying not to leap at every small sound, believing that it was the herald of the nightmare finally being over.
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CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY
Hunter
Posts: 95
Played by:
Julia
“There's nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Last seen Dec 1, 2024 19:14:58 GMT
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Post by CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY on Nov 7, 2022 15:52:53 GMT
━ let death fear you ━
Christian reached for the water bottle with quiet gratitude and cracked it open, pouring it into the glass. As he watched the condensation form quickly on the outside, he could hear Sofia’s voice in his head: “Why bother with a cup? You’re gonna dirty something else when you could just drink it outta the bottle.” His smile returned, twisting the lid back onto the bottle and taking a sip from the glass. He’d try to argue why it was cleaner or better manners, and she’d boil the conversation down to his upbringing, effectively ending it with “Okay, rich boy,” and allowing them to laugh instead of turning it into something substantial.
He wouldn’t have those playful ‘arguments’ with her anymore. He wouldn’t have anything with her. But then Christian thought about the people she’d killed, not only amongst the bodies he and Alix had to dispose of, but all her other victims. They would have nothing left. Their families would never see them again, and their grief weighed far more than his.
Nothing new. He shouldn’t have been so thankful, though Christian was aware he’d avenged those broken families (in a way), even if they’d never know it. He’d done the right thing, but the law would never see it that way, and it was better they never found out.
William mentioned the trust between them, and Christian wondered if this would change their relationship. Surely they’d put time between now and the next time they met for drinks or food━perhaps, professionally, until the case was closed -- but would William want to see Christian? Would he decide it was too awkward or too painful when he couldn’t solve Sofia’s disappearance? Christian sincerely hoped that wouldn’t happen on either side━there were too few people in town he could trust, especially those who understood his upbringing on a personal level.
Christian nodded again, slow and solemn this time, grief still wearing at his features. “I understand.” He sighed, “I appreciate the honesty, as well. If there’s nothing new, then there’s nothing new. There isn’t any sense in pretending.” This throat felt raw, almost permanently clenched with dryness. Another mouthful of water didn’t necessarily help, but it was cool on his throat and felt better in the short term.
They were circling back to Christian now, hoping he could fill in the gaps their investigation lacked. He wondered if this was the tactic detectives used━they asked the family questions a second time, and, if that proved to go nowhere, they threw their hands up and said, ‘sorry, we did everything we could, but you couldn’t provide any more helpful information.’
He shouldn’t have been so cynical, especially not when this detective was his friend, and Christian knew William was doing everything he could. And, perhaps especially not when it was in Christian’s best interests for them to find nothing. He could reveal it now, let a piece of information slip to send everything crumbling, but he couldn’t...
“No,” Christian shook his head, “I haven’t been there since. I want to be there in case she comes home, but I can’t bear… the empty house.” He sighed, “However, I did wonder about the assault Sofia endured shortly after we moved here.” Hazel eyes slowly slid up from his water, finding William’s face. “It’s been a few years now, but her attacker was never found, and I can only wonder…” His brows pinched, showing the pain in his face before Christian hung his head again. He wasn’t the same monster that’d caused Sofia to lose their baby━to lose everything━but he’d taken her life away just the same. She wasn’t without choice this time, but the vampire that’d turned her then was the reason he was here now; a widower, sitting in a detective’s chair, hoping he wouldn’t be charged with murder.
Christian dragged his thumb over the edge of the glass, swiping a clear spot in the cloudy condensation. He took another long drink, draining almost half, before finding the courage to meet William’s eye once again. He was sure his mother’s etiquette lessons could take a back seat today━under such circumstances━but he knew what she’d say if he ever suggested it.
“You will continue looking for her, won’t you?” He asked hopefully, knowing the question of ‘how much longer will this go on’ wasn’t appropriate nor inconspicuous. “I know there isn’t much to go from, and how that must make your job difficult, but I also know I don’t have to explain to you what it’s like to only ever truly love one woman.” Christian hadn’t been able to split from her as William had. He was still very much in love with his wife by the time he had to carry out… this, and divorce just wasn’t an option. He got the impression it wasn’t what William had wanted, either, and now here they were, products of their similar upbringings and watching their lives crumble just the same.
