Holy Hell, Done In One Night!
Mar. 28th, 2010 08:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
realsorienHere it is, the latest Horror run. :)
When we last left, Three of our heroes (Jackie, Bill and Greg) gained some new insights as to the supernatural world and potentially their place within it. However, these limited revelations were interrupted by Frau Schodt making an open attack against Greg’s father in the form of incinerating the cycle shop, and nearly Wrench with it. Everyone ended up at the scene of the attack, and things only got worse when Bill got mind controlled by the Mistress of the Cabal into bombing the vans used by the Elder Poulte’s mercenaries! Only one of the vans was destroyed, but several of the mercs died in the blast.
Further complicating matters, Jackie went Evil Queen on Schodt, having located her with her psionic abilities- the attack drove the elder vampiress off, but got Jackie in hot water with Death once again... Worse, her actions drained the spiritual energy from the area of the shop, wiping out Thomas Black Cloud’s power at least locally.
With the initial conflict over, everyone returned to the mansion and a quick council of war is held. “We end this now, Cameron,” is pretty much the sum of Greg’s father’s sentiments. Everyone weapons up, and following the amulet that Bill got for Greg they trace Schodt to one of the older, creepier-looking homes near campus, just a few blocks from the dormhouse...
As people start piling out of the vans for the coming assault on the vampire stronghold, we begin with the remaining member of the quartet, Roy. He’s just finished deleting his 1,472,683rd email at MIB headquarters. About a third of the total were MIB business, all long expired during his absence. Another third were jokes and comments from his associates and coworkers, and the remainder were spam- ads and offers from across the expanse of the internet. He’d dropped into a kind of autopilot fugue a few hours back, and with the last message gone he starts to come back to himself.
And inevitably he hears, “You’ve got MAIL!” from the computer. Then again and again- five emails in quick succession. He checks the first- its a ‘net coupon for mountain dew. He’ll keep THAT one. The next is a terrible joke, and gets deleted. The third is an Alien Amber Alert from South America- out of his jurisdiction. The fourth though is from KNOW, the radio station. Roy recalls that Jackie is associated with the station, and decides to actually read it.
“I’m not sure if this is the right place to send this,” it reads, “But you’ve got to STOP them! You’ve got about 10 minutes!”
He blinks, as the message really doesn’t say who he has to stop or where they are. He checks the next message, and it tells him that now he’s only got about 5 minutes... ROy gets up, fetches the coupon that he’d printed out and then fetches his things from his locker. he checks the computer one last time, with the hope of directions- they’re there, with an admonishment that he’s only 3 1/2 minutes to go! In all odds there’s NO way he’ll make it.
He goes up the elevator, now ready for the massive acceleration and deceleration. He gets outside, and wouldn’t you know there’s a taxi waiting! The driver looks vaguely familiar- he’s seen the face on television before, but he can’t quite place it... Like the character from that ‘Cheers’ show, the psychiatrist?
He gets in, commenting to the driver on his appearance. “I get that a lot.” Is the reply. The car pulls out, but instead of following the local roads it gets onto the freeway. “Uh, this isn’t the way..” Ray comments.
“Don’t worry about it. Its a shortcut.”
Roy is dubious, but accepts this.
“Look. I’m a little disappointed and a lot angry with one of your roommates.”
Roy sighs. “Okay, how much did they stiff you for?” He starts digging out his wallet.
“About 700 souls.”
“Is that Brazilian?”
“I can do that. What’s the message?”
“Well, she’s done something she said she wouldn’t, and because of that she and I REALLY need to talk. Just tell her that, okay?”
Roy says that he will, and faster than he thought was possible the taxi is pulling up at his destination- funny, he doesn’t recall getting off the freeway...
Looking as the car pulls to the curb, he sees Greg on his motorcycle and two of the black vans the mercs working for Cameron use already parked. Men are getting out of these, armed and armored- they’re spreading out around the house they’re parked in front of, and there are two people, both male, on the porch of the house watching this deployment.
Returning to the current moment, Bill is in one of the black vans with Professor Dane and his friends sans Greg. “So, how do we do this?” As this is said, the crew are starting the deployment Roy was watching and Greg has come over to the van. The two watchers on the porch have gone inside in some haste. Mr. Poulte gives Bill his answer.
“We go in and clean ‘em out. That’s what we do.”
Hearing this, and like Bill having found some misgivings about the situation, Greg asks, “what about the whole ‘vampires have legal status’ thing?”
His father just... Stops. “DAMN it.” He says.
One of the porch watchers has come back outside. Looking across the small lawn to the vans he announces that the police have been called. “Leave now or deal with them.”
Greg’s father calls Professor Dane in the other van and calls off the attack; the mercenaries start to fall back to the vans in preparation to leave, but a problem develops. Wrench, who’s out of the van already, reacts to the abort with anger!
“What? No. NO! NOT this time!” With that, he pulls his gun and charges the house!
Bill is the first to act, and tries to tackle Wrench; he misses, but does slightly slow him. Jackie attempts to psi-blase him and also fails. Wrench takes a firing stance and aims- his finger jerks on the trigger... And nothing. It’s jammed!
