Sorry to take so long posting this entry but work has been over the top busy. Then there was having multiple infections (molar, gum, sinus) and a root canal. Luckily, work has gone back to the normal amount of crazy and antibiotics are kicking in, so I'm now able to get this done.
Tis' Halloween in Sin City and things are going to hell. The last day of October started with the murder of David, aka Mr. Boomunches, making the front page. The three of us knew him and each reacted to his death in their own way.
Shade had a visit from Penny, who wanted a tattoo to commemorate her uncle David. That seemed fitting since he was the one that had introduced the two girls. They talked while Shade worked. Penny was glad that Shade would be at the wake taking place the next day.
Neil, when he read about the death, attempted to cash in on it. He called a few acquaintances and put the word out to stock up on any and all Mr. Boomunches inventory. He also offered the suggestion of having a poker game in memory of the beloved clown.
Brandon seemed the most affected by the death. Mr. B (have to shorten that a bit, every time I type Mr. Boomunches, I have a fit of the giggles) had been the first to greet him when he moved to Las Vegas and helped him learn the rules. He had also been a customer of Brandon's shop. He and Skip moped around until Brandon came up with a way to honor Mr. B's memory- a 10% off everything sale! He called a radio station and got the word out. The shop was bustling when a guy came in and started to rip down the pictures of Mr. B. Turned out that he was Thomas, Mr. B's nephew, and he wasn't happy with the sale. As Brandon walked over, the guy started yelling something about profiteering from his uncle's death. After a bit of unfruitful conversation, Brandon punched Thomas and yelled at Skip to get the gun. Thomas did a few acrobatic flips and moved in to punch Brandon. The punch connected with his chin. Brandon threw another punch, which missed, and got nailed in the testicles for his effort. Having had enough and being in great pain, Brandon stood up and tossed a fireball spell at Thomas. Thomas dropped to the floor. The fireball missed him and hit the side of the shop, which started to burn. Springing to his feet, Thomas punched Brandon in the nose, knocking him out. Brandon woke up in the street, bruised and battered. The first thing he saw was the smoldering ruins of his shop. The next thing he saw was the police who were dying to ask him some questions. Finding out that Thomas was pressing charges, Brandon told the officer that it had been self defense; that Thomas had a knife and threatened him. Somehow, he convinced the officer that's what happened.
At his usual place- a casino, Neil caught a news story about a fire that had gutted a local business. He recognized the address as being Brandon's shop. While mulling that bit of information over, he spotted Uri's receptionist (Christine) walking about. After hello's were exchanged, Christine told Neil that she had a message for him from Uri. He wanted him to go to the wake. Neil agreed to do so and asked her if she would be his +1. She said yes, even though she was a bit surprised by his asking her to go to a wake as a sort of date.
The next day came. The wake was being held at a local cathedral. Neil and Christine were the first of the group to arrive, Shade and Brandon a bit later. In tribute, Brandon placed a balloon poodle into the casket. Before the eulogy service, the guests congregated outside in back. The guest list was a who's who of Vegas, including Uri, Melinda, Locke, Patience, Running Mouth, Mason, and most of the Malvora clan. The tone of the crowd was a mixture of sadness and anger. The tension level was higher then hell. From her vantage point, Shade watched one gentleman (guess who) giving Brandon the stink eye. Finally, the guests were seated. David's sister, Drusilla, started the eulogy off. When she finished, she invited other's to go up and share their memories. Warden Locke spoke for a bit about when Mr.B first came to Vegas. Penny, who was next, talked for a bit. However, not far into her eulogy, some guests started heckling her. Basically, they accused her of causing Mr. B's death, which caused her to breakdown. Shade went to the podium and helped Penny outside to give her a chance to calm down. The rest of the eulogies proceeded fairly okay until one Fredrick Skavis started his speech. The mood of the wake took a decidedly worse turn as Skavis talked. He not only insulted the deceased, he insulted those there grieving. Knowing that something had to be done, Neil moved to the podium next and, with his charm and rapport, managed to lower the tension level to simmer.
Having had enough of speeches, everyone headed out back to partake of liquid refreshment and food. With Penny finally calm enough to be on her own, Shade grabbed a drink and reclaimed her previous vantage point. Happy to be ignored, she settled in to watch the crowd. After a bit, someone walked up to her and started talking. It was Fredrick Skavis, which did NOT make her happy. He suggested to Shade that they should be working together. He based this on the fact that her shop was on the edge of his territory (North Vegas). Shade told him very firmly no. She also insulted him but not very effectively (she is too nice to truly be good at insulting people). He laughed it off and took his leave. However, Shade had the feeling she hadn't seen the last of him.
The night for Neil and Christine went well. Before they took their leave, Patience came up to Neil and asked if he had talked to Wyatt lately. Answering in the negative, Neil asked why. Patience told him that she needed to talk to Wyatt as soon as possible. She had some information for him. Neil said he would get in touch with him and give him the message. After that, the two of them went out to dinner and chatted. Christine filled Neil in on some of the local politics, families, supernatural creatures, and such. Christine also made it very clear that she would LOVE to get to know Neil better...specifically in the carnal sense.
Brandon's leave taking wasn't so calm. As he exited the church, he was accosted by Thomas. Actually, Thomas tackled him from behind and knocked both of them down the front steps. Getting to his feet, Thomas gave Brandon a choice- either find out who murdered his uncle or spend the rest of his life getting the shit kicked out of himself by Thomas. Neither choice sounded good to Brandon, who protested that he could look into the death but couldn't promise to find out who the murderer was. Another fight seemed to be brewing, until Robert Mason showed up and asked what the problem was. Thomas told him there wasn't one but Mason didn't believe him. Brandon decided enough was enough and headed for home.
