ALARIC SALTZMAN
Hunter
Posts: 312
Age:
39
Occupation:
Headmaster and Teacher
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jenna Saltzman
Played by:
Emma
I find a way to keep going, because that’s what we do. We find a way to keep going.
Last seen Aug 31, 2024 22:48:56 GMT
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Post by ALARIC SALTZMAN on Jan 27, 2019 19:09:01 GMT
The last thing Ric had thought that he would end up doing that day was getting involved in something like this but as soon as he had seen Michael heading into the building with a gun he had known that he just couldn’t stand by and do nothing. The guy’s story had surprised him but even though he had agreed to stand watch it had been on the condition that Michael’s gun stayed with him. Too many people died in Mystic Falls as it was and Ric refused to let anything happen that might result in even more casualties. He knew that it was like to lose someone that he loved, after all he had spent years thinking that Isobel had been killed by Damon before finally learning the truth, and even though there might well be something dodgy going on inside the building he didn’t doubt that at least a few of the men inside had families who were counting on their safe return so letting Michael go in with his gun just hadn’t been an option. Ric knew that most hunters faced with a werewolf breaking into a building would have shot first and asked questions later but he wasn’t like that. Damon, Stefan and the others were proof enough that not all members of the supernatural world were monsters so he knew when to give them the benefit of the doubt and something told him that Michael deserved that. Of course the guy hadn’t been able to make it in and out without getting spotted but Ric didn’t hesitate in running out of the building hot on Michael’s heels as the sound of someone shouting and calling the cops trailed behind them. It wouldn’t have been the first time that Ric had found himself in trouble with the cops but he had a life in Mystic Falls and he knew that the last thing he wanted was to go and ruin all of that so he was glad that there wasn’t anyone who could prove that he had anything to do with it. Soon enough they were far enough away that they were able to blend in with the others around them and only then did Ric let himself relax a little although, as always, he remained on the alert just in case. “Most of them aren’t clever enough to remember even the important things,” Ric chuckled. He had come across a few over the years and half of them didn’t have enough brain cells between them to remember what they needed to so writing things down was the only option. There was always someone behind the scenes pulling the strings of the hired muscle but with any luck the guys Michael had seen were stupid enough to have given him something decent to go on. “After that I think you owe me more than one drink but sure,” he said, clapping Michael on the back before leading the way to the Grill. He had thought about heading to Campbell’s but he knew that the Grill would be busier and louder so there was less chance of the two of them being overheard. It wasn’t long before he found a table and ordered a whiskey from a passing waitress who then turned to Michael to take his order before disappearing to get their drinks. “Now I think you’d better start filling me in on what that was back there.”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Feb 2, 2019 17:35:35 GMT
One of the first things Orlov had warned him about what had happened, what he had become, to anybody. It wasn’t a matter of eliciting sympathy, although Michael would’ve been the first to admit he didn’t want sympathy, couldn’t stomach it, it was a matter of his own safety. People would take a criminal in their midst over a monster any day of the week. You could repent from crime but once you were capable of sprouting claws and fangs you became the thing some people feared the most. There were men and women out there prepared to eradicate you without a moment’s hesitation, men and women who had made it their life’s work to rid the world of things like you. He hadn’t been able to return home, not without putting Karin at risk, but even on the road he needed to keep himself safe. None of the people at the Gala had realized there was a werewolf in their midst, none had known just what he was there for either, not until he’d spotted Ana and had needed to try and stop her from getting her hands on what Orlov had ordered him to steal. Telling Ana what he’d been that night hadn’t gotten him killed but his investigations here in Mystic Falls since he’d arrived with her had left Michael sure that he was balancing on some sort of tightrope. At the end of it was the truth of what had happened to his family and the justice Abi and Sara had deserved, below him was a dark void, just waiting to swallow him up the moment he stumbled. That building today had been a wobble on that tightrope, the guy who’d found him breaking in either someone waiting to push him into that void or a rescuer willing to prop him up. Until he’d let him back into the building Michael honestly hadn’t been sure which it was going to be. Now he definitely owed the guy, not just a drink at the Grill in gratitude for the address book now weighing him down but a full explanation too.
