Plotlogs
Childe Haley The Huntress Sr Jack 240921
In a Boston suburb, a group of would-be vampire hunters gather outside an apartment where Haley, a student recently turned into a vampire, is believed to reside. Among them are Ash, nearly a victim of Haley; Tabitha, pushed to help by an old teacher and curious about the young vampiress's origins; Syl, drawn by family ties; and Berlin, tagging along with interest in the investigation. The night is cool, the moon waning gibbous, setting a mysterious stage for their confrontation.
Tabitha, familiar with Ash, introduces herself to Syl and offers a warm greeting to Berlin. The group, carrying stakes and bound by a shared purpose, await an optimal moment to approach Haley's apartment, hoping to understand her tragic transformation from a beloved cheerleader to a creature lurking in the shadows.
Upon entering the apartment with a strategy to blend in and not raise suspicion, they are confronted by the reality of Haley's new existence, marked by her vampiric tendencies and an apartment altered to accommodate her aversion to sunlight. They find themselves at a moral crossroads, contemplating the extent of their intervention as Haley, tormented between her human past and her vampire present, struggles against their efforts to help her.
The plan takes a turn when Lilah, another key figure in the story, arrives. Pregnant and looking for shelter, she uses her condition and prior acquaintance with Haley as leverage to gain access to the apartment. Conversation reveals the influence of a mysterious "He" over Haley, suggesting a deeper, darker influence at play, likely her vampire master referred to only as "M."
As tension mounts, Tabitha uses her dark magic to temporarily immobilize Haley, allowing the hunters to restrain her. Just as the situation escalates, Lilah mysteriously disappears into the shadows, highlighting her own unique abilities.
The confrontation concludes with the group deciding to take Haley to a clinic, hoping to find a way to reverse her vampirism or at least understand it better. They are left pondering the implications of their actions, the ethics of their methods, and the shadowy figure of Haley's master looming over their next moves.
This story captures a critical moment for the hunters, a blend of supernatural drama and moral ambiguity, as they navigate the fine line between saving a soul and condemning a monster. It leaves open the possibility of further conflict with Haley's master and poses questions about the nature of power, the cost of salvation, and the true monsters in their midst.
(Childe Haley, the Huntress(SRJack):SRJack)
[Fri Sep 20 2024]
On a street in a Boston suburb
The street outside this apartment building in Roxbury is lined with aged brick buildings, their facades worn but full of character. Tall trees, their leaves just starting to turn with the season, cast long shadows on the sidewalk. A few cars are parked along the curb, and the sound of distant traffic hums softly in the background, occasionally broken by the chatter of neighbors or the rustle of a newspaper in the wind. The street feels lived-in, with small, vibrant murals and community gardens peeking between buildings, giving the neighborhood a lived-in sensibility amidst the urban sprawl south of Boston.
It is night, about 71F(21C) degrees, There is a waning gibbous moon.
Welcome to Chile Haley. One way or another, all of you have glommed onto the tragedy of Haley Fry, a recent White Oak student who has been turned into a vampire. If you haven't yet come up with an independent reason to be hunting Haley, please send me a tell or stalk right now and I will give you a hook or other background to explain why you might be here. We're waiting on one more, but I think they are eating.
Evening, Roxbury, MA.
This small party of intrepid would-be vampire hunters have gathered here outside an apartment building -- drawn perhaps by a trail of imperfect victims Haley, who many of the White Oak students or recent graduates knew, have left across the student body. She is on the lease of an apartment here, and a little bit of investigation suggests she still comes and goes, if now mostly at night.
All of those here are drawn for different reasons. Ash was nearly Haley's victim. Tabitha was pushed to help Ash after a call from an old teacher, and she harbors her own suspicions perhaps about the provenance of this young vampiress. Syl has felt the clarion call of family, and Berlin Well. He trails behind Tabitha, with some interest in his own investigations.
Tabitha walks beside Berlin, having taken a very normal route of travel: bus. The redhead is dressed very casually, doing nothing to hide the fact that she is wearing a slim and lightweight vest over some clothes she likely doesn't mind getting a little muck on. She is first to greet Ash, having familiarity with his face. "Hey, Ash." This is with a warm smile, despite the entire reason why she is here. She nods to Syl. "I've seen you. But we did not formally meet. I'm Tabitha." She holds a hand out for greeting.
If you're wearing weapons and armor and are worried they may impact RPXP gain, feel free to remove them and drop them. They will go to your stash and you can just RP being armed and armored.
Berlin walks alongside Tabitha, looking around at the city, with a look more interested than wary. He notes Ash, giving them a warm smile and a friendly upnod of greeting. Turning to someone, he extends that smile to her as well, greeting her with a soft, accented, "Ma'am."
Berlin walks alongside Tabitha, looking around at the city, with a look more interested than wary. He notes Ash, giving them a warm smile and a friendly upnod of greeting. Turning to Syl, he extends that smile to her as well, greeting her with a soft, accented, "Ma'am."
Syl accepts Tabitha's handshake. Her clothes shshs against themselves as she moves. "Syl," she tells Tabitha. "Its nice to finally meet you." Hers is a Western accent, though one touched by something slavic, perhaps Russian. She glances toward Berlin, giving him a nod, and to someone. "Finally get why you suggested going to the waitress, by the way," she offers to Ash. "Makes a lot more sense now, then it did then."
Syl accepts Tabitha's handshake. Her clothes shshs against themselves as she moves. "Syl," she tells Tabitha. "Its nice to finally meet you." Hers is a Western accent, though one touched by something slavic, perhaps Russian. She glances toward Berlin, giving him a nod, and to someone. "Finally get why you suggested going to the waitress, by the way," she offers to Ash. "Makes a lot more sense now, then it did then."
Syl accepts Tabitha's handshake. Her clothes shshs against themselves as she moves. "Syl," she tells Tabitha. "Its nice to finally meet you." Hers is a Western accent, though one touched by something slavic, perhaps Russian. She glances toward Berlin, giving him a nod, and to Ash. "Finally get why you suggested going to the waitress, by the way," she offers to Ash. "Makes a lot more sense now, then it did then."
Ash came by path, arriving in a specific alley and moving carefully to the spot by foot. Barefoot, of course, as is their wont. Seeing the group, they join them quickly, maintaining an awareness of the apartment as they do. They smile at Tabitha and Berlin both, granting each an upnod and a quiet, "Hey... glad you all could come." To Syl, they look surprised - perhaps expecting something far less pleasant, but they quickly turn their surprise into a smile for her, as well. "Yeah, she's amazing, isn't she?" They seem proud of the mentioned waitresss, fond, though not in a way most would interpret as romantic.
Syl nods in agreement to Ash. "She is, yeah. Sorry for giving you a hard time about it before."
"Nice to meet you, too, Syl." Tabitha responds, turning her gaze back to the apartments, those big blues creeping up along the facade to get a guess as to which window may be the childe in question. She mentions aside to Berlin, "This whole thing, it sort of reeks of when my friend Alice disappeared. But maybe I am just being suspicious."
...as the night settles, all of the quartet are outside the apartment building they have traced Haley to. In fact, her story is tragic: she was a Wildcats cheerleader, her jet-black hair a constant presence at lacrosse and football games, a bubbly presence around campus. Now? Well. Those who have seen her have seen her with a bloody smile.
Still: apart from the threat her power and predation causes the student body, the larger question is -why-? Some outcast hunting White Oak students makes sense, but she had a happy place in the campus community. What changed? What caused her to make this transition from supporting cast to villainess?
Berlin rolls his shoulders, his suede jacket whispering softly in the night air. "Given the circumstances," he says aside to Tabitha, his eyes roaving over the facade of the building carefully, "Shouldn't you be?" He hooks a thumb into the right hip pocket of his jeans, fingers fiddling with the hem of his jacket in a sign of concealed, but controlled nerves.
Syl shifts uneasily at the reminder, clothes whispering. She checks over the building, noting the growing darkness.
Ash shrugs to Syl, not dismissive but casual, saying, "You're fine, Syl. I appreciate that apology." But then, it's time to get to business. Ash murmurs quietly to the group, "She may not be alone... she has 'sisters'. I didn't get to figure out how many, seemed a risky thing at the time. She also has a master that she's working for... likely the one who turned her. He hates White Oak for some reason... there's plenty of reasons, and I meant to do some research into who might be the guy and who her 'sisters' may be... but life's been busy." They don't ignore Tabitha, but their words... do seem to reflect her suspicions.
"I know far too well the draw and the pull to the darkness, and to the lure of it, and power." Tabitha says, those blues shifting from her scan of the apartment to Ash. She nods at the news. "I'm not surprised. But I would probably be more concerned about that master.." She mentions, reaching out to touch Berlin's arm to still nerves, "Lets just hope that he is not here. Though, I would suspect it wouldn't take him long to arrive."
Who is the master? Ash's concerns seem to echo Tabitha's. Up above, night is settling in deeply. Surely -- up in that apartment, Haley is stirring.
Down here, the hunters need some plan of attack or diplomacy if they are going to essay some move into the apartment itself. Unless, of course, they plan to remain outside and wait.
Syl takes in Ash's words with the uneasy look of someone realizing they may be in over their head. She looks to Tabitha next and nods. "Older are more dangerous than younger, for sure." She takes a deep breath to help settle her own nerves, before looking back to Ash.
"If it must be done," Berlin says, resignation putting an edge to his voice, "Then 'twere best it be done quickly. No sense delaying the inevitable meeting, uninvited though we may be."
Ash nods, saying, "Expect him. You've all brought stakes, right?" Vampires can be people, in a supernatural society, and it's quite possible to release Hailey from her sire's hold and return her for education and redemption. But, they don't seem to be banking on an easy way out. They seem ready to go, at least.
Ash follows up with, "Shall I nightmare scout it? Not sure if we've time for that... we can just head in, or try and draw her out. The latter gives her time to prepare, though." They look to Tabitha as they ask, as the other person who seems to have a lot of experience here.
Syl cringes. looking a bit embarrassed. "I kind of didn't expect to be getting into a fight tonight. Didn't know all of you would be here and showing up. So I'm not really kitted for a fight at the moment. I was only going to scout things out. I was thinking more along the lines of seeing if the apartment has security cameras." She gives a wry smile to Ash. "I think we came here with very different ideas about how this would be going."
Syl is apparently the only one not carrying a bunch of weapons.
Syl opens a pocket. "Got this?"
Berlin nods in agreement with Syl. "Nor did I, it must be confessed. Not exactly a boy scout." Once more he rolls his shoulders. "If we don't know where, or how many, there are, perhaps the tongue should be mightier than the sword. If such a thing is possible."
"I can hold him back if need be." Tabitha says to Ash, with some confidence in this. There is no magic that crackles at her fingertips, but there is an air about her. Dark, heavy, and mysterious, a completely different aura than what she presents outwardly. "I've brought a few tricks that might be able to help. And when it comes down to it, anything can be a stake." She smiles aside to Syl. "I'm hoping it won't come to a fight. But -- you never know." She is not the only one not carrying a bunch of weapons, no. The redhead looks like she has no real place to carry a bunch of weapons, given the fit of her outfit. "We will try to persuade before we fight?"
As Tabitha's ring begins to glow, some brief smell of brimstone drifts across the street -- it pricks at noses and then it is gone.
Ash nods to Syl, murmuring, "We don't know how it all ends - but you should learn to be ready for anything." It's gentle scolding, before saying, "Alright, we're going in, then. And I'm fine with ending her, but we need information about her brood - or whatever you call a flock of vamps. So, talking, sure. Persuading her to stop... unlikely." They talk of murder casually as they turn to the door, saying, "She'll do as her sire desires. Convincing him... is unlikely, but we can certainly try. Probably safest, really. Try to use something blunt or wooden, guns are last ditch effort things."
They check the door to see if it's unlocked, eyeing the window as well. First step is getting inside, before any persuading. Their nose wrinkles at the smell, but they don't even turn to Tabitha.
Berlin looks to the box of call buttons, a grin making his dimples dent his cheeks. "wE could try the old classic," he suggests, "The man coming home from the pub, forgot his keys, stabs a button at random in hopes of the door gettig opened by a sleepy denizen?"