However, Brandon's night was just getting started. When he got home, he found a visitor waiting for him on his doorstep. It was the coyote. It took some time but Brandon figured out the coyote wanted him to follow it. So, he did. The path they took headed out into the desert. After walking for quite a long time, Brandon saw a campfire in the distance. When he got closer, he noticed there was an old native American man sitting there. Charlie (the old man) motioned for Brandon to sit down. The two of them started chatting. Charlie told him that he, Brandon, must be special since it was his building that was over the Avatar's binding site. Taken aback, Brandon asked what he was talking about. Charlie explained to him that the land Vegas was built on was sacred and that it had been corrupted by the people moving in. The Avatar belonged to his people and was there to restore the land to what it had been. Charlie went on to add that the coyote had led Brandon there so he could help in that endeavor. Thinking that the old man was a total nutcase, Brandon (with the best line of the night!) said, "Um, right, I'm going to be leaving now." Charlie tried to convince him to stay but Brandon hurriedly set off back to town. Back at home, Brandon's very bad, no good, horrible day finally ended.
The next morning brought a new surprise for all. Drusilla Malvora called for a meeting that evening with the three of them. They all agreed to be there and went on with their day. Neil called and left a message for Wyatt. Shade, realizing that she was getting involved in things she didn't want to be, experimented with physical manifestations of her power. Brandon talked with insurance agents and filed a restraining order against Thomas.
The meeting time finally came and all three showed up at the Scaramouche Academy. Penny led them through the halls, which were as creepy as hell. They reached an office and went in. Drusilla greeted them and got the meeting off with some family history. David Malvora had broken away from the rest of the family when Locke asked him to come to Las Vegas. He had started the clown college and rose through the ranks of the Vegas powers that be. With his death, Drusilla, as executor of his will, had become the de facto head of the family. However, there was the position of Mr. B to be filled. From what she said, there were numerous family members willing to kill for it. That, she feared, included her son, Thomas. She asked if the three of them would look into the murder. When asked why us, she said that whomever did had to be a neutral party. She sweetened the deal with an offer of money. Shade quickly agreed; not for the pay but to help out Penny. Neil and Brandon also agreed to look into it, probably for the money. Okay, definitely for the money. Drusilla handed over folders containing information about who she thought they should look into first. They cast of suspects included all of David's children and Thomas. After reading a bit, Brandon, Shade, and Neil decided who each of them were going to interview. Thus ended the evening.
Morning brought Neil a phone call from Wyatt. Neil gave him Patience's message and asked how he was doing. He told Neil he was doing okay but was weirded out by a few things. He talked about a road of gold that ran in front of the construction site. He could see it but it was just regular dust when he tried to pick it up. THAT got Neil's attention...fast. Wyatt also told Neil that some pretty strange guys worked with him. Finally able to hang up, Neil went to the construction site to check things out. He really wanted to find that road of gold. Too bad he didn't know about the Sight. Shade really needs to sit him down and have a very, very, very long talk...over many, many, many drinks.
Not having any luck with finding yellow brick roads, Neil headed back to the Clown College to talk with a couple of the suspects. He found Tickles and Wiggles- aka Theodore and Wendall in the cafeteria. With a bit of charm, a smidgen of truth, a whole lot of misrepresentation, a nod towards greed, a great use of a sandwich, and a fuck load of fast talking, Neil was able to get the two of them to spill everything. He found out that there had been some sort of plan to do "something" about David but it never got past the talking stage. At least for them it had never gone further then that. However, they made certain to point their fingers at other people. Pretty well convinced that the two of them were not the killers, Neil tendered his goodbyes. Not without a parting shot, though. In their conversation, Neil had hinted that he was there to gather information about the will and brought up the possibility of it being contested. The twins eagerly asked him about it. Neil told them they had been suckered and that there was no chance in hell that would work.
Earlier in the day, Shade had called Thomas to set up a meeting. He reluctantly agreed and told her to meet him at the Liberace Museum. Getting there, Shade found Thomas and introduced herself. Thomas, showing his oodles of charm, bluntly asked her just what the hell she wanted. She explained that she had been asked by his mother to look into the murder. She went on to tell him that there was some concern about his or Penny's possible involvement. All she wanted to do was to find out his whereabouts on the night of the murder. He hotly denied that either one of them had anything to do with their uncle's murder After a bit of back and forth, Thomas told Shade that he had been at Circus Circus that night but he had only stayed downstairs long enough to chat with Uri White and then had gone up to his room for the rest of the evening. He also apologized for being such a dick to her at first. Satisfied that she could check his alibi out for herself, Shade left.
Brandon didn't have as good as luck with his first suspect. He went to the College and tried to get Daisy, David's daughter, to see him. She refused. Giving up on her for the moment, he then went to find Fredrick (clown name Fizzbow). Having better luck, Brandon located him just as he was finishing up a class. Introducing himself, Brandon asked if they could have a talk. Fredrick honked in the affirmative. Brandon didn't find this strange; Fredrick was born a mute and that was one way in which he communicated. Another was by drawing pictures on a sketchpad. The talk got off to a very good start, for one of Brandon's talks. Fredrick honked and drew that he had been greatly distressed by his father's death and that they had loved each other very much. When asked about possible suspects, Fredrick was quick to honk and draw attention to other people. However, things took a turn for the worse when Brandon hinted that Fredrick might have helped his father into the grave. The picture Fredrick showed to Brandon when that was mentioned showed him (Fredrick) stabbing Brandon with lots of knives. Not wanting to get into another fight, Brandon wisely retreated.
That ended the game for the night. The next session brings more conversations, accusations, meetings, and a fight!
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