Linas had been in the city for a full month before the witches began leaving. They obviously knew what was good for them. A warlock staying in a major city usually meant bad news. Most of Linas' kind just passed through. Any lingering would mean he had ill intentions, or wanted something. Usually it was a womb to bear his bastard child. More often than not they would have to settle for a human woman. Though, raping a witch was not above most warlocks.

Golden curls, parted by fleshy digits bounced back into place after the man's powerful hand had weaved its way through. His other hand was occupied with a cigarette, home rolled of course. His dilated pupils would suggest that he was high on some drug. Anyone who knew better would say it was magic, herbs, some kind of hoodoo. For what purpose? It was unclear. The smoke gave off a pleasant smell. It wasn't as abrasiveness as the poison cigarette companies sold and the government taxed insanely. If someone were locked up with the smoke and fumes they'd find themselves relaxed, lured toward the warlock, maybe even aroused. The symptoms varied when its use was idle, but they were almost always pleasant.

"I must have silence, to hear the messenger’s footfall... in my brain," his voice cut through the silence low and heavily accented. Distant car horns, the click of high heels, even fading sirens proved that the city was not silent, indeed, yet the voice of this warlock flew to ears and demanded to be heard. The company he was hoping to coax forward wouldn't need the hoodoo to hear the words. They had their own auditory methods of enhancement. Linas had his. Each puff gave him a pulsating wave of sound, and smell. The spiritual energy surging around him always made him more aware than the average being. It kept him on his toes. It kept him unpoisoned. It kept him alive.

His idle hand kept searching for something to do: invading his tresses, smoothing his square jaw, straightening his suit. Yes, his suit. It may nearly be three o'clock in the morning, and he may be in the park, but there was no reason, none at all, for Linas not to look his best.

"For I am the King of Owls," he continued, a slight and crocked smile grew on his face. If he weren't so foreboding he would be the stereotypical southern gentleman that romance novelists wrote about. anyone could tell by looking at him, while he was handsome, he was to be stayed away from. Animals skittered from his path, and humans shrank in his wake.

"Lords, I sharpen my talons on your bones." While his words lured those near, under the false pretenses that he meant no harm, he did not want to be attacked. He would deal with any attack swiftly and efficiently. He didn't need his magic to do so either.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," he whispered. He could feel energies drawing near. What was he doing in the park so late at night? Recruiting. He'd be better off starting uptown. That's where most of his strength was needed. If anything he'd need to magic any of the recruits he desired from the area. downtown was full of roughnecks, monsters, and simpletons. It would be easier to pay them than bewitch them.

Traveling by the light of a flickering candle was a somewhat off putting experience. Sure there was something rather romantic about all of it, but on the other hand it was a little creepy. Walking alone at night in Aldenville always was creepy though, especially if you were someone who had already survived an attack.

Eva was usually a very cautious person, but time had slipped away from her. A candlelight vigil was being held for a fallen cop. Eva had not known him personally, but she had done everything she could to save him in the hospital. When the family invited her to the event, she found that she could not refuse. A lot of ties families blamed the surgeons when their loved ones did not make it, in this case the family had known it would be a miracle for him to survive the type of vicious attack the man had been through.

The vigil had gone on longer then anyone had expected. Eva ended up having a real heart to heart with the family and families of other policemen. She must have been talking to them and sharing stories for an hour. The park was now all but empty, and Eva had only to cross a small section of the park in order to get to her car. Surely no criminals would dare come around right after an event with so many policemen had taken place.

She still had her white candle surrounded by a small paper plate, to keep the wax from dripping on her hands. Eva imagined that she must have looked like a ghost (if such things existed) with her snowy white knee length dress and flickering candle. Her eye makeup was somewhat smudged suggesting she had been crying, although she had managed to wipe off most of the carnage leaving only some smudges under her eyes.

As she walked with her candle showing the way to her car, Eva noticed a man. Handsome, but somewhat creepy taking to himself. Sounded like he was spouting poetry or something, Eva lowered her eyes and continued walking. Hopefully he would leave her alone.

