Thomas watched as she adjusted, getting comfortable and resting her chin on her knees as she asked if it hadn't shown itself to her that she'd be fine. He gave a grim look. "Perhaps. However you may have already encountered it and not known it. Some encounters end with a complete loss of memory. You could have seen it some time in the past few weeks or months, than again you may have encountered it as a child and not known it either" he said with a gentle tone. He listened as she commented about feeling things and sometimes even seeing things out of the corner of her eye and he found himself rubbing his chin in thought. "Whatever is in your home, I don't think it's Gorr'rylaehotep. It doesn't toy with people like that. This feels....different. I'm thinking this is something else entirely, likely one of it's lapdogs trying to get loose" he commented.

Thomas remained silent and bowed his head a bit. He wish he could offer better news but there wasn't much he could say that would help her. "More than likely, this thing was stalking Keith first. This thing though didn't kill Keith though, this was the cult that worships it. My guess is that they found out that it was following him and took that as a sign that he was marked for death" he said gently. He sighed and shook his head. "Chances are that this thing will latch itself onto you now. With the trauma you've been through and the things I've seen, we're likely gonna attract this thing like flies are attracted to shit" he said with a grim tone. That didn't make things better, it just meant they would both likely be stalked by an ancient Egyptian god that could kill them, drive them insane, or cause them to commit suicide. If it didn't do that to them than the cult definitely would kill them. It was bad news all around but they had one ace in the hole. Him. If anyone was prepared to take this thing on it was him.

What do I do? she had asked. He sighed and shook his head. "For now? There's nothing we can do. This thing isn't going to make it easy for us. I know a few spells that may keep it at bay but this thing is very powerful. It won't let us go until it gets what it wants from us, whatever that may be" he said gently. He didn't know what they could do other than try and defend themselves. There could be an artifact out there that he could use to possibly banish this thing. He'd heard rumors but he'd need to investigate. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this thing doesn't get us. You have my word on that" he said with a nod. Say what you will about Thomas. That he was crazy, that he was a slob, that he smoked more than a chimney. You couldn't deny though, he had a will of iron and didn't know the meaning of the word quit.

Thomas stood from his seat and took a cigarette from his breast pocket, lighting it as he ran a hand through his hair and took a drag. "You should be safe at my place. Remember those carvings that were on my door?" he questioned. When she gave some form of acknowledgment, he continued speaking. "Those carvings are called wards. Wards will ensure nothing supernatural can enter or do harm. That is arcane law and Gorr'rylaehotep has no choice but to respect such laws" he said with a sure tone. He could almost see her eyes glaze over at the explanation, barely understanding. She'd learn more about magic sure enough if she stayed with him. He'd be shocked if she didn't or didn't have questions concerning the arcane world. He would answer what he could

Caroline’s thoughts were turning to pure gibberish as she tried to piece together everything that Thomas attempting to help her understand. The red wine had a calming effect over her physicality of her nervous energy and helped the trembling come to a pause, but it almost felt as if her brain would short-circuit if any more information was to be given to her. The man in front of her seemed to know enough to fight the mysterious entities that had introduced themselves into her life. As if they were a white flag, Caroline raised her arms up in defeat momentarily before wrapping them back around her legs. “I’ll take you up on your offer, Thomas. I’ve gotta get some of my shit together. Make yourself at home.”

Without making eye contact with the investigator, she scooted her bar stool in, went to pick up her bra and dress that had been tossed on the floor earlier, and went back inside the room that had just been her prison. She decided to pack lightly for now; she did not know how long she would be away from home. A few tee shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, and her favorite hoodie were thrown messily into a large tote bag, along with some make up and toiletries. The whole process took about ten minutes, and soon enough, she returned to the island in the kitchen and plopped the bag on the counter top. Her eyes scanned her apartment for a few seconds, visualizing all that had happened since she moved in, but she forced herself to stop before she got upset. Whatever this menace was, it was hitting her where it hurt.

