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Nightmare on Oak Street - PT 2
- “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
- - ― Henry David Thoreau.
Lingering for a few moments they can observe the way that recent repairs and constructions have begun to reinforce the community. But other than a few last suspicious looks Eris and Alena's way they are left to their own devices. Though the xenophobia in this place isn't suspicious it is clear that the adults in the area will not talk too much to strangers.
Behind those round sunglasses does Raquel stare at the humans washing and playing. They didn't stay to consume her cookies for long, for the wolves caused them to run, but that doesn't matter. They'll eat more after they've left. "Now, we leave and we wait until the menfolk come home. They will have their hands extremely full when young tummies begin to churn." Her grin is now outright malicious, and the Hispanic woman turns to gesture back towards the van for them to depart.
Alena's mouth turns down and she purses her lips as she slides her
hands in her jeans' pockets. Friggin' kids, you'd think she was the thing that goes -bump- in the night. She turns her attention to Eris, then Requel as the plan is laid out. She bobs her head in agreement and casts a last look over her shoulders at the small community, her gaze dancing around its structures and it's inhabitants once more before she steps aside and prepares to fall in line behind the other two women.
Eris snorts in amusement. She turns when Raquel gestures and turns to trot back towards the pastel petal van. "Sure thing, Tica. I've been meaning to catch up on my Candy Crunch anyway." The mousey young woman looks back over her shoulder then back to the van where she trots ahead to steal the front passenger seat so she can plug her phone in.
Six rolls around and thanks to the miracles of Daylight Savings it's dark and chilly-out when the three trucks full of men return to El Paradiso. The first thing they all do when offloading is go inside and find that their poor children are all terribly, terribly sick and their wives are not in the best moods. Some few stay inside to help but the majority flee outside to leave their wives to tend to sick kids and they gather in the square to have drinks and try to avoid the absolute horror-show that is right now occurring in the not very well plumbed barrio.
Raquel rolls Intelligence + Streetwise vs 6 for 2 successes.
Eris rolls Manipulation(4) + Stealth(6) + 2 (12 dice) vs 6 for 5 successes.
Eris rolls Dexterity(6) + Stealth(6) (12 dice) vs 4 for 7 successes.
Eris rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 9 for 2 successes.
Eris rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 9 for 0 successes.
Eris rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 9 for 0 successes.
Eris rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 9 for 1 successes.
Raquel rolls Dexterity + Stealth vs 6 for 4 successes.
Eris rolls 4 (4 dice) vs 7 for 2 successes.
Eris rolls Perception(4) + Alertness(5) (9 dice) vs 6 for 4 successes.
Raquel rolls Perception + Alertness vs 6 for 7 successes.
Sometimes, quiet is better. This is one of those cases, Eris practically turning into a ghost once Raquel has explained her plan. She's there though, watching Raquel's back as the two head off past the converted resort, and up the street past the ramshackle 'townhouses' that lead up to the large house at the end of the street. Outwardly it's only slightly better looking with a large spruce privacy hedge and a fancy roundabout style driveway. There are guards out there, one on each side of the door and some patrolling the grounds with dogs. It's a low-key cartel style. There's a dark red Lexus SUV in the driveway with wide rims and a vanity plate that reads: BL0W M3
None of the guards seem to notice the two females either. Despite being clearly well trained and armed with vicious-looking mastiffs, even the guy with those weird glasses on his face that look like VR or something. The front door is well guarded, but there's a garage entrance as well as a 'service' entrance into a mudroom that can just be seen behind a row of well-trimmed topiary hedges. There may be an entrance in the back too because the Bygone's sharp eyes notice that there are hopper windows along the ground indicating a lower level.
Eris rolls Gnosis(9) (9 dice) vs 7 for 1 successes.
Raquel and Eris manage to weave their ways towards the miniature fortress hiding within cheap stucco. The world is never what it seems upfront, and neither is the duo making their approach. Kicking down the front door would have been easy, as well as bombing the building from afar, but that would have left a chance of damaging the information or the occupants making an escape. Instead, the Bygone whose body is covered in a discreet matte black bodysuit and minimal tactical gear has her face covered with nose/mouth mask and darkened goggles. They don't need to know whose breaking in their hidey-hole.
When they creep up to the perimeter, Raquel becomes ephemeral in addition to her invisibility. With abilities that defy the laws of physics, she climbs through the closed plane of glass and framing of one of the hopper windows, hands and hooves adhering to the basement walls to prevent her from falling or making a noisy landing.
Eris rolls 10 (10 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes.
Eris rolls Stamina(5) (5 dice) vs 6 for 0 successes.
Eris rolls 2 (2 dice) vs 4 for 1 successes.
