2021-03-28 - A Wraith in the Mist

It's morning and Lilith and Byron are in his Rolls Royce Wraith on the way back from an overnight in Olympia. She'd had a big estate sale a client had asked help with and was handsomely paid for what ended up to be a lot of hard, but fruitful work. She'd been working through the old antique-laden manor of an eighty-eight year old woman who recently died and found a lot of fascinating jewelry to identify, which impressed those she had been working for. She has referrals to two different auction and estate contacts, now for her efforts and job impressively done.

So even though it's early during this trip home, she's still happy and buzzing about the professional accomplishment and woke up that way.

"You know. If I keep getting offers for things like this in the area, I may not... need the pawn at all. Except..." Well, there's complications about the pawn, but that's not the point, "Anyway, I could be something fancy sounding. Like... an Estate Specialist or Auction Appraiser or... I've stopped saying 'pawn broker' because I'm sick of the jokes about how I'm supposed to be a bald hoss of a man named Big Joe or something with a job title like that. Also... your clients don't need to know anything more than I deal with antiques, it's more fitting... you know. As your woman."

While Byron didn't have business in Olympia yesterday, he accompanied Lilith, perhaps having some interest in viewing the estate. He might not be a man to surround himself with antiques, having none of his own, aside from that one wedding dress, but even he knows the prestige that comes with collecting impressive works. And who knows? Someone important might want a piece in his collection. The man has plans. The time was also spent working remotely.

Byron's also a morning person, so he's often awake and attentive at this hour. He looks freshly groomed and wearing a dark suit because once he drops Lilith off, he has a few errands to run. That was the plan anyway. "I honestly think that you should do that full time. The pawn shop is your side business. One that should draw in a lot of attention, just by your reputation alone." He knows that she was, possibly, thinking of selling the shop. He doesn't so much as bring that up and instead, he states, "Just keep hiring people to run the place and reap the profits." When he turns to her, there's a touch of a smile at his lips, before his attention focuses on the road once more. "Lilith Thorne, Estate Specialist, Sex Goddess and my woman." From his profile, she can gauge that his smile broadens lightly.

"... I mean, yeah, if I could get some people in and just did 'fixes' here and there and managed the numbers right in the books with ah... adjusting and accounting for..."

Crime. Accounting for money laundering and fencing someone else's goods. But also she turns a lot of legitimate trash into treasure on her own accord and has really upped the reputation of the business as a place that truly has something for most anyone, big or small. She should be proud of that, but the situation with her business debt kind of doesn't allow for it. It's maybe good to hear her enthusiastic and proud about the idea of making Estates and Appraisals and Auctions her main hustle. It's not like they need the money, but Lilith was never going to be good at being a full lady of leisure. Byron's affairs give her a nice cushion, though.

She's even talking about online classes from a university. Business classes should honestly be easy between her ownership and 'finangling', not to mention Byron can answer anything she can't. Then! If she has a business degree and some art appraisal classes (the area she's less familiar with), she can legitimately say she's professionally self-employed and contract herself out. Then maybe she could have a whole firm in Seattle one day and...

It's adorable to see her so future bright-eyed when Byron knows she never made a habit of 'looking forward' before. Lilith turns in her seat a little to lean her head on leather cushioning and watch Byron driving with that title and smile, "I love you. That reminds me, I need to legally change my name. Should I wait until we have a real wedding or...? I mean, we could have went to the City Hall in Olympia, had I thought about it."

The entrepreneur knows about Felix and that he could have, possibly, spoken to Monaghan regarding Lilith's debt, but Byron knows that Felix doesn't do things due to generosity or because he had a good heart (despite the man being a church-goer). If he asked Felix for this favor, he would be indebted to the man. Not that they aren't already attached at the hip.

Olympia wasn't a far drive from Gray Harbor at all and while they may have eaten a quick breakfast, Byron had something else on his mind. His dark gaze lifts to the center mirror, catching his own reflection as he considers. "Might do a drive through for coffee before heading to work. I'm deciding if I want to pick up coffee within town limits or not."

Though when she tells him that she loves him, though he's not looking at her at the moment, there's definitely a huge smile across his face. "We're not getting a marriage license." Half-turning to look to her now, he adds, "We'll have a proper wedding at some point." He then tilts his head, "Unless you want that part over and done with because real weddings take a lot of time." And advanced scheduling.