That was going to take more than a single drink to get through, not that alcohol had anywhere near the same effect on him anymore. The run that once would’ve left him a little short of breath was no longer a bother either, his breathing smooth and easy in his chest as he’d slowed down to a walk next to a guy he hadn’t even exchanged names with yet. Those hadn’t mattered half as much as coming to an agreement and it did appear as though they were in a like mind over a fair few things. Michael’s brows rose faintly with amusement at the sound of the guy’s chuckle. ”That’s how most of them end up behind bars in the end,” he said with the sound of long suffering experience in his voice. ”Not enough brains to avoid slipping up after a while.” Once upon a time he’d hoped that his shadow would end up doing the same thing but he’d more than underestimated him. Grimacing faintly, Michael ran a hand roughly over his hair. ”I’m pretty sure I do,” he admitted with a sigh. ”Put dinner on the bill too and the bottle of booze I’m sure this is gonna take.” The least he was going to need to do was at least offer his name. Dropping his hand as the guy clapped him on his back, Michael offered it to him. ”Michael Shepard,” he offered finally then stepped into the Grill. The momentary silence as they found a table and sent a waitress off to take their order, whiskey on both sides, was a relief but Michael knew it was only temporary. As the waitress scurried off, he leaned heavily on the edge of the table. ”That was me trying to find one of them who killed my family. I didn’t come to Mystic Falls in pursuit of them but once I was here I realized that their trail was here anyway. I don’t look much like a CIA agent do I? That’s what I was before all of this started.” And it was the job that had killed his family in the end. Just the thought of it was enough to have bile tasting sour in his throat again.
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ALARIC SALTZMAN
Hunter
Posts: 312
Age:
39
Occupation:
Headmaster and Teacher
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jenna Saltzman
Played by:
Emma
I find a way to keep going, because that’s what we do. We find a way to keep going.
Last seen Aug 31, 2024 22:48:56 GMT
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Post by ALARIC SALTZMAN on Feb 27, 2019 22:51:22 GMT
This definitely wasn’t how Ric had thought that his day would end up going but so far no one had died so that at least was a bonus. If he was one of the shoot first, ask questions later hunters then Michael wouldn’t even have made it down that first corridor but that wasn’t his style. Even though he hunted the supernatural Ric knew that things weren’t always black and white and the friends that he had made since moving to Mystic Falls were proof of that. There was a time when he would have gone ahead and killed Damon without giving it a second thought and he had actually come close to doing just that but after finally learning the truth about what had happened to Isobel he had started having more of an open mind and now the vampire that he had once wanted to kill for seemingly killing his wife was his best friend. That was still a little strange to say the least but Ric had learned a long time ago that things never worked out the way that he planned them. The first time he had learned that was back when he was in high school and Rory had disappeared without saying a word to him and since then his life had been full of ups and downs. Now he finally felt like he was getting somewhere, he had a steady job and he was settled so for the first time since Isobel left he knew that he had somewhere that he could truly call home. Before moving to Mystic Falls he had moved around a lot, hell bent on finding the vampire responsible for killing his wife, so to be able to put down roots was a blessing. He wasn’t sure that he would ever completely give up his hunting ways but he wasn’t letting it consume him the way that it once had any longer. Instead he did it to keep the people he loved and the people of Mystic Falls safe but he was also doing his best to live his own life. Of course getting arrested for breaking and entering really didn’t factor into that plan so Ric knew that they couldn’t afford to get caught and it was only when they were a safe distance from the building and lost in a crowd that he finally let himself relax a little. “Well, we’d better make sure that we don’t end up following in their footsteps,” Ric breathed as they made their way down the street. “You might regret that offer,” he chuckled as Michael offered to buy the two of them a meal and a bottle as well. It was clear that there was more to the story than he had been told so far, though, so if that was what it took to get him to reveal what was really going on then that was fine by Ric. As Michael introduced himself and held out his hand, Ric shook it. “Alaric Saltzman but everyone calls me Ric.” He would be the first to