Wow, that’s a gripping story! The mix of eerie atmosphere and haunting music really sets a chilling tone. The idea of a decaying theater being the backdrop for supernatural events is intriguing. Thanks for sharing this unsettling narrative!
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Thanks. There is more of this episode coming!
Agent Powers helped Alyssa with her set up as he quietly listened to her orders. He wanted to make sure she had what she needed in order to do her job. He then asked, "What should we order for lunch and dinner since we will be here all day?”
“Let’s wait for everyone to get here before deciding. We might have to order from a few places to meet everyone’s requests. And there’s places in Chicago who deliver here, that should give us a lot more options.” Alyssa responded, as she hit some buttons on the box, went to her laptop, typed and went back to the box.
"Actually, though, what you can do is get delivery from one of the stores. Just get a variety of snacks, I suppose some should be healthy for those that want that. Drinks as well, plates and anything else you can think of. Oh, and go to the front counter to ask if they have a coffee urn that we can use. Two actually. If so, include coffee, tea, cups and anything else necessary for that.”
Agent Powers then nodded as he gave Alyssa a smolder. Then he pulled out his phone and began placing the order at Alyssa’s request. He included a coffee makers, coffee urns, gourmet coffee grounds, Chai tea, Chai coffee, sweeteners, stir sticks, disposable cups with lids, napkins, paper plates, paper bowls, plastic cutlery Sea Salt Veggie Straws chips, assorted nuts, chocolate covered nuts, gummies, chocolate pretzels, fruit, cheese, meat trays, dried fruit and chocolate cover espresso beans. Then he placed the order so it would arrive in a few hours. He gave Alyssa a smolder as he said, "It should be here soon.”
“Thanks,” Alyssa smiled at him, wondering what conglomeration of snacks the man had ordered. “Do you know how to put printer paper into the printer?” She was really trying to figure out jobs he could do while the others were researching.
Agent powers nodded as he replied, “Yeah. If I have trouble I can get the instructions on You-Tube.” He nodded as he smirked.
Alyssa nodded, “Feel free to ask as well, if it’s being particularly stubborn.” YouTube tutorials did a good job explaining stuff, but sometimes printers were the worst piece of tech equipment to deal with.
Alyssa thought for a moment, “Max, can you set out the office supplies from that box,” Pointing out one of the boxes they had brought in. It had a wide variety of various regular office supplies. “This way people have access to them.” She didn’t know why Cassani had thought to include office supplies but might as well use them. A few minutes later, a green light came on the black box. “Good,” Alyssa half muttered to herself. She then went to her laptop and tested the printer. It all seemed to be working perfectly.
Agent Powers did as Alyssa requested as he sorted out the office supplies. Then his phone buzzed on his hip and he stopped to check out the message. He gave his phone a smolder as he read the message. Then he told Alyssa he was getting her order from outside. As he left he saw the drones dropping off the bags on the street before the left quickly. He gave the drones a smolder before he collected the bags and brought them in. He was packing a good 20 bags of merch in both arms as he made his way back to the hotel. Luckily he managed to get into the lobby without any incident and then headed to the meeting room where Alyssa was working. He then began to sort out the stuff he ordered from his phone. He set up the coffee makers and began brewing coffee in them before he sorted out the snacks and other supplies. He also had a few boxes of Starbucks gourmet coffee and chia for everyone next to the coffee pots. From the looks of it Agent Powers would make an excellent caterer. Once he was done setting things up he made himself a cup of good coffee and put in his cream and sugar to sample it. Once he was satisfied he looked at Alyssa and gave her a smolder before saying, "Snack bar is ready.”
“Good, thanks. Did you leave one urn with just water, for people that want tea instead of coffee?” Alyssa asked. “You know if you ever get bored with the bodyguard/chasing down crazy otherworldly things/ agent routine you could go into food services?” She joked.
Agent Powers gave Alyssa a smolder before he replied, "Ummmm okay, (confused expression) I just started making coffee so I haven’t filled the urns up yet. But if you want water in one of them I can do that.”
“I’m full from earlier.” Peter smiled. “What can I do to help, Alyssa?” asked Sartre.
Alyssa looked at Peter, "Do you have a laptop?”
“I’ve got my phone,” Choi confirmed. “It can do most of what a computer can do.”
"I do have a laptop. Probably not as powered as yours. He retrieved his Cassini customized 2012 laptop from his bag and handed it to Alyssa.
Alyssa realized that for what most people did on a computer, Choi’s words were probably true. She nodded at Choi, “Yes, that’s true. Are you skilled in internet based research? Normal website stuff.”
Alyssa raised a brow, when she saw Peter’s laptop. "Well, if Cassini has had her hands on it it’s more powerful than one would expect. Do you, as a consultant for the FBI, have access to their database?”
“I can use search engines like the best of them,” Choi replied with a grin. “And I know enough not to fully trust Wikipedia.”
Alyssa smiled at Choi, “Perfect. I need you to find out the history of the buildings surrounding the theater. Also, find out if there’s a section of Gary or outside of Gary where more affluent people live, but not Chicago.” She paused, “My thought is this, even if he’s a vampire, no Prince or ruler would live in a rundown section of town, so, he must live somewhere else. Also, perhaps an area where the homes might have a decent acreage, because it would be easier to hide in such a place. I don’t want to include Chicago because if Gary is ruled by a Prince, it would make sense if Chicago had its own Prince.” She paused. "And find out what you can about the more affluent area. Who lives there, when houses were last sold, long term residents, etc.”
Choi raised a brow. That was a lot of research. He was more an impulsive action person. Now, the team would certainly see Alyssa at her best. He grinned. We can’t all be Little Hackers, now can we? He thought.
“Will do,” Choi said aloud, like a loyal teammate.
As Choi answered, Dahlia and Ekaterina entered with their own respective laptops. Dahlia’s was easily identifiable, as it had the Star of David on the top.
“Dahlia, I’m going to put you on religious research. Anything you can find out and if anyone has questions of that sort, they can go to you.” She paused. “Ekaterina, I think I can leave you in charge of finding out if there are ley lines in Gary or the surrounding areas and anything unusual in those other areas. The Templar do have a database of such things, I suspect.” Actually, Alyssa knew they did, but how much she knew about the different factions databases was something she preferred to keep to herself. “Now, I sound dictator-like and don’t mean to so if anyone has a problem with their assignment or wants to work on something else let me know. These are just what has to be done and we have hours to work on it.” Alyssa thought for a minute. "Sorry, I know looking at a computer screen all day isn’t everyone’s thing but we need more leads before we can go back into the field.”
Choi began pecking in a search on the buildings around the theater. An article appeared showing the preservation of historical buildings in Gary. The theater was of course the main piece in this article, but it also mentioned the building next to it. The historic Elks Lodge was built in the same time period. It was now being utilized for city government offices.
Dahlia decided her look into Cain had to begin with the beginning. The very beginning. Genesis.
The creation story said that God had made man in his own image. He breathed this image into man and man became a living being. Dahlia knew enough that the Hebrew word used for breath as in breath of life, was also used for wind and spirit. So that image of God was the spirit God had placed within man. The spirit is the housing of this creative source taught in the Kabbalah.
Then came the fall. The evil one tempted Eve through the serpent. He placed within her a thought that she could become as God and pass this on to her children. She ate the forbidden fruit, choosing the lie of the evil one over the truth and guidance of the Creator.
Then came Cain and Abel. Dahlia knew that in ancient Hebrew times, a person’s name often told of their character. This was why certain names were changed: Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel. Cain means to acquire as in a business deal. So, perhaps Cain was one to attempt to gain favor by his own means. Abel means breath or vapor. So, perhaps Abel sought the power God placed within him.
Ekaterina elegantly smiled at Alyssa and replied, “I believe I should be able to find that information.” Then she looked at Agent Powers and elegantly asked him for a coffee with sweetener and creamer. Agent Powers nodded as he prepared it for her the way she wanted it. Then he handed it to her with a smolder. This made Ekaterina smirk as she accepted the coffee and thanked him, then she began looking up the information Alyssa was looking for. She found an old map of several Ley Lines in Indiana and narrowed it down to the section within Gary, Indiana. It was indeed an odd thing to see considering what happened to Gary in today’s time. She then forwarded it to Alyssa then went to work on the unusual events in the area.
Peter looked through his files from the FBI database.
"I do have access to the database, but I don’t think the general database won’t have anything about the Paranormal in it. However; I can look for financial records of this supposed vampire family that acts like the mafia.
Here we go, There are several cryptographically hidden wire transfers of money from Giovanni to Giovanni. It’s as if money is something they had to hold on to, even if it risked exposing their vampiric activity." said Sartre.
Posted by : Cindy
Choi went on to discover that much of the older housing still standing in Gary, were terraced buildings to house workers of the United States Plate and Tin Company, a thriving business in the early 1900s in Gary. They were all designed by the same architect, D. F. Crieghton.
Most of the older buildings around the theater were demolished. The J.C. Penny building, Kresge’s, Sears.
With this information, Choi turned his attention to the homes surrounding Gary. He hoped what he was finding would be helpful.
Dahlia found some interesting material in rabbinical writings. According to some teachers, Cain was not Adam’s son. Cain was the offspring of an unholy union of Eve with the evil one, who seduced her when she sought to become like God. Perhaps, that is what Cain was attempting to acquire: to be like God, instead of being the image of God, like Abel chose.
Alyssa nodded, she grabbed a Coke and sat down in front of her own laptop, and started typing away. She was hacking away, it would take a while but eventually the hacker found a lead, then another, then there it was a database, a highly secured database run by the vampires. It looked like a clan called the Nosferatu ran it. There were more vampires than one might suspect. It looked like, as suspected, the Prince ruled the individual cities and under him or maybe not, was some officer called a Sheriff, though the name didn’t seem familiar. Then each clan had a head - called a primogen. Some Primogen’s had seconds listed, others didn’t. Alyssa wondered why the different clans, what made them different. Some of the clans listed had been the ones mentioned, others she had never heard of. She continued to dig, and more answers came with more questions.
As Ekaterina continued her search into the oddities of Gary, Indiana she found “The Ammons haunting case”, also known as the 200 Demons House or Demon House, is an alleged haunting and demonic possession which occurred in Gary, Indiana in 2011. Latoya Ammons, her mother, Rosa Campbell, and her three children claimed paranormal activity occurred in the residence. The story was publicized in January 2014 and received national attention. In November 2011, Latoya Ammons, her mother, Rosa Campbell, and her three children then ages 7, 9 and 12 moved into a house located at 3860 Carolina Street in Gary, Indiana. Days after the family moved in, they claimed black flies swarmed the porch in December and kept returning even after the family believed they were killed.
Campbell initially heard footsteps in the basement and doors creaking. Later, she alleged to have witnessed a “shadowy figure of a man pacing in the living room” and found a “boot print”. Campbell claimed she was choked by an unknown force. Ammons’ 12-year-old daughter was claimed to have levitated above her bed unconscious during a sleepover with a friend. They were said to have prayed until the girl returned to the bed. The daughter had no memory of the incident. The older son was allegedly thrown across the room by an unknown force. The younger son allegedly had his eyes roll into the back of his head and was growling saying “it’s time to die,” and “I will kill you”. Since no solid evidence was found during the investigation it was blamed on delusions. Later the movie Demon House (2019) was made about this story. Ekaterina sent this information to Alyssa as well.
“Any idea how we can find Prince Modius?” asked Sartre.
“Working on it,” Alyssa responded. "I’ve gotten into the vampire database. I’ve found him but there’s an extra layer of encryption on his information.”
Choi advised Sartre that he was now investigating housing developments around Gary where someone in power could pass unnoticed. He was searching. Many of the places that showed were not in Gary proper. There was Cressmore Estates in Hobart, Bauer Farm in Portage, The Gates in St. John, and Park Ridge in Hebron.
Choi voiced these high-end developments in towns around Gary. “Anything coming up in Gary seems to be apartments,” he reported.