Gray Harbor was in the far distance. All that he could see was a clear path, with perhaps a little fog.

"I think there's a little drive thru donut shops in one of these small towns along the way, but we might have already passed it. I wasn't really paying attention. I was looking at you because you're pretty. You know..." Lilith ponders a moment, still turned some in huddle cuddle within her seat while strapped in. Unlike Byron, she didn't really bother dressing and still has kind of sleep tousled hair, plaid PJ pants, and a t-shirt and hoodie on. She's prepared to take over dog duty and then go upstairs to go back to bed, most likely. Granted, she did work her ass off on the estate the past two days, dawn til dusk and some of it was kind of physical furniture moving work.

Lilith sits for a moment, as if she's really considering her thoughts, "One day you should just wake me up when we have a dress and idea for a place. And you say... hey baby, wake up, we're going to Italy to get married. And then I start crying... or something. Actually, I'd probably just fuck the hell out of you since you would have already packed us in this scenario. It means there's time before the flight."

The radio is playing a song Lilith hates and she reaches down to cut it off before it gets stuck in her head. But without that ambiance, there's the bare, low and ominous sound in the distance, something familiar from the bay. Granted, it's hard to hear from this far out in the car and Lilith is still talking, "I wish you didn't have a meeting today. After a nap, I'm kind of thinking about welcoming you home naked on top of the piano..."

Byron turns on the console to flip through some digital menus to pull up a sort of map or gps. "Donuts actually sound good too. Might get some of those as well." The man then chuckles, "I am difficult to take your eyes off of, huh?" Another warm glance is given Lilith. By now, she would know that he didn't seem to care if she was dressed up or not. Despite often being caught out with a suit on, he's good for casual wear too.

His eyes on the map again, he begins to scroll through the streets again. "Noted." He says to her idea, a quiet smile on his lips. Though it's what follows that he laughs at, "You make me sound incredibly anal or terribly responsible that I need to schedule everything precisely as to not waste either of our time." Dark eyes steal a glance at the woman, "Though since you put it that way, I'll more than likely make sure to have your things packed ahead of time."

Licking at his lips, his gaze lifts to view the road again. "Looks like there is a donut shop in a side street before we hit the long stretch of Bayside Road." If it were on the main road, he probably would've known of it by now. Turning slowly towards Lilith, he has this smug little grin, "I'll try not to be too long then, to not keep you waiting out in the buff. The piano can feel pretty cold to the touch."

"See? You always pack us ahead if you're trying to be sneaky and it might be the best part. I hate packing. If that means I'm wearing everything you want me dressed up in, we call that convenience, not control issues." Lilith reaches out to pinch Byron's suited side before settling back properly in her seat to look ahead and at the GPS map in the dash instead of her tall, dark and handsome behind the steering wheel, "And donuts do sound good, I am suddenly all about some side-street donuts... and I might be re-thinking that piano idea now that you mention a chilly-ass wait. Instead, I could give you a side street blow--"

The playful, lewd bartering cuts off from Lilith. The radio is still down. They're getting closer to the Gray Harbor area directly and wisps of outer fog fingers are catching the headlights to swirl. It doesn't look like anything thickly unnatural... yet. Lilith tilts her head and cracks the window suddenly to have a proper listen, "Hey. I hear horns all the way from the bay. Or wait. Wait!"

This dingbat. She grew up around here, she should really recognize what that is. Apparently, she's lived too many places with weather warning horns.

"Oh my gosh, is that a tornado warning?"

"It's amazing that you don't really complain about my choice of wardrobe for you." His gaze drifts back to Lilith for a passing glance, "Maybe I do have an eye for fashion... that doesn't involve two-piece suits." The pinch at his ribs, however, gets a laugh. Speaking of suits, Byron was all dressed up with a few places he needed to go, but he probably wouldn't have turned down a side street blow.

The wraith starts to turn into that side street when she comments about the fog horn. "I... I don''t think so. That's a fog horn." He slows down a bit to shoot a glance towards Gray Harbor. "Looks like heavy fog. Which makes me want to work remotely even more now and outside of GH." Yes, he just utters the town's initials. "Traffic might be crazy due to everyone slowing down due to fog." The Rolls then drives up to the coffee shop drive thru and his eyes look over the menu posted, mostly forgetting about the fog because there's coffee and donuts to be had. "Are you thinking something sweet or something strong? Not that you can't have both, depending on what you want to pick you up right now."