And this is where Roy exits the taxi, which drives off. He goes over to Greg and asks, “Okay, so which one am I supposed to stop? I hate oracular messages...”
Bill moves to stop Wrench again, as wrench is obviously aiming for continued mayhem. Wrench manages to once again avoid Bill and draws a wicked, heavy knife. He moves forward, and as he does the man who told them the police were coming draws a sword from just inside the door, taking up a combat stance. He repeats his warning about the local authorities having been called. Bill finally gets a solid hold on Wrench, and gets an elbow in the face for his troubles.
Sirens can now be heard, getting louder as they get nearer; in addition, the ominous sound of helicopters can be heard- both Bill and Roy recognize them as military Blackhawks. This doesn’t sound like its just the police responding...
Wrench has gotten closer to the house, and the swordsman has moved forward as well. He strikes at Wrench, who only barely manages to avoid the strike. As the fight continues, Greg and Roy talk rapidly about what to do, especially with the legal ramifications of anything they might do to the vampires within the house. By this time the people in the other houses of the neighborhood are looking out, watching the building conflict. Bill tries again with wrench, this time giving up on holds and just punches the older man in the kidney; Bill isn’t expecting much, Wrench being a lot more experienced and tough as old leather, but he YELLS and drops from the blow!
The swordsman moves up fast, flicking Wrench’s knife away and leveling his blade at Bill’s neck. Bill, not looking anywhere near the vampire’s eyes says, “I’ve GOT him. Go back inside. Please.” Greg leaps the fence and heads up to help Bill get Wrench out of the yard. Before he can get there, Bill tries to drag the older man away- Wrench manages to hold himself in place. Jackie makes an attempt to control the vampire/swordsman, but though she feels the power, nothing happens. Greg reaches the struggling pair and gets ahold of Wrench as well.
“If you do this, I’ll kick your ass again!”
When those words leave his mouth, Wrench gets even more out of control, and rips loose of both young men. However, Greg does get something from the exchange- its NOT Wrench in control of his actions. Bill doesn’t know any of this, just being concerned with ending the fight and getting the hell out of Dodge.
“Jackie! Nail him! Nail Wrench!”
Wrench proceeds to try and kick Bill’s leg out from under him, but Bill manages to parry the kick with his arm. Bill’s a bit off-balance now, but still standing. Jackie prepares to psi-blast Wrench, but her preparations are rendered unnecessary when Greg finally manages to knock Wrench out. Bill then binds Wrench with his belt and Wrench’s own.
Bill and Greg start to drag Wrench off, Bill thinking to collect Wrench’s gun and knife. However, before he can even try the vampire collects both- trophies, apparently. Or evidence.
Wrench is loaded into Black Cloud’s pickup, with Bill and Jackie as well- Bill’s riding in the back, as there’s no room in the cab. Greg and Roy roar off on the motorcycle, the vans pulling away as well. The vehicles scatter, Black Cloud and the vans all returning by various routes to the Dane Estate. Greg and Roy however hide out for a time at a local biker bar. Greg blends right in, but Roy, in his black MIB suit sticks out like a sore thumb.
Greg gets some hassles outside the bar from the locals for his suited passenger, and for a bit it seems a fight’s about to break out, the antagonist seeming to be ready for a fight. Then the man starts laughing; he’d just been messing with Greg. They go inside, and Roy can feel the eyes on him almost like a physical pressure. Greg makes it plain that Roy is with him, and refers to him as being in the legal profession. The tension breaks, but there are still eyes on Roy.
The pair have a few drinks- O’Douls for Greg and Mountain Dew for Roy. Greg opens the conversation:
“So. The suit is very telling...”
“Like it? I think its very slimming.”
“We’ll head back to the mansion after this. Need to stop anywhere?”
“I got a coupon for some Dew.”
They talk, and it turns out that the coupon is for a convenience store in Boston! Roy tries to talk Greg into going there, but Greg’s not interested in a road trip that long just for some pop.
“You do know that those were blackhawk helicopters, right?”
“No?”
Roy confirms his statement, then starts rattling off statistics and details about the choppers and how they might be equipped, pausing at one point to say, “Oh wait. That bit’s classified.”
Once outside, Greg looks to the sky to see any sign of their possible pursuers. He sees and hears nothing. Roy looks up, then points to a point in the sky that to Greg’s eye is as empty as the rest. “They’ll be about there. We’ve got about a half-hour before they figure out who they’re looking for and what vehicles.”
“Right,” Greg says. “Boston it is.” He calls the mansion and lets those there know where he and Roy are headed. With that, they roar off down the highway towards Boston.
The message is passed on to those in the mansion. The rest of the people arrived back at the mansion safely, and while the mercenaries wind down, questions are raised. Bill starts off with, “so why were helicopters out after us? They were blackhawks; we used to have them fly out of the airbase near Santa Carla.” Greg’s dad doesn’t mull the question for very long. “I dunno. But I’m gonna find out.” He nods to Professor Dane, then leaves the room to make some calls.
“What do we do now?” Bill next asks. Professor Dane types his answer out on the computer. “Well, we need to plan our assault better.”