admit that his first name was a bit of a mouthful and from what he could tell so far Michael wasn’t a bad guy he had simply been dealt a bad hand in life so he didn’t have a problem with the guy calling him Ric the same way his friends did if he wanted to. It wasn’t much longer before they were inside the Grill and their drinks were ordered and he turned his attention back to his companion. “You’re right, you don’t look anything like CIA,” he admitted, making sure to keep his voice low as he spoke. “I know what it is like to want revenge against someone for killing a loved one, I came here tracking the vampire I thought had killed my wife but as it turned out she approached him and asked him to turn her,” he explained before taking a sip of his drink as the waitress returned with them. “That is a long and complicated story for another time but what I’m trying to say is that I get where you’re coming from. What happened to your family?”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Mar 7, 2019 21:07:33 GMT
Had he done some absolutely foolish things in his pursuit of justice for Sara and Grace? Michael knew he couldn’t deny that without turning himself into a liar. Leaving New Orleans and Karin had been the wisest thing he’d done but not forcing the police to pursue the case, believing Orlov’s promises that he could eventually lead him to the person who had killed his family, turning against what he believed in to break the law repeatedly for a mercenary vampire. All of it was foolish, and all of it had cost him little bits of himself that he hadn’t believed he would ever get back. Hope had crept in once he’d arrived in Mystic Falls and Ana had started to eat away at the shell he’d put around himself. He didn’t have to be that Michael Shepard anymore, he could be a man willing to own up to his mistakes, a man who could try and find a way to make up for almost all of those mistakes he’d made. Michael knew that breaking in to another building probably wasn’t the ideal way to start doing that but he’d run out of entirely legal ways two and a half years ago. Now he had to stay in that grey zone, even if people like Detective Jones and the entire rest of the Mystic Falls sheriff’s department would’ve preferred he didn’t. That grey zone break the law in some ways, and put not only him, but those around him at risk in others. This guy didn’t have to stick around and watch his back while he’d gone back in, not when it was obvious that he’d broken the law, but he had done, putting his own life at risk. It was honestly going to take more than dinner to thank him for that but Michael figured he had to start somewhere and that was with what he owed him at the very least.
A faint hitch of laughter huffed out of him as he shook his head. Three years ago he’d relied on his brains, had seen himself as a cut above most when it came to intelligence but now he was questioning it far too often. Michael glanced sideways at the guy beside him. ”I’d like to think I can see those slippery patches coming.” But not always, there’d been enough slick spots in the road to have him far less certain than he’d once been. Michael’s expression turned serious as he chuckled again. He wouldn’t regret doing twice as much for the guy. This could’ve ended up with him dead in that alleyway, turned into another ‘unsolvable’ case for Mystic Falls’ finest. ”Not in the least,” he promised. He’d buy the entire bar out if that was what it was going to take to get his story out and told to someone who deserved to hear it. Shaking Ric’s hand, Michael tried to force the tension from his shoulders. ”I owe you a huge thank you Ric.” For not killing him, for believing a story some would’ve used as a distraction, for helping when he could’ve walked away.
Inside the Grill the tension drained away for a moment but it was never going to take much to have it coming back. Pulling back from the edge of the table Michael reached into his pocket and retrieved his wallet, flipping it open to reveal his badge. ”If it makes it any more believable I was basically an office drone, an analyst specializing in Eastern Europe.” And that had been where all the trouble had begun. Michael’s throat worked, his gaze dropping to the table as he put his badge away. ”I’m sorry to hear that,” he said honestly. Grief turning to betrayal was no improvement. What would’ve happened if Ric had caught up to the vampire? Probably the same thing that might’ve happened if he’d caught the other man who’d been in his kitchen that night. ”Someone I was chasing on the job decided to stop me in my tracks by arranging to have my wife and daughter, and possibly my parents killed. I lost them in a car accident, not long after my bosses tell me to stand down and I don’t listen. I came home one night and found them both dead, torn to pieces in my kitchen.” Not killed in panic by men who’d broken into the house looking to steal, slaughtered with the sort of a sort of breathtaking precision.