Admittedly, there was something haunting about the fog horns in the distant.

"Psh. Why would I complain? How many women have a man that packs them up for surprise getaways? I'd wear mismatched things all day and night if that's what you want to see me wearing. Anyway, there's also bonuses, other than the not-having-to-pack-myself part. For instance, you're stylish and you know what I like and what looks good on me..."

Lilith has more to add for proving why Byron is amazing, but she has to pause the ego stroking for the sake of pointing at the sign, "-- large black coffee, a fried apple fritter and... a little bag of glazed donut holes for me to throw at your mouth while you're driving." She's probably lying about the throwing part, but she probably will feed the man so he doesn't have to sticky his fingers up or juggle while driving in fog. Then she carries on with her previous train of thought.

"Also, I'm pretty sure you check the hell out of the weather before we go anywhere, so you plan for climate. It gives you a chance to find pretty things in my lingerie drawer for request that you either forgot about or haven't seen. And... hell, I bought the stuff in the closet, it all fits my body and my tastes. Really, it'd be hard for you to lose at packing me up to zoom away. Like you'd have to suck. Really suck. Like be really, really bad. Mis-matched toddler level and one-shoe without a match levels of bad."

The brunette woman grins a little and though she's perfectly happy about her coffee, donut, and her sentiments flying Byron's way, there is a moment where she looks at the fog that seems pretty thick the way they're headed. She tacks on more seriously, "... and yeah. There might be traffic crawling." Or other things, but Lilith doesn't say that part, nor does she let herself think it too long. Even if they do see things, they know fog is spooky, doesn't that make it better?

(no)

Byron enjoys listening to Lilith explain the reasons why she puts trust in him to secretly pack up her things whenever he has a surprise vacation planned. That little smile on his lips more than hints this, even though he only steals one glance of the woman before powering down his windows to place their order: Two large coffees, a fried apple fritter and a little bag of glazed donut holes. It all sounded good to him. As they move from ordering terminal to the pick up window, he asides to her, that smile lingering on his lips, "It's almost so tempting to prove you wrong. Almost. But even if I packed a suitcase full of newly purchased god awful gaudy attire... You'd still look hot in them. But I have to admit that it would be an entertaining waste of money." His smile brightens as he turns to her for the briefest of moments so that their eyes meet, right before they reach the window where he'll be handed the food and drink.

Now with their coffee in the drink holders and the snacks in Lilith's lap, he drives off the lot and back onto the street. In the distance, the fog looms. But obviously, it must seep in through the town surrounding Gray Harbor, right? Or else, it would be quite weird to the townsolk in neighboring towns. "I'd say we should hang back, maybe rent a space for a few hours and then try again. If only I didn't have a few appointments to make." He definitely doesn't sound all that enthused about heading back home. They had to relieve Sirius and Smog's pet sitter too. Well, that or pay them a little extra.

Driving at a slower pace, he reaches for his coffee for a needed sip. "Let's hope we don't run into any traffic accidents along the way."

"Mm, this is the part where I threaten to wear whatever you throw in or buy, but damnit, you'll call my bluff with like... a clown wig or something. I do have limits. For instance, I care about propriety and safety, which is why you're not getting blown behind the side-street donut shop right now. Also I have donuts, so that helps."

Lilith really cares about neither of those things (here and there), but that's what makes it funny when she says it. Honestly, if she wasn't talking about a car round of mouthsex in a random location in the morning fog, it'd be adorable, the way she says it in her PJs and punctuates it with toss of donut hole into her mouth to chew and delight in a smile at the man. Then she reaches to feed him the same before settling back to flip the drink-lid for a careful sip of coffee, eyeing the approaching fog.

"We could put it off and put it off and put it off, but it'd probably still look like this by the time we got around eventual time to go home, so... plunge it is."

Lilith does that back and forth feeding thing even after they hit some of the thicker fog, tearing off finger-pinched bites of fritter to pop into Byron's mouth with leaning rotation between her own bites. Suddenly, though, she cough-chokes on a drink of coffee and does a double take trying to see out of the window just two seconds before the man sees much more than a flash of 'almost' like she did. It's not a lot of warning, but it is something, maybe.

"Jesus..."

"I wouldn't go so far as a clown wig. I wouldn't be /that/ cruel." Byron says, a hint of laughter in his tone. His one gloved hand on the steering wheel easing the car onto the the length of Bayside Road leading into town. "I also have to be seen with you." This is what actually tugs his lips into a broader grin, followed by just a touch more amusement as he turns his head to make sure that no one coming down the road that he's about to pull into.

