(IC III) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Bennosuke]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the line does not pick up, but nor does it go to voicemail. Even less surprising, Karl's phone begins to ring within a minute; the call coming from The Prince's childe, Tony. "Good evening Karl," he says flatly, his voice being broadcast via speakerphone, "We were informed that the night's business is taken care of."

[Daishain]

Karl keeps driving, "It has, but it was more of a mess than I would have liked. The ghouls Nova brought left behind all sorts of potential traces, and she killed an innocent unnecessarily. Cleaning this up could be problematic."

[Bennosuke]

There is a short pause before Tony replies, and when he does there is a poorly hidden touch of frustration. "Noted," he replies, "What potential traces? And please tell me things were... taken care of in total?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna

“We killed all the Brujah and everyone else there, if that’s what you’re asking,” Anna said, “we didn’t actually comb through the place though since it was on fire and the emergency response was on the way. There are shell casings everywhere, and we didn’t see the body of the gas station attendant, no idea how he was killed.”

“Karl took care of the surveillance though, so at least there’s that,” Anna added.

[Daishain]

"The most likely issue would be the casings left behind. The ghouls weren't being careful, so I very much doubt they avoided leaving fingerprints on them. Tried to get the group to quickly clean them up, but Nova had them peel out first. Just three pairs of hands weren't enough to sweep the area before emergency services arrived." Karl thinks back to how else this could go wrong,

"They also parked pretty close to the site off the road, a good investigator might be able to use the tire tracks to trace back to the truck they were using if it was seen on cameras heading to or from there. I suggest getting someone to edit its registry or perhaps backdate a stolen vehicle report, and then make the vehicle itself disappear."

"It is also worth mentioning that not all of the Brujah known to be in that group were present. This may or may not actually be an issue. The missing pair were leaders that kept the others in check, advising them to avoid violating the laws of our city among other things. I consider it likely that if they are not already dead, they were cut off from the rest and not complicit in the killings, but I cannot guarantee that without looking into the matter a little more."

[Bennosuke]

"Christ, you guys really don't get along," Tony says with a very mortal frustration that should be uncharacteristic for a vampire with his level of authority, but is perhaps not too surprising. "Look, I get what you are saying," he says steadying his voice, "but wouldn't it be far more suspicious if there were no prints and no casings left behind? Trust me, I don't love relying on the Rabble this much either, but Nova's good, she knows what she is doing. Her ghouls are mostly recruited from a couple of street gangs out of Oakland, and I'm sure their gear is chosen accordingly. We'll throw some money at this and put pressure and spin in the right places to make sure this gets pegged as gang violence and not much more. MS-13 was there as well, right?" He pauses for a long moment, perhaps trying to collect himself, but when he does there is a hurried nature in his voice, "I get it that things were not ideally managed, but that's the nature of blood hunts. We can bring this to the public and show that it was taken care of; that's what matters! I'll speak with my Sire, and we'll do what we can to sew up any minor breaches in The Masquerade. But The Prince chose your Coterie for Hounds because he believes in your ability to get the job done, and to keep an eye on Nova. We need her, and we need you to work with her, and reign her in when you can. Just... just do your best with it god damn it!"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Wow, this guy was under some pressure... she needed to calm him down.

“Tony. It’s ok,” Anna said, “thanks to Karl’s plan, we wasted three Brujah with no casualties. Tonight’s a win, a big one. Yeah it could have been cleaner but the way I see it, it’s better for the Prince to know the risks so he can be prepared in case we need to cover anything up, than for him to get blindsided later. Whether or not anything needs to be done or we’re just going to wait and see, well, that’s up to him right?”

“Also, Nova _did_ agree to go along with the plan instead of just kicking down the door, so maybe we _can_ steer her from time to time,” Anna said.