While this short exchange goes on, Jackie tries to psychically check Wrench out. He’s been laid out on the couch, and now has proper restraints on rather than the belts Bill improvised with. She doesn’t find any indications that Wrench is still under foreign control, but decides to try containing him just in case. She goes to the kitchen to get some salt- she plans on putting a basic protection circle around him and the couch.
Aunt Agatha and her bridge-playing companions are there. She makes the mistake of talking to them about what she wants and why she wants it, and quickly gets talked around in circles. She ends up laden with coffee and cake ‘for the boys’ and hustled back out. Not deterred, she decides to get the salt she’d put in her backpack. However, she’s prevented once again; this time by Thomas Black Cloud.
“We need to talk.”
“But I need to do something.”
“No. We need to talk now.”
“But...”
Black Cloud just LOOKS at her. She sighs and capitulates, going outside with the shaman for a discussion.
Time passes, and eventually she is able to get back inside. Picking up where she’d left off she gets the salt, then has some of the men move the couch out from the wall. She makes a salt circle around it and Wrench, getting odd looks from the rest of the people in the room. Bill questions her actions, but doesn’t press the issue.
Not too much later, Agatha comes out of the kitchen and asks about the mess, looking at Jackie. “Did you do this dear?”
“Yes. And I’ll clean it up later.”
Agatha doesn’t seem all that satisfied with the answer, but does return to her companions in the kitchen. As she leaves, Jackie thinks she hears the elderly woman mutter “amateur” under her breath, but she’s not sure.
Greg’s father returns to the room. “Apparently we’re off the hook for now. They’re using the National Guard in support of the police when vampires are involved, to enforce the new laws.”
Jackie is incensed. “So they get help and we don’t?”
There’s really no answer for her question.
Upon reaching Boston, Greg and Roy make a stop at the store to get Roy’s pop; however, it turns out that the coupon isn’t good until the next day. Not wanting problems, Greg foots the bill and pays for Roy’s Dew as well as the gas for the bike.
“Why were you guys raiding that house?”
“You don’t know... Oh. You’ve been out of touch.”
Both being hungry, they head for a local Bak’n Square restaurant. Once there, Greg fils Roy in on the events of the past few days, plus some more information on what’s going on in Arkham in general. Some time goes by and their food arrives; while shoveling pie into his mouth Greg hears some conversation nearby; apparently there will be increased police presence with backing from the National Guard.
“Hm. So they’re enforcing the protection of the ‘new citizens’ at a higher level,” he muses.
With the meal complete, they go towards downtown to find a hotel with a parking ramp; they want the bike out of sight as much as they can arrange. Its a bit pricier then Greg would like, but they get a nice room for the night.
Midnight arrives at the Dane Estate. Bill is awake, trying to stay up until Wrench comes to. Jackie is up as well, curled up in one of the overstuffed loungers, while both Professor Dane and the elder Poulte also remain.
“Professor, What are the chances that the government is using all this to set the vampires up? I mean, it’s kind of an ideal situation. The vamps are public now. They’re real. So all the government has to to is wait til a vamp steps out of line and they can act...”
The professor considers Bill’s question, then types his answer. “It’s a possibility, but more than likely its the other way around.”
“The normal citizenship deal is seven years’ residence; she’s not safe yet.”
“Citizenship is automatic for the resident vampires. The ones from outside the nation are able to get expedited citizenship.”
“But that doesn’t make sense; if they’re not from the US, why would they be any different than other immigrants?”
Greg’s father enters the exchange. “She’ll pull strings. This has been building for some time after all. Right now she’s on the run. She can’t stay in Arkham. We know where she is, and despite the protections of the law we can get to her with effort. So she’ll run. And when she does we’ll have to follow.”
Bill just shakes his head, feeling more than a bit out of his depth.
The hours pass by uneventfully; the professor staring out the window in his chair, Bill thinking, Jackie dozing and the elder Poulte asleep at the table. By 2 AM Wrench is still out cold; the mercenaries are taking turns on watch. Bill gets more coffee, and by the time he gets back (he chatted with Aunt Agatha in the kitchen) Jackie has joined Mr. Poulte in sleep.
Another hour goes by and even Bill is starting to fade. As he starts to nod off he hears Wrench stir; he looks to the professor, who indicates with a gesture that he should wake Jackie and Mr. Poulte. He wakes Jackie first, then shakes Mr. Poulte’s shoulder a bit to rouse him. The man wakes with a violent start, pulling a gun! Bill backs off with hands up, and the situation diffuses. They all converge on Wrench.
“Okay, what happened?” Asks Wrench. They fill him in on the events of the evening, and he in turn tells them that he doesn’t recall a thing past their arrival in front of Schodt’s house. He’s let up to go to the bathroom, but is once again restrained out of caution. Jackie stays in the chair as she’s comfortable there, but Bill heads up to bed.
The next morning, Greg wakes Roy. They’ve had an uneventful night at the hotel, both sleeping as well as can be expected.
“So... What are your intentions towards my daughter?”
Roy pauses. “What answer will get me safely back home with you?”
“Well. You know she’s not human, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You know WHAT she is, her multiple forms?”
“Can you enlighten me?”
Greg looks at Roy. “Are you an arachnophobe?”
Roy gulps. “How big?”
