Regroup (RP)

Continues from Retreat!

- Emma -

Henry is not pleased by your instructions to not involve the police any more, he is also disturbed by your surprise that he 'worried', and the thought that 'he could have ignored it' when you were ... abducted? He is not sure about what happened, he has a lot to think about.

Kat is happy to stay as long as you like in the paid-for room, this does not seem like the first time she has done exactly that, though, presumably, under less bizarre circumstances.

David —if you text him with updates and enquiries— assures you that 'they are doing fine at home'.
• How long do you stay? Right up until checkout Sunday? Monday? The staff are seemingly-thrilled to have you.

What do you do?

- Benji -

You can find no sign of Emma in the tunnels, from tracking her scent it appears she is not here anymore, but you can't tell how. Maybe her 'exit' is related to the piece of wall that interested her earlier? It possibly looks like the dog has passed though that area from time to time, but you can not tell how.

These tunnels are twisty and turny and confusing, and you are hurt, and possibly distracted.
• Can you keep your bearings? Do you go looking for the dog, for Chaudry, for poor dead Persephone? Do you manage to find your way back to the sacrifice chamber and avoid detection? Do you, instead, find your way deeper into the tunnels and to other possible allies?

What do you do?

- Persephone -

For all the trauma your body underwent, you have healed up fantastically well. Your old injuries —the bruises, the scars, the vampire bite— are almost completely invisible, and the new tiny, white scars —all that is left of a brutal mauling— might even fade or be overlooked.

You have spent a lot of time naked recently.
• How long does it take you to realise that there are people in your condo? That your sister is hosting a party?

What do you do?

Benji is extremely relieved when it seems like Emma’s trail disappears somehow. There are no signs of blood or violence. The trail just… vanishes. She must have got out!

The last few traces of Emma he can find are very near that strange section of wall she was looking at earlier. It looks like this is where the dog comes and goes too… He wonders how Emma knew how to get through it. There must be some trick to it — a password or a secret button maybe… He spends some time trying to figure it out, but if there is a trick, it’s too clever for him.

Still, this is the closest thing to a way out he has right now. He should make sure he can find it again before he gets himself lost in the tunnels. He rummages through his pockets and pulls out an old block of rosin which he uses to mark the wall. It doesn’t leave much of a visible mark, but it does leave behind a familiar woodsy pine scent. As he heads deeper into the tunnels, hoping both to hide from Chaudry and the hellhound and to look for some other way out, he marks the wall with the rosin at intervals so that he can follow the familiar smell back to that weird section of wall if he needs to.

He wanders deeper and deeper and deeper into the tunnels, clutching his ribs with one hand and his sword with the other. Once he thinks he must be a safe distance from Chaudry and the hellhound, he begins to hum to himself a little to distract himself from the pain and the nagging hunger. Being hurt always makes the cravings worse, each stab of pain reminding him that he would feel better if he fed. But there’s nothing to feed on down here… On the bright side, he doesn’t have to worry about hurting anyone for the time being, although he does worry about what he might do if it takes him a very long time to find his way out of here. If he spends days or weeks down here, will he be able to keep himself from attacking the first person he sees when he gets out?

Or if he gets out, rather. He is trying not to think about it, to keep himself from panicking, but what if he gets trapped down here forever? Will he starve? It takes vampires a very long time to starve to death and it’s not at all pleasant. He hums a little louder, trying to drown out his thoughts.

After a time, a bit of rustling in his coat reminds him that the rats are still with him. Talking to them is a better distraction than the humming. He talks to them about what happened— about his fears and his guilt over Persephone’s death — and it makes him feel a little better. He takes the time to pick out names for them too. The lead rat is Tchaikovsky, the biggest one is Brahms, and the little one with the twitchy nose is Paganini.

- Emma -

Kat orders lunch from room-service, just in time to be finished and ready to leave at checkout, clearly she has done this before. Checkout is at noon, Sunday, but the gym and spa are both available for a few hours past that time, and Kat intends to shovel as much onto the bill as she can.

The staff seem genuinely saddened to see you leave, and arrange a taxi home for you. Henry also offered to fetch you and take you home, but you got the distinct impression he was hesitant, and loath to talk just yet.

---

When you arrive home on Sunday afternoon (the time is up to you), Sarah is not sleeping, which is an improvement. You hear her soft voice from the bedroom... again, but you still know there is nothing to be worried about.

You feel good, after a weekend of pampering, but you still have some lingering symptoms of what is probably just a cold or flu. David has has been pampered a bit too, he is sicker than you are, and you find Sarah sitting next to his bed, feeding him soup, there is a basin of water by her elbow and a damp cloth, too, she has been playing nursemaid in your absence.

What do you do?

- Benji -

The rats in your pockets have eaten all the food you were carrying (failed raven snacks), and look at you expectantly when you start to talk to them and give them names. They seem to like the names, and respond to them quickly, they are very intelligent for rats. They also seem quite willing, eager even, to take orders from you —even if these are mostly things like "don't chew on that" or "come up here where I can see you", and the like.

