Encounterlogs
Nicoles Odd Encounter Sr Antwon
In the Black Rose Cafe, under the cover of night and the dwindling full moon, tensions mounted between Jayanth, Nicole, and the inscrutable Ilya. The cafe's atmosphere grew thick with a rising mist, a harbinger of the unearthly events about to unfold. Jayanth, with his protective instincts and experience in dealing with the supernatural, drew close to Nicole as the stranger focused his unsettling attention on her. Despite Jayanth's covert warnings, Nicole's naive brashness pierced the growing unease. She playfully dismissed Jayanth's concerns, unaware of the danger Ilya represented. A dance of civility masked the true nature of the encounter as Ilya, with his cryptic manner and eerie calm, pursued a conversation laced with a hidden menace. Jayanth armed himself, ready to defend against the threat, while Nicole remained oblivious - a shield of innocence against the shadow Ilya cast upon them.
Confrontation erupted as Jayanth's weapons were swiftly knocked aside by Ilya's superhuman strength. With a cold ferocity now clear in his demeanor, Ilya warned Jayanth away from intervening. Nicole, caught in the predator's gaze, suddenly found herself his victim as the vampire's teeth sank into her flesh. As Jayanth scrambled to intercede, his efforts were in vain against the formidable creature. In the aftermath, Ilya compelled Nicole to forget the harrowing experience, leaving no trace of the ordeal but the wounds on her skin and a lingering dread in the depths of her psyche. The mists cleared, signaling the end of the supernatural event, and Ilya vanished as abruptly as he appeared. Jayanth and Nicole were left alone in the cafe, with the weight of the unresolved and unfathomable encounter hanging heavy between them.
In a separate but equally dire situation, the serene White Oak campus was disrupted by a rampaging werewolf. Carter, resting in his dorm, was pulled from the comfort of his phone and plushie as howls shook the night. A blur in the courtyard revealed the escaped beast: a massive white werewolf, roaming freely and dangerously close. Despite reporting the situation, there was no immediate help; Carter was alone in confronting the threat as screams erupted from the courtyard. Desperate to intervene, Carter used illusion magic to entangle the werewolf's perception, forcing it to see itself in its intended victim. His spell offered a brief respite, allowing the girl a chance to flee as Carter waited anxiously for reinforcements. The arrival of the Order's team finally presented a semblance of control, enabling the girl to be rescued - though she and the campus were left scarred by the werewolf's presence, a haunting echo of what could happen when the moon truly reached its full state.
(Nicole's odd encounter(SRAntwon):SRAntwon)
[Wed Dec 27 2023]
In Black Rose Cafe
Large columns support the high ceiling which has
a large stained glass roof that, in the day time
at least, dapples the small cafe below in shades
of rosy reds, greens and dark gray shadows. Each
of the black painted columns are ornamented with
leafy vines that wind their way around them. The
walls are covered from ceiling down with crimson
lake hued wallpaper, embossed in a subtle raised
pattern of more of the blooms that lend the shop
its name. From roughly head height the wallpaper
gives way to darkly stained wood panelling which
then gives way to similar dark hard wood floors.
In the center of the room is a circular counter,
inside of which serves as the hub for the little
cafe that offers patrons a place to sit and read
while snacking or sipping on some coffee or tea.
It is about 50F(10C) degrees.
(Your target has been selected as the next meal for a vampire.
)
The Black Rose bookstore, at night: last night's full moon has had a sliver carved off like the first slice of some holiday turkey. This late at night, the crowds aren't thick, but there's one man: tall, pale, with a faintly Eastern European cast to his features. He spots Jayanth and Nicole talking, and then, as if by magic, he's in front of them. "Good evening," he says. His eyes are for Nicole, largely, as he radiates the impression that Jayanth is some inconvenience.
Letting a single instance of surprise to pass over his features, Jayanth schools his expression into a polite indifferent mask and steps a single step closer to Nicole, before glancing at the man and steadying his features. At long last, he responds with a polite greeting, his eyes sharp and alert on each of the man's movements.
Nicole peers intently at the mysterious man, and then glances around, taking in the bookstore and Jayanth, whom she looks to questioningly. "Hiya. Do you know this guy?" She chirps, directing her question to a space equidistant the two males, making it hard to discern just who she's asking.
Not taking his eyes from the man Jayanth responds: "No I do not know him." Addressing the next words to the man he enquires: "Who are you?"
"We have not met," the pale Eastern European man says to Nicole. There's a look at Jayanth, at that sharp jumpiness. "You are full of some kind of nervousness, are you not?" he observes. "I am called Ilya," he tells them both. He has a kind of antique way of speaking, a pattern of pauses and resumptions. "Do you have names?" The question is asked as if the answer is not a foregone conclusion.
There's a look, flicked between the two, and around them the rest of the bookstore seems a little obscure: it is as if the Mists are rising, even here in the Black Rose, starting to pool like white smoke around the ankles of everyone inside the store.
"Jumpy?" Jayanth asks, his look changing to a thoughtful frown as he observes the man's pattern of speach. "You remind me very much of a friend of mine. How old are you Ilya if I might enquire?" he finishes, placing a slight emphaasis on the word old
Nicole seems perfectly relaxed, though whether it's due to nerves of steel or total obliviousness is up in the air. Her breathing is steady, and her smile bright. "Nicky. You can call me Nicole if you're a member of the goof troupe." Glancing at Jayanth, she hooks her elbow in his direction. "Dude, he's like forty. Why're you skittling out over Ilya? Look at him! He just wants to tell us about his book club or his bow tie collection or something."
While still keeping an alert gaze on the man, Jayanth offers an appreciative sideways smile to Nicole and says: "I've seen a lot my friend, and I do not trust people like this one. No fault of his I am sure, habbits and instinctives from my past."
Laughter from the pale-skinned man. "Such an impertinent question," he says. He seems in his thirties. "I have been telling my friends for some time that I have had my fortieth birthday," he agrees with Nicole. "Each year, they seem to believe me less and less. Am I so unbelievable?" he asks. "It is nice to meet you," he tells Nicole. He looks at Jayanth. "You have not yet given me a name," he says. "But it is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Trust."
The mists seem to coil increasingly higher, now, like wisps of white snakes gliding along the floor of the bookstore.
Nicole glances down at the mist. "Cool. Is there a fog machine in here?" She asks absentmindedly before her attentions return once more to the topic at hand. "You don't look a day older than thirty-nine, mister." She flashes him her signature smile and a thumbs-up. "Seriously, Mr. Trust-- Mr. T. What's he gonna do? Sell you bike insurance? Ilya's like, totally cool... And if he's not, I think I can take 'em. I'll just kill him," she shamelessly declares. "It's fiiiine."
Jayanth nodds politely and responds, his tone casual even though his eyes track both the rising mists and the man: "Jay is my name. It is nice to make your acquaintance Ilya." Subtly repositioning himself between Nicole and the pale man he continues: "How long have you tried to convince your friends that you are 40 now?"
Ilya laments to Nicole, "This town seems to be plagued by mists." He looks around: the mist seems to rise, and now Nicole and Jayanth may find themselves with the discomforting realization that the other people in the bookstore are just not visible. There's a step: the tall pale man takes a step towards Nicole, and then he looks over at Jayanth. "Long enough," he says, and there is a sudden crossness in his tone. "This is not your business." He turns to look back at Nicole.
"Miss Nicky," Ilya tells her, and his eyes are seeking hers out. "Such a strange place, Haven is. You are new, are you not? There's a certain... something... about you." A look at Jayanth, flaunting it now.
"I beg to differ" Jayanth responds, his tone turning chilly as he places himself directly between Nicole and the pale man. "If you are truely here to talk, then do not close the distance any further." he continues, a slight undertone of warning creaping into his voice.
Nicole nods easily at Ilya, still perfectly at ease. She locks eyes with the man and listens to him speak, puffing up a little. "Yeah! I just got here like, a couple days ago. Place sucks dick." She breaks the eye contact to peer at Jayanth. "Why do you keep roasting this guy about his age? He's like... The same age as you, kinda?" Tilting her head in confusion, she rubs her chin. "Kinda?"
