Emancipated and Quite Capable

Jack looked tired and pale as he shepherded the others into the living room to share the results of their investigations. He didn't have much fresh information of his own, and it wore at him.

"There was no magic there, but we couldn't rule a vampire out from the room alone," he said, crisply as he could manage. "We followed David for a bit -- Sebastien, don't pull that face, of course we were careful -- but there's nothing. His hotel is fine. He went to a club. No one else was watching him, and he doesn't seem to have a court of his own. Pray tell me the rest of you have something worth knowing."

( In which information is shared )



( In which Sebastien makes the papers )



( In which David is questioned )

[OOC: Follows this, this, this, this and this. Inspired by "Chatoyant." Preplayed with the fantastic chose_humanity, glacial_witch, icecoldfrost, and vanillajello. NFB, OOC welcome.]

There'd been no one to claim the murder victims' bodies yet, which Sebastien was sadly unsurprised by. The times may have changed, but families were no more eager to embrace scandal than ever. Nor was he surprised that the morgue attendant was so easily distracted into admitting him and his guests by a folded bill and a glib story.

The two men were far from the only bodies arranged in drawers and on marble slabs; the chill of the room lessened the stink somewhat, but Sebastien suspected the wretchedness of rot and cloying blood was apparent even to merely mortal senses.

The bodies were slashed and disfigured, throats cut and faces, hands, torsos, buttocks, and thighs sliced open like badly butchered beef. But --

"There are no bite marks," he observed, and felt a sigh of relief even if he didn't breathe one.

( Which only means a vampire did not feed on the victim by biting... )

[OOC: Follows this, this, this and this . Inspired by "Chatoyant." Preplayed with the amazing chose_humanity and icecoldfrost. NFB, OOC welcome.]

The doorbell rang just as the sun dipped below the horizon, interrupting the group's conversation.

Sebastien was not at all surprised by what he found when he opened the door.

"Hello, David," he said to the man on the stoop.

( In which David invites Sebastien out to play. )

( In which Jack frets. )

( In which Sebastien returns and further plans are made. )

[OOC: Follows this and this. some bits borrowed from "Chatoyant." Preplayed with the scrumptious chose_humanity, glacial_witch, icecoldfrost, and vanillajello. NFB, OOC welcome.]

Jack had been prepared for an argument with Sebastien over why he'd summoned guests to their townhouse, but he hadn't gotten one. It seemed as though Sebastien's main priorities were getting David to head off again and solving the murders -- in more or less that order.

It was unsettling, to see him so preoccupied. But it did make the day easier.

( Emma was walking into a conspiracy of murder and vampires, in another universe, of her own volition.... )

[OOC: Follows this. Inspired by "Chatoyant." Preplayed with chose_humanity, glacial_witch, icecoldfrost, and vanillajello, who all deserve pie, cake and/or cookies of their choice. NFB, OOC welcome.]

"Look, I don't see why you can't just tell me now," George complained.

Mitchell shot him a brief glance from near the window. "Because we all need to process," he said, and glanced back out into the night.

The one problem about calling in this particular acquaintance was that he'd had to wait until nightfall. Waiting made Mitchell antsy, which made George antsier, which meant the chances of someone being neurotic and flaily and generally annoying went up higher and higher and higher.

Mitchell checked his watch. "Their portal should've gotten here half an hour ago," he muttered. Even if he knew how unreliable Portalocity was, especially when it was least convenient.

( Arriving: One portal. One vampire. Two detectives. )

[OOC: Preplayed with the wonderful chose_humanity. Follows this. More to come!]

Jack had been in and out of Mitchell's hospital room all morning. It hadn't been doing the slightest bit of good from what he could tell, and had the unwanted side effect of making him feel like he was intruding on something between George and Mitchell. By late morning, he wandered off to get something to eat and send a few emails begging off on his schoolwork.

He thought about calling Emma. He knew he should call Emma, that he'd be blindingly furious if she didn't tell him were the situation reversed. But some tiny part of him was sick of dashing from crisis to crisis with her. It wasn't as if she could help, anyhow, he rationalized. He didn't think Mitchell even realized she knew he was a vampire. Calling her could wait.

So he put off that call, and made another one. He dreaded ruining someone's day this way, but Kate would have even more reason to be angry if she wasn't told than Emma would.

As the phone rang, he had a sudden fear that Kate would say what he had been telling himself: That he should have, somehow, done more. That he could have stopped this all if he'd been a little less stupid.