The rats don't seem to have any sense of time, they are seemingly hungry again shortly after eating, and your injuries drive your own Hunger to the forefront of your mind, making it hard to track time. You don't know how long you have been down here, wandering the dark tunnels, humming and talking to yourself... like the stories of 'crazy vampires in the sewers'.

• Do you notice the voices before they notice yours?

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"What? Like 'naked in the park'?" Circe asks, showing a disturbing amount of prescience... though it is probably just coincidence. The comment about being 'dead' is missed.

"When did you get back?" Your sister asks, concerned that she had disturbed your sleep, or that her unauthorised party was found out.

It is night outside, so, unless it is a different night, you have not been gone that long?

• It is not still Friday night. Is it Saturday or Sunday night? Were you gone one or two days?

What do you do?

- Emma -

"Which is precisely why I didn't tell you." David points out, his voice sounding soft, and it looking painful for him to talk. "I did not want to interfere with your plans. Sarah was here to look after me." Does Sarah look a little smug at this?

"The weekend clearly agreed with you." David says. "You look positively radiant!" It is not uncommon for people to interpret the flush of fever as 'hearty good health and fitness', but he sounds genuine, as he always does when he complements you.

Sarah leans in and whispers something to David. "No, no. I can't eat any more. Thank you." David replies, patting her hand on his shoulder. Sarah wipes David's chin with one cloth and his forehead with another.

What do you do?

Benji cuts himself off at the sound of voices up ahead. The voices fall silent. They probably heard him too.

He looks around for somewhere to hide, but the last fork in the tunnel was a while back and whoever was speaking already knows he’s here. Anyway, maybe they’re friendly and can help him find his way out!

"Hello?" he tentatively calls out, cautiously venturing toward the source of the voices.

- Emma -

Sarah flounces out the room, her back held stiff, clearly offended by your tone, or maybe just disappointed. Uncharacteristically, she leaves the dirty, empty soup bowl for you to deal with.

If David wants to say something in her defence, he holds his tongue. His throat is sore and speaking is difficult and he is tired and should rest, but he wants to talk to you about your weekend.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

Circe is talking to a large, hairy man, slightly bulging out of a 'Team Jacob' moon-and-wolf tee-shirt. "It should be here, somewhere." Circe says looking around for her phone. "Aren't you, like, old? Don't you have a land-line?" Her phone is kinda personal, and she doesn't really want you looking at it, but only in a habitual-mom-avoidance way. The kitchen, where the land-line is, is kinda full of people.

What do you do?

- Benji -

The voices remain silent, not answering your hello.

What do you do?

- Emma -

"It's getting dark." David points out, possibly in Sarah's defence. That is all he says, not going on to say that you shouldn't or that you are wrong to feel the way you do, and also not pointing out that Sarah was useful this weekend, you would not have been able to go away if she were not there to look after him, after all.

When you arrive in the living-room, Sarah is already packing her belongings in a small plastic bag. Possibly you don't need to say anything?

• Has she included the clothes you purchased for her, or is she leaving them behind?

What do you do?

That’s not a good sign…

Benji tightens his grip on his sword and continues forward.

- Emma -

For a moment it looks like Sarah wants to say something, maybe a complaint, maybe a thank you, but your tone cuts her off. The order about 'your' writers' circle hits hard, and she does not understand the sudden hostility.

She has few belongings, and is out the door in just barely over your 5 minute deadline. She has kept her face turned away, but if you manage to catch a glimpse, you may note that she is crying silently.

What do you do?

- Benji -

There is a rusty, iron door (locked). It looks very 'prison cell' like. Inside are three people, they were the ones talking, but now they huddle in a far corner, staring at the door even though they can see nothing in the dark.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"You did say 'call'." Circe objects, not rising to the bait of a sparing match around the joke about 'old people and phones'. "And I don't do that!" She wonders off to fetch her phone from the counter.

"I'm Edward." The shirted gorilla says amiably. "You have a lovely place... and an equally lovely sister. Even though she lacks the needed respect." He seems happy, and little tipsy.

What do you do?

"Hello?" Benji says, again, approaching the bars. "Who are you? What are you all doing down here? Do you need help?"

- Emma -

"They said there is a waiting-list. Everybody is getting sick with all the rain. I can come in next Monday if I am not feeling better." David dismisses your hospital query.

His voice is still soft, it's difficult for him to speak so he could not call you back, but now that you are close he speaks in Sarah's defence. "She only said: 'I don't want to interrupt. Do you want more soup or can I leave?' You know she does not like to speak up, and you were telling me about the weekend. I hope you weren't too hard on her."

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"Um... like... 'for her not so old elders'?" Edward says nervously, he was just agreeing with you out of politeness. "so ... I'm going to go..." He trails off, not specifying where he is going to, possibly to his friends, as he seems well liked by the group and easily inserts himself into another conversation on the other side of he room.