"If you got the regular donut, we could have had some good, sweet, messy fun as well." But Byron knows that he has people to meet and being covered in sugar or glaze wasn't going to make getting changed any easier. But the light-heartedness in his voice begins to fade, even as he's being fed a torn off piece of fritter, partially turning towards Lilith so that she can more easily feed him as he keeps his eyes on the road.

The speed of the Wraith slows, keeping vigilant watch on the road ahead of them, catching signs of car lights or anything that might indicate that something is in a space that he's about to occupy. While this was extreme, it's not the first time that this kind of fog swept through the harbor town. When the mist thickens even more, he's tempted to slow his pace even further, but refrains. He'll just need to be vigilant in order to not hit anyone ahead of them. "At this rate, who knows when we'll even make it back to the apartment." And in truth, he'd rather be all the way up there than sitting here, being unable to see anything around you.

The tail lights in the distance suddenly appears right before them, making the Rolls jolt as he steps on the brakes. Perhaps, that's why he gets a better view of the vehicle. The shock of the fact that he nearly bumped into a car that suddenly appeared through the mist is what makes him.... recognize, possibly, that the very car he nearly hit looked like the one that his dad drove. If there's any reason to step on the brakes, it's this.

Oh, was there a large shadowy creature trying to cross the road? The man's too stunned to notice this at first, but maybe it's a good thing that they came to a stop, his brake lights shining through the fog to, hopefully, alert other drivers of their presence. With this new 'threat' right in front of them, the man has little time to think back on the one he nearly rear ended just moments ago.

There are so many jokes Lilith could make about holed donuts and glaze, so many. But really, she's just going to have to hope the opportunity arises in the future because her blue eyes are a little too furtive to focus on them, gaze largely on feeding Byron and the fog out of the windows. She hurriedly puts her coffee down after the cough jolt and brake stepping to pause in the Wraith, eyes a little wide as she looks at the man behind the wheel... then at the fog... then at Byron again.

"I don't know what I think I just saw, but it seems like... you saw something too. I trust your eyes better than mine-- I was eating donuts, it was important."

Even though Lilith's words are that dry play of serious-not-serious, her eyes are still a bit wide while she gauges Byron and quite seriously spins around in her seat to look at the red glow of the car's brake lights through the rear windshield, faint as the illumination is in fog like this, "I don't know if we should... stop here, though, I'm not sure people can see our brakelights, you okay babe?"

Still staring out ahead of them in the fog, Byron murmurs almost nervously to Lilith as he finishes chewing and swallowing the tasty treat she'd fed him earlier, "It's something like... A sasquatch, or how people might think one would look like. A yeti. Something." He doesn't say anything about the car he nearly hit. Even before Lilith says anything, the man eases his foot off the brake. While he might be shaken about certain current developments, he knows that they are right there in the middle of a lane.

In fact, his lifts to peer at the mirror in the case that there's a vehicle coming up behind them. He doesn't see anything alarming when he does. If there are lights behind them, it's probably another car trying to find their way through the fog, so rather than being the road hazard that he was just seconds ago, his attention is back on the road ahead of them, his foot easing on the gas to move them slowly along. Then Lilith makes a sound, almost sounding panicked. Turning to look at her, then to glance over his shoulder to try and see what she seems to have. "What's wrong? What's behind us?"

"... I thought there was a car coming behind us. It wasn't stopping. I saw lights. I saw the shadow of it, I saw..."

Lilith braces for impact that never comes, Byron can see that and feel it when her hand flies over to his leg across the console to bear down right after the scream or warning that never quite makes it out of her. Her other hand grips at the seatbelt across her chest and she downright winces before slowly speaking with confusion when they're not hit from behind. Quickly, she turns again to look behind them, and naturally, there's nothing there but fog. She was so panicked so suddenly, it really takes her a moment for Byron's words of what he saw to... fully sink in.

Finally, the brunette stops looking behind and slowly pulls her hand away to let Byron focus on the road, murmuring a bit sheepishly now that they're creeping along apace through the mist and fog, none the worse for the wear, "I mean, it wasn't a yeti. Just an old shadowy fast car that... wasn't really there. Yetis, though? I really hope... those don't exist. Who knows anymore, there's woods around here and we live on Ground Zero for strange... creatures."