Rising mist now makes even the bookshelves obscure. Whirling behind Ilya in slow curls, it seems to make a kind of hypnotic pattern behind the pale-faced man. He smiles at Nicole. "What is so terrible?" he says, and then Jayanth is trying to interpose himself. There's a look, flashed anger, as the man looks at Jayanth. "I am not going to hurt your friend," he says, his voice pitched low. "But I will hurt you, if you interfere."
As the mists rise, with them comes some sense of menace. Jayanth, with his experience, can feel it: a sense of wrongness, like the always-fragile bridge in Haven between one world and the next is fraying. For Nicole, she may feel the pricking at the back of her neck, but without any occult knowledge or experience in the uncanny, she has no frame of reference to understand the danger either she or Jayanth may be in.
In two swift motions, Jayanth draws his handgun and katar from their hidden sheaths before a low sardonic chuckle escapes his lipps at Ilya's warning. "I don't know if you missed my earlier words are not, but I live with someone very similar to you." "I have fought him, I know how to kill you. You do not scare me."
Speaking out of the corner of his mouth, Jayanth says in a quiet tone to Nicole "Please, no matter what stay behind me, and please, please do not look into his eyes."
"It's cold as balls," Nicole says blithely, blissfully unaware of any danger she might be in. "And I kinda miss my mom but she's a bitch-- woah!" She takes two steps back from Jayanth once the weapons come out, leaving the safety of his company. "Holy shit, Jay! What the hell! You're gonna shoot Mr. Rogers here?" She gesticulates at Ilya. "Be cool! What did he even do?!"
Jayanth may have weapons, but he largely entirely lacks skill. There's a blur of movement, then, as Ilya steps towards Jayanth blurred movements in his hands, striking first at the hand carrying the revolver and then at the hand carrying the knife. Pain blossoms immediately: did the man, the thing, break Jayanth's wrists? Perhaps not: but the knife, the gun go scattering on the floor, almost disappearing into the mist. "That was unwise," he hisses, drawing himself up.
Ilya looks to Nicole. "Do not fear," he tells her. "No one is going to hurt you." Now the sense of menace radiates off of him, filling the misty room. He turns to look at Jayanth. "There is a way of things," he tells the man, and his voice grows more accented and more archaic as frustration brings out old ways. "This... disrespect... is intolerable."
Gasping and hissing in pain, Jayanth scowls as he is disarmed in two easy strikes. Steping backwards both to create distance and to place himself between Nicole and Ily he says through gritted teeth: "Well, old man finally your true colours starts to show." A taunting smirk is playing over his lipps, as he attempts to keep the man's focus solely on him.
So far, the man's true colors are pale skin and black clothes. If there's a third, incardanine stripe in his flag it has yet to show.
"I told you, Please stay with me and do not make eye contact" Jayanth requests Nicole, his words coming out with audible breathing as he starts to regulate the pain in his wrists.
Around the trio, the mists seem full of figures: of faces, perhaps, silently screaming, or animals: vaguely canine shapes, or things with bat-wings that appear and disappear in the white shadows of the room. The spines of books can be seen only vaguely and distantly.
Nicole blinks hard, confusion coloring her features. She looks at Jayanth's hands, where the weapons were a second ago. Unfortunately for her would-be protector, she seems more spooked by the sudden appearance of weapons than the Ilya's possibly supernatural display of skill: "What the hell! Why-- why do you have a gun? And a knife? What were you going to do with those?" She creeps backward, making a slow distance from Jayanth.
"Nicky, no!" Jayanth says, trying to reason with her his words coming out in rushed clipped sentenses: "I don't want to hurt you, but this man, he is very skilled and very strong. I just don't want him to hurt you or me. I only drew my weapons as a warning." "Please listen to me, I am your friend, remember?"
Very slowly, Ilya shoots Jayanth a terrible, triumphant smile, and then he turns back to look at Nicole. Finding her eyes again, there's a murmur. "Come here," he tells her. "He's concerned: worried. I will explain," he says to her. "I will explain, and I will protect you." Are the faces in the mists mocking Jayanth, now, laughing? It's hard to say, as the pale man extends his arms for Nicole to approach.
snarling Jayanth reaches into his jacket for his phone, while still pleading to Nicole "Please Nicky, remember! Don't go near him." Moving again, Jayanth places himself again between Ilya and Nicole, trying to break the eye contact.
When Jayanth pulls his phone, it flashes an angry red: NO SERVICE. The mists are high, indeed.
Scowling at his useless phone Jayanth slides it into his jacket.
Nicole only backs away further, wide eyes flickering from Jayanth to Ilya, and finally to the growing mist. "Oh, shit. I think I'm schiz-ing out. Is any of this real?" She backs away one step, and then another, searching first the face of Jayanth, and then Ilya. When she locks eyes with him, her retreat suddenly halts, and she takes a jerky half-step in his direction. The second one is more sure, her advance only halted by the other man in her way. "He didn't pull a fucking gun, Jay! Just back off, okay? It'll be fine. Don't do any psycho shit. I'm just gonna hear him out!"
Jayanth doesn't move, but takes an even firmer stance, blocking Nicole's path to Ilya and pleads in a quiet voice: "Tell me Nicky, I've been with you for the past few hours. Do you honestly feel that I would hurt anyone without a good reason? Do you honestly believe that I would pull a gun on a harmless looking old man?"
A hand, then, on Nicole's shoulder, as Ilya looks her in the eye. "Your friend Mr. Jay is afraid," he explains to Nicole. When Jayanth moves to intercede once again, he looks up, and now cold anger burns in his eyes. "You will step back," he tells Jayanth. "I will count to three." The hand on Nicole's shoulder is vise-tight; she couldn't pull away if she tried, and up close, the pale-skinned man is cold. "One," he tells Jayanth.
Is Nicole having a schizoid break? It's hard to say. This all seems so unreal: she's here, her feet are on the ground, but at the same time all the other people are gone, and the mists... the mists are full of haunted eyes. There's a chill that runs through her body, some primal reaction to the uncanny.
Jayanth Starts to laugh, he continues to laugh while placing himself between Ilya and Nicole and says still laughing: "If only my boss was here to see this, youngling. Who is your Master? He must be disgusted at this child like behaviour. Is that why you are all alone, with no true skill or control?" At the end, his tone turns mocking.
"Ow! Hey, you're hurting me," Nicole says in a quiet voice, grabbing at her shoulder. Doubt flickers across her face as she looks straight up into Ilya's eyes. She looks between the two once more, perplexed. "When-- when the fuck did you get over here?" She asks Ilya, Jayanth's pleas all but forgotten. "I think I'm really losing my shit," she whines. "Do you guys see that?! There's like, fucking ghosts everywhere!"
"Nicky!" Jayanth says, his tone turning sharp and demanding, trying to snap her out of the daze: "Nicky! Listen to me! He is not your friend and he is not nice. Do not look into his eyes!"
A blow, then: the hand not holding Nicole is thrust out, like an open-handed punch to Jayanth's chest. The man is strong for a human, but the thing that hits him? He is stronger than any human can be. That open hand hits like a hammer, a blow to send Jayanth sprawling across the room, winded. Then Ilya turns to look at Nicole, and when he smiles it is all teeth: all too many teeth. "I told you," he tells her. Too many teeth, and too sharp. "I will not hurt you."
The hand on Nicole's arm has the same impossible strength as the blow that struck Jayanth, keeping her prisoned to Ilya.
Groaning Jayanth blinks dazedly at the strength of that blow, as he moves into a sitting position while rubbing his chest. Still panting and gasping Jayanth calls out: "So, I am right. You are a young foolish creature, not even old enough to leave your master and yet you are already here trying to use your undeveloped and unused skills." Turning to Nicole Jayanth says: "Scream! Scream your head off! Scream as loud as you can."
Moving to a standing position with agony, one arm wrapped around his chest Jayanth starts to make his way slowly towards Ilya and Nicole.
