Baiting him in

A good fifteen minutes later, they got to their destination. Tanya was the first to get out again, as she breathed in a lot of oxygen. "So, this is the place?" She asked since she wanted to confirm it this time.

"Yea." Zinbad said as he jumped out of the car with his so-called basic necessities. "Just like you said it would be, isn't it?" It did indeed look like a geekier house as she previously thought of, but since she didn't want to sound stereotypical, she decided not to say that out in the open....

...Or at least, that's what she initially thought. But she simply couldn't help it. "My accurate description even amazes me!" She said, as she looked quite proud of herself.

"Meh, more like an ambiguous guess." Zinbad let out his big boy words just to mock her a bit more. He was satisfied after seeing her pouted face. But, it was no time to get satisfied by silly moments like this—he had a bigger fish to catch.

"KURO!" Zinbad screamed with all his might.

"Ah, my ears are ringing!" Tanya muttered under her breath as she closed her ears with her fingers.

"KURO! I brought your favorite snack!" Zinbad chose to ignore her senseless muttering and focused on his current goal. He was so committed in what he was doing just then.

"Wait, is Kuro the guy we're meeting? Hold on, by snack you mean the chips? He did say that it was a basic necessity. Wait, a potato chip maniac like him would never be willing to share. Then, is it the goddamn cat food? Does that mean?" Tanya indulged herself in deep thought.

She snapped out of it and asked. "Hey, is this Kuro a cat?"

"Yea, he's a sweet black cat!" Zinbad replied with a very weird face. It was love and intense worship combined to one, which was weird since he was talking about a cat to begin with.

"The fuck are we doing here meeting a damn cat! Is it going to sniff the damn vampire out? But, it isn't a dog though! Ah, dogs are justice—they are the cutest!" Tanya once again indulged herself in a train of thought, but she simply didn't say it out loud, since she knew that cat owners are feisty as the cats themselves.

She snapped out of it yet again and asked. "Wait, why are we?" Before she could complete her question, the door opened and a small black cat came out of it.

"Kuro, I missed you." Zinbad leaped towards Kuro the cat and hugged him all over like a madman.

"Wait a minute! The damn cat opened the door by himself? It has psychic powers like me?" She was weirded out by the cat before she saw a man's silhouette.

"Aren't you allergic to cats? Goddamn it, I thought this could keep you out of this house." The man sighed.

"Well, I took the necessary precautions." Zinbad pulled out a slip of allergy pills and swallowed one, as Tanya cringed at the sight because he wasn't drinking any water with it.

"You sure are meticulous in this case." The man sighed once again and shook his head in dismay.

"Don't you wanna know who she is?" Zinbad said as he pointed towards Tanya, who stood awkwardly as she felt herself being in the spotlight in the midst of a very random conversation.

"No. I somehow sense the trouble that she'll bring to this household." The man stared at her with a piercing gaze which gave her the chills.

"Well, it'll be interesting," Zinbad said as he gave out a smile to lure the man in.

"I don't want my interests piqued. I'm old now. I don't wanna go on adventures no more." The man said as he focused his gaze towards the horizon he couldn't see because of the big buildings around his house.

"Damn, you're making me feel old." Tanya thought to herself. The man didn't look much older than her, so it didn't make sense to her as he talked that way.

"Then, care to help this innocent child?" Zinbad said as he stroked Tanya's head.

"Child? Why are you two talking like old guys?" Tanya screamed inwardly as he looked back and forth towards both.

"I don't help people these days. I helped a person once and the guy's still sticking around me. I hate people sticking around me like that." The man said as if he meant it solely for Zinbad.

"Hey, you don't have to sound so harsh," Zinbad replied, his tone was a bit low.

"Well, the reality is harsh." The man chose not to care much about Zinbad's feelings.

"Fine, we'll be on our way. But you're gonna regret it." Zinbad didn't give up and riled him up furthermore.

"No, I won't. Just scram." The man gestured them out and was about to close the door.

"Hey, hey, hey! Weren't we gonna ask this dude for help." Her inner thoughts got louder with each time Zinbad did something stupid or said something weird.

"Oh, Tanya. I'm so sorry! I thought he could find the VAMPIRE we're searching for. Guess he can't. Bad luck, eh?" Zinbad specifically chose to emphasize on the word Vampire as if to rile the man a bit more. "Okay, now I just have to wait and…"

"Vampire?" The man asked.

"He took the bait!" Zinbad rejoiced.

#