Ash raises their eyebrows at Berlin, then asks, "Do you have alcohol? You don't smell drunk to me." They move to the side, though, against the wall to avoid being seen by an open door or the windows. "If you have drink, though, go for it. Or at least greasy food." They speak quietly, but there's a sense of urgency. It is night. They don't have much time.
Interlude, upstairs.
Haley is stirring. She doesn't sleep in her bed, anymore: the pink comforter is undisturbed, because the light that stabs in by day hurts her. Instead, she curls up in a ball on the closet with her old cheerleader uniform as a pillow, a comforter dragged in for the memory of what it was like to be alive. As she rises she stretches, emerging, padding into the bathroom. The toilet is unused, of course -- she's beyond human neccessities -- but she turns on the shower as she brushes her teeth in an effort to cover the taste of blood with mint.
Syl accepts the rebuke from Ash without comment, grimacing; its probably deserved, even if actually being in a position where she needed the stake was well beyond what she had thought she was getting into. She makes a point to keep an eye for potential stakes she can collect.
No one seems to have a better suggestion, so Berlin marches up to the callbox. He thinks for a moment, then decides to go with frantic man late home from work than drunk. Received pronunciation being learned as it is, he drops it in favor of a normal, basic, London accent. "Anyone wanna pick the button?" he asks, "Its basically a lucky choice unless we know where she lives."
Spit. Toothpaste is red with last night's meal on the first spit, and on the second, but out, out damn spot -- on the third she's clean. She turns the shower on, stripping out of sleep shorts and a top, and then she gets in. The cold doesn't bother her as she goes through some mortal routine lost to terrible trauma, scrubbing with a lavender-scented loofah. Her razor is rusted, now, after a few months: she's forever got the shaved legs of the day she died, down to a little razor burn on her left calf.
It's not that hard to get Haley's apartment number. If Syl, for instance, has some skill as a hacker, she'd know it's apartment 2B, on the second floor.
Syl mentions, "I'm pretty sure she is in 2B. I might not have brought weapons, but that doesn't mean I didn't prepare at all. No need to press random buttons." She doesn't shoot a gloating look at Ash. If anything, she still seems quite a bit emberassed by her oversight in not being better prepared for combat. She speaks with her voice low, when she speaks, mindful that some vampires have very acute senses.
Ash nods to Syl in approval at this, a flicker of a smile on their lips. They beckon her close, tapping the wall next to them, before whispering to her. Then, they wait.
Some people march to their own beat. Lilah may be one of them -- one of her sorority sisters turned up with a half-missing memory and some bloody mess, the legacy of Haley's predation. She knew Haley from last year, when they shared a hall at Tri-Delta, and she knows the apartment -- Roxbury 2B -- she moved to when she left campus. And so she arrives, to find a part of other classmates and former classmates gathered. Some of them have wooden stakes.
Ash absolutely whispered to Syl correctly, and she surely did it back correctly, as well.
2B is the second button down in the right hand column. Berlin decides to hit the button as far from it as he can. It turns out to be 6C. Before he presses it, he pauses to clear his throat, looking over to meet the eye of his fellow hunters. Then he presses the buzzer, giving his best panicked stare to the camera. He's no actor, of course, but he is a footballer who has snuck back into team apartment complexes a time or two, and so he breathes heavily, hoping for someone to ansswer the buzzer upset and annoyed at being interrupted.
Tabitha waits nearby to Berlin. "Well do we have a credit card to slip through the door to try to open it or..." She looks aside to Syl. "Can you hack into the system to open it? If not, it would probably be best to nightmare inside."
Should she be here in her condition? Probably not. But even so, here Lilah is, making her way on remarkably quiet feet, to approach the group that's already gathered. The look that filters across her face at the sight of Tabitha among them is one of restraint, emotion compressed and shuttered away, before the pregnant young woman lifts a hand in casual greeting to the already gathered group. "Evening," she offers, without batting a lash at the sight of stakes.
Upstairs, Haley is turning off the shower. She slips out, looking for a towel. She begins to towel herself off -- there's a tilt of her head as preternatural ears hear the buzzer at 6C, but she ignores it in the daily, now nightly, grind of apartment living.
It takes a second for 6C to answer the intercom. It's a gravelly Boston accent: "Yah?" the man says. "What yah want? No deliverahs."
Syl tries to check over the lock to estimate whether she could get through it.
Tabitha turns to face Lilah and the look that the woman gives her is met with one of clear annoyance, albeit for only a moment, then exasperation, then just -- sadness. She puts on a smile, however, for the woman. She says simply, "Hello, Lilah." She turns back to the door. Her shoulders tense for a moment and she exhales. "Good to have another caster." But inside?
Berlin has a sudden spark of inspiration. He reaches out, wrapping an arm around Tabitha's waist, pulling her close once she's turned back to the door, just a couple of friday night partiers coming home, or to one of their homes maybe. "Hey," he calls out, sounding as sheepish as he can, "I'm real sorry. I just got back and forgot my bloody keys. Can you buzz me in please? Its cold as hell out here."
For Syl's part? This isn't much of a lock on the exterior door. A little bit of lockpicking and she'd be inside, no problem. Buildings like this, the exterior doors are to keep the homeless out. The interior locks will be a little bit more difficult. Sometimes, though...
"Really? Yah can't even keep yah keys straight and yah gotta wake mah up? Fine, fine." The door buzzes: unlocked, because the old, tired man doesn't give two clucks about whether Berlin actually lives here.
Berlin gives a helpless shrug to the camera, just in case the man is still watching, then pulls open the door before the buzzer stops.
"Hi Tabitha. It's why I'm here," Lilah replies, flicking her gaze around the others in the group, none of whom it seems she knows, though there's a flicker of recognition in her eyes when she looks over at Ash, however briefly. "Hey. Lilah," she tosses out in the most casual of introductions, as the door is buzzed open for the group.
Syl looks up from her investigation, but Berlin is one step ahead. She gives a helpless shrug to Ash as if to say, oh well? Then she gives a tight smile and a lift of her chin in acknowledgment of his savvy approach. She eyes the newcomer as she approaches and then moves a bit closer to relay her own greeting.
Tabitha is pulled into Berlin by her waist, some thought writ hard on her features. But she is pulled out of them by the man, and then she turns up a smile again, and her arms wrap around the man, too. She says to the old, tired man, "Hey, thanks!" She then smooches at Berlin's cheek, imprinting a pink kiss there. She waits to be led inside.
Ash waits a moment, letting Berlin and Tabitha go in first - just in case the man is watching. They'd only nod to Syl and move to go in after the two make it in without any reactions from the inside. They move gracefully, but it's their lack of shoes that make them more stealthy, not a particularly trained skill in stealth. Their eyes glance around carefully - hidden behind sunglasses, it must mean great eyesight to move so confidently with them on at night. They tap Berlin on the shoulder slightly in approval to his decision.
...swing. The door is open. Ahead, the apartment building is converted from an old tenement, with doors down the hallway that still have little half-circle glass windows above the doorframe to let in interior light. Stairs opposite the entry door lead up to the second floor; perhaps unsurprisingly, there is no elevator.
Towel off, Haley is blow-drying her hair, coming out raven locks again, and again, and again. Out of reflex, she glances up at the mirror, but there's something -wrong- in her reflection. It produces a reaction -- a hiss, feral -- and it takes an act of will not to hurl the blow-dryer at it. Already the tall changing mirror in the corner of her bedroom is cracked from undead frustration.
Syl follows after Ash, Tabitha, and Berlin with the air of one just coming to their apartment. She isn't sneaking. Sneaking, in her view, would just make her stand out. Better to blend in. Normal suits her.
"Pleasure, Syl," Lilah says, her tone light and sounding of the smile that remains well-trained on her features. She loosely wraps her arms around her waist, turning to follow after the couple, the silent Ash, and the pretty, raven-haired woman. As of yet, she doesn't seem to pry into plans, merely tagging herself onto the back of this group of almost-strangers. She's not sneaking either, but then who would expect a woman halfway through pregnancy to be up to anything nefarious to begin with?
Tabitha is light on her toes, her sneakers giving some padding against the floor to help with being quiet, but then, the old man has let them in, and there's no real reason to creep. She keeps herself at Berlin's waist as they go. She leads the way to the stairs, after a brief glance for an elevator. Even Elm apartments have one. Goodness! She begins the ascent. "Thanks again, mister." On the ascent, those big blues scan ahead.
"Never fails," Berlin says with a chuckle, likewise not sneaking. Why sneak when you live here? "Wake a guy up, and he'll let you in any time." as they reach the second floor though, he pauses, letting the people with stakes, and magic, and other useful things go first, giving them space to spread out. For his part, to sell the act to anyone listening, he continues down the hall to 2D, waiting there as if looking for a spare key he hid there.
Second floor, same as the first. Stairs lead up to the third floor -- 'C' floor, in the confusing way that this apartment building labels its apartments, as the doors lead on down the hallway. 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B... All the same, except the one that isn't. Apartment 2B, Haley's apartment, has that glass panel above the door covered up with construction paper painted black, all part of some effort to keep the damnable sun from getting inside.
As they ascend, the quintet moves quietly enough: the apartment building is large enough that no one is looking for Inspect Cloisseau. Tabitha, Syl and Lilah may be the softest-footed, while Ash and Berlin have a cloddier step, but at this hour before midnight no one seems to care.
Ash whispers to the others, "Since y'all want to talk, Syl should knock. I doubt you two know each other, since you're new." After all, their small form doesn't look capable of kicking down doors. They glance to Tabitha before leaning into her direction more to whisper, "Or you can try what you mentioned earlier." They try to keep their speech short, fighting against their drawling accent to avoid being recognized by voice - though, with the walls in the way, they're at least willing to risk speaking up.
"Anyone here know her?" Tabitha asks, glancing behind her to Ash, Syl, and Lilah. Berlin is left out of this mix, but likely only because she knows. "Maybe we should just knock." She seems to have the same thought as Ash. "The worst that could happen ..." Well she drops off that thought. Alot could.
"Yeah. Not super well, but I know her," Lilah answers. She keeps her voice low, a hand still around her belly, the other perched on a hip. Looking from Ash to Tabitha and then the others, she muses, "Knocking can't hurt. She's just one person and we're five."
Syl murmurs, "Don't know her. Just her room with the construction paper though. If she's got sisters, good chance they're coming from behind." She pauses at Lilah's comment. "Ash seems to think there are sisters," she explains. "And maybe a master, who might show up. Something you should know."
Lilah knows Haley reasonably well, Ash a little less so. Tabitha has met her, but only in briefest passing. Berlin and Syl To them, she's some enigma.
Inside the apartment, Haley is adjusting her yoga pants with a frown. She sighs, cupping her belly, and then pulls on a cashmere crop top. Even if it's chilly outside, she doesn't care.
"Father Francis told me about her, but I would be an unfamiliar face." Tabitha says, tilting her head to one side at Lilah, and stepping away from the door to allow the other woman to take the lead. "I think if she sees a familiar and friendly face, it'll be a safer call, than busting in the door."
Ash nods to Tabitha to confirm that, yes, they know her. Having heard of Tabitha being an alumni, they seem a bit surprised at the suggestion that Tabitha doesn't know her - she was a prominent, friendly cheerleader. But, they don't comment on it at all. They seem to be reluctant to be the one to knock, given their current accent change. They seem displease about something, but nods to Tabitha in agreement, perfectly fine with it not being Syl. Again, they stand against the wall, careful not to be caught in the reflection of an opposing door's window.
Berlin leans against the doorframe, letting the other four decide this one. Finally he pushes off the wall, approaching the group, figuring the ruse, if needed, has served its purpose. He puts his back to the wall next to the door, far enough away to allow people to access the frame, but close enough to swing into it swiftly, showing off a little bit of familiarity with this process. His right hand rests on his hip, fingers hooked under the hem of his jacket, calm, ready, waiting.
Lilah nods thoughtfully to Syl. There's definite hints of disgust and something far deeper, more like longing, in the redhead's expression at the mention of a 'master' but she holds her tongue entirely for a few moments while the others speak. "Sure," she says, keeping that hand loosely over her rounded stomach. "If that's what everyone wants, I'll knock." She steps forward then to rap knuckles lightly against the door. "Best hide those weapons, hmm? If you don't want her to run immediately, or go on the offensive."
