Ana Helstrom's Auction House is an auction house located in San Francisco, California. The house is owned and run by Ana Helstrom and Chris Yen, which was also used as the site for their vigilante justice.
History[]
Assassination of Edward Tate[]
Ana Helstrom and Chris Yen entered the business of antique auctioning together at what would become their auction house. They also used it to research and draw out potential victims to inflict vigilante justice on. Helstrom purchased a sword formerly owned by Napoleon Bonaparte and used it to bring Edward Tate to the auction house. She then led Tate to the roof of the auction house and briefly flirted with him. Once the rest of the people, including Yen, had cleared out, Helstrom confronted Tate about his murderous past and killed him, throwing him off of the roof. Yen then planted a fake suicide note so that Helstrom's name wouldn't appear in any media.
The next day, Helstrom returned to work, and Yen told Helstrom that her name managed to not be in the media at all. Helstrom told him that Tate fell off the roof, and Yen complimented his cleanup skills. Helstrom noticed that she had missed a call from Caretaker, and Yen told her that he had called the house earlier, mentioning a crypt in Colma. This caught Helstrom's attention, so she left Yen alone to finish working on the logistics of the auction. She returned late at night to study the skull, finding that her blood caused an eye inside of it to appear to her.[1]
Left by Ana Helstrom[]
Chris Yen called Ana Helstrom several days later from inside the auction house and told her that their coverup was successful. He also told Helstrom that she had missed a meeting earlier, in which Yen was unable to identify various antiques. Yen became concerned when Helstrom said she would be away for several more days, although huge up before Yen could express those feelings.
Yen later placed an antique in the auction house's vault, when the covering Helstrom put over the Keeper's Skull fell off, and the skull began attracting Yen. Yen was about to touch it, but got interrupted by Caretaker's arrival at the auction house, who was looking for Helstrom. Yen explained that Helstrom had personal things to deal with, so Caretaker figured out that she had returned to Portland. As he left, he told Yen that one of their antiques was fake and asked whether Helstrom had taken the skull with her, and Yen pretended not to know what Caretaker meant. Once Caretaker had left, he put the skull on the floor and stared at it, letting it bite him and enjoying the sensation.[2]
Assassination of Cameron Tate[]
Cameron Tate later arrived at the auction house, investigating the death of his brother, which he did not believe to be a suicide like the newspapers said. Yen told Tate that he was aware that Tate helped his brother choose who he would murder, occasionally helping in the act itself. Tate acknowledged Yen's lack of proof, and Yen asked the Keeper's Skull for its opinion, confusing Tate. Following the Skull's advice, Yen retrieved a battle axe and used it to kill Tate.[2]
Ana Helstrom's Return[]
Ana and Daimon Helstrom arrived at the auction house later, hoping to retrieve the Keeper's Skull so that they could use it to contain their father. She called out for Chris Yen, who was not present. The siblings discussed Ana's business while Ana continued looking for Yen. She found a knocked over a pile of papers and realized that Yen was not there; nor was the alarm set when they arrived. They entered the vault and found Cameron Tate's corpse on the ground and the skull missing, and Ana said that they needed to find Yen. Ana and Daimon found the security footage and watched Yen brutally murder Tate, and argued about whether to involve the police. Ana eventually convinced Daimon to help him cover up the murder. She crushed Tate's body using her powers, impressing him. Daimon tried to get her to talk about her time on the road with their father, but Helstrom deflected and told him to help clean after he mentioned how calm he was regarding the situation.
When the pair left the vault in order to look for supplies, Derrick Jackson arrived at the auction house in order to look for Yen, his boyfriend. While Ana hid, Daimon greeted him, clearing up confusion when Jackson believed that Yen was cheating on him with Helstrom. Daimon explained that Yen was not there, and Jackson asked where he was. Daimon looked toward Ana, unsure of what to say. Ana joined the conversation as Jackson demanded to know why he was being called in at all hours, and Helstrom apologized to Jackson for that and lied about sending Yen overseas in hopes of deterring further investigation. Jackson noticed that she had blood on her clothes from cleaning up Yen's mess, and she quickly came up with a story that she and Daimon were moving an artifact that Daimon dropped, causing her to bleed. Jackson warned Ana that if she wasn't less demanding of Yen, he would break up with him, and then left. Daimon expressed surprise at how good Ana was at lying, and Ana simply commented saying that Yen needed a better boyfriend and resumed cleaning.