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ALARIC SALTZMAN
Hunter
Posts: 312
Age:
39
Occupation:
Headmaster and Teacher
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jenna Saltzman
Played by:
Emma
I find a way to keep going, because that’s what we do. We find a way to keep going.
Last seen Aug 31, 2024 22:48:56 GMT
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Post by ALARIC SALTZMAN on Jan 2, 2020 22:15:39 GMT
 They all did their best to navigate their way through their lives but it was so easy to end up on the wrong path without even realising it and not know how to get back to the right one. Ric would be the first to admit that he had lost himself after Isobel left him, he had let his grief consume him while he believed her to be dead and he had channelled that grief into hunting and learning as much about the supernatural world as he could all so that he could find the vampire that had killed his wife and take the monster’s life in return. Now as it turned out that same vampire was his best friend and he had learned that his wife had chosen that a life as a vampire meant more to him than a life with him ever had. Ric knew that Isobel had loved him once, after all she had given him John Gilbert’s ring and he knew that she wouldn’t have given him that as a means of protection if she hadn’t loved him but in the end that just hadn’t been enough for her. She hadn’t wanted the future that they’d talked about and instead of telling him that she had let him believe that she’d died. Some good had come of it though, he had found his way to Mystic Falls and he now had Jenna in his life so things had worked out for him in the end and he hoped that they would eventually work out for Michael too. “Maybe but none of us are perfect, we all slip sometimes,” Ric offered, knowing that he wasn’t in a position to judge anyone else for doing so when he had done exactly the same thing himself. As Michael said that he owed him a huge thank you, Ric felt a smile work its way across his face. “I’ll probably call in the favour one day, don’t worry,” he admitted. Most of the time he worked alone but he knew that not everyone who was a part of the supernatural world was bad so he wasn’t afraid to ask for help if he needed it. As Michael pulled his wallet out of his pocket and revealed his badge, Ric’s eyes widened in surprise. “That does make it a little more believable,” he conceded. “How did you get involved with all of this if that was your life before?” he asked, unable to deny that he was genuinely interested. He knew that there were a number of things that could drive a person to get involved with the supernatural world though, after all he had been working at a university before he got involved with it so he knew that it could have been just about anything. Lifting his glass to his lips, Ric took a sip and shook his head as Michael said that he was sorry about what had happened with Isobel. “Don’t be. A life as a vampire meant more to her than a life with me so I’m better off without her. Things are better now anyway, I’ve moved on and it’s a little strange that my girlfriend looks after her niece who happens to be the daughter my ex-wife gave up and the vampire that turned my ex is now my best friend but we make it work,” he admitted with a shrug. Just saying it like that made it sound like his life was absolutely crazy and perhaps in a way it was but he was happy with the way that things had worked out now so he had no problem sharing it with someone who knew just how messy things could get sometimes and he hoped that it would help Michael to know that things didn’t always have to be so bleak. Listening as Michael explained what had happened to his own family, Ric studied him carefully for a moment. “That’s awful, I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “What was it you were looking into at the time?”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on Jan 19, 2020 20:01:02 GMT
A part of him had never wanted to be reliant upon anybody. From the kitchen table when his parents had been prepared to help him through his homework, to college, to the agency, there’d been an independent streak a mile wide. It had taken a real effort to take what he had found to his bosses when losing himself in it alone had almost cost himself his marriage. Yet, when it came to picking up those pieces afterwards, reliance had been just about all he could’ve managed. Would Erik Orlov have been able to get his claws quiet so deep into him if he was able to stand on his own two feet and cope with what he’d become? Michael knew that the truth would probably have been a big fat no but in that moment, caught in the grip of something nobody had ever warned him could happen, he’d held on as tight as possible. Some part of his brain was snorting over that now, reminding him that if he’d done the same with his family and put Sara and Abi first he wouldn’t have been where he was now. It was too late, though, wasn’t it? They’d died because of his inability to trust anybody else’s opinion on what he was doing and he was here, floundering enough on his own to find the truth that he’d been caught breaking into that apartment building. Luckily for him Ric had turned out to be a decent guy, willing to listen. It could’ve been so different. Karen could’ve been receiving a phone call from the Sheriff, telling her that there was another body to bury in the family plot. He had to learn reliance again or the mental image that was torturing him was going to be inevitable.