Spoiler

Show

trying to get on Tony’s good side here and get him to see Anna as more of an ally.
Presence + expression (4d10)[10][4][2][8](24)
Bonus dice if you want to add any for saying what he wants to hear: (4d10)[4][9][3][9](25)
10 again: (4d10)[5][3][7][1](16)

[Daishain]

"Nine, nine brujah, just because six weren't strong enough to get out of the initial fireball don't forget about them. And yeah, we're mainly concerned with making sure we're prepared in advance to handle the fallout from this affair, rather than reacting to whatever the kine investigators find."

[Bennosuke]

"Thank you," Tony says with clear relief, leaving a small pause before adding softly "Anna... and Karl."

Aisling chimes in from the back seat, "Don't forget about me!"

"Oh, and you too Aisling!" Tony says quickly. He takes an all to mortal sigh of relief before adding, "This will do just fine. I suppose we will also have to be on the look out for any retaliation... assuming there's any Bruja left to retaliate. If you can, keep you're... finger on the pulse of things. Let us, AND Nova know if you catch any signs of trouble."

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“Sure thing Tony,” Anna said, “let’s go hunting one of these nights.”

She sent a Pulse to Nova: Congrats, 9 dead Brujah and no casualties. Is there going to be a celebration?

[Daishain]

Karl keeps driving, they still needed to discuss the other issues, but as long as the prince was made aware in advance of the practical problems, the rest could wait. It certainly wouldn't help to bring Nova's attitude problems up when Tony was already getting the impression that they were whining.

[Bennosuke]

"Oh sure, sure," Tony says in an almost distracted manner, "let's definitely do that one of these nights. Anyways, anything else? Sun is coming soon, and I've got more business to take care of before I can go to bed."

There is a delay before Nova's reply comes back, "Maybe another night! Good work anyway."

[Daishain]

Karl looks to Anna and Aisling for confirmation before replying, "I believe that is all, at least for this night."

[Thundercracker]

Anna replied to Nova with a few fire emojis and a thumbs up.

“Yeah, can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow,” Anna replied sarcastically.

[Bennosuke]

Act 4 Scene iv

"Night is real. Night is not an absence of light, but in fact, it is daytime that is a brief respite from the looming darkness..."

-Guillermo Del Toro, The Strain


Karl was awoken by the sudden awareness that someone else was in his room. The Beast's hackles immediately rose, his brain and body suddenly flooded with both terror and anger. He felt the presence more than he saw it, knew not where this other one was.

It was dark in the room, not that it truly mattered, but as he pulled himself from his torpid slumber, Karl caught the red reflective eyes staring at him. "I'm... so hungry," Gabe muttered from the corner of the room, "I... I didn't realize I could feel so hungry. It's like my heart is so empty, burning with hunger, like I am starving to death. Let's hunt..."

Instinctively Karl checked the time by whatever mechanism was available to him in the room. 5:30PM; still early, perhaps the sun had only just set. He had about an hour and a half maybe before he had to be at the airport to pick up Frank. Karl was hungry... but it might be cutting it close going out for a feed if Gabe was slow or bumbled too much.

************************************************** ************

Anna's waking was far less startling, there was no one in her room watching her. She had the luxury of not having any single pressing thing. But as Anna began her day, a text message from Katie popped up on her phone, "Hey did you get my email? My mom says I can stay at your place!"

Anna remembered her offer via email the night before (OOC: See page 5 of this thread), where she had offered to let her cousin stay at her old haven for a bit. Perhaps Anna would have to do some cleaning of the place before letting Katie in, make it more... suitable for a mortal.

If Anna checks her emails, she sees that Katie had sent a reply email in the morning, while Anna had slumbered. The email reads, "Hey Ann,

It sounds like I can stay at your place. Just let me know and I'll pack some things up. I really appreciate it. I need to get out of the house if you know what I mean. Anyway, let me know, maybe we could hang out a little bit too? I know it sounds stupid, but I need to talk to someone about everything. TTYL.

-Katie"

Spoiler: OOC@ All

Show

Deduced blood points for waking and for healing, both characters now at 6/10

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“You can come over in about 90 mins, if you don’t mind a little mess. Better eat first too, I haven’t gone shopping in a while,,” Anna replied to Katie, “of course we can hang.”