Once upon a midnight dreary, as the hunters pondered, weak and weary ... who plans the tapping? Lilah -- it is Lilah who is rapping, rapping at the chamber door. It has a kind of hollow sound, quiet, but inside it's heard keenly.
There's a shift, Haley stiffening with sudden surprise. She finishes tugging down the cropped sweater she wears and moves, her eyes narrowed. "Hello?" she asks. "Who's there?" Bad habits die hardest: the dead-bolt scrapes, and then?
...the door opens.
Ash considers for a moment, then looks at Syl before going into the nightmare. They listen from within there to see if they can hear an approach inside so as to know better where to breach. Chances are, she wouldn't have drunk mandrake tea, but Ash is nothing if not cautious.
Move east.
"Hey, Haley. Been ages, huh?" Lilah offers, along with a wan smile that makes her look just a bit haggard, despite the fact that, as always, she's dressed to the nines. "Remember that time we talked and I said that if you ever needed help you could come to me?" Which clearly her sorority sister has not done. Still, blithely going on, her lips twist faintly, a purely self-deprecating look on the Fae-featured girl's face. "Maybe it's me that needs the help now, huh?" After all, it's highly likely that Haley, like everyone else, knew something of the predicament she'd found herself in. So, she continues to speak in a low, musical tone, something that just slightly softens everything she says though she's not singing, per se.
That doesn't explain the others. They'll have to explain themselves, but as she speaks, Lilah makes sure that she turns just enough that her thin figure doesn't disguise that baby bump as much as it tends to from the front.
As Haley opens the room, the inside is revealed to Syl, Berlin, Tabitha and Lilah -- and to Ash, of course, hidden in a realm beyond this one. Only Tabitha can see him there, lingering, but from Haley's view he is invisible. She has some surprise when she sees Lilah.
"Lilah?" she asks, raven hair around her face. "And... Who are you friends?" The defensiveness, the animal defensiveness, is obvious, as is the way her mind races with a little panic. There is some fight or flight here. For those with some arcane skill -- Ash, Lilah, Tabitha -- the telltale signs of a practitioner are scattered around the room. A bit of carpet covers a makeshift ritual circle, and there are too many candles. Curiously, before her transformation Haley wasn't known as the sort of girl who dabbled in the occult.
Haley's eyes look down to Lilah's belly, and they light up with some hunger she tries to conceal. "What happened?"
"Hey, Haley. Been ages, huh?" Lilah offers, along with a wan smile that makes her look just a bit haggard, despite the fact that, as always, she's dressed to the nines. "Remember that time we talked and I said that if you ever needed help you could come to me?" Which clearly her sorority sister has not done. Still, blithely going on, her lips twist faintly, a purely self-deprecating look on the Fae-featured girl's face. "Maybe it's me that needs the help now, huh?" After all, it's highly likely that Haley, like everyone else, knew something of the predicament she'd found herself in. So, she continues to speak in a low, musical tone, something that just slightly softens everything she says though she's not singing, per se.
That doesn't explain the others. They'll have to explain themselves, but as she speaks, Lilah makes sure that she turns just enough that her thin figure doesn't disguise that baby bump as much as it tends to from the front. (It goes better now)
It's hard not to feel like the vampire wants to eat Lilah's baby.
There is a hesitancy in Tabitha before she speaks, her gaze sweeping the young woman's living space, but her trusting blues, hopefully trusting blues, land on Haley and there is another smile. Tight, but there, and trying to dimple her cheeks. "Hi, Haley. I'm Tabitha. I'm just here for some moral support." She gestures to Lilah. There is something that puts the redhead ill at ease, but she tries to push beyond it. She tries to distract. Herself? Haley? "I see that you're a practicioner... What is your expertise?"
Panic is setting in as Haley realizes how many people are here, and she responds to Tabitha in a normal tone of voice that all the same seems to have the edge of a hiss, like some cornered animal. "Old magic," she says. Dark magic, she means. She steps back, her body set with concern, as she tries to calculate the odds. Dark eyes look from Tabitha and Lilah to the window, and then to her phone. She reaches for it, perhaps to text someone.
Ash moves through the room carefully, checking the details of the room for anything that might give clues to her people - her sisters, her sire (or master, they *could* be different), any clues. But, before all of that, they find where the bathroom is - though the cracked mirror brings them some relief. They're *pretty* sure that cracked is fine. Spiderwebs, are different from shattered glass. They try to keep closer to the tall mirror or the bathroom, as they investigate.
Syl seeing the rising panic offers, "I'm Syl. I'm new to White Oak. Its nice to meet you." Its an extreme casual greeting. normal.
"A swiftie," Berlin says, his accent once more the proper, received pronunciation he's learned to use over the years. He doesn't know vampires, doesn't know cults and candles and magic, but he does know american girls love a british accent. "Saw her when she came through Wembly," he says, offering his dimples to the girl who is somehow now the subject of a crowd in her livig room. "Terribly sorry," he says, pointing to Tabitha with an open hand, "I'm with her, just here tagging along you might say. I'm Berlin."
A bit of color fades from Lilah's cheeks and her arm tightens a bit further around her belly, but Lilah speaks on, after Tabitha's introduction. "I ran away from my master," she says to someone, keeping her body still though there's definite hints of adrenaline, her own little fight-or-flight decision starting to rear its head. She holds her ground for now, but her smile is forced as she continues to coo in that slightly musical manner. "These guys drove me out here. I was hoping maybe you could help me... you know. In ways the school can't... won't..."
A bit of color fades from Lilah's cheeks and her arm tightens a bit further around her belly, but Lilah speaks on, after Tabitha's introduction. "I ran away from my master," she says to Haley, keeping her body still though there's definite hints of adrenaline, her own little fight-or-flight decision starting to rear its head. She holds her ground for now, but her smile is forced as she continues to coo in that slightly musical manner. "These guys drove me out here. I was hoping maybe you could help me... you know. In ways the school can't... won't..."
Tabitha tries to distract Haley again, "I, too, practice the darker magic... Old magic." She holds out a hand to the woman, nothing within it, palm up. "I'm always looking for someone to talk about it with. Maybe do a spell or two." She looks to the phone, and then there is a focus on the girl's hand with the phone. No saying that she can't call out some other way, but that focus ...
"It's nice to meet you too," Haley tells Syl. "But that school?" She seems to stumble; it's like a record, skipping, which for those with more occult knowledge like Lilah and Tabitha should set off the red flags of someone who has been hypnotized too much -- a thing both of them know too much about. "That school is evil," she says. "It's trying to break your mind."
In the bathroom, Ash has that cracked mirror. Cracked or not, he can step through it, behind Haley -- out of sight.
The vampire looks to Berlin, and then, as she is about to text, her fingers seem to seize as her phone drops. She swears, in a panic. "I need!" It's easy enough for all of them to come inside in Haley's increasing psychic panic.
Casually, Tabitha kneels to pick up the dropped phone. Just being kind... She stands. "Its okay, Haley..." she says. "Please, you need to come down." She smiles again, that empath's smile. The nervousness ticking in her jaw, momentarily.
Lilah drifts silent, though the look she gives Tabitha is not terribly trusting for someone who just helped her escape an evil man's clutches and drove her all the way out here to find this girl - or whatever randomness she'd been spouting just moments ago. She draws in a deep breath, and very casually begins to move herself to the back of the small group. She doesn't head for Ash, but instead just puts Syl and Berlin a little in front of her, very, very subtly so that her own back is to a wall and she's close to the door, should trouble ensue.
Syl doesn't seem sure of what to make of Haley's claim that the school is evil and out to break her mind. "They are," she asks. "I only signed up a few days ago. Haven't even gone to my first class yet. So I don't think I've got any hooks in me. If you need to vent, I'll listen?" She stays well away, giving Haley space.
Ash moves closer to the cracked bedroom mirror, ready to jump through. They remove the rope from where they had it rolled up, lifting it to show Tabitha. They seem to expect something from her, based on something she must have said earlier, and then move prepared to run through the mirror.
"You need to not!" Haley tells Syl. "You don't understand," she says to Syl. "They're trying to keep you from what you deserve." It's a sort of ranting in her tone, like repeating something someone else told her, something buried now in her psyche. "You -deserve- power," she says, and then Tabitha speaks. "Come down?" She's calming, though, as if something washes over her, as her mind gets its next piece of psychic swiss cheese. How we visit our torments on others.
She turns to look at Berlin, calming. "I'm Haley," she tells Berlin. "I just, we..." She looks at Lilah, some psychic calm keeping her from flying off the handle. "I should call a -- friend."
Berlin's play didn't seem to work, so he goes back to the strong and silent look. He lets Tabitha and Lilah run the show, working with the college student whose home they've decided to invade. He steps over to a spot beside the coffee table, flicking a gaze down at it, judging for a moment.
his judgment over, apparently the coffee table meets whatever judgment he had of it, Berlin offers his warm, dimpled smile to the girl. "Its lovely to meet you," he says, putting a touch more emphasis into that english accent, "Shall I make tea?"
Tabitha gives Lilah another look of utter exasperation for the very look she is given, despite that she's trying to distract the vampire in order to HELP her AGAIN. She watches as the woman creeps into the back of the apartment by the door. A narrowing of her gaze is set momentarily before she returns her attentions to someone. "It's true. How it gets into your head. It feels like everything does try, doesnt it?" She doesn't return the phone to Haley, but continues to talk. "From people trying to tell you someone is bad or distrustful, to telling you to trust them. To whisper things in your ear, power, prestige..."
Tabitha gives Lilah another look of utter exasperation for the very look she is given, despite that she's trying to distract the vampire in order to HELP her AGAIN. She watches as the woman creeps into the back of the apartment by the door. A narrowing of her gaze is set momentarily before she returns her attentions to Haley. "It's true. How it gets into your head. It feels like everything does try, doesnt it?" She doesn't return the phone to Haley, but continues to talk. "From people trying to tell you someone is bad or distrustful, to telling you to trust them. To whisper things in your ear, power, prestige..."
Haley looks at Berlin. "I don't drink ... tea," she says. There's a keening, awful sadness to it, as she shoots dark eyes towards the kitchenette. What food might have once been in it is desiccated, mummy-dry and lost to age and death and an unbeating heart. She takes a breath. "There is power," she tells Tabitha. "Do you know what He showed me?" she says. "Do you know what he taught me? What he gave me?" Power, indeed -- but what price did the girl pay for it?
"Tea? I'd kill for a steak right now," Lilah murmurs from where she's standing, once again rubbing at her belly as she watches those of the group she can see, and Haley of course. But once more, she seeks to infuse calm into her voice, the soothing tones she'd taken with her stressed and scared sorority sister so long ago - even if she supposedly is the one here tonight seeking help. "I just need a place to stay, Haley," she murmurs. "That's all. Nothing to fret over. Do you know a place? Under the table - I can't have my name on any documents, you understand, right? I... that's all. I was hoping maybe you'd be in touch with those sort of people..." Her words trail off as someone seems to be fully caught up in the conversation with Tabitha and, oddly enough, there's a sigh of relief from the Fae girl.
"Tea? I'd kill for a steak right now," Lilah murmurs from where she's standing, once again rubbing at her belly as she watches those of the group she can see, and Haley of course. But once more, she seeks to infuse calm into her voice, the soothing tones she'd taken with her stressed and scared sorority sister so long ago - even if she supposedly is the one here tonight seeking help. "I can imagine, all too well..." Her words trail off as Haley seems to be fully caught up in the conversation with Tabitha and, oddly enough, there's a sigh of relief from the Fae girl.
Syl is content to let Tabitha take the lead. She doesn't know Haley. Doesn't know White Oak. Isn't particularly dangerous, compared to the others, if it came to a fight.
"We pay prices for the power we think we are owed, deserved. Even if it is told to us it is the power we are deserved," Tabitha says to Haley with some sadness, too. In fact, some of that power was used upon Haley herself, ironically and remorsefully. "I can imagine what he offered..." She tries to play off the calm that Lilah tries to ensure, "Who is he?" she wonders. She looks beyond Haley a moment to Ash, and there is a shake of her head. To Haley, to them. She then tells the woman, taking advantage of said power provided, "Lets sit down and talk about it. I find it very fascinating." Should this not work, there another rabbit up her sleeve, afterall. She will /make/ her.
