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Mar. 14th, 2014 08:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unseensensePlayer Information
Player name: Dero
Contact: aim: xx derogative xx, plurk: derogative
Are you over 18: Yes. Currently 25, soon to be 26.
Characters in The Box Already: N/A
Character Information
Character Name: Raymond Keys
Canon: Original Character
Canon Point: Shortly after eliminating the Hell's Eyes pack.
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Alive
History: Before I get into personal history, let me give a quick rundown of his world so that things can make a little bit more sense as I talk about them in history and personality. Ray is from a world rife with the supernatural, ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves, fae, and all sorts of other miscellaneous things. They at not publically known of, due to their fears of non-acceptance, which people like Ray reinforce. Generally, supernatural entities are a genetic thing: if you are bitten by a werewolf, you won't become a werewolf unless you have werewolf blood in you. Vampires are just about the only 'race' that can create more of themselves without needing a genetic tie. Otherwise, Ray's world is a mirror of our own, just perhaps darker and dirtier.
Ray was born in Chicago in a poor, pretty much white trash family. The fourth in a group of seven brothers, he never felt particularly special, which, to say the least, was disastrously wrong. By the time he was seven, his 'curse' first began manifesting. While he had not been the strongest or fastest of the Keys boys, he had ended up the only one with the little spoken up family trait to sense the supernatural.
And so, Raymond Keys, all of seven, learned there were monsters in the world. Growing up was a struggle for him; he was harassed, bullied, and often sick. He only had the barest idea of what was causing his illness, but even as a kid he knew that no one would buy the story. Who would believe 'monsters made me sick?' By the time he was a teenager, he had already decided his goal in life: he would prove himself better than what he came from. He scrounged and fought his way into college, fighting his 'chronic illness' to try to be a normal person. He managed to do it, eventually working his way up to a PhD in psychology.
Unfortunately, he never did much with it. Shortly after graduating, he was forced to acknowledge his own abilities, in the form of being approached by the spirit of a dead man. That was his first foray into the world of the supernatural, his first exorcism. And that set in his mind that maybe, maybe he could turn a buck off of this. So he did. Psychologist by day, conman exorcist by night. People believed in ghosts (little did they know ghosts were REAL) and by god he would take advantage of the suckers.
It brought him good money for a handful of years. He had finally settled into his life, had finally managed to get a handle on his ability (more or less) when 'fate' decided that it was interested in him. That interest manifested in him ending up in what he had thought was simply another realm, though he had not ruled out a dream. In this place, he met two other men, Sergei and Holden. For a brief time they lurked and explored the place until it became clear something was hunting them. They tried to make an escape, but Ray, never being that much of a runner, was caught. He was impaled through the chest and displayed as a grotesque trophy, slowly dying of blood loss.
He thought that was the end. But it wasn't. When he finally 'died', he came to in his house, sprawled out on the floor. He assumed something had went by and caused him to pass out and have a nightmare. That assumption didn't last long, because within the next week, he received calls from both Sergei and Holden. Something had set them up to meet, though none of them were sure who or what. Regardless, they began to work as a team.
Sergei, a Russian bouncer who worked at a seedy bar, provided the much needed muscle, and Holden, a hooker, provided the even more necessary social skills. Cases became increasingly more and more difficult, and scams began to fall to the wayside as more of Ray's time became devoted to research and actual exorcisms. They did quite a few things, from dealing with possessed objects to helping the dead pass on, and they left more than one corpse in their wake. They even burned down an entire town to stop the things happening there.
As they went on they became aware of the 'something' that had pulled the strings to enable them to meet. A man who went only by the name of Jed, who began to talk to them directly through notes and messages. He seemed to know everything about them, and his writings often referenced things they had said just before reading them. Whoever the man was, he was precognitive. Unfortunately, that and that he had some ability to draw them together was all they knew. Ray began to devote a little of his time trying to pull strings to figure out who this man was and why he was interested in them. It was, unsurprisingly, to no avail.
After a few years of working together, Holden disappeared. There was no explanation. He simply disappeared. Neither Ray nor Sergei could find him with either of their contacts. And so eventually they simply gave up; Holden himself becoming another mystery in the world. There was simply nothing to be done. Since his disappearance, Ray and Sergei amped up their work: they've taken out a few vampires and a few werewolves with clever tactics to make up for lack of powers and raw physical strength.