In the meantime, Anna heads to the Rack for a hunt to temporarily slake her thirst.

[Bennosuke]

Katie's text comes almost immediately, "Great. See you soon. Thank you so much!"

(OOC: As always, give me a roll appropriate to how you see Anna hunting, +2 if Anna is going out to the rack. Let me know if there is anything in particular she is looking for, though if you get too specific I might start applying negative modifiers)

[Thundercracker]

Anna wanted to avoid getting into any scuffles in case Katie was early, so she went to a bar in the Rack to see if she could find someone looking for company who would make a quick feed. The Thirst was making itself known quite insistently after the previous night's exertions, so she won't be very picky about where: back alley, public restroom, shady motel, it was all the same to her.

Spoiler

Show

presence + socialize +2: (7d10)[8][1][10][5][4][3][8](39)
10 again: (7d10)[2][4][8][10][8][8][3](43)

[Daishain]

Karl gets up, slowly, deciding not to comment on the intrusion, this time. "I was planning on that already, there were some exertions last night that drained me. We should talk as well, if you have not heard the meeting I left you for turned into a rather consequential matter."

As he's getting dressed for a quick hunt he states, "We will need to complete this hunt quickly. I'm due to pick up Fred in about an hour and a half. Speaking of whom. I hate having to ask this, but do I need to worry about you causing trouble for him?"

[Bennosuke]

Anna heads straight to Temple Dragon, the second floor dive bar in China Town that served as a hunting ground for the San Francisco Ordo. Newt, the Vietnamese ghoul with a thinning black combover was running the bar. But this early in the evening, there was only one patron, a young man with a sharp jaw and sharper eyes that jumped from his drink to the door when Anna entered. His face was flushed from the clear spirit he was drinking, the stench of vodka reached Anna's nose from across the room. If she watched TV regularly, perhaps Anna would have recognized his face from a commercial; he certainly looked like he belonged in television.

Though Newt gave Anna a nod and a smile when she entered, the boy at the bar was up on his feet, trying his best to give her a winning grin. "Welcome," he said with a flourish of his hand, as if he were about to give her a stage dive, "uh, come here. Come, sit here and have a drink; on me of course." Newt was doing his best to hide the grin that spread across his wormy face.

(OOC: Again, prey randomly chosen via the V5 core book)

************************************************** **********

Gabe moans when Karl finishes, as if his words were giving the fledgeling a splitting headache. "Oh, no I didn't hear about it. How could I have?" he says, one hand clawing at his skull as he crosses the room to Karl's "bed" till he can place his other hand on his Sire's. Grasping Karl's shoulder, he pulls as if trying to lead Karl to the door. "Let's go, you can tell me as we go. Let's feed. I need to. I need to feed."

Karl could see that his childe was struggling with his Hunger. It was not uncommon for fledgelings to burn through blood quickly, going into withdrawal and even risking Frenzy regularly; and it looked like Gabe was very very close to the edge. His face was deathly pale, his eyes bagged, dark and shattered in lines of spidery red vessels.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna made an almost imperceptible nod to Newt as she entered, then stopped when the young man addressed her. She looked at him for a moment as if deciding, then slowly moved towards the bar. She forced blood through her veins to make her appearance less frightening, and the effort made her even thirstier. She pushed the Beast down.

Patience, soon we will feed.

“A drink? Well I definitely need one,” she said, “what do you suggest?”

She will drink and encourage him to drink more before suggesting they move to the back, where she’ll ask him to close his eyes for a nice surprise.

Anna will take 4 from this relatively healthy guy and then go excuse herself to the restroom where she will puke up the alcohol.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Anna made an almost imperceptible nod to Newt as she entered, then stopped when the young man addressed her. She looked at him for a moment as if deciding, then slowly moved towards the bar. She forced blood through her veins to make her appearance less frightening, and the effort made her even thirstier. She pushed the Beast down.

Patience, soon we will feed.