“Its not a matter of how big. Its more ‘how many’...”
“Oh. So she’s not going to eat my soul.”
“No, but she might eat your flesh.”
“Oh! Okay. No problem. I’ve had that happen before.”
“Welcome to the family, son.” Greg grins.
Greg takes the time to explain to Roy what Ariel is, and about her side of the family. Roy seems amazingly calm, considering.
“That explains a lot.”
“I’m going to make a point here. You’d better not hurt her. If you do, she might kill you. And if she doesn’t, I will. But I’m fine with you being with her if you understand that.”
Roy accepts the potentially-fatal considerations. Greg takes a long hot shower while Roy irons his shirt; Roy also fetches the complimentary continental breakfast for each of them. They settle the bill and roar off on the bike towards Arkham.
Having set his alarm so that he could get up early, Bill wakes and gets up to find Black Cloud. He’s hoping to continue the lessons that he, Jackie and Greg had been getting. He manages to locate the shaman, apparently asleep in a tree. When he’s just below, Black Cloud addresses him.
“What do you want?”
“Um. I was hoping to continue the lessons that we’ve been doing?”
“I think that it would be best if we take a break for a few days.”
Bill digests that. “Okay. What happened? I know I was controlled... Which is kind of hard for me to deal with. But what else?”
“You were there as well as I.”
“Yeah, but for much of it I was controlled, and after I was kinda in a different headspace. Did she do something?”
“Who?”
“Jackie.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Bill considers, then drops it. “Okay. I do want to continue with the lessons.”
“You must follow your path.”
“Yeah... I should ask about that. (He describes the vision again) I’ve... never hunted before. Not animals at least.”
“I cannot say what you must do. The spirits showed you the vision, not I. You must interpret it as you will.”
“Okay.” And Bill goes in for breakfast, going back out afterwards to continue his chore of yardwork.
Greg and Roy make it back to Arkham, and head to the Dane Estate. Greg scans the sky for watching helicopters, but sees nothing. They arrive, and Greg pulls the bike into the garage. As they head inside, Greg notices that the lions are still in ‘aggressive’ posture; inside, the library doors are open. He sees that Wrench is still manacled, but seems to be asleep. The professor is in the process of putting Jackie back down in the chair; she also seems asleep.
The pair into the kitchen for breakfast and are greeted by Aunt Agatha. “Well hello dears! Sit down, breakfast is all ready.” With this, she starts serving a huge breakfast, starting with bowls of porridge. As he eats, Greg talks with one of the mercenaries; they don’t know if Wrench has woken or not.
Agatha busies herself cooking, more food being made for the second shift of people needing to be fed. This includes Bill (for seconds), Professor Dane and Greg’s father. They start discussing the situation- Bill gets a bit more depressed as his ideas get shot down by Greg and the others. However, some of the things that get discussed, namely the mention of the charnel pit in Santa Carla (the professor says it’s likely been cleaned out), leads the professor to say that there could be other places where such sites HAVEN’T been cleaned up- like South America.
A decision is made. Professor Dane and the rest of his team will head down south to make their initial countermoves against Schodt and her allies. the housemates will remain in Arkham in school, staying in the manor until the dormhouse is inhabitable and warded once again. With this and the completion of his second round of food, Bill heads back out to his yardwork.
Jackie wakes as the second round of breakfast is finished. Wrench is awake as well, and he asks her to unlock him.
“I can’t do that, but I can get Mr. Poulte.”
“That’ll work.”
She heads to the kitchen, hearing the continuing discussion there. Black Cloud is now present at the table, getting overfed by Aunt Agatha. She passes the message, and with a glance to the Professor the elder Poulte goes to deal with Wrench. ROy chooses this moment to pass on the message from the cabbie, who the rest of the housemates know to be Death. Greg chimes in with a comment about Death being a generally nice guy. Everyone other than those who lived through the varied encounters just STARE at the conversation. Out in the yard, Bill gets that ‘someone’s walking on my grave’ sensation people sometimes get when they’re being talked about and goes inside to see what caused it. He’s confronted with shocked looks from everyone but his roommates, and gets coffee. Wrench arrives a moment later and sees the shocked expressions too.
Bill gets a bit weirded out. “Uh... What’s going on here?”
Wrench says, “I was gonna ask the same thing!”
Bill gets it then. “Oh. You were talking about US.” Jackie nods.
After a bit of stunned silence, Professor types out a message on his computer: “Meeting. The library. One hour.”
However, that meeting isn’t to be, at least not at the specified time. First Greg, then others notice that Ariel is missing. A search is initiated, but it is very quickly ascertained that she’s nowhere to be found on the grounds of the estate. Questioning reveals that the last time anyone saw her was at Schodt’s house...
The search expands. Bill and a few of the mercenaries head to check the dormhouse, while Greg, Roy and Jackie go to Mad Akbar’s to get a tracking stone. Bill and his help have no luck and head back to the manor. The others get the stone, and try to use it- at first nothing happens, but it quickly activates when Roy cuts himself on the sharp quartz. This variant apparently needed blood to trigger it. With Greg driving, the trio follow the device as they drive through the streets of Arkham. When they finally stop, they’re in front of a familiar house...
