“You can pay whenever you are ready,” the waiter said after dropping off the bill.

Clara caught a phone number in addition to his name, Andrew. She looked up at the man and caught his bright smile, which again caught her by surprise on account of being her plain Jane self.

She imagined herself taking him for a spin. It had been a while and it might prove to be fulfilling. However, she had to get on her way, especially if trouble was following her. So she pulled out her credit card, to pay what she owed.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from The Van Helsing Impetus is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

“Here you go, one special,” the waiter said.

The meal was served in a bowl, filled with fries, cheese curds, gravy, barbecue sauce, and crispy chicken. While she had heard of such dishes she had yet to experience the local delicacy. Clara looked up at the waiter and smiled.

“It looks lovely,” Clara lied.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from The Van Helsing Impetus is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

Added together the end result was:

BANKSCLOSEDQ

This looked a lot more familiar than previous results. There appeared to be some punctuation mission. So, she adjusted the text to get:

BANK’S CLOSED Q

Again the stay queue was out of place, until she realised that this was most certainly a question to the recipient. Evelyn was reaching out after seeing all that chaos and posed a seemingly innocuous question:

BANK’S CLOSED?

That was a question that would have been far more common back in her day. While attending petting parties or out on dates, people often used this type of language to gain consent. Such a response would tell a hopeful partner to go find love somewhere else, whereas cash or cheque indicated how soon the interest would be reciprocated.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from The Van Helsing Impetus is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

The question was how to establish a code between parties without first discussing it. Clara and Evelyn had history in common, similar tastes, and ability to think on their feet. The code only needs to be strong enough to give the intended recipient the advantage.

Given enough time and resources and code could be broken. However, Evelyn would not have sent an overly complex message, requiring large amounts of coordination. Such messages would need to be communicated ahead of time, like a one time password.

“She wants me to read this,” Clara whispered.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from The Van Helsing Impetus is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

To be extra cautious Clara bypassed the three nearest settlements, while scanning the radio for any news. The airwaves were curiously silent on the events of today, and given the importance of the landmark the explosion damaged, she expected it to dominate the news.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Clara said.

She suspected that social media like Bealzabook and Twitcher would have more to go on, assuming the stories were not being buried.  People were easily silenced when an excuse like the algorithm was easily accepted as the norm.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from The Van Helsing Impetus is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

“The last thing I want is sharp glass on the driver’s side,” Clara said.

Or that had been the idea. After unlocking both doors, she found debris on both seats. She sighed, brushed it off as best she could and sat down. Now came the hard part.

Hot wiring a modern car was not covered in Hunter 101 back at The Tower. She knew the basics, but never had to do it. As a precaution she checked the glove compartment and sun visors for keys, but came up empty.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from The Van Helsing Impetus is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

Clara was by no means an expert on the modern world, but she knew damn well that a fried phone posed a problem. The thing had most likely burned up on re-entry like the rest of the contents of her backpack. I’m going to have to address my lack of a working phone sooner rather than later.

In many ways she was thankful for having maintained her plain jane form. The trip she took to reach the barn might have torn her wings off entirely, and it was questionable that even ambrosia would have been able to do much after that to recover them.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from The Van Helsing Impetus is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.

Such places were ordered and consistent. The requirements for such spaces were specific during construction and setup. It was said they varied by no more than a couple of centimetres. The reason for which was simple, hunters would always know where to get what they needed when rushed.

“What happened here?” Clara asked herself.

She remembered watching a movie with Elizabeth shortly after falling to Earth. It was noteworthy because it showcased a madman’s mind. A room filled with scraps of paper, a wall connected by string pictures and push pins. Whoever had been holed up in here had settled on the same theme.

Disclaimer: This excerpt from The Van Helsing Impetus is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth. The image is sourced from Pixabay.