World of Darkness World of Darkness: Attrition - 15 Inches of Terror (Completed)

[Adrian Moss]

{Wednesday, August 20th}

I pull myself back on the seat, putting my feet beneath me. If I had a breath it would catch in my throat. I want to run away from what I see on the screen, those fifteen inches of terror. I have something explosive and it threatens my very existence. I have a werewolf turning into a werewolf – that is, someone who looks like a man turning into a ten foot tall mockery of the living world. It is all fur, jaws, and claws, and death. If Death came calling for me, I would want it to look like that … so I could know I was dead and not run.

Back to how tonight begins …

It only took my guy less than 24 hours to crack the encryption on the Girl’s laptop. It took me the better part of the rest of the night finding the file that I know is the one I want. Yes, the date stamp of the entry was the biggest clue, but I’m no computer whiz. The video is mostly of her talking into a handheld camera. I’m guessing she has some sort of wireless connection, though I don’t know how that works. The Girl is telling me through long dead lips that she is close to breaking this case and bringing this scumbag to justice. She names the guy. She is so confident and righteous. I know she is going to be dead before sunrise.

We get to her final moments. She’s sneaking down an alleyway. She’s talking but it’s not clear what she’s saying. She gets close to the target, maybe twenty feet away. She’s scared. I can hear it in her voice and her breathing. I see it in her eyes, or I tell myself I do.

Honestly, I’ve never had someone that afraid of me. Whenever I have been around people that scared, I’ve been scared myself. I’m not a very intimidating kind of guy. The best I’ve ever gotten was creepy, and this girl is not afraid of creepy. She’s afraid of Mr. Death and she tells us so. She’s as crazy a reporter as I’ve ever heard of, because she knows what Mr. Death can do and she’s going to catch him in the act. She’s crazy.

We get to see Mr. Death in his human skin, though I don’t know he’s Mr. Death yet. I study his features and actions, because I’m the Great Detective. I study the kid, because I know he’s going to be dead soon and I want to know why he’s here. The answer is drugs, of course. The man brings the kid into the alleyway with the promise of drugs with the price being sex. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times before. So much so that it doesn’t gross me out. Maybe I’m too jaded, but I was created that way.

Something goes wrong and Mr. Death senses the Girl, or some other disturbance. He becomes Mr. Death in an instance and kills the boy with one blow. I want to wet myself. It’s a Werewolf. It killed a boy with a single blow to the neck the way you or I would swat a fly. Worse he comes right at the camera so fast the Girl can’t turn around and even start running. She starts screaming. The view from the camera goes skewed. I see his lower half of his body. A tiny insane part of my mind tells me this guy could be Lucien Hunt. My face it too close to rigor for me to giggle at my own funny. Instead I find my mind reeling.

I’ve just seen a werewolf, for real. Werewolves get off on killing my kind.

I’ve just seen the man who becomes that werewolf and he killed the girl I’m supposed to avenge. Fat chance of that now. I mean, it would be bad enough if it was one of my kind.

I have video of a real werewolf and the man who becomes it. What in the hell am I suppose to do with that? I mean, exposing him even to the police threatens my own kind’s Masquerade.

I ask the dead Girl for help. It’s almost sunrise when I finish the preliminary work. The boy was number thirteen in a number of young boys slain in the West Los Angeles – Westwood Village. She claims that most of them have been pawned off by the Police as animal attacks. The Girl got a call from a friend in the morgue who saw something hinky with the lab reports, saying no coyote could have made those marks. The Girl began to talk to street kids and tracked a few. She caught the tail end of victim number twelve and a hint to the identity of the assailant. She caught rough footage of Mr. Death then. I wish I had seen that piece first. I like to think it would have prepared me for the final showing.

Its sunlight and I need to contact somebody about this. It’s too big fro me to handle. I can nail a killer werewolf, but who do I nail him too?

Can I take this guy? I doubt it.

Can I expose him? Not without getting in all kinds of crap from my own side and what would the cops do? I don’t have any good answers.

[Adrian Moss]

Terror and confusion are things best shared, right? I call the only Werewolf expert I know, but I have no idea how much of an expert she is. If she's full of crap then I'm in an even worse boat, still, I'm scared shitless.

"Sarah? Sarah?” I say.

"Who's this?" Sarah responds

“Adrian. Oh God I have a problem.”

"Um...*hesitation* "What kind of problem?"

“You know werewolves right?”

*dead silence for ten seconds*

"Yeah. I do," Sarah says.

“Sarah? I have one on tape. ON file actually.”

"Hold up." *tone of concern* "What do you mean, on tape? Who's tape? On file? Like police file?"

“Like on a hand held camera to a computer file. It’s clear though”, I tell her nervously. Maybe I should make a copy.

"Shit. That's not good, Adrian. That's really not good. Any copies, or are you sitting on the only one?"

“I have the only copy, but that's not the only problem,” I tell her the current truth. Maybe I won’t make a copy. Then I drop the bomb, “This Were is eating kids. He killed a girl who found out. That's not something I can rest easy with.”