That of Frau Schodt.
To be continued...
When we last left, Three of our heroes (Jackie, Bill and Greg) gained some new insights as to the supernatural world and potentially their place within it. However, these limited revelations were interrupted by Frau Schodt making an open attack against Greg’s father in the form of incinerating the cycle shop, and nearly Wrench with it. Everyone ended up at the scene of the attack, and things only got worse when Bill got mind controlled by the Mistress of the Cabal into bombing the vans used by the Elder Poulte’s mercenaries! Only one of the vans was destroyed, but several of the mercs died in the blast.
Further complicating matters, Jackie went Evil Queen on Schodt, having located her with her psionic abilities- the attack drove the elder vampiress off, but got Jackie in hot water with Death once again... Worse, her actions drained the spiritual energy from the area of the shop, wiping out Thomas Black Cloud’s power at least locally.
With the initial conflict over, everyone returned to the mansion and a quick council of war is held. “We end this now, Cameron,” is pretty much the sum of Greg’s father’s sentiments. Everyone weapons up, and following the amulet that Bill got for Greg they trace Schodt to one of the older, creepier-looking homes near campus, just a few blocks from the dormhouse...
As people start piling out of the vans for the coming assault on the vampire stronghold, we begin with the remaining member of the quartet, Roy. He’s just finished deleting his 1,472,683rd email at MIB headquarters. About a third of the total were MIB business, all long expired during his absence. Another third were jokes and comments from his associates and coworkers, and the remainder were spam- ads and offers from across the expanse of the internet. He’d dropped into a kind of autopilot fugue a few hours back, and with the last message gone he starts to come back to himself.
And inevitably he hears, “You’ve got MAIL!” from the computer. Then again and again- five emails in quick succession. He checks the first- its a ‘net coupon for mountain dew. He’ll keep THAT one. The next is a terrible joke, and gets deleted. The third is an Alien Amber Alert from South America- out of his jurisdiction. The fourth though is from KNOW, the radio station. Roy recalls that Jackie is associated with the station, and decides to actually read it.
“I’m not sure if this is the right place to send this,” it reads, “But you’ve got to STOP them! You’ve got about 10 minutes!”
He blinks, as the message really doesn’t say who he has to stop or where they are. He checks the next message, and it tells him that now he’s only got about 5 minutes... ROy gets up, fetches the coupon that he’d printed out and then fetches his things from his locker. he checks the computer one last time, with the hope of directions- they’re there, with an admonishment that he’s only 3 1/2 minutes to go! In all odds there’s NO way he’ll make it.
He goes up the elevator, now ready for the massive acceleration and deceleration. He gets outside, and wouldn’t you know there’s a taxi waiting! The driver looks vaguely familiar- he’s seen the face on television before, but he can’t quite place it... Like the character from that ‘Cheers’ show, the psychiatrist?
He gets in, commenting to the driver on his appearance. “I get that a lot.” Is the reply. The car pulls out, but instead of following the local roads it gets onto the freeway. “Uh, this isn’t the way..” Ray comments.
“Don’t worry about it. Its a shortcut.”
Roy is dubious, but accepts this.
“Look. I’m a little disappointed and a lot angry with one of your roommates.”
Roy sighs. “Okay, how much did they stiff you for?” He starts digging out his wallet.
“About 700 souls.”
“Is that Brazilian?”
“I can do that. What’s the message?”
“Well, she’s done something she said she wouldn’t, and because of that she and I REALLY need to talk. Just tell her that, okay?”
Roy says that he will, and faster than he thought was possible the taxi is pulling up at his destination- funny, he doesn’t recall getting off the freeway...
Looking as the car pulls to the curb, he sees Greg on his motorcycle and two of the black vans the mercs working for Cameron use already parked. Men are getting out of these, armed and armored- they’re spreading out around the house they’re parked in front of, and there are two people, both male, on the porch of the house watching this deployment.
Returning to the current moment, Bill is in one of the black vans with Professor Dane and his friends sans Greg. “So, how do we do this?” As this is said, the crew are starting the deployment Roy was watching and Greg has come over to the van. The two watchers on the porch have gone inside in some haste. Mr. Poulte gives Bill his answer.
“We go in and clean ‘em out. That’s what we do.”
Hearing this, and like Bill having found some misgivings about the situation, Greg asks, “what about the whole ‘vampires have legal status’ thing?”
His father just... Stops. “DAMN it.” He says.
One of the porch watchers has come back outside. Looking across the small lawn to the vans he announces that the police have been called. “Leave now or deal with them.”
Greg’s father calls Professor Dane in the other van and calls off the attack; the mercenaries start to fall back to the vans in preparation to leave, but a problem develops. Wrench, who’s out of the van already, reacts to the abort with anger!
“What? No. NO! NOT this time!” With that, he pulls his gun and charges the house!
Bill is the first to act, and tries to tackle Wrench; he misses, but does slightly slow him. Jackie attempts to psi-blase him and also fails. Wrench takes a firing stance and aims- his finger jerks on the trigger... And nothing. It’s jammed!
And this is where Roy exits the taxi, which drives off. He goes over to Greg and asks, “Okay, so which one am I supposed to stop? I hate oracular messages...”
