[nWoD] Campus Vigilantes 2: Halloween

[Odentin]

Adam chuckles, "I didn't game much as a kid. Dad never allowed it... Fanfics, huh? How bad were they?"

In response to her question, he draws one of the blunt arrows and shows it to her, "You think Jamie would have let me in with tipped ones?"

He replaces the arrow and turns to stand next to her, looking out over the party. He keeps his eyes sharp for any signs of trouble, but tries to look casual, "Decent turn out."

[Lycan 01]

Jonah pretends to stare off into space, and idly nod and bob his head along to the music while leaning against a wall with his arms casually crossed. In reality, his eyes are scanning the room around him, watching his friends get dragged into various conversations and flirtations. He checks his texts, and sees Leon's text, to which he quickly replies. Setting them all up would have been too time consuming and drawn attention to themselves. One is probably all they needed. I got a bad feeling about this.

[McGonigle]

Jaime offered a brief smile, as she stood a little way back from the metal detector. She glanced at her phone, and then looked out of the door trying her very best to affect an air of anxious and irritated at the same time. She started slightly tapping her foot just in case, not enough to make a noise but enough that anyone who was looking at her could tell she was waiting.

Due to the glancing at her phone regularly, her response to Leon’s text was faster than normal.
‘How many cigarettes does a smoker have on a night out? Really think they are going to check bags as hard the fourth time around’

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon, continuing to sweep the party, absently turning his screw as he looks around, responds just as quickly. Anywhere from 0-a full pack or more, depending on habit.

[SurlySeraph]

Sem drifts through the party, dancing occasionally, keeping an eye out for the person in the ghost costume that Ellen mentioned.

[-Sentinel-]

"I didn't game much as a kid. Dad never allowed it... Fanfics, huh? How bad were they?"

Allison chuckled. "Decent grammar and spelling, if you can look past the total Mary Sue who steals Link's heart, exposes Princess Zelda as a conniving bitch and kicks Ganondorf's ass."

"Decent turn out."

"Not bad. But not as many as Zach hoped, I'm sure. He won't make much of a profit on this party." Allison glanced at the students selling alcohol near the stage. "I think I'll do my part, then, and put some rum in that Coke. I can't have fun in social situations when I'm sober. See ya," she said, walking off.


Semira found the "ghost" sitting at one of the tables with two girls and two guys, apparently involved in some sort of raucous drinking game. While the costume obscured the student's face, the voice underneath was definitely female. Semira thought she recognized some of the ghost's drinking partners by sight, but she did not know their names.


Near the entrance, Jaime was largely ignored by the student in charge of the metal detector. The arrival of guests had slowed to a trickle. It was starting to get quite chilly outside, and it seemed likely to Jaime that the first freezing point of the season would be reached tonight.


OOC, everyone:

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Even if there are no leads you want to pursue, I encourage you to blend in the crowd and have fun, if only for the roleplay value and the fun to write casual conversations. I can create new NPCs if you look for someone to dance with or buy a drink to... The world is in no way limited to what I have outlined this far, and I'd like an opportunity to flesh out the student crowd of Maxwell.

Trust me, new elements will come up as the evening goes on.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

OOC:

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If you insist, as Leon's got no idea what he's supposed to be looking for anyway. He's only concerned about supernatural threats; he's perfectly content to let Jamie handle any mundane threats. Vindictively so, even, if only so he can gloat when something goes wrong because he was "leaving that stuff to [Jamie]."

Leon heads for the bar and orders a glass of rum. Straight. He pays and takes the drink to one of the corners of the room, as far from the loudspeakers as possible. "If something does go wrong," he muses to no one in particular, not that anyone would be able to hear him over the speakers, No one will know about until it's too late. It's so loud in here."

[Misaat]

Once inside the Party Matthew took out his cellphone and quickly marked Vishaka's number.

" With this many people there's no chance of finding that guy unless he does something... Might as well see if Vish is coming... "

He thinks to himself

[SurlySeraph]

Semira sways over to the table, pretending to be drunk. Then she staggers/ collapses onto the ghost's lap, giving her an aggressive hug. "Erica! I bet I could recognize you, you owe me two beers!" She sweeps her arms down the girl's sides and back from armpits to waist to feel for any hidden weapons.