"Harry Potter," Berlin says, giving a soft, almost fond chuckle as he traces his fingertips along the spines of the seven books on a shelf. "My Gran read those to me when I was a lad. Wonderful books." He doesn't say it to the vampire, or to anyone. He just points out the little reminder of humanity, the cost of what is given up to gain such power. "I can't see those books without thinking of my old Gran, may she rest in peace."
The phone in Tabitha's hand begins to ring. The caller ID comes up only with a bright red M.
When the phone begins to ring, Haley looks up at it with sudden fear, with worry and with desire. "Who is calling?" she asks. It's almost desperate. "Is it him?"
Ash doesn't seem disappointed, but they return to their search, looking for any clues. Though, when the phone rings, and Haley pipes up, they move back near the mirror. They let Tabitha do her thing, but they remain ready for if - or perhaps when - things get problematic.
Syl looks to the phone as it begins to ring, then back to Haley. She notes the concern the girl seems to have, the desperation. But she looks to Berlin. "You liked them? I've never read them. Maybe I should check them out. I try to read a book a month. My favorite is probably Worm. Its a webserial that you can read online for free." Another grounding reminder of humanity, hopefully. More low key than vampiric masters, at the very least.
"Haley," Lilah pipes up again, suddenly. "Listen. I need a place to stay. That's why we're here, okay? A place where I can stay that I'm not putting my name on any documents. I can't afford to be tracked, you understand?" There's a push in her words this time. It's not so determined as to actively go and punch more holes in the girl's brain, but the goal is to distract her.
Clues? Haley's phone, obviously, but it's hard to see into the real world in detail from the nightmare. Objects are hazy, indistinct: instead, the nightmare reflects emotions. There, this room is full of sadness; it is as if everything inside the room is tinged with purple rain, except for where here and there ribbons of blood sweep through the air like streamers as Ash moves around that second, other plane.
Tabitha says to Haley calmly, "If I give you your phone, I want you to be calm as you tell him you are on your way. But I really think that you should come with us." Oh, how she toys with the woman's head, in all the ways her own was. She looks to the others, to Syl, Ash, Berlin, then Lilah. "I think that we should go, unless we are going to face this "M"." She holds out the phone, but does not give it up yet. She suggest to those, "Probably follow up on Ash," for pathing purposes. She sucks in a breath, shaking in her lungs.
"You want a place to stay?" Haley's eyes sweep back to Lilah, and then Lilah's belly. "You can stay --" She cuts herself off, and there's a kind of shakiness. "Lilah," she says quietly. "Lilah... You shouldn't stay here." She looks up at Tabitha with sudden excitement at the promise of the phone.
For a moment, a brief moment, someone is distracted, at a crossroads: but while perhaps Berlin and Syl may be optimistic to think that she can choose the right path, Ash, Tabitha, and Lilah know better. They can keep her teetering here while they talk, but as soon as they turn their backs she will flee to her Master. If she is to be saved, there must be work to do the saving.
"You want a place to stay?" Haley's eyes sweep back to Lilah, and then Lilah's belly. "You can stay --" She cuts herself off, and there's a kind of shakiness. "Lilah," she says quietly. "Lilah... You shouldn't stay here." She looks up at Tabitha with sudden excitement at the promise of the phone.
For a moment, a brief moment, Haley is distracted, at a crossroads: but while perhaps Berlin and Syl may be optimistic to think that she can choose the right path, Ash, Tabitha, and Lilah know better. They can keep her teetering here while they talk, but as soon as they turn their backs she will flee to her Master. If she is to be saved, there must be work to do the saving.
Ash frowns as Tabitha offers to give the phone back, more so when she suggests leaving. She can see their face, though, and it goes from concern and disagreement, to begrudging acceptance - until she mentions their name. There's *definitely* shock, even horror on their face. They did *not* like that.
Again, the gentle telempathic push. "Neither should you, then. We'll go somewhere together," Lilah suggests though she knows full well just how futile running away really is, and still wears the brand plastered across her back to prove it. There's a wan twitch of her lips and she extends a hand toward the young vampire, giving a faint tilt of her head.
"Oh they're bloody brilliant," Berlin replies to Syl, using a britishism he hates just in case the accent might still work a little. "You should read them." He wants to keep Haley thinking, keep her switching her attention between the redheads working their weaves, and the brunettes talking about all the things she's giving up. "In fact," he continues, "You have some great selections here Haley, if you don't mind me snooping at your collection. Narnia, Lord of the Rings. Ah, and Hermione's wand." He chuckles as he touches a stick in a box, hoping against hope its a treasured memory from a trip to Universal.
Ash remains ready to bolt through the mirror for Haley, to secure her. They, apparently, prefer to capture first, persuade later, but they haven't acted against Tabitha yet. They do look stressed, now, expecting either Haley to run, or someone to check up on their missed call - if the phone is not still ringing.
"I should call him," Haley says with some finality. She starts to Tabitha, reaching for the phone like an addict. Some of those here know the truth: she is an addict, and the addiction is to all the terrible things that power brings. She reaches for it, distracted, glancing between Tabitha, Syl, Berlin and Lilah as she does. "I need to go," she says. "I need to call him. He'll be coming to check on me." Will he? Or is that just her hoping she deserves his attention?
"I think Lilah is right. I don't think that you should either. Come with us." Tabitha suggests again, the phone still in her hand and not given back. She nods aside to Ash, trying to provide a silent tick to him as if to react. And for others to start packing it up. Without saying it. There's really only so much one can do with one's eyes. Haley is given a deep oceanic stare. She pulls out a lump of clay and begins to play with it, mold it. Distraction. "You'd said you practiced dark magic...." So does she. This doll? In her hands. Not the doll that is her which is beside Haley, it is shaped and then positioned.
Syl heads back toward the door and away from Berlin and the bookshelf, as if moving to leave herself. Its bringing her back toward Lilah, Tabitha and Haley and the door.
Berlin can't see Ash to follow them, but he can see Tabitha and haley and Lilah. He moves back toward them, still making a show of browsing the various books and trinkets on display around the room. All the while one eye rests on the corner of the coffee table, until he is finally back near Lilah by the door.
When Tabitha casts her little spell -- when she takes out the clay, manipulates it, freezes it, Haley recognizes what is happening. She rushes for the redheaded magician, at least the one that isn't pregnant, but she is mid-way through that movement, a half-step too late when the sorceress completes her incantation.
No: no, Haley's dead flesh is bound by some necromantic force, half moved, uncoiled without the ability to take a step further -- she is some predatory creature, pinned with an invisible needle to a board.
Despite that her little magical working ... worked, when Haley starts to rush toward her, the dark angel cringes and cowers. Tabitha prays. Sometimes someone answers.
Ash relaxes somewhat as she doesn't react to their name. But, being in the nightmare, they can't do anything to her. However, Tabitha's movement catches their attention, her signal. They move swiftly, then, inertia built by the time they come out of the mirror - though the running turns out to be unnecessary. Still, they pounce, moving quickly to tie her up while she's helpless.
Lilah stares at Tabitha for a moment, then slowly shakes her head. "Don't, Tabitha. Whatever she's done, she's still a victim" she murmurs, pain lacing her voice as she looks at poor Haley, trapped in that spell. "Don't torment her. Don't be the monster you used to fight against." She exhales, presses a hand to her belly like she's in some sort of pain, herself, and takes another half-step backward, toward the edges of the room and the darker shadows that linger there.
Monster, victim: she's frozen in place. When Ash bursts from the mirror, though? Haley is already starting to move. Necromancy is a powerful charm against the undead, but like all mancing it is a moment of will, worked upon the world -- a moment of will that passes. When Ash is on her she starts to struggle; he has one hand bound, but it's not clear if Ash alone will be able to tie Haley up.
were Berlin to be asked later, he might not be able to tell if he moves when Tabitha flinches, or when Ash attacks. Either way he pounces like a panther toward the vampire, seeking to assist Ash in pinning the girl's limbs so they can be tied.
Tabitha squeezes the clay that she made a replica of Haley with, at Lilah's request to stop. To think. She says, quietly to the other redhead, "I know..." There is a quake in her voice. "I know..." is now whispered. "I don't want to torment her, Lilah." She's helping! At least she'll tell herself that. The claw turns back into its indescribable lump. She looks away from the other woman, a moment of shared torment, perhaps. "Lets go. The phone was 'M' and I can only imagine that is her Master." That word, it makes her cringe again. "We can figure out better ways to help her... not here."
Syl is not particularly eager to run into arms reach of a vampire. As Ash and Berlin move to tackle the girl, she keeps her distance, moving further to the door to join Lilah, ready to run if things look like they are not going to go the groups way. She nods at Tabitha's words. "I'm good with computers. We can figure something out when its not *night*."
Beneath Berlin and Ash the girl struggles -- for all that she is dead, for all that she is killed, Haley is still, was still, a person. She fights back hard as she can, but two on one, with Tabitha's magic? She is caught. Caught in a trap that Lilah and Syl, intentionally or not, opened up for her when they found her apartment and knocked on her door.
She fights like a wildcat for a moment, but then she is subdued: bound, prisoned. Sobbing, even as the phone in Tabitha's hand starts to ring again:
M is calling.
Perhaps it is time to be gone, and soon.
Lilah just sends another wave of calm to Haley. It's likely nowhere near enough to stop her from panicking as the pair of Ash and Berlin try to bind her, but it's the little that this redhead seems comfortable doing. "So long as we're actually helping her..." she relents with a small nod, apparently willing to be considered 'in', though she doesn't approach, looks horribly guilty, and wraps her arms around her belly like she's fending off physical illness.
"All on Ash," Tabitha says to Syl, Lilah, Berlin. She looks down at Haley and there is sadness. Ultimate. It is writ in her brow. "I'm sorry..." Oh, those words. How many times did she say it? She repeats it. She says to Lilah, "We will." Or Have To?
Lilah lifts a hand, and somehow it sinks into the shadows that she continually approaches. "I don't path," she murmurs. "Can't risk the child to the Forest." So how'd she get here? "It'd be too much strain on them to bring me -and- Haley back, anyway," she concludes, and then steps backwards, letting the shadows envelop her completely. She's gone.
...as if Lilah's child might not find the things that dwell in the Forest to be her friends.
Ash gags and blindfolds her after Berlin helps, throwing a glance in the direction of the others behind their sunglasses as they do so. They give her extra material in her mouth as they do, careful to secure her sharp teeth. Then, they ask, hoisting her off, "Clinic, then? And do you want to give Syl that phone?" They nod to Syl, showing some faith despite being given only a small sign that she's capable. Or maybe they just trust her more? However it is, they start to form the Path, ready to bring everyone with them. Though they came here with a clear intent to kill her, they seem fine not having done so.
The path comes together not a moment to soon, because there is a buzzer that rings just before the quartet steps into that strange world between worlds. It's a short journey there with Haley in tow, and then -- perhaps sadly -- she's admitted to the clinic, to be sedated for now and spoken to in some future day.
Its clear, whatever his upper-crust behavior may say, Berlin is no stranger to a fight. Even with the ropes, he holds Haley in an arm bar, making sure to stay behind her, and not put a lot of pressure on her shoulder joint. He isn't trying to hurt the girl after all. reply will do.
Syl offers a hand for the phone as she moves closer to Ash, more comfortable now that the vampire is bound. "Clinic works."
Tabitha is able to let the shadows take her too, but since she arrived with Berlin, she is not just going to let him fend for himself. "I've got the phone on me. But I'm also not in any group either. It might be best to destroy the phone. He may trace it."
Its clear, whatever his upper-crust behavior may say, Berlin is no stranger to a fight. Even with the ropes, he holds Haley in an arm bar, making sure to stay behind her, and not put a lot of pressure on her shoulder joint. He isn't trying to hurt the girl after all. "Lets go," he says to Ash, trusting that whoever knows more about this stuff than him has a plan.
As the party returns to White Oak, thus ends Childe Haley, the Huntress -- for tonight, at least.
This is part of a storyline, Legacy Admissions, and so there will be some future plots related to Haley and her Master. Very likely, once I have another plot up I will create a plot guest for Haley, which will probably have to be named Hayleigh since there is a bit named Hayleigh. Anyone who wants to interrogate her in the clinic is welcome to do so.