Their most recent victory was the elimination of the 'Hell's Eyes', a pack of werewolves that settled down in a small, dirty little neighborhood.
Personality: Ray is not a great guy. That's a simple way to put it. He's a conman, he's greedy, arrogant, and has attitude in spades. A tough childhood set the grounds for his personality to rot and fester, and to be honest, he embraced it. So let's open on that. Ray, first and foremost, hates his family. He's bitter about growing up poor, he's bitter about having six other brothers, he's bitter about how whenever his family finds him they try to steal his money. God forbid you talk family with Ray, because it will turn into a tirade of hatred for his blood and lineage.
Though to be honest, Ray just isn't very fond of people in general. He's always had a mindset of looking out for himself, so when other people are added to the mix, it gets on his nerves. He's not very good at making friends or interacting with people like a normal human being- he's just too much of an asshole for a lot of people to bear.
He often goes out of his way to try to upset people- never to the level they might attack him unless he thinks that would gain him something, but he is unafraid to mock any information he gets. He's become so focused on his hate and anger that it has tainted generally all parts of him, so his attempts to interact with normal people leave him coming off as caustic and sarcastic. It takes a lot of effort for him to not offend people, so he usually doesn't bother.
But what he hates the most is the inhuman. Monsters. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, magic, THINGS. His ability makes him physically ill to varying degrees, and he puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the things lurking in humanity. He spares almost no pity for them, taking a cold stance towards whatever plights they have. If something seeks its humanity once more, he may express sympathy and soften up, but otherwise his thoughts are squarely on eliminating the things that prey on humanity.
Despite these things, he isn't an evil man. He may have killed people that might be considered 'innocent' - for example, the Hell's Eyes pack, who were in fact the guardians of the neighborhood they were in - but he is trying to do what he can to rid the world of threats. Or at least rid Chicago of them. He has done a lot of good in his time: he has sent trapped spirits off to their eternal rest, he has slain vampires that treated people as toys, and all manner of other creatures. In fact, deep down, he delights a little in improving the world, but getting him to admit that would be a truly monumental task.
Unfortunately, his good deeds have fueled his sense of arrogance and entitlement. For as pathetic as he is, he has bested monsters! He deserves respect! Admiration! Acknowledgement! Others should help him despite having no reason to do so, and he gets annoyed when anyone quite rightfully doesn't obey his desires. If they don't respect his skills, they should respect the fact he has money! Sadly for Ray, the world doesn't work that way. Thank god for everyone else. No one would want to obey this man.
To further add onto his scumbag tendencies, he also likes to play the victim or martyr. He will goad another person into attacking him, even significantly hurting him, if he thinks it would work out in his favor. As long as it gets him what he wants, that's perfectly fine with him.
All these negatives he used to keep somewhat in check, but the years have taken their toll on him. Seeing and doing the things he has done has left him a little broken, and at times he can veer straight off the rails before trying to rein himself in. If there's one thing he has that isn't entirely negative, it's his willpower and his determination. While it's harder to keep himself as calm as he wants, he can still keep up the facade. But who knows how long he'll be able to do it, as the broken pieces of himself are still cracking and fraying.
A bit of a manifestation of that cracking and fraying is the fact that, well, he wants to die. He could never kill himself out of the thought that it would be admitting defeat to the world and 'giving up', which his pride won't let him do. But his days are often miserable and his ability is frequently more and more draining on him to the point he wishes something would just... kill him. A car accident, some monster, anything. He's seen the afterlife - sort of - and has decided overall it's less painful than continuing as he is. But until something finally kills him, he'll keep trucking on.
Items on your character at canon point: His clothes, his glasses, wallet and its contents (20 dollars, two credit cards, driver's license, various scrawling on paper), keys, and a buck knife.
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses: Ray's number one ability of note is a family ability, one that has been in the blood for as long as anyone can remember. He has the ability to sense the inhuman. Ghosts, vampires, cursed objects, you name it. This manifests itself as various forms of sudden illness or physical pains, ranging from simple chills to full on seizures. So while he is a perfect radar for dangers, he's useless in a close up fight unless you really want to risk a sick, possibly delirious man waving weapons around. Too much constant exposure to too many different 'inhuman' entities or objects causes him to overload; he can no longer pinpoint where anything is and becomes full on delirious and pretty useless. He does not know the cause of the ability, or if there is any way to cure it. Fun fact, the cause is because Ray's lineage is mostly INHUMAN. Boy's got a lot of monsters in his blood and he has no clue.
