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A nice home on a private drive in a quiet corner of Bala Cynwyd plays home to one of the more suburban choices for Elysium in the city. Since a lot of the wealthier kindred who don't want to be in the middle of the city are in the area, it's surprisingly busy.
At least, normally.
Must be a bit of an off night.
Cory's waiting inside, sitting by herself and foot tapping on the ground while she gives Sledge time to arrive. She's a touch dressed up tonight, but looks no less like herself for it.
Sledge doesn't really "dress up" so much as she just puts on clothes that are more acceptable for the general public consumption. She didn't really even do that, this evening, because she's a fuckin' gremlin with no concept of class. The deafening sound of an engine heralds Sledge's arrival - and her tires screech to a halt. Someone should really tell her to go easier on her breaks. She steps inside wearing her usual regalia - a leather vest adorned with spikes, ripped jeans, boots, a black crop top - and an accompaning look of mild confusion on her face. One might even hear her say "What the fuck's with all this shit, anyway?" just before she enters the room. "Hey, Cory. You look nice - and I'm starting to feel under dressed..."
"Don't sweat it. This is a private property, so not even a technical dress code. Besides," she mutters, glancing around. "-there's apparently no Master of Elysium here to enforce it." She gives Sledge a minute, to let it sink in as she gets up and sighs. "You ever run into Clayton Powers? He might have gone missing before you even hit the city for all I know, but it's worth asking."
"Hah," Sledge slinks on over to where Cory is sitting before unceremoniously flopping onto the couch next to her. Y'know, because there's no Master of Elysium there to enforce a dress code, or her behavior. "Well, if it's private property, what're we doing here?" Beat. "... but naw, it's not ringing any bells. I didn't get much chance to pay attention to shit before I left. Should I know the name?"
"It IS an Elysium- that's why. It's not just someone's house, it's designated for us, but the Master- Powers- has been AWOL for weeks. I'm gonna try to look into it, but-" But investigation really isn't a strong suit for Cory. "I was hoping you might know something. Since you're easy." To talk to? Proooobably? "I'll have to start asking around at this rate."
What a great time for the sound of the front door opening, and then the slapping of bare feet on the marble floor of the entryway. The steps don't seem to be going toward the room where Cory and Sledge are sitting, though, and the figure of Clayton Powers himself passes by the door into the sitting room for only a moment as he proceeds on his way. For some reason he's only wearing a pair of jeans that don't fit him, though.
"Well, duh but why did you pick this locat-" Sledge blinks as the figure passes by. "Wow, I really could've gotten away with wearing anything, huh..." She turns her eyes back to Cory.
Vorpal/Wren/Cory (She/Her x3)Yesterday at 6:58 PM
"Cuz I wanted to see if the rumors were exaggerated," Cory drawls as she watches Clayton stomp past barefoot. She slides to her feet and moves to the door, looking the way he came. "Master Powers- you alright?" Her tone is still flattened, as always, but it carries a note of her confusion.
Clayton, who seems to be making directly for the staircase up to the second floor, turns back for a moment to wave Cory off. "Oh yes, yes, just fine. I just forgot something in my office that I need," he says. It sounds like him, and it looks like him, aside from the fact that he's wearing pants that aren't quite long enough for his legs. That, and the fact that there are faint, glittering scales in small patches around his elbows, and across part of his back.
After the momentary distraction he turns and continues on his way. He's moving at a brisk pace, but like someone who has business to attend to, not like he's in a rush.
Sledge follows Cory, sliding off the couch and sidling up next to the other Kindred when she hears the name of the passing wildman. She whispers something into Coriana's ear - almost hiding behind the taller woman. She, as usual, understands very little about what the fuck is happening at any given moment - but isn't going to let that stop her from sticking her nose into it.
Henry enters the Elysium, dressed in grey and white tonight, dance shoes on his feet and a fedora on his head. There were too many Vics for his taste in the Hotel tonight, so he escaped to another Elysium, as you do.