In terms of plot stuff, I will finish the plot and pass all of you right now. If you want to spend plot XP on some kind of reward drop me a tell, though I generally advise for folks new to plots to save that experience for artifacts. Still, if you want money or influence or territory gain or something, just let me know.
Ash frowns, saying, "You should get as much information off of it as you can, then - better for Syl to have it, but we can talk later."
Tabitha, familiar with Ash, introduces herself to Syl and offers a warm greeting to Berlin. The group, carrying stakes and bound by a shared purpose, await an optimal moment to approach Haley's apartment, hoping to understand her tragic transformation from a beloved cheerleader to a creature lurking in the shadows.
Upon entering the apartment with a strategy to blend in and not raise suspicion, they are confronted by the reality of Haley's new existence, marked by her vampiric tendencies and an apartment altered to accommodate her aversion to sunlight. They find themselves at a moral crossroads, contemplating the extent of their intervention as Haley, tormented between her human past and her vampire present, struggles against their efforts to help her.
The plan takes a turn when Lilah, another key figure in the story, arrives. Pregnant and looking for shelter, she uses her condition and prior acquaintance with Haley as leverage to gain access to the apartment. Conversation reveals the influence of a mysterious "He" over Haley, suggesting a deeper, darker influence at play, likely her vampire master referred to only as "M."
As tension mounts, Tabitha uses her dark magic to temporarily immobilize Haley, allowing the hunters to restrain her. Just as the situation escalates, Lilah mysteriously disappears into the shadows, highlighting her own unique abilities.
The confrontation concludes with the group deciding to take Haley to a clinic, hoping to find a way to reverse her vampirism or at least understand it better. They are left pondering the implications of their actions, the ethics of their methods, and the shadowy figure of Haley's master looming over their next moves.
This story captures a critical moment for the hunters, a blend of supernatural drama and moral ambiguity, as they navigate the fine line between saving a soul and condemning a monster. It leaves open the possibility of further conflict with Haley's master and poses questions about the nature of power, the cost of salvation, and the true monsters in their midst.
(Childe Haley, the Huntress(SRJack):SRJack)
[Fri Sep 20 2024]
On a street in a Boston suburb
The street outside this apartment building in Roxbury is lined with aged brick buildings, their facades worn but full of character. Tall trees, their leaves just starting to turn with the season, cast long shadows on the sidewalk. A few cars are parked along the curb, and the sound of distant traffic hums softly in the background, occasionally broken by the chatter of neighbors or the rustle of a newspaper in the wind. The street feels lived-in, with small, vibrant murals and community gardens peeking between buildings, giving the neighborhood a lived-in sensibility amidst the urban sprawl south of Boston.
It is night, about 71F(21C) degrees, There is a waning gibbous moon.
Welcome to Chile Haley. One way or another, all of you have glommed onto the tragedy of Haley Fry, a recent White Oak student who has been turned into a vampire. If you haven't yet come up with an independent reason to be hunting Haley, please send me a tell or stalk right now and I will give you a hook or other background to explain why you might be here. We're waiting on one more, but I think they are eating.
Evening, Roxbury, MA.
This small party of intrepid would-be vampire hunters have gathered here outside an apartment building -- drawn perhaps by a trail of imperfect victims Haley, who many of the White Oak students or recent graduates knew, have left across the student body. She is on the lease of an apartment here, and a little bit of investigation suggests she still comes and goes, if now mostly at night.
All of those here are drawn for different reasons. Ash was nearly Haley's victim. Tabitha was pushed to help Ash after a call from an old teacher, and she harbors her own suspicions perhaps about the provenance of this young vampiress. Syl has felt the clarion call of family, and Berlin Well. He trails behind Tabitha, with some interest in his own investigations.
Tabitha walks beside Berlin, having taken a very normal route of travel: bus. The redhead is dressed very casually, doing nothing to hide the fact that she is wearing a slim and lightweight vest over some clothes she likely doesn't mind getting a little muck on. She is first to greet Ash, having familiarity with his face. "Hey, Ash." This is with a warm smile, despite the entire reason why she is here. She nods to Syl. "I've seen you. But we did not formally meet. I'm Tabitha." She holds a hand out for greeting.
If you're wearing weapons and armor and are worried they may impact RPXP gain, feel free to remove them and drop them. They will go to your stash and you can just RP being armed and armored.
Berlin walks alongside Tabitha, looking around at the city, with a look more interested than wary. He notes Ash, giving them a warm smile and a friendly upnod of greeting. Turning to someone, he extends that smile to her as well, greeting her with a soft, accented, "Ma'am."
Berlin walks alongside Tabitha, looking around at the city, with a look more interested than wary. He notes Ash, giving them a warm smile and a friendly upnod of greeting. Turning to Syl, he extends that smile to her as well, greeting her with a soft, accented, "Ma'am."
Syl accepts Tabitha's handshake. Her clothes shshs against themselves as she moves. "Syl," she tells Tabitha. "Its nice to finally meet you." Hers is a Western accent, though one touched by something slavic, perhaps Russian. She glances toward Berlin, giving him a nod, and to someone. "Finally get why you suggested going to the waitress, by the way," she offers to Ash. "Makes a lot more sense now, then it did then."
Syl accepts Tabitha's handshake. Her clothes shshs against themselves as she moves. "Syl," she tells Tabitha. "Its nice to finally meet you." Hers is a Western accent, though one touched by something slavic, perhaps Russian. She glances toward Berlin, giving him a nod, and to someone. "Finally get why you suggested going to the waitress, by the way," she offers to Ash. "Makes a lot more sense now, then it did then."
Syl accepts Tabitha's handshake. Her clothes shshs against themselves as she moves. "Syl," she tells Tabitha. "Its nice to finally meet you." Hers is a Western accent, though one touched by something slavic, perhaps Russian. She glances toward Berlin, giving him a nod, and to Ash. "Finally get why you suggested going to the waitress, by the way," she offers to Ash. "Makes a lot more sense now, then it did then."
Ash came by path, arriving in a specific alley and moving carefully to the spot by foot. Barefoot, of course, as is their wont. Seeing the group, they join them quickly, maintaining an awareness of the apartment as they do. They smile at Tabitha and Berlin both, granting each an upnod and a quiet, "Hey... glad you all could come." To Syl, they look surprised - perhaps expecting something far less pleasant, but they quickly turn their surprise into a smile for her, as well. "Yeah, she's amazing, isn't she?" They seem proud of the mentioned waitresss, fond, though not in a way most would interpret as romantic.
Syl nods in agreement to Ash. "She is, yeah. Sorry for giving you a hard time about it before."
"Nice to meet you, too, Syl." Tabitha responds, turning her gaze back to the apartments, those big blues creeping up along the facade to get a guess as to which window may be the childe in question. She mentions aside to Berlin, "This whole thing, it sort of reeks of when my friend Alice disappeared. But maybe I am just being suspicious."
...as the night settles, all of the quartet are outside the apartment building they have traced Haley to. In fact, her story is tragic: she was a Wildcats cheerleader, her jet-black hair a constant presence at lacrosse and football games, a bubbly presence around campus. Now? Well. Those who have seen her have seen her with a bloody smile.
Still: apart from the threat her power and predation causes the student body, the larger question is -why-? Some outcast hunting White Oak students makes sense, but she had a happy place in the campus community. What changed? What caused her to make this transition from supporting cast to villainess?
Berlin rolls his shoulders, his suede jacket whispering softly in the night air. "Given the circumstances," he says aside to Tabitha, his eyes roaving over the facade of the building carefully, "Shouldn't you be?" He hooks a thumb into the right hip pocket of his jeans, fingers fiddling with the hem of his jacket in a sign of concealed, but controlled nerves.
Syl shifts uneasily at the reminder, clothes whispering. She checks over the building, noting the growing darkness.
Ash shrugs to Syl, not dismissive but casual, saying, "You're fine, Syl. I appreciate that apology." But then, it's time to get to business. Ash murmurs quietly to the group, "She may not be alone... she has 'sisters'. I didn't get to figure out how many, seemed a risky thing at the time. She also has a master that she's working for... likely the one who turned her. He hates White Oak for some reason... there's plenty of reasons, and I meant to do some research into who might be the guy and who her 'sisters' may be... but life's been busy." They don't ignore Tabitha, but their words... do seem to reflect her suspicions.
"I know far too well the draw and the pull to the darkness, and to the lure of it, and power." Tabitha says, those blues shifting from her scan of the apartment to Ash. She nods at the news. "I'm not surprised. But I would probably be more concerned about that master.." She mentions, reaching out to touch Berlin's arm to still nerves, "Lets just hope that he is not here. Though, I would suspect it wouldn't take him long to arrive."
Who is the master? Ash's concerns seem to echo Tabitha's. Up above, night is settling in deeply. Surely -- up in that apartment, Haley is stirring.
Down here, the hunters need some plan of attack or diplomacy if they are going to essay some move into the apartment itself. Unless, of course, they plan to remain outside and wait.
Syl takes in Ash's words with the uneasy look of someone realizing they may be in over their head. She looks to Tabitha next and nods. "Older are more dangerous than younger, for sure." She takes a deep breath to help settle her own nerves, before looking back to Ash.
"If it must be done," Berlin says, resignation putting an edge to his voice, "Then 'twere best it be done quickly. No sense delaying the inevitable meeting, uninvited though we may be."
Ash nods, saying, "Expect him. You've all brought stakes, right?" Vampires can be people, in a supernatural society, and it's quite possible to release Hailey from her sire's hold and return her for education and redemption. But, they don't seem to be banking on an easy way out. They seem ready to go, at least.
Ash follows up with, "Shall I nightmare scout it? Not sure if we've time for that... we can just head in, or try and draw her out. The latter gives her time to prepare, though." They look to Tabitha as they ask, as the other person who seems to have a lot of experience here.
Syl cringes. looking a bit embarrassed. "I kind of didn't expect to be getting into a fight tonight. Didn't know all of you would be here and showing up. So I'm not really kitted for a fight at the moment. I was only going to scout things out. I was thinking more along the lines of seeing if the apartment has security cameras." She gives a wry smile to Ash. "I think we came here with very different ideas about how this would be going."
Syl is apparently the only one not carrying a bunch of weapons.
Syl opens a pocket. "Got this?"
Berlin nods in agreement with Syl. "Nor did I, it must be confessed. Not exactly a boy scout." Once more he rolls his shoulders. "If we don't know where, or how many, there are, perhaps the tongue should be mightier than the sword. If such a thing is possible."
"I can hold him back if need be." Tabitha says to Ash, with some confidence in this. There is no magic that crackles at her fingertips, but there is an air about her. Dark, heavy, and mysterious, a completely different aura than what she presents outwardly. "I've brought a few tricks that might be able to help. And when it comes down to it, anything can be a stake." She smiles aside to Syl. "I'm hoping it won't come to a fight. But -- you never know." She is not the only one not carrying a bunch of weapons, no. The redhead looks like she has no real place to carry a bunch of weapons, given the fit of her outfit. "We will try to persuade before we fight?"
As Tabitha's ring begins to glow, some brief smell of brimstone drifts across the street -- it pricks at noses and then it is gone.
Ash nods to Syl, murmuring, "We don't know how it all ends - but you should learn to be ready for anything." It's gentle scolding, before saying, "Alright, we're going in, then. And I'm fine with ending her, but we need information about her brood - or whatever you call a flock of vamps. So, talking, sure. Persuading her to stop... unlikely." They talk of murder casually as they turn to the door, saying, "She'll do as her sire desires. Convincing him... is unlikely, but we can certainly try. Probably safest, really. Try to use something blunt or wooden, guns are last ditch effort things."
They check the door to see if it's unlocked, eyeing the window as well. First step is getting inside, before any persuading. Their nose wrinkles at the smell, but they don't even turn to Tabitha.
Berlin looks to the box of call buttons, a grin making his dimples dent his cheeks. "wE could try the old classic," he suggests, "The man coming home from the pub, forgot his keys, stabs a button at random in hopes of the door gettig opened by a sleepy denizen?"
Ash raises their eyebrows at Berlin, then asks, "Do you have alcohol? You don't smell drunk to me." They move to the side, though, against the wall to avoid being seen by an open door or the windows. "If you have drink, though, go for it. Or at least greasy food." They speak quietly, but there's a sense of urgency. It is night. They don't have much time.
Interlude, upstairs.