Michael sucked in a deep breath as he walked, raising a hand that trembled faintly to scrub it back through his hair. A faintly bitter chuckle rolled out before he curbed it. He’d been about as far from perfect as it was possible to get and he hadn’t ever really been the one to pay for it. ”Sometimes it’s way more than a slip,” he admitted darkly. It was a plunge off a cliff that left you clinging to its edge by your fingernails. Given how things were going in town he hoped to hell that Ric didn’t try and call that favour in too soon. Michael huffed out a breath as he nodded slowly. Opening up about what he had been before Michael wondered whether the badge would make him call it in sooner. Amusement cut lines on Michael’s face as he flipped the wallet closed again. ”I definitely look out of my element out here,” he agreed. ”I started to try and track down the wrong person. They wanted me to stop, I wouldn’t and so they made me.” In the most brutal way possible. Michael knew that he was being asked how he’d had the veil pulled off the supernatural world but he bit his tongue on it for a moment as Ric revealed part of his own story. He sucked in a breath and felt a little rueful as he sipped his drink. ”That’s pretty tangled,” he admitted. ”Does she know you’re involved with them all?” What would Sara have thought if she’d lived to see him get himself with something just as bad? That was an answer he didn’t want to hear. Hanging his head, staring down into the depths of his drink Michael revealed just what had happened to his home family. ”I think so,” he said hoarsely. ”Illicit trading in Eastern Europe. Someone was making huge sums of money for years, weapons, human trafficking, theft, you name it there was a finger in it. If there was one way to make me stop it was my family. I … I killed one of the men still waiting for me in my kitchen. That’s how…” He peeled his hand off of his glass, gesturing to his eyes. That was how he’d become one of the monsters instead of just being a grieving husband.
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ALARIC SALTZMAN
Hunter
Posts: 312
Age:
39
Occupation:
Headmaster and Teacher
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jenna Saltzman
Played by:
Emma
I find a way to keep going, because that’s what we do. We find a way to keep going.
Last seen Aug 31, 2024 22:48:56 GMT
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Post by ALARIC SALTZMAN on May 4, 2020 21:05:51 GMT
This wasn’t exactly how Ric had thought that his evening would end up going but he had known from the moment he arrived in Mystic Falls that things weren’t always what they seemed so he had known better than to jump to conclusions about Michael. There had been something about the guy that he had trusted so he had ended up helping him rather than killing him like some hunters would have done and it was a decision that he hoped he didn’t end up regretting. His best friend was the vampire that he had believed for a long time had killed his wife so he knew that it was important to keep an open mind. There were too many people in town who liked to shoot first and ask questions later and Ric refused to become one of those people. He had already tried that when he first arrived in town and he had quickly learned what a mistake he had made so he knew better than to do the same thing again. Instead he had decided to give Michael a chance the same way that he had other supernaturals in the town and considering that the guy had promised that he would explain what was behind his breaking and entering spree he knew that he would end up getting answers soon enough. There were a lot of bad supernatural creatures in Mystic Falls and those were ones that Ric was more than happy to take down when he needed to but those who just wanted to live their lives in peace were a different matter entirely and he knew that that was how it should be. Those were people that Ric knew to leave alone but he always made sure to keep a close eye on them just in case. It wasn’t always easy but he did his best to protect the residents of Mystic Falls, both human and innocent supernatural alike, and he knew that he couldn’t do anymore than that. It was clear that there were demons in his companion’s past that weren’t easy to face and that was something that Ric understood all too well but sometimes facing them was the only way to truly move on and Ric had learned that the hard way. “They targeted your family to get you to stop,” Ric said, nodding in understanding. “I’m sorry, they didn’t deserve that.” It all made sense now, Michael had ended up getting on the wrong side of people who shouldn’t be messed with and his family had ended up paying the ultimate price. Ric had sometimes found himself wondering if the same thing might end up happening to him but before he moved to Mystic Falls he really hadn’t had many people to lose. He’d had his