ENZO ST JOHN
Vampire
Posts: 57
Age:
144
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Single
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 18:37:17 GMT
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Post by ENZO ST JOHN on Aug 24, 2024 18:56:06 GMT
Sipping at the dregs of his coffee, Enzo watched the sun slowly creep its way across the tiles. A few days ago he’d still have been dodging it, hiding in the shitty apartment he’d compelled his way into soon after he’d escaped Whitmore. Drapes pulled tight over the windows, shadows shrouding the tiny rooms, waiting for the sun to go down so he could slip out into the dark streets of Mystic Falls. Scuttling around like a rat, right back to where he had been when Chiara had found him and pulled him out of the docks and into another world. Without Aurora he might still have been doing that, but through her he’d found his way to Tristan, and his employment with him and the Strix had come with a benefit beyond protection from just Chiara Meraviglia.
He set down his cup and twisted his hand so that the light that oozed across the table and the floor caught the glitter of the blue stone in the new ring on his finger. There was no need to hide from the sun now, just Chiara. Walking the streets of Mystic Falls still felt risky, the target Chiara had painted on his back decades before hadn’t faded and now he had Wes and his people probably looking for him just as hard. There had been no sign of the doc, or of the witch and warlock since that night at the college, but still he looked at every damn face around him, like one of them would emerge from the crowd at any moment.
Enzo nudged his plate away. A couple of cold, lonely fries sat beside the tiny pool of ketchup. Food still didn’t taste any better after decades of not eating it. Satisfaction only came from blood, the thirst always burning there beneath the surface, although now he could feed it whenever he wanted to. No more lingering in that miserable state of half-desiccation. He imagined if Chiara’s people had managed to keep hold of him that day desiccation would’ve been the least painful thing happening to him.
The door of the Grill clattered open again, the low buzz of conversation seeming to pause for just a heartbeat before it carried on. A couple of teenagers, slipping past a dark haired guy, an apron marking him out as staff. The woman he was talking to inched into him as the kids went past, a low throaty chuckle that raised the hair on the back of his neck slipping out of her as she slung an arm around his neck and raised herself up on her toes to kiss him. She slipped back down, a burr of a New York accent catching his ear as he started to listen in. He’d heard Chiara’s laugh a thousand times, shockingly light considering that it usually slipped out in her meanest moments. This woman’s had been just like it, without the threat following it.
He swallowed hard, dark eyes tracking the pair as they stepped outside. Feeling the fizz of anxiety under his skin, he pushed to his feet, not bothering to wait for his check to be bought over by the waitress. Enzo eased up to the cash register, aiming a smile at the bearded guy standing there. ”Booth at the back,” he told him, pulling a couple of notes from his pocket to push them across the counter. ”Keep the change. My compliments to the chef.” He tipped his head towards the guy who now stood outside with the brunette. She landed another kiss on him before drawing away and heading for a car at the curb.
A moment after she was gone he stepped out the door, already patting down his pockets for the pack of cigarettes that always gave him an excuse to lurk outside here. Nobody questioned you being outside with smoke wreathing you, although fewer people seemed to do it now than the last time he’d had this amount of freedom. He shook one out of box, studying the guy who was still standing out there from the corner of his eye. Chiara hadn’t been at the school herself, she wouldn’t have been while she had others to do her dirty work, but there’d been something about the woman that had started to ring the alarm bells in her head.
Spotting the odd little device in his hands, the ones that seemed to pump out fruity scents along with the nicotine that most probably couldn’t even have smelled. ”Guess there’s not much point askin’ if you’ve got a light,” he drawled. Enzo cracked a half smile, fumbling in his pockets for a moment more before he found the lighter. ”Was she from New York?” he asked, jerking his chin towards the spot where her car had been a moment before. ”I caught a little bit of your conversation inside. Spent some time there myself, I didn’t expect to see anyone from the city down here.” Although Aurora being here already added weight to the lie. He’d met her back there, dozens of miles away from where Chiara had hold of his lead.