"What did you say to dear Edward?" Circe says, returning and handing you her phone. "What happened to your phone anyway? Why do you need to call Emma, didn't you just spend the weekend with her?" She can clearly see that something is off with your demeanour.

What do you do?

- Benji -

"Oh! Thank god! You're not one of ... them?" One of the two men says, peering into the dark at you. "Let us out before they come back. They are monsters. You don't understand!" He is getting increasingly frantic as he speaks. These people are obviously prisoners, if your eyesight in the dark is good enough you might notice bite marks on their bodies. Vampire bites.

What do you do?

"Ah." Benji takes a step back from the bars upon seeing the bite marks. He’s in no state to pick a fight with another vampire by setting free their dinner. "I’m sorry," he says. "I don’t have keys… Which way do these ‘monsters’ usually come from?" He guesses he’s probably stumbled into the lair of Alasdair and the other ‘feral’ vampires who live underground. Maybe they can show him the way out.

- Emma -

"I love you." David says, softly as you leave.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"Edward said that? About me? That does not sound like him! Whatever could he mean?" Circe has also missed that you were the one to say 'Do you believe this girl? No respect for her elder.' [ref], and she will probably give Edward an earful in a moment.

"Emma was with another man?" Circe says, clearly distraught by this news. "Poor David. You're not going to tell him, are you?"

At this time Emma has just replied to your email, if you have a notification of that from where you are you can check it, else you have Circe's unlocked phone and can call.

What do you do?

- Benji -

"From out of the dark." The man says unhelpfully. "They bring the keys. Will you go look for them? Will you tell someone we are down here? My name is Leopold Sorenson, this is Tiwonge Okonkwo and Liliána Mooshian." He says, possibly so you can get the word out, but also so as to humanise them all for you to make it harder to forget about them.

You can probably suspect that Alasdair and his crew come the way you are going, you saw no sign that they pass the way you have already been, deeper down in the labyrinth below.

What do you do?

"…I’ll see what I can do," Benji promises vaguely. He turns away from the imprisoned humans and continues down the tunnel in the direction he was going. He understands that Alasdair needs to eat and that he would probably have a hard time finding voluntary victims, like Benji prefers, but it does feel a bit cruel to keep the humans in a cage for an extended period of time. Maybe he can persuade Alasdair to kill them and be done with it.

- Benji -

• Are you being careful? Stealthy? Do you stumble upon Alasdair's guards, or do you spot them before they spot you?

And what do you do?

- Persephone -

"I did ask." Circe objects, your lack of phone may have been the issue.

• Where do you think you dropped your phone? In the park? Or in the 'dungeon'?

"And don't think we aren't going to talk about that nakedness, later." Circe says seriously, she is worried about you and your behaviour, she was always more astute about 'people' stuff and can tell that something is going on.

What do you do?

- Emma -

This particular 'anti-crazy' measure is just another thing that Sarah has spoiled for you. She has already done most of the cleaning and there is not a lot of laundry to fold, just the one set of David's work clothes, and then several sets of his pajamas, and sheets, more than there should have been if he had not been messing on them. She must have been quite intimately 'taking care of him'.

• Do you mention to Persephone that the police are already involved? That they know, from Henry's report, that two women went missing and only one has been found?

What do you do?

Benji travels down the tunnel only a little way before stopping and leaning against a wall for support. His chest aches terribly. He’s exhausted… Hungry… He has no idea how long he’s been walking for. Forcing himself to keep going just a bit further, he shouts as loud as he can, "ALASDAIR! CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT’S BENJI!"

- Benji -

There is a scrabbling of activity up the tunnel, as though your call roused someone from a slumber. "Halt! Who goes there?" The tunnel guards call... redundantly since you just identified yourself.

What do you do?

- Emma -

The trash has been recently emptied and contains no indication either way.

What do you do?

"I’m Benji," Benji repeats himself, wincing at the pain in his ribs as he follows the sound of the guard’s voice. "I’m looking for Alasdair. I’m hurt and lost and I could really use his help. Are you a friend of his?"

- Benji -

There is some inaudible talk between the guards, then: "What you doing down there?" They demand. "Where did you come from?" They don't answer your questions and they sound worried, maybe about the sorts of things that might come up from the deep.

What do you do?

"I don’t know exactly... I was teleported, I think? By a portal? A friend of mine fell in and I jumped after her and then we all got separated. I’ve been walking for a really long time."

- Benji -

There is some more talk among the guards, they don't sound overly confident in their understanding of your story, but they agree to let you in to see the boss.

"Are you armed?" One asks, stepping forward to where you can see him. He is your typical sewer-dwelling vampire, ragged clothes, unkempt hair, and nails more like talons. "You will need to give me your weapons."

He holds out his hands for your sword, unless you try to obfuscate and sneak the weapon in without them knowning.

• Do you want/try to keep your pet rats a secret?

