Cian's P.O.V

I frowned before picking up the phone. I just knew by the end of the conversation I was about to have that I would need a new phone. The only problem was that I wasn't sure if we had any more replacements at the moment. I had a bad habit of breaking them after some of the more... Annoying phone conversations. I ran my eyes over the last page i had written up for the conversation ahead, hoping that I could keep calm enough to stay on track.

Relate information on what happened at the club

Bring up question of living situation

Ask about the fact Ashe doesn't know about the club's blood bags

Question his financial status

Speak about the treatment among others in the nest

....And so on.

I was hoping, but not expecting, them to have some sort of familial caring when it came to their son's previous almost-kidnapping. One of the items that had been brought to my attention was the amount his family had been giving him for living expenses. While much is automatically given by the nest itself, such as blood substitute, general foods, and living arrangements, there were still many items that was expected for the family to handle. One such thing is to perform jobs to assist with the nest, go to colleges for degrees in certain areas and invest a certain percentage of income back into the nest. His family automatically sent fifteen dollars a week to his school card for lunch, hardly enough to pay for his meals there. They then sent twenty-five on average a month to an account set up for him, which he hardly touched until just recently when he had used most of it to purchase a mini fridge. Not too odd for a teenager, but still curious. That one purchase had left a good dent in his account, which had been mostly used to purchase items to assist with his disability to begin with.

I picked up the receiver and dialed the number I had noted earlier. The phone rang several times unsurprisingly since it was very early in the morning at this point, and most worked day shifts. Several more rings later and a groggy voice mumbled something unintelligible into the phone ending in, "... Yes?"

"Hello, I am assuming this is Mr. Rune?" I began, taking a breath but being cut off before I could continue.

"Who's this? Do you know what time it is?" Mr. Rune barked roughly, obviously not used to getting random calls at all hours like me.

"I realize it is late, but something unavoidable has occurred that I thought you should be aware of," I kept my voice sterile, waiting for him to wake up enough to actually pay attention to what I had to say.

"Does this have something to do with the company? Was there something wrong with the paperwork? I cross-checked it and-"

"No, no. It doesn't have to do with your job, but something just as, if not more, important," I continued now that I had his attention.

"What could be more- who is this?"

I avoided that question, "This has to do with something that happened to your son at 'Eterna'."

I heard a heavy sigh, "I don't care what he did; do we have to pay for damages?"

"It doesn't have to do with what he did-"

"Look, I'll punish him for whatever his stupidity wrought now. Just send me an invoice of the damages," He replied gruffly before the line went dead.

I heard the phone creak from my hold, but knew I couldn't break the phone. Yet. I called back again, trying to slow my harsh breathing. I was hoping to get more information before doing this, but just that one short conversation gave me more than an inkling of what he has had to deal with by just his family.

"I told you-!" Mr. Rune yelled.

This time I cut him off, growling harshly into the receiver, "I am Cian Val Ercswynd , owner of 'Eterna', Proctor of governmental Finance, and Underlord of this territory! You will treat me with the respect I am due!"

The phone went silent momentarily, and I imagined this filth emulating a fish before finally wheezing in a breath as what sounded like his wife asked him what was wrong and who had just yelled over the phone. I heard as he covered the receiver before telling her to shut up, that this was an extremely important phone call before quickly returning to the phone, scraping and groveling, "My deepest apologies for my treatment toward you, Underlord Ercswynd. I truly had no idea to whom I was speaking."

I could almost imagine his and his wife's face bloodless as I heard her gasp in shock, "Now that I have your undivided attention, I would like to inform you of what happened to your son. From what I am told, and viewed on the cameras, your son was almost kidnapped by a couple of unknown vampires. He was not, in fact, taken."

There was no response for a moment before he replied, "I am sorry you had to deal with such a thing when you are so busy."

"That was not what I wanted to hear."

"I-"

"Shut up," My voice was low and calm, frighteningly so. "Now, I am going to ask you some questions, and you will be given a few seconds to answer each. Understand?"

"Y-yes," The scum faintly responded.

"Why does Ashe live alone?"

"What?" The man was totally flabbergasted by the question, before realizing he only had a few seconds to answer or suffer who knows what consequences, "Be-because he's blind, so it's easier for him up above-"

"That could have easily been rectified, but okay," I offered lightly, before growling, "Why didn't he know about purchasing blood bags from the club?"

"I, uh...He, uh, he didn't know?" The man sounded a moment away from fainting, but not for his son. Oh no, I knew it was fear for himself and what could happen to him, not the fact that his son had probably been starving.

Speaking of... "Why does your son look half-starved?"

"..."

"When was the last time you've even seen him?"

"H-he's a kid and does his own thing. I saw him at the gathering not long ago, but he didn't stay for long. He should have come to us if he was having trouble," I narrowed my eyes at his response. The gathering had been more than a month ago, and I doubt he left because he wanted to, or could even ask for help from them.

"What about money for his expenses?" I didn't mention that I had them set right before me. Who knows what he will say?

"We send money to his student card once a week and drop money into an account for him once a month," Mr. Rune keeps his response as vague as possible.

"Fifteen dollars a week is hardly enough for a normal school lunch, even though it is technically not a necessity, but having a full stomach makes anyone feel better. I doubt less than five dollars a day can purchase more than maybe one or two items," I thoughtfully supplied. "And, what, around twenty-five dollars a month is just ridiculous. One would say akin to even child abuse."

"I. B-but..."

"How much is the cost of a blood bag, Mr. Rune," It was rhetorical, not even worth turning into a question, "And what about how he's treated by the rest of the nest? His own family treats him like this- I can only imagine. No, I only know some of what has been done to him. You and I, Mr. Rune, have a lot to talk about."