Cory turns back towards Sledge slightly as Clayton proceeds off to his office. "Yeah, I did." She rolls her shoulders and shrugs. "I don't know, he seems like himself, and if I was gonna impersonate someone, I wouldn't be doing it in badly-fitting jeans. But at the same time... I don't know, it doesn't make much sense. He usually dresses better. I could see him whopping around in laundry day duds after two weeks if some shit went down, but he was pretty fucking chill." She looks to Sledge and murmurs quietly. "You know any Gangrel tricks that give you scales on your back and elbows like he had?"
She looks up as Henry shows up, lifting a hand in greeting. "Hey."
Clayton doesn't seem to care, if he can even hear the conversation going on behind him. He just proceeds up the stairs, turns a corner, and heads down a hallway toward where his office is located.
If it is some kind of imposter, they know exactly where they're going.
"I don't know shit about shit, Cory." She peers after Clayton as he moves down the hall. "Should we... uhh. Follow after him? Is that weird?" Beat. "Hey, Henry. Here for the show?"
"What show? What's going on here?" He seems to get that he's walked into a thing, something, somehow, but not what, following Cory and Sledge with his bespectacled eyes blinking owlishly.
Lethia Rose struts in wearing her usual Elysium get up, loose white blouse, black riding pants and boots, black hair in a french braid, and spatha strapped to her waist. She's carrying a folder in one hand, and waves lazily with the other to the Kindred present.
Things are quiet from upstairs for a short time, as might be expected, until there's a sudden crash of breaking glass from the direction that Clayton had just headed. It sounds like it's coming from the back of the house, which is the side of the house that the Keeper's office faced.
"Might be. It's Elysium. It's not like we're gonna jump him." She thumbs over toward Clayton's office as Henry and Lethia approach, starting towards the office. "Powers just showed up after two weeks, but-"
The glass crashes and Cory's face goes stony. "Shit." She pivots in place and explodes down the hall, sprinting towards the office.
Henry goes the opposite direction, back out the door, trying to get around to the back of the house and see what happened from that side.
Lethia curses in Gothic and follows Sledge and Cory up the stairs.
Cory's the one who reaches the office first, where the door is ajar. The thing that really stand out about it beyond that are that the desk is missing and the window is smashed out. Well, the window and some of the wall around it. It looks an awful look like someone put the desk out the window. There's no Clayton.
Everyone else is at least a good five seconds behind, which isn't ultimately very much.
Cory scans the room and bolts to the hole in the wall, looking around to see if she can spot any traces of "Powers," pulling her phone out and scrolling to whoever she has on speed dial that's got more clout than her. Preferably Anthony Washington if she's got it. Otherwise? Sheriffs, Clara, whoever. "Anyone able to make sure he's not still in the room?"
"Holy shit." Beat. "I can do that," Sledge volunteers when she arrives a few seconds behind Cory. Her eyes go wide at the giant hole in the wall, but she recovers and begins to poke around the room.
Henry, meanwhile, decides that being on foot is no longer the most efficient, and takes to wing, spending the Vitae to shift into a red-feathered bearded vulture, his eyes scanning the nearby area for anything amiss. ( https://media.wired.com/photos/59273ffd7034dc5f91bee0cf/master/pass/Vulture1.jpg )
Lethia curses again when she sees the hole in the wall. She pulls out her phone out of her back pocket and punches in the Sakima's number.
The Sakima's phone rings three times before her voice answers it. "Yes?" she asks simply, without sounding brusque or annoyed at any interruption. Just a query, straight to business. It's pretty typical for her.
Sledge notices that the desk doesn't seem to have been dragged, but that one of its drawers, empty, seems to be sitting near a corner, like it was ripped out of the desk itself.
When Cory looks out the window she catches sight of Clayton proceeding into the woods at the back of the estate's property, headed in the direction of the expressway and the river.
