*********************** The Vampire Job ***************************
*********************** Chapter 1 ****************************
"Hello darling. It's been far too long… Oh my! ... Well, that's really not the kind of thing we usually do, but… I think we can help with that. You must know there isn't much I wouldn't do for you, dear…but I do have to speak to my team first… Yes, I'll let you know soon… It is good to hear from you too, dear… Yes, I have missed you as well," Sophie said, hanging up her phone. Although she knew differently, she pretended not to notice the group listening intently to her side of the enigmatic conversation.
The Grifter walked back to the couch to rejoin her inquisitive looking team. Barely contained confusion had all of their eyebrows already raised regarding her odd phone call, as it had interrupted their end of the job wrap-up meeting. That was rather unorthodox by itself since Sophie was all for the adherence of team protocol. Having a friendly phone call preoccupy her from her professional obligations was cause for speculation on its own.
At first glance she was simply a woman speaking to an old friend. But to her team that knew her well also knew that Sophie did not really have any old friends besides Nate. It stood to reason that she had just spoken to someone that she actually did consider a real friend, and not a potential mark of some kind. Their curiosity already peaked at the prospect of a glimpse into the real Sophie, the fact that there was some sort of business proposition involved caused everyone to practically jump in their seats from the anticipation of her big reveal.
"So, anyone up for a little trip to Louisiana?" Sophie asked the group nonchalantly, her accent adding to the strangeness of the question. It was hard to imagine Sophie on the bayou with one of her designer dresses and large hats, perhaps on a fan boat in some back woods swamp chasing a bad guy through crocodile infested water.
Lost in their own individual imaginations, stuck on several tangents involving potentially hilarious scenarios with Sophie and her sometimes pretentious behavior in one of the very non-pretentious places found in most of Louisiana, they barely had time to register Sophie's knowing grin. She knew they were in even if they didn't realize it yet.
Sophie sat back, amused, allowing an expected level of comedic conjecture to fill their minds. The group began talking about their ideas regarding Sophie's Louisiana friend, joking about how fun it would be to see her pull off a con doing a down home Southern accent. They wondered how she knew someone from Louisiana in the first place, and how they came to such an affiliation in the first place. Grifters weren't known to make and keep real friends after all.
All of their assumptions of the strange job that lay ahead were amplified by Sophie's next mysterious statement. "Before I explain anything else, please tell me what you all know about vampires?"