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MIKEY BUCKLEY
Kanima
Posts: 143
Age:
41
Occupation:
Line Cook
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Mab Carmello
Played by:
Jodi
Broken isn’t the same as unfixable
Last seen Nov 12, 2024 16:41:49 GMT
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Post by MIKEY BUCKLEY on Sept 15, 2024 15:44:53 GMT
There were those days which dragged. The days where Mikey was checking the clock every thirty minutes to see if an hour had gone by. Orders were slow throughout the morning, being drip fed to the back. Then the lunch rush would come around and Mikey would have no time to look at the clock with a line of orders pinned up. Everything was second nature by now. He knew exactly where everything was and could turn an order around rapidly. Working in the kitchen was a job he never envisioned having. As a kid he thought he’d grow up to be some kind of tradesman. An electrician or even a mechanic. There was no fucking way he was going college, but prison steered his life in another direction. Apparently there were courses available inside to help the men build a trade, but when the sign up numbers were on the lower side they were pulled. Mab never bothered to slip into the Grill during the lunch rush, knowing it was impossible to steal Mikey for more than a second. After 3pm was usually a safe time, but time had slipped away when Kace called through to say Mab was out front. It was impossible to hide the look of happiness on his face when he realised she was in the Grill. Not bothering to take his apron off he quickly dashed from out the kitchen, to meet her out front. They slipped into a vacant booth, had a late lunch together before he walked her outside. “I’ll be finished around six so I’ll see you later.” He leaned down, pressing his lips gently against her. Mikey waited until she climbed into her car before taking a few steps away from the Grill to smoke. The smile on his face remained for a few seconds after Mab disappeared. It was the last effect she’d had on him, sparking a happiness inside of him he’d never felt before. It was the feeling that he was with the right person. There was no one else out there who was right for him. He dug into his pocket, pulling out his vape. The tiny little thing that was so damn addictive. People thought cigarettes were expensive, but they’d never had to buy them from inside a prison. The price tag attached was eye watering. Lucky for Mikey there was always enough money in his wallet, mainly thanks to his parents. It seemed like it was their way of showing they still loved him. Mikey’s gaze ticked up from his vape as a man spoke to him. He offered him a small smile, but nothing more. He had no desire to engage in meaningless small talk with this stranger, but yet he continued the conversation, asking about Mab. His features remained still, carefully assessing the guy. “Pennsylvania.” The lie rolled off his tongue. There were people out there after Mab as well. “Seems a lot of people relocate here.” People like Chase, Mab and even that bitch Giorgia. Mikey hadn’t followed her story up with his brother, not wanting to let him know he’d been to her office, throwing around threats. ENZO ST JOHN |
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ENZO ST JOHN
Vampire
Posts: 57
Age:
144
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Single
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 18:37:17 GMT
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Post by ENZO ST JOHN on Sept 28, 2024 18:20:43 GMT
The smile on the man’s face softened a grizzled exterior, but he’d spent enough time around guys like that to know not to trust that there was anything actually soft beneath the creased surface. Chiara hadn’t needed to surround herself with tough guys, she had enough power in a pretty package to take down a dozen of them without breaking a sweat, she’d done it anyway though. Italians for the most part, dark eyes hard, their suits expensive, pockets filled with saps or brass knuckles, guys just waiting for the nod to use them. They’d been the first line of defence, with him standing behind them. This guy might have been one of them, he looked the part, even if he didn’t sound it. Another sap drawn under Chiara’s wing, convinced by sweetened words (unless she’d cast some spell of mortality to make sure she had her revenge on him no matter how long he lived, the pretty face was gone), as expendable as he’d ended up being.
Enzo studied him as he approached slowly, waiting for the moment the situation would turn and he’d see the flare of recognition in the man’s dark eyes. Maybe he’d have seen it in the woman’s, but he hadn’t been dumb enough to approach while she’d still been standing there. If the resemblance had meant she was related to Chiara’s then she’d probably had the sort of power that would’ve left him writhing like a half-dead bug on the sidewalk. Instead of a narrowing of those dark eyes, a bracing of a body that looked it was pure muscle (not that human strength would do much against him now that he was able to feed whenever he wanted to), the guy offered him a small smile instead.