Haley is stirring. She doesn't sleep in her bed, anymore: the pink comforter is undisturbed, because the light that stabs in by day hurts her. Instead, she curls up in a ball on the closet with her old cheerleader uniform as a pillow, a comforter dragged in for the memory of what it was like to be alive. As she rises she stretches, emerging, padding into the bathroom. The toilet is unused, of course -- she's beyond human neccessities -- but she turns on the shower as she brushes her teeth in an effort to cover the taste of blood with mint.
Syl accepts the rebuke from Ash without comment, grimacing; its probably deserved, even if actually being in a position where she needed the stake was well beyond what she had thought she was getting into. She makes a point to keep an eye for potential stakes she can collect.
No one seems to have a better suggestion, so Berlin marches up to the callbox. He thinks for a moment, then decides to go with frantic man late home from work than drunk. Received pronunciation being learned as it is, he drops it in favor of a normal, basic, London accent. "Anyone wanna pick the button?" he asks, "Its basically a lucky choice unless we know where she lives."
Spit. Toothpaste is red with last night's meal on the first spit, and on the second, but out, out damn spot -- on the third she's clean. She turns the shower on, stripping out of sleep shorts and a top, and then she gets in. The cold doesn't bother her as she goes through some mortal routine lost to terrible trauma, scrubbing with a lavender-scented loofah. Her razor is rusted, now, after a few months: she's forever got the shaved legs of the day she died, down to a little razor burn on her left calf.
It's not that hard to get Haley's apartment number. If Syl, for instance, has some skill as a hacker, she'd know it's apartment 2B, on the second floor.
Syl mentions, "I'm pretty sure she is in 2B. I might not have brought weapons, but that doesn't mean I didn't prepare at all. No need to press random buttons." She doesn't shoot a gloating look at Ash. If anything, she still seems quite a bit emberassed by her oversight in not being better prepared for combat. She speaks with her voice low, when she speaks, mindful that some vampires have very acute senses.
Ash nods to Syl in approval at this, a flicker of a smile on their lips. They beckon her close, tapping the wall next to them, before whispering to her. Then, they wait.
Some people march to their own beat. Lilah may be one of them -- one of her sorority sisters turned up with a half-missing memory and some bloody mess, the legacy of Haley's predation. She knew Haley from last year, when they shared a hall at Tri-Delta, and she knows the apartment -- Roxbury 2B -- she moved to when she left campus. And so she arrives, to find a part of other classmates and former classmates gathered. Some of them have wooden stakes.
Ash absolutely whispered to Syl correctly, and she surely did it back correctly, as well.
2B is the second button down in the right hand column. Berlin decides to hit the button as far from it as he can. It turns out to be 6C. Before he presses it, he pauses to clear his throat, looking over to meet the eye of his fellow hunters. Then he presses the buzzer, giving his best panicked stare to the camera. He's no actor, of course, but he is a footballer who has snuck back into team apartment complexes a time or two, and so he breathes heavily, hoping for someone to ansswer the buzzer upset and annoyed at being interrupted.
Tabitha waits nearby to Berlin. "Well do we have a credit card to slip through the door to try to open it or..." She looks aside to Syl. "Can you hack into the system to open it? If not, it would probably be best to nightmare inside."
Should she be here in her condition? Probably not. But even so, here Lilah is, making her way on remarkably quiet feet, to approach the group that's already gathered. The look that filters across her face at the sight of Tabitha among them is one of restraint, emotion compressed and shuttered away, before the pregnant young woman lifts a hand in casual greeting to the already gathered group. "Evening," she offers, without batting a lash at the sight of stakes.
Upstairs, Haley is turning off the shower. She slips out, looking for a towel. She begins to towel herself off -- there's a tilt of her head as preternatural ears hear the buzzer at 6C, but she ignores it in the daily, now nightly, grind of apartment living.
It takes a second for 6C to answer the intercom. It's a gravelly Boston accent: "Yah?" the man says. "What yah want? No deliverahs."
Syl tries to check over the lock to estimate whether she could get through it.
Tabitha turns to face Lilah and the look that the woman gives her is met with one of clear annoyance, albeit for only a moment, then exasperation, then just -- sadness. She puts on a smile, however, for the woman. She says simply, "Hello, Lilah." She turns back to the door. Her shoulders tense for a moment and she exhales. "Good to have another caster." But inside?
Berlin has a sudden spark of inspiration. He reaches out, wrapping an arm around Tabitha's waist, pulling her close once she's turned back to the door, just a couple of friday night partiers coming home, or to one of their homes maybe. "Hey," he calls out, sounding as sheepish as he can, "I'm real sorry. I just got back and forgot my bloody keys. Can you buzz me in please? Its cold as hell out here."
For Syl's part? This isn't much of a lock on the exterior door. A little bit of lockpicking and she'd be inside, no problem. Buildings like this, the exterior doors are to keep the homeless out. The interior locks will be a little bit more difficult. Sometimes, though...
"Really? Yah can't even keep yah keys straight and yah gotta wake mah up? Fine, fine." The door buzzes: unlocked, because the old, tired man doesn't give two clucks about whether Berlin actually lives here.
Berlin gives a helpless shrug to the camera, just in case the man is still watching, then pulls open the door before the buzzer stops.
"Hi Tabitha. It's why I'm here," Lilah replies, flicking her gaze around the others in the group, none of whom it seems she knows, though there's a flicker of recognition in her eyes when she looks over at Ash, however briefly. "Hey. Lilah," she tosses out in the most casual of introductions, as the door is buzzed open for the group.
Syl looks up from her investigation, but Berlin is one step ahead. She gives a helpless shrug to Ash as if to say, oh well? Then she gives a tight smile and a lift of her chin in acknowledgment of his savvy approach. She eyes the newcomer as she approaches and then moves a bit closer to relay her own greeting.
Tabitha is pulled into Berlin by her waist, some thought writ hard on her features. But she is pulled out of them by the man, and then she turns up a smile again, and her arms wrap around the man, too. She says to the old, tired man, "Hey, thanks!" She then smooches at Berlin's cheek, imprinting a pink kiss there. She waits to be led inside.
Ash waits a moment, letting Berlin and Tabitha go in first - just in case the man is watching. They'd only nod to Syl and move to go in after the two make it in without any reactions from the inside. They move gracefully, but it's their lack of shoes that make them more stealthy, not a particularly trained skill in stealth. Their eyes glance around carefully - hidden behind sunglasses, it must mean great eyesight to move so confidently with them on at night. They tap Berlin on the shoulder slightly in approval to his decision.
...swing. The door is open. Ahead, the apartment building is converted from an old tenement, with doors down the hallway that still have little half-circle glass windows above the doorframe to let in interior light. Stairs opposite the entry door lead up to the second floor; perhaps unsurprisingly, there is no elevator.
Towel off, Haley is blow-drying her hair, coming out raven locks again, and again, and again. Out of reflex, she glances up at the mirror, but there's something -wrong- in her reflection. It produces a reaction -- a hiss, feral -- and it takes an act of will not to hurl the blow-dryer at it. Already the tall changing mirror in the corner of her bedroom is cracked from undead frustration.
Syl follows after Ash, Tabitha, and Berlin with the air of one just coming to their apartment. She isn't sneaking. Sneaking, in her view, would just make her stand out. Better to blend in. Normal suits her.
"Pleasure, Syl," Lilah says, her tone light and sounding of the smile that remains well-trained on her features. She loosely wraps her arms around her waist, turning to follow after the couple, the silent Ash, and the pretty, raven-haired woman. As of yet, she doesn't seem to pry into plans, merely tagging herself onto the back of this group of almost-strangers. She's not sneaking either, but then who would expect a woman halfway through pregnancy to be up to anything nefarious to begin with?
Tabitha is light on her toes, her sneakers giving some padding against the floor to help with being quiet, but then, the old man has let them in, and there's no real reason to creep. She keeps herself at Berlin's waist as they go. She leads the way to the stairs, after a brief glance for an elevator. Even Elm apartments have one. Goodness! She begins the ascent. "Thanks again, mister." On the ascent, those big blues scan ahead.
"Never fails," Berlin says with a chuckle, likewise not sneaking. Why sneak when you live here? "Wake a guy up, and he'll let you in any time." as they reach the second floor though, he pauses, letting the people with stakes, and magic, and other useful things go first, giving them space to spread out. For his part, to sell the act to anyone listening, he continues down the hall to 2D, waiting there as if looking for a spare key he hid there.
Second floor, same as the first. Stairs lead up to the third floor -- 'C' floor, in the confusing way that this apartment building labels its apartments, as the doors lead on down the hallway. 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B... All the same, except the one that isn't. Apartment 2B, Haley's apartment, has that glass panel above the door covered up with construction paper painted black, all part of some effort to keep the damnable sun from getting inside.
As they ascend, the quintet moves quietly enough: the apartment building is large enough that no one is looking for Inspect Cloisseau. Tabitha, Syl and Lilah may be the softest-footed, while Ash and Berlin have a cloddier step, but at this hour before midnight no one seems to care.
Ash whispers to the others, "Since y'all want to talk, Syl should knock. I doubt you two know each other, since you're new." After all, their small form doesn't look capable of kicking down doors. They glance to Tabitha before leaning into her direction more to whisper, "Or you can try what you mentioned earlier." They try to keep their speech short, fighting against their drawling accent to avoid being recognized by voice - though, with the walls in the way, they're at least willing to risk speaking up.
"Anyone here know her?" Tabitha asks, glancing behind her to Ash, Syl, and Lilah. Berlin is left out of this mix, but likely only because she knows. "Maybe we should just knock." She seems to have the same thought as Ash. "The worst that could happen ..." Well she drops off that thought. Alot could.
"Yeah. Not super well, but I know her," Lilah answers. She keeps her voice low, a hand still around her belly, the other perched on a hip. Looking from Ash to Tabitha and then the others, she muses, "Knocking can't hurt. She's just one person and we're five."
Syl murmurs, "Don't know her. Just her room with the construction paper though. If she's got sisters, good chance they're coming from behind." She pauses at Lilah's comment. "Ash seems to think there are sisters," she explains. "And maybe a master, who might show up. Something you should know."
Lilah knows Haley reasonably well, Ash a little less so. Tabitha has met her, but only in briefest passing. Berlin and Syl To them, she's some enigma.
Inside the apartment, Haley is adjusting her yoga pants with a frown. She sighs, cupping her belly, and then pulls on a cashmere crop top. Even if it's chilly outside, she doesn't care.
"Father Francis told me about her, but I would be an unfamiliar face." Tabitha says, tilting her head to one side at Lilah, and stepping away from the door to allow the other woman to take the lead. "I think if she sees a familiar and friendly face, it'll be a safer call, than busting in the door."
Ash nods to Tabitha to confirm that, yes, they know her. Having heard of Tabitha being an alumni, they seem a bit surprised at the suggestion that Tabitha doesn't know her - she was a prominent, friendly cheerleader. But, they don't comment on it at all. They seem to be reluctant to be the one to knock, given their current accent change. They seem displease about something, but nods to Tabitha in agreement, perfectly fine with it not being Syl. Again, they stand against the wall, careful not to be caught in the reflection of an opposing door's window.
Berlin leans against the doorframe, letting the other four decide this one. Finally he pushes off the wall, approaching the group, figuring the ruse, if needed, has served its purpose. He puts his back to the wall next to the door, far enough away to allow people to access the frame, but close enough to swing into it swiftly, showing off a little bit of familiarity with this process. His right hand rests on his hip, fingers hooked under the hem of his jacket, calm, ready, waiting.
Lilah nods thoughtfully to Syl. There's definite hints of disgust and something far deeper, more like longing, in the redhead's expression at the mention of a 'master' but she holds her tongue entirely for a few moments while the others speak. "Sure," she says, keeping that hand loosely over her rounded stomach. "If that's what everyone wants, I'll knock." She steps forward then to rap knuckles lightly against the door. "Best hide those weapons, hmm? If you don't want her to run immediately, or go on the offensive."
Once upon a midnight dreary, as the hunters pondered, weak and weary ... who plans the tapping? Lilah -- it is Lilah who is rapping, rapping at the chamber door. It has a kind of hollow sound, quiet, but inside it's heard keenly.
