A night of Terror A night of TerrorIC: Sarah's face came to a panic when Will said the
time. She quickly tried to gatehr her thoughts on how
they could get there fast. As she turned to the group
they stared at a picture Christain was holding.
"Hey everyone! who cares about a drawing? if we don't
leave now all we'll be remembered as is blood spots on
the road", Sarah speaks up loudly. She is quick to
move off and head out of the junkyard. Becky follows
closely behind her looking back at the group to see if
they follow.
IC: The art musuem always looked forboding. Six stories of pure white stone, decorated with columns and arches. The small group of vampires paused, staring up at the structure with what? fear? Quite possible. None of them knew whether or not the prince would let them leave this building alive. They didn't quite know what she had planned for them, but since they had already lost a compatriot, they were on thier guard.
Talbot turned and looked at the Malkavians. "Are
you guys sure this is safe?"
"Well, if we don't go we'll be killed, so I don't
see why we don't take our chances." Anique retorted.
As they set off, Sarah turned to see Maestro also
walking into the building. She sighed, not knowing
whether his presence would be a good thing or a bad
thing.
At the door stood the sheriff, resplendent in his
golden jewelry and ebony features. "You will leave
your weapons. Sydney made a motion that he had none,
as did Sarah and Christian. Talbot grudgingly laid
down a large knife, but Sydney was sure he was hiding
some more he didn't turn over. The sheriff didn't
seem to notice Anique.
Inside Vampires mulled around. The more intellegent ones hovered around painting or sculptures trying to impress Jason Ellison with thier knowledge of art history. The other simply hovered, trying to look stylish or important or at least fit in well enough to not be noticed by the harpies. Unfortunatly a group of Malkvians and a Ravnos doesn't fit in very well.
"Oh, if it isn't my darlings!" Ellison's voice
was grating. He waved a prom queen wave at them, and
smiled mercilessly. "So, have you guys been snooping
around in the sewers again? You certainly smell like
it."
Vampires around him tittered appreciatly.
"That's just the smell coming out of your mouth
from your rotting carcass." Anique shot back.
Ellison's eyes widened.
"Well, well dear. it seems you have an
uncontrolled tongue. Perhaps I'll tell the prince
that and she can see if we can get that removed.
Permanently." He flashed his glittering smile once
again. The tremere primogen, who was standing in
earshot, gave a slight smirk before he turned back to
his advisor.
"Lets get out of this area." Christian whispered,
leaving Sydney to steer Anique away from Ellison.
A few minutes later they found themselves on the top floor, staring at the mullling crowd of Vampires and ghouls spreading out in front of the prince's throne. It was bedecked in more trappings than they had ever seen. Both former princes had rules in a somewhat austere, toned down manner. They were stoic, stubborn and fair. Freewater seemed to have changed all this. The old throne was dripping with blue silk, and had been adorned with strings of freshwater pearls for the occasion. Talbot commented that the decor made him sick, and will agreed with him.
A sharp bell rung out, and the entire court moved into the meeting room, waiting for Freewater to appear and announce thier doom...
IC:
His eye twitched as he stood there in the shadows
watching the leeches assemble. He shivered. He hated
them, their grotesque features, their alluring eyes,
their need for blood. They were Wyrm but they would
benefit him. He watched Freewater with keen interest.
~She's different, she sees the taint within them. She
wants to help me cleanse Gaia of them~ he thought with
a smile.
His three piece suit was stretched taut
across his large chest. His hair was short and neat.
He stood there with his hands in his pockets, tapping
his shiny black wing tips waiting impatiently for the
meeting to start. Glancing at his Rolex he shakes his
head that the meeting had not started early. He
quickly checks his cell for messages and returns his
attention to the assembly starting their charade.
IC: Becky was bored with this whole "meeting thing". She began to wander about the hall looking here and there for something fun to do. Sarah was so serious about this who thing and she didn't want to be around her. Christian was cute but there were alot of other cute guys here too.
As she walked she saw Tyrone and watched him for a bit
but he was aloof and didn't look like he wanted to be
here. So continued to walk around, even up to the
podium where Freewater was talking to Ellingson
quietly. She wandered past them and towards the back
where she saw a fuzzy looking man who was hiding in
the shadows. His eye twitched and he mumbled to
himself about, Gaia?
~Who's that?~ she thought. She
sat by him and watched his actions and looked at his
cell phone which had a message of "everything is set.
kow" on it. She didn't know why but she was nervous
about him and hurried back to the Malkavians and
Sarah.
She tapped Sarah on the shoulder who in turn told her
to knock it off which of course brought some of the
more esteemed kindred to smiles and poke fun at Sarah.
Sarah turned and glared at Becky and whipsered, "Do
you want me to get in trouble?" Becky shook her head
"no" and sat quietly next to Christian as Freewater
spoke.
~Somethings not right.~ she thought, ~I wish Sarah
wasn't so uptight... i think she's in troube but i
can't do anything...i know what- ~ Becky gets up and
takes Christain's sketch pad and draws a man with lots
of hair on it and and arrow pointing to the back room.