She turned to meet Thomas’s gaze after finishing the contents in her wine glass. “Well,” she seemingly blurted in the quiet room, “I’m ready when you are. I guess I’ll take you in the truck, since you, uh, didn’t drive here.” She forced a smile as she looked over the countertops to make sure she was not leaving anything important behind. The fact that she was running away from her problems instead of trying to face them head on was making her feel more defeated than ever. That wasn’t how she was raised; her father always made sure that she stayed strong in situations in times of trouble. She prided herself on being independent, and now on top of losing Keith, she was starting to lose that too. She audibly sighed at the realization as she grabbed a baggy of weed out of the counter and stuffed it into her purse. “Let’s go, huh?”

Once she got a good night sleep in her, her plan was to get to know the man better. It wasn't every day that she met someone magical, and it was definitely a rarity to meet someone this accommodating in New York City. She was sure that his past must have been some sort of inclination as to how he became the way he was - serious, brooding, looking as if he was on the edge of falling asleep at any moment. Caroline had trouble believing that someone could become a person like Thomas without something dark and fascinating happening to them first, and hearing the story of his life seemed like it would be as mysterious as what was happening to her.

Thomas watched as she seemed to be trying to piece this whole crazy situation together and coming up short. He wouldn't try to put more explanation into it unless he thought she could handle it. For the time being, she'd been hit with enough information. He didn't need to clutter her head with more information unless she was ready to hear it. Thomas watched her hands go up in an I give up fashion. He chuckled as she said she'd accept his offer and get some shit together so she could live for some time. Thomas ran a hand through his hair and nodded. "Probably not a bad idea" he said with a chuckle. Thomas took a drag of his cigarette and began to pace around the house, trying to get a feel of the spirit that was living here. He ran a hand through his hair as he could sense something. It still wasn't strong enough to take a corporeal form. It would have to absorb a great deal more magical energy and the Eye of Horus was ensuring that it didn't do that.

If he knew what he was dealing with he'd be able to use a revelation spell and give it a corporeal form that he could then banish but he didn't know how powerful this thing was. Giving it a corporeal form could be the worst thing possible if he were to give something as powerful as a god corporeal form. He couldn't guarantee being able to banish it. It was a risk he couldn't take. Not yet anyway. Not till he knew just what was trying to come through. He was brought back to reality at the sound of her voice and smirked a bit. "Decided against the just got out of bed look?" he said teasingly. He took one more drag of his cigarette as she made the comment they should probably be going. "First good idea I've heard all day" he said with a chuckle. He ran a hand through his hair and followed her towards the truck. "Probably a good idea that you drive. I definitely don't drive" he said with a chuckle as he took a drag of his cigarette once more, putting it out as he climbed into the passenger side.

Blackgate sighed in relief as they stopped in front of his apartment. He lead the way upstairs until they were on the middle floor, leading the way to his apartment as he unlocked the door and opened it for her. "Make yourself at home" he said gently as he examined the wards carved into the woodwork. He hoped he was right about the wards. The last thing he needed was to make it apparent he didn't know what he was talking about. At that point they could be dead. Blackgate stepped inside and closed the door, locking the locks. He had more than just a few locks by New Yorker standards. The standard knob lock, multiple deadbolts, a chain lock, and to put the cherry on the cake, a large steel bar that landed with a thud into place across the door. When he was sure she was giving him a weird look he looked to her and spoke. "You have a cult that is likely watching you and likely wants you dead and I have artifacts that date back farther than recorded history and also hunt ghosts, demons, and monsters for a living, how many locks do you think you'd have?" he asked with a chuckle.