He has really good memory. It isn't perfect, but he can recall most things pretty clearly, provided he isn't delirious or drunk. But if you want a man to remember your useless facts and trivia, this guy is the fella to go to. This also ties into the fact he is actually pretty intelligent, after all, he does have a PhD in psychology.
Running is not one of his top skills. He gets easily winded and isn't very fast. If you're being chased by something, you want to be running with Ray. After all, you don't have to outrun the bear, just the guy behind you. Ray is that guy. He will be eaten by that bear.
He kind of has a caffeine addiction. Yeah. He's a pretty normal guy, aside from the fact he can sense the inhuman and junk. He's also a little mentally unstable after all the things he's seen and done.
Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample: http://un-boxed.dreamwidth.org/4594.html?thread=3303666#cmt3303666 - test drive threads
Prose Log Sample: Ray ran his fingers along the smooth part of the large canine tooth. It felt heavy in his hand, and he could have sworn it was warm to his touch - as if it were imbued with power even after death. It was a good prize. He knew in some werewolf cultures, that to take the tooth of an alpha was to take the alpha's strength as your own. But he wasn't one of their kind, and whatever it had in it was lost to him, yet the symbolism of it still clung tightly. He, along with Sergei, had slain the last living member of the Hell's Eyes pack: it's alpha.
It had been a long battle, removing the entrenched pack from the neighborhood. One where they had to pick off its members one by one. Some of the weakest, some of the strongest, whatever ones they could lure in and take down from a distance. For all a werewolf's physical strength, there was little it could do if you blew off it's head with a silver bullet from a rooftop down the street. Same for a shot to the heart. They shook up the tactics as they could until they had them all: five sets of teeth and claws, polished and treasured.
Then the alpha fell, and the five sets became six. Ray carefully set the tooth down with the rest of the teeth and claws he and Sergei had collected. Some might cherish this collection, but while he was many things, he was not a collector. He brushed his fingers along the smooth, warm tops of each tooth.
"What should I do with you," he mused to himself, before drawing away. He needed to do something. Just keeping them would draw attention to himself; attention he didn't quite need. He and Sergei would already get enough from killing a pack - Jed would likely not keep that information to himself, knowing the man. Word would eventually get out in some part, that some human had objects of significance and power.
He collapsed on his grey couch, kicking his feet up onto one of the arm rests. His brown eyes closed for a few seconds before they snapped open. He shoved his hands into his pockets, fishing for his cell phone. Perfect. This'll be perfect. His thoughts rolled around in his head feverishly, and he smiled as he dialed Sergei's number.
"Sergei? Meet me at the coffee joint. Now."
Ray didn't wait for a reply and simply hung up, shoving his phone back into his pocket. With the speed of a man possessed, he rose from the couch, and rushed into another room, searching for a bag, a sack, anything. A garbage back would have to do. As he drew near the teeth and claws, he swiped them all into the bag, most of them pricking and poking holes in the plastic.
He grabbed his keys, locked the door behind him as he left the house, and was soon on the road, heading to pick up Sergei. Ray didn't think about whether or not the man would disapprove. He'd do it without his blessing if he declined to come- but why would he? This idea was perfect. It'd ensure the neighborhood wouldn't have to deal with any intruders for a good while.
When he arrived at the coffee shop, Sergei hadn't yet arrived. So Ray pulled out his pocket knife and quickly got to work, grabbing teeth and claws individually. Into each one, he carved what little he knew of werewolf symbols: threats and warnings and things of power. Things to dissuade anything from coming back. Carving them into the teeth of the former pack just backed up the claims he was making with his crude symbols. It was a perfect insult and threat, all rolled into one.
The door to his truck opened, and a large, hairy man sat in the passenger seat. His accent was thick, still distinctly Russian after all the years he had spent in the states. "Ray? What's this about?"
Ray grinned as he turned a tooth over in his hand. "Protection. We're going to keep those people safe, Sergei. They won't need us for a long, long time after what I've got planned..."
