2014.09.12:Of Books and Burglaries pt3
| Of Books and Burglaries pt3 | |
|---|---|
| Gangbangers and werewolves, Oh my! | |
| IC Date | Friday |
| IC Time | Just After Sundown |
| Players | Silvester (Storyteller), Silvana, Zeta, Madeline, Sentinel, and Stefhan |
| Location | Prospect |
| Prp/Tp | Of Books and Burglaries |
| Spheres | Vampire |
Log
Det. Carl still looked pensive, "Just the picture right?" he asks wiping his brow like he'd eaten too many peppers as he steps out of the records room with Silvana, opening the file just enough so she gets a good look at the youth, "I still wish I knew what you were interested in him for..." The picture shows a kid, not very big, scrawny 6', African American, on the light skinned side, so possibly mixed, he has a broad nose, short curly hair, eyes set wide apart.
Silvana lightly nibbles on your ear "Trust me, have I ever steared you wrong?.. If you could find something about the First Date what would you like to know?" she nuzzles
Let's begin at the Elysium, the night is still quite young. The sun only recently setting. There's been enough time to 'top up' on blood if need be and for you all to gather.
Silvana is sitting at the Ely awaiting for you sleepy heads to wake up and show up. She is dressed casually and wearing a trenchcoat. She smiles when you start arriving one by one till you all arrive "Well then, I think everyone is here. So we have a lead thanks to Madeline on who are looking for. A young man by the name of Bobby Baller. " she s teps over towards a bag and begins to take out some small devices "We can comunicate with these. So The plan is to find him and bring him in for questioning. I will hear what kind of plans you all have to do this without drawing attention and not causing a gang war." she looks at all of you as she starts to pass out the little ear device, yes it kind of looks like a bluetooth only smaller
Stefhan reaches forward and takes the device Silvana offers. "Thank you" he pleasantly smiles and no doubt he has to fidget with the gadget for a bit but after a little while, he figures it out.
Sentinel moves into the Elysium and moves forward once Silvana offers the device. SHe take it and nods. "Thank you Silvana. And you too Madeline for finding the name. Together, we will stop this madness."
Madeline sips her wine as she listens and accepts a communiation device, nodding when her name is mentioned
Zeta takes the offered device from Silvana with a smile, inspecting it for a moment before fixing it to his ear and taking a seat. Looking around, he nods appreciatively in Madeline's direction, "Well done, Miss Blanchard." Pausing briefly, he looks down at his feet in thought before sitting back up straight, "Ok. So we've got a lead, excellent. We've got options... one, we can tail this kid until we have an opportunity to take him alone. He can't be surrounded by his buddies all night, after all. Two, we can try... well..." Grinning broadly, he continues, "Basically, we work the seduction angle. I figure one of these gangers isn't gonna ask too many questions if he finds himself fortunate to be approached by a beautiful woman... and, well, after that, once the hooks are in and he's in a secluded spot, we put the screws to him. Figuratively speaking, of course."
Madelines delicate brow arches and she smiles at Zeta "whom are you volunteering monseiur?"
Silvana looks towards the others then back to Zeta raising a slight brow "Yes I do per say ask who is it that you suggesting for the job?"
Sentinel offers "I could always trail him, if needed." She says. "People rarely look up and those that do dont have obfuscate."
Stefhan clears his throat for a moment at something Sentinel says, but he keeps his thoughts to himself. Perhaps one of them may not be as impressive as he may seem.
Zeta chuckles, "It'd be presumptuous of me to volunteer anyone, I'm merely offering up some plans of attack. I will say this, though..." He laughs, shaking his head, "Seduction really isn't a strong suit for me." Looking to Sentinel, he nods, "That's another option. We can just wait for this guy to walk himself, alone, into some dark alleyway somewhere. Should be easy enough to take him, then."
Madeline chuckles softly and brushes golden hair behind her ear as she sets down her wine "Does any information on tha man appear on the internet, have we any images of him?
