The Forgotten: Nine

Jones chooses a suitably dark alley to bring the Lawrence vampire down, hard, cracking his skull.

Stewart acts nonchalant.

"Seems to me it's time your city came under new management. Do you have any loyalty to Barrett and his people?"
"Not really," David shrugs, "but I do care about the people that'll get hurt in the fight."
"Of course, of course. That's why I want to make sure there's a peaceful transition."

Jones arrives, holding the semi-conscious vampire up by the collar, dropping him at Stewart's feet.

"Good luck with that..." Mia says.
"So why now?" Samuel asks.
"Because of you and yours." Stewart looks up from the wounded vampire to Samuel. "A Tremere murdered. Only a matter of time before someone responds."

The Lawrence vampire stirs, broken bone clicking back into place.

"And what's your part in this?" Jones asks in a low growl.
"That fucker Barrett's got t' go. Banned me from making a childe. She's dead because of him."

Jessica, who has been listening at a safe distance until now, looks up. "Everybody's mad at everybody else. Why? You're far enough away that he wasn't your problem until you started making trouble for him in Lawrence."

Stewart peers at Jessica.

"It isn't always hidden agendas with us, child. Sometimes it's just what it looks like. Wait long enough and every vampire makes enemies, it's just a question of which ones. I believe he exiled your sire?" he adds with a glance to David. "And let yours die..." he says to Samuel.

Mia tuts.

"Well, you've had a man on the inside for a while now. Maybe a woman on the outside as well."
"And a few more sneaking around as well..." Jones adds.

Mia notices that Stewart hides a momentary look of surprise.

"Or don't you?"
"There are bound to be other interested parties."

Mia squares up to him.

"How about this... You don't invade until we know who else is planning to."

Stewart shrugs lightly.

"Good enough." Mia spins on her heel and heads for the door. The others manage to follow her out quickly enough that they look like they're in agreement.

"So what now?" Samuel asks as they head for the cars. "Find this other one Jones has been tracking?"
"It's a start." Mia shrugs. "I just want to know everybody who'd playing this little game."

...

They head back to Lawrence, and find the Vault is closed, one of its windows smashed.

And Grey comes out of a nearby cafe to meet them. "So... Lake's dead. Mac and Bats are on the run and Danni's in torpor. How was your night?"

You're The Only Thing Worth Dying For: Four

Vampire: The Requiem

You're The Only Thing Worth Dying For

Four: Come a little bit closer

One
Two
Three


"Do you want to dance?"

He held her hand lightly and stepped towards the dancefloor, and she went with him.

Something fast... then something slow, and she moved closer, showing that she could be in his arms if he wanted. He hesitated, then put a hand on her mid back.

She looked up into his eyes.

"Have you ever..." She paused.
"Ever...?" he asked, thinking of good and bad possibilities.
"Been with a... uh, someone, since?"

He shook his head. Troubled, but nearly hiding it.

"Well, I haven't been with a guy since I got here either." She smiled, trying to lighten things. He chuckled, slightly.

The song changed to something different, and she was still in his arms.

After a lingering moment, she blinked and smiled shyly. "We should... head back."

He nodded, and led her away from the dancefloor and back to her friends. They took her to get drinks.

"So he seems nice... Caitlyn suggested.
"He is, yeah."
"Are there any more like him?" Gemma smiled slyly.
"Not as such."

She glanced around, looking for the other woman, the other vampire.

The party continued, and Caitlyn got a chance to grill Michael like an attentive chaperone. Sarah rescued him before too long.

"She's very fond of you."
"Yeah, she's great."

It was nearing midnight.

"I guess you've got things to do..." she said quietly.
"I suppose so. I could walk you back to your room?"

She wondered if his lips would be warm.

The Forgotten: Eight

The coterie meet early the next night, away from the Vault.

"Lake said my sire knew about the attacks." Samuel grimaces.
"Was he ever around Lewiston?" Mia asks.
"Not that I know of."
"Everything else seems to point there," David adds.
"Road trip?" Jessica asks.

Jones shrugs. "Makes a change from running after them."