"OK. Well, that's something anyway. What's the other problem? Is it after you?" she says preempting me then, "It WHAT?!?"

“It doesn't know were I am. It may know that someone is looking into it.”

"Holy shit..."

“It has killed 13 kids as of two weeks ago when I got the information. The PD isn't looking hard,” I unload.

"How the hell did you trip across this?" Sarah’s voice is really tense now.

“The dead girl's parents came to me. I do this kind of work.”

"Great. Important question for ya. Is it just *killing* the kids, or *eating* the kids?

This is a very important distinction, Adrian."

*Tapping away*

“Hold on.”

"Ok"

*minute passes*

"Okay! Here it is. Muscle mass missing - Part of liver shows teeth marks - 80%missing.”

A long sigh by Sarah then, "Fuck."

“That is just one case. I have eleven more I can go through, I tell her, “Bad? Are the Weres going to kill me over this?”

"One's enough. This..." *hesitates* It's a rule. I can't explain it all to you, but there's rules the lupines have. This one is breaking a big one. Kinda like diablerie for us."

“Uhhhh ... what do I do?,” I have a moment then add, “Oh, he has two huge thugs working for him. One of them tried to smell me out when I was being all Shadowy. Scary,” I tell her.

"You've really walked into some serious shit here, bud,” she tells me. “You need to lay low - very low - with your evidence for a bit. I..." *pauses* "...I need to go talk to someone. A contact I have. Who will be all kinds of pissed to find out about this."

"Can you do that?" She asks.

“Damn. Well, I can't quite stay at home, but I'll do my best.”

"Yeah, I know. Just do the best you can. Fuck, order a pizza delivery boy if you have to, but hang tight, OK?" Sarah all but pleads. That only adds to my already healthy fear.

“Get back to me as soon as possible. And thanks.”

"Will do."

*click*

She hangs up and I’m less with more information, but no more piece of mind. Scratch that I have someone working this with me. If only I knew here angle in all of this. I can’t confuse her with an ally. I called her because I thought she would know and she does. That only makes me wonder about her more.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Oh, this is a world of not good. Sarah thought as she dialed a number from memory. "Do Not Eat The Flesh of Man or Wolf." That phrase had, along with the rest of a sacred oath to Luna, been drilled into the head of every werewolf she'd ever known. Hell, it was engraved on a tree back in the heart of the woods claimed by the Wren clan, both in plain old English and the strange marks that her fur-enabled cousins made sense of with fluency.

After a couple of rings, a familiar gruff voice cut in. "Yeah?"

"Declan? Sarah. Got a problem of your variety. Got a minute?"

"My variety?" There was a moment of dead silence, and she was a little bit worried that he might just hang up the phone rather than discuss anything of the sort with her; Sarah's luck with her cousins hadn't exactly been stellar of late. She was thus rather relieved when he finally said, "Shoot."

"One of the lee-- eh, one of the things like me ran across something bad. Short version: there's one of your-type peoples running around breaking a big rule: he's eating people. Thirteen dead so far, and growing. People like human people."

Concern - and a hint of something darker, a slight growl tinging his words - showed in Declan's next words. "Are you sure? And if so, how sure?"

"There was a girl who was apparently tracking it down. She died, but the video she made didn't. The thing is on film wolfing out, and the coroner's reports show a lot of muscle mass bitten off and missing. At least, that's what I'm getting from the guy who contacted me abou this."

"Crap! This guy has the film? Where is it?" Yeah, that's what I expected. Containment first, then find the man-eating monster. Hell, it's what I would have done.

"He's sitting on it, hunkered down as low as he can get. This man-eater has some big thugs working for him, and they've started sniffing around the guy."

"Copies?"

"None, thankfully. It's on the dead girl's laptop... which he has."

There was a pregnant pause, then Sarah added, "I don't know who else to talk to about this. Topanga's won't talk to me. So that leaves you."

Finally, Declan made a decision. "Okay. Your boy gets protectin' as long as he hands the goods over to me and doesn't try anythin' fancy like makin' sneaky copies. A rogue maneater is the last thing we want. Any of us."

"Exactly. I'll get hold of him; how do you want to work the meetup?"

"Come to mine, then we'll go together to your boy. Better he waits in his rathole for the cavalry than tries to make a run for it: he'll just die tired. Well, maybe not tired but... you get the idea."

"That makes sense. Be there... well, in a few minutes. Not that far away." Without waiting for more, Sarah closed the cellphone and headed from the quiet corner of Holmby Park she'd been sitting in and began walking the handful of blocks to Declan's house.

"Do Not Eat The Flesh of Man or Wolf," she thought again, and momentarily shuddered. There was no doubt in her mind that some werewolves considered what she did to be a nightly violation of that particular bit of the oath... at least, of those that thought she was in any way bound to such an oath anyway. My word is my bond, she thought bitterly, and it would have to do; no brands of silver would ever be carved into her dead flesh, and no creature of Shadow would ever listen to her words, but swearing her personal agreement to the Oath of the Moon was one of the first things she'd done after winning some small measure of respect from the Ajo Runners. For her part, Sarah took cold comfort from the fact that blood was not flesh, and endeavored not to dwell on the matter of her diet in relation to her promise any further.