Dahlia turned her attention toward the mark the Creator placed upon Cain. Many had thought that this was as judgment. So, they came up with the idea that Cain had horns from this time or that his skin was darkened. She considered this nonsense. The text literally says the mark was for Cain’s protection, so others would not take revenge. Some thought it was a dog to protect Cain. Others feel that God’s name marked Cain’s head or arm. Others said that Cain shook violently and had tremors, which would be understandable if he were demon possessed. As a child of Satan, Cain would have been the first of the Nephilim.
Agent Powers quietly listened to everyone working and chatting about their findings as he was making coffee to fill the urn. The other one had hot water in it for tea or cocoa. He felt a bit out of place since he was bad at research and crime solving. So other than providing snacks and moving stuff around he was feeling a lot like the odd man out, but he kept quiet and just gave a smolder when he had trouble expressing himself.
Alyssa stretched and looked up from her laptop, “Max, I think we can order lunch soon. Just go ahead and get whatever everyone wants.”
She felt bad for him, surely he was bored just sitting around, but Alyssa just couldn’t think of anything more for the man to do.
Agent Powers then had everyone text him what they wanted and he began ordering the food from Chicago since the quality was better. He had to cater to everyone’s tastes and since money was not an issue due to his enormous allowance/funding from his father. Once he got everyone’s orders he began placing the orders for all the meals and drinks. Ekaterina also had Agent Powers order her some Kosher wines as well for later on. Agent Powers figured it was for Ekaterina and Dahlia later on. Once he was done he went back to checking his messages.
Dahlia took a break before she would start to look into Cain’s punishment. She walked over and got a small dish of nuts, some chocolate covered coffee beans, and a cup of coffee. All of course were kosher.
“Thank you, Max,” she said. “I appreciate the support you are providing us.”
She was beginning to think the clans were considering themselves from the line of Cain. Dahlia realized that was impossible, for Cain’s line ended with the flood. Perhaps, it was their philosophy to acquire the place of a god.
As Agent powers was checking his messages with his father he began to have a few thoughts related to the clans. He looked at Princess Ekaterina and gave her a smolder before asking her, “Hey Princess, how did clans start? Like in history of clans.”
Ekaterina elegantly turned and smiled at Agent Powers and replied, “Well Mr. Powers the concept of clans dates back to the 12th century and has existed in every country. The word “clan” comes from the Gaelic word clan, which means “children”. Clans were originally extended family groups, with most members being blood relatives and descendants of a common ancestor.”
Agent Powers rubbed his chin and then asked, “So everyone in the clan are related in some way?”
Ekaterina shrugged a bit and replied, “Well in the beginning yes but, not everyone in a clan was related as time progressed, and some men joined clans by swearing allegiance to a chieftain in exchange for protection or work. Clans were usually associated with specific areas of the country, and the clan chief acted as a leader, judge, and protector for the people who lived there. Why do you ask Mr. Powers?”
Agent Powers rubbed his chin then replied, “Well I was wondering if these vampire clans were related to the Cain and Abel guys. Maybe they were like their kids or something?”
Ekaterina smiled at Agent Powers as she replied, “Well definitely not Abel since he was killed by Cain, but we could look into Cain having children.”
Agent Powers then said, “Well from the games and movies I have seen don’t vampires call the one who they turn into a vampire a child?”
Ekaterina then asked Dahlia, "What do you think, Dahlia?”
“Well,” Dahlia doubtfully began, “Cain did have descendants. However, many believe his line ended with Noah’s flood. However, the prophet Jeremiah speaks of the Kenites, a nomadic tribe in the Sinaí Peninsula. The name is the same.” Suddenly Dahlia’s eyes brightened. “Nod! The Land of Nod was Cain’s punishment. He was banished to the Land of Nod. Nod means vagrancy or homelessness. So, Cain was cursed to be restless. He was a nomad. But how could Cain have someone alive after the flood?” She was speaking her thoughts aloud, trying to process the information.
Choi thought her argument sounded good. When her face lit up, he was impressed. She was more than beauty. She had intelligence.
“Unless,” Dahlia continued, “…the only way Cain’s children could be alive is if Noah or one of his sons had married a daughter of Cain.”
Dahlia had thought she was near the end of her research. Now, she quickly returned to her laptop, snacks and coffee in hand. She enthusiastically began typing thoughts as she sought answers.
Choi shook his head. Dahlia seemed to have really dug for information, having to think things through. It was quite impressive.
Alyssa was grateful, and a little impressed at the knowledge the others had and were gaining. She listened without comment, while typing away.
The first layer of encryption had been difficult to crack but the second layer was almost impossible, she had to admit the Nosferatu were very good with tech. Almost however difficult didn’t mean impossible, nothing was completely impossible to crack. “I got in,” she exclaimed, forgetting, for a split second, anyone else was in the room with her, then wanting to shrink in her chair for the outburst. The white house? Huh? No address, just the white house? Of course, it might be a code. Or she did some more digging. "Yeong, did you come across any homeowners by the name of White or Albus?”
Choi was limited as to what he could do with his phone. He could Goggle something and find information, but he was no hacker.
He Googled Albus White and he got a few hits, nothing on any person of interest. He frowned, “Hmm…Albus is a white flower and there is a wine called Albus Bianca or Albus Blanc. I’m not getting anything on a person. Let me try public records of home ownership. That should be available without hacking, shouldn’t it?”
Dahlia brightened up once more. She had found a reference in the Book of Jasher in the Apocrypha, where Noah was as was his wife Naamah, the daughter of Enoch. Enoch was a name listed in both lines of Adam and Cain, however, the only place Naamah was listed was in the seed-line of Cain. She was the daughter of Lamech and the twin sister of Tubal-Cain. Things were beginning to make sense to her. From Noah, both the lines of Adam and of Cain survived.
“It is interesting,” Choi added, “there is a White County southeast of Gary, along Interstate 65.”
“Maybe, the files on the Prince only say white house. I mean it could just be a white house but I think there must be more to it. I mean that doesn’t limit it.” Alyssa then asked, "Is there a more affluent area in White County?”
Choi’s eyes widened in surprise, finding a home in Monticello, White County, Indiana, that had sold for $5.2 million. The address was 7332 NE Shafer Drive. He showed the others.
“Those look like a castle,” he said. “Anyone have a charger? My phone is down to ten percent.”
Monticello, Alyssa started looking for a connection between that area and the Prince.
“Yeah, I have a few in my bag,” Alyssa stated, as if it was common to just walk around with various chargers. She got up and got her bag, put it on the table next to her laptop and opened it. "Let me see your phone for a minute.”
Choi handed the phone to Alyssa. “Not sure it is useful. Monticello is an hour and a half outside of Gary, but that home is something a prince would be comfortable in.”
Alyssa looked at her phone, and dug into her bag. She pulled out two cords, then a third and it fit. “Here,” handing him back his phone with the cord. As for the house, “Yeah, it seems a bit far and that might run into someone else’s jurisdictions. Maybe, it is just a white house. Maybe look for any houses closer to Gary that might fit?” Alyssa didn’t know. "Or maybe they just mean white house as in a big spacious home that can also hold offices - like the actual White House” She then stared at her computer for several moments. “Is there a town or area called Herbon? Apparently, White House is some kind of code.”
“Yes!” Choi exclaimed. “There was a development called Park Ridge in Hebron that I came across.”
“Look for estates, maybe a horse farm, in that area.” Alyssa said.
“Hmmm,” Choi was really trying, “1828 Norman Blvd, Park Ridge. 3,600 square foot. 1.75 mil. And get this, it’s a white house. Do you think? Another white house, 109 Murphy Lake Road. It’s 5,500 square feet and worth 2.5 mil.”
“Those definitely sound like good leads. Let me dig a little more on those addresses.” Alyssa focused back on her laptop.
Dahlia had established that Cain’s line had survived the flood. That explained the Kenites and the Nephilim after the Great deluge.
So, who were the Kenites. Dahlia was surprised that Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenites. Further study showed them to be great metalworkers and musicians. During David’s time, the were incorporated into the tribe of Judah, though they were not true Jews. Why hadn’t she been aware of this.
She swallowed hard, then said, “So, the Kenites were absorbed into the tribe of Judah and recognized as Jews. They had always been allies to Israel from the time of Moses.”
Inwardly, she wondered if she would need to fight her own here. She had never had to kill a Jew before.
Alyssa looked up as Dahlia spoke, the religious information was important. It felt as if they more the knew about the vampires, from all angles, the better equipped they’d be to deal with them.
Suddenly, the hacker started typing quickly, more typing and then “Bingo. We got ourselves a Prince or well the house of a Prince. 15810 County Line Rd, Hebron.”
She flipped her computer screen around, so, everyone could see the image.
Choi had to admit, the Little Hacker was better at this than he. He grinned. “We’re in business.”
Dahlia looked to Ekaterina. “Hace you found anything more?”
She sipped her coffee. Inside, she hoped that the line of Cain had become diluted and not so Jewish with the way Vampires added to their line.
“When should we visit Prince Modius, Alyssa? Obviously after dark,” said Sartre.
Ekaterina seemed a bit confused by what she found. She then replied, “Well this is a bit odd. The number of homicides recorded is rather low but the number of accidents is very high. Either this information is bizarre or someone is changing it to cover up.”
Alyssa gave a small nod, “We need a game plan to visit the Prince. His house is in the middle of nowhere. I’m doubting there isn’t a great deal of security around the property. A fence and locked gate, perhaps guards - so how do we get in?” Alyssa asked.
When Ekaterina spoke, that was surprising, then again. "Accidents are easy to account for, in an area where so many buildings are run down. Homicides, not as much.”
Choi shook his head. “I do not think that we should go at night. We should go when the sun is blazing, leaving no activity of vampires.”
Dahlia looked at Yeong. “I think I agree with Choi. We go in with a home improvement or decorative professionals as a cover.”
Agent Powers turned and looked at the others with a smolder before he asked, “Does anyone here actually know anything about home improvement?” Ekaterina smirked as she replied, "I usually hire the professionals for that stuff.”
“Don’t need to,” Choi replied. “We’re just their to take measurements and pictures to prepare an estimate.”
Agent Powers rubbed his chin and then asked, "Okay so who is going in the home? Keep in mind we may be fighting vampires.”
“If we go in the daytime, it won’t matter,” Choi expressed.
Agent Powers shrugged as he replied, with a smolder "I hope so. But remember that guy vampire I mentioned before? He came out before sun down. I mean he was dressed in dessert clothing and a mask, but the sun did hit him and he didn’t turn to fire. I’m just saying maybe the movies got some details wrong about vampires so we should be careful.”
“Yes, good point Max. We really don’t know what we’re dealing with or how to fight them. We only know what the stories say and those vary, from what I understand.” Alyssa said, “Also, in the database there were vampires listed but also ghouls, and from what I found out ghouls are like half/vampires - half/humans, if vampires are susceptible to the sun, they might not be.” She paused, "Let’s go during the day, but be fully prepared. For that we need to know ■■■■■■■■■■■ them.”
Dahlia, or Azrael as she is called by those who use her services in the Mossad, had already researched this. Since she was an assassin, it may prove useful.
“We must destroy the heart, decapitate the head, or use fire,” she replied. “Crucifix’s, holy water, and garlic have no effect, contrary to popular belief.”
Agent Powers sighed as he pulled out a rather large golden 12 gauge shotgun slug with a clear bullet casing and gave the team a smolder. He then replied, "This bad boy is made Holy water, clover leaf, silver shavings, white oak, liquid silver, white phosphorus… and a few secret ingredients I can’t share. My father had them made for me to use on the supernatural beings if needed. However that vampire dude I mentioned was very fast and could somehow dodge bullets while killing his enemies so keep in mind if he was a vampire it will be a tough fight.”
Choi tightened his lips. “That might only work if you hit the heart and destroy it. It’s good that I brought my gao.”
“Did you bring an extra?” Dahlia inquired with a grin. “I’d hate to have to order a flame thrower.”
Ekaterina giggled and elegantly replied, "Oh dear I hope you are not trying to burn the house down with that.”
Alyssa glanced around the room. "I believe there are people on the team better equipped for this job than myself. I’ll run back up in the van. I can wire anyone who might want that.”