That much the same thing that Henry sees, though Henry doesn't lose track of him as he moves through the brush. The bird's keen vision and Henry's angle combine to make it easy enough to track him, especially since the leaves haven't all come in and the cover of the canopy is still relatively sparse.
The desk, it should be noted, is upside down on the lawn, about thirty feet from the building.
Sledge is going to go investigate the drawer - and see if there's anything still in it that might provide a clue as to what was so important that Clayton returned and thrashed his office for it.
Henry maintains his position in the air, intent on following Clayton, but not diving to make an approach yet. While he's not specifically trying to hide, he does keep himself behind the other Gangrel for an optimal viewing angle with his scavenger eyes.
"Clayton Powers just defenestrated a desk at Bala Cynwyd and ran off. Me and a couple others are gonna chase him down and get answers. You want him after we're done?" Lethia asks with a tone usually reserved for the weather.
"Tell her Clayton Powers just threw his desk through his office wall." Cory speaks, and then she's gone.
There's a short pause before Saagochque says, "interesting. Please keep him alive, so that I can speak with him. Should I send anyone to help?" She sounds like this is the kind of thing she deals with all the time, and she's really just not surprised.
Outside, Clayton just keeps going the way he was going. He's moving at a jog, maintaining a pace that doesn't require him to use blood, like for Celerity, and which also isn't likely to involve knocking himself unconscious by running into a tree branch.
Sledge, satisfied that she is far too dumb to do any investigating beyond this point, is going to sprint out the front towards her bike. 'Cause there is a chase to be had, and goddamnit if the fastest motherfucker in this bitch is going to sit on her thumb and rotate when she could instead become the speed demon that she was born to be.
Cory continues to follow in Obfuscate. She's waiting for that road. The moment they hit it, she intends to coldcock "Mister Powers" and drag him back to the house.
Unseen, above, the claws on the bearded vulture grow much, much sharper, and much, much larger, as he lowers his altitude to where he could dive upon Powers. (Popping Protean 4 claws, descending, still Obf'd.)
She also tugs a heavy weighted glove from where she keeps it tucked into the back of her pants beneath her jacket. She's not taking any chances she doesn't have to.
"Mkay, I'll let everyone know. And no, I think we'll be okay. Probably." Lethia covers the mouthpiece before she shouts, "HEY, KEEP HIM ALIVE, SAKIMA WANTS TO TALK TO HIM AFTER."
Clayton pauses for a moment, turns his head and tilts it like someone who's wondering if they just heard something off in the distance and isn't sure, and then he starts moving faster. A lot faster. Like he's using Celerity now, and making a run for it. It shouldn't really be possible to move through the woods that quickly without running into things, but Celerity does wonders for being able to dodge things at inhuman speeds too.
At Clayton's pause, Cory kicks herself into gear again, whipping ahead of him with that vicious speed of hers, falling into a stance he can't see as he approaches.
The next thing Clayton knows, something plows into his face with the force of a semi, hurling him unceremoniously to the ground while his body magically fights to reduce the staggering amount of blunt force trauma doled out. "Stay down, or I hit you again." Flat, mechanical. Whoever this is, lingering unseen, isn't fucking around.
If he's out? She's starting the haul back towards the house.
Clayton goes down like a sack of potatoes, and though he remains conscious, he's laying on his back where he twisted around as he fell, groaning and holding his head like he's trying to figure out where his senses are. Did they fall out when he got hit? Probably!
Henry drops out of the sky and out of Obfuscate, perching his ass down on Clayton's chest and just letting his sharp-ass claws sit there to reinforce what Cory just said about staying put.
Not that it's relevant, now, but Sledge is going to Feed The Hog on her gastank - and then attempt to head off the chase at the road in the direction they were last heading. Since she's still operating under the assumption that a chase is going on.