Just as she finished...
ic: Christian looked around, at the museum, at his companions, at the opulent splendor and excess that was Monica Freewater's court... All of it just made him sick right now. Normally he would have been fascinated by the exquisite art collection, the number of new vampires who could do him harm or favor, and the way in which all of them interacted. But ever since the junk yard, a pit had been growing in his stomach. He wanted to be useful, to be a part of the group, to give them something that would make some sense and maybe help in their- well, it could only be assumed that it would be a trial. But what had happened? They'd tossed aside his contribution, which he had thought pretty substantial, as if it were just the musings of a madman. And well, maybe that's all it really was.
All he knew for sure was that he wanted to get away
from all of this. He hadn't done anything wrong,
except be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and
being Malkavian was turning out to be more of a curse
than a blessing, as he'd always suspected. Ellison
came up to them after they entered and had his fun.
Anique shot him a nice comeback, but it was all
desperate-seeming. They all knew that the next few
moments could be their last, and it frightened the
hell out of the bravest of them. No smartass quips of
tv announcers were coming from Christian now. He
tried desperately to take his mind off the impending
announcement, and sought out some paintings to view.
As he walked away, he said nothing to the others. In
his mind, they had abandoned him in the same way. He
knew he was being stupid; that he had a way of blowing
things out of proportion. But right now, he had
bigger things to worry about than a few hurt feelings,
even his own.
"Wait a minute..." he muttered to himself as he thought, just for a moment, that he caught sight of a familiar thing. He got closer and was amazed to see a painting of his hanging on the wall. True, it was out of the way and badly lit, but there it was nonetheless. He was thoroughly impressed, and didn't notice the hush that came over the room as the Prince entered...
"Friends, Family..." she began, "Once again we are gathered together in peace and harmony, a collection of peers and equals. But tonight, all is not well. Tonight, we have traitors in our midst!" And with this, her icy gaze fell square upon the motley Malkavians.
IC: Sarah stood frightened as Freewater pointed
towards the Malkavain party.
"Their primogen, Murray O'Shea, has been punished
already for their roll in Dell's disappearnace and
death. Since we cannot have this happen again a
standard must be set." Freewater addresses the room.
Sarah moves back and forth uncomfortable with what she
is hearing. Becky tugs at her arm and shoves a
drawing in her hand. ~what is this? A fuzzy man?~
Sarah looks up to see their group being surrounded by
Freewater's henchlings and they are escorted out of
the room. The room slings insults and threats as they
leave to a room that is then locked.
Sarah looks at Becky "What is this?"
```````*```````*```````*```````*```````*```````*```````
~Yes- let's dispose of the vermon.~ Judas folds his
hands together and taps his fingers.
"yes all is set... SNAP! the trap will fail upon them
and they will be flat" Judas slaps his hands together
with a loud clap as the crowd apllauds the end of
Freewater's speech. "Yesssssss now is the time!"
```````*```````*```````*```````*```````*```````*```````
As the crowd disapeared Freewater addressed the
remaining primogen, a still entered the air. Suddenly
they was a crash and 7 Garou stormed the room and Judas.
Judas attacked Freewater and the others attacked the
primogens. THe battle lasted barely 10 minutes leaving
2 primogen dead and Freewater and the rest severly
injured.
```````*```````*```````*```````*```````*```````*```````
Sarah stared at Becky with everyone really rolling
their eyes about this one.
"this fuzzy man was backstage?" Sarah asked becky.
Becky nods and the goup stares at Sarah.
"Sarah i understand we're all a littl nuts tonight but
what are you talking about?" Christian finally asks
Sarah.
"becky has a pic-" Sarah answered when there is
suddenly screaming from with in the building followed
by the door opening and a young man about 20 in a nice
suit is standing there.
"Get out! Go - Now! before they get here" He urges.
As they all leave quickly he relocks the door. As the
malks leave into the night the young man trots off in
lupus(wolf).
IC:
As the wolf trotts off, the Malkavians and a lone Ravnos stand in the middle of the street, bare of traffic at such an hour... Talbot looks around at the party's faces. And after such a night, with apparently nothing to show after all of their combined efforts... Anique's eyes catch his, as if she can see what he's thinking... ~heh, there's no reason for me to be here... these guys don't need me. Hell, they don't know WHAT the hell they need...~ he meets her gaze with shadowed eyes. After a moment, Talbot smiles, turning to walk down the street, leaving the Malkavians to their own means...
IC:
Anique watched the ravnos walk off down the street, into the
shaddows. She wasn't sure where he was going, but she was
sure they needed him....She looked over her shoulder and
shrugged at the other malkavians, grinned mischeiviously, and
ran to catch up with him.
"Hey Talbot!" she called, as she drew nearer to him. He was
walking with his hands in his pockets, his head down, his
silouette giving off a melancholy air in the pale glow of the street
lamps. "Where are you going?" she asked as she grabbed his
arm. "You can't leave us now!! There is a REASON you came to
this city, damnit!! I can tell....I KNOW these things...Look, just tell
me what is on your mind....I mean, maybe you should stay with
us, and maybe you should leave, but how do you know?" She
looked up at him, her pale eyes full of questions......
IC:
Gerald is in what can be considered his 'home' for the time being in London.
It is an old run down mansion, just outside the main city. Very few know of
its existence since it is deep in the woods. Children sometimes come across
the mansion, and very few find their way back. It is now day time, but as
usual Gerald cannot sleep. He sits in his parlor, holding a glass of water
in one hand, he then takes a sip. Yes he knows he does not need such
sustenence to keep alive, but some old habits are hard to break, and perhaps
it is also that he wishes to hold on to his humanity in some small way as
well. As he goes deeper into his thoughts a person goes to his door and
slips an envelope which is red under the door. Gerald does not seem to
notice, it is as if he is sleeping, but he is awake. Finally after hours of
mental thought, Gerald brings himself back to the real world.