Silvana chuckles softly at Zeta "Oh really, come now I bet you could do really well in a short dress and high heels" she teases then nods to Nell "Good, I was hoping you would suggest that. Once he is located then you will follow him airiel" she looks to Madeline "He is underage so there for there won't be any images of him online, but I know what he looks like" She looks to Stefhan "Please speak up, any bit is helpeful"
Stefhan shrugs and says, "Just noting that not all of us may have perfect abilities to disappear at a whim, that is all Miss Blanchard, and I tend to keep my other skills on a more reserved level for now, but still, I'm anxious to help in anyway possible"
Sentinel nod "Glad to be of service. If I had some sort of recording equipment, I could get video on him as well so others can follow."
Zeta snickers at Silvana, "I think you're giving me too much credit, there." Leaning forward, he clasps his hands together, elbows on his knees as he looks down thoughtfully, "So, we've got an eye in the sky." He nods in Sentinel's direction, "That's extremely helpful..." Looking back to Silvana, he continues, "Can you give us a description?"
Madeline nods "also, should we find the young man and his cronies.. Majesty would certainly cowe them, and Dominate can be used most judiciously
Silvana smiles at Sentinel "That can be easily aquired don't worry about that. Getting how they move and spread out is always good idea" she looks a little thoughtful "A scrawny 6', African American, on the light skinned side, so possibly mixed, he has a broad nose, short curly hair, eyes set wide apart, and not very big obviously"
Silvana will drive the beat up van because you know you have to fit in "Alright so who is going to grab the kid once we have him cornered. I do like Zeta's idea of a girl coming up to him" she teases
With the plan in place, the party departs. Using which ever means works best for them, they arrive at Broadway and Date, or rather a bit away from Broadway and Date to get a look at the area. It's, if anything, more run down than the area by the pawn shop. Mostly shut up and heavily graffitied warehouses. A little ways away from the cross street is an alleyway lit from within by a flickering orange light. Just outside the alley, a young teen paces. His skin a light brown, hair short and curly, his nose broad and his eyes wide apart, about 6' but skinny.
Madeline murmers very quietly into the communication device we were each given "i see three"
Silvana speaks into the device "Nell keep an eye on the people and on the firescapes see if anyone comes out of there"
Zeta smirks, "Loathe as I am to ask either of you ladies to do the deed, it still strikes me as a nice, low-key way of getting the kid in pocket. Shouldn't require too much in the way of flexing, and I'm thinking if we can pull this off with finesse, it's for the best." He all but whispers into the comm device, "If all we're dealing with is just a bunch of street kids, no sense in using... shall we say, more extreme measures?" He squints at the alleyway and shakes his head, "Can't see much more than shadows, so I'll take your word for it."
Sentinel nos "Will do. So far, so good." she says, as she circles above, obfuscate in effect.
Silvana talks into the device "Madeline would you like to give it a try or just stay as a look out?"
Madeline draws a mortal breath to settle herself and glances up at Sentinel, knowing the girl will drop like death if she is in danger. That done, she puts on a bit of a damsel in distress look and heads for the alley "Hello? Is anyone there? My car broke down
Silvana speaks into the comlink "Zeta and Nell keep and eye on that alley and the people there. Madeline be on your guard"
Zeta nods, keeping his voice down as he responds, "I'm on it." He might not have the best vantage point on the ground, but an extra set of eyes never hurts.
As Madeline draws closer, she notices something seems.. off about the youth. His eyes are looking a little wild and he seems to be muttering to himself and audible for Silvana and Madeline, "Leprechauns are ok, they pay well, I don't know why people so scared of leprechauns, fucking racists..." It takes him a moment for his eyes to focus on Madeline, but when they do, he looks around and asks, "W-what do you want?"
Sentinel starts to record what she sees. Empty fire escapes, an open door... she makes out two youths wearing pink in the mouth of the alley, a drum barrel with a fire going and around it bums in a triangle.
Madeline looks behind her a bit nervously and comes to the entrance of the alley "My car broke down.. could I use your phone?" she asks, those helpless sapphire eyes fixed upon the youth "please?"