What do you do?

Benji willingly hands over his sword. He doesn’t like carrying it around much anyway. It’s heavy and cumbersome and he’s sure it wouldn’t do him much good against a whole den of feral vampires.

The presence of the guards is somewhat puzzling to him. He hadn’t expected the sewer vampires to possess the wits to establish any kind of formal hierarchy at all, but perhaps he’d misjudged Alasdair. Maybe, when his humanity deserted him, it left behind more than a feral beast? A mad king of sorts, perhaps?

In any case, these guards seem surprisingly well-adjusted, despite their ragged appearance. He wonders why they’ve chosen to serve Alasdair down here, rather than one of the more powerful vampire lords up on the surface where prey is far more plentiful. Maybe he sired them himself? It could be that those imprisoned humans were intended not just as food, but also as potential new vassals for Alasdair…

- Benji -

The guards, though they be sewer-dwellers, are a little creeped out by the rat riding on your shoulder. "Did you ... bring food?" One of them asks, sounding like it might be insulting to say yes.

They lead you up a passage, it is starting to look more like London/underground... or like it looked a hundred years ago. These may be old, unmaintained tunnels. You pass a piece of wall with slightly different colouring, this would not have been enough to attract attention —even if the light were (good)— but will shortly become obvious it is some sort of detector. The guard before you —with your weapon— passes through without incident, not paying any attention; but as you try to walk through, an alarm sounds, and a red ring glows inside the wall of the tunnel.

It takes both guards a moment to collect their thoughts and work out what is happening, but, as soon as they do, they turn to face you, one drawing your own sword, the other fangs-out-bloody, hissing.

"Demons!?" They demand, menacing you, but not yet attacking.

What do you do?

"Of course not. He’s a friend," Benji says, sheltering Tchaikovsky with his hand protectively.

He freezes, startled, when the alarm goes off, not sure what it means or what he’s supposed to do, then jumps back in fright and confusion when the guards turn to threaten him all of a sudden. "What!? What are you talking about? What was that?"

- Benji -

"That's above my pay-grade, sunshine." The old-school mobster insult might carry a bit more weight for vampires. "Stay where you are. Someone will be along shortly to decide what to do with you."

Your rat friends look nervous, like they want to run and hide, but they look to you —hopefully— for guidance.

A long way off, you hear running footsteps, though it is hard to be sure over the continued noise of the alarm.

What do you do?

While he waits, Benji scratches Tchaikovsky’s head reassuringly and then lifts the rat off his shoulder and tucks him safely out of sight, under his coat. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen next but he doesn’t want any of the rats getting hurt if it comes to violence.

- Benji -

After a short while, reinforcements arrive, with clubs and knives and swords and guns, which all look old but serviceable.

A misshapen figure steps forward, addressing the guards and demanding a report. He seems to be lame down one side of his body and face, his back hunched and dragging him over to that side as well. His speech is hard to understand past the slurring, so you are mainly reliant on the guards' replies to help you understand. He seems to be the resident ... demonologist?

With a wave of the one good hand, the demonologist shuts off the alarm, and he seems to hone in on your friends. "What does it have in its pocketsesh?" He demands.

"Rats. He said they were his friends." The guard explains, mentioning how you let them ride on your shoulder and then hid them when the alarm went off.

From behind, you hear more running feet. It seems the 'pincer movement' was a bit mistimed and you might still have one last chance of getting away, back the way you came, but that would put you back in the dark tunnels, lost, alone, and hungry. Maybe these guys can be reasoned with?

What do you do?

Benji raises his hands innocently as he finds himself face to face with a bristling wall of weaponry. He glances over his shoulder, thinking about running, but he doesn’t think he’d get very far with his broken ribs and, anyway, where would he go? The demonologist who steps out from the crowd looks familiar, but it takes Benji a few seconds to remember his name…

"Eadwig!" he says, as soon as the name comes to him, glad to see a familiar face, if not an especially friendly one. "It’s me — Benji, remember? I didn’t mean to cause such a fuss. I was lost in the tunnels and I was hoping Alasdair might be able to help me find my way to the surface. You said this has something to do with my rats?"

- Benji -

"Benji? Benji? What's a Benji when its at home?" Eadwig mutters, peering at you with little recognition. "Why does it think it can bring demons into our home?" He definitely seems to be implying that they think your rats are demons, or something of the sort. "Lock it up." Eadwig orders the guards, if he heard your request to see Alasdair he shows no sign, but he seems a little disconnected from any actual 'conversation' going on.

The, now large, group of guards prompt you to start moving back the way you came, it is possible they intend to lock you up with the people you met earlier? Hungry as you are, this could be bad news for them.

What do you do?

Realising that arguing with Eadwig is useless, Benji allows himself to be shepherded along a little ways until he realises that they probably intend to lock him up with their humans. Uh oh. He stops in his tracks suddenly. "I don’t think this is a very good idea," he tells the nearest guard. "I’m hungry and hurt. If you lock me in with those humans… well, it won’t be very nice for the humans, I fear, and, more importantly for you, you won’t have humans much longer."