As he gets up
from his seat and walks across the room, at last Gerald notices the envelope
there. He picks it up and wonders who and when could have left it there. He
opens it to find a rather old piece of paper in it, in fine handwriting it
has been written in black ink. Gerald reads it once, he then reads it again
to make sure what he is reading is correct. It was. He let the letter fall
from his hands, it glided down and landed next to his left foot. Gerald took
no notice. He gathered what little belongings that he had and waited for the
sun to finish setting. Than he took off and caught the first ship to Canada,
because that were the instuctions of the letter. On the ship he went over
the letter in his head over and over again.
'The one you seek is in Toronto, Canada. There you will find her, and the other thing that you seek.'
No signature, nothing. The letter just appeared out of no where, and to make matters worse he did not know who it was from. So what type of trouble was he getting himself into? Gerald did not know, but he could not risk NOT going. So after several days and nites of traveling Gerald finally arrives in Toronto. It is still daylight so he remains in the ship until it gets dark enough for him to go outside. At long last nite falls. Gerald leaves the ship and starts to search the city for any clue as to who had sent him that letter.
IC:
Anique looked up at Talbot, her pale eyes full of questions.
Talbot stood in the flickering light of the streetlamp, his face
giving no hint of emotion, he was betrayed only by the look of
concern and puzzlement in his eyes.
"Look, honey...I'm a drifter.."
he said softly. "I don't stay in one place for too long...and
frankly,
Toronto has begun to wear out its welcome. Unless I have a
damn good reason, I don't want to tangle with Garou. So If you
can give me a reason to stay, it had better be a good one".
Anique stumbled over her words in an attempt to formulate an
appropriate response.
"Well, Talbot, you can't leave us now!!
We're in trouble and we need you! You can't just back out on us
like this....I, I....just don't know...but something tells me you are
supposed to be here....." Her words trailed off into silence as
she racked her brain for the appropriate thing to say. Talbot
looked at her, his peircing eyes glinting in the half-light. He
shook his head slowly, regretfully, as he turned to walk off into
the night.
"Wait, wait!!" Anique cried. She fumbled about in her
pockets, her hands frantically searching for something. She
pulled out a dog-eared romance novel, and quickly flipped the
pages to the right place. Talbot turned around and gave her a
glance that was half-pity, half patronizing. "See!! Right here!! "
she exclaimed, and began to read aloud from the text.
"'He
pulled up to the house on his bike, the acrid scent of gasoline
hanging in the night air. His short brown hair was touseled by
the wind, and his leather jacket clung to him like a second skin.
He leapt off the bike like a knight would dismount a trusted
steed, and headed towards the door. Behind the door she was
waiting...her pale hair hung from her head, limp in the stagnant
summer air. He could not see her yet, but he could feel her
stare, the weight of her blue eyes cut into him like a knife, even
through the texture of the night which hung like velvet over the
earth...." ' she paused.
"Don't you see, Talbot?! I picked up this
very book tonight, and just when I was reading this part, you
showed up...You ARE the man in the story...you came here, to
Toronto, for a REASON..." Her voice trailed off as she searched
his face for a response.
"Well," said Talbot "If what you say is
true, then what happens next in the book?" he asked.
" I don't
know, I guess I'll keep reading..." Anique replied, and picked up
the book.
"' She saw him coming through the screen door, and
his presence shook her and threw her off balance. The strength
in his step gave her courage in the night. Before she knew it,
she had flung open the door for him, and run into his arms,
ready to..."'
Anique paused, and glanced up at Talbot, the
romance novel falling from her fingers into the street.
"Ready to
what?" He asked. Anique looked past talbot, into the shadows
in the street, too embarassed to speak the words she had read
on the page...
"Um..." she faltered. "Um, well...I guess you could
say...OH HELL!" she exclaimed, lunging for Talbot, grabing him
with both hands around the back of the head, and kissing him
firmly on the lips. She pulled her head back, and looked into his
face. "Now is THAT a good enough reason to stay, or do I have
to convince you some other way?" Talbot looked down at her,
his face fitting the perfect definition of 'shocked'........
IC:
Sarah stared at the scene before her but lost her
interst in it quickly.
"Sydney we need to hide!" she said quietly in a
panicked voice. She began to look evry which direction
for others who would soon be after them- at least
there to see what had happened. She looked to Sydney
and then to becky like a frightened animal. That 's
what she felt like a small animal that was about to be
crushed by a huge frieght truck.
Sydney grabbed her hand and they were quickly winding
their way thru the back alleys of toronto after
quickly yelling for anique and christian to follow.
Will followed closely behind keeping a sock in his
mouth to keep them from being caught. Actually he had
beenabout to scream when Sydney had shoved it ina nd
glared when he went to remove it. Sarah was getting
dizzy and lost quickly going in and out of buildings
and up and down stairs until they reached a deep
basement room full of sheet music.
Sarah looked around curiously now fianlly having a
chance to stop. Looking closely at the music she sees
the name Anton. ~Anton....? who's Anton?~ she thinks
to herself when Sydney opens yet another door where he
shoves her, will and himself in pausing and waiting to
see if the others followed.