Within the alleyway, fire escapes climb on either building, the ladders pulled up at the moment. At the alley mouth, two more youths wearing pink are drinking from bottles and talking amongst themselves. Further in the alley is a barrel with a fire going inside two pairs of bums close to the alley mouth on either side of the barrel and beyond it, a gruff looking bum staring beyond the fire out of the alley mouth.
The kid outside the alley looks in at his friends, "Ph-phone?" he asks. Then looks back at Madeline, "I.. phone..?" His gaze seems lost but he's reaching for his back pocket. His friends look over though and grow quiet as they watch Madeline, one finishing his bottle as he eyeballs her.
Silvana is somewhere, the question where did she go is a good one. She is very quiet and sticking to the shadows watching for any signs of trouble.
Zeta sticks to the alleys nearby, back flat against the nearest wall. He looks from side to side furtively, keeping his gaze fixed upon the alleyway in question as often as is possible, all the while trying to avoid arousing any suspicion.
Madeline smiles at the youth and nods, beckoning to him as her eyes meet his "Yes.. please come with me, I will show you"
The youth nods and starts to walk towards Madeline. "HEY! HEY! Don't mess with Bobby! He's not right!" says one of the two in pink defensively, and both women can hear sounds coming from the open door at the top of one of the fire escapes. The two walk closer looking somewhat threatening as they fan to either side of the alley, the one holding his bottle more like a weapon, the other pouring out the last of its contents. "Bobby stay here.." they order, and the boy looks confused, but his feet move towards Madeline.
Silvana speaks very softly into the comlink "Keep moving Madeline, head for the van."
Sentinel relays the information "One heading for vehicle." she doesn't use names in case people are eavesdropping.
Madeline steps back away from the other youths, the dominate in her words and eyes drawing Bobby with her "Oh please, I need your help"
Four more youths step out onto the fireescape from the door, brandishing firearms. The sound of breaking glass follows as both boys shatter their bottles and advance.. not on Madeline, but towards Bobby grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and pulling him back towards the alley. The boys on the fire escape do not point their weapons, they seem to be there more as a show of force... at the moment. "Bobby what are you doing?! You can't just wander off with strangers..." despite their words, Bobby continues to try to do just that, but the two other boys are strong enough to force him back.
Zeta tries his damnedest to keep a low profile. "I'll stay here 'til she's in the van." He says, voice just above a whisper, "When she is, go a couple blocks and I'll meet you there." When the other guys in the alley pull their guns, he winces, but tries to keep his cool, looking away disinterestedly, "They've pulled pieces... but it looks they're aiming at the target."
Madeline murmers into the commnication device 'be ready'
Silvana whispers back "I just need you to have him step far enough away from the two like three to four steps"
Madeline isnt sure she can comply as someone now has the boy by the scruff and is pulling him away
The boys tremble, then seem confused.. They do let go of Bobby, but the way their heads shake it doesn't look like the power went off like it was supposed to... Then a voice deep and gravelly cries out from the back of the alley, "LEECH!!!" and the bum who sat behind the barrel stands, kicking it forward towards the mouth as he grows into something nine-feet tall with pointy claws and big, sharp teeth!
Sentinel flies down, trying to put herself between Madeline and the shifter. She claws at the shifter, trying to distract him with her body. "Run, I've got this!" she snarls, before the shifter takes a huge bite out of her side and left wing. The gargoyle falls.
The wolf hurtles towards Madeline as she turns to flee, and suddenly there's Sentinel, punching him in the nose. With a savage growl he tears into her once, then inky blackness swallows them. Despite the darkness the beast's wild red eyes find the Gargoyle and give her a grievous wound, almost lethal enough to send her to ash. She falls as he turns his attention onto whatever force is lifting away the catatonic boy, Bobby. Waving his hands around the boy, he swats SOMETHING leaving a nasty welt as he readies for a counter attack.