- Benji -

"You don't think we thought of that?" The guard says, slightly changing direction in a way that highly suggests they had not thought about that and are now reacting to put you in a cell of your own.

You hear the quiet whimpering of the prisoners well before they hear your group approaching and fall silent. After the guards lock you up and leave, the prisoners call out to you: "Hey! What's your name? Are you new here? Do you know if anyone will come looking for you?"

The nearness of the human's, and your injuries, and the unknown amount of time you have spend down here, are all making your Hunger rage at you to rip the doors off and go to town. The doors, however, are strong, reinforced steel, they are prison cells fit for a vampire... or a demon.

What do you do?

Benji quickly regrets his decision. The smell of humans so near, yet completely out of reach, is unbearable.

What on earth did he warn the guard for????? He could have been in there with them, drinking his fill, but now he’s stuck here, starving. And it’s not like it would have mattered! They’re doomed anyway! If anything, it would have been kinder to put them all out of their misery.

A whimper escapes his throat, like a starving dog begging for food, and he sinks to the floor of the cell, wracked by hunger.

It’s difficult to think through the Hunger when it’s this strong, compelling him to snarl and snap and claw at the door of the cell, no matter how useless he knows it to be, but he forces himself to sit still, curled up on the floor in the far corner of the cell, his head buried in his hands.

He wishes he could sleep— how long was he walking for? Days?— but he couldn’t possibly with the Hunger raging so fiercely inside of him.

He wonders how long they intend to keep him down here? Forever? He realizes he needs to think up an escape plan, but… well, he’s never been especially good at thinking up plans, even when the Hunger isn’t driving him up the wall.

After a little while, one of the rats pops its little head out from inside his coat and looks at him expectantly. He blinks at it, wondering if Eadwig was right about the rats being demons. Either way, he should probably send the rats away before he gets too hungry. They don’t smell like food but, if he’s down here too long, he might find himself compelled to try it anyway, just to try to soothe the Hunger for a moment…

He pulls the rats out of his coat and places them all in a row on the floor of the cell in front of him. "Do you… do you think you could go find help?" he asks them, hopefully. They had seemed interested in following his orders earlier. Perhaps they can help him now. "Without getting caught by those vampires or their alarm?"

- Benji -

The rat trio seem thrilled at the prospect of helping, and honoured that you would ask them. Paganini immediately runs off —the bars presenting no impediment to their coming and going— but then slinks back 'tail between their legs' (or would be, if that were possible for a rat) to disgusted looks from Tchaikovsky.

They look to you for more guidance, not really having a concept of 'find help', nor knowing how to get out past what looked like an alarm system specifically for detecting demons. If you can give them a more concrete order, maybe they can achieve that?

What do you do?

"No, no, that’s alright. Thank you, Paganini," Benji consoles the rat. "Perhaps I should have been more specific…" He furrows his brow, trying to come up with a plan. The alarm is a major obstacle for the rats. If they’re going to help him they need to find a way around it… "Okay, first things first, I think I need you all to look for an alternate path to the surface. That is, a way out without passing through that alarm thing. This is a maze and you all are rats, so that should be right up your alley, yes? Once you’ve found a way out, I want you to come back here."

- Persephone -

"Yes?" Henry answers his phone a bit brusquely, he sounds harassed and concerned. "Who's this?"

What do you do?

- Benji -

The rats ... or demons, or whatever they are... listen intently, they definitely seem to 'understand' your words and instructions. When you are done they nod and then scamper off...

They have been gone a long time, and you are getting hungrier and hungrier with each passing hour. At least there are no alarms. Eventually you hear the sound of approaching feet and doors being opened and closed, you have visitors, it seems.

"Benji." Alasdair says warmly, slipping in and sitting down on the floor with you as though it were a couch in his lounge. "So good of you to visit. How long has it been?" He sounds very sociable, especially for someone holding you prisoner, his questions also sounds like more than just a greeting, like he needs reminding that you met up just the other week at Arundel Castle. Being down in the constant-dark has made it hard for you to tell time, how much more must it affect those for whom it is perpetual.

The cell door was not locked behind Alasdair when he came in, but you can sense the other vampires waiting outside in the corridor.

What do you do?

Benji perks up, excited, as Alasdair enters the cell, certain that this means his friend has come to clear up the misunderstanding and let him go. "Oh! Alasdair! It hasn’t been long at all. A week or so, maybe? Anyway, I’m so glad to see you! There’s been some sort of awful misunderstanding. I was lost in the tunnels and then I ran into some of your guards and I thought they might bring me to you and then you could help me to find the way out but then some sort of alarm went off and Eadwig came and then they locked me in here and I’ve been so hungry and I think my ribs are broken and— oh, it’s been absolutely terrible, Alasdair! Thank goodness you’re here!"