“A drink? Well I definitely need one,” she said, “what do you suggest?”

She will drink and encourage him to drink more before suggesting they move to the back, where she’ll ask him to close his eyes for a nice surprise.

Anna will take 4 from this relatively healthy guy and then go excuse herself to the restroom where she will puke up the alcohol. Then if he’s still in the bar area or hanging around, she’ll tell him he doesn’t look so good and suggest he head home to sleep off whatever is bothering him.

Plenty of time to get home to meet her cousin.

[Bennosuke]

Anna made an almost imperceptible nod to Newt as she entered, then stopped when the young man addressed her. She looked at him for a moment as if deciding, then slowly moved towards the bar. She forced blood through her veins to make her appearance less frightening, and the effort made her even thirstier. She pushed the Beast down.

Patience, soon we will feed.

“A drink? Well I definitely need one,” she said, “what do you suggest?”

The man's winning smile is replaced for just a moment with a small hungry grin, and it takes him a moment to compose himself. Turning up the charm, the man says, "Oh, well a grey goose and soda." He turns his attention to Newt momentarily and without waiting for Anna's reply, repeats the order. "On me," he says very proudly, sliding back onto his stool and inviting Anna to join him. Assuming Anna joins him, the man leans over and introduces himself. "I'm Carlos Guerrera," he says, as if expecting Anna to recognize the name, "and you are...?"

(OOC: Want to RP through this a little; trying to not let feeding scenes just become about "refueling" if you know what I mean)

[Daishain]

Karl nods, it seems he wouldn't be getting through to Gabe, not really, until he'd slaked his thirst. "Then let's go. Its a little early for the really drunk, lets head for the stores. Plenty of tired but healthy young men and women closing up and thinking of little other than getting home."

Karl leads the way, heading for local shops that he knows are closing up at about this time, looking for employees locking the places down.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Using obfuscate to mingle around such an area and pick someone off, so wits+stealth? (5d10)[10][2][5][4][1](22)
ten again (5d10)[7][2][2][6][5](22)

[Thundercracker]

The man's winning smile is replaced for just a moment with a small hungry grin, and it takes him a moment to compose himself. Turning up the charm, the man says, "Oh, well a grey goose and soda." He turns his attention to Newt momentarily and without waiting for Anna's reply, repeats the order. "On me," he says very proudly, sliding back onto his stool and inviting Anna to join him. Assuming Anna joins him, the man leans over and introduces himself. "I'm Carlos Guerrera," he says, as if expecting Anna to recognize the name, "and you are...?"

(OOC: Want to RP through this a little; trying to not let feeding scenes just become about "refueling" if you know what I mean)

Anna Wu

"Tia," Anna replied with a small smile that she let fade as she looked a little closer.

"Hey... did I see you on TV?" she asked.

[Bennosuke]

Gabe follows Karl out of their haven, moving like a man in a fugue. Karl drives them out towards The Central Richmond, where there are a number of small shops and cafes that would be likely to be closing. The neighborhood was traditionally Russian and Chinese, but of late there were more young white kids looking to capitalize on the slightly cheaper apartments in the area.

Gabe was not well off. His face was damp, and mottled purple, red and pale. The neonate was clearly having trouble learning how to fully master The Blood, and had been burning through it playing with The Blush of Life. Sweat beaded on Gabe's brow, as he stared out the passenger side window darkly at the passing city lights. He looked like a man in the midst of a bad fever, or perhaps a heroine withdrawal.

It took an irritating amount of time till Karl found what he was looking for, made worse by the frequent moans and anxious glances that Gabe kept giving him. But finally, they passed a small book store on the corner of a side street, where a young woman was locking up. She was likely Chinese, likely in high school, dressed in an oversized pink hoody and torn designer jeans. When Karl and Gabe passed by, the lights of the bookstore were still on, but the sign on the door had been flipped to "closed", and the girl inside seemed to be finishing up the job of shelving a few books on a cart. She did not see the two vampires watching her from the other side of the shop window.