IC:
As Talbot comes to his senses, the world slowly re-materializes around his field of vision, swirling around two beautiful eyes. He realizes that he is standing in a deserted street, staring into Anique's eyes. Somehow, his arms got wrapped around her, but feeling no compulsion at all to unwrap them, he stands there still staring into her eyes, not sure what just happened. Unsure now of what to say, the only thing he can think of is..."Uh, yeah... I guess that IS reason enough." Talbot leans close to kiss her again, before realizing that they aren't the only ones on this barren road. Their lips part slowly and he looks once more into her eyes. "Alright, let's go, huh?" He finally unwraps his arms from Anique's waist, guiding her back to the rest of the group, rushing to catch up with them as they scurry into the back alley's of Toronto...
IC:
The night fell upon Toronto gracefully, as the grey clouded sky faded gently into a deep obsidian darkness. A soft rain had fallen all day, and tapered off just before dusk, leaving the ground soggy, a moist chill in the air, and earthworms drowning in sidewalk puddles. Jason Ellison walked briskly down the street, his heels smacking the pavement with every step of his determined journey. He was wearing tight black stretch pants, with a bit of gold thread in the weave, a v-necked white poet shirt, italian leather boots. His long wavy brown hair was pulled slickly back into a ponytail, which bobbed to and fro as he strutted down the street. In his hand, Ellison held an umbrella, just in case, so he wouldn't ruin his clothes. He pushed open the door to the Granada building on 32nd street. Monica had a haven here. He had been looking for Monica Freewater for the past hour and a half, and had found her at none of her other havens. This was his last stop. He got into the elevator and pushed a button, avoiding as best he could looking at the other passengers. He got out on floor 28...Monica's penthouse. Ellison rang the bell. A few seconds later, Monica Freewater opened the door, dressed in cream silk, her hair cascading down her back, accenting its lucious curves.
Ellison wet his lips.
"Monica" He began, "It's sooo good to see you alive, I was
worried after I heard the events of last evening...."
"Yes, Ellison, you can come in" Freewater snapped, pulling the
door open and beconing Ellison inside with a gesture of the
hand. He shuffled in, being sure to wipe his boots off on the
mat.
"Oh my dear Monica! The primogens are dead!! Of all the
atrocities to befall a city!....We shall have to replace them! What
a
shame what a shame!" He cried in mock horror, then burst out
laughing.
"The best thing about it" began Freewater, as she walked over to
a small wet bar and began pouring drinks for Ellison and
herself. "Is that the Malkavians will take all the blame. Everyone
suspects them. Personally, I've always thought they had little
place here in my city...they don't keep their noses where they
belong".
"Yes, yes..."crooned Ellison, noding his head in agreement.
"They disrupt the beauty of Toronto. My personal goal is to bring
this city to the epitome of perfection. Certain 'breeds'" get in the
way of this grand design....Malkavians are too flawed."
"Well, Jason," said Freewater, taking a long sip of red wine. "I
don't care what your philosophies are. You can keep your
supremascist ideals to yourself. But I see we are both in
agreement about the potential OUTCOME of this arrangement"...
she stared off for a few seconds, her eyes lost in thought. "One
problem, Jason. Two of the Primogens survived. The Nosferatu
was not amoung the ashes, and somehow, Devyn, the Tremere ,
was able to escape the lupine's claws. ....Unfortunately, Ventrue
reaced more violently than I expected, and died. He was a
supporter of ours. He should have been more careful."
Ellison got up and walked accross the room to where Monica
stood. He placed his hand on her shoulder and stroked the
exquisite silk of her gown. "Don't worry, Monica...." he whispered
"Things are turning out just the way you wanted..."
"Jason!" she said harshly "Get me another drink" Her hand
deftly swept his hand off of her shoulder, and she shoved her
empty wineglass into his open palm. "Thank you" she smiled
sweetly and retreated to her study, leaving Ellison standing by
the wet bar, dejected.
He was dejected, but not thwarted. Monica would be his. She
was powerful, and she knew it. But he could have her, and her
power. Three times was all it would take. A shudder of
simultaneous pleasure and repulsion ran through his body at
the thought.