Crossing the gate took a measure of courage; she was, after all, stepping onto Declan's personal territory again. But she was invited, a fact she repeated to herself three times between the gate and stepping up to knock on the door.

[Owns-The-Night]

Tracksuit pants, old t-shirt: check. Clasp knife: check. Lip zipped about Amber, Melody and the fact I want to tear Lucien a new asshole: check. Declan had just been pulling on his sneakers when Sarah knocked. He glanced around once, just to make sure he had everything, then opened the door and stepped outside.

"Sarah." He nodded in greeting, his eyes catching the light and blazing silver as a car drove past on the street. He stretched lightly, then winced as he felt the wound in his gut and back stretch too. Growling softly in pain, he gestured for her to lead off. "Lets get going, we're burnin' moonlight. We can talk as we move."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Sarah shot a concerned look at Declan's wince. By and large, her cousins didn't wince unless something was very, very wrong. However, long experience had taught her that asking about such things earned no answer at best or several nights of healing herself up at worst. "Fair enough," she replied, taking up an almost instictive position beside and slightly behind the imposing personality that was Declan before realizing that this time, she would have to lead.

"I'll need to give him a call," she said as they walked. "No idea where he's actually holed up. Hopefully somewhere tight; this is some major bad shit he's found." Pulling out her cell, she picked out the first number in the short list.

When it finally connected, she didn't wait for the niceties. "Adrian, I've got backup and we're on the way. Where're you at?"

[Adrian Moss]

"Uh - to my haven? Ummm, no thanks. I'll meet you guys at ... at ... at the Broad Art Center, Charles E. Young North. In the parking lot. I'm on my way there now."

Adrian was already packed up and ready to go - to a hotel room for the day, just in case. He could forgo the travel bag, or could he? Maybe he would take it just to be on the safe side. Damn, he wanted to call Erica, just to hear that voice, but that might only come back to get her hurt in the end.

Why was he even thinking about that? His life was on the line, damnit!

Keep it simple. Lap top with the spare battery charged so Sarah's 'buddy' could see the Huge Mess for himself. Unless it was a herself, or a him- and herself.

"And, umm, Sarah, what kind of reception am I likely to get? How many you bringing with you?"

"Oh, forget it. I really don't want to be alone with this mess. I'm on my way."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

The connection closed as a frown formed on Sarah's face. "Won't meet at his hav-... his house. Shouldn't have expected different, I guess; he'll meet up with us at the Broad Art Center... that's right across the street on campus," she realized suddenly, having stalked past the extremely new building several times since her arrival in L.A. She let out a dry chuckle. "I think that's it, right over there. Convenient."

Then Sarah recalled exactly how Declan felt about the UCLA campus, and hurried to add, "He's got no way of knowing it's your marked territory."

,,

[Owns-The-Night]

He shrugged slightly, a slight growl entering his voice. "He'll learn tonight. And he better not hunt there after that unless I give him leave. I'm pretty laid-back about folks that don't know crossin' my turf, but last thing I need is for Herd to start investigatin' bite marks and blood loss."

He went quiet and walked a little faster, feeling his muscles around the bandaged wound in his back stretch and protest. He ignored them, taking the lead from Sarah as they moved over to the new Center.

"Your boy's name is Adrian, huh? There was a guy introduced himself to me in that chatroom as Adrian. Smart cookie: spotted me as Declan before I took off the mask. Said he was a night student here." Declan growled a little as his back twinged with every other step. "I'm betting it's the same Adrian."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

The responding grin wasn't entirely in mirth. "Very possibly could be; he's young enough looking to pull it off. Hell, if it wasn't for the fact that I have too much to do with what night there is and something between Jack and Shit to my name, I'd be halfway tempted to see if any of the pre-med classes were offered at night." At Declan's raised eyebrow, she offered only a slight shrug. "Old habits die hard. And it's only halfway tempted; that's not what I am anymore."

She remembered something Declan had said then about his thoughts on vampires seekig prey on the campus. "You probably should know that you're not going to find bite marks if someone's hunting your grounds. If we left those, do you really think we'd have survived this long? Not leaving those two little holes behind is one of the basics. As for blood loss, this is a college campus. The kids that aren't drunk or stoned are sleep-deprived; they stumble around like zombies half the time anyway. Nobody's gonna notice if one is a pint or two light."

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian was jumpy as hell as he made his way to the car. He chose the Gunmetal Grey Mustang for this trip. A top wouldn't provide him too much protection, he rationalized, and it would be easier to exit if the need arouse.