”Really?” Enzo puffed out a laugh as he was told Pennsylvania instead. It wasn’t like he’d done enough travelling in the US to have really known the difference, but he’d spent a couple of decades at Chiara’s side, a voice that could go from warm to ice cold in an instant purring orders in his ear. ”Never would’ve thought it. You’re not wrong though, seems like plenty of folks end up down here. You’d think it was on one of those ‘places you have to travel to before you die’ lists.” He’d heard overheard some teenagers talking about them – what the hell had they called them? Bucket lists? – at the Grill a couple of nights ago. As though kids that age were facing death in the face often enough that they had to worry about what they’d get to do before they kicked the bucket. If only they knew what that was really like, not even hitting thirty before you were coughing up chunks of your own lungs.
His eyes narrowed, his fingers plucking the box of cigarettes from his pocket. He extracted one and tucked it in the corner of his mouth before he offered the box to the guy. ”I spent plenty of time in New York when I was younger, lived with a family in Brooklyn.” Enzo flicked the lighter open, holding the flame to the end of his cigarette before he took a deep drag on it. The smoke plumed from between his lips a moment later, leaving him squinting through it at the guy next to him. ”They sounded just like her. Always thought I was a decent judge of accents after that. Like yours, that’s New Orleans, right? Louisiana at least?” There’d been a cajun guy in their unit in the war, half the words spilling out of his mouth unintelligible in the shroud of his deep accent at first. This guy’s wasn’t as bad, but there was something distinctly southern in it.
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MIKEY BUCKLEY
Kanima
Posts: 143
Age:
41
Occupation:
Line Cook
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Mab Carmello
Played by:
Jodi
Broken isn’t the same as unfixable
Last seen Nov 12, 2024 16:41:49 GMT
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Post by MIKEY BUCKLEY on Oct 15, 2024 19:42:00 GMT
Maybe Mab was fortunate to have ended up with someone as cautious as Mikey. He had learned the hard way—spending the first part of his life trusting the wrong people, the kind who were perfectly content watching him serve twenty years for a crime that wasn’t entirely his fault. So, when the man in front of him started asking questions about Mab, Mikey’s defences shot up instantly. It could have been innocent small talk, but Mikey wasn’t about to take that chance. Mab had enemies of her own. The real question was, who would get to them first? The Agnellis or Mab’s family? In some ways, the Agnellis already got to him though. Despite the agreement he had with Giorgia he still looked over his shoulder at every given opportunity. For all he knew, this guy standing in front of him had been sent by them, maybe even banking on the British accent to throw him off guard. Just because the lie rolled smoothly off his tongue didn’t mean it was convincing. He’d picked the first state that popped into his mind—close enough to Mab’s hometown but vague enough to avoid suspicion. The problem was, Mab had one of those unmistakable accents that anyone with a sharp ear could place. He dismissed the stranger's comment about it though. “Yeah… not really sure why people come here,” he muttered. Mystic Falls wasn’t exactly a vacation spot, especially with its constant threat of danger in the form of vampires and ghostriders. Chase had dragged him here, but it wasn’t a place you visited unless you had a death wish. Still, maybe that was the draw—people had a strange fascination with places that could kill them. The stranger shifted from mentioning New York to Brooklyn, and Mikey’s guard went up even higher. Coincidence? Mikey didn’t believe in those. “Where in Brooklyn?” he asked, ready to turn the questions back on the guy. Then the man pegged Mikey’s accent spot-on. “Maybe her parents are from there. I’ve never really asked… Louisiana, yes, but I’m from Lafayette.” That lie felt more solid than the one about Mab. “Are you some kind of accent expert?” Mikey asked, taking another puff from his vape, eyes narrowing slightly as he gauged the man’s next move. ENZO ST JOHN [/quote] |
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ENZO ST JOHN
Vampire
Posts: 57
Age:
144
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Single
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 18:37:17 GMT
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Post by ENZO ST JOHN on Oct 26, 2024 18:38:29 GMT
You got used to telling lies on the street. In the workhouse he’d have felt the bite of the cane across his back if he’d lied, but on the streets it was those lies that could keep you alive. Sly little half truths slipping from a kid’s mouth, probably obvious to the policemen who’d try and stop them – yes office, I’m goin’ right home now, my parents are waitin’ for me. Working for Chiara he’d learned to weave a better story. The truth was theirs to wring from people trying to disguise their own crimes, not for them to offer up. It was so often a weakness and he’d sworn he wouldn’t be weak again once he got free of Whitmore.