They head over in two cars, David driving Jessica and Mia in one, Jones driving Samuel in the other. Mia gets to see the Harpers' familial warmth. Samuel gets to use his phone in peace.

...

Finding an address supplied by Mia's sire, they find their way to a club near the city college, and to a vampire who, on noticing them, nods for them to meet her outside.

"You're from Lawrence?"
"We are." Jones looms.
"Just here to ask questions." Mia puts a hand on his arm, and smiles at their new friend disarmingly.
"Good. Because there's not enough town for four more of us." The vampire peers at Jessica curiously. Jessica looks away uncomfortably and the vampire smiles slightly.
"Is that why our kind of people keep coming over to Lawrence?" David asks, pulling her attention back.
"They hear your boss is weak. Something about the bookish types getting in trouble."

Jones looks at Samuel before he can stop himself.

"... Anyway, you know how rumors start." The stranger shrugs lightly. "The one you want to talk to would be Stewart." She opens her purse - slowly as she notices the group watching - and writes an address on a slip of paper. "Danton works for him."

...

The address leads to an all-night cafe across the campus.

There are no vampires inside.

"Set-up?" Jones growls.
"Or maybe..." Mia approaches one of the baristas, flashes a smile and a tip and a little Presence."Yes, seems he's here fairly often. Not the last couple of nights, though."
"Maybe I can catch his scent." Jones breathes in deeply. "Maybe."

He leads them to one of the college's library buildings. And two other vampires. One is apparently Stewart. The other is a familiar face from the Vault.

The Lawrence vampire makes a run for it.

Jones gives chase.

Stewart backs up, hands raised, as David and Mia approach.

The Forgotten: Seven

Danton approaches Mia and asks her to dance. She takes his hand and lets him guide her out onto the dance floor.

"This is a coincidence. My friend David has a new dance partner from out of town as well."
"Well, it is a party."
"One with the prince in attendance."
"More an issue for her than for me, I'd think."

Jessica sees Monica approach, offering her a glass of champagne. They watch David with Grey and Mia with Danton.

"Should I intervene?" Monica asks.
"Maybe?" Jessica says, not sure how to respond.

...

Samuel heads out to the balcony to find Jones. The Gangrel looks over.

"My 'friend' tells me the city's going to fall."
"Seems everybody has one except me. Hmph." Samuel nods inside, where Jones sees Monica walking up to Mia and Danton.
"Somebody's backing them. Making sure they get here, they feel safe showing their faces."
"Lewiston's close enough that they could run if they have to."
"Maybe we should see if they do that."

...

Danton smiles politely as Monica cuts in. Mia steps away, to Jessica at the sidelines.

"Are they working together?"
"He made it sound like they aren't."

Mia looks over at Grey still in David's arms, her eyes narrowing just a little.

"Uh, there is someone we could ask," Jessica suggests, and Mia looks back to her and softens.

...

Samuel heads out with Jones to the Vault. The club's Halloween party is more about two-for-one shots of something a disgusting green color.

They find Lake, Mac and Danni there.

"So, what's the deal with you and Grey?" Samuel gets right to it.
"Why, you think she's cute?"
"She seems to think that way about David."

Lake's smile slips.

"It's strictly business. The big boys are gonna fight, we make sure nobody we care about gets hurt."
"That doesn't necessarily include you," Mac adds.

Jones looms over him.

"Just tell us what's really happening."
"Do you think they even know?" Samuel snorts.

Mac jumps to his feet, up in Samuel's face.

"Oh, we know plenty, Draco. You'll see."

Lake puts a hand on Mac's arm, and he turns and snarls at him before stepping it down.

"I'm not gonna pretend we know everything. But I know some of it's already started."

Lake looks at Samuel pointedly.

"Your sire knew about this."

...

Grey sees Mia watching, and kisses David on the cheek.

"We must do this again sometime."

She saunters out. David watches, scowling.

Mia wonders if it's just because she was being sly.

Happy Bloodlines Day!

Take care out in LA.

You're The Only Thing Worth Dying For: Three

Vampire: The Requiem

You're The Only Thing Worth Dying For

Three: Some kind of connection

One
Two


"Will I see you again?"
"... If you want to."