Nicole pales as she stares into Ilya's eyes, grimacing in fear as she jerks futilely against his grip. She can vaguely hear Jayanth's pleading in the background. "Ho-- holy shit. Ilya, Ilya, your teeth are all wrong. Let... Let go of me!" She struggles, jerking futilely, but it's like her arm has been caught in a vise. "Let go!" At this, she does scream, kicking weakly against Ilya's leg.
Just as Nicole says: Ilya's teeth are all wrong. As Jayanth limps towards the pair, the pale-skinned man bends his head, and with that painful grip on his arm he shows his final color: it is red, the color of blood, as too-sharp teeth penetrate Nicole's neck. There's a moment, frozen in time, as he drinks, and then he is pulling his mouth up, lips flecked red and eyes bright with desire. "Ah," he exhales, like some movie-pitchman who has quaffed a Coke.
"Let go of her, newborn." Jayanth screams as he sees Ilya's teeth sink into Nicole's neck before he rushes over to the pair and wedging as much of himself as he can between Nicole and Ilya
Whatever Ilya is, he is far from new-born: there is something ancient in his eyes, full of delighted glee at the bloody taste from Nicole's veins.
Nicole screams and screams and screams, and then pain envelopes her world and she screams no more. Her body seizes up as the teeth penetrate her neck, silent now as the strength gradually but all-too-quickly drains from her. Her arms, her legs tremble and go limp, the girl remaining upright only by the vampire's will. Tears blot at her eyes and she blinks blearily, as if uncertain how or why any of this was happening. When Ilya finally releases her, she lets out a pained sigh, like a half-sob, and nothing more.
Jayanth Snarls as he swiftly wraps an arm around Nicole to support her, while keeping his body between Ilya and Nicole
Slowly, Ilya's tongue licks around those bright red lips as Nicole sags in his hands, and then he smiles down at her: he tilts her head up as Jayanth approaches, and he finds her eyes. There's a look, words whispered that Jayanth can hear, as he instructs her: "You will forget this ever happened." Immediately, memory begins to flit away from Nicole the mists swirl, and she can feel the vampire's hand release her arm. Both she and Jayanth can see only white, for a moment, and then, as the mists dissipate, Ilya is gone.
Jayanth, of course, remembers everything: and he knows, too, the power of the supernatural to cloud the minds of the Unaware. For Nicole There are bruises on her arm, a sudden weakness -- and confusion. Confusion and dread, that will be joined with haunting, unsettling dreams in the coming days.
"Nicky, Nicky." Jayanth calls, trying to focus Nicole's attention on him. "Nicky, can you hear me?"
Jayanth scowls at the empty air, as he spots his weapons on the ground now that the mists are no longer obscuring his view. Quickly picking them up Jayanth stows them in their sheaths, while still keeping an arm around Nicole and trying to call out to her.
As the mists seem to evaporate, the Black Rose Bookstore comes back into view: no one is in the cafe, with the hour so late, but there are clerks and patrons moving more distantly in other rooms. The chill remains with Jayanth and Nicole Jayanth, of course, knows why, but with her memories invaded Nicole can merely shiver, that chill made worse perhaps by her unknown loss of blood.
"Uuuhhh...?" Nicole stares skyward, blinking hard as she struggles to get her blurry vision to focus. A few interminable seconds later, she blinks once more, and finally seems to see Jayanth. "Oww. Why does everything hurt? Where the hell... Am I?" She struggles to move, but her body is uncooperative. "What..."
With the mists -- and Ilya -- gone, Nicole's body is back in her control, but the gap in her memory remains. It's a wound she can't see, a wound she can't detect, one that may gnaw at her a little in the coming nights. The dreams of the mists will come first, followed by Ilya's face, and then close-ups of too sharp teeth... terrible dreams, revealed one by one in slow succession over the next week or so of uncertain sleep.
But for now? For now, Nicole is here, with Jayanth next to her, back in the Black Rose Cafe.
OOC: Thanks guys! If you want to go 'down' it should put you back at the Black Rose, if not send me a tell and I can summon you. Hope you had fun!
(A full moon has risen, and your target and their allies have to protect the town from a rampaging werewolf who has lost control over their transformation. They must subdue the werewolf without causing too much damage or revealing the supernatural world to the unknowing townsfolk.)
OOC: Hello! Go ahead and emote what you were doing!
Carter is laying in bed, still a bit tipsy from earlier, glancing idly at his phone and browsing the internet, his head laid on a stuffed Cinnamoroll plush.
As Carter lays in bed, the soft glow of his phone illuminates the room, casting a gentle light on the scattered remnants of the evening. The tipsiness lingers, adding a surreal quality to the otherwise mundane moment. The digital landscape inside his phone begs to be navigated at the swipe of his fingers as that little plushie offers a comforting presence beneath his head. Outside, the full moon hangs in the night sky, its silvery rays casting shadows that dance along the edges of the room. It's visible through the window, offering an added illumination to the room. And, naturally, with that moon comes a few howls in the night. There is one that sounds very, very close the frat house.
Carter blinks, squinting his eyes as he listens in to the howls he's hearing outside, before he's momentarily slipping up onto his feet and peering out the window, some momentary concern apparent as he looks up at the moon - It's not full anymore, right? ...Right? He wonders to himself with muted concern, folding his phone and slipping it into his pocket before he takes a seat at his desk, eyes drifting to his laptop, though he leaves it closed, content to fold his hands and look outside for just a moment as if appraising the situation.
As Carter peers outside, his concern is met with an unsettling sight. The moon, contrary to his hope, hangs full and luminous in the night sky. It's certainly an odd sight, considering the timing is off. The howls continue, growing more fervent, and more and more close. A shadow moves amidst the trees, briefly catching Carter's attention as he peers out at the moon, and the subtle rustling of leaves transforms into an eerie symphony. It seems the source of those howls are closer to the frat house than one would hope, as something darts from the trees and begins to run across the courtyard before those curtains are closed and Carter's seating himself at his desk. Another glance outside would show the source of what's darting about the courtyard. A werewolf. Massive, scarred to hell that it's unrecognizable as any he may have seen on campus previously, and it's fur is stark white.
"Fuck me.", Carter murmurs as he glances out into the courtyard, recalling something he'd read prior. "White fur, and so large..", he murmurs, pulling out his phone and checking his comms to see if any reports on sightings have been made, before sending his own iteration of it, cupping his hand to his ear. "Large, white-haired shifted werewolf spotted, western side of White Oak, on campus out in the courtyard... Covered in scars. Advise caution.", he corroborates, though he doesn't wait immediately for a response, sending out a similar report to the HPD to keep them filled in as well and to ensure the right information gets to the right places.
There is no information available from the coms that would suggest this particular werewolf has been seen or is even expected, but the report is made regardless, both to the other end of his comms, as well as one reported to the HPD. The wolf pauses in its dart across the campus, nose pressed to the ground as if tracking something before it lifts its head back to howl once more. It shakes the frame of the windows due to its closeness, and then that head of this creature is turning towards the window, and it stills. Whether or not it's spotted Carter on the other side isn't yet apparent, dependent on how Carter is viewing, but with how it tenses it becomes clear that it's started the hunt for whatever scent it's picked up on campus.
"Fuck me, it's hunting.", Carter murmurs as he slips away from the window - slowly, so as to not create the impression of movement in case it was trying to look through the window. "Swords. I need Swordbearers. This is a potential Awareness breach.", Carter whisper-yells to Order comms, apparently worried the thing's listening to -him-, as if maybe he could be heard over every other little noise about. "White Oak campus, right by the dorms, specifically the southwesternmost one.", he quietly reiterates. "Relay the information to Hand and Temple too if it's deemed necessary.", he adds, shuddering a bit at that howl the beast gives off, working at stilling his breath.