He saw the flickering light of her candle first. She almost looked like an apparition walking through the darkness like that. The eeriness of her presence as well as her red rimmed eyes and smudged make-up kept Linas’ eyes on the woman. She was much too far away for conversation, so he waited.

He made no effort to hide himself. She made a very conscious effort to make her unnoticeable. With her eyes lowered it seemed like a subconscious effort to keep from looking at her by not looking at him.

”Good evening, ma’am,” he said once she had gotten close.

Eva's heart skipped a beat when the man spoke to her. She managed to keep herself from flinching, but she had been hoping he wouldn't acknowledge her at all. Of course his greeting was friendly and polite but somehow all alone on a night like this .

Good manners took over and Eva replied "Evening." she said her voice sounding more shaky then she wanted it to sound.

As she spoke she looked at him. Again it was nothing more then a reflex that happened during the course of normal conversation. Even in this light she could see that his pupils were dilated. Eva immediately began wishing that he was a harmless high person. With any luck he was on pot, shrooms, or LSD and he just wanted to take a walk in the park so he could listen to the trees better. Hopefully he wasn't the drugged up, mug you to score his next fix sort of druggie.

Eva nodded politely and moved to continue on her way, at a slightly faster pace. He was harmless so far, but this was Aldenville.

As she passed he could feel her energies reach out and flex toward his. It didn’t mean anything grandiose, but it did interest the warlock. Obviously this woman had some tie to the supernatural, whether she knew it or not. Interesting. Very interesting, indeed. It was very easy to see she was an ordinary human, but her plain innocent appearance paired with her aura made her a target.

Everyone in this city was so wicked and weak. Or they were naïve… and weak. This woman had a strong will, she was neither wicked nor naïve.

”Ma’am, if you don’t mind,” he said, his feet slowly moving to follow her. His shoulders were lax and hands in his pocket. By her quickened pace he knew he’d lose her, maybe even scare her off if he didn’t play his cards right. What he needed to do was keep her attention. ”Could I have a moment of your time?”

Eva turned her head to look back at the man. She didn't particularly want to know why he needed a minute of her time. It was a bit rude but nothing good ever came from someone who wanted "a minute of your time." Generally you got that phrase from pushy salesman at mall kiosks, people that wanted you to sign a petition or fill out a survey, or on a night like this there was a good chance they just wanted your wallet. Better safe then sorry.

"I'm really sorry I have to ...."

Eva's lie didn't even have time to fully leave her lips before she took a tumble. While Eva was not quite willing to fall for a stranger asking for a minute of her time, she managed to fall due to an uneven bit of sidewalk.

Eva's head had been turned to speak to the stranger and she simply had not seen that little edge where a root had lifted up the sidewalk an inch or two. She fell down hard landing on her hip, her candle hit the dust and quickly sputtered out. Eva determined to stay calm as she began to pick herself up off the sidewalk.

"I'm really sorry I have to ...."

Annoyance spiked from the man’s core. She wasn’t going to make it easy for him then? He could feel worry molding his face, and his hand reaching out as she stumbled and fell. Well that was one way to slow someone down. Moving to her side in wide smooth steps he knelt and picked up her extinguished candle.

”They really should get tog fixing these walks. In the park, atleast,” he said feigning as if he cared for this shit hole city. The pathways were seriously the least of Aldenville’s worries. ”But I think they may have bigger fish to fry, up on the hill.”

He stood, offering his hand to help her up. It was her choice to take it or not. Ordinarily he’d just haul her up by her arm, but he’d already spooked the woman so far.

”I think I may have lied, my apologies,” he drawled, yet had a smile on his face. He let his words hand for a moment before speaking again. ”When I said moment, I meant minute, and instead of just one I’d like thirty or so.”

Now he let those words sink in, choosing them wisely, and building this character he was going to present to her. A southern gentleman was being born. Hopefully Linas wouldn’t have to discard him as quickly as he was created. A slight horrified expression crossed his face and his eyes shot toward the ground. His lips moved but stammers and stutters escaped.

”My apologies again ma’am. I don’t mean any offense. I meant, maybe if you weren’t retiring I could offer you a cup of coffee?” he peeked an embarrassed eye up at Eva, still holding and now fidgeting with her candle. ”You only, live once, right? I figured, why not?”