[-Sentinel-]

Semira

In her surprise, the girl in the ghost costume spilled most of her brown beer all over Semira and herself. Her drinking partners were already tipsy enough to burst out laughing at the scene. Semira had no time to feel for weapons before she was unceremoniously shoved away.

"Hey, you crazy?!" the ghost protested. "I'm Val! And now you owe me a fµcking beer!"

Val took off her beer-stained ghost costume, revealing a tall girl with long dark hair in a ponytail. Semira knew her by sight as well; she was from the music department and had played piano at last year's Christmas talent show. Beneath her ghost costume, she was not wearing any obvious weapon and her clothes had no noticeable bulge that might suggest a gun.

"Christ, and I'll have to go wash this now," Val complained, glowering at Semira.

---

1

Matthew and Leon

It did not take long for Vishakha to answer Matthew's call.

"Hello?"

Apparently she was already at the party; she was speaking loudly to be heard over the music. Matthew scanned the room for her and found her in the northwest corner, sitting with Karen and shyly holding her hand. She was wearing her traditional Sikh clothing.

Meanwhile, Leon's quest for the most eardrum-friendly spot in the room had brought him just one table away from Vishakha and Karen. Karen looked pale tonight, as usual, but she had not yet pestered Leon for more vampire blood. Leon suspected that she downplayed her addiction when she was around Vishakha... just as he suspected that Vishakha was not fooled.


OOC:

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Remember, the rules for alcohol drinking are on p. 177 of the core rulebook. Leon can have two more drinks this hour before he starts suffering negative effects (and a positive Social effect).

I'll wait a couple more days for an answer from Savior before I move on. If I get none, I'll assume Kale declines the dance.

[Odentin]

Adam shrugs, "Mind if I join you?"

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Probably should wait for a reply...

[SurlySeraph]

"OK! I'll get you another," Sem jovially replies, adding "Val, you totally have Erica's eyes and stuff" and then "Try turning it inside out! The inside isn't stained!" before lurching off towards the bar. Once she's reasonably sure Val's turned back to the game, she veers off to the bathroom to clean herself off. And to take a closer look around; it wasn't exactly likely that someone had hid a weapon in there, but it was worth a try. In particular, she checks the tank of the toilet that was flushing red, in case it was intentionally marked.

[Misaat]

Matthew walks towards the two of them trying to avoid the crowd of dancing people.

" Hey! Didnt knew you guys where coming. How's it going?"

[-Sentinel-]

(Song: Spooky Madness, by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – thanks ToySoldierCPlus)


Adam

"Mind if I join you?"

Allison paused, her expression unreadable. "Oh, sure you can. Got to warn you though, it's hard to have conversations near the stage."

She made her way to the bar with surprising haste, deftly weaving through the thick crowd of dancing students that surrounded the stage. She showed a certain disregard for making sure Adam kept up with her, but Adam managed all the same with some difficulty. When she reached the bar, Allison glanced at Adam over her shoulder, then bought some rum in a shot glass and delicately poured it through the narrow hole of her Coke can.

This close to the stage, you could feel the music vibrating in your bones and you had to shout at the top of your lungs just to hear the sound of your own voice. Allison did not seem to mind as she sipped her Coke, and made no move to return to someplace where they could talk. Her body swayed a bit with the music, as if she enjoyed the song but was too shy or in no mood to dance. The orange lights overhead shone in her glasses as her gaze wandered here and there. She looked... alert and watchful. Much like Adam himself, in fact.

---

1

Semira

"Try turning it inside out! The inside isn't stained!"

"Aaah, turn it inside out... Well, thank you very much," said Val, irritated and clearly not intending to content herself with Semira's piece of advice.

Val was already on her way to the restrooms to wash her costume before Semira even started towards the bar. To avoid meeting her too soon and suffering her glare again, Semira took several minutes to complete her broad arc towards the restrooms.