- Benji -

"Oh. So you didn't come to talk...?" Alasdair looks crestfallen that you did not come visit him and stumbled upon his lair by accident. "Eadwig tells me..." He pauses and you can see him thinking, trying to translate what Eadwig 'told' is always a bit of a mind-bender. "... that you tried to sneak demons into my house. What's that all about, then?"

Alasdair knows you are friendly with Jacob, and you don't think he approves of this sort of thing. Your friendliness is unusual, but Alasdair seems particularly vested against this form.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"Oh, yes. Of course. Persephone." Henry says when you identify yourself. "So you are alright? I was worried. At least..." He does not finish his thought, but, if you knew more details of how the evening went down, you might suspect he was want to say: "At least Emma had the decency to let me know she was ... still alive.".

"Yeah, why not." He says when you invite him out for a drink. He sounds casual, but there has been plenty of time for him to look at a class registry, or even just think about it, and learn that you lied about being at school with him.

Henry gets the name of the place and will show up in about 5 minutes, it seems, wherever he was, he was close-by to both your place and Emma's.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"Oh, yes? Why's that?" Henry asks in a neutral tone which probably covers 'for which part' more than indicating a denial that apologies are owed.

Despite what happened, he still showed up tonight. Something brought him here, he was nosing around the Ivy Club in search of power, you may have an in if there is anything you can offer him as compensation for losing out on that opportunity, you will just have to figure out how, and how it benefits you.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"So it's true, what I saw." Henry mutters to himself as you talk about 'what you can do'. He has been trying to deny the transformation he witnessed "it was dark. I was far away. I didn't see clearly." and so on, but, coupled with Emma's outright statements, this denial is become harder and harder.

When you admit your feelings and vulnerability about 'the awful things that happened' he reaches out a hand and rests it on yours consolingly, not interrupting your flow.

"Don't be too hard on Emma." He says morosely. "She can be a bit ... I don't know ... self-centered, but many of the things she said about me were probably true (or at least in part). I can understand that she has a grudge against me, I was a ass, I treated her like garbage when we went out. But we were both young, and I have tried to make it up to her. But she makes it so hard. But I am not giving up on her." He sounds genuine, you can believe his intentions.

He does not have anything to offer on the topic of Emma getting out of your sticky situation and then just having a relaxing weekend, but, depending on how much extra detail you might have let slip, he also does not see what she could have actually done to help you. He confirms that he called the cops, but that they stood down when Emma showed up and assured everyone that everything was OK. Based on Emma's say-so, the hotel assumed you were also alright and did not cooperate with the cops' flimsy requests for your details (the hotel presumably still have your luggage).

"What are we going to do about The Ivy Club?" He asks, steering the conversation in that direction without your prompting, he may be leery of an all out assault, or obvious breaking of the law, but he is in for any retribution against the club and against Chaudry in particular once he knows the man who was at lunch is significant.

"Who are your people?" He asks, definitely interested in your scheme to wrest power and wealth from that source.

What do you do?

"Friends of mine," Benji explains. "I didn't mean any harm by it. I didn't even know they were demons until that alarm went off."

- Persephone -

After it became clear you two were going to have a civilised conversation —he was unsure for the initial part of the meeting— Henry enquires about what you are drinking and orders a fancy version for himself. "Maple smoked old fashioned." He says to the server —slipping him a tip to get service at the table. His drink arrives with some fanfare, they bring a plank of wood to the booth, set it on fire, then place the glass over the top of the fire, smothering it and capturing the smoke, at the same time they mix and ice the drink, then quickly flip the smoke-filled glass and decant the cocktail into it, displacing the smoke.

Henry shrugs off your accusation of his nobility.

"What did he do to you?" He asks when you hesitate, the horror evident in his voice. "Did he...?" Of course his mind would go there.

When you say that his associates 'serve' Chaudry, Henry seems skeptical. "That was not the impression I got, that one time I met him." He says. "Though, I seem to have missed a lot of clues, it would seem."

The talk of 'weapons and demons' makes Henry uncomfortable. He likes to think of himself as a 'manly man', but he has never used a weapon against another person before —just a little duck-hunting and such— and is uneasy with what you may be suggesting.

He seems unimpressed, and possibly even disappointed with your credit card, he has a fair bit of money, and you make it sound a lot like you are a 'kept woman'. That is not what he is looking for. Possibly he still thinks he can get a better deal if he gets a chance to negotiate with your patron (lower case 'p').

When you invite him back to your place —not mentioning your sister's party— he is sorely tempted. But he takes a sip of his smokey drink to steady his nerves before saying: "Maybe that is not such a good idea?" He does not sound at all convinced and it would not take much for you to change his mind... but he is probably right, it would be unfair to Emma to sleep with her ex, in fact that may even have been part of the reason she was a little snippy with you after the bonding experience you both had at the spa earlier? Even when she is not around, Emma is cock-blocking you and dominating the conversational landscape.