Vulnerable, it was one of the feelings Eva hated the most, it was right up there with guilt as far as she was concerned. She hated it and yet she found herself feeling that way more often then she would have liked to, but that was Aldenville for you. Here she was three AM sprawled on the sidewalk near a strange man.

Eva felt almost like a little girl as she tentatively accepted his hand and invitation of help. She was still very cautious of him but somehow it just seemed too rude not to accept his hand when he offered it. Once she was safely to her feet Eva let go of his hand and took a step away from him.

Maybe she was wrong, maybe he was a good person. But for the most part good people didn't tend to walk around alone in the park at 3 AM. Granted she was a good person who was walking around the park alone at 3 AM but that was different. He was being perfectly polite, if he had wanted to harm her or rob her he probably would have done so while she was on the ground.

He was certainly charming and under different circumstances she would have found him quite handsome, but being handsome and charming had a tendency to make men more dangerous if anything.

Eva raised a quizzical eyebrow as he explained that he wanted half an hour of her time. "Why exactly do you require my time?" she asked cautiously.

It was such a strange thing to say to a complete stranger. Suddenly Eva found herself wondering if she had been confused for a prostitute, a very well dressed and conservative looking prostitute. He suggested getting a cup of coffee, which helped to clear up some confusion but it let Eva with some odd options.

One she could ignore him and go about her way praying he didn't follow after her of pester her further. Or two she could go with him to a local all night diner for a cup of coffee, at least then she would be in a public place and people would be obligated to help her if he turned out to be a complete nut.

"Fine" she said sounding a little annoyed "There is diner over there that should still be open, I'll go there with you but I can't promise how long I'll stay."

"Fine. There is diner over there that should still be open, I'll go there with you but I can't promise how long I'll stay."

”Only as long as you’d like,” he said putting his palms up to imply that he was harmless. That was an insane understatement. Her annoyance annoyed him, but he refused to let it show. He instead wore a small smile and handed her back her candle before shoving his hands in the pockets of his slacks. He fell into a lazy step toward the 24 hour diner. He was already running through the dialogue that he would begin with.

He also began questioning himself. Why was he bothering with this woman? She had a rare energy, that was for sure. Was this just curiosity? He felt like a simpleton who had just found something shiny. Often times that shiny object was something unimpressive. Was she unimpressive? A beautiful woman, walking through the park during dangerous hours of the night wasn’t unimpressive in the slightest. She was very brave, very stupid, or very lucky. He had a feeling luck may have been what was surrounding her. Though, he knew a luck charm from a mile away.

”My name is Linas,” he said, breaking the silence.

"I'm Eva" she said her voice a bit calmer now.

Eva couldn't lie to herself this was a very sketchy situation. Regardless of how Linas was acting now he was still the man that had been wandering around the park talking to himself with dilated pupils that suggested drug use. No matter how charming he was she shouldn't let her guard down around him.

All the same the closer they got to the diner without him saying something crazy or attacking her, the more comfortable she felt. Maybe living in Aldenville was making her a little too mistrusting of humanity, and then again maybe she was justified in becoming so suspicious of everyone after being attacked.

As she stepped into the lights of the little greasy spoon diner she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, she would be safe now. No one would attack her in a public area like this, if he was going to do something to her he would have done it by now. Everything was going to be ok, she wasn't going to put too much trust in Linas but he probably didn't mean her any harm.

"What can I get you folks" said a man behind the counter.

"Some coffee please." Eva called back choosing a seat at a table. She waited for Linus to take his seat before asking the next logical question. "What did you want to talk with me about?"

It was clear she was still a bit nervous and hesitant, but clearly she was a lot more comfortable then she had been in the park.

”Eva,” he repeated with a slight nod and smile.

When they entered the diner Linas scoped the area. It was amazing what his concoctions could do. It wasn’t that the “drugs” amped his senses. It amped his spiritual reach. He couldn’t actually see further. His energy was reaching out and telling his eyes what was there. He couldn’t hear any better. His energies were bringing the far gone words and sounds to his ears.

”I’ll have a coffee as well,” Linas told the man, pulling out his wallet and paying before turning to sit down at the table Eva had chosen. He drummed his fingers on the table a moment before she spoke up.