IC: Anique and Talbot came to their senses in time to notice Sarah, Sydney, Will, and Christian running off through the alleys, beckoning for them to follow. She ran after them, panic rising in her with the realization that the sun would soon be up. Talbot ran beside her, her argument apparently having been convincing enough for him to stay. Sydney led the group to a building, and opened a door. The inside smelled like mildew and dust. Sheet music was spread all over the place, scattered like leaves in the autumn. Sydney led them through the outer room, and through a door. They descended a flight of steps into a small basement. They had just enough time to find a corner to sleep in before the sun rose, and they fell into a heavy slumber...As she drifted off to sleep, Anique couldn't help but wonder who this "Anton' was, and why the heck he wrote so much sheet music....? Sarah and Sydney seemed pretty happy to be here though. They conversed jovially in the corner for a few minutes with Will (Sydney had removed the sock from his mouth as soon as they had reached the basement). Anique noticed that Sarah paid no attention to her at all when she was by Talbot. Sarah seemed un-nerved by their association, like she couldn't bear to look at them. It almost seemed like the thought pained her in some way. Anique dismissed this thought as she lay her head on his lap and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep
IC: Devyn woke early in her chambers, before the moon had fully risen in the sky. She had buisness to attend to. She walked down into the basement of the Chantry, and drew a large keyring out of her pocket. She paused before a heavy wooden door, and turned the key in the lock. The door creaked open on its rusty hinges, and she entered the storeroom. Stacked on shelves which covered the walls of the small cellar room were little earthen vessels, all the size of a spice jar. Each was labelled carefully in Devyn's neat script. She moved down the row on the right, peering at the jars intently. She reached up and pulled one off of the shelf. This vial contianed the blood of the now-desceased Ventrue primogen. Devyn carried the vial upstairs to her private quarters. She sat on the corner of her bed for a few moments, meditating to clear her mind. Then, she opened the vial, and placed a drop the vitae on her tounge. Interesting, she thought. It was just as she had suspected. THe primogen had been blood-bound to Freewater. He had been subject to her will. So, Devyn thought, if Freewater had orchestrated the whole Lupine attack, why would she take down one of her own? Why kill someone un-neccesarily, leaving the position of primogen open and up for grabs? Devyn thought. Prehaps there had been a mistake. After all, Devyn HAD survived, and she was sure she wouldn't have if Freewater had had her way....
Devyn went back down to the storage room and got another bottle of vitae. This time, the label read "Monica Freewater". After returning to her quarters, Devyn took a bowl of solid silver down from a closet shelf. She filled it with water and a drop of her vitae. She took it to the center of her room, and sprinkled salt in a circle around herself and the bowl. She placed the bowl in the center of the circle, and sat down in front of it. She removed the bottle of vitae from her pocket. Slowly she began to chant. She opened the bottle and began to encant the words of the spell faster and faster, as one drop of blood fell out of the bottle and landed in the water, sending ripples out from the center. As the water stilled, Devyn saw not her own reflection in it, but the face of Monica Freewater dressed in an exquisite gown of cream silk, slowly sipping a drink, with Jason Ellison standing beside her.....A smile spread accross her face as she watched.
IC:
If he had been human, his blood would have been
boiling. If he had been Brujah, he would have been
frenzying. Instead Jack Remington paced, irritated,
while he waited for his code to be recognized on the
door lock. As that reassuring buzz sounded, he yanked
the door hard enough to rattle the framework. ~Well,
at least the paranoid bitch hasn't changed the door
code~ He thought as he strode through the ritzy
penthouse building.
Up 28 floors, turn left, right, and then left again,
and Hah! She hasn't locked her door! Jack smiled
widely and swung the door open like a gaping maw. He
strode in like a man with a mission: brow darkened,
eyes black, and jaw set.
"Monica, I need a word!" he
said with calm fury, and was greeted by the sound of
shattering crystal.
Jack rounded the corner to see Monica standing,
resplendent in a new evening gown looking furiously in
two directions at once. Jason stood perhaps two feet
away, a deep red stain spreading across the floor.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Monica demanded.
"And clean that up you fool before it spreads!" she
spat at Ellison.
"I came to ask what the hell happened to the
primogen council, why no one's been informed about it,
and why in the aftermath you're not doing anything
about it but sitting here and having drinks with that
feeble minded toady you call a harpy."
Jason stared back at Jack with a stare that could
have razed mountains, and waited for Monica to support
him.
"Well, I was waiting for you to come, Jack.
Lets leave this feebleminded toady to clean my carpet"
Monica replied calmly, to Jason's great shock, and
Jack's great surprise. monica walked forward,
gesturing Jack to her private room, leaving Jason with
a wet rag, and a good view of her backside.
Once inside, Monica smiled her most oily smile.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're concerned about the
current situation in Toronto." She paused for effect.
Faster than lightening she had the Ventrue Harpy
pinned against the wall by his throat. "You just wish
you knew what was going on here, don't you?"
Jack made no sound, but grimaced, baring his
fangs. Monica slapped him, far harder than a human
could, or a Toreador should, which snapped his head
sideways with a sickening crunch
. "Get this right,
you stubborn little whelp..." Monica spat, "you do not
question your prince, or she will flatten you. You
enjoy your job, right? Of course you do. Well, I
have quite a mind to let you keep it, perhaps advance.
We both know your far smarter than that simpering
pusbag cleaning my rug. But to keep that, and your
unlife, you will stop questioning me. Got that?
Good boy." She pushed him away from the wall, as he
stared at her with spite. "Now get out of here. I'll
show you the door." Monica ended, pulling open the
door, gesturing Jack out.
Out on the street, Jack growled. "Listen to you? I loathe you..." Suddenly an idea struck him. Now where could he find those Malkavians...?
IC:
Jason Ellison walked over to the wet bar to pour Monica a glass o
f red wine....He took out the already uncorked bottle,...a good
vintage...He slowly decanted the heady red wine, breathing in it's
pungent aroma. When the glass (a fine glass it was, made from pricy
Watterford crystal) was full, he raised his hand to his mouth, and
pierced the tip of his index finger with a sharp, white fang. One
solitary drop of crimson vitae formed like dew on his fingertip. He
watched it hang there in the space above the glass for a few moments
before it fell, thinking intently about all the ambitions that hung on
that drop of blood, and two more like it. It fell with grace into the
glass, inciting sequences of concentric ripples. Ellison held the
glass up to the light, and watched as the blood blended with the wine,
enhancing its burgundy hue.