WILLIAM CARNEGIE | wrrrrap soon? |
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WILLIAM CARNEGIE
Warlock
Posts: 168
Age:
32
Occupation:
Detective/Art Thief
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Zoey Washington
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 29, 2024 20:13:54 GMT
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Post by WILLIAM CARNEGIE on Nov 21, 2022 20:06:37 GMT
Will was certain that Dalton would have called to offer his condolences if he had been informed of the loss of an old acquaintance’s daughter-in-law. He wouldn’t have remembered Christian or his siblings, wouldn’t have had a clue who Sofia Callaway was, but there was an opportunity to show his near non-existent sympathetic side. ’I can assure you my son will do all he can to return her home, safe and sound’. It wouldn’t have mattered that he was 350 miles away, Dalton would still have taken it upon himself to promise some sort of success in solving the case. He would have been just as quick to wash his hands of a failure too. Murmuring words of condolences and throwing the Mystic Falls Sheriff’s Department under the bus in the process. Fickle even when it came to his own son and the law he had sworn to uphold as chief of police.
By now Will was sure that Christian’s parents had heard of what had happened to their daughter-in-law. Christian was a dutiful son, beyond what he managed himself. They would have offered their own words of support, although Will was certain they hadn’t made the trip here themselves to be with their son in this time of need. It seemed that Christian was alone, with the full weight of fear and grief on his shoulders, perhaps slowly squashing the hope from him.
Watching him pour the water, Will automatically returned that smile. He glanced away, pouring his own, although he didn’t take more than a sip from it before he pushed through. There was a place for manners – even if he’d hated the way Dalton had always pushed them on him as though they erased all the murkier behaviour – but not here. Small talk and civility wouldn’t make the truth any prettier. They had nothing, would likely find nothing more, unless there was a chance discovery at some point, one that would likely carve clean through what was left of Christian’s heart. His own twisted painfully in his chest, wringing a sigh out of him in an echo of Christian’s. ”I wouldn’t have wanted to raise your hopes,” Will said tightly. ”The minute there is anything…” Saying that Christian would be the first to know was unnecessary. The call would go out as soon as they knew what they were dealing with. Happy or tragic, he wouldn’t let the man wallow in his pain any longer than necessary.
New York had its own cold case unit, men and women who still trawled files that were decades old, hoping for some small piece of the jigsaw to fall into place – a witness coming forward years after, DNA evidence in another case suddenly matching – but here in Mystic Falls the files were just moved eventually. From his desk to the Sheriff’s, from hers to their file room. Dozens of names were listed as missing still, most suspected dead, but without bodies and suspects, there was no way for them to move back.
Part of bringing Christian in today had been to perhaps shift one of those pieces far enough to have something to get his fingertips on again. Will curled his fingers into his palms, like he had those pieces trapped there. His chin dropped, his eyes fixing on Christian’s hands as his expression dropped back into that sympathetic state. ”I imagine it’s impossible to be there without thinking of her,” he said without an ounce of condemnation. ”We’ve had officers on added patrols since … in case.” There hadn’t been a single sign of either Sofia or anybody else though. "That was the assault at the hospital? I’ve looked at the file from then. Nothing has provided any sort of connection, but … perhaps.” A case as cold as this one. Hours of security video, the same nothingness. It reeked of something more than just an addict trying to find themselves a little something or a patient that got out of hand, that wasn’t something he could take to the Sheriff though, even if the pieces slotted together closely enough in Christian’s head for it to obviously be chewing at him too.
Dragging this all over the coals every time was just like sticking his thumb in the open wound that ran through the grieving husband. It was torturing a friend and each time he’d had to admit their failure it felt worse. Will felt the ache of it building in his throat, like it would all spill out on another useless apology. He nudged his glass aside, the single sip enough, pausing at Christian’s sudden question. There was still hope there, how he didn’t know. ”Of course,” Will said hoarsely. The thought of it being Zoey had clawed deep on the night Sofia had been reported missing. It wasn’t her sort of call, not anymore, but he’d found himself looking for her at the scene, needing to know that was she safe.
Will’s shoulders rolled forward, the pain just intensifying, lancing down into the pit of his stomach from a heart that was very much still in Zoey’s hands as he finally met Christian’s eye again. ”Difficult or not, I’ll keep the file.” He drew in a deep breath, nodding to the man as he let it out. ”I know what it’s like and it’s why I won’t give up. I just had to lay out for you how hard it’ll be from here on out. Is there anything we can do for you while we continue to look? Do you need anything more from us?” The Sheriff might eventually call quits on the whole matter, but it didn’t mean he had to. While there was hope he’d hold onto it and when there wasn’t … he would there for Christian, not as a detective, but as the friend he would continue to need.
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hope to see you in the discord! 