There's a shift, Haley stiffening with sudden surprise. She finishes tugging down the cropped sweater she wears and moves, her eyes narrowed. "Hello?" she asks. "Who's there?" Bad habits die hardest: the dead-bolt scrapes, and then?
...the door opens.
Ash considers for a moment, then looks at Syl before going into the nightmare. They listen from within there to see if they can hear an approach inside so as to know better where to breach. Chances are, she wouldn't have drunk mandrake tea, but Ash is nothing if not cautious.
Move east.
"Hey, Haley. Been ages, huh?" Lilah offers, along with a wan smile that makes her look just a bit haggard, despite the fact that, as always, she's dressed to the nines. "Remember that time we talked and I said that if you ever needed help you could come to me?" Which clearly her sorority sister has not done. Still, blithely going on, her lips twist faintly, a purely self-deprecating look on the Fae-featured girl's face. "Maybe it's me that needs the help now, huh?" After all, it's highly likely that Haley, like everyone else, knew something of the predicament she'd found herself in. So, she continues to speak in a low, musical tone, something that just slightly softens everything she says though she's not singing, per se.
That doesn't explain the others. They'll have to explain themselves, but as she speaks, Lilah makes sure that she turns just enough that her thin figure doesn't disguise that baby bump as much as it tends to from the front.
As Haley opens the room, the inside is revealed to Syl, Berlin, Tabitha and Lilah -- and to Ash, of course, hidden in a realm beyond this one. Only Tabitha can see him there, lingering, but from Haley's view he is invisible. She has some surprise when she sees Lilah.
"Lilah?" she asks, raven hair around her face. "And... Who are you friends?" The defensiveness, the animal defensiveness, is obvious, as is the way her mind races with a little panic. There is some fight or flight here. For those with some arcane skill -- Ash, Lilah, Tabitha -- the telltale signs of a practitioner are scattered around the room. A bit of carpet covers a makeshift ritual circle, and there are too many candles. Curiously, before her transformation Haley wasn't known as the sort of girl who dabbled in the occult.
Haley's eyes look down to Lilah's belly, and they light up with some hunger she tries to conceal. "What happened?"
"Hey, Haley. Been ages, huh?" Lilah offers, along with a wan smile that makes her look just a bit haggard, despite the fact that, as always, she's dressed to the nines. "Remember that time we talked and I said that if you ever needed help you could come to me?" Which clearly her sorority sister has not done. Still, blithely going on, her lips twist faintly, a purely self-deprecating look on the Fae-featured girl's face. "Maybe it's me that needs the help now, huh?" After all, it's highly likely that Haley, like everyone else, knew something of the predicament she'd found herself in. So, she continues to speak in a low, musical tone, something that just slightly softens everything she says though she's not singing, per se.
That doesn't explain the others. They'll have to explain themselves, but as she speaks, Lilah makes sure that she turns just enough that her thin figure doesn't disguise that baby bump as much as it tends to from the front. (It goes better now)
It's hard not to feel like the vampire wants to eat Lilah's baby.
There is a hesitancy in Tabitha before she speaks, her gaze sweeping the young woman's living space, but her trusting blues, hopefully trusting blues, land on Haley and there is another smile. Tight, but there, and trying to dimple her cheeks. "Hi, Haley. I'm Tabitha. I'm just here for some moral support." She gestures to Lilah. There is something that puts the redhead ill at ease, but she tries to push beyond it. She tries to distract. Herself? Haley? "I see that you're a practicioner... What is your expertise?"
Panic is setting in as Haley realizes how many people are here, and she responds to Tabitha in a normal tone of voice that all the same seems to have the edge of a hiss, like some cornered animal. "Old magic," she says. Dark magic, she means. She steps back, her body set with concern, as she tries to calculate the odds. Dark eyes look from Tabitha and Lilah to the window, and then to her phone. She reaches for it, perhaps to text someone.
Ash moves through the room carefully, checking the details of the room for anything that might give clues to her people - her sisters, her sire (or master, they *could* be different), any clues. But, before all of that, they find where the bathroom is - though the cracked mirror brings them some relief. They're *pretty* sure that cracked is fine. Spiderwebs, are different from shattered glass. They try to keep closer to the tall mirror or the bathroom, as they investigate.
Syl seeing the rising panic offers, "I'm Syl. I'm new to White Oak. Its nice to meet you." Its an extreme casual greeting. normal.
"A swiftie," Berlin says, his accent once more the proper, received pronunciation he's learned to use over the years. He doesn't know vampires, doesn't know cults and candles and magic, but he does know american girls love a british accent. "Saw her when she came through Wembly," he says, offering his dimples to the girl who is somehow now the subject of a crowd in her livig room. "Terribly sorry," he says, pointing to Tabitha with an open hand, "I'm with her, just here tagging along you might say. I'm Berlin."
A bit of color fades from Lilah's cheeks and her arm tightens a bit further around her belly, but Lilah speaks on, after Tabitha's introduction. "I ran away from my master," she says to someone, keeping her body still though there's definite hints of adrenaline, her own little fight-or-flight decision starting to rear its head. She holds her ground for now, but her smile is forced as she continues to coo in that slightly musical manner. "These guys drove me out here. I was hoping maybe you could help me... you know. In ways the school can't... won't..."
A bit of color fades from Lilah's cheeks and her arm tightens a bit further around her belly, but Lilah speaks on, after Tabitha's introduction. "I ran away from my master," she says to Haley, keeping her body still though there's definite hints of adrenaline, her own little fight-or-flight decision starting to rear its head. She holds her ground for now, but her smile is forced as she continues to coo in that slightly musical manner. "These guys drove me out here. I was hoping maybe you could help me... you know. In ways the school can't... won't..."
Tabitha tries to distract Haley again, "I, too, practice the darker magic... Old magic." She holds out a hand to the woman, nothing within it, palm up. "I'm always looking for someone to talk about it with. Maybe do a spell or two." She looks to the phone, and then there is a focus on the girl's hand with the phone. No saying that she can't call out some other way, but that focus ...
"It's nice to meet you too," Haley tells Syl. "But that school?" She seems to stumble; it's like a record, skipping, which for those with more occult knowledge like Lilah and Tabitha should set off the red flags of someone who has been hypnotized too much -- a thing both of them know too much about. "That school is evil," she says. "It's trying to break your mind."
In the bathroom, Ash has that cracked mirror. Cracked or not, he can step through it, behind Haley -- out of sight.
The vampire looks to Berlin, and then, as she is about to text, her fingers seem to seize as her phone drops. She swears, in a panic. "I need!" It's easy enough for all of them to come inside in Haley's increasing psychic panic.
Casually, Tabitha kneels to pick up the dropped phone. Just being kind... She stands. "Its okay, Haley..." she says. "Please, you need to come down." She smiles again, that empath's smile. The nervousness ticking in her jaw, momentarily.
Lilah drifts silent, though the look she gives Tabitha is not terribly trusting for someone who just helped her escape an evil man's clutches and drove her all the way out here to find this girl - or whatever randomness she'd been spouting just moments ago. She draws in a deep breath, and very casually begins to move herself to the back of the small group. She doesn't head for Ash, but instead just puts Syl and Berlin a little in front of her, very, very subtly so that her own back is to a wall and she's close to the door, should trouble ensue.
Syl doesn't seem sure of what to make of Haley's claim that the school is evil and out to break her mind. "They are," she asks. "I only signed up a few days ago. Haven't even gone to my first class yet. So I don't think I've got any hooks in me. If you need to vent, I'll listen?" She stays well away, giving Haley space.
Ash moves closer to the cracked bedroom mirror, ready to jump through. They remove the rope from where they had it rolled up, lifting it to show Tabitha. They seem to expect something from her, based on something she must have said earlier, and then move prepared to run through the mirror.
"You need to not!" Haley tells Syl. "You don't understand," she says to Syl. "They're trying to keep you from what you deserve." It's a sort of ranting in her tone, like repeating something someone else told her, something buried now in her psyche. "You -deserve- power," she says, and then Tabitha speaks. "Come down?" She's calming, though, as if something washes over her, as her mind gets its next piece of psychic swiss cheese. How we visit our torments on others.
She turns to look at Berlin, calming. "I'm Haley," she tells Berlin. "I just, we..." She looks at Lilah, some psychic calm keeping her from flying off the handle. "I should call a -- friend."
Berlin's play didn't seem to work, so he goes back to the strong and silent look. He lets Tabitha and Lilah run the show, working with the college student whose home they've decided to invade. He steps over to a spot beside the coffee table, flicking a gaze down at it, judging for a moment.
his judgment over, apparently the coffee table meets whatever judgment he had of it, Berlin offers his warm, dimpled smile to the girl. "Its lovely to meet you," he says, putting a touch more emphasis into that english accent, "Shall I make tea?"
Tabitha gives Lilah another look of utter exasperation for the very look she is given, despite that she's trying to distract the vampire in order to HELP her AGAIN. She watches as the woman creeps into the back of the apartment by the door. A narrowing of her gaze is set momentarily before she returns her attentions to someone. "It's true. How it gets into your head. It feels like everything does try, doesnt it?" She doesn't return the phone to Haley, but continues to talk. "From people trying to tell you someone is bad or distrustful, to telling you to trust them. To whisper things in your ear, power, prestige..."
Tabitha gives Lilah another look of utter exasperation for the very look she is given, despite that she's trying to distract the vampire in order to HELP her AGAIN. She watches as the woman creeps into the back of the apartment by the door. A narrowing of her gaze is set momentarily before she returns her attentions to Haley. "It's true. How it gets into your head. It feels like everything does try, doesnt it?" She doesn't return the phone to Haley, but continues to talk. "From people trying to tell you someone is bad or distrustful, to telling you to trust them. To whisper things in your ear, power, prestige..."
Haley looks at Berlin. "I don't drink ... tea," she says. There's a keening, awful sadness to it, as she shoots dark eyes towards the kitchenette. What food might have once been in it is desiccated, mummy-dry and lost to age and death and an unbeating heart. She takes a breath. "There is power," she tells Tabitha. "Do you know what He showed me?" she says. "Do you know what he taught me? What he gave me?" Power, indeed -- but what price did the girl pay for it?
"Tea? I'd kill for a steak right now," Lilah murmurs from where she's standing, once again rubbing at her belly as she watches those of the group she can see, and Haley of course. But once more, she seeks to infuse calm into her voice, the soothing tones she'd taken with her stressed and scared sorority sister so long ago - even if she supposedly is the one here tonight seeking help. "I just need a place to stay, Haley," she murmurs. "That's all. Nothing to fret over. Do you know a place? Under the table - I can't have my name on any documents, you understand, right? I... that's all. I was hoping maybe you'd be in touch with those sort of people..." Her words trail off as someone seems to be fully caught up in the conversation with Tabitha and, oddly enough, there's a sigh of relief from the Fae girl.
"Tea? I'd kill for a steak right now," Lilah murmurs from where she's standing, once again rubbing at her belly as she watches those of the group she can see, and Haley of course. But once more, she seeks to infuse calm into her voice, the soothing tones she'd taken with her stressed and scared sorority sister so long ago - even if she supposedly is the one here tonight seeking help. "I can imagine, all too well..." Her words trail off as Haley seems to be fully caught up in the conversation with Tabitha and, oddly enough, there's a sigh of relief from the Fae girl.
Syl is content to let Tabitha take the lead. She doesn't know Haley. Doesn't know White Oak. Isn't particularly dangerous, compared to the others, if it came to a fight.
"We pay prices for the power we think we are owed, deserved. Even if it is told to us it is the power we are deserved," Tabitha says to Haley with some sadness, too. In fact, some of that power was used upon Haley herself, ironically and remorsefully. "I can imagine what he offered..." She tries to play off the calm that Lilah tries to ensure, "Who is he?" she wonders. She looks beyond Haley a moment to Ash, and there is a shake of her head. To Haley, to them. She then tells the woman, taking advantage of said power provided, "Lets sit down and talk about it. I find it very fascinating." Should this not work, there another rabbit up her sleeve, afterall. She will /make/ her.
"Harry Potter," Berlin says, giving a soft, almost fond chuckle as he traces his fingertips along the spines of the seven books on a shelf. "My Gran read those to me when I was a lad. Wonderful books." He doesn't say it to the vampire, or to anyone. He just points out the little reminder of humanity, the cost of what is given up to gain such power. "I can't see those books without thinking of my old Gran, may she rest in peace."
