[nWoD] Campus Vigilantes 2: Halloween

[ToySoldierCPlus]

"More... good question." Leon swipes his phone and sends out a text to the group:
Has anyone checked to see if there are more bullets in the other candy bowls?

After he hits send, he slips the phone into the pocket of his labcoat, and turns his attention out to the dance floor. "Hmm... Looks like Jonah's speaking with Jamie now. Probably about said bullet. I think I'monna stay far away from that one. You girls enjoy your evening. And keep your wits about you. Things have gone too well for them not to go wrong soon." Leon then heads out onto the dance floor, looking for anyone suspicious, and enjoying the music.

[savior indra]

"A bit. I'm not exactly the most social person if you remember." said Kale with half a smile as he let himself be dragged off. While Michelle was dragging him, he pulled out his phone and saw the message about the bullet. His mind instantly sharpened as he debated whether to tell Michelle.

[Odentin]

Adam finds himself a table or wall to lean against and keeps his eyes on the crowd, continually scanning for weapons or disturbances, while also keeping Allison in view.

[SurlySeraph]

Semira almost just plops down in Zach's lap, but thinks better of it; until she has a better handle on the situation, she really ought to avoid doing anything that might make Katherine want to strangle her. Instead Sem pulls up a chair and sits back some distance from the table, legs crossed in front of her and arms draped over the sides. She feels uncomfortably exposed, but manages to restrain herself from shrinking back or elbowing anyone who leers too greedily at her.

Semira engages in aimless small talk with the group, trying to scope out whether Katherine would be willing to trade Zach out for another guy's attention; or alternately whether any of the frat bros are someone she could stand waking up next to. All the while she occasionally takes sips from a red Solo cup that appeared in her hand. Wait, when did I get this?! What if it's... oh, the hell with it.

Sem tosses back the rest of the drink, reassuring herself that Zach is probably either possessive enough or enjoying her company enough that he wouldn't let one of his buddies drag her off half-conscious. OK, it's not a convincing reassurance, but she's determined to stay optimistic in the face of auditory hallucinations and candy-bullets.

And it would give me an excuse for not being here and helping if someone starts shooting. Semira immediately feels guilty at the thought, but can't deny that she feels the sentiment.

[savior indra]

On a spur of the moment call, Kale decides that Michelle deserved to know what was going on. She of all people had a right to know if something terrible was about to happen.

"Michelle. Can we head outside for a moment? There's something I need to talk to you about. It's really important." said Kale into her ear, to ensure she heard him.

[-Sentinel-]

Jonah

“Jesus Christ!” exclaimed Jamie. He took the bullet from Jonah's hand and examined it. “9x19mm Parabellum,” he said confidently. He threw Karen a suspicious glance across the room. “Right... We need to know if there's more of them.”

Jonah in tow, he strode over the nearest candy bowl and unceremoniously spilled its contents on the table. There were three more bullets in it... no, four. Jamie swore under his breath in the brief silence between two songs. He quickly picked up all the bullets and put them in his pockets.

“The worst thing we need right now is a panic,” he warned gravely. “You understand that?”

---

1

Kale

Michelle nodded, confused by the sense of urgency in Kale's tone. “Sure,” she said.

As they headed out, the next song began: All aboaaard, hahahaha... Crazy Train, by Ozzy Osbourne. For some reason, Kale felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if he somehow knew something bad was about to happen... or was happening right now. The bad feeling intensified suddenly, reaching almost the level of panic, when the song's recognizable riff began. He realized he was shaking.

He was not the only one. Michelle turned very pale and began breathing hard. Trembling violently, she grabbed the front of Kale's shirt for support. Kale put his arms around her, and for a moment he saw himself holding a dying Sophia. Inside his mind, he thought he could hear gunfire. An image of Ian Keating with his Nixon mask flashed in front of his eyes. What the hell?

Then he remembered.

Crazy Train had been the song playing at the time of the Halloween Massacre.

Spoiler

Show

Savior Indra, roll Resolve + Composure. If you fail, you lose a Willpower point.

---

1

Semira

Unlike Kelly, Katherine did not look jealous when Semira grabbed Zach's attention; merely resigned, as if she was getting used to Zach's treatment of his girlfriends. The whole conversation appeared to consist only of small talk, with a lot of drinking involved. One of Zach's friends had managed to sneak in a pouch of white powder and snorted it without even trying to hide.

About at the time Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train began playing, Zach paused mid-sentence, a bit pale-faced, to down the rest of his drink with a shaky hand. An abrupt, uneasy silence fell over the table.