"Shit, we've been made." Zeta mutters urgently into the comm device, trying to get the hell out of dodge as inconspicuously as possible. He moves in the opposite direction of the giant death machine, turns a corner, and then starts to try and circle back toward the van, "I recommend we get the hell out of here... now." At Silvana's urging, he breaks into a sprint, doing his damnedest to get there in time while simultaneously trying to avoid running directly into danger.
Silvana watches and when she sees Madeline not be sucessfull with her plan she grumbles and starts to move to try and grab the boy only to have some shifter scream out Leech and throw fire at Madeline. She purses her lips, yup this was not the plan at all. She sees Nell step in the shifters path and darkness falls over everyone poor bobby is frozen in place and Silvana comes to grab him after poor Nell goes down she hmms well great yup plan to not about to work either she moves the boy towards the end of the darkness "Come get this boy! and just drive away. I'll call you when I need you" hopefully someone comes to the edge so that Sil can pass on the poor boy and come rescue Nell
The gangbangers litterally fall overthemselves to get away, many jumping into the warehouse, the ones on the ground scrambling forward as the darkness overtakes them. Their screams drown in the inky blackness.
Bobby starts to shiver and shudder in the darkness, the skinny kid not seeming to taking well to the drowning shadow..
Madeline RUNS! Channeling her blood as she goes, she stops just short of the van and looks back at the darkness, She doesn't see Nell go down, just hears her cry and then silence... Her body beginning to blur with speed.
Zeta does his best to grab the kid bodily, but it's a bit of a struggle, considering that he and Bobby are roughly the same size and of similar builds. Wincing, he mutters darkly to himself and tries to shift the kid onto his back for a slightly easier carry, and gets his feet moving in the direction of the van as quickly as he's able.
Silvana passes off the kid to Zeta and heads back in distracting the wolf to follow her deeper into the shroud so that he doesn't chase after the van or the other people, mentioning she is going to go back for Nell as the darkness blocking all view is still up and around them.
The Wolf swats again around Bobby trying hard not to injure the poor boy. Again, he connects with ... SOMETHING, but only enough to make her stagger. Then when Bobby is gone, he's there alone in the darkness, he swings at nothing, then he senses SOMETHING growing up around him in the blackness, and he swipes at two inky things that disolve under his claws.
Madeline concentrates, vanishing to a ghostlike whisper. She then channels her blood as six tentacles rise up unseen in the darkness around Silvana and the beast. Two are closer to Nell, feeling for her and guiding her out to where the hyper speed, Madeline runs in and grabs her before dashing back out to the van, opening the door and throwing the body in.. A body is good, dust is bady... She looks to Zeta as she moves to get in herself.adeline concentrates, vanishing to a ghostlike whisper. She then channels her blood as six tentacles rise up unseen in the darkness around Silvana and the beast. Two are closer to Nell, feeling for her and guiding her out to where the hyper speed, Madeline runs in and grabs her before dashing back out to the van, opening the door and throwing the body in.. A body is good, dust is bady... She looks to Zeta as she moves to get in herself.
The gangmembers barely escape the shroud, still running, gasping for breath, their eyes are wild and unseeing as they just keep running.
The savage beast swipes at one of the winding tentacles but misses, then takes another swing, tearing into the blackness but not destroying it. In the muffled darkness he snarls and snaps his lips going to continue swinging violently as his back is to the hidden woman with the sword.
Zeta juggles Bobby on his back as he hoofs to to the back of the van, freeing up a hand to open the back before leaning forward to dump the kid in as gently as he can manage. Instead of moving around to the passenger doors, he just climbs in behind the kid and pulls the doors shut, slumping down into a seated position. "Get in, and let's get the hell out of here." He mutters into the comm device, eyes closing as he thumps the back of his head against the side of the van. Looking down at the unconscious human, he sets his jaw, "Better hope this shitbird is worth all that trouble..."