Eris still doesn't look like herself, not that it matters since the Ragabash is as discreet as Raquel's shadow. She, however, cannot phase through objects so she's left to crouch and attempt to unlock the window. Which works, but as soon as she tries to put her hand through the windows to measure the distance the shadow of a werewolf jumps back about a foot and holds her arm, narrowing her eyes a little. She creeps forward and whispers quietly, "You're on your own. I'll wait out here." The effects of the Ragabashes many gifts ensure that the scent of burnt hair isn't in the air but the smoke coming from her hand is undeniable. She had mentioned running into warded places before. The Ragabash salutes and slips back to keep watch on the outside and watch for signs they know someone's in the home.
This does leave Raquel by herself in this musty old cellar. It's dank in here... and it doesn't look like anyone comes down here.
Raquel rolls Perception + Alertness vs 6 for 0 successes.
Eris can't spot Raquel wrinkling her nose in annoyance at the burned flesh under that mask. She has no problems working on her own, but the risks in running into unknown dangers only rises. Staying invisible, she becomes tangible once more, looking around while still attached to the wall to gauge where the door upstairs night be.
There is a set of wide stairs leading up to a pair of double doors. It appears that this large space had been intended for large parties, some of the stuff in the storage even looks like it was left from the construction. Old wilting boxes of tiles and a stack of bricks in one corner. The house, so far, seems quite though it is after 6 so Manny is most definitely home.
Raquel rolls Strength vs 5 for 5 successes.
What normally causes humans to investigate the basement, without automatically bringing firearms? Blown fuses. Household supplies. Teenagers dared to investigate the dark corners... Hmm. The best bet here is a loss of water pressure. That and cold showers after a hot day of work are a nuisance. Raquel crawls over to the contraption of modern plumbing, before grasping the connector between the pipe. She doesn't rush the action: A loud rip would only alarm the inhabitants upstairs. It's a slow twist and the metal and PVC bends and cracks with ease until water bursts free from its confinement. Now, Raquel backs up into the upper corners of the basement while invisible to wait.
Raquel rolls Perception + Alertness vs 6 for 8 successes.
It's not noticed at first. Though after a few minutes and the odd sound coming from the toilet a few people can be heard scrambling around above. No one comes for the basement yet, even as the water starts to pour out onto the cement floor and spread out in a rush to start filling up the basement. It's going to take a bit but Raquel has time. Along with time, Raquel has the ability to notice something unusual happen. The water spreads but against one wall.. hidden by a shadow.. the water doesn't ripple back. It's actually the bubbles that get Roxie's attention. While feet scramble above.. the water seeps through a crack in the bottom of that wall over there.
Eventually, folks upstairs will get the idea that something is amiss in the basement. Raquel -was- going to sneak her way upstairs along with the ceiling through and open door, but the water's travel yielded something much more interesting. She's still wall-crawling around, loathe to touch the floor with hooves just yet, making her way to investigate the curious crack in the wall.
It's still going to be a bit of time before people come downstairs. They're still trying to figure out what the heck is going on. It does sound like there's a commotion though.
The curious crack leads sharp beasty eyes to see a seem in an otherwise perfectly normal cement wall...
Raquel rolls Wits + Investigation vs 6 for 4 successes.
The Bygone crawls over to space in the dark, passing empty light sockets as she maneuvers down to inspect the strange crack in the wall. There she finds the seem and after a few moments of puzzling figures out that all she has to do is push. The wall dips in about a centimeter, a click is heard and springs take over the rest of the action, the wall swings forward about two inches and then slides along the other wall in whisper silence. There the water is currently trickling down a set of stairs that leads down into the pitch black. It smells.. familiar.
Considering the lack of light bulbs, and the secret door in the wall, Raquel almost lets her guard down. Almost. She realizes that once she descends into this underground corridor, the bustling humans upstairs will investigate the basement and find the secret passage. She'll be trapped, but that's never stopped her before. It might even get Eris some wiggle room to hit the upper part of the house if she feels so inclined. Raquel continues her sideways travels down into the pitch darkness that she can see through as clear as day.
The staircase goes down about twenty feet at a slight angle, into subterranean tunnels that are cool and pitch black. The air is dry, other than what is slowly leaking in from the staircase above. The air doesn't feel like it stirs much down here and the tunnel network leads off in all sorts of strange directions. It appears that they link almost directly to some of the local mines in the area and there's definitely a wide tunnel that branches off Northeasterly towards the airport. But the local tunnels hold the familiar scents and leads Raquel off into a large underground chamber that appears to be a huge personal study. Again, she can move through the doors without any hindrance whatsoever. The large office is set up to one side with racks of books, a writing desk and a computer, several 'display' cases with various interesting objects in them. Filing cabinets, large and locked, line the wall behind the desk. Also in this room is a large immaculate looking bed that looks like someone has recently slept on it, though without the use of the coverlet as it is pressed immaculately in place. The scent of blood comes from this room strongly though there are no bodies evident.