The woman wets her lips and quietly reaches with a somewhat twitchy-shake hand to turn up the radio to low, occupying murmur in an attempt to focus and soothe them both. They know what's real. They know what's not real. They know the whole concept of 'real' could change at any time when it's like this outside. The radio feels good and normal. Lilith chews a bit anxiously on a painted thumbnail to chip some of the red polish like a nervous tick, but she's quiet and humming now.

It's a weird time to be humming along to Uptown Girl by Billy Joel, but... it seems to be keeping her occupied while her eyes are intense out of the front windshield now to help keep an eye out with Byron. The problem is, they both know for sure now that what one of them sees, it isn't necessarily what the other sees-- any of Lilith's warnings about the road despite her keen eyes... they could be just plain liability and jolt factor for the man with the hands on the wheel.

Now that the Wraith was moving forward, once Lilith tells him what she'd seen, he checks the rear view mirror again, just in case there was another car driving so closely that it nearly struck them from behind. It's a fleeting glance made every so often, because the road ahead of them needs his full attention. "Looks like they've slowed down enough once they realized their mistake. It was my fault for stopping." The fact that Lilith was that unnerved by a car ramming into them, just by the way she grabs onto his thigh, has his gaze dropping briefly to view her hand and then her features, before he's looking out of the front windshield once more.

"You okay over there?" He asks, taking another quick look her way. At the moment, despite being put on edge due to the mysteries of the heavy fog and the dangers of the road because of it, while he's somewhat tense, he's trying to keep his voice calm; even if he thought he saw something up ahead of them that practically filled him with dread. But it was gone now.

"The last time there was mist this thick," He almost doesn't want to bring it up because this was also when Lilith was trapped in the Veil, but he says it anyway, "There was like this... dinosaur monster thing off in the distance. I swear, you could trees being knocked down as it moved through the forest. You could feel the ground shape. There's a lot of dangerous things that cross the Veil through the fog. So anything is definitely possible."

He doesn't mind the radio being turned on, even if he's lost in his own head right now, pondering what he believed he saw, all while trying his best to get them safely home.

Lilith listens to Byron with a bit of a sober cast to her big blue eyes, despite the girlish thumbnail she's holding and worrying between her teeth in nervous gesture while they drive through fog and wait for the unknown to jump out at them. For a while, even though they're practically tempted to sit on the edges of their car seats, nothing else really happens. Byron may not want to bring up when a dinosaur happened, but Lilith seems right enough to get offended that she didn't see a giant fog dinosaur! In fact, she starts to ask...

"When did you hear and see a whole goddamn dinosaur without me around to make it give me a ride?"

Not a pleasant answer to that question, but Byron is saved from explaining because the lights flash, the car (is it real?) happens behind them, they're being chased, and if she had her damned wits about her at that very moment, she would NEVER say what she says next. She'll remember later, of course, the story Byron told her about being rammed in some weather by a car so very similar to this very...

"Is that a fucking GHOST CHARGER? Do we... do we go or pull over and... that son of a bitch is laying on the horn..."

Byron knew what might be able to make this whole process of driving through heavy fog slightly easier. Maybe. Knowing the kinds of things that cross over, however, is what makes him reluctant to even try. Still, he's very tempted to cast out his mental net in order to... ping the minds of other drivers to get a sense if anyone's nearby, mainly to ensure that he's not about to ram anyone with his car. For now, he just keeps driving.

The whole topic of the dinosaur is actually something that Byron has an answer for. He knows exactly what he was doing at that time, where he was. And why he was there. Perhaps, it might overshadow Lilith's curiosity when she's told, but she would be able to piece things together in some sort of timeline. His lips part as he's about to answer when there's a bright flash of light behind them, which makes his gaze lift to the center mirror again, trying to get a better look at what's behind them all while pushing further ahead-- at first, at the careful crawl from earlier to something far more urgent as he begins to put the pressure down on the gas pedal, but still being cautious. Or, at least, at the start.

So it was a charger. Like the one he'd seen earlier. The one that reminded him of his father's pride and joy. What Stephen Thorne used to spend his days off on. That charger. In truth, he can't really tell. Not with those high beams on him in the thick of the fog. But in his heart or, perhaps, due to his paranoia, he knows it to be true. "We're not pulling over." He murmurs to Lilith, giving the reflection of those high beams once last look before easing his foot down onto the pedal some more. A quick look is then given to Lilith to make sure that her seatbelts were on. "We have a bit of ways to go, but right now, anywhere is safer than here."