While Ana continued mopping, Daimon confronted her about her and Yen's side activities, saying that he knew they did more than sell art. After further discussion, Daimon got Ana to say out loud that Yen helped her kill people. This made Daimon even more upset, although Ana explained Tate and his brother's murderous pasts together, failing to convince Daimon. Ana believed that Daimon was attempting to compare her to their father, and she explained that the people she killed were like him, although Daimon said that people could therefore hunt her. In lieu of an ethical rebuttal, Helstrom simply said that she would overpower them.
Ana went into the vault and found a box containing gifts her father gave her, finally bringing herself to look through it, sensing the pain from each gift. Daimon found her, and Ana told him about the pain, which she used to kill people who caused similar pain. She explained that the box was given to her by her mother, and that she used it to store her father's gifts. She told Daimon that she felt that, since her mother hated her use of the box, she hated her, and Daimon assured her that she did not before asking Ana about potentially returning the gifts to the victims' families. Ana explained that people would not want to learn the true nature of their loved ones' deaths.
Once everything was cleaned, the Helstroms pondered how to get rid of the body. Ana suggested dumping it in the bay, but Daimon said it was too risky and used his pyrokinetic abilities to destroy it. They then left the auction house to return to Portland.[3]
Back in Business[]
Ana Helstrom and Chris Yen, fully healed from his addiction to the Keeper's Skull returned to work at the auction house. She reflected on when her father asked her to stab a young girl he had taken. Yen approached her, surprised that she was there since she had told Yen that she was going home. Helstrom simply explained that they needed to get to work, but Yen simply said that he was only there to get his phone charger. He encouraged Helstrom to go home and take time off, but she insisted that she did not need it. Yen said that he had had enough of the Keeper's Skull, possessions, and Helstrom's family, and she agreed. He told her about the time he spent lying to his boyfriend about where he was, and explained that he did not believe their story. The two argued, and Helstrom said that she did not care about his boyfriend, Derrick Jackson. Yen stood up for himself, saying that if what happened in Portland was going to affect her so strongly, should have stayed and argued with her brother longer. Helstrom asked Yen to help find another person, and when Yen suggested that it was not a good idea, Helstrom implied that it was the only way to calm her down.
Later, Helstrom found Yen meeting with a woman, and asked her for a moment alone. Yen told her that he decided they would not be killing people anymore, upsetting Helstrom. Yen said that their killing was not for the purpose of emotional fulfillment, upsetting Helstrom. Yen brought up Helstrom's first kill, her foster dad who had abused the other foster kids, describing it as justice, and explaining that he did not want to be involved in Helstrom's desire to kill somebody simply because she wanted to. Helstrom threw something off the shelf, and Yen dodged it, still refusing to participate. He walked away, telling her that Jackson would be visiting for lunch later that day and asking her to pull herself together.
Jackson arrived and the two ate lunch together, and Yen noticed Jackson was upset, telling Yen that he believed that he had been abandoned by Yen. Jackson asked him to get better at balancing work and life. Jackson asked why he was so willing to do whatever for her, asking if she had some form of blackmail, such as a video of him murdering someone. Yen simply said that they had known each other a long time and it was hard to pull away. Helstrom walked past them and asked if it would take a long time, and Jackson said she was treating him in a way that was unacceptable, suggesting she find a way to relieve stress, such as exercising. Helstrom thanked Jackson for the suggestion and walked away.
Helstrom continued working when Yen approached her and saw that she was planning to kill someone, despite Yen's warning that it would take a long time to set up. The auction house was visited by Jackson, who entered angrily while Yen closed the laptop. Jackson asked how he was logged in to the police database, which Helstrom had accessed to search for potential victims, at both his home and the auction house. Jackson mentioned that he would have to explain which files were accessed and why, mentioning that Edward Tate's was the night of their auction. Jackson said that he would find out what was happening and left, upsetting Yen and Helstrom.
Helstrom went out to deal with Jackson, while Yen continued to work. He ran his hand over blood spots on his bandages and saw Helstrom return to the auction house. She found her box of gifts from her father's victims as she reflected on escaping her father. Angry, she destroyed the box and broke down. Yen found her, and she apologized for nearly killing Jackson and being like her father. Yen, not knowing what she meant, comforted her, saying that she did not do what she was talking about because she was not like her father. Helstrom told Yen that her family needed her, and Yen said that they did, including himself, and hugged her.[4]