"What did you want to talk with me about?"

“Well it wasn’t anything in particular that I wanted to speak to you about,” he admitted. ”I’ve just moved to the city on business. You looked kind enough to make acquaintances with an insomniac business man whose head is still whirling a bit from this place.”

He rested his arms on the table top before bringing one hand up to prop his chin on it.

"Hmmm?" Eva sounded trying to think.

It was a confusing situation. Coud it really be that he was just wandering around the park and thought she would be a nice person to talk to. He had a southern accent, maybe he was from one of those towns in the deep south where everyone stopped and said hello to perfect strangers as a matter of politeness? Maybe he came from a place where you didn't have to be suspicious of everyone you met on the street.

"So no agenda, you just felt like talking to someone. I have to tell you that's pretty rare for Aldenville." she said "What we were both doing in the park was extremely dangerous. There are a lot of dangerous people in this city, but I'm guessing you already know all of this." she said

Their coffee arrived and Eva set to work fixing hers with a little bit of sugar. Could it be that she had just met a southern gentleman walking around the park this time at night, it still seemed unlikely. Eva still wasn't sure what to make of Linas.

"So, where are you from?" she asked "I noticed you had an accent." she explained needlessly.

"So no agenda, you just felt like talking to someone. I have to tell you that's pretty rare for Aldenville. What we were both doing in the park was extremely dangerous. There are a lot of dangerous people in this city, but I'm guessing you already know all of this."

”I assure you, Ms. Eva, that I’m a man very upfront about what he wants,” he replied. Well that wasn’t a lie. Technically, yes, because he’s doing a song and dance to satiate his curiosity. But whatever Linas wanted he was very direct in his quest to obtain it. He felt he had a right to everything. When you take something like you own it, people aren’t quick to argue. ”As for the safety of the park, I was unaware. I was actually mugged recently, downtown. The police told me the safest place to be, save for one’s home, is at the park.”

He put on a half smirk digging sugar packets out of his breast pocket.,” he may not have been wrong. So that’s saying plenty about the safety of this place.”

"So, where are you from? I noticed you had an accent."

”New Orleans, Louisiana. Born and raised,” he answered. It was a place rich with culture and voodoo. While he did know a bit of voodoo, it wasn’t his forte. His mother taught him about charms and poppets before his father came to take him away. In witch life the father’s rarely left their sons with the mothers. A warlock needed special training and attention that only another warlock could provide. ”It’s a beautiful city. I’m sure this place has its charm too… It’s just a matter of finding it.”

Somehow as the evening was wearing on Linas became more and more believable. Maybe it was the southern accent but Eva started to look at him as a country boy lost in the big city, rather then a dangerous drugged out lunatic.

"Maybe the policeman was right, maybe the park is safest place to be in town, but it's kind of like saying Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma is the best type of cancer. Sure it's less dangerous but it's still pretty bad." she equated.

Becoming jaded is a natural side effect when you spend your days up to your elbows in blood trying to save the many victims of the city. Becoming less optimistic about the city as a whole is inevitable once you have been attacked. Certainly Eva worked with some good people at the Hospital, and she had just returned from the memorial of a very good cop, but it was rare for her to run into a genuinely good person. Maybe she should give Linas the benefit of the doubt. Eva was too cautious to fully accept him yet, but maybe he wasn't a bad guy.

"I think Aldenville has a lot of potential, it's just needs a lot of help and some time to heal." she said "Kind of like your city at the moment. Although it's different Aldenville has never been a a great city, it's got a long way to go to become one."

Eva had never been to New Orleans, but she had seen pictures. She wanted to ask Linas if he had been there for Katrina, but thought better of it. She didn't want to bring up a sensitive subject.

"So what brings you here?" she asked.

He nodded as she talked about the city. He could feel his curiosity rising. It wasn’t as if she were a fairly weak witch. Or the distant relative of a witch. Even so, she would be able to know him for who he said. Naturally she’d feel the urge to avoid him and his aura. She was neither vampire, nor lycan… yet these energies enveloped her. Curious… maybe she was charmed… magicked.