Bird. "... claw me and I'll hit you, too." More of the flat-tone, matter-of-fact declarations from Cory. But aside from that, the bird is well welcome to hang out while Cory picks up good sir Powers. She's not crushing him, but she's got an iron grip. Nothing's supposed to be that strong. She looks up as Sledge rides up. "I'm walking him back. He'll come round sooner than I'd like." She looks between Birdry Moynihan and Sledge and nods to herself. "You two move fast. Good work."
And then she starts jogging back towards the house, as quick as she can manage without compromising her grip or her defenses.
Lethia jumps down and lands with a thud, still on the phone. "So Cory just clocked him, off Elysium mind, and is bringing him back now. Anything specific you want me to ask?" She'll start walking towards the group to meet them halfway.
The bird returns to flight, remaining directly overhead Cory and Powers as she does the joggy-joggy thing, claws still out.
While Cory is trotting up to where Lethia's moving through the yard, Clayton groans while his senses begin coming back to him, and then demonstrates exactly why it's such a massive pain in the ass to try to capture a Gangrel sometimes; he simply dissolves into a cloud of smoke, which starts floating back off in the direction he was heading before.
"Ah, never mind, he's gone all smokey. Sorry Sakima." Lethia sounds only slightly disappointed. "Didn't even get a chance to check his eyes."
"Of course he did," says Saagochque with resignation. "Well, if you can follow him to see where he goes, I suppose that's good enough for now. Thank you."
The cloud of Miasma that's probably Clayton Powers floats in relatively sedate manner in the same direction that he'd been going before, through the woods where he doesn't bother dodging branches or whole bushes and just floats through them. Across the road, where even a car cruising by and driving through him doesn't seem to phase him. Through the next stretch of woods, under the bridge of the expressway, and right out over the middle of the Schuylkill River, where he doesn't seem to care whether anyone swam out to keep pace with him or not. He moves just slowly enough that it's probably even kind of boring to follow him.
It's over the river that the miasma reforms back into a human shape. Well, a mostly-human shape. It looks like Clayton Powers, if Clayton Powers was a merman, fish tail and all. He drops into the water with a splash, and then from the birds-eye view above zips off toward the south-east at a speed that definitely far exceeds what most Kindred can manage with Celerity. He might very well be able to outrun Sledge's bike at that speed, at least for the short burst of time before he vanishes into the river's depth far enough for Henry to lose sight of his form.
Cory, who absolutely went for a swim after leaving her cell phone with Sledge, swims back looking... ABSOLUTELY puzzled. "You know... I have this sinking suspicion that those were fish scales and not lizard scales like I thought," she says as she hauls herself out of the water.
Henry eventually returns to the Elysium, and the claws retract before he returns to humanoid form, as if he'd rather not flash those around, as if he might pretend those were just birb talons all along. "Those are not normal Gangrel tricks. Might be some bloodline I don't know about?"
Lethia checks her phone, then sighs. "Well. If we see Powers again he's KOS, according to Sakima. And stay away from the waters edge. Cuz that wasn't a bloodline, it was possession. Fuck, and I thought the owls were bad enough..." She mutters the last sentence more to herself than the room.
There's the roar of an engine as Sledge - and Cory - pull back up outside Elysium on Sledge's horrible and gaudy nightmare bike. They dismount and come inside - and Sledge hands the other woman her phone back after fishing it out of a pocket. "Swear to god if I'd had my tools, I'd have just ghostbustered that motherfucker right then and there." Beat. "I'm not about to start carrying around a fucking vaccuum, am I?"
She catches the tail end of Lethia's statement and blinks a few times. "Wait, what?"
"Unless the vacuum is completely airtight, a vacuum chamber vacuum, it wouldn't help much with Old Smoky, I'm afraid. Did any of you see where I dropped my fedora?"
I did, actually! I picked it up, and it's currently in my storage compartment on the bike. I was too busy talking shit to remember to bring it inside. Want me to run out and get it for you?" She rubs the back of her head akwardly.