Agent Power then gave Choi a smolder as he said, "Maybe we should text your partner Sung in case he can get free to help us out.”
Choi texted Sung and Eun-Ji with updates. “I’m sure Master Sung will appear whenever we most need him.”
“Well, we can go today as we have a few hours of daylight left or wait until tomorrow morning. If we wait until tomorrow we can finish anything anyone is working on. Also, we still have lunch coming.” Alyssa just thought tomorrow, after breakfast, would give them more hours.
“A place that big will take a good while to investigate,” Dahlia observed. “If we do not want to run into the evening hours, then I suggest going in early tomorrow morning.”
Choi nodded in agreement. He could carry his gao into the premise within its case. This would be a precaution to meeting any evil creatures within the building. The case would preserve detection from nosey neighbors.
Posted by : Cindy
Being there seemed to be an agreement to go tomorrow morning. Alyssa went back to work. She seemed to find something interesting, then said. “Elder Prince Graff, The Undying, that’s his title. He was the Prince of Detroit. The city has been without a Prince since 2020 and is more than likely an anarch free state.” Alyssa read outloud. "I’m not sure why that information is in here. Anarch free state? I guess that means it’s a form of anarchism - as in it without a ruling body.”
“Maybe the Anarchs were chased from the state of Michigan?” Choi queried, trying to put it into the context of the known clans.
“Alyssa,” Dahlia was about to bring a suggestion, “you are a hacker, correct? Could you hack into any security system that the home may have? This could get us in and out without any alarms going off.”
Agent Powers gave the team a smolder before he replied, “Maybe Anarchs is the name for the gang of vampires that don’t belong to any of the clans. I have had to deal with gang members in the past.”
“So,” Dahlia interjected, “since you have more experience in facing vampires, what do you suggest?”
Dahlia recognized that the man might give some pertinent information. Anything would be useful to the team.
“It would be best to wait until tomorrow morning, that way we can perhaps figure out some more information.” said Sartre.
Agent Powers gave Dahlia a smolder before he replied, “Well I recommend sticking to the consistent information such as fire, sunlight and beheading if possible. The stake to the heart has a good chance of working, but I doubt anyone will stand still long enough to let us stab their heart and it’s debatable on what material is best used to destroy their heart other than fire. We can blast holes in the house in the daytime to bring in daylight. We can use white phosphorus shotgun bullets for massive fire damage and of course blades for beheading IF you get a chance. However this is just my gut instinct on this, but that ass-mite vampire was really fast and able to dodge bullets. If each clan has a different super power we will have to quickly change the hand to hand combat part.”
Choi looked to Alyssa. “So what do you think, Little Hacker? Can you hack the security system?”
A grin came to Alyssa’s lips, “Of course, I can.” And she wasn’t just bragging, she knew she could. “Now, to just find out about it.” The hacker went back to work but this time checking out the Prince’s estate.
Choi grinned in return. “It sounds like we have a good plan then.”
Dahlia added, “Agent Powers, that’s good ammo. The phosphorus will become fire with the holy water making it more intense. Alyssa will take care of the security system, Choi will have a sword, Kat will have her minions, and I will provide the fire. I’m sure you have something useful too, Agent Sartre.”
Sartre asked, "Wouldn’t it be possible if we just perhaps knocked on the door and respectfully asked to speak to the prince? Alyssa; can you find out what clan he is?”
“You want to knock on the door of a vampire that we aren’t supposed to know is a vampire and ask to speak to the Prince. Or I’m assuming they would be far more noticeable if we were supposed to know they existed. What are you going to say to him, if the response is yes?” Alyssa asked.
Ekaterina smirked as she replied, "And I suppose they would simply invite us in for tea and crumpets.”
“Wait,” Choi responded. At first he wanted to dismiss the suggestion, just because it was Sartre. He loved to get under the guys skin, as thick as it was. But this time, Yeong saw some sense in it. He looked at Ekaterina and said, “What if a princess were to arrive to acknowledge a prince? We could be her entourage.”
Dahlia looked at Choi. “No! No! No!” She was shaking her head back and forth. “That is not a good idea. I’m not endangering my teammate for a fool scheme as that.”
“Dahlia,” Choi calmly explained, “we will all be with her. We will have the Princess’ back.”
“Would you put your partner into this type of danger?” Dahlia asked.
“What partner?” Choi flatly expressed. “Oh, you mean Eun-Ji, Miss Solo. She would have to be here to do that, as well as be a princess, but yes, knowing we would be there for her support.”
“I don’t think its that kind of Prince anyway. It seems to be more of a political title, like mayor than a birth right title and once again, we’re not supposed to know they exist. The dates for the Prince being Prince, and by the way Peter the Prince is a Ventrue, whatever that is, certainly don’t line up with it being a birthright, it also states, “Put in place by the Elders”. I have a feeling we don’t want to know much more about the Elders if they gave the Prince his position.” Realizing she was veering off, Alyssa of course corrected. “Nosfartu seem to be in charge of the database. I would bet that if they knew the base had been breached by a human, one of them might talk and might be able to get us in to see the Prince. Getting a message to them, that I can easily do.” Just a little blackmail, nothing too bad.
Sartre used his profiling ability slightly. “Correction Agent Wilson.” He smirked at the hacker. "The Prince is a Toreador. They seem to have an affinity for the fine arts.”
Alyssa had looked at the information quickly, so, she looked again, and nodded. "Ok, Peter, you’re right. He’s a Toreador. " Someone else in the info was a Ventrue, not that it mattered.
“Toreador as in a bullfighter or the song on Five Nights at Freddy’s?” Choi asked.
Agent Powers cocked his head to the side as Sartre revealed the Prince’s clan. He wondered how in the world he managed to pull that info, since he didn’t know it earlier. He figured it was one of the many secrets he had. Over time Agent Powers managed to figure out his fellow Illuminati members as well the Dragons and Templars had many secrets they kept quiet about. Of course he was no different with his slime body. He then replied, "Isn’t the bullfighter call a “Matador” and the “Five Nights At Freddy’s” song called “Toreador March”? Well I can see how they get mixed up.”
Ekaterina elegantly looked at Agent Powers with a smirk as she replied, “Mr. Powers, you seem to be quite knowledgeable about such things?”
Agent Powers gave Ekaterina a smolder and then replied, “Ummm just on some current things. I had to fight a few bulls in my time and I learned about the whole Freddy media in my down time between missions.”
Ekaterina elegantly smirked and then said, "So now that we have more information on the vampires, what is our game plan?”
“A matador,” Dahlia explained, “fights bulls from the ground, whereas a toreador fights on horseback.”
“No don’t believe they would set up an interview,” Choi discussed. “I think they would be suspicious of someone contacting them requesting an interview with a vampire.”
Dahlia chuckled at the movie title drop. “We should hack security and go in unannounced during the day.”
“These vampires seem to have stability and laws. I say we talk to them.” said Sartre. "What would you recommend Alyssa?”
Alyssa was about to throw her hands up, hadn’t already said her preferences? “I don’t think you’ll get past the front gate if you just walk up the Prince’s estate and ask to speak with him. I don’t think anyone in power would talk to any of us, having no idea who we are. We need an in if we’re going in that direction. So, we either sneak in or go through some kind of channel.” Alyssa responded.
Agent Powers sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. Ekaterina elegantly looked at him and asked, “Something wrong Mr. Powers?”
He gave her a smolder and replied, “Well this whole thing is getting complicated.”
Ekaterina asked, “What do you mean?”
Agent Powers then replied, “Well think about it. We are trespassing on vampire territory, hacking their computers, planning to kill them in many ways and debating on setting up a meeting with them. If it was the drug cartel they would shoot first and talk afterwards. I can’t see the vampires being much different than the cartel. From my perspective there is a ten percent chance of this ending peacefully and ninety percent in violence.”
Ekaterina smirked as she replied, "Indeed that is a lot to take in.”
Choi was glad Alyssa thought as he and Dahlia did. Powers didn’t exactly say which way he was leaning. It almost sounded as if Powers was thinking they should leave it alone.
“Which is why we should go in as Dahlia said. Well, I originally said it, but almost gave in to Sartre’s thoughts.” Choi shook his head not believing that he had momentarily agreed with the man. “So, tomorrow morning?”
“So we sneak in during the day time.” Wouldn’t he be sleeping? They can’t be anywhere around sunlight. How can we talk to him if he’s asleep? Alyssa, can you look up Toreador?" asked Sartre.
Agent Powers rolled his eyes up as he replied, "Well they may have the ghouls or half vampires as bodyguards during the daytime while they are sleeping. It would not make sense that they would drop their guard like that.”
“You are right. How do we wake him up?” asked Sartre.
Alyssa shook her head, as she stared at her laptop screen, she knew she could get them a meeting with the Prince but her idea seemed to be shot down. "So, we are going to talk to the Prince? I doubt we’ll get a chance to wake him. We might have to go with Peter’s idea and wait until the evening. Even if I get past the security system there’s guards and dogs, big dogs, I have no way to deal with them. There’d be a lot of bloodshed, then we really aren’t likely to get to speak to the Prince.”
Choi palmed his face and stretched out in the chair. “Who says we want to talk; we’re looking for clues. Something that tells us who’s responsible for the attack at the theater. By the way, did Eun-Ji or Marina pass on info on their meeting yesterday?”
Ekaterina pondered as she rubbed her chin then elegantly replied, "If you are adamant on meeting the Prince. You can send them an email and tell them to meet you at a park tomorrow night, so we can set up some security in advance.”
“If you don’t want to talk to him, why did you bring up waking up the Prince?” Alyssa asked, as that part made no sense. "So, maybe we should decide what we are doing with the Prince before we decide when we’re going because no one seems to be on the same page. I’m not the one going in, so, it’s really on the rest of you to decide.”
Agent Powers seemed stressed out about the whole topic then he put his hands up as he said, "Alright it looks like we have two options on this. First we can wake up early and storm the Prince’s home which is probably well guarded and has hidden rooms. Or Second we can send them a message to meet at a secure location during the night where we can have eyes everywhere but they are stronger at night. I don’t like either one but I will do what needs to be done. If we do the first choice I’ll break the door down and wreck the place. If we go with the second choice I’ll meet the vampires and hold a monitor or speaker so one of you can talk to them. This way Alyssa is out of the line of fire.”
“Ohh, I want to talk to him.” said Sartre.”
Ekaterina elegantly smiled and replied, “Well then shall we take a vote on which option we prefer? I myself prefer the second option since I can have eyes set up everywhere in advance to reduce the odds of an ambush. What do you prefer, Mr. Powers?” Agent Powers shrugged as he replied, "The second option involves less risk so I prefer it.”
“We can sneak in. Alyssa, can you find out what a Toreador is?” asked Sartre.
“I…” Alyssa was getting a headache from all of this, why did Peter suddenly change his mind? Why was Max willing to meet with the vampires alone? Why… ugh. "Yeah. … there’s not exactly a description of the different clans in the Nosferatu database. Let me look at a few other things.”
“Let’s let Alyssa have the final decision on what we do, she’s the most logical and analytical.” said Sartre.
“I already said, I’m not deciding. I’m not going in or talking to them, it’s up to the rest of you.” Really, between her idea being shot down, and the group constantly changing its mind it was beyond annoying. "Maybe, we should find out more about them, if we can’t make a decision.”
“Good idea, see if you can find some sort of channels we can go through on the internet with your hacking skills,” said Sartre.
Alyssa stood up, wanting to scream, but somehow didn’t. She had already mentioned going through the Nosfartu, i.e. channels. “You know what…” She breathed deeply, and actually decided against what she was going to say. “I’m going to get some air…lunch should be here soon anyway.” She left the room, let them argue amongst themselves, the hacker had had enough.
Choi grinned. “Mr. Sartre,” he expressed, “did anyone ever tell you that you would make an excellent Dragon. You’ve definitely created a lot of chaos here today.” He audibly chuckled, as he typed a text.
Dahlia chuckled to as she received Choi’s text: Dinner tonight? She quickly texted back in the affirmative. This meeting was definitely not the order with which she was familiar.