parents, of course, but they were back in Boston and he had travelled across the country working different cases so the chances of them being targeted had been pretty slim. Now it was a different story entirely though, now he had Jenna, Elena, Jeremy and his friends that he didn’t want to lose so he knew that he would do whatever he had to in order to keep them safe and that was something that he was pretty sure that Michael would have done if given the chance as well. “She didn’t at first. Her niece wanted her to be kept in the dark about the supernatural and I went along with it. It almost cost me the woman I love when she found out the truth but she forgave me in the end,” he explained. How Jenna had found it inside her to do that he wasn’t sure but not a day went by when he wasn’t glad that she had done. Lifting his glass to his lips, Ric took a sip before nodding as Michael continued. “That’s how you triggered your curse,” he finished for him as he set the glass down in front of him. “Did you know about any of this before that?”MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on May 16, 2020 18:23:59 GMT
An exchange of his life for the story of what the hell he’d been up to in that building hadn’t seemed too bad. The cost was more for him than perhaps for others, those wounds he was ripping open inside of himself agonizing but given the choice between a bullet to his chest and the metaphorical internal bleeding Michael knew he’d take the latter every time. It wasn’t the first time he’d told bits of it since he’d gotten to Mystic Falls, others had each been giving their measured part, never more than any of them needed to know to help him with what he was trying to find out. He could’ve sworn it was for safety, the more any of them knew, the more trouble they could be in, the same reason why he hadn’t gone back home after he’d agreed to work for Orlov. The last thing he’d wanted had been to lose Karin too but it had always been more than that. Spilling your guts brough that pain and grief roaring back, like a dam opening up, spilling out all the poison that had built up behind it. The torrent was slower now than it had been right after Abi and Sara had died, time was a healer after all and his wounds weren’t the same anymore, but they were still there. Michael could feel them aching in his chest as he opened up to the guy about what he’d done to bring the trouble down on his family in the first place. He’d wanted to scream to the heavens that he’d learned his lesson afterwards but honestly, what good would it have done at that point? About as much good as continuing to look now brought but with the possible truth so close he still couldn’t back down.
His throat working, Michael nodded. He swallowed hard, did it again when the lump lodged hard in his throat still didn’t move. Bringing a hand up, he tried to massage it away before it became obvious it just wasn’t gonna move. Sucking in a breath past it, Michael nodded. ”They didn’t. I refused to listen any other way. What happened is on me.” The man didn’t know his family, hell, until just a little while ago, he didn’t know him either but Michael nodded at his condolences anyway. ”Thanks,” he muttered hoarsely. ”Now you know why I can’t just let this go.” It was too late for his family but answers might’ve meant he could stop this from happening again to the next person who tried to stand up against this. He suspected that Ric might’ve known had it felt, given what he’d gone through. Huffing out a breath, Michael reached for his drink and took a longer drought. ”That’s a pretty fine line between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing for the right reason. You’re lucky she forgave you.” He’d gone far too far over the line and there hadn’t been time to make up for anything. In the end it had all happened too fast. Michael let go of his glass, pointing to his eyes to make clear what he’d meant and then dropping it to his thigh, scrubbing his fingertips against his jeans. When his eyes rose to met Ric’s, his jaw flexed. One brief nod was all it took to confirm how he’d managed it. ”First time I’d hurt anybody bad, let alone .. you know.” Killed them. Lifting his hand again, Michael scrubbed it over his hair as he shook his head. ”No clue about it before then. I don’t think my parents could’ve known. They were professors, nowhere near anything that might’ve triggered it. I don’t even know which side it would’ve come from.” The one landmine in their genetic stew just waiting for an excuse to go off. God only knew how any generations it had been since it had happened.
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ALARIC SALTZMAN
Hunter
Posts: 312
Age:
39
Occupation:
Headmaster and Teacher
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jenna Saltzman
Played by:
Emma
I find a way to keep going, because that’s what we do. We find a way to keep going.