Player name: Dero
Contact: aim: xx derogative xx, plurk: derogative
Are you over 18: Yes. Currently 25, soon to be 26.
Characters in The Box Already: N/A
Character Information
Character Name: Raymond Keys
Canon: Original Character
Canon Point: Shortly after eliminating the Hell's Eyes pack.
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Alive
History: Before I get into personal history, let me give a quick rundown of his world so that things can make a little bit more sense as I talk about them in history and personality. Ray is from a world rife with the supernatural, ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves, fae, and all sorts of other miscellaneous things. They at not publically known of, due to their fears of non-acceptance, which people like Ray reinforce. Generally, supernatural entities are a genetic thing: if you are bitten by a werewolf, you won't become a werewolf unless you have werewolf blood in you. Vampires are just about the only 'race' that can create more of themselves without needing a genetic tie. Otherwise, Ray's world is a mirror of our own, just perhaps darker and dirtier.
Ray was born in Chicago in a poor, pretty much white trash family. The fourth in a group of seven brothers, he never felt particularly special, which, to say the least, was disastrously wrong. By the time he was seven, his 'curse' first began manifesting. While he had not been the strongest or fastest of the Keys boys, he had ended up the only one with the little spoken up family trait to sense the supernatural.
And so, Raymond Keys, all of seven, learned there were monsters in the world. Growing up was a struggle for him; he was harassed, bullied, and often sick. He only had the barest idea of what was causing his illness, but even as a kid he knew that no one would buy the story. Who would believe 'monsters made me sick?' By the time he was a teenager, he had already decided his goal in life: he would prove himself better than what he came from. He scrounged and fought his way into college, fighting his 'chronic illness' to try to be a normal person. He managed to do it, eventually working his way up to a PhD in psychology.
Unfortunately, he never did much with it. Shortly after graduating, he was forced to acknowledge his own abilities, in the form of being approached by the spirit of a dead man. That was his first foray into the world of the supernatural, his first exorcism. And that set in his mind that maybe, maybe he could turn a buck off of this. So he did. Psychologist by day, conman exorcist by night. People believed in ghosts (little did they know ghosts were REAL) and by god he would take advantage of the suckers.
It brought him good money for a handful of years. He had finally settled into his life, had finally managed to get a handle on his ability (more or less) when 'fate' decided that it was interested in him. That interest manifested in him ending up in what he had thought was simply another realm, though he had not ruled out a dream. In this place, he met two other men, Sergei and Holden. For a brief time they lurked and explored the place until it became clear something was hunting them. They tried to make an escape, but Ray, never being that much of a runner, was caught. He was impaled through the chest and displayed as a grotesque trophy, slowly dying of blood loss.
He thought that was the end. But it wasn't. When he finally 'died', he came to in his house, sprawled out on the floor. He assumed something had went by and caused him to pass out and have a nightmare. That assumption didn't last long, because within the next week, he received calls from both Sergei and Holden. Something had set them up to meet, though none of them were sure who or what. Regardless, they began to work as a team.
Sergei, a Russian bouncer who worked at a seedy bar, provided the much needed muscle, and Holden, a hooker, provided the even more necessary social skills. Cases became increasingly more and more difficult, and scams began to fall to the wayside as more of Ray's time became devoted to research and actual exorcisms. They did quite a few things, from dealing with possessed objects to helping the dead pass on, and they left more than one corpse in their wake. They even burned down an entire town to stop the things happening there.
As they went on they became aware of the 'something' that had pulled the strings to enable them to meet. A man who went only by the name of Jed, who began to talk to them directly through notes and messages. He seemed to know everything about them, and his writings often referenced things they had said just before reading them. Whoever the man was, he was precognitive. Unfortunately, that and that he had some ability to draw them together was all they knew. Ray began to devote a little of his time trying to pull strings to figure out who this man was and why he was interested in them. It was, unsurprisingly, to no avail.
After a few years of working together, Holden disappeared. There was no explanation. He simply disappeared. Neither Ray nor Sergei could find him with either of their contacts. And so eventually they simply gave up; Holden himself becoming another mystery in the world. There was simply nothing to be done. Since his disappearance, Ray and Sergei amped up their work: they've taken out a few vampires and a few werewolves with clever tactics to make up for lack of powers and raw physical strength.