Blackgate ran a hand through his hair and took his coat off, hanging it up in it's respected spot as he lit another cigarette and took a drag. No doubt she was starting to notice his smoking habit as he made his way to his file cabinet and ensured they were locked. He double checked one specific drawer labeled "Blackgate". His apartment was secure to say the least, both by arcane means and by physical means. He ran a hand through his hair and made his way to his room, straightening it up just a bit as he came back and looked to her, releasing a cloud of smoke as he spoke. "You can sleep in my room if you want. Beds pretty comfy all things considered" he said with a chuckle. He walked to his desk and took a seat with a sigh and leaned his head back, taking a nice drag as he exhaled the smoke. "Well, welcome to Casa de Blackgate" he said with a chuckle as he ran a hand through his hair

Caroline assessed the apartment as she walked in. It looked as though he had tidied up a bit since she was there earlier, but it was not like it was pristine. There were still Chinese take out boxes that littered some of the tables, and the pungent smell of smoke filled the apartment to the brim. After setting her bag down on the kitchen table, she breathed a sigh of relief after feeling how different the energy felt in his house compared to hers. Her apartment felt heavy, cold, and like something was always watching her. She, for the moment, felt safe.

"Oh, please. I won't put you out. I'm fine on the couch, I promise." After she spoke, she lifted her bag once more and walked over to the living room to set up her things next to the long couch. She searched her bag until she found a hair tie, and she sloppily piled her blonde hair onto of her head and worked to secure it. Once she was successful, she looked over to the man who was enjoying his cigarette at his desk. "Well, I hate to be rude, but I am completely exhausted. It's been a while since I've gotten a good night sleep. Do you have a blanket I could use? If you tell me where, I'll grab it." She meant what she said. The man was already doing enough for her, that she didn't want to inconvenience him by forcing him to wait on her.

She began to stare at all of the knickknacks that lined the walls, most she had never seen before. Some looked new, and some looked ancient. Before a few months ago, she never knew any of these things existed; the tangible was all she chose to believe in. Now that she knew there were other things out there, it filled her head with paranoia and worry. How could she be so naive? How many other people know about these sorts of creatures and... people? She looked back over to Thomas after investigating his apartment from the couch, and she forced a faint smile to be polite. But, in reality, everything about this mystery realm made her on edge. Hopefully she would get a proper night's sleep.

Blackgate hadn't cleaned up much since the last time they'd been here. He'd cleared some trash from his apartment but it would have taken a great deal of time to do just that one chore in itself. Time that could be better spent finding this damned cult and ensuring that whatever ancient being was out there didn't do whatever it intended to do to them. He liked to think that his apartment was so dirty because he didn't have time to clean, always constantly working hard to make someone's life better. He wasn't going to get that benefit, not with the things he'd seen and not with the admittedly short time he had left on his clock. He didn't spend his time worrying about if his place was tidy, only worrying about solving the case.

Blackgate looked to her as she commented that she wouldn't put him out like that and couldn't help but smirk. it didn't really matter to him. As she could clearly see he didn't sleep very much anyways. He chuckled as she asked for a blanket, commenting that she hadn't had a good night of sleep in ages. "Which is why you should probably sleep in a proper bed and not on a couch that'll give you spinal problems like you wouldn't believe" he said with a chuckle. He shrugged though as he got up and made his way to his closet, grabbing one of his blankets and grabbing a spare pillow as well. It wasn't much but it would do the trick at the very least. He hoped she would at least take his offer and sleep in his bed. He certainly wasn't going to sleep in his bed. He slept where he always slept, in his office chair at his desk. It probably wasn't good for his back but he didn't really care, he didn't sleep much anyways though it wasn't through lack of trying. It just was the way it was.