Sarah thought for a moment, and nodded slightly. They exchanged numbers.

...

The next night, a little after sundown, he called her.

"Hi."
"Good evening."
"Did you just wake up?"
"Just about."
"There are a few courses here where you'd fit right in."

He chuckled.

"So, what are you doing tonight? Patrolling like Campus Batman?"
"Something like that. Making sure the other knows I'm keeping an eye on the place."
"Can't be easy. I mean, students... young, healthy, away from home, easy to lure into dark alleys..."
"Yeah, it's a popular choice. Up there with clubs."
"Oh, good, I was supposed to going to a club tonight."
"Oh. Sorry."
"You could come."
"Uh..."
"Make sure there aren't any... is there a term other than vampires?"
"Uh, several. But yeah, I could meet you at yours, or there."
"There. I'm going with some friends."

She gave him a street address and a time, and went back to looking at two possible outfits.

She chose the hotter of the two.

...

When he saw her, he paused.

"I feel underdressed."
"... Good." She smiled and took his arm. "Come on, I'll introduce you."
"What are you going to introduce me as?"
"I'll think of something."

She introduced him to her friends Caitlyn and Gemma.

"He helped scare off the guy that was trying to mug that girl."
"Oh, he's brave too?" Caitlyn asked.

And then Daniel noticed that there actually was another vampire in the club.

"What is it?" Sarah asked softly as she noticed his reaction, as he stepped away to look around.
"You might not be safe with me."

She considered this, and took his arm again. 

Caitlyn and Gemma exchanged a look as they excused themselves.

"One of yours? More than one."
"One, I think. Hard to tell with so many people." 

He stood still, looking around slowly. 

"There. Her."

She was uncannily elegant. Anyone who knew vampires existed would suspect her.

"Do you know her?"
"She's the one that made me."

Sarah looked her over, with a mixture of wariness and suspicion.

"This can't be a coincidence," Daniel warned her. "She's here for me. You're in danger."
"And you're in danger too. She already killed you."

He paused, then nodded.

"Still, I have to know why she's here."

His sire looked up as he approached, and then past him to where Sarah stood.

"I smell her on you. But not on your breath. Are you playing with your food?" 
"Leave her out of this."
"Oh. Still trying to be one of them? Old habits die hard. But they do die."
"Why are you here?"
"Why shouldn't I be here? This is the rack. It was before you were born, much less made. I hear you want the campus to yourself, you can't have the whole city."
"You're here to threaten me?"
"Consider it advice. Parental concern."

He flinched, and for a moment bared his teeth.

"A word of friendly warning then. Matthew won't give up the quad after one show of strength, and he knows the girl's face."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"And tell her I was sorry I didn't get a chance to meet her properly."

She slipped into the crowd, out of sight.

Sarah approached once she was sure the vampire was gone.

"Are you alright?"
"Just a warning and some veiled threats." He shook his head. 

She took his hand. 
 
 "Do you want to dance?"

The Forgotten: Six

Grey walks in like she owns the place. She steps over to Jessica, smiling confidently.

"Nice dress." Jessica tries to seem polite.
"Thank you. I thought it might be a bit too 'vampy' but oh well. Do you think I might get a dance with David as well? Assuming he and Mia aren't going to be busy all night..."

Jessica narrows her eyes slightly.

Samuel watches from the sidelines, ready to step in - glancing over to Carlin to make sure he isn't about to get in his way.

...

Outside, Jones and Grier watch figures in costume come and go, and Jones stops as he sees that vampire making her way through the crowds. He jumps down the fire escape one floor at a time and gives chase.

She spots him coming, and he catches up to her before she can escape to the subway.

"What are you doing here?"
"This city's going to fall. Do you want to fall with it?"
"No. But I have friends I want safe."
"Then use the time you have. It isn't very long."

With that, she runs through a break in the crowd.

...

It's near the end of the song, and David and Mia are still dancing - when he sees Grey with Jessica and moves away to help her. Mia follows, looking... displeased.