"Perfect" He whispered to himself in a
congratulary tone, and walked towards the door to Freewater's study.
She was standing by her desk, her lovely silk gown clinging to her
body in all the right places. Ellison felt the rush of impending
excitement. He walked in and handed her the drink. "Here,
Monica"...he crooned...She took the glass in her hand, and brought it
towards her full and just sufficiently pouty lips. Just as she tipped
back the glass, about to let the fine vintage(s) spill down her
delicate throat, the door to her penthouse slammed open with a crash.
Monica set the glass down on the desk and spun around in distress as Jack Remington strode into the room in a fury. Ellison watched the cup in horror as it hovered on the very edge of the desk top, rocking back and forth, about to fall. He dove for the glass as it toppled off the mahogany desk and careened through the air, headed for the pristine stainmaster carpet. His hands missed it by inches as it hit the floor, shattering into a thousand shimmering bits of crystal, which caught the light, and reflected red with the wine and blood. Glass flew into his face, and he swore under his breath....Freewater and Remington looked down at him, and he glared at Remington with a look of hatred that burned as if it could raise the dead, if they weren't already risen.......
IC:
Judas helped his fellow pack members hurry away
from the scene after the signal came that the
Malkavians were free. He seemed disapointed that not
all the primognes had been killed. As he helped the
serverly injured pack memeber to a van he looked back
for a moment and thought of Monica and the look on her
face when he pounced.
~"that was awesome- she actually looked like she
thought i might kill her... I did think of it when i
had her throat in my hand, her weak throat but then
she gave me that look and i let her go" ~He stood
thinking looking still at the buliding. ~"Damn i
should've killed her..."~ A pack memebr yanks him in
as they screech off into the night.
Five pairs of eyes zoomed in on him as they took off
each proud of the kill but confused as to why their
leader didn't kill his and worried about the others
that were badly wounded.
One sat up and looked into
Judas' eyes, "What is next? Are we gonna finish 'em
off?"
Judas stared back with a look to put him in his place,
"No we wait. There is much more planning to do. We
messed up tonight! Even me we weren't to leave any
alive!" His eyes glowed in the night and glared to the
group as he addressed each one about their short
commings in the battle. As they came to the Caren all
hung their heads in shame and were quiet for the
night. Judas went off to the woods alone for a short
bit and made a phone call to Monica.
"Monica love how are you?"
IC:
Gerald places the woman's lifeless body on her bed. He strokes her head, she
was beautiful, that she was. Two small beads of red fall gently from her
neck and land on her pillow, staining it the blood red. Her husband would
keep that pillow forever, even in jail he would be allowed to keep it with
him, hell they thought him crazy anyways. She asked to be released from her
pain and her misery, she had an idea of what Gerald was, but she knew what
he was capable of, and he did not disappoint her in taking her life. When he
was feeding upon her she did not pull away, but embraced him as tears ran
down her face.
Her final words were 'Thank you.' Then she fell silent.
Gerald stepped back and admired her strength, to bad she did not know what
lay within her. Gerald was out the window and landed on his feet as her
absuive husband had found the body, Gerald did not hear the scream he had
made. He was already far away. Tonite has been interesting for Gerald thus
far. But he had to get his mind back on the reason for his arrival here in
Toronto...that letter, and who had sent it, and why. So now Gerald wonders
the streets and back alleys of Toronto searching for another of his kind to
seek some sort of answers to his questions.
IC:
The newly made kindred wandered the street
looking around at everything. He had heard about what
had happened the previous night to the primogens and
every sound he heard sccared him to death. He had
only recently figured out what had happened to him and
he wasn't ready to leave this unlife yet. As he
walked down the alley way he saw a new face. He had
not been at the meeting last night and seemed to be
lookg around as well. He quickly walked up to him.
"Be careful they may get you. " he whispered loudly t
the old kindred. He gave the boy a strnge look and
replied in a slight spanish accent,
"Waht do you mean
boy?" The young man about 20 looked around quickly,
"the ones who killed the primogens last night. they
might come after more tonight." He looked around
quickly and hten ran off down the street looking all
around him like a paranoid child in a grocery store
loking for their parent.
He continued like that until he bumped into Christauin
who was quickly packing his few belongings and walking
out ht edoor of his apt.
"You... YYYouuuu... You had to do with it!" he pointed
at Chirstian. Christina looked frightened as he got
into his car.
~They say we're the crazy ones~he
thought as he pulled away from the building. He was
gonna get out of town before anything more starng
happened. He left the young caitiff standing there
ppointing at the car wiht his face more drained than
ususal. "you ... you had them do it!" He shouted at
the car as Christain pulled away to leave town. The
boy look around quickly as if he might be next but her
only saw a young female kindred.
IC:
Sarah turned and twisted in her sleep being
plagued by nightmares about events only a few months
ago when she had lost a loved one. His face was
plastered to the walls of her brain and yet she could
never reach him. Her nightmare encompassed her
watching him run into the burning sunlight of dawna nd
watching him die yet she was unharmed by the sun in a
sadistic twist of reality. She awoke screaming and
had 4 pairs of eyes upon her. A sweat of blood was
upon her face as she tried to get a grip of where she
was.