The wolf continues to peer at Carter's window, eyes attuned to the darkness watching for any sign of movement that may trigger in it its instinct to hunt and kill. It gives no indication as to whether or not its seen Carter, but soon Carter is away from the window. As Carter whisper-yells into the comms, there is no immediate response yet save for a static that would indicate he's connected to their network and his message went through. Whether or not it was received is another thing to question entirely. The next time Carter would glance towards the window, he'd notice the beast is gone and unaccounted for.
Carter lays back, trying to still his breathing as he listens for any sudden sounds outside; his eyes flit to his crossbow, tucked away and hidden in a nook in his closet, though he doesn't consider that avenue just yet - surely not without assistance present.
As Carter lays back, he is met with only silence for a long beat. No howls, no crashes, no wolves jumping through his window to accost him. More importantly, no response from his communications. It starts to seem perhaps that maybe the problem has solved itself, that the wolf might've left and retreated into the forest following whatever scent it has caught. But then, a terrified shriek is heard, and it's long and shrill and loud. Certainly heard by others, but it comes from the courtyard. Given how intently those screams are, and how varied the inflection is, its clear the noise is from someone mid-flight.
Carter seems ready to give a sigh of relief, before he hears that long, shrill shriek and scream, a look of horror coming across his expression, though he stills himself. He states through grit teeth in quiet, irritated tones, this time broadcasting simultaneously to both Order and HPD feeds - because protocol can suck it - "I need a -fucking- response. Send *someone* out here, now. People might be -dying-.", with a hint of desperation in his tone, and he seems to be falling into a panic of sorts, his breathing hastening, before he adds, "P-please..!", practically spitting it out, the word utterly laced with concern, his face wrought with worry and grief for the would-be victim of the werewolf.
If Carter feels any sort of panic, it's dwarfed by the sheer terror that's coming from beyond his window. The screams resound louder, and then something happens that has it cutting off abruptly. He might be able to get a visual should he glance out of the window, but for now there is silence that fills the air and does so painfully. There is static on the other line from someone receiving and responding to his message now. "Restate the location, please? What's going on?" Comes from one of the channels. It's a familiar voice to Carter, likely from some intern from his faction.
Carter's breathing hastens as he listens; he doesn't chance a glance - that silence, though, cuts straight to his core as his expression darkens considerably; in another world, he would've wailed, or cried, but there's no time for that, and he transmits to his comms as soon as he hears the voice. "Shifted werewolf on White Oak Campus, by the dormitories, southwestern portion of campus. White fur, heavily scarred. It was hunting someone.. I could tell by the way it postured. It had a scent.. I heard screams, shrieking... Screams..." His voice trails off; he's trying to conceal the pain he's feeling in the moment. "Screams stopped. Likely death. Send Swords, Shields, and a hypnotist for potential Awareness breaches.", he quietly states, trying to contain himself, his breathing still just as fast as before; he's trying not to hyperventilate but not fully succeeding.
Giving a blind eye to what's happening outside of the window, the sight of anything going on is unwitnessed by Carter. The message is relayed and followed up with an, "Understood. Relaying and sending containment." On the outside, for whatever reason, there is no other commotion that follows from the screams. Perhaps the level of wolf attacks have cautioned people to stay inside. Perhaps someone did see and knew this was bigger than what they could do to help. Perhaps the masses are dead asleep or otherwise off campus. Either way, for all Carter knows, he's the only one aware. "Please! Anyone!" Is what reaches his ears now - that same voice from a scream cut short seems whatever happened didn't end their life afterall. Perhaps whatever it was merely knocked the wind out of them, but the tone in this voice - a female - seems like a last ditch effort to petition anyone for some kind of aid. The tone she bears is defeated, however -- hopeless.
In that moment, Carter feels a faint sense of hope as he hears that voice still alive - his worries scattered away as he carefully glances out the window once more, just seeing if he could get a line of vision onto the wolf, and its would-be victim.
The massive wolf is hard to miss. It's pinned a girl beneath its frame, a face Carter might be able to recognize as a newly transferred freshmen in her first semester this winter. Her left shoulder is a shattered, bloodied mess - perhaps the tackling and biting of that shoulder is what cut off her screaming and it left her severely wounded. The wolf's maw is covered in her blood, and soon it's delivering another bite to her ankle. It causes her to scream, but it's weak. That bite isn't released though, and it's clear by how the wolf positions it's body that it is preparing to drag her away.
Carter glares at that werewolf; the mess it's made of her, as it moves to attack and drag her by the ankle. "Alright, fucker.", Carter murmurs to himself, as he places a hand protectively over his necklace as it gleams and he murmurs an incantation, his eyes flitting between the girl and the wolf and attempting at making the wolf see itself in the girl. "I hope this works.", he mumbles.
The wolf continues to drag the girl away as that magic starts to take hold. For a moment, it's looking as though it has no effect, but then the wolf's eyes are glancing up at it's victim, and recoils. It immediately releases her, befuddlement evident in the way it moves its body, like seeing something that shouldn't be. It's sniffing at the girl, who now, with a broken ankle, is trying slowly to distance herself from the wolf. The further back she gets, the wolf follows, though it's with slow tentative steps that it does so. It seems equal parts uncertain and uncomfortable by what it sees, continuing to sniff as it tries to sort through what the scents are telling it, and what its eyes are.
Carter cautiously watches the situation unfold - at first he's concerned he made a mistake, but the wolf releasing her gets a small sigh of relief, eying the pair carefully as the girl backs away and the wolf slowly follows. To his comms, he relays, "Situation partially diffused. Subject thought dead is in fact alive. Issue: Wolf still present. Aid needs to arrive soon as this is a temporary fix.. Deluded wolf into seeing itself in victim, halted its assault. Pack instincts.", with a slight sigh, before slipping into a more casual tone, adding, "And I fucking hope you can get someone here before it wears off." with some trepidation.
The wolf continues to stalk at the girl as she meekly crawls back - it's a task made difficult considering her left shoulder is shattered and her left ankle is broken. She favors heavily the right side, and it seems her own instincts are kicking in as she's trying not to moan or make any pained noises so she's not considered some prey. She's sliding her hand into her pocket, having to halt her crawling away enough to do so, and one-handedly she's tapping fervently on her phone. She then drops it, and continues to crawl backwards. A beat later, there's a response from Carter's communications to state, "Arriving now," and it seems any minute a team should be cautiously entering to try and apprehend and control the situation.
As the girl continues to crawl away, the wolf still continues to stalk towards her. It's starting to snarl, now, fangs bearing as perhaps that illusion may be fading. But soon, the girl's phone lets out a shrill sounding alarm, right beneath the wolf who walked over it unknowingly as it followed after her. It seems enough to startle it, because it jumps back, letting out a angered sounding bark. A dart from somewhere fires off and strikes the wolf, though, startling it further and alerting it to the aid that Carter summoned, and soon it's taking off, moving westbound to the forests. Whatever adrenaline was keeping this girl conscious fades the moment the wolf departs, and she's passing out immediately after as a team of Orderites come in to clean up.
Carter grits his teeth, quietly peeking through the window as the girl continues to crawl away, before he watches as she taps at her phone lifting his brows, giving a single nod as he receives confirmation of the arrival of a team, letting out yet another sigh of relief at that, though he's still nervous. That snarl gets a grimace from Carter, who's worried all of his worries of the moment were going to come true for just briefly - and.. then, her phone lets out that noisy alarm. This gets a slight smile from Carter. "Clever.", he opines quietly, right as the wolf's then getting even further startled and making its way off, his breathing slowing as his smile becomes something more genuine. He cups his hand to his ear to relay a simple message to his comms - "Thank you.", as if he felt the weight of the world come off his shoulders in that brief moment.
That alarm is silenced by one of the society members tapping the button on the side, and the girl is scooped away by another and carried in the direction of the clinic. The fact that no one else wandered outside is inexplicable, but most likely like Carter, people saw what was occurring, and collectively led the girl to fall victim of bystander syndrome. She's a long recovery ahead of her if she survives. The wolf though, is still out there, and likely this will be something for The Order to mobilize against sooner rather than later. A glance up to the sky reveals in actuality, it's not the full moon. Not yet, anyway. It seems the initial angle Carter looked through his window had a speck of glitter on the window that filled in the moon, small enough to make it look real and full. If anything, it only goes to show that when the moon /is/ actually full, this particular wolf will be a worse problem to deal with.