”So what brings you here?”

“I was a partner in a firm, back home. When things headed south, my partner relocated here, of all places. I imagine… he had the right idea. Not too many people are on the right side of the law. I can assume there’s a layer of corruption as well,” he said, letting his eyes watch he stirred his coffee. ”Not excluding my partner of course. Killed by a prostitute, they say. Did a good job of keeping it hush-hush. I’m here to take over.”

It flowed easily. Surprisingly, even. Linas’ mind was in two places. Lying, and desiring knowledge. He began looking for hidden charms. A lock of hair intertwined with hers. An earring that genuinely looks metallic, but really wasn’t. A ring. Anything. While looking for a necklace he did see something odd however, and couldn’t resist the furrowed brows and cocked head that came along with it. Was this woman a cow? Food? A regular suck for vampires? It could very well be something different entirely. A freak accident of sorts. But Linas was looking for something supernatural, and of course, vampire would pop first to his mind.

”You haven’t by any chance found some of this charm you talk about, have you? I have a feeling I may need it soon.”

It all must have been nothing but her own anxieties playing upon her. There was clearly nothing wrong with Lians, to think otherwise was completely and utterly illogical. When she walked up to him in the park he had been talking to himself, but that was something that normal people did on occasion. It was a weird little quirk certainly nothing to be afraid of. The shadows must have made his eyes look dilated then they actually were, perhaps they were still larger then usual but maybe it was some sort of medicle condition he wasn't acting like someone on drugs.

Any and all of her misgivings about him were based on shaky circumstantial evidence, it was very natural to be afraid when walking alone at night. He was acting like a perfectly normal and polite person, he had not made any moves to harm her yet and it was unlikely that he would. Eva decided to quietly ignore any "bad vibes" she was feeling about this man and give him a chance. She didn't trust him but she had lived her too long to give her trust freely, she was showing him the same respect and courtesy she would anyone else. Surely she was just feeling jittery from a combination of being very emotional at the memorial earlier, feeling adrenaline at the park, and now drinking coffee; it was a cocktail that was bound to make anyone feel a bit edgy.

"Oh" she commented

So he was a Lawyer coming in to take the place of a murder victim, Eva accepted it. It didn't sound like that unusual of a story for Aldenville. He was good looking, well educated, and had a charming accent. By all means Eva should have been very attracted to him but on some level couldn't shake the strangeness of the way they met.

When he talked about the charm of Aldenville Eva gave a decidedly sad smile. "I have a hard time seeing it most days too. I'm a surgeon I see the worst of what this city has to offer." she said not knowing that the mangled bodies were more of a result of the worst things in the city then they were anything else. "But if you look hard enough you find people fighting to save this city. Maybe that's the beauty of this city, it's so far gone in corruption and poverty and violence. But something about this place is worth fighting for. Even amongst all of the chaos there is still hope."

Sounded like she bought it. That was good. Linas didn’t pride himself for being a good liar. That was mostly because his talents excelled elsewhere. However, he never doubted his ability.

"I have a hard time seeing it most days too. I'm a surgeon I see the worst of what this city has to offer. But if you look hard enough you find people fighting to save this city. Maybe that's the beauty of this city, it's so far gone in corruption and poverty and violence. But something about this place is worth fighting for. Even amongst all of the chaos there is still hope."

A surgeon. For some reason at that moment his mind received several flashes of Eva covered in blood, barking orders and working over a wounded ally of Linas’. He was, by no means, a precog. A warlock with precognizant abilities would be killed by the Council, no questions asked, no expenses spared. He was surprised they didn’t smother males in their cribs to snuff out any worry. They didn’t. As much as the Council disliked the idea of warlock wandering the world, they could do nothing to stop them. They could make no regulations to supervise their training. They needed rogue and wild warlocks. They needed them for breeding.

While a warlock always has the natural urge to spread his seed, he does it for his own reasons. The Council knows that if warlocks stop making children the SE levels of witches would gradually decline generation by generation. So while precognizant warlocks were something no one wished to allow any wiggle room for, they let the men run wild. They banked on the fact that warlocks would enjoy using their powers more than keeping it in a painfully troubled reservoir. While Linas didn’t see the future, he did force images upon himself, and he strove to make those images come true.