She looked at Will who looked more calm than her for
once but was looking like that was about to quickly
change. Sydney had his look agian of "why me?" on his
face as he moved to comfort Sarah. He seemed to not
be shocked by this reaction, almost as if it was not
unusual for her to wake this way. Last for her to
look to was Anique and Talbot. Aniques head raised
from his lap and looked at Sarah curious. Sarah
quickly then moved her head to her hands and turned to
Sydney who was holding her like a child. Sydney shook
his head as in"don't ask right now" to Anique and
Talbot.
Mbr>Sarah sobbed for about 5 minutes and then went to
clean herself up. When she came out of the bathroom
she had a note in her hand, it was from Christian.
~Thankyou all for accepting me in. Unfortunately due
to last night's events i must leave. Too many
diasters follow me and i wish to keep and further ones
from affecting anymore of you. I will try to keep in
touch and find you each again.
Best Wishes-
Christian~
Sarah walked back to the bathroom adn left the note
witht he others. She tried to pull herself together
but something about this place made her feelings about
Julian even worse. She had her hair pulled back as
she walked about the place looking at the sheet music.
~Anton... Anton.. why does it seem familar?~ As she
walked about she ran into a painting and screamed.
"Him!!! Its that guy!!"Sarah pointed at a picture of
Anton and then turned and ran out quickly. She didn't
know where she was going but she needed to get away
and quickly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Out in the streets Sarah walked quietly and quickly
truning every so many blocks to make sure she wasn't
being followed by anyone that could hurt her. Becky
watched her trying to figure out what was up.
~"That
was him wasn't it?" Becky asked although she already
knew~ Sarah nodded and kept walking. It had been a
number of months but it still hurt like it had just
happened. She had come to Tornot for a fresh start
but everything had gone worng already. She continued
walking not paying a great deal of attention to those
in front of her when she was stopped suddenly- there
in front of her was a new kindred, adn older
gentleman.
"Sorry" she said in a mildly frightened voice of a
child.
IC:
Every step felt like it was going to break the
concrete below it, and the concrete was glad Jack
Remington didn't posses potence. As the last vestiges
of the summer sun sank below the horizon, the Ventrue
harpy was beating pavement to find a source to enact
his vengance before his temper overflowed.
As he walked the dusky lamplit street, he
bristled, as he heard the one voice which made his
teeth curl.
"Well, you must be new here, because I
haven't see anyone with such mangy fashion sense in
simply an age!"
Remington couldn't see the responder, but she had
a distinctive Mexican accent, and a few words he could
only guess to be derogatory were spit in spanish
before the woman fell silent. She emerged from behind
a building a moment later, her rouge hair trailing out
from behind curiously pointed ears. She looked rough
and tumble, but sturdy, and following at her heels,
like an overzealous puppy was Jason Ellison.
Remington groaned.
"You do know your kind need to be announced in this city. I will call the Sherriff for this transgression, and he will most likely kill you, unless, of course, you wish to do me a...favor." His tone was so oily, you could almost imagine sludge dripping off the honeyed words. The woman walking in front of hin narrowed her eyes and growled. Jack sighed, and decided that if he had to deal with Jason Ellison tonight, he would at least take his prize away from him.
"Ellison." He barked, stepping forward. "I
speak for this woman, and yes, dipshit, she will
announce herself to the prince in good time."
Ellison narrowed his eyes, and paused. Jack
grinned at the time it took him to react to losing his
prize.
"If you like consorting with trash, Jack,
maybe that's what you really are."
"I choose my friends for thier intellegence, not
how tightly thier fat asses fit in leather pants."
Jack snipped back. Ellison grimaced, and shuffled
off, his hind end waggling ridiculously in toght red
leather pants. Jack held in a laugh, and turned to
face the newcomer. She was looking at him with
immense apprehension.
"He is right, if you are kindred, and
unnanounced, your life is in danger until you are
announced." Jack remarked plainly.
"And why should you care?" She replied curtly
"Hey, I just thought I take an asshole's pride
away from him. If that means getting you announced
before you're staked and burned, so be it."
The woman eyed him suspiciously, still unwilling
to relent to the man in the suit. "And what do you
gain from it."
"He's a rival. And I'm all about undermining
anything he desires. He would have required you to
drink his blood in return for being saved from the
scourge. All I ask is that he is humiliated, which he
already is. If you ask me - that's a good deal."
The woman pondered this for a few seconds before
holding out her hand. "Lace De La Cruz" She offered.
"Jonathan Remington." He returned, and they
shook. He beckoned for her to follow him. "Come. I
need to go find some people before the sherriff starts
his rounds, then you can meet out darling prince."
He peppered every comment about the prince with a
good deal of sarcasm, and by the time they had reached
the Carrot and the Stick, Lace had given a rare smile
to his descriptions of Monica Freewater.
The bookstore was open, and only a few people were milling around by the coffee counter. The entrance bells rung as Jack stepped in, and the man behind the cashier counter bristled. A companion next to him looked up and froze, and a man in the bookstacks dropped the entire pile of papers he was holding, and started to hyperventilate. The madness in the air was palpable, as was the fear. Jack swallowed and tried very hard to smile. It worked - for the most part.
"What the hell do you want?" Said the man in the
hawaiian print hat behind the counter.
"If I had come to antagonize you, I would have
brought that overstuffed ass with me. I have come
alone, and I want to speak to all of you in private."