What do you do?

- Benji -

"How could you not know?" Alasdair says, sounding dubious about your claim. "Show me these demon-friends and we will see." He seems to feel he would be able to identify demons at a glance... but you don't have them with you right now.

What do you do?

"Well, they look a lot like rats to me," says Benji, with a shrug. "Anyway, they’re not here anymore. It was clear that you didn’t want them in your home so I told them to find another way out instead."

- Benji -

Alasdair wants to believe you, but it is clear he is sceptical about your story. You haven't exactly told him the whole truth about what you told your 'friends' and about your escape plans. He will need some convincing.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"'Eternal life'?" Henry muses. "You know, I'm not totally sure I want to live forever." He is restraining himself to avoid singing Queen. "But he can't get away with ... what he did. Let's take his power. And 'Sin's and the rest as well." He is obviously a bit but-hurt by the use they put him to.

Henry is a little distracted by your absentmindedly caressing your breast, but he pulls his eyes away and focuses on your words. "A party with your baby sister?" He says, reminding you that his a fair bit older than you and Emma. "I am not sure I would fit in there." He demurs. He does not know that said party has people like ... what was it? Jacob? Edward? ... whatever ... who are even older still.

What do you do?

"Anyway, just because I came here by accident doesn’t mean I can’t stay and talk a little while! Perhaps we could continue this conversation somewhere more comfortable now that my demon friends are gone?" Benji suggests, hoping that Alasdair’s desire for company might outweigh his suspicion.

- Benji -

"Well, that's alright then." Alasdair declares —to the chagrin of those waiting in the corridor.

"You say you are hungry enough that you broke your ribs? I know it sometimes feels that way." Alasdair does not know about your fight, and has always been a little dismissive of surface vampires' worries about food, 'when you are surrounded by blood-bags, you can never really go hungry' he feels.

"Why don't we retire to my chambers, see what we can do about your situation." Alasdair imperiously waves the guards away as he leads you out of the cell and back up the corridor. This time the demon alarm is silent, you can't tell if it extends all the way down to the floor, but presumably it does so your friends are unlikely to have snuck through here.

• What are Alasdair's chambers like? Are they much like we would expect from a sewer-dweller? Or are there significant surprise elements?

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"Really? I would like to meet you sister." Henry says, half out of politeness, half out of curiosity.

When you speak about not wanting to sleep alone, he calls over a waiter again, deciding to forego the temptation of visiting your place tonight... while he is still sober.

What do you do?

"No, I broke them earlier," Benji clarifies as he follows Alasdair through the tunnels. The bare rock walls have been replaced with brick and concrete. He can hear rushing water up ahead. "I got in a fight with a couple of demons-- not the same demons I had with me, mind you-- and one of them hit me."

The tunnel opens up into a wider chamber with a torrent of water roaring through it. Rainwater gushes out of a number of smaller tunnels (like the one Benji and Alasdair are standing in), and cascades down into the larger channel. There is a rusted metal ladder hanging on the wall beside the mouth of Benji and Alasdair’s tunnel which Alasdair quickly scrambles up, agile as a spider. Benji follows, a little more cautious.

At the top of the ladder is an old catwalk, probably used by maintenance workers at some point. Alasdair has apparently made himself at home up here. In the middle of the catwalk, there is a little table and a number of mismatched chairs. There is an empty goblet on the table and a game of scrabble, already begun.

- Benji -

"Good lad." Alasdair says when you talk of fighting demons. "Showed them what for, did you."

As you approach the table someone has just placed a paper on the pile already upon it and scuttled away. Alasdair picks up the sheaf and glances through it, setting most of the notes aside but dipping an old fountain pen in a ink-pot and scribbling something on one of them and holding it out without looking, someone different to the one who made the deliver appears and plucks it from his hand, glances at it and then darts out one of the many tunnels heading away from this central location.

Alasdair sits and motions you to do likewise. The sight of the goblet reminds him of etiquette and he seems to finally comprehend your words. "You are injured? That was not just hyperbole?" He says. "You must feed. I can send for someone...?"

What do you do?

"Yes," Benji answers immediately, eagerly, before his conscience has a chance to chime in. "Please."

- Benji -

Alasdair motions with his hand and one of the waiters (those who wait) slips over to his elbow. "Bring food for my guest." Alasdair decrees, emphasising the 'guest' part. The waiter fades away to do so, they are gone for a while.

"What news from up above?" Alasdair asks in casual conversation —but also, clearly, hungry for such news, cut off from the world has he is. "Do you want to play?" He asks, indicating the in-progress scrabble game, but also possibly including other options.

After a long while —the prison cells are a ways beneath Alasdairs headquarters— the waiter returns with a whimpering human, one of the ones you spoke to earlier, by the sound of it. The light is dim down here, and they peer around in horror at the scene.

Alasdair allows your conversation and/or game to be interrupted for snack-time, watching blandly. Do you intend to eat right here in the middle of everything, or do you retire to a private nook?