Dahlia turned to Ekaterina, saying, “What do you think, Kat?”
Posted by : Cindy
In the chip: "Sorry about that. " said Sartre.
Ekaterina elegantly smiled at Dahlia as she replied, “That is a good question. I mean either way we will be facing the danger of vampires if they feel threatened by us.” Ekaterina looked at Agent Powers and asked, “Mr. Powers, why did you volunteer to face the vampires alone? Did you have some kind of plan?”
Agent Powers gave Ekaterina a smolder before he replied, “Not really. I figured I had the best odds of fighting them in hand to hand till I got back up if things got violent. My main reason was to protect Alyssa from combat since that is my main mission from my father.”
Ekaterina replied, “Oh my… are you not afraid of dying Mr. Powers by being so reckless?”
Agent Powers cocked his head to the side with a puzzled expression on his face as he replied, “Not really. The only difference now is I have teammates to protect. Normally I am alone facing an army of drug dealers or corrupt soldiers. Anyway I don’t really care which option we choose since both of them have a high risk either way.”
Ekaterina was a bit shocked by Agent Powers’ perspective as she wondered why he was raised to think of himself as expendable. She asked him, “Do you ever worry about living such a violent lifestyle Mr. Powers?”
Agent Powers shrugged as he replied, “The day my father sends me to hunt a new target down is probably the most important day of their life, but for me, it’s just another day of the week.”
Ekaterina dropped her jaw by Agent Powers comment. She was not sure if that was a joke or not.
When lunch arrived, Dahlia got herself some salad and fruit. She added a cup full of the nuts left over from the snack. She drank flavored water. Afterwards, Dahlia would have another cup of black coffee.
Choi grabbed half a hoagie and some chips. He also got some more chai.
Alyssa didn’t respond to Peter, she was busy getting the food delivered into the meeting room. Once the delivery was done, she took some food and sat down. Chips, a sub, and a soda. She said nothing as the others ate and talked.
Agent Powers was helping with handing out the food before he got his own. He gave Princess Ekaterina a Chicken Caesar Salad and a fruity flavored water bottle. She thanked him for being a gentleman and he gave her a smolder before he nodded and then served himself. Agent Powers had four footlong subway sandwiches fully loaded with meat and vegetables. He also had four energy drinks and a family size bag of Doritos next to the sandwiches. It was a bit shocking how easily ate his food without any chocking or discomfort. He ate in silence as he checked his phone messages and replied to them. They were mostly from his father since he was the only one outside the team who would contact him.
Princess Ekaterina elegantly ate her food as she noticed the awkward atmosphere. Since she didn’t want to make it worse she kept her thoughts to herself for the time being.
Choi texted Alyssa: Sorry Little Hacker! Things got out of order there.
Choi took a bite of his sandwich, then began to research fine dining restaurants in the area. There were not many choices available, which caused some more frustration.
Dahlia stated, “Might I suggest we proceed using Robert’s Rule of Order? That way, things would be more manageable.”
Alyssa glanced up at Dahlia’s idea, “That certainly sounds better than this - what that was that happened a few minutes ago.” Into her phone, she texted Choi, “It’s fine. I don’t like that much disorder.” Into her chip, to Peter she said, "It’s alright, you can make it up to me later.”
“Motion to sneak in, waiting for a second to start discussion before vote,” said Sartre.
“First,” Dahlia commented to the group, “we must elect a chair. Any motions?”
“I choose Alyssa.” Sartre said.
Dahlia nodded toward Sartre, then turned to Alyssa. “Any seconds?”
Alyssa wasn’t surprised that Sartre nominated her, he did seem to be her cheerleader, in a sense. Of course, now that made more sense than before. She however was not going to second herself, that was not how things were done. If the rest wanted her in that position, someone else would second it.
Of those in the room, Choi only thought of two who could lead meetings. That didn’t mean they would be able to lead the entry into the house, but meetings, yes.
It wasn’t Sartre or Powers, whom by all appearances were the oldest in the rooms. That was ironic.
The Princess he didn’t know brought about yet. Although, as a Templar, she would be orderly.
He was good in a fight, but not in meetings. So, Choi did not see himself as leading a meeting.
That left Alyssa and Dahlia. Alyssa was good with research and hacking. However, Dahlia seemed to know more in order. So, that was Choi’s choice. Not that he didn’t want Alyssa to lead, he just thought Dahlia would handle things better.
“I nominate Dahlia,” he spoke demonstrating a sense of control. “As a Templar, she knows order.”
Dahlia was quick to reply, “Table that nomination. Do we have a second on the first nomination for Alyssa?”
Alyssa didn’t know what to say to that, she had stepped up to lead the group when no one else had, and she didn’t think it had been a bad job, but the hacker hadn’t exactly wanted the position. However, she thought Choi’s impression wasn’t correct, yes, the Templars had order but so did the Illuminati, their meetings were run like business meetings. And the Templars were the newest to the group, she couldn’t ding Dahlia on the lack of impartiality that would likely be there as they all had that. And then the time ticked with no second, well maybe Peter was the only one who wanted her to have the job. She wasn’t even certain why that bothered her as much as it did, well Alyssa decided to give it a little longer. But figured with Choi nominating Dahlia and Max perhaps not understanding the rules but not saying anything, it was a done deal, as Ekaterina was sure to pick Dahlia. "Dahlia, do you want the position?”
Agent Powers gave Alyssa a smolder then communicated to her via their chip, "Hey Alyssa if you want to be in charge I will support you, but if not l will back off.”
She responded into the chip to Max, "If you want to then just say out loud that you second the motion for me to be the chair. It just means that you agree with that idea.”
Agent Powers looked puzzled then gave Alyssa another smolder before he communicated to her via their chip, "I don’t get these rules you are talking about, so that is why I am asking you if you want to be in charge of this stuff. So what do you want?”
“Yes. I’ll be in charge if others want that but if you don’t say, outloud that you second it, you asking me that question won’t matter.” Alyssa tried to explain to Max, in the chip. "Me being the Chair has to be voted on, that won’t happen unless someone seconds it.”
Then Agent Power gave the group a smolder and said, “I second Alyssa being the chair.” He then nodded before he drank a cup of coffee.
“Okay,” Dahlia acknowledged, “we have a second for Alyssa as the chairperson.”
She took in a breath, not wanting to be controversial. “I believe we also have a motion for myself to be chair. Is there a second?”
Princess Ekaterina elegantly smiled and replied, “I second for Dahlia.” She smiled at Dahlia as she had her back.
“Well, now we have an issue, because neither Sung or Eun-Ji are here, we will end up in a tie.” Alyssa said.
“Fine,” Dahlia responded. “We have two candidates for chairperson. Any other nominee?” She paused momentarily. “If there are no other nominees, those in favor of Alyssa being chair, say aye.”
“Aye.” said Sartre.
Agent powers scratched his head for a moment as he was thinking on the topic of leaders then he gave the team a smolder and asked, “Wait??? Is this for the leader of team on everything? Or just the meeting part? If its just for the meeting part who will be the leader for the combat part?” Agent powers was a bit confused by all this.
Dahli sighed. “This is for the meeting. The chair is the one who keeps the meetings going in an orderly fashion.” She paused again. “Anymore ayes?”
Agent Powers was confused then replied, "Umm Aye for Alyssa.”
Dahlia eyed Alyssa, wondering if she were going to vote as well. It wouldn’t be unprecedented. It was allowed.
“Aye, for myself.” Alyssa knew in this situation that it was fine to do that but it felt weird.
Dahlia nodded. “That’s three Ayes for Allyssa. Those in favor of me being the Chair, say aye.”
Choi quickly said, “Aye!”
Ekaterina elegantly replied, "Aye.”
“That’s three votes for Alyssa and two for me,” Dahlia announced. “Congratulations Alyssa!”
“Wait a minute,” Choi protested! “You didn’t vote!”
“The chair usually does not vote unless there’s is a tie,” Dahlia explained. “That’s the way of order. Alyssa,” she announced, “please proceed.”
Alyssa thought back to what she knew of Robert’s Rules or Order. What Dahlia said was sort of correct, sort of. The chair does vote if there’s a tie and breaks it, but if the vote will lead to a tie if they vote they can also vote, it just negates the motion. However, in this case it would have ended up in a tie, maybe Dahlia was trying to avoid that. Maybe, she didn’t know, which was unlikely, but by not voting she had, in a sense, voted. “Thank you Dahlia for organizing all of that. Alright then, let me remember how this goes. First though, we are a small group,therefore, the rules don’t have to be followed as they would for larger groups but I will still maintain order. So, first, if everyone’s settled I’d like to call the meeting to order. Which does not need a second, so, normally this would go reading of the minutes, and then officers, committee chairs giving their reports, obviously skipping those. Just to be clear, what we do regards to the vampires will fall under new business and its our first meeting, but just for kicks, any old business?” There really shouldn’t be any but she was trying to give a little demonstration of how it goes for Max’s sake.
Agent Powers quietly ate his sandwiches and drank his flavored water as he listened to the confusing conversation. He didn’t want to look any more foolish so he kept quiet as he ate. Ekaterina on the other hand elegantly smiled as she listened to Alyssa now that she was in charge of the meeting.
Dahlia nodded at Alyssa’s comment of thanks. Maybe now they could get down to business. She could have voted and if Choi would have pushed the issue, she would have voted, but for Alyssa. Her sole purpose was to stress order in these meetings, not necessarily lead them. It was the efficient way to get things done and decided.
Although disappointed that Dahlia had not won the vote, Choi was happy that the meeting was progressing. He had always liked working alongside Alyssa, so wasn’t terribly upset that she had won the vote.
“I believe we had a motion out of order a little while ago,” he stated. “So, at this time, I motion that we enter the home in daylight hours, not to destroy the home, but to simply investigate for clues concerning our mission.”
“Seconded.” said Sartre.
“Alright, then we’ll have a motion and a second to enter the Prince’s home in daylight and search for clues. Before we vote on that does anyone have anything to discuss regarding that motion?” Alyssa asked, then added. "Just raise your hands and everyone will get a chance to speak.”
Posted by : Cindy
It was Dahlia who first raised her hand, appreciative of the newly formed order. Whenever Alyssa recognized her, she queried, “Will we all be searching the same areas or splitting up as we did at the theater?”
She realized that there was strength in numbers. However, the could search the home quicker by splitting up. It may not be a good idea for her and Choi to be on the same team if they chose to split with his expertise of the blade and she being able to tap into the creative source’s judgment by utilizing the Kabbalah.
Alyssa recognized Dahlia, it was a good question. "Anyone want to add anything in regards to splitting up or staying together when we investigate the house?”
“Things seem to always end badly when groups split up,” said Sartre.
“Might I remind you,” Choi expressed, a confused look upon his face, “that we were all together when we faced an army of skeletons, a lich, and some kind of demonic guy named Stephen when we were all together last mission?”
Agent Powers ate another foot long sandwich as he listened to the others talk in that weird way. It sounded like they were in one of the public school anime shows he liked to watch on his down time. It looked like Alyssa was the teacher and the rest were the students. Of course he was only comparing it to tv shows since he was homeschooled with a private tutor. To make things worse he was a “C” student at best, so this was a big transition for him to work with people smarter than himself. So to avoid looking dumb he would often stay quiet. He looked around and just ate food and drank a beverage.
Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she asked, "I take we will be facing trouble regardless?”
Dahlia raised a hand and waited to be acknowledged by Alyssa. When she was, Dahlia gave some input.
“Most likely, yes, we will run into difficulties. This is why I ask: the place looks spacious, but will all of us in one place cause us to get in the way of each other’s attacks? The last thing I want is friendly fire, like what happened to Agent Choi’s arm last mission.”
“I’m for splitting after people think that will work best, and there’s no certainty that we will run into any trouble.” said Sartre. I vote for splitting up. “Alyssa; can you call for the vote?” he asked.
“First, does anyone have anything else to say regarding the proposal on the floor to split up or stay together?” Alyssa wanted to make sure everyone was heard from. If no one else spoke up, she’d call for a vote.