Madeline jumps in the drivers seat and revs the engine, she hears nothing from Silvana and is worried. But the shroud she summoned is still there so she's PROBABLY alright. She does the only thing she can think of and makes the tentacles wiggle and flop, drawing the beast's attention
Silvana must of been a lot more mad than she was expecting because when she swings at the shifter she connects and stabs rather hard taking down the beast all ine one swing. She let's out a slow breath as she looks down at the beast and closes her eyes. She was obviously expecting a fight because she prepared for one and didn't even get one. She looks towards where the fire was or is "Get the kid safe. I'll meet you later" she turns off the microphone part of the comlink before she picks up the fallen beast and moves to that fire and she has all kinds of darkness to hide whatever she is doing.
Brings-the-light reverted to a grisled old human in bums clothes the second his life left him. Silvana has an easy time lifting him. The fire is the one thing the darkness cannot touch.
Madeline doesn't wait, stepping on the gas she goes, unsure if Silvana will really be alright or not. As the other turns off her headset, she looks slightly worried.
Zeta just keeps himself tight against the side wall of the van, bringing his knees up to his chest, forehead pressed against them. He sighs deeply before looking up toward Madeline in the driver's seat, "Alright... we got somewhere we can stash this kid? We're gonna need good security... let him come to, and then go at him soft. If he won't talk, well... then we might have to try again.
Silvana looks around the area that she's at just slowly looking before putting her hand on the bum and closing her eyes and seeming to concentrate on something and she doesn't even have to worry because the darkness stay since she's in it.
Silvana feels a sharp sense of loneliness and desparation. She can see the man, people shying away from him, watching over them. Some of them mocking, some of them afraid. But under it is a sense of purpose made manifest when he sensed a power of the things he's hunted for years in a woman at the end of the alley and then RAGE!
Silvana sighs softly feeling that sadness. She bows her head as she speaks in gaelic and actually says a small prayer for the fallen shifter, probably why she turn the mic part of the comlink off. She then picks the man up and puts him in the fire after the prayer, not quite a river or a pyro but best she can do given what she has to work with. She whipes her sword and looks around at where the gangster scattered too and still being hiden in darkness she goes to take a peek since they seem to be gathering here.
The gangsters are gone.. It's not a pretty sight, their panic was deep and severe. One looks to have jumped from the second story from the looks of the broken boxes beneath the railing. The bums are gone too.. they split sideways from the wolf as frightened as anyone else.
Silvana slowly walks in taking a look around to see if there is anything important of value.
Silvana can hear what is being said because the others haven't turned off the comlink "Take him to the casino, use the back entrance. I will be along in a bit" she then turns the thing back off dang she doesn't even sound wounded or unwinded
The warehouse doesn't seem so much a club house as more just a place for a few people to hang. There's empty beer bottles, a deck of cards and not much else.. any money or guns went with the panicked gangbangers.
Madeline drives Bobby, Nell and Zeta out into the desert to the casino, pulling up around back.
Silvana moves to gently touch the playing cards closing her eyes and just concentrating for a little bit getting a feel of the people that last held them not like she hopes to find the book
Sentinel just enjoy her nap. right now its hard to tell if shes alive or undead, but shes not ash so thats a good sign.
"Yeah, got it." Zeta responds over the comms. The rest of the ride to the casino, he doesn't say a word. Every so often he glances down at Bobby, then off at nothing in particular, and shakes his head. When the van stops, he throws open the doors and gets out before grabbing up the kid's unconscious body and hauling him into the back entrance of the casino.
"I tell you something's off with Bobby.. I dunno what happened but he's been talking Leprechauns ever since... Ahh shit, Carlos is cheating!" The feelings shift through Silvana from worry to frustration and then are gone.
Madeline helps as best she can, surprisingly strong as she carries Nell inside.
Meanwhile Bobby seems to be coming around, "Wh-where am I?" he asks as Silvana's servants guide him into a place few would recognize expecially as a Casino.