The 'food' is definitely not 'willing', they have probably been bitten before and might know what is coming.
• Do they try to put up a fight? It won't help them at all, fear does not make for rational decisions.
• Do you have an inkling about which prisoner you are being offered?

What do you do?

- Persephone -

"This is one of the few places that carries maple wood planks." Henry explains. "I got a taste for this while in Canada, but don't drink it too often, the overall effect diminishes if you don't mix it up with other things."

He does not resist getting another drink... or two... or three...

What do you do?

"It’s still raining," Benji tells Alasdair, picking up some scrabble tiles and arranging them on one of the little tile racks. "And I think you were right about the fae. I found traces of their magic elsewhere and, if they’re meddling in one thing, then why not the weather too? Oh, also Elliot is missing and there’s been a bit of a kerfuffle about that. I don’t think anyone’s officially claimed his territory just yet, although—" Benji abruptly cuts himself off, distracted, as the sounds and smells of prey draw nearer.

He feels a twinge of guilt as the ‘waiter’ drags the poor whimpering creature up the ladder, but the humans down here are all doomed anyway. Does it really make a difference if he kills them or Alasdair does?

The moment the human is within striking distance, Benji has him pinned to the ground. A distant part of his mind — the thinking, feeling part of him that was once human himself— recognises Leopold— the human he spoke to earlier— before his fangs close around the man’s throat. He feels a stab of pain in his broken fang and ignores it, biting down harder, drinking deeply.

He’s usually very careful when he bites someone. Even when he’d bitten Bev the other night, when he’d been frantic and desperate to feed, he’d made sure to be gentle. Controlled. Now — exhausted, hurt, starving — he simply surrenders to the Hunger.

- Benji -

"It's what they do." Alasdair says again, not really having grasped that they were 'away', so not being surprised that you are seeing signs of Faerie activity. "Eliot's territory...?" He speculates, even though it is hardly feasible for him to think about taking over up there, but this line is disrupted as you pounce on your victim. "Oh..." Alasdair says in a rather prim-and-proper way, but he does not intervene, he knows about the hunger.

This poor soul is weak, and does not satiate your Hunger, not even taking the edge off before Leopold dies, screaming then gurgling. You look around for more. Alasdair does not seem too disturbed by the mess made of his headquarters, this is the price of having guests, after all. He is about to motion for someone to come clean it up when an alarm sounds... a very familiar alarm.

Everyone down here reacts in a calm, but quick manner. Alasdair —usually a little ... shall we say 'disconnected' from the events around him— does not change his lackadaisical manners, but does immediately start to gather information and issue orders, pointing upwards and mobilising troops.

As soon as he has a moment to spare for his guest he turns to you, ignoring the blood. "Demon attack." He explains, matter-of-factly. "I really should attend to this." He is clearly torn between his responsibility defending his realm and his duties as a host. "Care to join us in the fight?" He offers, thinking this a cleave compromise.

You gained little-to-nothing from the light feeding you just had, and are still as injured as when you started, fighting demons seems like a very bad idea. But then, Alasdair might not be engaging in actual fighting, himself, surely?

The troop movement seems to be heading upwards, so not from the direction you came from... it might occur to you that you ordered your rats (apparently 'demons') to find a way out, to the surface, and then to... return to you... and you are here, on this side of the demon-detectors... if they followed your exact orders... well they might be trying to get to you, and they might be the cause of the ruckus... and might be in danger.

What do you do?

- Persephone -

Henry is more than a little tipsy by now. "I thought they did not sound Chinese." He says indelicately about your names, clearly not having recognised the classical connection. "If she's as pretty as you, I would be delighted." He says, trying to sound complementary, but coming off a little boorish due to the drink... fortunately his audience is likewise-affected, so it may seem charming.

Henry does not make a big deal about the bill, paying in one go, or allowing you to go dutch, as you like, he is 'a modern man', after all. If he drove here he is in no state to take his car, you can either find a cab or make a run for it and probably not be too damp when you get home, it is not far.

It is getting late, but the party is still underway, you hear thumping music when the elevator doors open, and people are dancing, someone has set up lights and a smoke-machine.

What do you do?

- Emma -

You dream of running through dark, demon-infested tunnels, the smell of sulphur and brimstone filling you nose! There is movement near you! Someone is leaning over you in the dark and things are moving beneath you! There is a strange, wet, coughing sound! ...

You awake in a cold sweat. Your dream made real, right here in your flat.

What do you do?

Somewhat embarrassed by his bad table manners, Benji wipes the blood from his face with the back of his hand and stands up, a bit unsteady on his feet. He doesn’t feel better at all. His chest still aches with every movement and the Hunger still has its claws in him, all the fiercer for having been tantalised by what little blood poor Leopold was able to provide.

He tries to focus on what Alasdair is saying. "Demons? Uhm… yes, alright. I’ll come along."