Last seen Aug 31, 2024 22:48:56 GMT
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Post by ALARIC SALTZMAN on May 27, 2020 23:07:18 GMT
Catching someone breaking the law was never normally a good thing but Ric knew what it was like to have to push the boundaries in order to do the right thing. He sometimes had to do some questionable things while he was hunting and he sometimes had to resort to breaking and entering so he knew that it would be wrong of him to judge Michael for doing so when he was just trying to get some answers about what had happened to his family. That was something that Ric understood all too well because the truth was that he would have done anything to get answers about what had happened to Isobel and he had done so along the way so he knew what it was like. Michael didn’t seem like a bad guy he just seemed to have found himself in a really bad situation so Ric knew to give him the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. The fact that none of the guys in the building he had broken into had ended up getting hurt was a good sign and Ric knew that he had done the right thing by not shooting first and asking questions later. He knew that it would have been so easy for him to do so and he didn’t doubt that a lot of other hunters would have if they were in his position but that wasn’t him, not any more. He knew that there were good supernaturals out there too and there were plenty in town that he was trying to protect so he knew that things weren’t always black and white. “Unfortunately some people will do anything to get what they want even if that means that innocent people have to suffer for it,” Ric offered. He had met more than a few people like that along the way and it never ended well for anyone involved. It was a shame that Michael’s family were the ones who had paid the price and Ric honestly hoped that he would get the answers that he so desperately needed sooner or later. “I do, I get it,” he nodded. “I was the same when my wife disappeared, I became a hunter so I could kill the vampire that took her from me,” he added. It was strange to think that Damon was now his best friend and he had found out that Isobel had chosen a life as a vampire over a life with him but he had made his peace with what had happened and he hoped that over time Michael would be able to do the same. He had only gained proper closure when he’d finally learned the truth about what had happened so he couldn’t blame Michael for wanting that as well. “You’d be surprised how many people do know about all of this,” he admitted as he lifted his glass to his lips and took a sip. “How long ago did it happen?” he asked, not sure just how many full moons Michael had been through since then. MICHAEL SHEPARD
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MICHAEL SHEPARD
Werewolf
Posts: 279
Age:
33
Occupation:
CIA Analyst/Thief
Status:
Married
Partner:
Sara Shepard
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 20:02:50 GMT
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Post by MICHAEL SHEPARD on May 31, 2020 16:18:56 GMT
Thousands of times since he’d walked into their home and found Abi and Sara dead Michael had questioned what he’d done. It was his fault that they had died, there was no doubt about that. The detectives investigating could call it random all they wanted, could offer their condolences and offer him the details of therapists who might’ve been able to help, but it didn’t change the fact that his family had been killed because he’d refused to back away from a case. Time and time again he’d been given warnings about it, Sara had begged him to set work aside and be there for them more but he’d known better hadn’t he? At least he thought he had. That refusal to back down had forced the hand of whoever it was he’d been tracking. They’d applied just enough pressure to make him stop, at least they believed they had. He might have been put on leave from the agency, might’ve been forced to shut himself off in their parents home and then go to work for Orlov but it hadn’t stopped him from digging surreptitiously. The focus was no longer stopping the economic damage being done by his shadow, it was to find justice for his wife and daughter. If it took him breaking the law to do it then it was a price he was far more willing to pay than any of the others he’d had to. Michael knew the horse had already bolted there, if anybody was going to prosecute him then they already had a string of thefts a mile long, all committed in Orlov’s name. This attempted robbery tonight had at least been done for a good reason, for the only reason he was doing any of this now. Abi and Sara.