The engine humming to life was a comforting noise for the jumpy kindred. He made his way down the drive way and out into the street. He made his way from Motor, to Pico without any sign of being followed, but then it looked like someone was on him. The car followed onto the Avenue of the Stars and Adrian would have been sweating if he could, he was so terrified of the mysterious Werewolf and cronies jumping out of their cars and tearing him to pieces.

It didn't happen. The car turned the other way on Santa Monica Blvd. There were no good targets of opportunity for his imagination to latch onto here. He was moving too fast, though he fortunately avoided any cops at this late hour. He turned onto Manning alone and the neighbrohood quickly enough showed itself to be darkened streets and closed businesses. Enemies could leap out of any alley, yet Adrian couldn't risk pushing it through.

Visions of the Werewolf leaping from roof top to rooftop, dancing on the edge of his rear view mirror. His head whipped from side to side in fear. How could they have found him so soon? Could he afford to go meet Sarah and her furry friend? Would they be enough? Did he have a choice.

"They don't know were I live," Adrian told himself. "I'm imagining all this up. It isn't real. I'm the one hunting down this werewolf, not the other way around."

The pep talk did a little good. Logic warred with the irrational fear. It was just that Adrian was much more familiar wiht his fear than with his courage.

Manning became the homes that normally surround a college campus. They were dark, but the streets were well lit. Still, Adrian would have been more comfortable for once with a few people out on the street. He was alone.

Hilgard was a welcome sight. He was almost there. He was also near that fabulous party and that unwelcome frenzy. Sigh. Little did he know, but he drove right past Declan's house on the way.

Adrian pulled onto Charles E Young drive (the East one). The overhanging trees gave the campus street a sinister cast. There wasn't enough moon and the lights appeared to be too far apart. The drive split off and he took the north section. He rode around until he saw the welcoming pinlights of the Broad Art Center. Darkness was all around, but the parking lot next to the building was a beacon. He had made it.

Adrian pulled in and parked his car. He didn't see anyone, but maybe they were standing in the shadows, waiting for him to show up. He got out of the car and pulled up the laptop from the seat next to him. His luggage was in the back seat. Adrian clutched the precious laptop to his chest and looked out inot the darkness, ears and eyes straining to make out any noise.

[Owns-The-Night]

"Hrrm." Declan half-grunted, half-rumbled in answer to Sarah's explanation. "Just so they don't shit where I live. If they do, I'll take issue with it."

They reached the shadows of the Broad Art Center. From the noise, some sort of party or showing was going on inside. Hunkering down to wait, Declan and Sarah were not waiting long before a grey Mustang roared into the parking lot. A slim young man got out, clutching what looked like a laptop computer to their chest. Declan didn't need to be on four legs to smell the nervousness rolling off the man in front of him. He nudged Sarah.

"That's our boy. Go make nice, and I'll be right behind you."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

"Will do." Without further comment, Sarah stepped out from the shadows, making a beeline for Adrian.

Thankfully, the beasts within them did little more than grumble; each had felt the other before, and while there was no love lost, they at least held to an uneasy accord as one predator approached the other.

An abortive little wave, almost more of a salute than anything resembling the friendly guesture to which mortals were accoustomed, served as the sole prelude to what passed for a greeting. "Backup's back there. Is that it?" she said, nodding toward the laptop clenched tight to the nervous little Mekhet's still chest.

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian seemed to relax when Sarah stepped out of the shadows.

"He ... or she is close by, right?"

It was as much a statement as a question because Adrian turned and walked to the back of the car. He put the case up on the trunk. The zipper seemed to make a louder than normal sign due to the vacantness of the night. He pulled out the lap top, opened it up, and cut it on.

"I take it you want to see what I've discovered, right? Well, I have a little more information as well. I don't know if its relevant, but I don't know what is or isn't in this case."

The computer is booting up and makes all those wonderfully familiar noises that computers make.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

"C'mon; he'll want to see this too. Walk while the thing boots." Keeping a sharp eye out for anyone else in the vicinity, Sarah led Adrian back up the short series of concrete steps to where her partner for the night lurked with silver eyes waiting.

[Owns-The-Night]

Declan moved forward from behind Sarah, near silent in his well-worn sneakers. His eyes caught the light before the rest of him came into view as he stepped up to the edge of the trunk, scrutinising Adrian.

"You're Adrian from the CalNet, right?" The large man said quietly, then held out a hand. "Declan. We've spoken."

He froze then as he heard nearby laughter, a woman's laughter. Eyes piercing the darkness, he spotted a flash of red dress and pale face in the gloom next to the entrance of the Center. She was holding a glass of champagne and flirting heavily with a drunk-looking young man, toying with his shirt-collar. At first he thought she was Morgan, and a rumble started up in his chest. Then he spotted the differences and relaxed: this woman's wealth of dark hair was piled loosely atop her head, her face and figure were different, though still worthy of notice. He looked around a little more, to be sure they weren't under observation, then turned back to Adrian and his computer, scowling as the motion of his torso caused another wave of pain to run through him.

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian picked up lap top, folding it against his being. Just then, he felt more than saw Declan approach.