Their most recent victory was the elimination of the 'Hell's Eyes', a pack of werewolves that settled down in a small, dirty little neighborhood.
Personality: Ray is not a great guy. That's a simple way to put it. He's a conman, he's greedy, arrogant, and has attitude in spades. A tough childhood set the grounds for his personality to rot and fester, and to be honest, he embraced it. So let's open on that. Ray, first and foremost, hates his family. He's bitter about growing up poor, he's bitter about having six other brothers, he's bitter about how whenever his family finds him they try to steal his money. God forbid you talk family with Ray, because it will turn into a tirade of hatred for his blood and lineage.
Though to be honest, Ray just isn't very fond of people in general. He's always had a mindset of looking out for himself, so when other people are added to the mix, it gets on his nerves. He's not very good at making friends or interacting with people like a normal human being- he's just too much of an asshole for a lot of people to bear.
He often goes out of his way to try to upset people- never to the level they might attack him unless he thinks that would gain him something, but he is unafraid to mock any information he gets. He's become so focused on his hate and anger that it has tainted generally all parts of him, so his attempts to interact with normal people leave him coming off as caustic and sarcastic. It takes a lot of effort for him to not offend people, so he usually doesn't bother.
But what he hates the most is the inhuman. Monsters. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, magic, THINGS. His ability makes him physically ill to varying degrees, and he puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the things lurking in humanity. He spares almost no pity for them, taking a cold stance towards whatever plights they have. If something seeks its humanity once more, he may express sympathy and soften up, but otherwise his thoughts are squarely on eliminating the things that prey on humanity.
Despite these things, he isn't an evil man. He may have killed people that might be considered 'innocent' - for example, the Hell's Eyes pack, who were in fact the guardians of the neighborhood they were in - but he is trying to do what he can to rid the world of threats. Or at least rid Chicago of them. He has done a lot of good in his time: he has sent trapped spirits off to their eternal rest, he has slain vampires that treated people as toys, and all manner of other creatures. In fact, deep down, he delights a little in improving the world, but getting him to admit that would be a truly monumental task.
Unfortunately, his good deeds have fueled his sense of arrogance and entitlement. For as pathetic as he is, he has bested monsters! He deserves respect! Admiration! Acknowledgement! Others should help him despite having no reason to do so, and he gets annoyed when anyone quite rightfully doesn't obey his desires. If they don't respect his skills, they should respect the fact he has money! Sadly for Ray, the world doesn't work that way. Thank god for everyone else. No one would want to obey this man.
To further add onto his scumbag tendencies, he also likes to play the victim or martyr. He will goad another person into attacking him, even significantly hurting him, if he thinks it would work out in his favor. As long as it gets him what he wants, that's perfectly fine with him.
All these negatives he used to keep somewhat in check, but the years have taken their toll on him. Seeing and doing the things he has done has left him a little broken, and at times he can veer straight off the rails before trying to rein himself in. If there's one thing he has that isn't entirely negative, it's his willpower and his determination. While it's harder to keep himself as calm as he wants, he can still keep up the facade. But who knows how long he'll be able to do it, as the broken pieces of himself are still cracking and fraying.
A bit of a manifestation of that cracking and fraying is the fact that, well, he wants to die. He could never kill himself out of the thought that it would be admitting defeat to the world and 'giving up', which his pride won't let him do. But his days are often miserable and his ability is frequently more and more draining on him to the point he wishes something would just... kill him. A car accident, some monster, anything. He's seen the afterlife - sort of - and has decided overall it's less painful than continuing as he is. But until something finally kills him, he'll keep trucking on.
Items on your character at canon point: His clothes, his glasses, wallet and its contents (20 dollars, two credit cards, driver's license, various scrawling on paper), keys, and a buck knife.
Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses: Ray's number one ability of note is a family ability, one that has been in the blood for as long as anyone can remember. He has the ability to sense the inhuman. Ghosts, vampires, cursed objects, you name it. This manifests itself as various forms of sudden illness or physical pains, ranging from simple chills to full on seizures. So while he is a perfect radar for dangers, he's useless in a close up fight unless you really want to risk a sick, possibly delirious man waving weapons around. Too much constant exposure to too many different 'inhuman' entities or objects causes him to overload; he can no longer pinpoint where anything is and becomes full on delirious and pretty useless. He does not know the cause of the ability, or if there is any way to cure it. Fun fact, the cause is because Ray's lineage is mostly INHUMAN. Boy's got a lot of monsters in his blood and he has no clue.