Val was gone by the time Semira entered the women's room; Semira was alone here. She searched everywhere she could for weapons, especially in and around the toilet that had been dyed red, but found nothing out of place except a small pool of vomit on one of the toilet seats. While she washed her costume with wet toilet paper, the sound of the current song filtered clearly from the other room:

Someone turned the key and opened up the other side
You better run, you better flee,
You better go and hide

Semira jumped. The “You better run” had sounded as if it came from right behind her. She turned, but there was only a wall. In the main room, the song went on as if nothing had happened...

---

1

Matthew and Leon

" Hey! Didnt knew you guys where coming. How's it going?"

Vishakha self-consciously let go of Karen's hand and gave Matt a smile. “Glad the exams are over. Heh, they weren't kidding when they said medicine wasn't for lazy students.”

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon nods at the girls. "Pretty well, all things considered. I'm a bit concerned about something going wrong at this party; truth be told, I'm almost hoping something does, just so I can see the look on Jamie's face when he finds he's powerless to stop what he doesn't understand, but we can put an end to it because it is, in fact, our job." He turns and scans the room quickly, before returning to the conversation. "What about you two? How are you guys doing?"

[Odentin]

Adam drains his current drink as he follows, weaving through the crowd. He can't shake the feeling that Allison is trying to ditch him, though for what reason eludes him...

Once he arrives, he orders a shot of vodka and drains it in one quick go, smirking through the burn. He tries not to look directly at Allison, but keeps her in his peripheral vision at all times...

[SurlySeraph]

Semira strides across the room, places her back against the far wall and stares at the place the sound came from as she tries to get her breathing back under control. Then she slowly approaches, pulse hammering in her temple, looking between the ceiling and floor and to all sides as she makes her way back. Nothing there. Nothing there. It's going to be fine. Semira raps on the wall with her knuckles, listening for hollow sounds. Her other hand is drawn back in a fist, as if she expected a punching bag to suddenly erupt through the tiles.

Semira tries to make herself look back to see where she dropped the soaked stack of toilet paper squares she was using to clean the beer off - she might slip on it if she has to retreat - but can't stand to turn away for even a moment. What if - it's going to be fine.

[Misaat]

" Really? Didnt figure you as a lazy student ^^ "

Matthew teases her and then rolls his eyes at Leon's comment.

" Yeah , cant wait for someone to get stabbed or shot. That'll teach Jamie a lesson. Leon our work here is to make sure the things that go bump in the night DONT get people hurt. If nothing shows up , then all the better for us. "

Then he scratches his chin.

" Now. I have a proposition. We could spend the night waiting for something to show up but that we have pretty much no way to find until it does and could very well not show up at all . Or We could take out this two lovely ladies here out for a dance in the meantime. What do you say? "

Matthew finishes this extending a hand towards Vishaka.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

It's Leon's turn to roll his eyes. "Pass," he says, as he sips at his rum. "I'm not much of a dancer, and I'm not sure they'd be... interested... in dancing with us. Anyway, so maybe I'm still sore about Jamie's comment when I was investigating the toilets. It'd still be satisfying to get to be the hero, rescuing him from the bogeyman that he didn't even think existed until just then. Say, did I ever tell you what got me started down this path?"

[Lycan 01]

Jonah scans the party. His eyes fall upon something interesting. Something that grabs his attention, and strikes him as very important. Something that he simply cannot ignore.

The scholar quickly scurries over to the candy table, grabs a handful of treats, and stuffs them into his doctor bag while no one is looking. Since the party has been going for awhile, it seems like anyone who wanted some candy would have already gotten some. Which is probably the only reason the guys in charge of the candy table don't accost him for his sugar-thieving ways. That, and they're probably ogling the girls on the dance floor...

He lets out a playful little evil laugh, and then slinks back to his corner, nodding his head along to the music.

[-Sentinel-]

Matthew and Leon

"What about you two? How are you guys doing?" asked Matthew.

“About as well as we did when Matt last asked that question, like twenty seconds ago,” said Karen dryly, ignoring the fact that she had not answered it yet.

She grew serious. “Now, about the trouble you expect... I know Jamie a bit. I know most cops in the neighborhood, actually. I don't like him much, but I'll give him that, he knows how to keep an eye out and he doesn't fµck around. If there's someone in here who'll start sh!t, my money's on Wayne Borden. That crazy son of a bitch hates everyone, and it's just a matter of time before he snaps.”