“I... I think I need a cigarette,” said Katherine, pale as well.

“Me too,” said one of Zach's friends in a squeaky voice. He rose, and Semira could not help but notice the stain of urine on the front of his pants.

---

1

Everyone else

The current song ended and Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train began, with its unique opening riff. Within twenty seconds or so, there was a subtle but noticeable change in the mood. Some of the students, maybe one out of three or four, stopped dancing or talking; some looked confused or nervous, others looked downright panicked. A few of them sprinted towards the exit. Wayne Borden plunged his hand inside his Civil War coat and put his back against the nearest wall, a wild light in his eyes. Ellen Dobson fell to her knees and retched violently. But most of the guests went on partying, unaware of the sudden sense of wrongness that had struck the others.

Adam was still watching Allison. Ian's sister looked more intent than ever as she scanned the room and scribbled furiously in her notepad.

[Lycan 01]

Jonah looks at Jamie for a second, before pointing at the various party patrons having adverse reactions to the song. While he's totally oblivious to the reasoning behind it, he certainly doesn't miss correlation between people crying and gagging and running for the exit, and the fact that a new song just started. "Um, I think it may be a bit too late for that," he flatly tells Jamie. "Something's up, dude!" His heart begins to pound, and his nerves grow tense. Something is wrong. Something is very wrong.

The scholar frantically pulls out his phone and fires off a quick text to his RPG club buddies. Several bullets in the candy. People are randomly panicking or flipping out. The f*** is going on?!

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon texts back almost immediately:
Hell if I know. I'm right in the middle of it. It started when the new song started; think that's related?

He continues scanning the area around him, suddenly alert. The screw is off his head and in two parts: the headband, counterweight and mechanism are in one labcoat pocket, the head, secret seam already being loosened, is in the other.

[savior indra]

"Sh!t, of all the times..." thought Kale as the music effected him.

Spoiler

Show

Resolve + Composure
[rollv]4d10[/rollv] Posting roll in OOC thread, since it failed here

Regardless of the result, Kale picks up Michelle bridal style;ignoring any protests, as he pushes through the crowd towards the exist as fast he can.

"I'm getting us out of here. Now." muttered Kale.

Spoiler

Show

Kale has a strength of 3, which according to the WoD book says he can lift up to 250 lbs. I'm guessing Michelle doesn't weight more than 250 lbs. just a guess.

[McGonigle]

As she spotted the gleam of metal in the first bowl her immediate response was to take a photo, in the event nothing else happened that would make an amazing cover, the picture of a bullet in a bowl of candy.

After taking the photo she unwrapped the small twix she was holding, and then slipped the bullet into the package. She kept on as she went on with her search each time not touching it with her hands and putting them in twix wrappers. When she was confident that she had found the rest of them in the bowl.

She was looking around for the nearest bowl of sweets when she saw Jamie with Jonah in tow dumping out one of the bowls of candy. She moved as rapidly as she could though the crowded dance floor, while he might have been one of Zach’s cronies he was still a police officer and it was the responsible thing to do, however first she sent a quick text off.

‘5 bulless in bwl to left of main ent’She strode out across the dance floor, but it wasn’t exactly her area of expertise. The song changing let her get a little bit further but then it was back to her slow pace. Then she almost slipped and looked down to see the front of her shoe covered in sick.

She was about to complain when she saw Ellen on her knees, and watched as the next convulsion went though her body. Moving almost on autopilot she began to move to hold Ellen’s hair back. She probably shouldn’t have came to this party, she had never seem Ellen drink like this. Not that she could blame her she was surprised how many survivors had came to the party.

She offered her arm to Ellen, trying to pull the older girl up and get her out of here, not just fro the fresh air although that would certainly help. No, she needed to get her friend, out of here before there were any more reminders of the massacre, because the way this night was going she expected this was just the beginning.

[SurlySeraph]

Semira tilts her head at Zach. "That's not supposed to be on the playlist, is it?"

His expression says enough; instead of waiting for a verbal answer she twists out of the chair, goes to one knee in front of it and peeks out over the back of her cover. Sem looks first at the DJ's booth, earnestly hoping it's still Mike 2.0 up there, then scans the room. Her knuckles are white, holding either side of the seat in a death-grip.

[-Sentinel-]

"Um, I think it may be a bit too late for that," [Jonah] flatly tells Jamie. "Something's up, dude!"

It took Jamie Price a moment to understand what Jonah meant. When he noticed the strange unease that was striking many students, his jaw tightened and he rested his hand on the handle of his pistol.