Blackgate came back, bedding in hand as she was looking at some of the artifacts he had. Every artifact in his home had a specific purpose. Each was worth 10 times it's weight in gold, each were powerful in their own right and each could cause devastating turmoil in the wrong hands. The artifacts in his apartment were the tip of the iceberg, the most powerful artifacts of his were either locked in his trunk or in the warehouse he'd bought and maintained as well. Some would call it a warehouse for antiques, he would call it 'The Armory'. The Armory was where he kept his most powerful and most dangerous artifacts, the artifacts he nabbed himself when things were especially bad. End of days bad. Cthulhu and his cronies were coming through now and he needed to put an end to it immediately type of situation. "Careful with some of those. Some of them aren't as tame as the Eye of Horus. Take this one for instance..." he said as he raised a finger and walked to his trunk. He produced a key from his pocket and unlocked the large padlock (which also had inscriptions like what was on the door), opening the trunk and taking out a silver necklace that had a few jewels hanging from it, a beautiful piece of jewelry. "This is 'The Liars Chain'. Doesn't look like much but if you got a habit of lying a great deal, this is your worst nightmare. Think of it like Wonder Woman's lasso, except instead of making you tell the truth it strangles you to death if you tell even the smallest of lies" he said as he showed it to her, letting her examine it as she pleased.

She squinted at the artifact that he dangled from his finger. Trying to wrap her head around everything in the house was straining. The mess, the artifacts, the strange man. Caroline was not even really sure how to reply to what he was saying, except nodding as if she understood. To think all of these things were out in the world this whole time, and she was never privy to it. Amazing.

“Very interesting,” she replied, fighting her eyelids that were growing heavier and heavier. The calm energy in the house compared to hers made all the exhaustion hit her like a brick. Instead of trying to fight it, she took the bedding, laid it out to her liking, nestled into the couch in a sort of fetal position, and smoothing the blanket out over her. The couch wasn’t necessarily comfortable, but it was serving its purpose. Sleep kept growing closer and closer as she let out a large yawn.

“Thank you, Thomas, for letting me stay. Feel free to be as loud as you want, I’m usually a heavy sleeper.” She nodded reassuringly as her eye began to flutter. The strange thoughts and images that appear as one is falling asleep began playing like a movie in her mind. No matter how calm the house was, though, it may have not been enough to keep the nightmares away. Keith’s lifeless body, fights that they had, the being in their house – those were all things that ran through her mind as she fella sleep every night. It was torture. Sometimes, she wished she could just shut her brain off and wake up in a year where things would be totally different. Where the pain of losing Keith wouldn’t hurt so bad, where whatever was tormenting her had moved on to another victim, where she didn’t have to rely on a stranger to take care of herself. Caroline thought about maybe back to Georgia with family. New York was an awfully big city to be alone in.

Before the last final wave of sleepiness hit her, she took a deep breath and sighed. She optimistically hoped that Thomas could get rid of this thing for her.

He could understand that she wasn't quite sure how to respond. He'd sort of brought it up out of nowhere but he still felt he provide a warning. These artifacts were powerful and more than a few of them were dangerous. The Liar's Chain was his best example. Though his most dangerous artifacts were locked away in the Armory. The Liar's chain was indeed dangerous but it was child's play compared to some of the other artifacts he had. Thomas took a drag of his cigarette once more as he returned the chain to it's proper resting place, locking the trunk and double checking the lock. It was strong and it was enchanted, if something managed to break the lock than they deserved whatever they found inside. He took a final drag of his cigarette as he put it out in his ash tray.

He could see her eyes starting to get heavier and heavier. She was fighting, he gave her that. He chuckled as he nodded. "Just letting you know" he said with a grin. He ran a hand through his hair and made his way back to his desk, taking a seat as she began to fix her nest up. He hoped she was comfortable. His couch wasn't exactly soft to say the least but it was a place to sleep. Though his bed was still open for her to enjoy if she decided that her spinal health was worth kicking him out of his bed. He didn't sleep very often anyways. At most, he got about 2 hours of sleep per day. Though that was spread out over naps throughout the day. A thirty minute nap here, a ten minute nap here. He was at least getting sleep. It wasn't 8 hours of sleep but he was at least getting some. He looked to her as she thanked him. "Of course. I need to protect the client first and foremost. Especially when you have a cult that's coming after you" he said gently. He ran a hand through his hair as he relaxed, looking over the file he had about Gorr'rylaehotep and the cult that worshiped him.