It wouldn’t happen soon… but eventually Frederick and his mutts would attack him. Frederick quite calmly told him that if Linas decided to continue on his path, the dog would stop at nothing to have him killed. In that case a field medic of sorts would be very valuable. A small smile played on Linas’ face. There was nothing vindictive about it.

”Ms. Eva,” Linas drawled, sipping his overly sweetened coffee. ”I have a question for you, but please let me say beforehand that I’m a very sane and practical man.”


That would almost surely raise a red flag for the woman. A declaration of sanity meant something quite insane was coming next.


”I was told something, before I left home to handle my partner’s affairs, here and there. It was quite some time ago, actually… but before I say anything, may I ask if you believe in the supernatural? Not so much believe as… entertain the idea that there are possibly supernatural things happening in this world.”

Eva rolled her eyes. "Ugh I can see the city is already starting to get to you." she said half amused. "There are a lot of superstitious people in Aldenville, but I am not one of them."

Eva could never quite figure out why she had run into so many people intent on believing in the supernatural. First there was that nut job detective who tried to convince Eva that she had been attacked by a vampire, showing her a really old book as "proof." Then there was that creepy lewd circus that just helped to propagate stupid myths and legends.

Naturally she had also run into a few believers in the hospital, at least that she could understand where they were coming from. You see someone brutally attacked and the trauma of the incident makes people apt to believe something inhuman committed the crime. Your brain tries to comfort you when something terrible happens, events and faces become confused. Eva had gone though it herself, although it happened in the form of memory loss as opposed to making up a monster in her mind.

"There is no evidence to support the existence of the supernatural." she said simply.

She could have gone on with her usual speech. About the only undocumented species left on the planet are tiny things like single celled organisms and insects. Something large like Bigfoot or vampires would have been discovered by now. Not to mention that at some point in the 90's the James Randi foundation offered a million dollars to the first person who was able to prove they had any sort of psychic ability. If any of this stuff existed someone would have come fourth to claim the prize by now.

Eva was a skeptic though and though, it kind of went with the territory when you were so involved with science. "What did they tell you about your partners disappearance. I'm not going to lie people disappear frequently in this city, it's tragic and completely unacceptable but I'm afraid the only monsters out there are human."


.

“No evidence, ah?” He said leaning back in the booth with a lazy grin. “The say believing is seeing.”

Linas left one hand to drum against the table top and let his other rest along the top of the booth seat as he surveyed the woman. She seemed like the type to not believe. Either than or she was a damned good liar. He couldn’t very well point out that her aura linked her to the supernatural world. He couldn’t tell her that something natural and magical marked her. He could ask her. He most certainly could…

”No nothing about that has gotten to me. He was shortchanging a hooker and her pimp ordered her to kill him, is one of the scenarios whispered to me behind hands,”

He sat quietly again, actually finding himself amused by her. Normally he dismissed skeptics, labeling them ignorant and not worth his time. He felt, however, that whether she knew it or not she was playing a game with him.

”As for this evidence… on supernaturality, that is…” he feigned frowning, looking for the words. ”Where is the evidence that it doesn’t exist?”

Eva nodded when he relayed the story about the man being killed for shortchanging a hooker. It seemed probable in this city. It was almost shocking how little shocked Eva anymore.

She couldn't help but wonder why he had brought up the topic of the supernatural in the first place. Eva had automatically assumed it had to do with a grizzly murder or strange disappearance, maybe a ghost or a psychic thrown in for good measure. If he knew that the man who used to work for the company was killed in a fairly conventional manner, why did the subject come up.

Maybe he was one of those people who liked to debate? Talking about the supernatural was considerably safer then bringing up politics, after all he was from the south. Eva sincerely hoped he wasn't a Republican, she couldn't handle that. Yet it all made sense on some level. The supernatural was a debatable topic safer to talk about then politics or religion and far more interesting then making small talk about the weather. Even if the supernatural was a silly topic she was always up for a good debate.

"Well it's scientifically impossible to prove that something does not exist. But honestly that's the strongest proof believers of the supernatural have." she paused to take another sip of coffee. "For the most part it's lack of any hard evidence supporting the existence of the supernatural that makes a real point."