"I saw you going around the side of the house. Probably over there?" Cory offers, her jacket off as she clambers off of Sledge's bike and CAREFULLY wrings out the water. "Or, Sledge was thoughtful as hell and has you covered. Which is better." Wring wring.
"What do you mean what, why did the Sakima declare open season on Powers, or what did I mean by the owls thing?" Lethia pulls a pack of cloves out of her car and lights one up. "The kill on sight thing is because Powers is possessed, which is also why we should stay away from the river and ocean."
"All of that, I guess. What is posessing him, what does that mean exactly, and also what the fuck is up with the owls?"
Henry tucks his hands in his pockets. "I'll grab it from you on the way out, Sledge. Not a big deal, really."
Cory's eyes snap to the flame until it's out, grinding her teeth a touch. "Possessed. That's- worrisome. But we're fine if we keep away from the water. Good. Reassuring. Is everyone alright?"
"A Nereid, and it means he's completely gone mentally because he got bit or scratched by one. Maybe a better way to put it would be an infectious possession. And owls are bad news. Kill em if you see em." Lethia shrugs. "And I'm fine."
"So we give the Keeper a Chicago overcoat, is that the end of it? Naw, because if he's wacky because one of them got to him, that means there's more around." Henry pushes his glasses up his nose.
"Completely gone? He... I mean, he was basically only wearing pants, but he seemed to recognize us - and even spoke - well. Made an excuse for why he suddenly showed up, at least?" Sledge's brow furrows, and she hooks her thumbs into her pockets. "Okay, so. Pretend that... uhh, Cory here is really dumb and doesn't know what a Nereid is and then explain things to her as if she spent the first 40 years of her not-life under a rock." She flashes a grin. "Please?"
"You don't have to pretend. That's pretty accurate," Cory admits. "I'd love whatever you can share." She gives up on drying her jacket further and pulls it back on.
"Well to be honest, that's about all I've got right now. Don't get bit and/or scratched, and you won't end up worshipping some eldritch god at the bottom of the sea. I don't actually really know what it exactly is, only what a coterie mate called them once, and the vector for infection slash possession." Lethia says. "As for mentally gone, I just meant there's no good way to recover his original self. I think. Pretty sure. Well, 70 percent sure at least."
"Well, at least the Sakima's aware, yeah? We've got some clue what's going on. That's...that's all something."
"... yeah, that's all something." Sledge trails off as she slinks over to Cory, and tosses an arm around her waist. An obviously non-verbal whoops, I didn't mean to call you out while I was trying to deflect. "What do we now? Just... wait and watch?"
"... h-uh." It sinks in that had Clayton gone for a throwdown instead of fleeing, she could have been next. She swallows, pointlessly and uncomfortably. "I will keep that in mind. Also. The giveaway. He had fish scales on his elbows and back in patches." Cory points out. "Sounds like we can't afford to get tagged by such folx."
Sledge gets reassurance- a hand in her hair, scratching at her scalp. Gently.
"You all should do whatever you feel like. I'm going to go do research next, and since there's no time like the present I'll be leaving first." Lethia finishes her cigarette and crushes it under her feet before making her way to her car and leaving without another word.
"Sledge, can I have my hat back? I oughta catch a meal before I turn in for the morning, even if it's pure plonk. Didn't expect to be flying tonight."
"You got it, my dude. You want a ride to a bar or somethin'?" She extricates herself from Cory and makes her way back over to the bike so she can fetch Henry's hat from the compartment.
"You know, that might be nice. I can find a dance partner to neck with." He grins broadly. "Thanks, cuz."
"No prob." She turns back to Cory. "Meet up with you after?"
"I'm gonna stay here. Want to make sure information gets to people who need it. Tell those of us you know- avoid the water's edge. Clayton Powers is infectious and KOS. Don't let him strike you. Look for fish scales on joints and backs." Cory rubs at her forehead. After she sees the others off, she heads inside to make some calls.
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