It's been a week or so since I posted the hiatus/what happened in the meantime post and it's time to get onto the night's session. I am liking the longer breaks in the game It gives me a chance to really think about what I post and to make sure I get everything written down.
The first session back in play went very, very well. The time seemed to fly by and we wasted no time getting back into the thick of Vegas problems. Of course if we didn't, it wouldn't be much fun. Some bad and nasty's have come to visit and we are once again in the wrong place at the right time!
It being a Wednesday, Shade got up and headed out to work. Her new tattoo artist, Lars, was already there and handed her the mail. It was the usual stuff until she got to a plain white envelope. Opening it, she pulled out an Ace of Spades. The only writing on it was an address. Since the existence of the Spades is only rumor, Shade isn't really too concerned. After taking care of a few work details, Shade made her way to the address on the card. It was in a bad part of town and seemed to be nothing but an old, rundown house. She walked up to the front door and knocked. She thought she felt...something but, being a practical person and taking note of the thugs watching her from across the street, she decided not to investigate inside. She did write her own message (Next time don't be so cryptic. Thank you for the note) and slipped it under the door.
Brandon had been at work for awhile when he noticed that Skip was late. With the tension between them, it wasn't too surprising. Having had enough, Brandon called Skip. A very distraught Skip answered and replied to Brandon's questions with a "Fuck Off!" and slammed the phone down. That got Brandon's attention and he drove over to Skip's. There he was greeted by the sight of cop cars and flashing lights. Going up to the actual apartment, Brandon saw that the door was open and cops were milling about. Brandon asked one of the cops just what in the hell happened. The cop asked him about his relationship to Skip and if he knew an Elizabeth Dandridge. Just then a cop led Skip into the hallway. He had blood on his hands and looked in shock. Brandon asked if he needed anything and received a look of death as answer. Having much practice ignoring death glares, Brandon told Skip that he would find out what was going on and that, if needed, a lawyer would be provided. Not being able to get anything more from the police, Brandon went back to his store and called Neil. Before he left he was able to detect the ward Skip had set and tell that it was intact.
Neil, after doing his usual morning routine (running and the daily minion check), was having lunch when he received Brandon's call. Brandon explained the situation as well as he knew it and asked Neil if he would use his contacts to check things out. Neil agreed to do so and after eating started making calls. A well placed officer was able to tell Neil that Skip was a person of interest in a possible suicide/possible murder. Other then that, he was only able to learn that Skip would be released after his questioning. Neil called Brandon back and let him know what he had learned.
After being released, Skip made his way to the Sleight of Hand and Brandon. Brandon only asked one thing of Skip- to tell him that he had not killed her. That set Skip into hysterics as he denied having anything to do with her death. Taking Skip downstairs, Brandon poured a couple of drinks into him and got the whole story. Liz had been fine as far as Skip knew. A little down and sad but nothing that would explain what happened. Skip told Brandon how he had woken up that morning and found her in the bathtub with her wrists slit. As he talked, Brandon "checked" him out just be sure he was telling the truth. He was. Brandon then asked if Skip had accidentally summoned anything or pissed anybody off. Again, Skip answered in the negative. After getting what happened sorted out, Brandon offered his spare room to Skip, who accepted. They stopped off to grab some of Skip's personal items and while there Brandon saw the bathroom. The word bloodbath best described it.
Figuring that enough time had passed to make a call again, Neil phoned his police contact and was told that Skip had been released and that the case would be filed as a suicide. The only fingerprints on the weapon were hers and no other footprints had been found at the scene. Covering the bases, Neil called around to ask about any new White Court Vampires in town. He learned that there was more then a few new in town but none that seemed to be dangerous or loose cannons. Neil's last call was to inform Mason what had happened.
After dark, Neil was out and about when he felt a shadow appear behind him. It was Mason himself (with the coolest entrance routine ever). Mason first asked if Neil's friend Shade had received his message. Neil answered that he didn't. The talk then turned to Skip and that situation. Mason told Neil to keep his eye on things and to keep him informed.
After the card incident, Shade's day was uneventful. With the work day over, she headed to meet max for dinner. They talked about the day's events. Max asked her if she had heard about some sort of gruesome murder and if so, should he be concerned. Shade replied that she hadn't heard anything and that she would keep an ear out for anything going on. They had a nice dinner and a nice evening- even if Max did rather subtlety bring up children (Thank god Max is very, very rich and doesn't ask Shade to cook. The child issue is going to have to be dealt with Shade explaining to him about why she doesn't want them right now, if ever. That conversation is going to be interesting!).
Brandon spent his night babysitting a grieving Skip.