Eva too a moment to think and then came out with a list that she absentmindedly counted with her fingers. "Um well for example ... Almost all photos or videos of ghosts turn out to be from smudges or dust. ... Uh ... The only species we have yet to discover and document on earth are tiny things like insects and single celled organisms, it would be impossible for something like Bigfoot to be lurking around without anyone noticing. ... Oh and my favorite the James Randi foundation has been offering a million dollars to the first person who can prove they have psychic powers. It's been going on for years but no one has ever claimed the prize. And if a million dollars isn't a strong enough motivation to get someone to come forward, then I don't know what is?"

"Do you believe in any of this supernatural stuff?" she asked clearly amused

"Well it's scientifically impossible to prove that something does not exist. But honestly that's the strongest proof believers of the supernatural have. For the most part it's lack of any hard evidence supporting the existence of the supernatural that makes a real point."

Linas actually wore a smile, a genuine one. She was charming. Cute, even. He didn’t interrupt her, however. He waited until she was finished delivering her argument. He’d prolong the lie he’d concocted to tell her until this somewhat unexpected debate grew to a lull.

"Um well for example ... Almost all photos or videos of ghosts turn out to be from smudges or dust. ... Uh ... The only species we have yet to discover and document on earth are tiny things like insects and single celled organisms, it would be impossible for something like Bigfoot to be lurking around without anyone noticing. ... Oh and my favorite the James Randi foundation has been offering a million dollars to the first person who can prove they have psychic powers. It's been going on for years but no one has ever claimed the prize. And if a million dollars isn't a strong enough motivation to get someone to come forward, then I don't know what is?"

He nodded before raising his own hand to counter her claims.

”Yes, almost all photos and videos of ghosts turn out to be from smudges or dust. I for one, can’t even understand why someone would think film would capture such a thing. I’ve never seen a ghost before, nor do I think I ever will… but if ghosts did appear to people I don’t believe it’d be in some… truly visible form. It may come as a forced hallucination or some spiritual mental connection,” he stopped blinking slightly before getting into a deep explanation as to how spiritual energies work.

”Bigfoot? Something I’ve never seen, but is fun to imagine exists. I imagine a Bigfoot will never be seen…” he wanted to add a comment about shape shifters, but again stopped himself.

”I can’t really say I don’t believe Ms. Eva,” Linas admitted. ” I can however say, that I won’t deny its existence. I’d find it an odd phenomena that so many people for hundreds of years believe in these very things and would advocate them with their very last breath.”[/n]

He sighed, looking down to his coffee but not reaching for it. [b]”Now a million dollars… Would you sell your freedom for a million dollars?”

Eva was pleased to find that he agreed with her for the most part. He sounded open minded, not insane. Eva was skeptic she started out not believing in anything till it could be proven true. It probably would be a bit more fun to think of possibilities, but it wasn't the way the world worked. Linas seemed open to the possibility of the supernatural, not convinces of it's existence. Although Eva couldn't help the feeling that he wanted to say a bit more.

"Of course I wouldn't sell my freedom for a million dollars." she said "But how would participating in a scientific experiment ever do that." she said

Eva had faith in science. Sometimes bad things came from scientific experiments like the atom bomb, but that never meant that looking for answers was in any way wrong. I someone came forward ans showed that they had powers, it would be a wonderful discovery. How many things that one discovery could unlock, it would point to the potential evolution of the human race. A discovery of a person with powers might mean that every single science text book had to be rewritten, and not a single scientist would mind. It was all about progress.

Perhaps Linus was referring to the possibility of someone being taken away to some secret government lab. There were conspiracy nuts who believed that there were mad scientists out there conducting inhumane experiments, but it simply wasn't the case. At least not in present day America. There were too many laws and safeguards for that sort of thing to happen.

"I'm not going to lie the government has been behind some extremely questionable experiments in the past. Yet if someone came forward to a well publicized organization and showed that they had powers no one could make them suddenly disappear into some secret lab. The person in question would probably get a lot of media attention and maybe have some problem with religious nutcases, but I think they would still have their freedom."