Neon Gods

Chapter Two

Oliver had come home exhausted from a long day at the animal shelter. He was a veterinary technician, and a foster volunteer for his animal shelter, so that had its perks though. He got to spend large amounts of time with his animals, and the animals that needed a little extra TLC got to come home with him and his monthly foster pet.
Right now, he was fostering a two year old male Beagle named Amistad. He was also finishing the last foster month with a year old calico female named Sunflower. If necessary, the two foster pets could return to Oliver's care for another month.
Today though, he had to bring a Poodle puppy home. His name was Lou, and he was five months old. He needed treatment for heartworms, and needed to be monitored regularly for several other illnesses that could be easily transmitted to him due to his much weaker immune system. This became Oliver's job as the Vet Tech. So there were times like thees, when his three bedroom penthouse became a bit crowded with all of the animals and himself.
After he fed the animals, he made himself a small cup of canned Chicken soup, and settled on his couch to watch TV for a bit. Despite having skipped breakfast and only a protein shake for lunch, he couldn't bring himself to stomach much more. He gave Lou a dose of his medicine, and after another hour, he went to sleep once he had let the animals do their business.
He woke a few hours later, around 8:00, to a loud crash on his balcony. He looked out the window to see a man standing there.He noticed Oliver and knocked on the glass. "Hello mortal. Will you let me in?" Upon seeing the look of horror on Oliver's face he let out a loud laugh and knocked again.
He looked out the window for a little bit longer, then went and got his phone to call his mom. "Oli?! Hi love! How are you? How was your day?" His mom squealed into the phone, barely giving her son time to answer The first question before she fired the next. "Ummm. Mom I'm fine, I need your help actually." Oli said when he finally got the chance to answer. "Help? With what love?" His mom asked, concern filled her tone.
Oli hesitated for a second, not sure if he should tell the truth. "Never mind. I'm okay actually, is my brother there?" His mom seemed confused, but answered nonetheless, "no. But you still have his cell number right?" Oli couldn't help but feel relieved by her answer. "Yes. I have to go now, but it was nice to talk to you."
After they talked for a bit longer, he hung up. Oli decided to go get a glass of water, which made him walk right by the window that led to the balcony. "Hey! Hey stupid mortal! Let me in damn it!" The man shouted, banging his fist harder on the glass. Oli became even more unnerved than before, so he called his brother Fredric. "Hi Freddy, I need your help, but you can't tell mom." He hesitantly greeted once his brother picked up. "Okay? What are you keeping from mom now? Did you find another raccoon again? You can't help everything you know." Freddy sounded mildly annoyed. Last time Oli did something like this, he was on 'food duty' and had to find nasty, and probably spoiled, vegetables.
Oli laughed, then answered, "no. It's actually important. There's someone on my balcony." Silence came from the other end of the line, then he responded, "on the balcony? Are you drunk or something?" Oli scoffed, barely able to hide his irritation. "Drunk? Why would I be drunk?"
Oli's brother was quiet for a second. "Okay, if not drunk then at least hallucinating from lack of sleep. Come on man, you know you're on the fifteenth floor right? How would someone get up there without using the elevator or your door first?" Uneasy dread settled in Oli's gut. His brother was right, and he'd said what he had been thinking. How'd he get up there? "I don't know, alright? But he's being weird. Saying weird things. He's calling me mortal."
Silence, then, "mortal? The hell does that mean?" Amusement tinged Freddy's tone. "I don't know, it's what he's been calling me," Oli bit back. "Congrats brother, you've found yourself a vampire." Freddy's tone dripped with sarcasm.
Oli sighed as irritation spiked through him. "Really Freddy, you can't ever be serious can you?"
Freddy laughed and struggled to reply, "no. But you're the one who's crazy."
Freddy snorted past his laughter. "Look, if you're so concerned about this thing on the balcony, call the cops. But you might look crazy." With that, Freddy disconnected the call. Oli decided to call the police. They did a search of his apartment, balcony, and the surrounding complex, but they didn't find anyone. They advised him not to call unless it was an actual emergency. Not two minutes after the officers had left, the man was back and demanded to be let in.
Frustrated, Oli reached out to an old friend. They had been close: but became distant when Leonardo started smoking in high school. He explained his situation to Leo, and asked what he should do. Leo was known for giving terrible advice, and being a crappy friend in general. So Oli wasn't surprised when Leo told him to let the thing on the balcony in. Since it was after 10:00 now,
Oli's judgement was slightly offf. He decided to open the door to the balcony, and in walked the strange man.
"Well. It's about damn time mortal." The mans tone was sharp with irritation." Oli shuddered and moved closer to the door as he managed to affect a shaky customer service smile. "What... Who are you?" Oli could barely form his words properly. The stranger stood still, as he appraised the room and the young man in front of him. "I am Harry. Who are you?"
"My Name is Oliver, you can call me Oli." Oli's voice trembled slightly as he spoke but he managed to maintain an air of his customer service tone and expression. Harry frowned, "why would I do that? Your name is Oliver is it not?"
Oli was confused, "yes. But Oli is a nickname." Harry slowly drifted closer, "well, I'm not using it."
Oli pressed his lips together and nodded as his smile slipped slightly. Lou walked out of Oli's room, and whined slightly,he pawed at his leg to be picked up. Harry took notice and watched as the young man knelt and carefully picked up the tiny pup. "What is that? Why are you holding a miniature hellhound?" Oli was confused by this, "He's not a hellhound. He's a poodle, he's just a puppy. Do you want to hold him?"
Harry looked slightly disgusted by that question, "no I do not want to hold that thing: are you stupid?" Oli recoiled slightly and frowned, " no. Why won't you hold him? He's upset, if you hold him it will make him feel better." A simultaneously disgusted and annoyed expression flickered across the other man's face. "No. If he is upset, I can feed him to Cerberus."
Oli was confused as to what a Cerberus was, and looked appalled at Harry's suggestion. "No. Don't feed him to anything, that's not very nice or helpful. I already told you, if you want to help him feel better hold him. What even is a Cerberus anyway?" Harry grinned wickedly, not a what: but a whom is Cerberus? He is my dog. If you try to make me hold that rat of yours again, I will let my Cerberus eat your rat. Do you understand?"
Oli's lower lip quivered, but he nodded. Harry turned and saw Sunflower and Amistad sitting in the doorway to his second room. "What are those vermin?" he asked, his tone full of annoyance and disgust. "They aren't vermin, they are a cat and a Beagle."Oli replied quietly.
Harry only nodded, and walked to Oli's kitchen. "I'm hungry. Make me something so I may eat." Oli shook his head In annoyance, but did as Harry demanded. As Oli cooked a grilled cheese, Harry flipped through the TV channels repeatedly. He stopped on a news reporter, saying that an unknown object had crashed near an intersection not to far from them. It then showed a picture of the crash sight. Harry chuckled. "Stupid brother. If he was not careful, he could have exposed us all."