Enzo studied the man with dark eyes, more guarded than the half smile on his face should’ve left them. He wasn’t the only one with reasons to try and shield the weakness of the truth. If the woman did have something to do with Chiara, then there was a reason for her to keep her identity safe. The baby witch and warlock would’ve reported back to the family that he was free and a man outside of a cage was far more dangerous than one stuck behind bars. Chiara wouldn’t send children after him again, she’d make sure it was someone with power, someone he wasn’t supposed to see coming. Only he had – maybe.
He glanced away from the man, looking up and down the street as though he was picking out those who didn’t belong. In the mini-melting pot of Mystic Falls that was more difficult than it would’ve seemed on the surface. That veneer of money and gloss was only so deep. ”I’m guessing it’s got a lot to do with the scenery. Folks want to live somewhere pretty, somewhere peaceful. Enjoy the views.” And bask in the power that seemed to radiate in the place, a light flashing in the dark that drew them all in like moths. Most of the people who knew exactly what it was they were looking at weren’t the sort who were going hiking up to the falls or sat in their neat little homes watching the seasons change. They slipped beneath that pretty surface, leaving thin traces of darkness behind.
”Navy Street.” Enzo told him as the guy asked where in Brooklyn. One brow hitched higher, the cigarette shifting slightly in his mouth as he smiled, then he plucked it free. ”You know Brooklyn? It’s down by the Navy Yard. Lots of Italians around there. I’m guessing that’s what her family were.” Her parents. If she was a Meraviglia then it hadn’t just been her parents. Her great-great grandparents had come over from Sicily and from the way Chiara talked, she had no intention of ever leaving the city. The alarm bells in the back of his head were ringing louder, the instinct to run back to his hidey hole growing stronger, although he remained rooted to the sidewalk.
Chuckling lightly, Enzo shook his head as the guy threw his questions back at him. Maybe if he hadn’t spent the better part of eighty years in a cell he might’ve ended up one. Spending all those years digging into people’s histories for Chiara would have given her an education he wouldn’t have found anywhere else. ”Nah,” he drawled lightly. ”Just well-travelled. New York was kinda like this, full of people from all over. You speak to enough of them and you start picking up on the details.” When you had a target on your back you looked for them too. ”She ever tell you much about her family? You never know just how small that world’ll end up being. Maybe we’ve moved in the same circles.” He gestured between him, the guy and the street, as though they were definitely tied together. If they were then it was probably an indication he needed to move on. Aurora and Tristan had been good to him, but how long would he last in Mystic Falls if Chiara came for him again, with reinforcements this time.