"She looks... perfect," Gabe moaned, his hands pressed against the glass as he watched with languid hunger. "I'm so so hungry Karl. I... can I have her?" His pink tongue snuck across his teeth, fangs already protracted.

************************************************** *************

"Nice to meet you Tia," the man says excitedly, clinking his glass to Anna's. Her question clearly excites and flatters Carlos, who replies, "You did? Ya, you did! I uh, I've been in a couple of Axe Body Spray commercials recently." He lifts up an arm to pose while flexing an only mildly impressive bicep for Anna.

As Anna works her mark, she catches Newt's eye, who nods his head towards the hall way that led to the bathrooms. They were single stall rooms that locked and had been specially sound proofed for just such occasions. He gives Anna a sad nervous smile, before disappearing through the double doors that lead from the bar to the kitchen.

[Thundercracker]

Anna watched Newt go then turned back to Carlos.

“He must really trust us to leave us alone with the bar,” she said.

After Carlos responds she’ll smile (or laugh) and say: “hmm ok. I need to run to the ladies’ first, I’ll be right back.”

Once there, she’ll fiddle with the door then call back out to the bar.

“Carlos, do you think you could help me with this lock?” she asked, “I can’t figure it out.”

[Bennosuke]

Anna watched Newt go then turned back to Carlos.

“He must really trust us to leave us alone with the bar,” she said.

Carlos looks over his shoulder to see the bar empty, his eyes lighting first with surprise, then with devilish excitement. "He must," Carlos says excitedly, eyes darting from the unattended bar to the kitchen doors, then back again. He gives Anna a wink, before leaning across the bar to grab the bottle of Grey Goose, and a pair of shot glasses and pour them each a dram of the toxic clear liquid. Passing the shot to Anna almost forcefully, Carlos says, "Cheers" pounding his shot if/when she does.

After Carlos responds she’ll smile (or laugh) and say: “hmm ok. I need to run to the ladies’ first, I’ll be right back.”

Once there, she’ll fiddle with the door then call back out to the bar.

“Carlos, do you think you could help me with this lock?” she asked, “I can’t figure it out.”

Carlos watches Anna walk off, eyes hungry, letting her see him scarfing her body with his eyes. When Anna calls him, Carlos comes dutifully sauntering to the bathroom. His face is now flush, his eyes glassy with intoxication. "Jeeze, you already a little tipsy," he says, attempting to neg his quarry, "Or is there something else I can help you with?" Almost reflexively, Carlos' hand slides down the front of his pants, patting his filling crotch.

[Daishain]

Karl looks around once more before replying, "Yes, but only if you go slow. Feed the beast slowly, don't let it feed itself. This one should not die because you were too eager. Look for the dark places away from the cameras, and take her there. Focus and go slow, and you will know what to do."

The mekhet was frustrated, it had taken too long to find this one already, chances are he wouldn't find another before he had to meet Fred, but denying Gabe now for his own feeding seemed a good way to make it more likely that he'll go into a frenzy and cause all sorts of problems.

[Bennosuke]

"I thought you said we do not have to worry about cameras," Gabe responds almost reflexively, a hint of the man's old sharp mind breaking through the fugue of hunger. But he shakes his head, catching his insolence before Karl can even reply and says quickly, "I'll... I'll be careful." He opens the store door, a bell tinkling as he enters.

The girl looks up from her work, but as the door closes, Karl cannot hear what she says. Gabe puts his hands up, showing he means no harm, though again, Karl can only imagine what lie the man was spinning. Lowering one hand, Gabe points to the back of the store, and the girl nods, as if in understanding. She points as well, and then after giving Gabe one hesitant look, begins to walk briskly towards the back. Gabe follows, and then the two are out of sight.

Karl waits for what seems like too long. And only when he is about to rush into the shop does Gabe return. The man's eyes are wide, his face healthy. The mottled pallour is gone from Gabe's countenance, and there is a lively kick to his step. "I'm... sorry that took so long. I feel much better," he says apologetically, trying to give Karl a warming smile.