Carter squints at the glass on his window. "Fuck me, it -isn't- full?", he murmurs, before he scratches at that piece of glitter, seeing fit to lay back in his bed, stifling a yawn. A brief, furtive glance is cast out towards the forest, a hint of concern as if anticipating its return.
Confrontation erupted as Jayanth's weapons were swiftly knocked aside by Ilya's superhuman strength. With a cold ferocity now clear in his demeanor, Ilya warned Jayanth away from intervening. Nicole, caught in the predator's gaze, suddenly found herself his victim as the vampire's teeth sank into her flesh. As Jayanth scrambled to intercede, his efforts were in vain against the formidable creature. In the aftermath, Ilya compelled Nicole to forget the harrowing experience, leaving no trace of the ordeal but the wounds on her skin and a lingering dread in the depths of her psyche. The mists cleared, signaling the end of the supernatural event, and Ilya vanished as abruptly as he appeared. Jayanth and Nicole were left alone in the cafe, with the weight of the unresolved and unfathomable encounter hanging heavy between them.
In a separate but equally dire situation, the serene White Oak campus was disrupted by a rampaging werewolf. Carter, resting in his dorm, was pulled from the comfort of his phone and plushie as howls shook the night. A blur in the courtyard revealed the escaped beast: a massive white werewolf, roaming freely and dangerously close. Despite reporting the situation, there was no immediate help; Carter was alone in confronting the threat as screams erupted from the courtyard. Desperate to intervene, Carter used illusion magic to entangle the werewolf's perception, forcing it to see itself in its intended victim. His spell offered a brief respite, allowing the girl a chance to flee as Carter waited anxiously for reinforcements. The arrival of the Order's team finally presented a semblance of control, enabling the girl to be rescued - though she and the campus were left scarred by the werewolf's presence, a haunting echo of what could happen when the moon truly reached its full state.
(Nicole's odd encounter(SRAntwon):SRAntwon)
[Wed Dec 27 2023]
In Black Rose Cafe
Large columns support the high ceiling which has
a large stained glass roof that, in the day time
at least, dapples the small cafe below in shades
of rosy reds, greens and dark gray shadows. Each
of the black painted columns are ornamented with
leafy vines that wind their way around them. The
walls are covered from ceiling down with crimson
lake hued wallpaper, embossed in a subtle raised
pattern of more of the blooms that lend the shop
its name. From roughly head height the wallpaper
gives way to darkly stained wood panelling which
then gives way to similar dark hard wood floors.
In the center of the room is a circular counter,
inside of which serves as the hub for the little
cafe that offers patrons a place to sit and read
while snacking or sipping on some coffee or tea.
It is about 50F(10C) degrees.
(Your target has been selected as the next meal for a vampire.
)
The Black Rose bookstore, at night: last night's full moon has had a sliver carved off like the first slice of some holiday turkey. This late at night, the crowds aren't thick, but there's one man: tall, pale, with a faintly Eastern European cast to his features. He spots Jayanth and Nicole talking, and then, as if by magic, he's in front of them. "Good evening," he says. His eyes are for Nicole, largely, as he radiates the impression that Jayanth is some inconvenience.
Letting a single instance of surprise to pass over his features, Jayanth schools his expression into a polite indifferent mask and steps a single step closer to Nicole, before glancing at the man and steadying his features. At long last, he responds with a polite greeting, his eyes sharp and alert on each of the man's movements.
Nicole peers intently at the mysterious man, and then glances around, taking in the bookstore and Jayanth, whom she looks to questioningly. "Hiya. Do you know this guy?" She chirps, directing her question to a space equidistant the two males, making it hard to discern just who she's asking.
Not taking his eyes from the man Jayanth responds: "No I do not know him." Addressing the next words to the man he enquires: "Who are you?"
"We have not met," the pale Eastern European man says to Nicole. There's a look at Jayanth, at that sharp jumpiness. "You are full of some kind of nervousness, are you not?" he observes. "I am called Ilya," he tells them both. He has a kind of antique way of speaking, a pattern of pauses and resumptions. "Do you have names?" The question is asked as if the answer is not a foregone conclusion.
There's a look, flicked between the two, and around them the rest of the bookstore seems a little obscure: it is as if the Mists are rising, even here in the Black Rose, starting to pool like white smoke around the ankles of everyone inside the store.
"Jumpy?" Jayanth asks, his look changing to a thoughtful frown as he observes the man's pattern of speach. "You remind me very much of a friend of mine. How old are you Ilya if I might enquire?" he finishes, placing a slight emphaasis on the word old
Nicole seems perfectly relaxed, though whether it's due to nerves of steel or total obliviousness is up in the air. Her breathing is steady, and her smile bright. "Nicky. You can call me Nicole if you're a member of the goof troupe." Glancing at Jayanth, she hooks her elbow in his direction. "Dude, he's like forty. Why're you skittling out over Ilya? Look at him! He just wants to tell us about his book club or his bow tie collection or something."
While still keeping an alert gaze on the man, Jayanth offers an appreciative sideways smile to Nicole and says: "I've seen a lot my friend, and I do not trust people like this one. No fault of his I am sure, habbits and instinctives from my past."
Laughter from the pale-skinned man. "Such an impertinent question," he says. He seems in his thirties. "I have been telling my friends for some time that I have had my fortieth birthday," he agrees with Nicole. "Each year, they seem to believe me less and less. Am I so unbelievable?" he asks. "It is nice to meet you," he tells Nicole. He looks at Jayanth. "You have not yet given me a name," he says. "But it is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Trust."
The mists seem to coil increasingly higher, now, like wisps of white snakes gliding along the floor of the bookstore.
Nicole glances down at the mist. "Cool. Is there a fog machine in here?" She asks absentmindedly before her attentions return once more to the topic at hand. "You don't look a day older than thirty-nine, mister." She flashes him her signature smile and a thumbs-up. "Seriously, Mr. Trust-- Mr. T. What's he gonna do? Sell you bike insurance? Ilya's like, totally cool... And if he's not, I think I can take 'em. I'll just kill him," she shamelessly declares. "It's fiiiine."
Jayanth nodds politely and responds, his tone casual even though his eyes track both the rising mists and the man: "Jay is my name. It is nice to make your acquaintance Ilya." Subtly repositioning himself between Nicole and the pale man he continues: "How long have you tried to convince your friends that you are 40 now?"
Ilya laments to Nicole, "This town seems to be plagued by mists." He looks around: the mist seems to rise, and now Nicole and Jayanth may find themselves with the discomforting realization that the other people in the bookstore are just not visible. There's a step: the tall pale man takes a step towards Nicole, and then he looks over at Jayanth. "Long enough," he says, and there is a sudden crossness in his tone. "This is not your business." He turns to look back at Nicole.
"Miss Nicky," Ilya tells her, and his eyes are seeking hers out. "Such a strange place, Haven is. You are new, are you not? There's a certain... something... about you." A look at Jayanth, flaunting it now.
"I beg to differ" Jayanth responds, his tone turning chilly as he places himself directly between Nicole and the pale man. "If you are truely here to talk, then do not close the distance any further." he continues, a slight undertone of warning creaping into his voice.
Nicole nods easily at Ilya, still perfectly at ease. She locks eyes with the man and listens to him speak, puffing up a little. "Yeah! I just got here like, a couple days ago. Place sucks dick." She breaks the eye contact to peer at Jayanth. "Why do you keep roasting this guy about his age? He's like... The same age as you, kinda?" Tilting her head in confusion, she rubs her chin. "Kinda?"
Rising mist now makes even the bookshelves obscure. Whirling behind Ilya in slow curls, it seems to make a kind of hypnotic pattern behind the pale-faced man. He smiles at Nicole. "What is so terrible?" he says, and then Jayanth is trying to interpose himself. There's a look, flashed anger, as the man looks at Jayanth. "I am not going to hurt your friend," he says, his voice pitched low. "But I will hurt you, if you interfere."