"Yes, that's me. Cresent Sun. So you are Own_the_Night? Good to know. Anyway, I think I have something you will want to see. I hope you know who this guy is so we can shut him dow ..."

The sound of another body coming close made Adrian hesitate and move the laptop into a protective position between him and the noise.

"I don't think anyone should be around here this late," he whispered.

[Vienne Carreau]

Vienne was at the Broad Art Center tonight to visit the Latin Arts Exhibtion. Stimulating local stuff, if one were to take into account this year's newly arrived freshmen. Take Evan here, for example: Nice, young petit all on his own far from his hometown, not knowing anyone, but perhaps hoping to make new friends. So vulnerable. So easy... but lacking in finesse and drama. Not as fun as a slow seduction. Vienne laughed in her carefree way and breathed huskily over his lips as they talked about nothing. The last hour had been abysmally full of colorful sculptures (which to her looked phallic) and gaudy paintings (again, phallic) and she forced her Vitae to project a convincing glow as she sipped cheap champagne, pretending to laugh at the appropriate moments. She rubbed shoulders with people who pretended to know her agent...which she had made up that night. She found Evan skulking by a blatant Dali rip-off trying not to be noticed. Until then, it had been a boring night. Now, they enjoyed the night air together around the side of the building near the front parking lot. No one seemed to notice them as she chatted him up, taking him into her senses. Completely into her prey, hunger welled within her just under the surface. Just a couple of people necking in the shadows. She whispered inanities that he wanted to hear as he was beginning to go insensible beneath her light kisses down his cheek and shoulder. Too easy...

What the -she turned her head sharply toward the main parking lot. Someone different...like her?

She felt the sensation of otherness strong enough to crudely tear her from her game of spider and fly. She had many interesting feelings that night, aside from lust, hunger, Evan's wandering hands and an allergy to the pastiche. She patted Evan's cheek with a benign smile and an amused sparkle in her eye and wandered off toward the main lot to see what the other interesting feeling rooted from. The feeling was almost familiar somehow, but she couldn't place it.

There were people coming and going, but there was a small group near a car not moving. There. Kindred. Shuddering, she forced down the urge to panic. Not here. 2 others, too.

Only one she recognized.

"Adrian?"

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Just as the computer was just about finished winding up, hot anger churned deep within Sarah's gut. *Another! Here!* Her Beast raged at the new presence, spurring her to attack this interloper, this unwelcome competitor. A low gutteral rumble grew from somewhere in her chest, escaping as a growl nearly a match for any that Declan had managed in his human form, a primal sound that sent Adrian into a tremble.

"We should have done this at your place!" she hissed at Adrian in a bitter whisper, fighting to keep control over the frenzy that threatened to erupt. It was touch and go when, with eyes that nearly shone red in the night, she challenged the newcomer, a trace of the growl still showing in her voice. "You can stop right where you are. This is none of your business."

[Adrian Moss]

"Vienne?"

Adrian looks warily over to Sarah.

"Wait. I know her. She's not ... like that. Totally different. This isn't her ... thing."

To Declan,

"She's one of the nice ones."

Still shielding the laptop, with its inappropriate chiming, Adrian faces Vienne.

"Hey. I'm just taking care of some business here. Nothing to see," he smiles weakly. "I take it there was an artsy show of some kind here tonight? Great."

In a lower voice he says bitterly,

"Just great."

To Sarah and Declan just loud enough to be hopefully heard by them,

"Fine, not my best idea. Were do you recommend we go to then?"

[Vienne Carreau]

"I hope I'm not intruding?" Vienne did her best to look penitent, which ended up soulful and sultry. Sidling up to Adrian with an easy smile, she asked, "Whatever are you up to, Adrian?" Examining the two beside him with interest, Vienne decided it didn't have to be a boring night after all. "Who are your friends? Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Vienne offered her hand to the feral petite that had set her on edge, wrist bared upwards as a subtle form of truce.

"Vienne. A pleasure." The duality of wanting to make the night more interesting and being confronted by more of her own kind struggled within her. Just what was Adrian doing with such interesting company?

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Oh hell. One of those.

In her brief three years of unlife, Sarah had been introduced - in Tuscon, Las Vegas, Reno and other dens of evil - to what passed for society among her kind. In no small part, it contributed to her unyeilding efforts to find a place among the werewolves. This vision in red, this oiled and polished socialite monster that was currently extending an immaculate hand with what looked like a hundred-dollar manicure to her, backed with a perfect-lipped smile that could and regularly would hide anything and everything, was a prime example of all she disliked about the 'Kindred'.

Sarah's positively glacial glare didn't raise so much as a degree as she grasped Vienne's hand in a grip that told of a life and unlife that had hardened her like a forge. Her single-word reply - "Sarah" - made no bones about her opinions of this unexpected intrusion, and she withdrew her hand from the quick social concession with fingers aching to reveal her inner wolf.

[Vienne Carreau]

"Charmed, I'm sure," Vienne breathed through her teeth, cradling her hand whilst making it look as though clasping them behind her back.