“What the fµck...?” he began. He narrowed his eyes at Karen Turner, but his favorite suspect was still sitting at a table and talking with Vishakha as if nothing was happening. The rookie cop's cool grey gaze swept the rest of the room, never pausing too long in one place.



Ellen gratefully accepted Jaime's help to get up and head out of the room. “Sorry, I... I was having flashbacks. Of the massacre,” she breathed haltingly, wiping her chin. “I... I thought my PTSD and stuff was all cured. Why now of all times?” It appeared she had not made the connection with the song itself, as if it had acted only on her subconscious.

On their way out, Ellen and Jaime met Kale and Michelle in the lobby. At least a dozen other students had fled here; some did not stop here and walked right out the front door of the building.

“Alright, uh, put me down, please,” Michelle whispered to Kale. As soon as she was on her feet, she breathed deeply and managed to regain a semblance of composure. “Got to be strong. The Halloween survivors count on me to represent them. I can't show weakness.”



In the main room, the song abruptly stopped halfway through, and even the students unaffected by it were forced to notice that something was wrong. Everyone's attention turned to Zach, who had just sprinted to the DJ's table and unplugged the CD player.

“Uh... What's the matter?” asked Mike 2.0, peering at him from behind all his apparatus.

“Man, you crazy?!” exclaimed Zach. “That song was playing during the Halloween Massacre!”

Mike's eyes widened in horror. “Oh jeez. Sorry dude, I had no idea. It was a request, I swear. Alright, alright, I'll play something else. A ballad, okay? For all our young couples in the room.”

He flicked a few buttons. Angie, by the Rolling Stones, started playing.

Zach faced the other students. “It's okay, everyone,” he said quickly, not wanting his party to disintegrate so early. “Honest mistake. We won't play Crazy Train again.”

To his chagrin, several of the Halloween survivors still decided to call it a night and headed out of Tyler Hall, most prominently Soong Ye-jun and his girlfriend Sara Crawford. Others like Michelle and Jaime tried to brush it off, with varying degrees of success. It took a minute or two for the dancing to resume. The mood was a bit less festive, but there were more people waiting in line to buy alcohol. Others went outside for a cigarette.

Allison was done writing in her notepad. She put it back in her pocket.

[Odentin]

Adam narrows his eyes and moves, swiftly and purposefully, towards Allison, keying up Kale's speed dial as he does so, in case of emergency. He tries not to make a scene of it, but he doesn't take his eyes off of her as he moves, coming up behind her and leaning in to talk into her ear, "Look, kid. You know I've got your back and all, but just what the hell was that?"

[savior indra]

Kale tries to grab hold of Michelle to talk to her before she headed back inside to the party.

"Look Michelle, my friends might not like me telling you, but you have a right to know. We think a copy cat may be here tonight, they found bullets in the candy glasses. I don't have a right to ask, but please please go back to your dorm (house, apartment)." explained Kale in a hushed tone, begging her to listen to him.

[-Sentinel-]

Adam

Allison turned, her gaze calm, and frowned. She had a pretty good poker face.

"What are you talking about?"

---

1

Kale

"A... copycat?" said Michelle. "I'm... I'm not sure that makes much sense. Why'd he do these things instead of, you know, just shooting the place up?"

She sighed. "Everyone's eyes are on me, Kale. I'm not a narcissist or anything, but I'm sort of a symbol for the survivors. I can't afford to show fear or give up. I came here in the first place to show that Ian Keating had lost, and that his fan wasn't scaring us with his disgusting threats. I don't know who's the nutcase behind this, but if we all run away, then he won. And I just can't stand that idea."

[Odentin]

Adam's face is a stone wall glare, "You know exactly what I mean. Why'd you request the song? And what were you writing down, there?"

[savior indra]

"I understand. Just please, stay close to me okay? If there is a shooter, I'm wearing kevlar and you aren't so... I just can't bear the thought of you being hurt." said Kale as he knew Michelle was determined on staying for the night. He hoped that she would at least acquiesce on this.

[-Sentinel-]

Adam

Allison's face was unreadable. "So you saw me, then. What makes you think I requested that song, and not the one currently playing? Mike said it, he accepts requests. I can't be the first to make one. You're quick to fling accusations."

She did not sound like she was trying to fool Adam. Her attitude rather said: So you're on to me... Now what are you going to do about it, smart guy? She also pointedly ignored the second question.

---

1

Kale

Michelle nodded, smiling. "Shall we go back to dancing? I love that song, wouldn't want to miss it."

