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Vanja pursed his lips and took another drag from the cigarette. It seemed a new face entered the fray from seemingly out of nowhere. And here he was, surprised for a second time today; being caught unaware was becoming a common occurrence and he did not like it, not one little bit. This pale skinned newcomer looked like she should be hosting a z-grade horror movie marathon on some public access channel right about now, but here she was at this particular bar, at this exact time of day, making excuses for someone that Vanja was relatively sure was in fact a vampire; suspicious to say the least. From the puzzled expression that briefly crossed the tomboy’s face and the raised eyebrow it seemed that she did not know her would-be savior or she was pretending not to.  At least to him the lack of subtlety practiced in this city was rather egregious. He could not help but watch the duo of the possible card cheat and the woman who was built like one of crazy Hoxha’s concrete bunkers move into the bar. She seemed to be extending her protection to the mouthy brat as well. Intriguing. As the lost member of The Addams Family also moved into the bar the possible mountebank made a show of stumbling. If this was a ruse Vanja would have to give the charlatan props for his commitment on portraying weakness to others. 

Despite his interaction with Simon, Vanja still could not get a solid lead on the man. Perhaps he did not want to analyze this man? Perhaps he wanted the man to fool him? Perhaps something was stopping him from suspecting the man of possessing ulterior motives? Before he could continue down this line of thinking he remembered how his hand felt warm after shaking Simon’s hand, it certainly was nice. The resplendent looking man with the impeccable fashion sensed moved closer and for the briefest of seconds Vanja felt his body ceding control once again. He struggled against the urge to comply with Simon’s sweetly veiled commands. It almost felt like if he had a drink with the man all the contradictions he was currently experiencing would cease to exit. He was well aware that some cages only existed solely in the mind and they were often the most escape-proof traps. If he acquiesced, he was certain he would be imprisoned by the stranger and would be completely at his mercy. His head throbbed, and his heart once again beat rapidly, as if it were threatening to jump out of his chest. A jumble of pleasing memories were dredged to the forefront of his consciousness as his surroundings became clouded. He was about to begin to head into the bar proper when a stray thought loosened the proverbial vicegrip around his mind. As he felt the urge to follow the man into the bar rise up again, he exerted control over his body once more and adjusted his stance. He longed to hold the talisman he was gifted all those years ago in his hands, but was wary to revel a possible weakness in front of someone who could so easily penetrate his mental defenses.

He remembered watching in between ceaseless showings of nationalist propaganda and newsreels an animated movie from the west as a child; being Yugoslavia the film was heavily butchered by the Party censors, but still made a certain amount of sense at least to a youthful mind that was less concerned about plot cohesion and consistent characterization.  He recalled there being an egotistical fox, a rascally rabbit, and a briar patch. He recalled that the rabbit in question used psychological manipulation to ensure the haughty fox threw him into a briar patch, where the nibble rabbit was able to make his escape unperturbed by the barbs unlike the fox. A very relevant parable to remember at this moment indeed. 

Interesting how all the people, and he used the term loosely, he suspected of non-human origins seemed to have congregated inside the bar and were all too happy to invite him inside for a drink. Well played. Well played indeed. He never underestimated the ingenuity of those that were opposed to him like some of his colleagues were apt to do. He was the fox outside of the thicket right now, but unlike the animal from that old cartoon he felt he did not have the choice of not entering the thicket. Chances of him being pursued if he excused himself from this encounter were extremely high. Despite his own physical prowess, he was sure that if they desired to, they would be able to catch him with relative ease. Something told him that the gym-rat bodyguard never skipped cardio day and despite the fact that he was armed he doubted the few shots he would be able to fire off from the gun hidden in his jacket before she was on top of him would do much, other than further fueling her rage; he did not want to waste silver bullets on her on the off chance that she was immune from their effects. Older Vampires were also not something to mess around with in Minsk he saw on leap into the air and bring down a Soko G-4 Super Galeb attack aircraft. Powerful stuff. Younger inexperienced brood on the other hand. They were apt to be sloppy. He took a final drag on his cigarette before grinding it under his loafer. He stopped himself from bending down, retrieving the spent cigarette off the ground, and depositing in his pocket.  While, it was best not to leave too much DNA evidence lying around, to pocket the butt would be a rather odd behavior to display in front of a rather suspicious crowd of onlookers.  He chided himself for taking the smoke in the first place. 
  
Behind his sunglasses he eyed the muscular bodybuilder and the surprisingly pale woman enticing the immature woman further into the establishment. He removed his glasses and attempted to lock eyes with Bonnie before she could be escorted away, his gaze was cold and piercing. She seemed to be the weakest link in the chain composure-wise, and he wanted to exert a little pressure on her before her departure into the unknown depths of the establishment. He wanted the little rabbit to act on her emotions and leave the safety of the underbrush.  It was not an easy task as he felt mental pressure to stare into the eyes of Simon that handsome devil, if he did just that, he felt he would be lost in those eyes in more ways than one. He felt his head uncomfortably pulsate once again.

He smirks at the mouthy girl as he causally clasps his hands behind his back. [color=F0E68C]“Cocky yet condescending, what an unfortunate symptom of youth. I am not particularly surprised because frankly when it comes down to it reprobates like you are all the same; you all think you are so special. Therefore, you delude yourselves into thinking that you will never get caught. You might believe you are all invincible and unbeatable, but your confidence is severely misplaced.  You can play the idiot in front of these people all you want, but it does not fool me girl. Not for a singular second. As I know what you have been doing child. Your actions as of late are plastered across the faded posters that blanket every crevasse of the city like a perverse sheet of snow reminding all citizens of the coldness that lurks in the heart of one aberration…an outlier. Someone who exists on the fringe of a society they cannot belong to, prevented so by their recalcitrant attitude and anti-social urges. Where does one draw the line between self-preservation and satisfying the cravings of twisted mind? Hmm? Go ahead use the washroom to rid your shirt of the dirt was it? Or were you going to lick your wounds from the bar brawl? Or tend to your injuries from picking up shards of glass? Funny the card playing aficionados I came across never mentioned seeing you? Odd. Regardless, I wonder while you are freshening up per say could you perhaps see if you could cleanse the stains on your soul…the ones that go deeper than surface level? Should you still possess a soul that is. I am sure you have a ready stock of justifications and convenient excuses for your actions towards those you wronged, perhaps you even believe them to a certain extent. Ignorance even feigned ignorance can be blissful. It can even alleviate a guilty conscious or so I have been told. Enlighten me, did you clue those unfortunate to cross your path of their ultimate destiny or did you relish in the surprised expressions that overtook their faces when they finally realized what you truly were?  Did you wet your face with artificial tears afterwards? Or were they like defenseless  lambs lead to the slaughter by one who is no longer emotionally phased by their own capacity for violence? Feel free to deny the truth and raise your defenses, but we both know what you are behind the carefully crafted mask that you adorn. Others might provide you with the excuses you need to maintain your façade, but we are both very aware of what happened. You and me.” [/color]

Despite the rather casual look of his posture, Vanja had a reason to lower his hands behind his back.  In this rather relaxed stance, his left hand was now well within reach to the sliver knife he had concealed in his back pocket and he was ready to deploy it should the need arise. He fully expected the impudent brat to make a move on him. In fact he was counting on it. He takes a step forward with hands still behind his back but does not cross the threshold into the bar proper. One observing could reasonably deduce that he is avoiding doing so for the time being.