He has really good memory. It isn't perfect, but he can recall most things pretty clearly, provided he isn't delirious or drunk. But if you want a man to remember your useless facts and trivia, this guy is the fella to go to. This also ties into the fact he is actually pretty intelligent, after all, he does have a PhD in psychology.
Running is not one of his top skills. He gets easily winded and isn't very fast. If you're being chased by something, you want to be running with Ray. After all, you don't have to outrun the bear, just the guy behind you. Ray is that guy. He will be eaten by that bear.
He kind of has a caffeine addiction. Yeah. He's a pretty normal guy, aside from the fact he can sense the inhuman and junk. He's also a little mentally unstable after all the things he's seen and done.
Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample: http://un-boxed.dreamwidth.org/4594.html?thread=3303666#cmt3303666 - test drive threads
Prose Log Sample: Ray ran his fingers along the smooth part of the large canine tooth. It felt heavy in his hand, and he could have sworn it was warm to his touch - as if it were imbued with power even after death. It was a good prize. He knew in some werewolf cultures, that to take the tooth of an alpha was to take the alpha's strength as your own. But he wasn't one of their kind, and whatever it had in it was lost to him, yet the symbolism of it still clung tightly. He, along with Sergei, had slain the last living member of the Hell's Eyes pack: it's alpha.
It had been a long battle, removing the entrenched pack from the neighborhood. One where they had to pick off its members one by one. Some of the weakest, some of the strongest, whatever ones they could lure in and take down from a distance. For all a werewolf's physical strength, there was little it could do if you blew off it's head with a silver bullet from a rooftop down the street. Same for a shot to the heart. They shook up the tactics as they could until they had them all: five sets of teeth and claws, polished and treasured.
Then the alpha fell, and the five sets became six. Ray carefully set the tooth down with the rest of the teeth and claws he and Sergei had collected. Some might cherish this collection, but while he was many things, he was not a collector. He brushed his fingers along the smooth, warm tops of each tooth.
"What should I do with you," he mused to himself, before drawing away. He needed to do something. Just keeping them would draw attention to himself; attention he didn't quite need. He and Sergei would already get enough from killing a pack - Jed would likely not keep that information to himself, knowing the man. Word would eventually get out in some part, that some human had objects of significance and power.
He collapsed on his grey couch, kicking his feet up onto one of the arm rests. His brown eyes closed for a few seconds before they snapped open. He shoved his hands into his pockets, fishing for his cell phone. Perfect. This'll be perfect. His thoughts rolled around in his head feverishly, and he smiled as he dialed Sergei's number.
"Sergei? Meet me at the coffee joint. Now."
Ray didn't wait for a reply and simply hung up, shoving his phone back into his pocket. With the speed of a man possessed, he rose from the couch, and rushed into another room, searching for a bag, a sack, anything. A garbage back would have to do. As he drew near the teeth and claws, he swiped them all into the bag, most of them pricking and poking holes in the plastic.
He grabbed his keys, locked the door behind him as he left the house, and was soon on the road, heading to pick up Sergei. Ray didn't think about whether or not the man would disapprove. He'd do it without his blessing if he declined to come- but why would he? This idea was perfect. It'd ensure the neighborhood wouldn't have to deal with any intruders for a good while.
When he arrived at the coffee shop, Sergei hadn't yet arrived. So Ray pulled out his pocket knife and quickly got to work, grabbing teeth and claws individually. Into each one, he carved what little he knew of werewolf symbols: threats and warnings and things of power. Things to dissuade anything from coming back. Carving them into the teeth of the former pack just backed up the claims he was making with his crude symbols. It was a perfect insult and threat, all rolled into one.
The door to his truck opened, and a large, hairy man sat in the passenger seat. His accent was thick, still distinctly Russian after all the years he had spent in the states. "Ray? What's this about?"
Ray grinned as he turned a tooth over in his hand. "Protection. We're going to keep those people safe, Sergei. They won't need us for a long, long time after what I've got planned..."