Bill moves to stop Wrench again, as wrench is obviously aiming for continued mayhem. Wrench manages to once again avoid Bill and draws a wicked, heavy knife. He moves forward, and as he does the man who told them the police were coming draws a sword from just inside the door, taking up a combat stance. He repeats his warning about the local authorities having been called. Bill finally gets a solid hold on Wrench, and gets an elbow in the face for his troubles.
Sirens can now be heard, getting louder as they get nearer; in addition, the ominous sound of helicopters can be heard- both Bill and Roy recognize them as military Blackhawks. This doesn’t sound like its just the police responding...
Wrench has gotten closer to the house, and the swordsman has moved forward as well. He strikes at Wrench, who only barely manages to avoid the strike. As the fight continues, Greg and Roy talk rapidly about what to do, especially with the legal ramifications of anything they might do to the vampires within the house. By this time the people in the other houses of the neighborhood are looking out, watching the building conflict. Bill tries again with wrench, this time giving up on holds and just punches the older man in the kidney; Bill isn’t expecting much, Wrench being a lot more experienced and tough as old leather, but he YELLS and drops from the blow!
The swordsman moves up fast, flicking Wrench’s knife away and leveling his blade at Bill’s neck. Bill, not looking anywhere near the vampire’s eyes says, “I’ve GOT him. Go back inside. Please.” Greg leaps the fence and heads up to help Bill get Wrench out of the yard. Before he can get there, Bill tries to drag the older man away- Wrench manages to hold himself in place. Jackie makes an attempt to control the vampire/swordsman, but though she feels the power, nothing happens. Greg reaches the struggling pair and gets ahold of Wrench as well.
“If you do this, I’ll kick your ass again!”
When those words leave his mouth, Wrench gets even more out of control, and rips loose of both young men. However, Greg does get something from the exchange- its NOT Wrench in control of his actions. Bill doesn’t know any of this, just being concerned with ending the fight and getting the hell out of Dodge.
“Jackie! Nail him! Nail Wrench!”
Wrench proceeds to try and kick Bill’s leg out from under him, but Bill manages to parry the kick with his arm. Bill’s a bit off-balance now, but still standing. Jackie prepares to psi-blast Wrench, but her preparations are rendered unnecessary when Greg finally manages to knock Wrench out. Bill then binds Wrench with his belt and Wrench’s own.
Bill and Greg start to drag Wrench off, Bill thinking to collect Wrench’s gun and knife. However, before he can even try the vampire collects both- trophies, apparently. Or evidence.
Wrench is loaded into Black Cloud’s pickup, with Bill and Jackie as well- Bill’s riding in the back, as there’s no room in the cab. Greg and Roy roar off on the motorcycle, the vans pulling away as well. The vehicles scatter, Black Cloud and the vans all returning by various routes to the Dane Estate. Greg and Roy however hide out for a time at a local biker bar. Greg blends right in, but Roy, in his black MIB suit sticks out like a sore thumb.
Greg gets some hassles outside the bar from the locals for his suited passenger, and for a bit it seems a fight’s about to break out, the antagonist seeming to be ready for a fight. Then the man starts laughing; he’d just been messing with Greg. They go inside, and Roy can feel the eyes on him almost like a physical pressure. Greg makes it plain that Roy is with him, and refers to him as being in the legal profession. The tension breaks, but there are still eyes on Roy.
The pair have a few drinks- O’Douls for Greg and Mountain Dew for Roy. Greg opens the conversation:
“So. The suit is very telling...”
“Like it? I think its very slimming.”
“We’ll head back to the mansion after this. Need to stop anywhere?”
“I got a coupon for some Dew.”
They talk, and it turns out that the coupon is for a convenience store in Boston! Roy tries to talk Greg into going there, but Greg’s not interested in a road trip that long just for some pop.
“You do know that those were blackhawk helicopters, right?”
“No?”
Roy confirms his statement, then starts rattling off statistics and details about the choppers and how they might be equipped, pausing at one point to say, “Oh wait. That bit’s classified.”
Once outside, Greg looks to the sky to see any sign of their possible pursuers. He sees and hears nothing. Roy looks up, then points to a point in the sky that to Greg’s eye is as empty as the rest. “They’ll be about there. We’ve got about a half-hour before they figure out who they’re looking for and what vehicles.”
“Right,” Greg says. “Boston it is.” He calls the mansion and lets those there know where he and Roy are headed. With that, they roar off down the highway towards Boston.
The message is passed on to those in the mansion. The rest of the people arrived back at the mansion safely, and while the mercenaries wind down, questions are raised. Bill starts off with, “so why were helicopters out after us? They were blackhawks; we used to have them fly out of the airbase near Santa Carla.” Greg’s dad doesn’t mull the question for very long. “I dunno. But I’m gonna find out.” He nods to Professor Dane, then leaves the room to make some calls.
“What do we do now?” Bill next asks. Professor Dane types his answer out on the computer. “Well, we need to plan our assault better.”