He knows that he''ll probably regret it as he wets his dry lips before taking in a deep breath. "I might need you to take over. With the driving. Right now, I'm going to search the road directly ahead of me, make sure that I'm not careening into any other drivers. Mentally."

"I got it. I got it..."

And Lilith mostly does, though Byron's hands are largely keeping the car steady with acceleration at his feet. But it's the extra assurance that lets him clear his mind enough to focus and really, all she has to see is the middle paint of the divider line right in front of the car's fog-inhibited light view. She can't help sitting up stiff the way she does while reaching, it's a bit like hoping blindly for the best and readying for the worst-- she can't see ahead and she doesn't sense people like Byron does to know they have a clear hole shot through the rest of Bayside's stretch home.

But she trusts Byron with so much, and that includes her safety and life. He gets them there and gradually her hand slides up over the back of his gloved hand to his arm to grip for a moment as they come to stop. Instinctively, she's still turned to look behind while doing that, then breathing fast and shallow, she looks at the man with widened eyes while her brain catches up to realize they're home. Home might not precisely mean safe in Gray Harbor, but after that? It sure feels good to have some semblance of familiar security around them.

Abruptly, she unbuckles and throws herself into an adrenaline kiss at the side of Byron's mouth to either take or return, he's getting it either way, along with the sudden begging murmur that comes with it when it comes to the man's meetings for the day. Someone might be grounded to 'netmeetings' for a bit.

"... home. Home. Home. Stay home."

It may have been a good damn plan, but it was also a risky plan. Byron needed Lilith to be attentive and prepared to take over steering in case the feedback he got from the various minds was disruptive or distracting. Then again, he could have also tapped into the mind of one of the Others from the Veil, which might have far greater consequences. With his foot pressing down on the gas and his hands on the wheel, it's a dangerous task to search out for minds to ping as it sometimes puts him in a daydreaming state. Or that's what it might look like to onlookers. Of course, with how dangerous their situation currently is, he doesn't leave this power up full time, returning back to the here and now with semi-clear focus every so often, before reaching out again, to ensure that the way was still empty.

So far, so good. And he's only had to slowly turn the wheel a few times so far. There's another temptation now too; that's to seek out their pursuer and gauge who they were. Yet this is something he's far more hesitant to attempt, too afraid of what he might find, even though he could use his mental abilities to try to distract or halt the being in the charger altogether. It had to be him. Who else could it be? Then again, this, everything they are witnessing right now, could just be a product of their own minds and the man behind the wheel in the charger was nothing more than a shade or Veil thing and not Stephen Thorne at all.

Luckily for them, there weren't many people out braving the fog. Maybe they were smart, knowing how dangerous the roads would be. Though many locals, the ones with the shine, know the true reasons for staying locked up in your home during times like this.

Once he turns into the apartment complex, rolling down his driver side window to tap a card onto the terminal to open the gate, he sends out mental seekers once more, not wanting to plow into any of his tenants who might be lingering around. As he does this, he takes one last look behind them, noticing that their pursuer had vanished in the mist. Or has he? Somewhere within his mind, he could still hear their chaser's horn screaming at them as it tried to.... ram into them? Byron can only assume that were the case. He could still hear it, but couldn't see it.

While Lilith might feel slightly more put at ease now that they were home, even giving him a hot passionate heat of the moment kiss, but in Byron's mind, it wasn't over. Though he turns to press against her lips slightly to return the kiss in kind, though it's clear that he's still distracted, he is quick to reach out to touch her arm, in a reassuring manner, before making a grab for their coffee and snacks, if the car ride didn't jostle everything to make a mess of the interior, "Hurry, to the elevator." Weren't they safe? If so, why was his heart still pounding like mad?

Quickly crossing the lot, an arm pressed gently, yet urgently, upon the small of Lilith's back, he gives one more look over his shoulder before they both enter the elevator car, his eyes warily focused on the entryway leading down to the underground parking area, as if expecting the ghostly Charger to show up at any moment. Come on. Come on. The doors couldn't close any quicker, thus forcing him to press the button to make certain that it does. Though even in the relative safety of this confined space, he could still hear the blaring horn. Something which doesn't go away for a few hours since the ordeal, no matter how he tries to mask it.