The next morning the death of Elizabeth was on the news. Shade, after watching it, called Brandon and asked if it was okay if she came over. Arriving there with coffee and breakfast, Shade went right over to Skip with an "Oh sweetie" and lots of hugs. It took some doing but she managed to convince Skip that he needed to eat and get cleaned up. While he was doing so, Brandon and Shade talked the situation over. Realizing that something magical could be the problem and needing to get at the apartment or body, they called Neil. If anyone had the contacts to get them access to either, it would be him. There was some talking back and forth about the best way to go about things and they eventually agreed to meet at the city morgue later that night.
In preparation for that night, Neil got together a semi-realistic badge and some made up files of currently open investigations to which he had made a few minor but critical changes. Brandon called around to the newspapers asking if they had any knowledge of upswings in the number of suicides for the city. It took a bit of work but he did find out that there had been four or five just in the past couple of weeks. Shade spent her day preparing for the Divination ritual she would be using on the body.
Not wanting to deal with a great number of people, Brandon, Shade, and Neil met up later that night and went to the morgue. Knowing that looking like you belong is half the battle, they all walked in with confidence. They were able to get to the autopsy room without incident and then it was time for Neil to take over. Walking directly to the medical examiner, Neil pulled out his files and started interrogating him about the "discrepancies" in his examination notes. At the words internal investigation, Fred turned pale and caved into Neil's request that he step out of the room to answer questions.
With those two out of the room and Brandon acting as a shield, Shade walked over to the drawers, pulled open the one containing Elizabeth's body, and activated the spell. Right away she could tell that the wounds were self inflicted. She saw what looked like a magical sooty hand print on the girl's arm. Her emotional state at the time of her death was pure pain and anguish. She also saw a dark looking ghost that was feeding on the corpse. It only took a second for Shade to see the specter... and for the specter to see her. It let out a horrible scream and reached for her. The shock of what she saw caused Shade to lose control of her magic and lights, computers, and outlets all started sparking and going out. In the chaos the ghost managed to attack Shade and it seemed to pull energy out of her, leaving her feeling a bit sad (Listening to the Cure bummed, not listening to Morrissey angst. Had to get that clarified). While Neil was sending Fred away (at a run!), Brandon turned and attacked the ghost with a spell, pushing it out of the room. Shade moved back to where Brandon was and the two of them managed to combine their wills to destroy the ghost. It shrieked and crumbled into dust when the spell hit it. Deciding that there was nothing else to do there and not wanting to answer any inconvenient questions, the three left. In a very controlled hurry.
Still feeling the effects of the ghost touch, Shade told the two men what she had seen and then told them she was going to her shop to be alone. That wasn't any good, so she called Max and asked him to meet her there. He did and she told him all that had happened- Skip, the body, the ghost, everything. Afterwards, she felt a bit better and they spent the night upstairs.
Brandon and Neil left the morgue for Brandon's house. To their not so happy surprise, they found that Skip was not there and they left to go looking for him. Once again, with his excellent contacts, Neil put out the word for everyone to be on the lookout for Skip. They stopped first at Skip's apartment and talked to the cop guarding the door. The cop told Neil and Brandon that Skip had been there but had left when he couldn't get inside. Brandon asked if he could leave a note, just in case Skip came back. The cop agreed. Their second stop was to the Sleight of Hand where they found the shop lit up and the door unlocked. They found Skip downstairs frantically looking through the books, hoping to get some sort of answer to what happened. It took a bit of social combat but Brandon was able to get Skip calmed down enough to tell him of the night's events. With a starting point, Skip spent the rest of the night looking for information on the feeding ghosts.
The next morning Shade woke up and went downstairs to her tattoo parlor. She noticed the message light on her machine was blinking and hit play. It was a call from Tess, sounding sad and lonely, asking if Shade wanted to get together because she was feeling a bit down. Shade called her back immediately. Tess seemed even more sad and upset then in call from the night before but told Shade not to bother with coming over since she was so busy with work, her husband, and stuff. Shade hung up and raced over to Tess's apartment. Shade let herself in and, using the Sight, saw the same type of ghost feeding from her best friend. Knowing she couldn't handle it there and by herself, Shade called Max and asked him to come over to help her get Tess to Brandon's. Shade then called Brandon and let him know what was going on. She also asked him to call Neil and have him there. It took a bit of manhandling but they managed to get Tess to Brandon's shop, where they were able to dispel the ghost.
Thus ended the game for the night and what a night it was! It looks like we have a new bad thing in Vegas. Now we just have to figure out if they are being sent by a person or group or if they are a side effect from the generally darker Vegas. The next gaming night is set for the 23rd, so I will be updating after that exciting session. I cannot wait!
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