As the mists rise, with them comes some sense of menace. Jayanth, with his experience, can feel it: a sense of wrongness, like the always-fragile bridge in Haven between one world and the next is fraying. For Nicole, she may feel the pricking at the back of her neck, but without any occult knowledge or experience in the uncanny, she has no frame of reference to understand the danger either she or Jayanth may be in.
In two swift motions, Jayanth draws his handgun and katar from their hidden sheaths before a low sardonic chuckle escapes his lipps at Ilya's warning. "I don't know if you missed my earlier words are not, but I live with someone very similar to you." "I have fought him, I know how to kill you. You do not scare me."
Speaking out of the corner of his mouth, Jayanth says in a quiet tone to Nicole "Please, no matter what stay behind me, and please, please do not look into his eyes."
"It's cold as balls," Nicole says blithely, blissfully unaware of any danger she might be in. "And I kinda miss my mom but she's a bitch-- woah!" She takes two steps back from Jayanth once the weapons come out, leaving the safety of his company. "Holy shit, Jay! What the hell! You're gonna shoot Mr. Rogers here?" She gesticulates at Ilya. "Be cool! What did he even do?!"
Jayanth may have weapons, but he largely entirely lacks skill. There's a blur of movement, then, as Ilya steps towards Jayanth blurred movements in his hands, striking first at the hand carrying the revolver and then at the hand carrying the knife. Pain blossoms immediately: did the man, the thing, break Jayanth's wrists? Perhaps not: but the knife, the gun go scattering on the floor, almost disappearing into the mist. "That was unwise," he hisses, drawing himself up.
Ilya looks to Nicole. "Do not fear," he tells her. "No one is going to hurt you." Now the sense of menace radiates off of him, filling the misty room. He turns to look at Jayanth. "There is a way of things," he tells the man, and his voice grows more accented and more archaic as frustration brings out old ways. "This... disrespect... is intolerable."
Gasping and hissing in pain, Jayanth scowls as he is disarmed in two easy strikes. Steping backwards both to create distance and to place himself between Nicole and Ily he says through gritted teeth: "Well, old man finally your true colours starts to show." A taunting smirk is playing over his lipps, as he attempts to keep the man's focus solely on him.
So far, the man's true colors are pale skin and black clothes. If there's a third, incardanine stripe in his flag it has yet to show.
"I told you, Please stay with me and do not make eye contact" Jayanth requests Nicole, his words coming out with audible breathing as he starts to regulate the pain in his wrists.
Around the trio, the mists seem full of figures: of faces, perhaps, silently screaming, or animals: vaguely canine shapes, or things with bat-wings that appear and disappear in the white shadows of the room. The spines of books can be seen only vaguely and distantly.
Nicole blinks hard, confusion coloring her features. She looks at Jayanth's hands, where the weapons were a second ago. Unfortunately for her would-be protector, she seems more spooked by the sudden appearance of weapons than the Ilya's possibly supernatural display of skill: "What the hell! Why-- why do you have a gun? And a knife? What were you going to do with those?" She creeps backward, making a slow distance from Jayanth.
"Nicky, no!" Jayanth says, trying to reason with her his words coming out in rushed clipped sentenses: "I don't want to hurt you, but this man, he is very skilled and very strong. I just don't want him to hurt you or me. I only drew my weapons as a warning." "Please listen to me, I am your friend, remember?"
Very slowly, Ilya shoots Jayanth a terrible, triumphant smile, and then he turns back to look at Nicole. Finding her eyes again, there's a murmur. "Come here," he tells her. "He's concerned: worried. I will explain," he says to her. "I will explain, and I will protect you." Are the faces in the mists mocking Jayanth, now, laughing? It's hard to say, as the pale man extends his arms for Nicole to approach.
snarling Jayanth reaches into his jacket for his phone, while still pleading to Nicole "Please Nicky, remember! Don't go near him." Moving again, Jayanth places himself again between Ilya and Nicole, trying to break the eye contact.
When Jayanth pulls his phone, it flashes an angry red: NO SERVICE. The mists are high, indeed.
Scowling at his useless phone Jayanth slides it into his jacket.
Nicole only backs away further, wide eyes flickering from Jayanth to Ilya, and finally to the growing mist. "Oh, shit. I think I'm schiz-ing out. Is any of this real?" She backs away one step, and then another, searching first the face of Jayanth, and then Ilya. When she locks eyes with him, her retreat suddenly halts, and she takes a jerky half-step in his direction. The second one is more sure, her advance only halted by the other man in her way. "He didn't pull a fucking gun, Jay! Just back off, okay? It'll be fine. Don't do any psycho shit. I'm just gonna hear him out!"
Jayanth doesn't move, but takes an even firmer stance, blocking Nicole's path to Ilya and pleads in a quiet voice: "Tell me Nicky, I've been with you for the past few hours. Do you honestly feel that I would hurt anyone without a good reason? Do you honestly believe that I would pull a gun on a harmless looking old man?"
A hand, then, on Nicole's shoulder, as Ilya looks her in the eye. "Your friend Mr. Jay is afraid," he explains to Nicole. When Jayanth moves to intercede once again, he looks up, and now cold anger burns in his eyes. "You will step back," he tells Jayanth. "I will count to three." The hand on Nicole's shoulder is vise-tight; she couldn't pull away if she tried, and up close, the pale-skinned man is cold. "One," he tells Jayanth.
Is Nicole having a schizoid break? It's hard to say. This all seems so unreal: she's here, her feet are on the ground, but at the same time all the other people are gone, and the mists... the mists are full of haunted eyes. There's a chill that runs through her body, some primal reaction to the uncanny.
Jayanth Starts to laugh, he continues to laugh while placing himself between Ilya and Nicole and says still laughing: "If only my boss was here to see this, youngling. Who is your Master? He must be disgusted at this child like behaviour. Is that why you are all alone, with no true skill or control?" At the end, his tone turns mocking.
"Ow! Hey, you're hurting me," Nicole says in a quiet voice, grabbing at her shoulder. Doubt flickers across her face as she looks straight up into Ilya's eyes. She looks between the two once more, perplexed. "When-- when the fuck did you get over here?" She asks Ilya, Jayanth's pleas all but forgotten. "I think I'm really losing my shit," she whines. "Do you guys see that?! There's like, fucking ghosts everywhere!"
"Nicky!" Jayanth says, his tone turning sharp and demanding, trying to snap her out of the daze: "Nicky! Listen to me! He is not your friend and he is not nice. Do not look into his eyes!"
A blow, then: the hand not holding Nicole is thrust out, like an open-handed punch to Jayanth's chest. The man is strong for a human, but the thing that hits him? He is stronger than any human can be. That open hand hits like a hammer, a blow to send Jayanth sprawling across the room, winded. Then Ilya turns to look at Nicole, and when he smiles it is all teeth: all too many teeth. "I told you," he tells her. Too many teeth, and too sharp. "I will not hurt you."
The hand on Nicole's arm has the same impossible strength as the blow that struck Jayanth, keeping her prisoned to Ilya.
Groaning Jayanth blinks dazedly at the strength of that blow, as he moves into a sitting position while rubbing his chest. Still panting and gasping Jayanth calls out: "So, I am right. You are a young foolish creature, not even old enough to leave your master and yet you are already here trying to use your undeveloped and unused skills." Turning to Nicole Jayanth says: "Scream! Scream your head off! Scream as loud as you can."
Moving to a standing position with agony, one arm wrapped around his chest Jayanth starts to make his way slowly towards Ilya and Nicole.
Nicole pales as she stares into Ilya's eyes, grimacing in fear as she jerks futilely against his grip. She can vaguely hear Jayanth's pleading in the background. "Ho-- holy shit. Ilya, Ilya, your teeth are all wrong. Let... Let go of me!" She struggles, jerking futilely, but it's like her arm has been caught in a vise. "Let go!" At this, she does scream, kicking weakly against Ilya's leg.