Innocent wasn’t the word for it. They’d done nothing to the shadow, their only crime being the fact that he loved the two of them, that Abi was his blood. If anybody should’ve suffered for his absolute refusal to back down then it should’ve been him. Michael let his hand trail up to the back of his neck, squeezing hard. ”I should’ve realized how far they were willing to go and stop looking but I couldn’t … I was so sure someone was there behind everything that was going on in Russia.” The warnings had fallen on deaf ears time and time again until the shadow had finally done something to really grab his attention. Green eyes flicked up to settle on Alaric as he admitted what had happened when his wife had disappeared. ”I’m sorry for your loss,” he managed hoarsely, assuming that the thing had killed her. ”Did you get it in the end?” It was a brutal way of looking at things but justice was never simple, not when you were caught up in this supernatural world. After he’d triggered his curse he’d wondered if his parents had known what was lurking in their DNA but he’d never been able to believe that they would’ve known and hidden something like that from them. ”Maybe,” Michael breathed. ”I should’ve explained to my sister afterwards, warned her, but opening my mouth was what cost me my wife and daughter, I couldn’t bring that to Karin’s doorstep too.” So he’d left instead. Michael cleared his throat, tossing back the last of his drink before he set the empty glass down. ”Three years. Still feels like yesterday. Look, I’m glad for you watching my back tonight, the drink too, but I should get going…” He needed to regroup, start looking at what he’d managed to find in that building before the situation had gone bad again and he and Ric had to run.
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ALARIC SALTZMAN
Hunter
Posts: 312
Age:
39
Occupation:
Headmaster and Teacher
Status:
Married
Partner:
Jenna Saltzman
Played by:
Emma
I find a way to keep going, because that’s what we do. We find a way to keep going.
Last seen Aug 31, 2024 22:48:56 GMT
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Post by ALARIC SALTZMAN on Jun 2, 2020 22:59:46 GMT
Spending time with someone that he had caught breaking into a building wasn’t something that Ric had expected to happen but he had realised pretty quickly that Michael wasn’t a bad guy and the truth was that Ric wouldn’t have played lookout for him if he had been. Ric understood all too well what it was like to have something awful happen but now be able to get any answers because he had gone through exactly the same thing with Isobel. After returning home to find Damon feeding on his wife he had been left to think that Damon had killed her. Her body had never been found but even so Ric had never thought that she would choose to leave him or that she would decide that a life as a vampire was better than a life with him. He had been blinded by grief and rage for such a long time and he had let that consume him. He had almost taken Damon’s life and he would have done had Damon not figured out what was going on and killed him first but thankfully the ring that Isobel had given to him had brought him back and Ric had been working on putting the pieces of his life back together ever since he’d learned the truth. It hadn’t been easy but finding out what had really happened had helped him get the closure that he had desperately needed and he hoped that with time it would be the same for Michael. He had been through something awful and now he was trying to figure all of this out on his own but Ric knew that if there was anything that he could do to help the guy get some answers then he would do it. There were some monsters out there, both supernatural and human alike, who had no problem with making innocent people pay for something that another person had or hadn’t done and it seemed that that was exactly what had happened to Michael’s family. They had paid the ultimate price because he had ended up digging too deep into something that he shouldn’t have and that was something that was sure to take some time to move on from but he hoped that sooner or later Michael would find a way to put it behind him. “Maybe they were but sometimes it’s better to let things stay hidden if it means that people will be safer in the long run,” he offered. It was the same with the supernatural world, there were people in Mystic Falls who knew the truth about it but there were more that didn’t and he knew that it was much safer for those who didn’t to stay in the dark and avoid getting dragged into that world the way that so many others had before them. “Not in the way I thought I would. The guy is still alive and he’s a friend now but I did get closure and I think I needed that more than anything,” he admitted. He knew now that it hadn’t been healthy spending so much time obsessing over finding the vampire that had taken Isobel from him and it had given him the push that he had needed to finally start moving on with his life. Without that he knew that he wouldn’t have truly been able to let Jenna in and he knew that he wouldn’t want to be without her or the kids now. Nodding as Michael said that he couldn’t bring that trouble to his sister’s doorstep, Ric glanced at his watch and realised just how late it was. “I should as well, I didn’t realise it was so late,” he admitted, finishing the last of his drink before grabbing a napkin and writing his number on it. “If you need any backup or help again just let me know,” he said as he held it out to Michael, waiting for him to take it before making his way out of the Grill and heading home.
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hope to see you in the discord! 