"Pass," [Leon] says, as he sips at his rum. "I'm not much of a dancer, and I'm not sure they'd be... interested... in dancing with us.

Vishakha's expression suggested that she would be blushing if she had the right coloring for it. Karen just snickered.

"Say, did I ever tell you what got me started down this path?"

“Something tells me you're itching to tell us, so whatever,” drawled Karen.

---

1

Jonah

Jonah took a minute to examine his loot. Tootsie Rolls, Smarties, red licorice, Nerds, Gobstoppers, various caramels, two-inch Kit Kats and Coffee Crisps, bubblegum, lollipops of all shapes and forms...

And a bullet.

In the middle of his candy, there was a single, gleaming bullet, complete with casing... ready to be fired by any gun that could hold it.

---

1

Semira

Still nothing. It was just a stupid wall, and it did not sound hollow. There were no more sounds from inside the ladies' room itself, or if there were, they were drowned out by the music from the Tyler ball room. For all Semira knew, it might all have been an auditory hallucination, but she was not even drunk.

---

1

Adam

Perhaps Allison really believed Adam was no longer watching her, because she suddenly walked away and melted into the crowd. Adam managed to follow her pointy green hat and her quiver, which was not easy since she was barely over five foot tall and wove her way between people who jumped up and down. He kept an eye on her as she climbed on the stage by the right-side staircase; there, she could no longer hide among the dancers. She walked over to Mike 2.0, the DJ, and leaned towards him to tell him something rather brief. Mike smiled, nodded and put his headset back on. Smiling as well, Allison left the stage by the opposite end and sank once more into the crowd up to the tip of her hat. This time, Adam lost her, as she was too far away.

[Lycan 01]

Jonah stares into his doctor bag for a moment, briefly studying the bullet to gauge it's caliber and make. He then frantically pulls out his smartphone and sends a mass text to his Hunter friends. Found a bullet in the candy. Going to go find cop dude.

He then quickly scans the room, trying to find out where Jamie or whatever the security guard's name is.

[Odentin]

Adam swears, though it is drowned out by the music. He heads along the wall, away from the stage, and begins circling around the edge, keeping an eye out for her, but more concerning himself with the crowd on the whole, looking for anything suspicious.

If he does find her, he shadows her as best he can without being obvious...

As he receives the text, he swears again, now keeping an eye out for a weapon...

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Leon's phone vibrates in his pocket, and he pulls it out to check the message. Well. That's not good. Clearing his throat, he puts the phone down on the table where Karen, Vishaka, and Matthew can see it. "As eager as I am, we've got more important things to worry about now. A toilet in the girls' room flushing red, and now a bullet in the candy. These are either unconnected pranks, moderately amusing just to see the look on Jamie's face if you ask me, though somewhat distasteful otherwise, or an elaborate set-up for something. But for what? A warning, perhaps? Someone's going to be attacked? Perhaps I'm reading too much into it."

[SurlySeraph]

Sem backs out of the bathroom and pushes the door shut behind her. She catches a glimpse of a physics major she knows, with an elaborate assemblage of wire and green ping-pong balls representing electron orbits around his head. She starts toward him, and then thinks better of it. Yelling "Can you reassure me about bathroom acoustics?!" over the music and trying to understand his response is not going to make her night any more enjoyable.

Instead, Semira goes looking for a pirate costume. It may not be rational, she reflects; if anyone's likely to be a target, Zach is. And it's not like he cares about any particular girl enough to leap in front of a bullet for her. But at the moment, his arms sound like the most comforting place in the world.

The text just redoubles her commitment to this course of action. Though it does make her stop by the bar for a shot of vodka first. Going to be fine! Going to be fun!

[Misaat]

" Honestly cant catch a break can we? Im gonna go make sure nobody messes with the fuse box . The worst thing that could happen right now is if the lights went out. That would give whoever's doing this enough cover to shoot as he pleases. "

He turns towards Vish and Karen before leaving.

" See you girls around "

[savior indra]

OOC

Spoiler

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Sorry, I was subscribed to this thread but for some reason I never got a notification

"I... Sure." said Kale as he acquiesced to Michelle's request, granting her a small smile. There was a time and a place to be debating how exactly one felt about their loved one wanting them to move on. A college party was not one of them. Plus Kale felt a bit protective of Michelle, he respected her and he didn't want anyone taking advantage of her if she had more to drink.