Raquel rolls Perception + Investigation vs 6 for 4 successes.
Roxie investigates the desk. She finds a couple of files of 'household expenses', a letterhead that is simply embossed with an M, a rosary and a secret compartment in the top of the desk, a circular inlay of gold and silver in the top of the desk. It turns and Roxie finds a keyring with several keys on it, many of them seem to fir the filing cabinet, but there are at least four other keys that are too large for the cabinets behind her.
Raquel rolls Intelligence + Lore Vampire vs 6 for 2 successes.
Eris rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 6 for 3 successes.
Eris rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 9 for 1 successes.
Great. Vampires. Raquel's acquisition of forbidden knowledges from Pax just enlightened her to how much she shouldn't be here. The spilling water and her scent alone will announce that this place has been breached. But are they working together with Manny outside? Or is he just a pawn? The Bygone sleuth snatches the ring of keys and advances towards the filing cabinets to see if anything of use can be found before she has to leave in a hurry.
Raquel rolls Perception + Alertness vs 6 for 7 successes.
The sneaky thief of a Bygone gets the keys and starts working fast. It's a good thing too because the sounds that echo from above sound like someone shouting that they'd found the leak. Which means it's only a matter of time before she can expect them to find that she's gotten the secret door open.
There are four filing cabinets. She's got to make some hard choices...
Eris rolls 1 (1 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes.
Raquel rolls Perception + Investigation vs 6 for 2 successes.
OH! Time to go! Raquel's choosing the one that her gut settles upon, and the second filing cabinet is slid open with a turning of the key. It's a damn shame that she hadn't brought an accordion folder, or... Hey! She brings out her Bag of Summoning that Pax had created for her, sliding multiple folders worth of potentially damning information inside. Once that's synched up, and the papers essentially being held secure in her own private closet at the Mission, she shuts the drawer and frees the key so that the ring can go with her. Up the wall and clinging to the ceiling she goes, invisible and now waiting to see how the mortals react to this underground freehold.
Eris rolls 7 (7 dice) vs 7 for 2 successes.
Raquel rolls Dexterity + Stealth vs 6 for 6 successes.
What rushes in is a short South American man, his black hair loose and flowing, he wears an old poet-style shirt and a pair of slacks. His feet are bare. His eyes are sharp and brown and his eyes wild and wide. He looks around fervently and a stream of Bolivian pouring from him towards a well dressed looking man with a trimmed goatee and slicked-back hair. He looks on helplessly as the mad-man starts to overturn his office ina fugue of rage, papers and bedding, everything going lying as he hunts for this unseen intruder.
Manny stays /out of the way/, especially when the chair goes flying and breaks on the wall. Raquel, however, remains unseen and therefore ignored as the Malkavian goes apeshit on his haven leaving his ghoul to look on helplessly.
Whelp! It doesn't appear that Raquel will be able to leave by conventional means anytime soon. Eventually, she'll be found out. With a parting insulting move against the Vampire screaming down below (and taking Eris into consideration by not just Pebble of Expeditioning out without her), the normally land-bound Bygone pulls a curious maneuver: Utilizing her platinum claws and innate abilities, she burrows through the ceiling and begins to climb through a hole. It's faster than many other burrowing mammals, but it's still as slow as someone taking a stroll down a city sidewalk. Bits of dust and dirt fall through the air onto the floor and furniture below.
Eris rolls 5 (5 dice) vs 8 for 3 successes.
Eris rolls Perception(4) + Alertness(5) (9 dice) vs 8 for 3 successes.
The raving vampire, thankfully, doesn't notice right away and when he does won't just frenzy and tear his hard-worked for retainer apart. But oh will there be hell to pay.
Roxie emerges from the lawn area and notices that the dogs and guards are all gone. Likely due to the kerfuffle going on inside, as the inside grows louder and more people head inside or away from the house Roxie can -smell- that her plan with the children, and with this new problem with the water pressure.. has become dire. El Paradiso is not so P
Paradiso anymore.
A pale figure drops from a nearby low roof when she spots Raquel emerge from below the earth and is quick to skim across the lawn to join her. "Are we going?" The Raggie asks Raquel with a curious look from eyes that are not her own, then flicks her gaze towards the square. "We'll have to go the umbra route, I think, back to the van. Everyone's suddenly on edge."
Raquel nods hastily, pulling herself out of the Earth with ease. She fiddles with one of her chest pockets, pulling out a rather shiny compact mirror with a little heft from being actual polished metal. She gazes through it and fades from one realm to another. It's then than Eris and Raquel make their grand escape.
Fin
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