Turning back to Adrian, "Fancy meeting you here. I never took you for the artsy type." She appraised what appeared to be a homeless fellow,albeit a well-fed and clean-smelling transient, standing near to Adrian. He seemed excited about something. Quite the welcome. He wasn't Kindred, maybe a ghoul. Wouldn't have guessed this bit of rough would be to Adrian's taste, maybe Sarah? She certainly had that feral quality that spoke of wilder tastes. At any rate, Adrian's friends didn't seem to take to her very well. She couldn't imagine why. What's not to like?

Vienne turned to face the mortal with a motherly smile. It was an eerie, benign grace with which she greeted these total strangers. It was easy to do. But mortals that weren't her prey were not of much interest. She offered a polite hand to him, "And you are?" She began to wonder if perhaps Adrian was running with a coterie these days.

[Owns-The-Night]

Great, another fuckin' vampire. Declan's face didn't show fear or anger so much as mild irritation once Adrian had spoken up for the newcomer. But he was getting a little edgy: three vampires were around him, even if he counted Sarah as being kinda half werewolf, that was still 2.5 to 1 odds, and his wound wasn't making him feel too good about those odds. So when the new leech turned to him, the Uratha was already feeling a trifle defensive. His head lowered and broad shoulders bunched under the worn tracksuit top as his silver eyes stared right back into Vienne's rich brown ones. When he spoke, his voice contained a hint of subdued growl. Not menace, exactly, but definitely... tense.

"Declan." He reached out and took her hand, giving it a firm shake.

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian gave a slight nod of thanks for not having Declan attack Vienne. If he had been breathing, he would have started up again. As it was, he simply detensed a fraction.

"Vienne, I've stumbled across some really bad shit. I know you won't be talking about it, but this is especially bad. This is horribly bad and I need you to just walk away and go about your night like you never met me ... any of us, okay?"

His tone has a hint of pleading to it, and his eyes carry an earnest glint of fear. This is more than his usual, cautious to the point of jumpy self, it is something else that has him this terrified.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that it has something to do with the laptop he's trying to hide, and it doesn't take the full extent of Vienne's social expertise that this is a meeting of strangers. Certainly, Adrian is not at all familiar with, or trust, Declan. Adrian's relationship with Sarah is only marinally warmer.

[Vienne Carreau]

"I understand, darling," charmed by the brusqueness on such a skittish person. "I suppose there might be a more interesting crowd at The Ritual tonight. I could always butterfly there for the night." Touching his chin with her fingertips in a gesture of fondness she added, "Do try and stay out of trouble. Maybe sometime you'll come find me and tell me all about it. At any rate, Auntie Vienne has got to fly. Let me know if I can be of assistance in future."

With that she made her way to a candy red moped and soon all that remained was the sound of the engine fading into the distance.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

"Declan," Sarah said as she watched the small taillights disappear around a corner, "I'm gonna recommend that we move this little affair over to your place before something like that happens again. Is that fine with you?"

[Owns-The-Night]

"Sounds good to me." Declan shook off the strange mix of attraction and repulsion that meeting the red-garbed Vienne had caused in him. On the surface, she had seemed like an attractive young woman, but underneath...

He tore his minds-eye away from speculation as to what lay under that dress. Not the underneath I had in mind. He gestured to Adrian and Sarah.

"Let's go. Leave your car here in case they're looking for it. I don't want trouble coming to my door." With the typically werewolf disregard for material possessions, it didn't even occur to Declan that Adrian might have an attachment to the vehicle. And to be fair, he probably wouldn't have cared if it did. He set out across the campus at a steady walk, growling low under his breath as his torn muscles screamed at him, not bothering to see if the other two were following.

[Adrian Moss]

'That could have gone much worse,' Adrian thinks, almost missing the exchange between Sarah and Declan then Declan's response.

"Not one of my best ideas," he mutters as he hurriedly hefts the computer back into its case and scampers to keep up with the close-mouthed werewolf and Sarah. He would apologize for the bad choice in sights and the chance meeting with another vamp, but he figures there has been enough of that for the night. Hopefully Sarah understands his discretion about his haven ... then maybe she doesn't. Don't Gangrel sleep in the earth were ever they happen to stop for the night? Maybe they don't understand the importance other vamps place on their domiciles. Maybe that is something worth talking about.

"Sarah, I hope you understand how I didn't want to bring a stranger to my haven. That's why I latched on this place as a meeting point. I should have given it greater thought."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

She shot the Mekhet a look that spoke volumes. "Just a bit, yeah. And if you're gonna have the protection of my friends and I, you'll need to let us get close enough to be protective."

Without another word, she kept pace with Declan on the quick walk across Luvalle Commons and Hilgard Avenue to his now-familiar house.

[Owns-The-Night]

Declan led the two vampires across the campus grounds towards his house, eyes and ears alert to the sounds of the night. There were some people moving around the campus, but it was easy for the three human-seeming creatures to evade casual contact as they made their way through the sparsely-wooded area.