Just as Nicole says: Ilya's teeth are all wrong. As Jayanth limps towards the pair, the pale-skinned man bends his head, and with that painful grip on his arm he shows his final color: it is red, the color of blood, as too-sharp teeth penetrate Nicole's neck. There's a moment, frozen in time, as he drinks, and then he is pulling his mouth up, lips flecked red and eyes bright with desire. "Ah," he exhales, like some movie-pitchman who has quaffed a Coke.
"Let go of her, newborn." Jayanth screams as he sees Ilya's teeth sink into Nicole's neck before he rushes over to the pair and wedging as much of himself as he can between Nicole and Ilya
Whatever Ilya is, he is far from new-born: there is something ancient in his eyes, full of delighted glee at the bloody taste from Nicole's veins.
Nicole screams and screams and screams, and then pain envelopes her world and she screams no more. Her body seizes up as the teeth penetrate her neck, silent now as the strength gradually but all-too-quickly drains from her. Her arms, her legs tremble and go limp, the girl remaining upright only by the vampire's will. Tears blot at her eyes and she blinks blearily, as if uncertain how or why any of this was happening. When Ilya finally releases her, she lets out a pained sigh, like a half-sob, and nothing more.
Jayanth Snarls as he swiftly wraps an arm around Nicole to support her, while keeping his body between Ilya and Nicole
Slowly, Ilya's tongue licks around those bright red lips as Nicole sags in his hands, and then he smiles down at her: he tilts her head up as Jayanth approaches, and he finds her eyes. There's a look, words whispered that Jayanth can hear, as he instructs her: "You will forget this ever happened." Immediately, memory begins to flit away from Nicole the mists swirl, and she can feel the vampire's hand release her arm. Both she and Jayanth can see only white, for a moment, and then, as the mists dissipate, Ilya is gone.
Jayanth, of course, remembers everything: and he knows, too, the power of the supernatural to cloud the minds of the Unaware. For Nicole There are bruises on her arm, a sudden weakness -- and confusion. Confusion and dread, that will be joined with haunting, unsettling dreams in the coming days.
"Nicky, Nicky." Jayanth calls, trying to focus Nicole's attention on him. "Nicky, can you hear me?"
Jayanth scowls at the empty air, as he spots his weapons on the ground now that the mists are no longer obscuring his view. Quickly picking them up Jayanth stows them in their sheaths, while still keeping an arm around Nicole and trying to call out to her.
As the mists seem to evaporate, the Black Rose Bookstore comes back into view: no one is in the cafe, with the hour so late, but there are clerks and patrons moving more distantly in other rooms. The chill remains with Jayanth and Nicole Jayanth, of course, knows why, but with her memories invaded Nicole can merely shiver, that chill made worse perhaps by her unknown loss of blood.
"Uuuhhh...?" Nicole stares skyward, blinking hard as she struggles to get her blurry vision to focus. A few interminable seconds later, she blinks once more, and finally seems to see Jayanth. "Oww. Why does everything hurt? Where the hell... Am I?" She struggles to move, but her body is uncooperative. "What..."
With the mists -- and Ilya -- gone, Nicole's body is back in her control, but the gap in her memory remains. It's a wound she can't see, a wound she can't detect, one that may gnaw at her a little in the coming nights. The dreams of the mists will come first, followed by Ilya's face, and then close-ups of too sharp teeth... terrible dreams, revealed one by one in slow succession over the next week or so of uncertain sleep.
But for now? For now, Nicole is here, with Jayanth next to her, back in the Black Rose Cafe.
OOC: Thanks guys! If you want to go 'down' it should put you back at the Black Rose, if not send me a tell and I can summon you. Hope you had fun!
(A full moon has risen, and your target and their allies have to protect the town from a rampaging werewolf who has lost control over their transformation. They must subdue the werewolf without causing too much damage or revealing the supernatural world to the unknowing townsfolk.)
OOC: Hello! Go ahead and emote what you were doing!
Carter is laying in bed, still a bit tipsy from earlier, glancing idly at his phone and browsing the internet, his head laid on a stuffed Cinnamoroll plush.
As Carter lays in bed, the soft glow of his phone illuminates the room, casting a gentle light on the scattered remnants of the evening. The tipsiness lingers, adding a surreal quality to the otherwise mundane moment. The digital landscape inside his phone begs to be navigated at the swipe of his fingers as that little plushie offers a comforting presence beneath his head. Outside, the full moon hangs in the night sky, its silvery rays casting shadows that dance along the edges of the room. It's visible through the window, offering an added illumination to the room. And, naturally, with that moon comes a few howls in the night. There is one that sounds very, very close the frat house.
Carter blinks, squinting his eyes as he listens in to the howls he's hearing outside, before he's momentarily slipping up onto his feet and peering out the window, some momentary concern apparent as he looks up at the moon - It's not full anymore, right? ...Right? He wonders to himself with muted concern, folding his phone and slipping it into his pocket before he takes a seat at his desk, eyes drifting to his laptop, though he leaves it closed, content to fold his hands and look outside for just a moment as if appraising the situation.
As Carter peers outside, his concern is met with an unsettling sight. The moon, contrary to his hope, hangs full and luminous in the night sky. It's certainly an odd sight, considering the timing is off. The howls continue, growing more fervent, and more and more close. A shadow moves amidst the trees, briefly catching Carter's attention as he peers out at the moon, and the subtle rustling of leaves transforms into an eerie symphony. It seems the source of those howls are closer to the frat house than one would hope, as something darts from the trees and begins to run across the courtyard before those curtains are closed and Carter's seating himself at his desk. Another glance outside would show the source of what's darting about the courtyard. A werewolf. Massive, scarred to hell that it's unrecognizable as any he may have seen on campus previously, and it's fur is stark white.
"Fuck me.", Carter murmurs as he glances out into the courtyard, recalling something he'd read prior. "White fur, and so large..", he murmurs, pulling out his phone and checking his comms to see if any reports on sightings have been made, before sending his own iteration of it, cupping his hand to his ear. "Large, white-haired shifted werewolf spotted, western side of White Oak, on campus out in the courtyard... Covered in scars. Advise caution.", he corroborates, though he doesn't wait immediately for a response, sending out a similar report to the HPD to keep them filled in as well and to ensure the right information gets to the right places.
There is no information available from the coms that would suggest this particular werewolf has been seen or is even expected, but the report is made regardless, both to the other end of his comms, as well as one reported to the HPD. The wolf pauses in its dart across the campus, nose pressed to the ground as if tracking something before it lifts its head back to howl once more. It shakes the frame of the windows due to its closeness, and then that head of this creature is turning towards the window, and it stills. Whether or not it's spotted Carter on the other side isn't yet apparent, dependent on how Carter is viewing, but with how it tenses it becomes clear that it's started the hunt for whatever scent it's picked up on campus.
"Fuck me, it's hunting.", Carter murmurs as he slips away from the window - slowly, so as to not create the impression of movement in case it was trying to look through the window. "Swords. I need Swordbearers. This is a potential Awareness breach.", Carter whisper-yells to Order comms, apparently worried the thing's listening to -him-, as if maybe he could be heard over every other little noise about. "White Oak campus, right by the dorms, specifically the southwesternmost one.", he quietly reiterates. "Relay the information to Hand and Temple too if it's deemed necessary.", he adds, shuddering a bit at that howl the beast gives off, working at stilling his breath.
The wolf continues to peer at Carter's window, eyes attuned to the darkness watching for any sign of movement that may trigger in it its instinct to hunt and kill. It gives no indication as to whether or not its seen Carter, but soon Carter is away from the window. As Carter whisper-yells into the comms, there is no immediate response yet save for a static that would indicate he's connected to their network and his message went through. Whether or not it was received is another thing to question entirely. The next time Carter would glance towards the window, he'd notice the beast is gone and unaccounted for.
Carter lays back, trying to still his breathing as he listens for any sudden sounds outside; his eyes flit to his crossbow, tucked away and hidden in a nook in his closet, though he doesn't consider that avenue just yet - surely not without assistance present.