[Odentin]

Adam narrows his eyes further, almost growling as he speaks, "I've been hunting since I was 6. You weren't hard to track." He glances around to make sure they aren't attracting any attention, "Easy way or hard way, Allison. Your choice."

[-Sentinel-]

Adam

Allison did not look the least bit afraid. She looked at Adam in the eyes as she spoke, slowly:

"Listen, Adam. I'm majoring in psychology. Ever since what happened with Ian, I believe I've learned a lot about how spree killers think and act. You may not understand my... investigation methods or approve of them, but at least don't get in my way. Lives may be at stake tonight."

[Odentin]

Adam shakes his head, "You have no idea, kid. Lives ARE at stake, and you thought the best thing to do was to incite a panic?"

[savior indra]

Kale nodded with a smile.

"Sure. Whatever you want." replied Kale as the two headed back into the party.

[-Sentinel-]

Adam

Allison bristled when Adam called her kid. "Don't patronize me. If people leave, that means less casualties if there is someone planning something. But that's not the main goal." She scanned the room. "You saw the effect of the song on the survivors... I figure people who are still traumatized by the massacre are the ones least likely to be trying to reenact it."

---

1

Kale

On the dance floor, Michelle rested one hand on Kale's shoulder and put her other arm around his waist. She paused when she felt the armor under his clothes, but did not comment on it, perhaps assuming it was somehow part of the costume. From here Kale had a good view down the low neckline of Michelle's sleeveless red-and-gold Cleopatra dress, but he was enough of a gentleman to look at her in the eyes. They, too, were something worth looking at; a brilliant green, with long lashes and purple eyeliner.

All the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke
Let me whisper in your ear:
Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?

"You're stiff, Kale," Michelle admonished softly. "And you look afraid to touch me. We can't dance if you don't relax."

She nestled her head in the crook of Kale's neck and began swaying left and right, taking her partner with him. It was a slow, easy waltz-like dance, guided not by rules but by blind instinct. The strawberry perfume Michelle wore was so mouth-watering that it was tempting to bite into her bare shoulder.

Oh, Angie, don't you weep, all your kisses still taste sweet
I hate that sadness in your eyes
But Angie, Angie, ain't it time we said goodbye?

Michelle sighed contentedly and did not speak. The student council president and survivors' spokeswoman herself, known for leading animated debates and pronouncing lengthy speeches, was out of words for the time being.

[SurlySeraph]

As much as she wants to find a corner to hide in, Semira puts a brave face on. She turns towards the bar, but thinks better of it while waiting in line. She knows she's a lightweight. The prospect of trying to dodge bullets while stumbling drunk is not pleasant; the buzz in her head is already enough. Instead, she grabs Zach by the waist and drags him to the center of the dance floor. With luck, seeing Zach carefree will reassure some people, him and herself including. Without luck, they're an obvious first target. Nothing's going to happen. It's going to be fine. It's going to be fine.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

As the song is switched and things calm down, Leon tightens the seam on the screwhead back to near-imperceptibility, reattaches it to the rest of the prop, and put sit back on his head. He tightens the screw again as he heads off the dance floor, the song making him more than a little melancholy. He sends out a quick text, not to the group, but to a certain someone back on the East Coast.

[Lycan 01]

Jonah slinks back to his corner, where he starts idly tapping at his phone in an attempt to look busy, while scanning the crowd and scene for anything else that stands out or looks amiss.

If I were a psychotic prankster or copycat killer, what would my next move be?

Aside from the obvious "pull out a gun and start shooting people" answer, of course.

[Odentin]

Adam draws his phone from his pocket and fires off a text to the group, Status report?

He grinds his teeth, looking torn, "Your little 'experiment' was cruel, kid, and threw a huge wrench in our manhunt. And as much as I've tried to protect you, I can't have you getting in our way."

He glares out over the crowd again, just another incessant scan, "Did you at least get anything good out of it?"

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon's reply comes back quickly:
Nothing interesting. Song stopped, Zach apologized, people calmed down, others left. I'm sure you saw it. What's new on your end?

[Odentin]

Adam fire back, to Leon only this time, Allison requested the song. An experiment to try to identify a potential killer.

[McGonigle]

“It's hardly normal circumstances is it, there was always going to be the risk of a trigger considering the circumstances.” Jaime commented, trying her best to be comforting. “You might think about going home, take it easy, relax, this party isn't really worth undoing all your progress for. It's barely started and already the mood is ruined. I know you are strong, but save yourself for the fights that matter, and this tasteless party isn't one.”

It was probably a good idea anyway, but with the possibility of a second incident her voice took on a pleading quality she didn't really want in it.