A book landed open and page-side down at Jess’ feet. Leaning over, he picked up the fallen tome, closed it, and looked at the front cover. His grey-blue eyes glanced over the black binding and at the title which read ‘Vampires: The Occult Truth’. The lettering was even shaped like it came right off a tombstone. He smirked; Lord, what fools these mortals be. The vampire folklore was far from right but humans loved to cling to it all the same, even if it was something they were more likely to hear ‘round a campfire. He admired them for their faith in the implausible but at the same time… well, they seemed to come in only two types; avid believers and complete skeptics. In short, ain’t such a thing as middle ground for them.
“Careful there, darling,” Jess said as he held the book out to the ruffled and aggravated-looking young woman who had dropped it, “that stuff’ll rot your mind.” There was a hint of a Southern drawl in his voice, so faint it was like the dust of history and an echo of something long since past.