Silvana did her thing whatever that was, finding just little pointless clues or maybe rather importan onc who knows. She hears taht the kid is waking up and heads back having already calling for a car. She puts up some stuff to keep an eye on the corner. When she is inside the car and out of the possibly of someone seeing her then the shroud drops and things go back to what they once where.
- ------
Silvana checks her camera in the pawn shop.
On the camera you see the tall blond man come out early. The kid looks suprised, apparently not realizing anyone else was in there. The man nods to the kid then steps out from behind the back area and leaves out the front.
Silvana is using her ability to hide in plain sight (obfus) and being mindful of who is about she very gently picks the lock of the store so she can slip in without being hopefully noticed.
The door pops open lightly. If there are any eyes on the street at that time they don't notice. The place is DARK. No light except that which comes in from the open door. The door into the inner area is more tightly locked, probably because there are cameras inside and the lock's less likely to be cut.
Silvana checks for any security wire or of the door has a security plate, she also looks at the floor before stepping in and closing the door behind her and locking in case someone comes back. Ah the next door to pick.
Again, it takes a while and its likely the camera is watching you as you pick the locks, but it comes open and you're able to slip into the bulletproof area. The back door seems to be unlocked.
Silvana is very carefull not to look up and she is wearing dark clothes so. She heads quietly into the back and looks around trying to see what she can find. Hopefully find also where the camera is feeding into.
In the back room is a bit of a messy place, by the computer is a pack of matches, unused, for the 'Core' danceclub. The computer is easy enough to figure out, even better there's a way to set it up so that it looks like the cameras were turned off right around the time, the blond left. Browser history shows an eclectic view of news websites and one recurring visit to the "Core" nightclub page. Also, Silvana can see in the store's cameras that the man left to the left. She is also are able to confirm Madeline's statements regarding a corpse locked securely in one of the cupboards with an uncanny resemblance to the man that walked out just hours ago. The smell is rather... awful, and the air tight seal on the cabinet seems well used.
Silvana checks to see what news exactly the man was looking for to try and figure out what he was looking for exactly in those articles and why the Core nightclub page. She also checks the feed to see how much of the camera footage is on there and how far back it goes.
There seems to be a chunk missing about three weeks ago and beyond. The news articles are well and truly random, current events, politics, foreign press.. with no common topic to join them.
Silvana takes a rather deep breath and hmms a bit "Let's see do you know what your doing?" she begins to dig into the computer because you knwo you just don't delete and think it's gone stuff still gets stored in there unless your some computer wiz and know where exactly to look, so she's looking in those places in hopes the guy isn't that computer savy.
It looks like there's a new harddrive... Not the neatest way to handle it.. but it explains why you can't find anything from further back than that...
You can make out the blond man shaking his head at the boy about something, nodding about something and looking at the boy carefully, The boy's head shakes his head slightly, not in a no response.. in something else, then he nods slowly as the blond slides the stuff from the slot down into a drawer infront of him and the boy is zipping up his backpack.
As Silvana runs her fingers over the keyboard and mouse, the disjointed sensations that come flooding off the computer are disturbing and rapid. Murders, blood, eyes, dead bodies in the news, bunny rabbits, knives, a dance club, an office in back, a circular table in a dark boardroom, an old paper mill, screaming heads, Kermit the Frog. As her hand moves away a song that was playing through the experience linger. 'I'm going.. slightly mad... I'm going.. slightLy mad...'
Silvana takes a slow deep breath as she tries to piece things together. She looks around looking as if she is missing something that there is a clue somewhere in here and she's just missing it.
Silvana also finds employee records.. not much of them. But she does get Cathy's last name, Smith. From there her own computer is able to help her go down DMV records and find someone that matches Cathy's description thus finally getting Cathy's address.
Silvana opens herself up to the madness, "The return again and again to the Core, where the vamp met Mellow Jack, where he visits the website and the matches and the image you had of a back office all seem to speak of a haven or at least a regular hangout.. Also, you get just HINTS that the news stories and the internal music join together to show something.. greater.. MUCH larger.. but you can't make it out.. it's like you're looking at the corner piece of a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle."
