Ghosts, Ghouls, and Guardians
Who: Dani and Lorenzo
When: Early evening, around 6-ish
Where: A community center in downtown Durem
Weather: Overcast, but mild for October
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Lorenzo was not a popular figure at the Annual Durem Charity Haunted House committee.
There were all sorts of reasons he suspected this, starting from last year, when his fellow necromancers necessitated his presence at the Annual Durem Charity Haunted House committee by lodging a formal complaint about undead volunteers being pressured into playing undead monsters. The other reasons, in order, were that his presentation on undead representation had been over twenty minutes long, the prizes he gave out for the quiz he did at the end were pins which read "UNDEAD =/= UNFRIENDLY", and not, as some people seemed to have been led to believe, edibles, and that his cape had accidentally tripped one of the planners of the event earlier in the evening.
However, Lorenzo was an optimist, and even if he felt uncomfortable vibes coming from the rest of the group, he believed he could still win them over on participation points as they got around to setting up the rest of the event. As the Licensed Necromancer's Community Outreach Guide stated: A strong willingness to show interest in the concerns of the community will result in a strong willingness on behalf of the community to show interest in the plight of the undead. Therefore, Lorenzo had signed up for as many of the volunteer positions as he could schedule in, starting with setbuilding, and ending with acting a (relatively unoffensive) role in this year's haunted house himself. The organizers had taken one look at him and cast him as a vampire. For that role, at least, he could bring his own cape.
He took a break from painting a background and checked his phone in case Vesna had texted him. It was his first time leaving her in the house alone for a full evening, but she had sworn up and down she'd call him if anything happened. He had invited her to come along, but she had informed him that his presentation would probably make her undie again from embarrassment, and as much fun as it sounded, thank you, she would rather meet all of those strangers in a setting where they might have a chance of thinking she was cool. This, he thought, was a bit unfair, because he had tried to at least include enough puns and fun slide transitions in the powerpoint to convey a semblance of coolness.
Seeing no texts or missed phone calls, he called her himself, leaving a message on her voicemail. "Just me, making sure the house isn't on fire," he said, paused, furrowed his brow, adding, "And you didn't break into my office, and you're not trying to summon anything, and you're not trying to bake without supervision, and the cat's all right, and you did your homework before you watched TV, and remember, I don't have any clients scheduled to come tonight, so don't open the door for anybody, and don't invite them in verbally, because that's all some vampires need, so don't give it to them, even if I trust them and they've visited before."
Taking a deep breath, he cleared his throat and said, "Okay, well, call me back!" and checked his phone for any new texts Vesna might have sent while he was leaving a message. He wasn't, he told himself futilely, her dad. He was just doing his job.