Ekaterina elegantly shook her head no and Agent Powers shook his head no with a mouth full of sandwich.
“I vote yes,” said Sartre.
“Peter, please,” Alyssa calmly spoke, “we all decided to go with the rules of order, I’ve modified them somewhat but a vote has not been called yet.” Wondering why he was so impatient sometimes. "If there’s no more discussion we’ll call for a vote.“All those in favor of going into the house to search for clues, vote “Aye”.” That had to come before voting whether to split up or not
Choi and Dahlia both replied, “Aye!”
Ekaterina elegantly smiled and replied, “Aye.” Then she looked at Agent Powers and smiled elegantly as she asked, “So Mr. Powers where do you stand on the vote?” Agent Powers was not sure sure he was voting on but since everyone said “Aye” he decided to agree with them and nodded as he swallowed his food and said, “Aye.” Then he took another bite to keep from having to speak more.
Choi couldn’t resist teasing Powers. It was obvious he wasn’t sure what was going on.
“Which eye, Powers,” he said, “the right or the left?”
Sung had a feeling he had to make this meeting walking in late. He had a box of donuts, a box of bagels, coffee, and orange juice. “Sorry, all the traffic was bad.” Sung apologized with a smile.
Agent Powers pondered Choi’s question for a moment as he gave him a smolder but before he could answer he Sung coming in late with snacks in tow. He replied, “Sweet more snacks. Over here Sung.” Agent Powers pointed at the area where the food and drinks were at.
Choi chuckled as he responded, “Just messing with you, Powers.”
Powers was strange from the first encounter with the shadow. He was the oldest in the room, except now for Sung, yet his behavior seemed to be from a younger person. He definitely had the self-discipline of a teenager.
"Greetings, Sung " Alyssa didn’t ask about the traffic comment, as she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. They were all, well almost all, staying at the same hotel and the meeting was in the hotel …so… Alyssa realized she was overthinking it. "Sung, we are voting on whether to sneak into the vampire Prince’s house and gather clues. I was voted in as Chair. There was pretty much a unanimous decision for breaking into the house, but, you may still vote “Aye” if you agree or “Nay” if you don’t or you may abstain.”
Sung was walking to put things down on the snack table. He paused when he heard Alyssa say their idea. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Even they have protocols. Not that I know them. But would you go and snoop around the White House or Buckingham Palace? The Prince of the city, his or her house is probably guarded just as well. keep that in mind. If you are found there might not be any talk, just death." explained Sung thinking these kids are brave.
“Well, the other option was to try to set up a meeting with the Prince and talk to him, but for the moment are you wanting to vote or abstain?” Alyssa asked, because he hadn’t really responded.
“I guess I should be a team player and most of you think we should go. So we can but use caution, Yes” replied Sung now opening the boxes and getting the coffee ready.
“All right, let’s say then that motion passes, being there were no nay’s , I will move on to the next order of business. Once in the house do all of you want to stay together or separate into smaller groups? Any discussion on that before I call for the vote?” Alyssa glanced down at her computer screen for a moment, then looked back up. "I have the layout of the house and grounds but I highly suggest no one forget the other factors involved of the guards and the dogs.”
Choi considered that, as he didn’t trust just anyone who was in this group wholly yet. There were a few he did trust.
“Master Sung,” Choi expressed, “you are the wisest one here. What do you suggest?”
“Wisest?” questioned Sung. “You all have built a team. Set some ground rules. You did this on your own.” said Sung looking at everyone. Sung paused, taking a cup of coffee and sipping it. He made a face then put some more creamer in it. “Sometimes in cases like this one when your opponent is not only powerful and has resources. Is to try diplomacy first. The greatest victory is that which requires no battle,” Sung explained with a grin. “Right now the security will be at its highest during the day. I say go at sundown it is the best chance to talk to anyone with authority,” suggested Sung.
Dahlia lifted a hand, then spoke after being acknowledged. “So, you are saying, confront the most powerful from the beginning?”
There was a look that came from Sung that was amusement. “Maybe my English is not that good. No, if you think they will greet us. Let us in and welcome us with food and drink. That will surprise me. We will probably meet one of its lieutenants first. We have to set up a meeting. Do not think they don’t know about our organizations. They have been around as long if not longer than our organizations.” explains Sung sitting in a chair. “But gathering intelligence on the Prince should be our priority,” suggested Sung.
Dahlia interjected, “If they are the true descendants of Cain, since the beginning of time.”
“Sung, going through channels to set up a meeting had been the other idea but it was shot down in favor of sneaking in to gather evidence.” Alyssa explained.
Sung turned to Alyssa “What I know of Vampires which is very little or only what I have read that might not even be true. The evidence would not be at its home. It would be in the shadows and the businesses they have. They are experts at misinformation. At times better than our organizations. So what you see and read could be just a smoke screen of what is really happening,” replied Sung looking at everyone.
“According to the Torah,” Dahlia explained, “Yahweh placed a mark upon Cain to protect him. This was said to cause fear in those around him. If Cain was indeed the first of the Nephilim, then could it also be that the Creative Source caused Cain to become the first undead as protection?” Dahlia was overthinking now, for this couldn’t be truth. If Noah indeed had married one of Cain’s line, then all people living would have that DNA in them.
“Nephilim, I don’t think they are from them. Only the vampires know where their origins come from. All I know from the history of our organizations. We have fought secret wars before against them. It did not end well for both sides and at the same time. We have fought beside them fighting for the world’s survival as we know it.” suggested Sung.
"Okay, Sung while you missed it, we did all agree to go by Robert’s Rules of Order, though, with a group this small I had mentioned modifying them to fit our needs. Still, we seem to be getting off track of what to do. So, I am going to now ask is there another motion on the floor to try to obtain a meeting instead?”
Sartre stayed quiet.
Agent Powers quietly ate his third foot long subway sandwich.
Ekaterina quietly listened to Dahlia speak to see what way she wanted to go on the matter.
Choi thought things over. He didn’t want to face a vampire that might be the strongest in this area. They would have their hands full quite possibly with the minions, but if they went when the vampire was awake, they’d face him on top of the others.
Yeong respected Master Sung. He deserved the title. The older man was proficient in battle and mind.
He breathed out slowly. At least they would all be there if anything went south. “I trust Master Sung’s wisdom,” he stated. “We should go when the Prince is active and meet with him. We had heard all the thought behind that. I agree with Master Sung.”
Dahlia began to wonder if things were headed backward in order. At least they were not all attempting to talk over each other…yet.
She raised her hand. When Alyssa acknowledged her, she proved, “Are you making a motion?”
“Yes,” Choi answered. “I’m sorry, but I trust Master Sung’s experience.”
Alyssa found it interesting, not unexpected but a show of true colors, Peter’s original idea had been to meet with the Prince, go when he was awake and Choi didn’t think that was a good idea, but when Sung proposes it, it’s suddenly a good idea. Yeah, interesting. “Then Choi, please state your motion.” Alyssa said.
He wrinkled his brow in humility. The argument Master Sung made was convincing. Perhaps if the others had made the argument in the same way, Choi would have agreed.
“I motion we attempt to meet with the Prince.”
“Any seconds?” Alyssa asked.
"I withdraw my previous motion said Sartre. I second Sung’s”
“To be clear, Sung did not make an official motion. So, are you seconding Choi’s motion?” Alyssa asked Peter.
“Yes Agent Wilson. err, Chair.” he said.
Alyssa gave Peter a slight smile, "Anyone have anymore discussion regarding the motion on the floor to speak with the Prince?”
Dahlia raised a hand. When Alyssa acknowledged her, she said, “If we visit the Prince, should we bring weapons?”
*Posted by : Cindy
Choi responded to the question. “The only thing I have that will defend us from this creature is my gao.”
Sung chimed in “Thank you all for listening to this old man. they will dictate how this will go. We can go armed and then get instructions as we go. As I said before they do have a rank structure. like a Lieutenant, Primogen, top is the Prince I think. So I would think we would meet a Lieutenant, then a Primogen then the Prince. But again I am not sure. As long as you can focus magic through something You can hurt them, I think,” added Sung.
“I have the force of the Kabbalah,” Dahlia affirmed to the others, “but others are more the fighter type. What would they be able to do? Maybe we should just send in those with abilities where no weapons are needed.”
Alyssa spoke up, "We should focus on one thing at a time. Let us settle the matter of weapons first, then decide on the channels we will have to go through before speaking to the Prince. So, about the weapons, is there any more discussion?”
“Through dahnmudo,” Choi expressed, “I can create a force of energy from within me against someone or something. But it doesn’t help much with vampires if there is not a stake to push them into.”
Dahlia looked at Choi. From within himself, Choi was able to create a force. It amazed her that he was able to enact the creative source within him without studying the Kabbalah. Of course, through the Kabbalah, there was so much more that Dahlia could do.
Agent Powers quietly ate his sandwich as he listened to the others. He thought it was cool that they could use cool powers. Granted he did like his powers but it sounded boring that he just hit stuff really hard.
Ekaterina elegantly looked at the quiet Agent Powers and asked, “So Mr. Powers, what amazing skills will you use against the vampires if they attack us?”
Agent Powers swallowed his food and gave Ekaterina a smolder before he replied, “Well I guess I can just hit them really hard.”
Ekaterina smiled at him and replied, “I bet you wit.”
"What kind of weapons would you suggest Alyssa?” Peter asked.
“I’m not going into talk to the vampires. But if your asking my opinion, I don’t think we’ll be allowed weapons so what weapon doesn’t matter. I agree with the others it’s more what everyone can bring while weaponless.” Alyssa wasn’t sure why Peter had asked, she was adamant about not going in.
Choi would miss the gao. He knew he could decapitate a vampire with it. He did so with Sung’s on the last mission. He felt more comfortable with the blade.
Choi looked at Powers. “One the last mission, you absorbed and spit out bullets. Do you believe you could carry your phosphorus bullets and put them in your mouth, shooting them in that manner?”
"I was just curious what weapons you would suggest, That we purchase. I’m not saying that you have to go in, But I forgot to let you know before we formed this team that there are ways we can go about procuring weapons as well as other items. Some will require a person to work in the field and be a specialist. Currently unless you have one of the best laptops in the world, but there are ones that are better that you might be able to get in the future. You also might be able to upgrade your van in the future or get a better one. There is currency that can be spent in the secret world. It is possible to purchase these items for cash sometimes, But that will leave a paper trail. And that’s something we would not want unless it was absolutely necessary, or if you think you were good enough at covering it up. Does anybody have anything they want to put on the shopping list? asked Sartre. He glanced towards the hacker.
“I think that’s great but off topic. We should talk about that list later, and finish the discussion about meeting the vampires first.” Alyssa commented. She certainly wasn’t a weapons person so, for her, what she wanted would take research.
Agent Powers gave Choi a smolder and he smirked and shook his head no. He replied, “I can carry a lot of stuff hidden on me but I can’t shoot bullets from my mouth, but it would be cool if I could.” Then he looked at Sartre and replied, "I get my gear through my father so I am good.”
"Well at least we know we are going in tomorrow morning correct? Alyssa can conduct surveillance in the van and keep connection with us. Is there anything else we need to decide upon? Alyssa, I really want you to look into these Toreadors before we do anything. I motion we adjourn, head back to our rooms perhaps do some research and get some rest. You could also take a look around the city if you want to.” said Sartre
"We should really decide on how we’re going about this before tomorrow morning. " Alyssa commented. “So, we all agree no weapons. Just a show of hands for the yes’s.” Once that was done. “Let everyone decide for themselves tonight if they want to be part of the meeting or back-up, let us know in the morning. Back-up can stay with me in the van.” Alyssa then said, one more thing. “It has already been discussed we won’t, likely be able to meet with the Prince before going through channels. I still think I can get a meeting with the Nosfartu Primogen, or do we want to go through a different channel? Anyone have anything to discuss in that matter?” She wasn’t going to leave things just hanging and have them not know what they’re doing tomorrow.
“See if we can meet with the Primogen.” said Sartre. “I’ll be in the team going in.” he continued.
Choi grinned. He was ready for action. Dahlia sat back, knowing she would be going inside with those investigating.