They made it to Declan's home without incident, and the groundskeeper went up the steps and swiftly unlocked his door, opening it wide.

"Come on in if you're comin'" he told the other two, disappearing into the gloom indoors. A second later, dim golden light flared from inside as he turned on the solitary lamp.

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian followed the other two into Declan's abode, taking int he sparseness with a practiced edge. The place almost didn't look lived in - almost. There was some sand in the corners from ... whatever and the smell of food cooking left over in the air. Was this really is his house?

That took a lot more confidence than Adrian knew he possessed.

Enough soul searching for later.

Adrian walked over to the kitchen counter and set up the computer once more. This time it popped right to life.

"Okay. This is the video that you want to see first."

Adrian fiddles with the mouse pad.

"It's about twelve minutes in."

He expands the somewhat clear but bouncing picture until it covers the entire screen. It shows a man in an alley way talking to a boy in his early teens. The boy and the man seem to be discussing something when the camera holder makes a noise. The man looks toward the camera with moon cast eyes. He is of the same general build as Declan, but oily black hair, goatee, and moustache. The man's whole countance breaths menace and in two rapid heart-beats he becomes a Gauru. The boy is paralyzed with fear and the creature nearly decapitates him wiht a single blow to the neck. Then he pounces on the camera weilder in a surprising burst of agility.

The camera drops and some blood splashes in front of the lense. Adrian stops the footage. He has stepped back from the computer while it was playing and only reluctanctly returns to it to cut it off.

"He beats on her for about another minute then finds the camera and crushes it. He doesn't seem to realize it was being broadcast to her laptop which was in her room mate's car close by. The room mate fled and is in the hospital now."

"There is no sign that he ate either body, but," he closes the frozen video screen and opens up some other files, "these are the autopsy reports. I've checked victims nine through twelve. Only number ten doesn't have tissue loss in some major degree."

Adrian rubs his noise.

"I want this guy for what he's done. I'm not so much worried about myself as I am that he is going to go on murdering kids. In a way, that's the worst kind of monster in my mind - the one I might become, and I would want to be put down if I ever degenerated that far. I want this guy as proof to myself that I can still care about others."

Adrian seems sincere and somewhat emotional on the subject.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Sarah suppressed - barely - a growl. "Like I said, Declan. A man-eater. When someone goes that far, it's pretty clear that they've chucked the Oath right out the fucking window.

"So as I see it, we've got two problems. Problem one is getting this oath-breaker off the street. And yeah, I'm pretty solid on the problems with that one," she said, giving the sole werewolf in the room a knowing look. Hard as hell to hold something like this without killing it, and that's a violation right there.

"Problem two is keeping this fucker's friends from turning Adrian here into a chew-toy. We're just lucky that there's no problem three in the form of extra copies of this thing. Speaking of which, that footage needs to be erased before the end of this little meeting of our, I'd think."

[Owns-The-Night]

Declan watched the recorded slaughter almost impassively. No stranger to death even before his Change, his mind went into an analytical mode, considering the werewolf's body language, it's appearance and demeanour.

"He's gone. A lunatic, no pun intended. Killing him's as much a mercy as it is keepin' the Oath by stoppin' him from exposin' us to the Herd." He looked at some of the other files. "Wait. This a license plate?" He glanced over at Adrian, and his grin was terribly predatory. "I can use this. I'm goin' to need to make some calls though. You're welcome to stay here until this is all sorted out. There's an attic upstairs and plenty of closet space if you need shelter. Don't worry, if I wanted you dead you'd already be there."

[Adrian Moss]

"Yeah."

Adrian pulls out his note pad and flips some pages.

"Here it is. She got it on tape night eleven. That's were she starts putting it together, I think. Anyway, she records the car when she she's following this kid and the car is gone when she comes back from the body. Later she is tracking the car and it leads her to Night 14 and her death."

Adrian looks up from his notes.

"One other thing - this from my computer source. He says her stuff was state of the art, yet this kid - The Girl - was from a poor working class neighborhood. Maybe she got a school grant or something, or maybe someone supplied her with the gear. I don't know. Maybe someone at the Journalism school would have something about it."

"I'll take the attic, but I'm going to have to move the car somehow, or it will get towed in the morning. That would just suck. I still need to get out and hunt. I am not driving the regular car - the Jag, so it should be safe. Mind if I walk back and get it? I can walk unseen and all. I only become visible if I have to move something, or the like, okay?"

"So, can I go and get my car?"

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Sarah look to Declan for guidance on the matter of Adrian's car. After a moment of consideration, the werewolf gave a gruff reply. "Go ahead, but put it around the corner somewhere. Not in front of the house."

On an impulse, Sarah ammended the recommendation. "Actually, take it a couple blocks over, near Comstock and Wyton. That's in my territory; I'll keep an eye on it while it's there."