While this short exchange goes on, Jackie tries to psychically check Wrench out. He’s been laid out on the couch, and now has proper restraints on rather than the belts Bill improvised with. She doesn’t find any indications that Wrench is still under foreign control, but decides to try containing him just in case. She goes to the kitchen to get some salt- she plans on putting a basic protection circle around him and the couch.
Aunt Agatha and her bridge-playing companions are there. She makes the mistake of talking to them about what she wants and why she wants it, and quickly gets talked around in circles. She ends up laden with coffee and cake ‘for the boys’ and hustled back out. Not deterred, she decides to get the salt she’d put in her backpack. However, she’s prevented once again; this time by Thomas Black Cloud.
“We need to talk.”
“But I need to do something.”
“No. We need to talk now.”
“But...”
Black Cloud just LOOKS at her. She sighs and capitulates, going outside with the shaman for a discussion.
Time passes, and eventually she is able to get back inside. Picking up where she’d left off she gets the salt, then has some of the men move the couch out from the wall. She makes a salt circle around it and Wrench, getting odd looks from the rest of the people in the room. Bill questions her actions, but doesn’t press the issue.
Not too much later, Agatha comes out of the kitchen and asks about the mess, looking at Jackie. “Did you do this dear?”
“Yes. And I’ll clean it up later.”
Agatha doesn’t seem all that satisfied with the answer, but does return to her companions in the kitchen. As she leaves, Jackie thinks she hears the elderly woman mutter “amateur” under her breath, but she’s not sure.
Greg’s father returns to the room. “Apparently we’re off the hook for now. They’re using the National Guard in support of the police when vampires are involved, to enforce the new laws.”
Jackie is incensed. “So they get help and we don’t?”
There’s really no answer for her question.
Upon reaching Boston, Greg and Roy make a stop at the store to get Roy’s pop; however, it turns out that the coupon isn’t good until the next day. Not wanting problems, Greg foots the bill and pays for Roy’s Dew as well as the gas for the bike.
“Why were you guys raiding that house?”
“You don’t know... Oh. You’ve been out of touch.”
Both being hungry, they head for a local Bak’n Square restaurant. Once there, Greg fils Roy in on the events of the past few days, plus some more information on what’s going on in Arkham in general. Some time goes by and their food arrives; while shoveling pie into his mouth Greg hears some conversation nearby; apparently there will be increased police presence with backing from the National Guard.
“Hm. So they’re enforcing the protection of the ‘new citizens’ at a higher level,” he muses.
With the meal complete, they go towards downtown to find a hotel with a parking ramp; they want the bike out of sight as much as they can arrange. Its a bit pricier then Greg would like, but they get a nice room for the night.
Midnight arrives at the Dane Estate. Bill is awake, trying to stay up until Wrench comes to. Jackie is up as well, curled up in one of the overstuffed loungers, while both Professor Dane and the elder Poulte also remain.
“Professor, What are the chances that the government is using all this to set the vampires up? I mean, it’s kind of an ideal situation. The vamps are public now. They’re real. So all the government has to to is wait til a vamp steps out of line and they can act...”
The professor considers Bill’s question, then types his answer. “It’s a possibility, but more than likely its the other way around.”
“The normal citizenship deal is seven years’ residence; she’s not safe yet.”
“Citizenship is automatic for the resident vampires. The ones from outside the nation are able to get expedited citizenship.”
“But that doesn’t make sense; if they’re not from the US, why would they be any different than other immigrants?”
Greg’s father enters the exchange. “She’ll pull strings. This has been building for some time after all. Right now she’s on the run. She can’t stay in Arkham. We know where she is, and despite the protections of the law we can get to her with effort. So she’ll run. And when she does we’ll have to follow.”
Bill just shakes his head, feeling more than a bit out of his depth.
The hours pass by uneventfully; the professor staring out the window in his chair, Bill thinking, Jackie dozing and the elder Poulte asleep at the table. By 2 AM Wrench is still out cold; the mercenaries are taking turns on watch. Bill gets more coffee, and by the time he gets back (he chatted with Aunt Agatha in the kitchen) Jackie has joined Mr. Poulte in sleep.
Another hour goes by and even Bill is starting to fade. As he starts to nod off he hears Wrench stir; he looks to the professor, who indicates with a gesture that he should wake Jackie and Mr. Poulte. He wakes Jackie first, then shakes Mr. Poulte’s shoulder a bit to rouse him. The man wakes with a violent start, pulling a gun! Bill backs off with hands up, and the situation diffuses. They all converge on Wrench.
“Okay, what happened?” Asks Wrench. They fill him in on the events of the evening, and he in turn tells them that he doesn’t recall a thing past their arrival in front of Schodt’s house. He’s let up to go to the bathroom, but is once again restrained out of caution. Jackie stays in the chair as she’s comfortable there, but Bill heads up to bed.
The next morning, Greg wakes Roy. They’ve had an uneventful night at the hotel, both sleeping as well as can be expected.
“So... What are your intentions towards my daughter?”
Roy pauses. “What answer will get me safely back home with you?”
“Well. You know she’s not human, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You know WHAT she is, her multiple forms?”
“Can you enlighten me?”
Greg looks at Roy. “Are you an arachnophobe?”
Roy gulps. “How big?”
“Its not a matter of how big. Its more ‘how many’...”