“Are we done today, then?” Choi asked.
"Almost, to answer Peter’s questions. Toreadors are known for being beautiful and seductive. The legends of the vampire seducing its prey, supposedly comes from them. They are very into the arts and all things of beauty. There’s a note here that they can be obsessed with an individual object or person of beauty. " She paused, "The Nosfartu on the other hand are the information and knowledge gathers. They prefer to work in the shadows. It says here they are quite disfigured, in their true form, but many possess an ability to mask that. " She paused again. "So, you have that information. I will contact the Nosfartu tonight and let everyone know about the meeting in the morning. My guess is we will have to meet with them in the evening. But unless anyone has anything else, I do believe the meeting can be over.”
Agent Powers finished off his last sandwich and drank his flavored water to wash it down. Then he asked, "Will you need me for anything else Alyssa?”
“No, Max, I don’t think so. Thanks.” Alyssa responded
“If that is all,” Choi expressed, “I will take my leave.”
Choi thought he would do some meditation and another workout before taking Dahlia to dinner.
“All right then, let’s dismiss the meeting.” The meeting was officially dismissed so everyone could do what they needed or wanted to.
Dahlia nodded. “Good job, Agent Wilson.”
She got up. Dahlia wanted to read some of the book they brought back last night. She got up, texted Choi, “See you at 6?”, and left the room.
Choi waited a moment before checking his phone. “Still nothing from Eun-Ji,” he said. He responded to Dahlia in the affirmative.
"Great job, Agent Wilson.” Peter exclaimed.
Agent Powers then began cleaning up the garbage, left over food and drinks as the others were taking their leave. He was planning on eating and drinking what the others didn’t want while playing video games later on. He didn’t say anything but he had no intentions of going unarmed into a vampire’s nest. Luckily for him he could hide all his weapons and ammunition inside his slime body and pull them out anytime he needed to. Since he still had trust issues he kept that information to himself.
As he was cleaning up Princess Ekaterina got up and was about to talk to Agent Powers till her phone rang. She looked to see who was calling her and then sighed as she left the meeting room and quickly made her way to her room. She was doing her best to keep calm despite knowing the phone call was going to upset her. She thought it would be best to take the call in the privacy of her room. At times like this she hated being part of the Royal Family.
Alyssa thanked Peter, Dahlia and Choi for them acknowledging that she did a good job, she noticed Max cleaning up by himself. "Max, do you need help cleaning up?”
Agent Powers gave Alyssa a smolder and then smirked as he replied, "Nah… I’ll be done soon. You have a lot of work to do on your computer so leave the other stuff to me. I’ll be in my room unless you need me to anything else later on.”
Alyssa nodded, “Alright then, I’ll see you later.” Alyssa smiled at him, packed up her laptop, and realized there was still the printer, office supplies there. “Max, can you take care of keeping the office supplies in your room. Peter, can you bring the printer up to my room when you get a chance.” She didn’t want to have to explain calling it “their”, room to Max at the moment.
Agent Powers nodded as he replied, “Sure thing.” He then borrowed a luggage cart to load Alyssa’s gear and his food and drink on the cart to roll it to his room. Once he unloaded it in his room he returned the luggage cart to the lobby and headed back to his room. Once again he was alone with a lot of snacks. So he put his bags on the bed and opened them to check his gear. He prepped his golden holy shotgun, the round barrel clips with holy fire ammo, the golden holy dessert eagle pistol with holy fire ammo, the golden holy knuckles, the holy water ampules, the golden holy knife and the white phosphorus grenades. He nodded as he figured out how to hide all his gear inside his slime body. Then he packed his gear in his suitcase and then melted his slime body and emerged out as Maxx the teenager. His door was locked now and he could relax a bit, so he charged his phone and began to play some games as he nibbled onhis snacks.
Meanwhile Princess Ekaterina was in her room having a heat discussion with members of her household. They were adamant about her agreeing with their arranged marriage partners for the honor of the family and she was constantly refusing them. They used tactics like for the sake of honor or financial stability or secure elite genes for the babies and next generation. Love was not even mentioned and Ekaterina argued that all their reasons came with perks for the others and not herself. She even told them they can marry those guys if they want their stuff so badly. Eventually she hung up on them and turned her phone ringer off to get some peace and quiet. She then sat on her bed and ran her hands through her hair as she tried to regain her composure. Then she got a wicked thought in her head and removed her clothing before putting on a luxurious white bathrobe and fixing herself up in the mirror. Then she grabbed a bottle of wine from her bag and opened it and loosely recorking it. Next she grabbed two wine glasses and left her room after locking it and making her way to Agent Power’s room.
Sartre went to grab Alyssa’s printer, "I’ll bring it to your room.”
Posted by : Cindy
Dahlia got into some comfortable clothing. She pulled out the book The House of Light to take in some study time. Dahlia had experienced a presence somewhere in the heavens when meditating upon this book in the bar in the theater’s basement. She had a few hours before Choi would arrive for dinner.
Choi, on the other hand, became more physical. He began a taekwondo routine, wishing he had a partner to spar and stay sharp. He concentrated upon his breathing and fluid movements.
Choi finished his routine and meditating. He meditated upon remaining in a developing friendship with Dahlia. Yes, he found her attractive, but would it be in their best interest to get into an intimate relationship.
Getting a shower, he dressed casually in a pullover shirt and a pair of neat jeans. He wore a chain with a dragon about his neck. The dragon’s eyes were emeralds. He wore a pair of brown slip on shoes. He then went to Dahlia’s door and knocked.
Dahlia had done some research on the book The House of Lights. She was feeling more and more like the path the book spoke of was to the Secret World. There was a presence awaiting there. The question was, where was this pathway?
She finished up, then showered, preparing for the dinner date with Choi. She wondered where the night would lead to. Leaving nothing to chance, Dahlia put on a form fitting outfit, showing toned midriff. When she answered the door, Choi was floored by her appearance, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor.
“What do you have planned tonight?” she asked coyly.
“W-w-well,” Choi stuttered. He was usually so confident and proud. She gave him doubts that he should be in the same space as she. “I thought I’d take you to a steak place. I checked, they do have kosher selections.”
“Thank you for being conscious of my dietary needs,” she honestly returned to himIn Choi’s Veloster, he admitted, “You looked very nice tonight.”
Dahlia chuckled. “Thanks, but your reaction already told me that.” She looked him over. “You look handsome yourself.”
“Thank you,” Choi replied.
“You really don’t have many girls at the monastery,” she stated, “do you?”
“What told you that?” Choi asked. “Me nearly tripping over my lower jaw?” He chuckled, then confirmed, “only a few, but they’re old and serve the monks. Laundry, cooking, and such.”
He held the door open for her as she slowly slid into the passenger seat. Quickly, Choi got into the driver’s seat and headed to the restaurant.
There, they shared a bottle of kosher red wine, a meal of filet mignon, complete with salad and asparagus. Over dinner they discussed much.
Dahlia told Choi of her thoughts on The House of Lights. Not just her thoughts of the pathway, but also her findings on studying the lights in the book. The light formations formed the constellations and other stars. She truly believe the presence she felt was in the Secret World, and that the pathway was a way to the Secret World.
He told her of his routine, then admitted that he was impressed with her research abilities. He saw that not only with the book but also in the meeting.
She told him that she was equally impressed that Choi was able to pull from the source of creation within him without knowing the Kabbalah. Choi explained that the power within him comes from dahnmudo, a Korean self-discipline.
Dinner was long, they finished the bottle of wine. Then Choi took her dancing. It was a wonderful night.
Back at the hotel, Choi escorted Dahlia to her room. He had only wanted this to begin as a friendship but she was so amazing. Beautiful too.
“Tonight was wonderful,” Dahlia seriously expressed. Choi had been the perfect gentleman. She truly enjoyed herself.
“Yes,” Choi admitted, “it was.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss, she returned it and the kiss deepened. He was momentarily breathless, his forehead upon hers. Trying to remember the word from the other night, he queried, “Netsa?”
She giggled, as she opened the door. “Netzach,” she corrected, as she pulled Choi inside, her hands glowing a cool blue. Lasting Endurance.
Choi awoke the next morning with Dahlia’s warm body lying in his arm, her head resting upon his chest. She had felt him stir beneath her and turned her head to gaze up at him.
She grinned. “Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?” She asked.
His hand gently brushed Dahlia’s back as he replied, “To be truthful, I have never experienced anything so exhilarating! How do you think our factions will react?”
She snuggled in his embrace. “Good question,” Dahlia replied to Yeong. “It’s best we don’t tell them.”
“Well then,” Choi chuckled, “I best sneak into my own room and get ready for the day.”
She looked up at Choi and grinned. Dahlia shook her head, “Not just yet, big boy!” She kissed Choi passionately, causing Choi to vividly remember the night before and yearn for more.
Forty minutes later, Choi ran fingers through her hair. “I really do need to prepare for the day. I’m sure they’ll want another meeting. I’ll see you at 8:30 for breakfast downstairs?”
She giggled. “Be quiet; don’t let the others know.”
Choi shook his head. “I’ll definitely try my best,” he said, getting out of bed and quickly throwing on his clothes. Sneaking back to his room, he felt like the married man sneaking back home after the bar closed down.
As Choi was heading to his room he heard a door open up and Princess Ekaterina wearing a bathrobe with her hair a bit dissolved came out and saw him. She didn’t say anything and turned a bit red in the face as she quietly made her way to her room.
When he had heard the door open, Choi cringed, knowing it was from the direction of Power’s room. He was surprised when he turned to see Princess Ekaterina in a bathrobe, sneaking from Power’s room to hers. Choi silently stood there, his brow raised as the Princess quietly entered her own room.
He hurried into his room. So, Powers and the Princess has hit it off, eh? The only problem was, Choi couldn’t say anything to tease Max, as the Princess would talk about he and Dahlia.
.Rewind back to the meeting:
In the chip Peter asked Alyssa: "How can I make it up to you later?”
Alyssa responded back in the chip, “A nice dinner, somewhere? I’m kind of bored of being in the hotel.” That response might surprise him.
He did find that surprising. “You have to be very careful in this city.” See if you can look up an upscale restaurant. I’ll pay for it. What are you hungry for Alyssa?" He smirked.
“I wasn’t thinking this city. We have all night, let’s go to Chicago and eat there.” Alyssa replied.
"You want to stay the night in Chicago and drive back tomorrow morning? Chicago is run by The Camarilla.”
“We could, or just go to dinner and come back,” It was only 30 minutes away, after all. Alyssa wondered how she would explain where she was to Max, if they spent the night there.
"It’s up to you, Alyssa. “What is the hacker hungry for?”
“Some place with a view,” she searched her phone. "How about Terrace 16 ?”
“You got it, Agent Wilson.” Peter gave her that look. "You drive.”
She smiled at him. "You got it. I need to take care of a few things first, I’ll meet you back at the room.”
There were still a few hours left of daylight in the decaying city. He carried the printer into their room. placing it on the table in the corner by the window.
“We can head into the Camarilla controlled domain after we get dressed. It will be interesting to see your choice of fashion for such a nice restaurant. Should we head back here after dinner or should we stay the night in Chicago.” asked Sartre.
“Alyssa. It’s tough for me to wait until December but I will. I get to see you undress twice in one day.” Realizing her vulnerability earlier, he got out of his clothes first. waiting to see her reaction before switching to the red pinstripe suit, he wanted to enjoy the moment.
“Let’s see how dinner goes, before we decide where to spend the night. Besides, I would need to let Max know and the poor man might have a heart attack if he can’t follow his father’s orders all night.” Alyssa smiled, watching him get changed but he hadn’t asked her, and she had other plans. She stood up, “I already have what I’m going to wear in the bathroom and I want to shower first. Besides, if I change in front of you, it’ll ruin the surprise.” The hacker wandered off to the bathroom, and the shower could be heard slightly after.
He wanted to wait to see the surprise before slipping his suit on.
In the chip: "Soon enough we’ll be taking those together Alyssa.”