[McGonigle]

Jaime had just about committed herself to seeing how long she could pull off standing nearby the door, pretending that she was waiting for a date to turn up. To be honest she didn’t think it was that much worse a plan for the evening than actually ‘enjoying’ the party. This kind of frat do wasn’t really her thing and she probably would have spent most of it hanging round the edges making snide comments to no one in particular.

Then she receives the text about a bullet in the candy and suddenly she is very tempted to leave. The door is maybe 10 paces away and then she will at least be safe if a bullet has been found that means the gun is probably already in the party. Everything points to this just being a copy cat killer, and they were completely in over their heads.

She doesn’t instead she throws up he arms bitterly comments ‘fine, don’t show up see if I care’ then she turns on her heels and then walks back into the party wincing slightly at the level of the music as she walks though the doors. She would like to say that it was the hope of being able to stop the tragedy that was moving her. In reality, she had pretty much given up hope that it could be stopped, the shooter probably had all they needed by now, and it was sounding more and more like an inside job. On the other hand this could be the article that could make her career.

Still she moved over to the snack table and started looking though the bowls, occasionally picking up a bar and looking at the ingredients before going back to her search.

[-Sentinel-]

Leon and Matthew

Karen looked puzzled, but not worried. “A bullet in the candy, you said? That's weird... but it just sounds like a bad joke. I mean, what's the point of doing that?”

“I think what we should wonder is... how'd it get inside?” said Vishakha. “And are there more of them?”

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To update Matthew's part, I need to know where he starts looking for the fusebox. Refer to the map if needed. The building has a basement and a second floor as well, but I did not bother mapping them.

---

1

Kale

Michelle flashed Kale a radiant smile, threw himself at him in a hug and dragged him closer to the scene, lurching only slightly from the alcohol. Kale had long known that Michelle had a fondness for him, born and cultivated during their post-massacre therapy sessions, but both of them had been too emotionally hurt to act on it until tonight. But as Michelle had just said, perhaps it was time to move on. It was unfair to let Ian steal away the rest of their lives from beyond the grave.

“It's been a while since I last danced,” said Michelle breathlessly. “I hope you remember, 'cause I'm a bit out of practice.”

---

1

Semira

A hopeful gleam appeared in the physics student's eyes when he saw Semira walk straight towards him, only to die out when she went another way. She found Zach easily; he was at a table, drinking and laughing with a bunch of his friends from the fraternity. His date of the evening was Katherine, the head of the cheerleading team, but he was ignoring her like the trophy girlfriend she was. He grinned from ear to ear when he saw Semira.

“Hey! How's it going, Sem? Grab a seat.”

Semira had the feeling that Zach's drunken friends were mentally undressing her.

---

1

Adam

Allison was not among the dancers, Adam realized after a minute. For a moment he feared she had left the room, but he finally spotted her again, sitting at the table closest to the stage, where she intently watched the thick crowd of dancing students. When the current song came to an end, she reached inside her costume, and drew... a notepad and a pen. Her eyes flicked here and there, but her body was still, as if tense. She did not appear to have seen Adam.

---

1

Jaime

Jaime found two more bullets in one bowl of candy, then three in another. They were all identical. She was no gun expert, but they looked like handgun bullets. Her search went on... There were six bowls of candy in the room, placed at wide intervals.

---

1

Jonah

Jonah found Jamie Price easily. The rookie cop was pacing back and forth near the southeastern corner of the room, an uncrowded place from which he had a good view of the dance floor. He turned when Jonah approached him.

“Yeah? What is it?”

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Anybody can choose to join Jonah at this point, since he told everyone that he was meeting Jamie.

[Lycan 01]

Jonah produces the offending bullet from within his doctor bag, and cups it in the palm of his hand so only Jamie can see it. "I found this in the candy bowl. I think it's a handgun round. Figured you'd want to know about it. I haven't checked the other bowls, so I don't know if there are more or not," he says loud enough for Jamie to hear him, but hopefully not other partiers.