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MIKEY BUCKLEY
Kanima
Posts: 143
Age:
41
Occupation:
Line Cook
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Mab Carmello
Played by:
Jodi
Broken isn’t the same as unfixable
Last seen Nov 12, 2024 16:41:49 GMT
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Post by MIKEY BUCKLEY on Nov 12, 2024 16:41:57 GMT
When Mikey first arrived in Mystic Falls, he hated it. A small town like this felt like being under a microscope, surrounded by people who were overly interested in each other’s business. He’d dreamed of being in a big city (despite hating them) where he could blend in, just another face in the crowd. In cities, everyone seemed to be running from something, carrying secrets that blended into the noise and movement. Here, there was nowhere to hide, and no space for him to just be left alone. But his assumptions about Mystic Falls started to shift. Sure, there were the nosy types, the ones who’d pry into his life, but then he’d met people like Kace, who didn’t flinch at his past, brushing off Mikey's twenty-year prison stint like it was just another fact. And he’d found out there were others in town running from things in their past too. Mystic Falls, it turned out, had its share of people living with hidden baggage, quietly haunting them. Now, he was almost grateful his brother had moved here, which ultimately had pulled Mikey here too. Without that, he wouldn’t have found Mab. “Maybe,” he said, his voice carrying a hint of acceptance. Sure, Mystic Falls was pretty, but peaceful? Not a chance. Beneath the charming small-town surface was a darker side—an undercurrent that he and Mab existed in some way. They were part of the town's secrets. Something about the conversation was putting Mikey on edge, though. Too many questions about a woman he’d never met. “I’ve been a few times, but can’t say I know it well,” Mikey responded, his voice steady, even if his patience was starting to wear. It wasn’t like he’d been free to roam for most of his life; his movements had been limited to the prison exercise yard until recently. Everyone knew why people flocked to New York—opportunity, anonymity, a fresh start. But why would people come to a small town like this? Employment was scarce, and housing was far from affordable. Something felt off about this guy, his accent hinting he was yet another British face in Mystic Falls. “Once or twice but I can’t remember the details.” Mikey’s suspicion crept up even higher. ENZO ST JOHN - wrap with yours? |
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ENZO ST JOHN
Vampire
Posts: 57
Age:
144
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Single
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 17, 2024 18:37:17 GMT
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Post by ENZO ST JOHN on Nov 17, 2024 18:30:41 GMT
Maybe he’d have been better talking to the brick walls about the woman – they’d probably have given something more than the single word answers he was wringing out of this guy. If he’d been the sort with a thin skin, or without a past that continued to loom over him like a storm on the horizon, just waiting to break, he’d have just taken off. Unfortunately for this guy, he was neither. Enzo hummed lightly at his maybe, glancing across the square that brought some of the green from the woods outside the town into its centre. The scenery was an excuse for most, a reason to be in a town that was far darker and creepier at its core. It was a hide, camouflage for men like Wes Maxfield and their twisted pastimes.
In a way he was doing the same as all the others, using the cover of civility to hide himself. There was a difference though, none of this was for fun for him. He didn’t get his kicks out of scurrying around in the dark like a damn cockroach, feeding on whoever he could lay his hands on. Working for Chiara had led to a nightmare, but at least for a time he’d been out of the gutter. Now he was back in it, looking for a way to start his ascent again. If he was lucky Aurora and her brother would help with that.
The sound of the woman’s accent had brought back memories of those years he’d spent under the witch’s thumb. That was another place he couldn’t go back to. Brooklyn was crossed off the list of possible eventual destinations, especially if Chiara already had people reaching out from there. Enzo bobbed his head lightly, a chuckle slipping out. ”Can’t say I’d wanna head back to it, but it had its charms. I imagine you need to know someone there to be shown the real Brooklyn.” His dark eyes narrowed, his hearing straining for any shift in the man’s voice or pulse, but there was nothing. Either he was skilled at hiding it, or he wasn’t bullshitting as badly as he’d suspected he would be right now.
Nah. There was definite bullshit there, he decided. Some guys could lie as easily as they could breathe – himself included. If he wanted to stay alive in this town he knew he had to trust his gut. Enzo drew on the cigarette, letting the smoke burn in his lungs for a split second before he exhaled it and squinted at the guy through the plume of smoke. ”It’s hard to keep it all straight, right?” His lips curled briefly around the cigarette before he pulled it from his mouth. Enzo studied the tip of it for a moment before he dropped it to the sidewalk and ground it out.
Still eyeing the guy, he took a slow step back on the sidewalk, giving the impression of distance between them at least. His hand came up, in a polite little farewell. ”Maybe the next time you see her, you ask if her family knows an Enzo St. John. There’s a chance they might, right? See you around, pal.” Another twitch of his fingers and he was turning away. Maybe the next time he headed down to the Diner he’d find a wizened old bitch – witch – sat in that last booth, just waiting for him. Only he wasn’t gonna be facing her on his own anymore. He had two of the oldest vampires in the world behind him now and even Chiara Meraviglia couldn’t stand up against that.
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hope to see you in the discord! 