He wasn't able to find much concerning it. It was known simply as 'The Order' and had been around since the early 1930s. They worshiped this creature as a god, believing it could grant them godhood. Aside from those minor details, nothing much. In annoyance, Thomas stood from his chair after a few hours of studying and produced a cigarette. Upon lighting the cigarette, he took a drag as he looked out the window. What saw him made him frown and almost made him worried. Across the street beneath the light of a street lamp, it was looking at him. The thing was almost 9 feet tall, maybe even more. It was tall and thin, it's face as white as snow and was missing eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears. There it was. Gorr'rylaehotep in the flesh. It was dressed in a business suit and stood straight, arms at it's side. It seemed to be looking right at him as it tilted it's head. It looked like he was right. His wards would make sure that it didn't get in. "That's right. Stare all you want. It's not like you can get us anyways" he said with a chuckle.

All it took was one blink. One blink and it was gone. He checked his watch to see that it was almost 5 in the morning. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he took a drag of his cigarette and walked to the kitchen, rustling up a pair of coffee mugs as he brewed himself some coffee for them. It wasn't the best brand and it wasn't a very good machine but coffee was coffee and it would give them the boost they needed for the day as he took a seat at his desk, contemplating what he could do. He was hesitant but his best bet might be talking to one of his connections in the criminal underworld. Balthazar. Granted Balthazar wasn't very fond of him but they had a bond and when one needed help, the other could be relied on to help....usually anyway. He took a sip of his coffee and winced a bit. "God this tastes like shit" he said to himself as he promptly took another sip.

Caroline awoke abruptly from a recurring nightmare that she had been having since Keith passed.

Arguments are being spewed back and forth between Keith and Caroline. She throws some sort of dishware at his head, and it breaks on the wall behind him. He curses as her, and she returns the favor by screaming "I wish I never married you, asshole." The fighting continues until the next thing she knows, she is in bed with him in a steamy moment, and everything seems fine again. The dream continues to seem like a good one until Caroline wakes up in her bed in a cold sweat and rolls over to seek comfort from Keith, only to find his lifeless, bloody corpse laying there. She tries to scream but cold, nimble hands with long fingers wrap around her face and cover her mouth and begin to drag her into a dark corner of the room. She begins clawing at the floor and crying for him to stop, but the creature doesn't.

She popped up from the couch as she heard Thomas’s voice come from the kitchen. She was panting, and her eyes were frantically searching her surroundings until she made sense of the apartment. Okay. Okay. Okay. You’re okay. It’s okay. She was completely fed up with that dream. It usually took her hours to recover when she awoke from it, but the calming energy of the man's house made her feel a little bit at ease. She met Thomas’s eyes and looked away. She was embarrassed. Her blonde long hair was whipped in every direction and the blanket was bunched up around her. She immediately began to dig through her bag on the floor until she found a joint in the front pocket. She lit it and took a deep breath of the smoke, exhaling it slowly. She looked back over to him and chuckled. “Better than a melatonin.”

She noticed the clock on the wall. 5:00am. Jesus. “You always up this early?” she asked with a confused look. For a man who looked so tired, she couldn’t fathom why he would be drinking coffee to stay awake at this hour. Since she had been alone, Caroline was sleeping in until at least noon everyday. With no art being commissioned and no errands to run, she had become very lazy. Lazy with an excuse for it, but still lazy. Maybe after this thing left her alone, she would be able to get back to life again. She promised herself she wouldn't dance anymore, but the money seemed too good to pass up at a time like this. Plus, it didn't take any mental ability to do it.

After finishing the joint, she licked her fingers and put it out and turned her attention back to the man in the kitchen. "Mind if I have a cup? I'm not picky," she asked as she forced a smile. Caroline wondered what would happen in the day ahead of them, but instead of worrying herself or badgering him about it, she decided just to leave it up to the imagination. For now.