"David, we were just talking. Your day sister's very brave. I hope we can be friends when this is all over."
"I'd say that's up to you and her. What do you want?"
"To do my bit for the theater. Such a good cause. And to get a look at the man we're all supposed to work for." Grey glances over at Barrett, shaking hands with the city's mayor. He looks over and smiles fake-graciously.

...

Samuel approaches Monica, nodding slightly to Grey. "Another new arrival, a friend of Lake's."
"Perhaps the reason he's so confident lately?"

...

The quartet starts a new waltz, and David takes the opportunity to extend a hand to Grey, to get her away from Jessica. "May I?"
"Such a gentleman."

She is, it turns out, a very good dancer, with a poise and confidence few humans can match.

"So why are you really here?"
"Why? Aren't you enjoying this?" She smiles teasingly. He moves the direction of the dance further away from his sister. "Tsk. Fine. I come from between here and Lewiston and I hear... oh, small world." She nods towards someone else who has just arrived.

Danton.

The Forgotten: Five

David shrugs off Grey's news. "Our sire doesn't mean all that much to me."
"Come on, don't be like that. I'm here to give you some sisterly advice. There's a storm on the horizon, and you better roll with it or ride it out, or get out of town. Take the other one with you."

He calls Jessica on the way out, to make sure she's alright.

"Y'know it scares me when you do that."
"That's the idea."

...

Jones catches the unknown vampire's scent again out at the Rack, and finds her heading into a club with a group of mortals. He doesn't look the part to get in, so he waits outside and calls Mia.

By the time she arrives, she can't find the new vampire inside.

Jones calls on Samuel to see if he can detect her. It comes down as a distinct 'maybe'. He can tell she fed on one of the clubbers inside. His friends get him into a taxi, and Jones follows that.

...

And then it's Halloween. Mia is expected to help with a masquerade ball at Elysium. She's assured that doing well will be good for her profile by Sean, new childe and favorite of her sire Elena.

There will be mortals there, the great and good of the city attending a fundraiser for the Civic Theater, so Jessica could come but David isn't wildly keen on the idea.

"So, what, I should stay home watching old movies and not answering the door to trick or treaters?"

David makes exasperated noises.

...

Mia gets a designer little black dress and domino mask. David reluctantly wears a tux. Jessica stops herself getting a vampire costume and wears a dark dress and shoes she can run in. Samuel goes for the black suit and matching shirt. Jones decides to lurk outside. Mia suggests he'd be dashing if he tried and he takes the compliment with a smirk but still doesn't come to the party.

Monica comes in on the arm of Henry Barrett, Prince of the city. He nods to Mia and Jessica in passing and ignores the rest of the group.

Jessica whispers "He's beautiful..." David seethes, and she smirks, playing it as a joke. "Like you don't think that about Mia." He starts looking at the decorations.

...

Outside, Jones watches mortals come and go from his vantage point on a rooftop opposite the theater.

And he finds himself joined by Grier, the Sheriff. The Nosferatu stands out of the spotlight.

"You could be inside, unlike me."
"I'm fine out here."
"You're worried."
"Few too many new faces around."
"I agree."
"I've seen one, she runs when I get close, seems to think it's a game."
"Hm. Maybe she thinks you're pretty."

...

Barrett makes the rounds of the room, playing the good host with the mortals.

Monica politely introduces herself to Jessica.
"I don't believe we've met. You're David's sister? Such connections are to be cherished." She smiles, and it almost doesn't sound like a threat.

Samuel lurks a safe distance from the dancing. But this allows Carlin, a Tremere antiques dealer, to approach.
"So you've made it to Halloween. It'll soon be a year since... well."
"I remember." Samuel looks like he's considering boiling his clanmate's blood.
"Such a shame we never found his killer."

David is unconvinced by an old money couple called the Elliotts saying they care about the theater, but tries not to show it.

Jessica suggests that Mia should rescue him, and smiles wickedly and looks to the dance floor.

So now David and Mia are dancing.

And, thanks to karma, a handsome young man asks her to dance as well.

And then she spots Grey making an entrance.