Every vampire in the room stared in disbelief at
the harpy. "It's a trap." Talbot hissed in the
background. Anique bared her fanges, and Sydney
unconsciously fingered the pipe hidden under the cash
register. Gerald, the newcomer, watched the spectacle
in curiosity, and Lace was trying to figure out what,
exactly was the relationship of these people. Will
sat on the floor and whimpered.
The chill of silence
filtered through the air, untill Sarah looked up and
said plainly, "Well, I don't know about you all, but
Becky says we should listen to what he has to say,
since it might be helpful."
The was a murmur of assent, coupled with a whole
host of dirty looks. Jack stared at them blandly,
having seen dirty looks for a good deal of his unlife.
Sydney flipped the open sign to 'closed' and walked
swiftly down into the basement, with the other
vampires following.
As soon as everyone was inside, Sydney shut the
door, and turned to Jack. "So what can a harpy have
to tell us?"
Jack blinked calmly, and sat down in the sparse
furniture of the basement. He was the only one.
"Well, where should we start? Let's see, the
primogens are decimated, Monica insists on blaming
you, the scourge is hell bent on finding you, there
are Lupines running rampant in the streets, and our
prince is a traitor."
"Tell us something we don't know." Talbot shot
back.
"Murray O'Shea is alive..." Remington looked as
if he was going to say more, but he was cut off as
Will launched himself at the sitting Ventrue, and
locked his hands around the harpy's neck.
"MURRRRRRAY!" he wailed, and started to beat the
harpy's head into the wall. "What... did you
do....with Murray??!!!!!!!"
Half of the room yelled "Will!" and rushed to pry
the frantic Malkavian from his victim, the other half
froze, half in terror, half in confusion. As they
dragged Will backwards, they looked up in fear. Jack
sat there, seething with anger towards Will, and
striving to control his frenzy, beyond that, however,
he appeared undamaged. He stood, straightened his
suit, and started to walk towards the door.
"I came
to briung you information you may find useful. If you
care to attack the messenger, the messenger will
leave, and not return untill he has garnered very
large weapons."
Sydney stepped forward with Sarah. "that's Will,
he's...well, nuts. I'm sorry about his behavior"
Sydney offered as an apology.
"We can chain him up." Offered Anique from the
back of the room.
"Well, hold him at least if we are to continue to
talk." Jack replied. After a long while, and after
Sydney had lead Will up to the shop, and locked him in
the Volkswagon reading bug, Jack sat back down and
began to talk. "Yes, Murray O'Shea is alive. His
death was faked as a ruse to goad you into striking
out against the prince. He's alive not because Monica
likes him, but because he knows more about this town
than anybody, save maybe the seneschal, and she wants
to pump him for all the information she can before she
sets him into the sunlight. Now..." He held up a
hand to stop questions. "Here's what I want. I am
prepared to help you get your primogen back, if you
help me track down Dell."
Murmurs of the word 'Dell' went through the crowd, but thier attention was being pulled to Remington's voice, and they listened. "yes. He too is alive, amazing since the recent wave of violence. He is being held by Freewater to be used as a barganing chip with the anarchs. Sherman Deston would love to get his mangy little Brujah paws on Dell. And, as you might guess, I have an interest in getting Freewater out of power, and Dell back in. You find Dell, I gave you Muray. That's my offer. Take it or leave it. I can provide you with assistance if you take it."
IC: IC: Anique looked around the room, her eyes focused intently, her brow slightly furrowed....she glanced from sarah, to sydney, and then to Talbot, who gave her a confused glance. She looked back up at Jack. "Well, Mr. Remington. It seems you have presented us with an offer. I don't see why we should choose NOT to accept. I mean, we ALL benefit is Freewater is out of power, right guys?" She looked right at Sydney, who raised an eyebrow at her quizically and nodded. "SO", she continued..."You want us to help you find Dell....I am wondering if where he is has something to do with that map the Nosferat gave us? I mean, we were gonna start digging and go underground, but then we needed to go to Ellisium. My best suggestion is that we get our asses b ack to that junkyard and DIG!" Anique placed her hands on her hips and stood tall, waiting for their reply.......
IC: Sarah was shocked by this information and relieved
that Jack seemed to be on their side. She looked at
Gerald who had followed her in from the streets and
then to the new female vampire to see their reaction
to the news condsidering they really had not know any
of what had been going on. She ran to a back room and
grabbed the map that the Nos had given to them. She
came back and placed on the table before the other
malks and the two new joiners and Talbot.
"Well we made it to this point last night." she said
pointing at the point where they had found a hole. She
looked to Jack a moment, "How can we even try to get
there if everyone is looking for us?" she asked. Jack
shook his head like 'i don't know'.
~"Can you disquise yourselves?" Becky asked her
sister. "Or hide yourselves as you walk?"~ Sarah
looked to the air beside her,
"Possibly Becky but
there are ones out there that can see through that."
Turning tot he group, "Becky suggested that we
disquise ourselves or obfuscate."
Sydney looked nervous and Anquie anxious to get moving
since they had failed once already. They looked to
the new vampires for any advice or ideas as to what
they should do as well.
After about 10 minutes of silence Jack looked at his watch and stood, "I have to be going. I do not know how you will do it but my agreement stands. Get me Dell and you will recieve Murray back." With that he left the bookstore.