As Carter lays back, he is met with only silence for a long beat. No howls, no crashes, no wolves jumping through his window to accost him. More importantly, no response from his communications. It starts to seem perhaps that maybe the problem has solved itself, that the wolf might've left and retreated into the forest following whatever scent it has caught. But then, a terrified shriek is heard, and it's long and shrill and loud. Certainly heard by others, but it comes from the courtyard. Given how intently those screams are, and how varied the inflection is, its clear the noise is from someone mid-flight.
Carter seems ready to give a sigh of relief, before he hears that long, shrill shriek and scream, a look of horror coming across his expression, though he stills himself. He states through grit teeth in quiet, irritated tones, this time broadcasting simultaneously to both Order and HPD feeds - because protocol can suck it - "I need a -fucking- response. Send *someone* out here, now. People might be -dying-.", with a hint of desperation in his tone, and he seems to be falling into a panic of sorts, his breathing hastening, before he adds, "P-please..!", practically spitting it out, the word utterly laced with concern, his face wrought with worry and grief for the would-be victim of the werewolf.
If Carter feels any sort of panic, it's dwarfed by the sheer terror that's coming from beyond his window. The screams resound louder, and then something happens that has it cutting off abruptly. He might be able to get a visual should he glance out of the window, but for now there is silence that fills the air and does so painfully. There is static on the other line from someone receiving and responding to his message now. "Restate the location, please? What's going on?" Comes from one of the channels. It's a familiar voice to Carter, likely from some intern from his faction.
Carter's breathing hastens as he listens; he doesn't chance a glance - that silence, though, cuts straight to his core as his expression darkens considerably; in another world, he would've wailed, or cried, but there's no time for that, and he transmits to his comms as soon as he hears the voice. "Shifted werewolf on White Oak Campus, by the dormitories, southwestern portion of campus. White fur, heavily scarred. It was hunting someone.. I could tell by the way it postured. It had a scent.. I heard screams, shrieking... Screams..." His voice trails off; he's trying to conceal the pain he's feeling in the moment. "Screams stopped. Likely death. Send Swords, Shields, and a hypnotist for potential Awareness breaches.", he quietly states, trying to contain himself, his breathing still just as fast as before; he's trying not to hyperventilate but not fully succeeding.
Giving a blind eye to what's happening outside of the window, the sight of anything going on is unwitnessed by Carter. The message is relayed and followed up with an, "Understood. Relaying and sending containment." On the outside, for whatever reason, there is no other commotion that follows from the screams. Perhaps the level of wolf attacks have cautioned people to stay inside. Perhaps someone did see and knew this was bigger than what they could do to help. Perhaps the masses are dead asleep or otherwise off campus. Either way, for all Carter knows, he's the only one aware. "Please! Anyone!" Is what reaches his ears now - that same voice from a scream cut short seems whatever happened didn't end their life afterall. Perhaps whatever it was merely knocked the wind out of them, but the tone in this voice - a female - seems like a last ditch effort to petition anyone for some kind of aid. The tone she bears is defeated, however -- hopeless.
In that moment, Carter feels a faint sense of hope as he hears that voice still alive - his worries scattered away as he carefully glances out the window once more, just seeing if he could get a line of vision onto the wolf, and its would-be victim.
The massive wolf is hard to miss. It's pinned a girl beneath its frame, a face Carter might be able to recognize as a newly transferred freshmen in her first semester this winter. Her left shoulder is a shattered, bloodied mess - perhaps the tackling and biting of that shoulder is what cut off her screaming and it left her severely wounded. The wolf's maw is covered in her blood, and soon it's delivering another bite to her ankle. It causes her to scream, but it's weak. That bite isn't released though, and it's clear by how the wolf positions it's body that it is preparing to drag her away.
Carter glares at that werewolf; the mess it's made of her, as it moves to attack and drag her by the ankle. "Alright, fucker.", Carter murmurs to himself, as he places a hand protectively over his necklace as it gleams and he murmurs an incantation, his eyes flitting between the girl and the wolf and attempting at making the wolf see itself in the girl. "I hope this works.", he mumbles.
The wolf continues to drag the girl away as that magic starts to take hold. For a moment, it's looking as though it has no effect, but then the wolf's eyes are glancing up at it's victim, and recoils. It immediately releases her, befuddlement evident in the way it moves its body, like seeing something that shouldn't be. It's sniffing at the girl, who now, with a broken ankle, is trying slowly to distance herself from the wolf. The further back she gets, the wolf follows, though it's with slow tentative steps that it does so. It seems equal parts uncertain and uncomfortable by what it sees, continuing to sniff as it tries to sort through what the scents are telling it, and what its eyes are.
Carter cautiously watches the situation unfold - at first he's concerned he made a mistake, but the wolf releasing her gets a small sigh of relief, eying the pair carefully as the girl backs away and the wolf slowly follows. To his comms, he relays, "Situation partially diffused. Subject thought dead is in fact alive. Issue: Wolf still present. Aid needs to arrive soon as this is a temporary fix.. Deluded wolf into seeing itself in victim, halted its assault. Pack instincts.", with a slight sigh, before slipping into a more casual tone, adding, "And I fucking hope you can get someone here before it wears off." with some trepidation.
The wolf continues to stalk at the girl as she meekly crawls back - it's a task made difficult considering her left shoulder is shattered and her left ankle is broken. She favors heavily the right side, and it seems her own instincts are kicking in as she's trying not to moan or make any pained noises so she's not considered some prey. She's sliding her hand into her pocket, having to halt her crawling away enough to do so, and one-handedly she's tapping fervently on her phone. She then drops it, and continues to crawl backwards. A beat later, there's a response from Carter's communications to state, "Arriving now," and it seems any minute a team should be cautiously entering to try and apprehend and control the situation.
As the girl continues to crawl away, the wolf still continues to stalk towards her. It's starting to snarl, now, fangs bearing as perhaps that illusion may be fading. But soon, the girl's phone lets out a shrill sounding alarm, right beneath the wolf who walked over it unknowingly as it followed after her. It seems enough to startle it, because it jumps back, letting out a angered sounding bark. A dart from somewhere fires off and strikes the wolf, though, startling it further and alerting it to the aid that Carter summoned, and soon it's taking off, moving westbound to the forests. Whatever adrenaline was keeping this girl conscious fades the moment the wolf departs, and she's passing out immediately after as a team of Orderites come in to clean up.
Carter grits his teeth, quietly peeking through the window as the girl continues to crawl away, before he watches as she taps at her phone lifting his brows, giving a single nod as he receives confirmation of the arrival of a team, letting out yet another sigh of relief at that, though he's still nervous. That snarl gets a grimace from Carter, who's worried all of his worries of the moment were going to come true for just briefly - and.. then, her phone lets out that noisy alarm. This gets a slight smile from Carter. "Clever.", he opines quietly, right as the wolf's then getting even further startled and making its way off, his breathing slowing as his smile becomes something more genuine. He cups his hand to his ear to relay a simple message to his comms - "Thank you.", as if he felt the weight of the world come off his shoulders in that brief moment.
That alarm is silenced by one of the society members tapping the button on the side, and the girl is scooped away by another and carried in the direction of the clinic. The fact that no one else wandered outside is inexplicable, but most likely like Carter, people saw what was occurring, and collectively led the girl to fall victim of bystander syndrome. She's a long recovery ahead of her if she survives. The wolf though, is still out there, and likely this will be something for The Order to mobilize against sooner rather than later. A glance up to the sky reveals in actuality, it's not the full moon. Not yet, anyway. It seems the initial angle Carter looked through his window had a speck of glitter on the window that filled in the moon, small enough to make it look real and full. If anything, it only goes to show that when the moon /is/ actually full, this particular wolf will be a worse problem to deal with.
Carter squints at the glass on his window. "Fuck me, it -isn't- full?", he murmurs, before he scratches at that piece of glitter, seeing fit to lay back in his bed, stifling a yawn. A brief, furtive glance is cast out towards the forest, a hint of concern as if anticipating its return.