Alyssa didn’t respond, though she smiled slightly at his words. She stepped out of the shower, and began to get ready. Surprisingly, the young did her hair in a sweeping down style, elegant but not over done. And she put makeup on to bring out more of her natural look, a blue dress expensive but not overdone, shoes were blue heels with just a touch of sparkle. Just because she rarely wore these things didn’t mean she didn’t know how to wear them, she had been taught such things. Completely put together, the hacker stepped out of the bathroom. “Surprise,” Alyssa grinned at Peter.
“Looking good Hungry Hacker! You can drive. You are very pretty Alyssa.” He slid on his suit.
“I should message Max first.” Alyssa didn’t want him worrying anymore than he probably would be. Into the chip, "Max, Peter is taking me out to dinner. He’ll protect me, if there’s a problem. But if it’s a problem for you let me know, now before we leave.”
“Let’s head to the van.” He said, He reached to grab Alyssa, wanting to spin her around.
She spun gracefully, making her dress flair out. “I guess those dance lessons my nanny made me take, as a kid, did serve some purpose, after all.” The young woman commented.
With her in his arms, he said “I really like you.” before setting her down. In the chip “Let’s head to the van. Err Alyssa. May I grab your butt sometime tonight?” He blushed.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Alyssa headed towards the door. In the chip, she said to Peter. “You might get to touch it, maybe.” When they arrived at the van she opened the doors, got in and put the address in the GPS. Once Peter was in, and ready they headed out.
“Might get to touch it huh? Are you turning into a black hat hacker Alyssa?” He was surprised she was coming out of her shell so quickly. “What happenned to you over a few months?” He smirked.
The roads were slick with rain as the headlights being towards the city of Chicago illuminating it in an orange glow. Sartre decided to take a risk by playing with the radio.
Voices in conversation could be heard on the station.
“That’s an old request.”
“It’s a good one. Everyone feels purple every now and then.”
"All right; I guess I’ll do it for you. Prince’s 7.
There was a pause.
The DJ spoke up again.
“Would you like to dedicate it to anybody, mysterious caller?”
The voice on the other end of the line said.
“I want to dedicate it to everyone in the movement.”
He hung up.
The song began to play.
“The things I want to say to you in this chip Agent Wilson. It’s hard waiting until December.” Peter said.
“A black hat, no.” Alyssa said. “It’s just almost being sucked into another dimension or hell of some sort by an evil being that won’t stop coming after me, that makes one either hide away or want to truly live, I’ve done a lot of the first in my life, maybe it’s time to do at least a little of the latter.” She paused, as the song played on the radio, and sighed. “Something to tell the group tomorrow but it would be nice to have at least part of a night without work showing up.” Alyssa commented. To his words in the chip, she spoke quietly. "I know, and I appreciate the wait.”
“The wait is worth it. I’ll have their Filet Burger With seasoned truffle fries. What is the hacker hungry for? You look stunning in your dress by the way.” he said.
“Thank you, you don’t look too bad yourself,” Alyssa quipped. “I was thinking of trying the Mici.” She pulled into the parking deck, the restaurant had valet parking but she didn’t dare.
They went to the elevator, and after pressing the button for the top floor, Alyssa commented. “I put the reservation under your name.”
The restaurant was on the rooftop of a exclusive hotel, it was elegant and very romantic, with am amazing view of the skyline. Fortunately, it had an enclosed area with a lot of windows, which offered the same view. They were shown their table and Alyssa sat down. “The view is amazing.” She said.
“It is, you can see the entire city from up here. Would the hacker like an appetizer?” Pete4 remarked.
The city down below was a place of political intrigue. The Camarilla ran the city’s night and underground. The city’s Prince Lodin had left the coded message to the Prince of Gary in the file.
“The city is more vibrant than Gary, though we can still see a little bit of the decay and overcast, statues of gargoyles still adorn several of the buildings. Let’s have a relaxing dinner and evening. No talk about work, what do you want to talk about Alyssa? I’m here to listen all night.” he said.
Alyssa thought for a moment, "An appetizer would be nice. Surprise me. I’ll eat anything on the menu.” Letting him decide. She nodded to what he said about the city. What did she want to talk about? “Well, we did say we’d get to know each other better but I think you have one up on me for that.” After all, Alyssa didn’t have the ability to go into his mind. "So, let’s talk about you for a bit, then you can ask me something. Have you traveled a lot, and to any place you really enjoyed?”
"I have been all over the secret world for twelve years. I fought Loki in Kingsmouth New England, I fought the dark Pharaoh in Egypt. I fought Dracula’s sister in Transylvania. I helped clean up what remained of the filth in Tokyo. I almost caught Marquardt in South Africa. He seems to have disappeared into the Congo… Loki’s girlfriend Cassie stole Excalibur, the famed sort of King Arthur. Her whereabouts are unknown.
Marquardt seems to be the source of most of the problems. He runs the Morning Light cult; they use their members as food for the dreaming ones. I swallowed a bee in the summer of 2012 after the Tokyo subway attack.
I want to go back to King’s mouth sometime, there were reports that everyone there has lost their memory of what happened twelve years ago. It will be something to look into. I fear we are entering into a long night.
I feel the hacker would like an appetizer, seven cocktail shrimp with cocktail sauce. Am I right?"
Earlier in the chip I asked you to make me blush."
In the chip: “Go ahead”. Peter said.
It did give Alyssa more insight into Peter as every place he mentioned was part of the secret world and therefore job related. “Haven’t you been anywhere, just on vacation? I mean you sound like…well… me just with a longer list of locations.” It was said only partially in jest but she really wanted to know. Into the chip, “Hmmm… wouldn’t it be better to surprise you with that,” but the hacker did put her hand on his knee and whispered in his ear, "I’d really like to dance with you, close together, after dinner.”
“I haven’t had much time for vacation in the past twelve years. I guess we’re the same. Dance? Where exactly?” he asked. “The dance isn’t the surprise?”
“Maybe, it is.” Alyssa didn’t say it wasn’t. "And it’s Chicago, I’m sure we can find somewhere to go dancing.”
The waitress came over and took their drink and appetizers order.
He ordered a soda.
“Have you ever danced before?” He took her hand on his knee. "Keep talking about yourself.”
She ordered a Coke and the shrimp cocktail because it did sound good, surprised he didn’t actually order an appetizer, after mentioning it. “Not at a club, I’ve just taken lessons. Ballet and Ballroom. My nanny insisted.” Alyssa responded
“Nice,” he said. "How were you able to come out of your shell with me so quickly?”
“I don’t know. You did either save me or help save me on more than one occasion.” Alyssa shrugged. "And I guess it’s nice that your willing to take this crazy leap and want to date someone like me.”
“What do you mean someone like you?” he asked.
“Someone who’s being chased by something evil. Someone who’s bee is messed up. Someone who comes with baggage.” Alyssa stopped talking when the waitress brought their drinks and the shrimp cocktail. When the waitress left the hacker started talking again. "A lot of men would probably run in the other direction.”
“Yet I run toward you.” Peter said. “You’ll get sweaty dancing. That means another shower. Holding off until December is tough. Can you do enough tonight to tie me over until then?” He placed his hand on her leg.
She picked up a shrimp, dipped it in some cocktail sauce and slowly ate it. “Don’t know, maybe.” Alyssa responded with a grin. "Would you like some of this shrimp cocktail?”
"Yes.” Peter responded. “Can you eat half a shrimp?” in the chip: "And share it with me?”
“How about this,” Alyssa took another shrimp, dipped it in the sauce and took a bite, then held it for Peter to take a bite.
He smiled and finished the shrimp. Enjoying sharing the food with her. “What would the hungry hacker like for an entrée?” He smirked. “Just watching you snack makes you hot Alyssa? Has anyone ever told you you’re hot before besides me?" Peter then added"I love spending time with you."
“I’m sticking with trying the Mici.” They finished the appetizer and the waitress returned, to take their dinner orders and take care of the appetizer plates, once she was gone, Alyssa responded to Peter’s question. “No. Cute yes but no one, but you, has ever said that I’m hot.” Alyssa smiled slightly. "I enjoy spending time with you as well.”
He stuck with his order as well, ordering the filet burger. "Can we hold hands until our food gets here? Tonight will be a relaxing night. No work. I can’t wait to dance with you. You mean alot to me Alyssa. “
“Of course,” Alyssa responded, reaching out for his hand. "I’m looking forward to it, we can just have fun tonight. There are probably people that don’t think I even know how to have fun.”
"Tonight will be fun. It was already fun spinning you. I get to dance with you. " He said as there entrées arrived. After the waiter left, he asked “Can I?” as he reached to put his hand on her leg,
“Yes, you can.” Alyssa said. His hand on her leg was alright. "How is it, we start talking about you but always end up talking about me? I want to know more about you. What did you do for fun, as a kid?”
“I liked to read and play the original PlayStation.” He started on his burger. "You are much more interesting. What did you do with processors?”
"What’s your favorite book? I used to read Goosebumps as a kid.” Peter said.
“You mean what I said at 6? Pretty much, at that time, it was a lot of reading and watching stuff about the different ones, anything I could. I was already learning computer languages by that point. So, I wanted the best. Of course, it got more advanced the older I got.” Alyssa replied. “Books, oh I was a fan of the classics. As a child I liked anything with siblings, especially Little Women. A little older and my favorite became The Lord of The Rings series. Then I discovered reading works in their original languages: Checkov in Russian, Don Quixote in Spanish, and that was an amazing experience.” She paused. "Though I’ve not had any time to do much reading since I started working.”
Have you read The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky? You are well read, that makes you not only hot but sizzling." He said
“Yes, though I have to admit, I didn’t read that until my Russian Lit class in college.” Alyssa responded.
“What is your favorite book?”
A few seconds later, the Wine Steward returned with a special bottle of “Sanguine Wine.” “I was told that your bill was to be covered by Mr. Olaf Lodin.” The Wine Steward said.
The Wine Steward set the wine on the table next to Alyssa.
“Should we get dessert?” Asked Sartre. “Where would you like to go dance, Ms. Wilson?”
Alyssa raised a brow, then after the Wine Steward left commented, “I guess that’s Mr. Lodin’s way of letting us know, he knows we’re here and who we are?” She had said no business talk but that couldn’t have been left hanging in the air. The waitress came back shortly with their meals. Alyssa took a bite of her sausage, it was delicious. “I don’t know that I’ve found a new favorite book, perhaps one I’ve not read yet. Dessert and maybe some cappuccino would be wonderful after dinner. I’ve not looked up dance places.” She pulled out her phone. "Bodega Nightclub looks fun.”
“Alyssa… A nightclub?” As he finished his sandwich, he looked astounded. “I’ve seen quite a bit in the secret world. Can we share dessert?" he smiled.
“Where would you like to go dancing then?” Alyssa asked, after all he had given her no indication of a preference. “I’m open to suggestions.” She smiled at him. "We can share dessert but you choose it.”
"Ohh I want to see you in a nightclub.” Peter commented, then chose dessert. “Chocolate cake with ice cream.”
“That sounds delicious,” Alyssa commented, then continued eating her food.
“What has gotten into you? Hmm. It’s almost as if there is a wild side to you? Not that I mind. Let’s take dessert to the van and share it on the way.” Peter said, “"Can you really do something to tie me over until December tonight?” He thought this wasn’t like her. "Did you touch that knife? I wonder how those three are doing.”
“I’m pretty sure I explained it,” Alyssa wasn’t sure what other explanation he wanted. “Trying to eat cake with ice cream in the van will be too messy, I think we should eat it here. We’ll see.” That was all the hacker would say about holding him over until December. “Of course, I touched the knife, it was handed to me. They’re fine, or as fine as they can be. I get the feeling I’d know if something happened to one of them, for the time being anyway.” She finished her food.
"So you say with that knife that you feel some sort of connection? You just seem to have … he paused, "Gained a lot of confidence. What happened?”
“I do, I’m connected with Prue. She sometimes appears when I’m sleeping.” Alyssa explained. "I don’t know what happened.”
“It’s better to have her appear when you’re sleeping than those other things.” Peter said, "May we hold hands my hacker?”