She watched Adrian nod and leave, then waited a beat before turning back to Declan. "Actually, that brings up something I'd hope to ask you. I could really use a favor, one that you could help with if your willing." Her look softened from the tones it had taken around Adrian and Vienne; if anything, she looked downright embarrassed. "I need to mark my territory in something more than just blood with the People around. And... well, no hable First Tongue. Would you be willing to, um, draw out something I could copy to carve as my mark?"

[Owns-The-Night]

Declan blinked, a little surprised, then shrugged. "Sure thing." He stepped over to his favorite easy chair and pulled a pencil and pad from down beside the seat cushion. He started sketching, brow furrowed as he traced neat outlines of a glyph. Now and then he raised his head, considering her with those inscrutable silver eyes.

"Here." He tore the sheet from the pad and passed it over. "How's this?"

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian came back with a travel bag about fifteen minutes later. He asked to be shown the attic and mostly kept to himself for the next few minutes. When he came back down stairs, he looked at Declan contemplating something. Adrian opened up his jacke and suddenly a pistol and a sword appeared.

"I also carry a collapsable baton and I have a shotgun upstairs. I figure I should tell you what stuff I'm dragging in with me. We okay?"

"Also, before you destroy everything, I wish you would get a picture of the guy we are looking for. I understand your desire to burn it, but the guys face, plus his liscence plate, are our best leads in locating him."

"Beyond that, what comes next? Do you have others of your kind you have to confer with, or is it mostly just us?"

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

As Declan sketched out the design, it was all Sarah could do to keep from asking him more details. Not that they would stick, she knew; retaining knowledge of what specific strokes and scratches of werewolf glyphs actually meant had always been like trying to nail jello to a wall. She also knew that, if he had a mind to do so, it could wind up meaning "Come Kill the Leech" for all she'd know. The only way this would work was on trust, and from what Sarah had seen of him, Declan was someone who both earned and deserved that.

When he'd finished, she made a guesture that was both like and unlike a little bow. An untrained observer wouldn't have thought twice about it, but Declan knew that it was as close as a human (or human-ish, in Sarah's case) could get to the kind of respectful submission of a wolf. "Thank you, and I mean that," she said before taking the paper and carefully folding it away to the inside pocket of her jacket.

Shortly thereafter, Adrian returned; Sarah hung back a bit at his words, waiting to see what Declan would say. From here on, this was absolutely his operation, and Sarah would stand by his decisions.

[Owns-The-Night]

Declan looked from Sarah to Adrian as he stepped over to the laptop and scribbled down the license plate on one corner of the next sheet of paper. He spoke while still writing, one grey eye flicking to the young-looking vampire male.

"You. Trawl the bars and clubs in the area and ask your other bloodsuckin' friends if they've seen the guy in the video. Just take a still photo: no need to start vampires actin' like panicked Herd. We might get lucky and find out somethin' like who he hangs with. Start that tomorrow night."

"Sarah." The Gangrel unconsciously straightened a tiny bit at the 'sergeants voice' Declan was projecting. Not quite a bark or a snap, the normally slow, slightly surly tone was crisper as Declan slipped into an old role. "I know I might be askin' a lot, but I need you to deliver this to Topanga. Just leave it by one of their outer markers." He tore off a page of First Tongue glyphs and passed it to her. "It's basically tellin' them that there's a fucker eatin' folks in the neighbourhood and I'm goin' to try to stop him. If I fall, they've got to be ready to pick up the slack, because I'll be dead and the Oath will be gettin' violated more."

He looked back at Adrian. "We get you whatever data you need for the chase, and then you wipe this computer clean, understand? Fuck, destroy it for all I care." He pointed at the laptop with one large finger. "If I see or hear of any of this gettin' out among the Herd, you'll need more than a couple of guns and a sword to help ya." He didn't growl or raise his voice: it was not so much a threat as a calm statement of fact, but Declan's eyes held Adrian's long enough for the message to get across, and the vampire was grateful when those eyes finally looked away.

"Okay. Now if you two will excuse me, I've got some people to chase down and talk to." He headed towards the door. "Make yourselves comfortable, but no beer, strippers, or makin' out in my bed." He grinned over his shoulder at the two. "I'll be back in a couple of hours. Try to avoid gettin' killed."

With that, he was gone, the door closing behind him, and the large high-ceilinged lounge seemed a lot emptier.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Nodding, Sarah took the notebook page and folded it away in her jacket as well. "Bit of a haul; I'll get going asap." There was no question in her tone, no argument or hesitation even in the face of her previous reception by the reclusive pack in the Santa Monicas. Declan was the alpha here, and by gods, Sarah would follow his orders.

As she prepared to leave, checking to make sure that her gear was all set for a long hike into dangerous country, she tossed Adrian a look. "Keep your head down and be fucking careful on your recon with the other vampires. If this guys friends have friends of their own...." She left the rest unsaid, and made her own exit from Declan's house, turning north on Hilgard and heading for the bus stop up on Sunset. No point in walking any farther than I have to, she thought, and I'd kinda like to not be tired if I run into one of them up there.