The phone in Tabitha's hand begins to ring. The caller ID comes up only with a bright red M.
When the phone begins to ring, Haley looks up at it with sudden fear, with worry and with desire. "Who is calling?" she asks. It's almost desperate. "Is it him?"
Ash doesn't seem disappointed, but they return to their search, looking for any clues. Though, when the phone rings, and Haley pipes up, they move back near the mirror. They let Tabitha do her thing, but they remain ready for if - or perhaps when - things get problematic.
Syl looks to the phone as it begins to ring, then back to Haley. She notes the concern the girl seems to have, the desperation. But she looks to Berlin. "You liked them? I've never read them. Maybe I should check them out. I try to read a book a month. My favorite is probably Worm. Its a webserial that you can read online for free." Another grounding reminder of humanity, hopefully. More low key than vampiric masters, at the very least.
"Haley," Lilah pipes up again, suddenly. "Listen. I need a place to stay. That's why we're here, okay? A place where I can stay that I'm not putting my name on any documents. I can't afford to be tracked, you understand?" There's a push in her words this time. It's not so determined as to actively go and punch more holes in the girl's brain, but the goal is to distract her.
Clues? Haley's phone, obviously, but it's hard to see into the real world in detail from the nightmare. Objects are hazy, indistinct: instead, the nightmare reflects emotions. There, this room is full of sadness; it is as if everything inside the room is tinged with purple rain, except for where here and there ribbons of blood sweep through the air like streamers as Ash moves around that second, other plane.
Tabitha says to Haley calmly, "If I give you your phone, I want you to be calm as you tell him you are on your way. But I really think that you should come with us." Oh, how she toys with the woman's head, in all the ways her own was. She looks to the others, to Syl, Ash, Berlin, then Lilah. "I think that we should go, unless we are going to face this "M"." She holds out the phone, but does not give it up yet. She suggest to those, "Probably follow up on Ash," for pathing purposes. She sucks in a breath, shaking in her lungs.
"You want a place to stay?" Haley's eyes sweep back to Lilah, and then Lilah's belly. "You can stay --" She cuts herself off, and there's a kind of shakiness. "Lilah," she says quietly. "Lilah... You shouldn't stay here." She looks up at Tabitha with sudden excitement at the promise of the phone.
For a moment, a brief moment, someone is distracted, at a crossroads: but while perhaps Berlin and Syl may be optimistic to think that she can choose the right path, Ash, Tabitha, and Lilah know better. They can keep her teetering here while they talk, but as soon as they turn their backs she will flee to her Master. If she is to be saved, there must be work to do the saving.
"You want a place to stay?" Haley's eyes sweep back to Lilah, and then Lilah's belly. "You can stay --" She cuts herself off, and there's a kind of shakiness. "Lilah," she says quietly. "Lilah... You shouldn't stay here." She looks up at Tabitha with sudden excitement at the promise of the phone.
For a moment, a brief moment, Haley is distracted, at a crossroads: but while perhaps Berlin and Syl may be optimistic to think that she can choose the right path, Ash, Tabitha, and Lilah know better. They can keep her teetering here while they talk, but as soon as they turn their backs she will flee to her Master. If she is to be saved, there must be work to do the saving.
Ash frowns as Tabitha offers to give the phone back, more so when she suggests leaving. She can see their face, though, and it goes from concern and disagreement, to begrudging acceptance - until she mentions their name. There's *definitely* shock, even horror on their face. They did *not* like that.
Again, the gentle telempathic push. "Neither should you, then. We'll go somewhere together," Lilah suggests though she knows full well just how futile running away really is, and still wears the brand plastered across her back to prove it. There's a wan twitch of her lips and she extends a hand toward the young vampire, giving a faint tilt of her head.
"Oh they're bloody brilliant," Berlin replies to Syl, using a britishism he hates just in case the accent might still work a little. "You should read them." He wants to keep Haley thinking, keep her switching her attention between the redheads working their weaves, and the brunettes talking about all the things she's giving up. "In fact," he continues, "You have some great selections here Haley, if you don't mind me snooping at your collection. Narnia, Lord of the Rings. Ah, and Hermione's wand." He chuckles as he touches a stick in a box, hoping against hope its a treasured memory from a trip to Universal.
Ash remains ready to bolt through the mirror for Haley, to secure her. They, apparently, prefer to capture first, persuade later, but they haven't acted against Tabitha yet. They do look stressed, now, expecting either Haley to run, or someone to check up on their missed call - if the phone is not still ringing.
"I should call him," Haley says with some finality. She starts to Tabitha, reaching for the phone like an addict. Some of those here know the truth: she is an addict, and the addiction is to all the terrible things that power brings. She reaches for it, distracted, glancing between Tabitha, Syl, Berlin and Lilah as she does. "I need to go," she says. "I need to call him. He'll be coming to check on me." Will he? Or is that just her hoping she deserves his attention?
"I think Lilah is right. I don't think that you should either. Come with us." Tabitha suggests again, the phone still in her hand and not given back. She nods aside to Ash, trying to provide a silent tick to him as if to react. And for others to start packing it up. Without saying it. There's really only so much one can do with one's eyes. Haley is given a deep oceanic stare. She pulls out a lump of clay and begins to play with it, mold it. Distraction. "You'd said you practiced dark magic...." So does she. This doll? In her hands. Not the doll that is her which is beside Haley, it is shaped and then positioned.
Syl heads back toward the door and away from Berlin and the bookshelf, as if moving to leave herself. Its bringing her back toward Lilah, Tabitha and Haley and the door.
Berlin can't see Ash to follow them, but he can see Tabitha and haley and Lilah. He moves back toward them, still making a show of browsing the various books and trinkets on display around the room. All the while one eye rests on the corner of the coffee table, until he is finally back near Lilah by the door.
When Tabitha casts her little spell -- when she takes out the clay, manipulates it, freezes it, Haley recognizes what is happening. She rushes for the redheaded magician, at least the one that isn't pregnant, but she is mid-way through that movement, a half-step too late when the sorceress completes her incantation.
No: no, Haley's dead flesh is bound by some necromantic force, half moved, uncoiled without the ability to take a step further -- she is some predatory creature, pinned with an invisible needle to a board.
Despite that her little magical working ... worked, when Haley starts to rush toward her, the dark angel cringes and cowers. Tabitha prays. Sometimes someone answers.
Ash relaxes somewhat as she doesn't react to their name. But, being in the nightmare, they can't do anything to her. However, Tabitha's movement catches their attention, her signal. They move swiftly, then, inertia built by the time they come out of the mirror - though the running turns out to be unnecessary. Still, they pounce, moving quickly to tie her up while she's helpless.
Lilah stares at Tabitha for a moment, then slowly shakes her head. "Don't, Tabitha. Whatever she's done, she's still a victim" she murmurs, pain lacing her voice as she looks at poor Haley, trapped in that spell. "Don't torment her. Don't be the monster you used to fight against." She exhales, presses a hand to her belly like she's in some sort of pain, herself, and takes another half-step backward, toward the edges of the room and the darker shadows that linger there.
Monster, victim: she's frozen in place. When Ash bursts from the mirror, though? Haley is already starting to move. Necromancy is a powerful charm against the undead, but like all mancing it is a moment of will, worked upon the world -- a moment of will that passes. When Ash is on her she starts to struggle; he has one hand bound, but it's not clear if Ash alone will be able to tie Haley up.
were Berlin to be asked later, he might not be able to tell if he moves when Tabitha flinches, or when Ash attacks. Either way he pounces like a panther toward the vampire, seeking to assist Ash in pinning the girl's limbs so they can be tied.
Tabitha squeezes the clay that she made a replica of Haley with, at Lilah's request to stop. To think. She says, quietly to the other redhead, "I know..." There is a quake in her voice. "I know..." is now whispered. "I don't want to torment her, Lilah." She's helping! At least she'll tell herself that. The claw turns back into its indescribable lump. She looks away from the other woman, a moment of shared torment, perhaps. "Lets go. The phone was 'M' and I can only imagine that is her Master." That word, it makes her cringe again. "We can figure out better ways to help her... not here."
Syl is not particularly eager to run into arms reach of a vampire. As Ash and Berlin move to tackle the girl, she keeps her distance, moving further to the door to join Lilah, ready to run if things look like they are not going to go the groups way. She nods at Tabitha's words. "I'm good with computers. We can figure something out when its not *night*."
Beneath Berlin and Ash the girl struggles -- for all that she is dead, for all that she is killed, Haley is still, was still, a person. She fights back hard as she can, but two on one, with Tabitha's magic? She is caught. Caught in a trap that Lilah and Syl, intentionally or not, opened up for her when they found her apartment and knocked on her door.
She fights like a wildcat for a moment, but then she is subdued: bound, prisoned. Sobbing, even as the phone in Tabitha's hand starts to ring again:
M is calling.
Perhaps it is time to be gone, and soon.
Lilah just sends another wave of calm to Haley. It's likely nowhere near enough to stop her from panicking as the pair of Ash and Berlin try to bind her, but it's the little that this redhead seems comfortable doing. "So long as we're actually helping her..." she relents with a small nod, apparently willing to be considered 'in', though she doesn't approach, looks horribly guilty, and wraps her arms around her belly like she's fending off physical illness.
"All on Ash," Tabitha says to Syl, Lilah, Berlin. She looks down at Haley and there is sadness. Ultimate. It is writ in her brow. "I'm sorry..." Oh, those words. How many times did she say it? She repeats it. She says to Lilah, "We will." Or Have To?
Lilah lifts a hand, and somehow it sinks into the shadows that she continually approaches. "I don't path," she murmurs. "Can't risk the child to the Forest." So how'd she get here? "It'd be too much strain on them to bring me -and- Haley back, anyway," she concludes, and then steps backwards, letting the shadows envelop her completely. She's gone.
...as if Lilah's child might not find the things that dwell in the Forest to be her friends.
Ash gags and blindfolds her after Berlin helps, throwing a glance in the direction of the others behind their sunglasses as they do so. They give her extra material in her mouth as they do, careful to secure her sharp teeth. Then, they ask, hoisting her off, "Clinic, then? And do you want to give Syl that phone?" They nod to Syl, showing some faith despite being given only a small sign that she's capable. Or maybe they just trust her more? However it is, they start to form the Path, ready to bring everyone with them. Though they came here with a clear intent to kill her, they seem fine not having done so.
The path comes together not a moment to soon, because there is a buzzer that rings just before the quartet steps into that strange world between worlds. It's a short journey there with Haley in tow, and then -- perhaps sadly -- she's admitted to the clinic, to be sedated for now and spoken to in some future day.
Its clear, whatever his upper-crust behavior may say, Berlin is no stranger to a fight. Even with the ropes, he holds Haley in an arm bar, making sure to stay behind her, and not put a lot of pressure on her shoulder joint. He isn't trying to hurt the girl after all. reply will do.
Syl offers a hand for the phone as she moves closer to Ash, more comfortable now that the vampire is bound. "Clinic works."
Tabitha is able to let the shadows take her too, but since she arrived with Berlin, she is not just going to let him fend for himself. "I've got the phone on me. But I'm also not in any group either. It might be best to destroy the phone. He may trace it."
Its clear, whatever his upper-crust behavior may say, Berlin is no stranger to a fight. Even with the ropes, he holds Haley in an arm bar, making sure to stay behind her, and not put a lot of pressure on her shoulder joint. He isn't trying to hurt the girl after all. "Lets go," he says to Ash, trusting that whoever knows more about this stuff than him has a plan.
As the party returns to White Oak, thus ends Childe Haley, the Huntress -- for tonight, at least.
This is part of a storyline, Legacy Admissions, and so there will be some future plots related to Haley and her Master. Very likely, once I have another plot up I will create a plot guest for Haley, which will probably have to be named Hayleigh since there is a bit named Hayleigh. Anyone who wants to interrogate her in the clinic is welcome to do so.
In terms of plot stuff, I will finish the plot and pass all of you right now. If you want to spend plot XP on some kind of reward drop me a tell, though I generally advise for folks new to plots to save that experience for artifacts. Still, if you want money or influence or territory gain or something, just let me know.
Ash frowns, saying, "You should get as much information off of it as you can, then - better for Syl to have it, but we can talk later."