“Oh. So she’s not going to eat my soul.”
“No, but she might eat your flesh.”
“Oh! Okay. No problem. I’ve had that happen before.”
“Welcome to the family, son.” Greg grins.
Greg takes the time to explain to Roy what Ariel is, and about her side of the family. Roy seems amazingly calm, considering.
“That explains a lot.”
“I’m going to make a point here. You’d better not hurt her. If you do, she might kill you. And if she doesn’t, I will. But I’m fine with you being with her if you understand that.”
Roy accepts the potentially-fatal considerations. Greg takes a long hot shower while Roy irons his shirt; Roy also fetches the complimentary continental breakfast for each of them. They settle the bill and roar off on the bike towards Arkham.
Having set his alarm so that he could get up early, Bill wakes and gets up to find Black Cloud. He’s hoping to continue the lessons that he, Jackie and Greg had been getting. He manages to locate the shaman, apparently asleep in a tree. When he’s just below, Black Cloud addresses him.
“What do you want?”
“Um. I was hoping to continue the lessons that we’ve been doing?”
“I think that it would be best if we take a break for a few days.”
Bill digests that. “Okay. What happened? I know I was controlled... Which is kind of hard for me to deal with. But what else?”
“You were there as well as I.”
“Yeah, but for much of it I was controlled, and after I was kinda in a different headspace. Did she do something?”
“Who?”
“Jackie.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Bill considers, then drops it. “Okay. I do want to continue with the lessons.”
“You must follow your path.”
“Yeah... I should ask about that. (He describes the vision again) I’ve... never hunted before. Not animals at least.”
“I cannot say what you must do. The spirits showed you the vision, not I. You must interpret it as you will.”
“Okay.” And Bill goes in for breakfast, going back out afterwards to continue his chore of yardwork.
Greg and Roy make it back to Arkham, and head to the Dane Estate. Greg scans the sky for watching helicopters, but sees nothing. They arrive, and Greg pulls the bike into the garage. As they head inside, Greg notices that the lions are still in ‘aggressive’ posture; inside, the library doors are open. He sees that Wrench is still manacled, but seems to be asleep. The professor is in the process of putting Jackie back down in the chair; she also seems asleep.
The pair into the kitchen for breakfast and are greeted by Aunt Agatha. “Well hello dears! Sit down, breakfast is all ready.” With this, she starts serving a huge breakfast, starting with bowls of porridge. As he eats, Greg talks with one of the mercenaries; they don’t know if Wrench has woken or not.
Agatha busies herself cooking, more food being made for the second shift of people needing to be fed. This includes Bill (for seconds), Professor Dane and Greg’s father. They start discussing the situation- Bill gets a bit more depressed as his ideas get shot down by Greg and the others. However, some of the things that get discussed, namely the mention of the charnel pit in Santa Carla (the professor says it’s likely been cleaned out), leads the professor to say that there could be other places where such sites HAVEN’T been cleaned up- like South America.
A decision is made. Professor Dane and the rest of his team will head down south to make their initial countermoves against Schodt and her allies. the housemates will remain in Arkham in school, staying in the manor until the dormhouse is inhabitable and warded once again. With this and the completion of his second round of food, Bill heads back out to his yardwork.
Jackie wakes as the second round of breakfast is finished. Wrench is awake as well, and he asks her to unlock him.
“I can’t do that, but I can get Mr. Poulte.”
“That’ll work.”
She heads to the kitchen, hearing the continuing discussion there. Black Cloud is now present at the table, getting overfed by Aunt Agatha. She passes the message, and with a glance to the Professor the elder Poulte goes to deal with Wrench. ROy chooses this moment to pass on the message from the cabbie, who the rest of the housemates know to be Death. Greg chimes in with a comment about Death being a generally nice guy. Everyone other than those who lived through the varied encounters just STARE at the conversation. Out in the yard, Bill gets that ‘someone’s walking on my grave’ sensation people sometimes get when they’re being talked about and goes inside to see what caused it. He’s confronted with shocked looks from everyone but his roommates, and gets coffee. Wrench arrives a moment later and sees the shocked expressions too.
Bill gets a bit weirded out. “Uh... What’s going on here?”
Wrench says, “I was gonna ask the same thing!”
Bill gets it then. “Oh. You were talking about US.” Jackie nods.
After a bit of stunned silence, Professor types out a message on his computer: “Meeting. The library. One hour.”
However, that meeting isn’t to be, at least not at the specified time. First Greg, then others notice that Ariel is missing. A search is initiated, but it is very quickly ascertained that she’s nowhere to be found on the grounds of the estate. Questioning reveals that the last time anyone saw her was at Schodt’s house...
The search expands. Bill and a few of the mercenaries head to check the dormhouse, while Greg, Roy and Jackie go to Mad Akbar’s to get a tracking stone. Bill and his help have no luck and head back to the manor. The others get the stone, and try to use it- at first nothing happens, but it quickly activates when Roy cuts himself on the sharp quartz. This variant apparently needed blood to trigger it. With Greg driving, the trio follow the device as they drive through the streets of Arkham. When they finally stop, they’re in front of a familiar house...
That of Frau Schodt.
To be continued...