“True, but I can’t seem to control any of it.” Alyssa as the waitress took their plates from their now finished dinner, and took their dessert order, then left again. “Yes, we can.” She took his hand on hers.
“What do you think caused you to have all this confidence, all of a sudden?” I hope your dad won’t mind our relationship.” He looked to her face to gauge her mood.
“Like I said, I don’t know. If I figure it out I’ll let you know.” Alyssa was beginning to feel like she was getting the third degree and wanted to end this line of questioning. “I don’t know what my Dad will think. I doubt I’ll talk to him anytime soon.” Peter had this way of getting her more frustrated and annoyed than, almost, anyone at times. "Maybe, we should skip the nightclub and just go back to the hotel.”
“No need to skip dancing. Earlier when you said you didn’t know, I thought you meant your connection with Prue. There’s a reason I like to hear you talk, my hacker.” He firmly squeezed her hand.
The waitress came back with their dessert and the cappuccino that Alyssa had ordered. Alyssa eyed the dessert, "That does look really good.“
“Sweet like you Alyssa.” He dug his spoon in offering her the first bite.
She ate the dessert off the spoon, getting just a little of the ice cream and chocolate cake on her lips, which she licked off. Then took a sip of her cappuccino.
“Is it good?” He asked before taking a bite.
“It’s delicious,” Alyssa smiled at him.
Peter was happy to see her enjoy her cake and ice cream. She was in a better mood. He split the cake in half giving her the larger piece. He decided to just enjoy watching the thin hacker eat. “Calories for dancing!” he said. "I can’t wait to see your moves.”
They finished dessert and then headed to Alyssa’s van. She pressed the coordinates of the nightclub, and they arrived a few minutes later.
The drive led them to the center of Chicago, bustling with late night patrons of various places, then to a parking lot. They stepped out and Alyssa led Peter to what looked like a small convenience store, they and a few others walked towards the back, through the cold storage to another door. The door opened and they entered what almost seemed like another world.
In the heart of Chicago’s nightlife scene, the Bodega Nightclub stood as a pulsating beacon of urban allure. As they stepped inside, they were greeted by an atmosphere that effortlessly blended retro glamor with cutting-edge modernity. The dimly lit space is awash in neon hues, casting an electric glow over the sleek, minimalist furnishings. A state-of-the-art sound system thrums with a carefully curated mix of electronic beats and hip-hop rhythms, making it impossible to resist the pull of the dance floor.
The crowd here was a diverse blend of trendsetters and locals, all drawn together by the club’s infectious energy and its reputation for hosting some of the city’s most sought-after DJs. In one corner, a well-stocked bar serves up expertly crafted cocktails, while in another, a lounge area offers a more subdued space for conversation and relaxation.
Amidst the swirling lights and the pounding bass, the Bodega Nightclub exuded an almost magnetic charm, capturing the essence of Chicago’s vibrant nightlife and offering an unforgettable experience for those who dare to enter its electrifying atmosphere.
“I don’t drink. Lets see your dance moves, my hacker.” said Sartre.
She grinned, took his hand and led him to the dance floor, Alyssa’s hands stayed in his as she moved to the music.
“Speed up Alyssa!” he moved his hands to her hips. In the headset he said “Kiss?””
Alyssa’s hips began to sway as his hands reached her. She began to move not just faster but closer to him. Her hands barely reached his shoulders, but when he asked for a kiss, she replied into the chip. "Yes.”
"You kiss. In a naughty way.” He moved rhythmically with her.
She put her hands behind his head, just enough to let him to lean down a bit, and kissed him a deep kiss.
“Tonight is your night. What next Alyssa.” As he felt her sweat dripping, he said a serious "I love you, Alyssa.”
Those words, those three words normally would have sent shock waves through the hacker, she probably would run in the other direction, if it was anyone else but what happened next surprised even Alyssa, “I love you, too.” Into the chip, she said. "I never said we had to wait until December. You assumed that’s what I meant. It wasn’t. I just wanted everything to be right, with the right person. A nice hotel room here in Chicago would make this night even more perfect and you’re definitely the right person.”
He simply said "Book the room.” But then added, "Are you sure Alyssa? You have never done this before. We’ll discuss when we get to the room. Not very prudent.” His eyes gave her that look.
“I’m sure, unless you’re not sure.” Alyssa responded.
"I’m sure.” Peter responded. "Lets go.”
She took his hand and led him away from the dance floor, quickly booking a top floor room at one if the five star hotels nearby. “Done,” they continued dancing, and left the club at about two AM.
The hotel was a few blocks away, they drove and parked the van in the parking deck. Then went to the front desk, got their key cards.
The room was a beautiful suite with all the amenities and a whirlpool tub, the lights from the skyline shown in the window. Alyssa took in the view, then closed the curtains using a remote. There was a gas fireplace, also controlled by remote which she turned on low, more for ambiance than any kind of heat and dimmed the lights, it made the mood in the room just right.
"We should shower first. I have questions. Lead the way.” Sartre said.
The haze of a new place, awoke Alyssa from her slumber the next morning until she recalled last night and a smile fell across her lips.
Peter was already awake it appeared and she had just said good morning to the man when her phone buzzed. Alyssa had remembered to text Max to let him know they’d be back in the morning, but it was around 7 AM so it could had been him, it wasn’t and what she read made the hacker sit up suddenly
“Peter,” Alyssa’s voice was one of concern. "I just got a text. It says there’s a bomb in this hotel and the hotel in Gary. They’re set to go off in 30 minutes. We need to get this place evacuated. I’ll call Max and text the group.”
"Grab a t-shirt and shorts. How the hell are we supposed to convince these people to evacuate?” Peter asked. “We can talk with the people at the front desk. They should be easy enough to convince.”
“You’re FBI, go tell the front desk or I can set off the alarms.” Alyssa started getting on some clothes.
He rushed to the front desk. "Mam there is an imminent threat to this building. Someone needs to pull the fire alarm and call for general evacuation.”
She got on her phone to call Max.
As he was waiting on Alyssa, he was shocked that it seemed to work so well. All of the hotel guests were standing back in the parking lot. He would not leave the building without Alyssa. He rushed back to the room where he last saw her.
Alyssa was coming out of the room, on her cell as Peter made it back to their room.
"Let’s head to the parking lot, the bomb squad should be able to handle this.” Peter commente. "Your phone woke you up, how did you know?”
"My phone didn’t wake me. I woke up and got the text. It’s that same person that only signs the texts, “from a friend”. Alyssa explained.
In here phone: "our patience has been tested for too long By the tower by our so-called allies in the movement. Most of them are nothing but traitor’s the Kindred need look no furtherThen the newly anointed Prince Of Indianapolis the witty “Hackmaster9000” She argued so much for our cause, and yet look at what she does just a few months before a grand conclave here in the United States and a meeting of the inner circle in Venice. More betrayal. The tower must fall. We own the night and the day. The message was signed “The Phoenix Society.” Alyssa would notice that it came from a dark web page called "Schreknet.”
“Alyssa, let’s go.” Peter didn’t manhandle her the previous night but now he was doing a mixture of running and dragging her to the parking lot.
She was moving as fast as she could, Alyssa didn’t stop to look at her phone, instead got into van and once Peter was ready sped off. As they were in their way back to Gary, she said. “Peter, can you look at my phone and see if there’s any messages from Max.” She was hoping everyone got out. “The code is 1010.” The woman hadn’t noticed the text coming in on the way to the van.
Posted by : Cindy
Agent Powers was just finishing up his jog around the hotel. He was up at 5 am after an unforgettable night with the princess. He had a lot on his mind and needed to work out to clear his mind. He was now entering the hotel and heading to his room to shower when he heard his phone ring and vibrate. He checked it to see it was Alyssa. So Agent Powers answered his phone and replied, "What’s up?”
"You need to get everyone out of the hotel, I got a message there’s a bomb. It’s set to go off in 30 minutes."Alyssa spoke with an urgency to her voice
Agent Powers then replied, “Okay.” Then he pulled the fire alarm and raced to his room to grab his bags.
Princess Ekaterina heard the fire alarm, closed her bags, and grabbed her bags. As she raced to leave the hotel she saw Agent Powers who told her there was a bomb in the building. On the way out she asked if he was getting Alyssa and Sartre, and he told her they were out already. She quickly texted Dahlia about the bomb in the building and that Alyssa and Sartre were not there. She also told her that Agent Powers and herself were outside already.
Posted by : Cindy
Sung continued to drive looking around now and then. “I know I have not been around much but I had to… Ah… take out some trash,” said Sung with a sly grin. “Along with some side investigations for the organization. I am not so much here to do the job for the team more as a guide when needed.” Added Sung looking over to Dahlia.
Dahlia’s face was sincere and demonstrated respect for Sung. “That’s the impression I received from Yeong at the meeting. What can you tell me to expect from the Dragons on the team?”
Sung was silent for a moment. “Mission first” He replied with confidence. “They work together well, loyal and steadfast. I have known them for some time and helped train them as well, as for respect, they give me, or most give me, it is earned and my experience,” explained Sung with an expectation of satisfaction.
“What about you what do you bring to the table? What is your story?” asked Sung inquiring about Dahlia
Dahlia thought a moment. “I haven’t seen much of Moon Eun-Ji,” she probed. “I understand she is from an honorable Dragon family. Has she been called away?”
She paused a moment to register Sung’s expression, then quickly replied to his question. “Me? I am devoted to battling the presence of evil. I bring the power of the Kabbalah, what many refer to as the Tree of Life. The Princess? Although she is royalty, she desires to serve more than just her country. Her training and diplomacy will aid us in the end, as well as her control over the critters.” She chuckled over that. Was Powers under her spell? He seemed rather attached to her.
“As for Eun-Ji, she had her own way of contributing to the team.” replied Sung trying to not give away too much information. " her family is well known in the Dragons organization. “Powers and the Princess? is not my concern if they, Ah… like one another as long as it does not interfere with the mission. Now for Powers, I think he might be thinking with the wrong head,” suggested Sung with a grin.
“Powers can be a little childish at times. Acting like a teen in maturity. But he is dependable and will protect Alyssa with no thought about it at all.” suggested Sung.
“I’m sure,” Dahlia agreed. “Question…I didn’t mention Powers. Why did you bring him up? I can only speak for the Princess. Max, I know not much more than I’ve observed, which is the same as you.”
“I thought it would come up. You were asking about people working together on the team,” Sung replied looking over to her. “I am an investigator by trade I guess you would say. So you have a lot of info on our team. I find that interesting.” commented Sung not being protective or untrusting more like a curiosity.
“Not a whole lot,” Dahlia admitted. “Just what I’ve picked up since the end of the last mission. You really came through for the team there.”
“We are close to the address we were given,” remarked Sung. The area was sparse trees clumped together here and there. Neatly trimmed green grass covered the land. it was a peaceful and pretty area.
“Yes,” Dahlia agreed, “much nicer than Gary. Miss Wilson sure knows her way online. The Dragons are lucky to have someone like you, Master Sung. We Templars are both young, although we do have more experience than the younger ones on your teams.”
Sung was looking and then answered “I am glad we can work together. I am tired of the infighting within our organizations. We will never save our world divided everyone has something to bring to the table.” said Sung as they started down the drive way.
Sung touched the screen on the dash. his phone lit up “Alyssa, Text,” Sung ordered. there was a pause. "the voice came on “What would you like to say?” the voice asked. “We have arrived, Sent text.” said Sung as they drove down the drive way.
“Thank you for your generosity, Master Sung,” she used the title Choi honored Sung with out of respect for both.
“It is strange with the Illuminati,” she added. Mr. Sartre and Mr. Powers are older and seem more experienced, yet Alyssa seems to be the cog of the group. That’s just my observation though.”
The SUV pulled up to the house. “When you have been around as long as I have. You have seen it all or not much surprises you.” Sung said with a wink. then opened his door to step out.
Dahlia got out and took in the scenery of the landscaping. “It is wonderful,” she gleefully expressed. “A perfect holiday spot. Too bad we’re not on holiday! I don’t get enough of those.”
“holiday? whats that?” commented Sung right before he walk through the front door.
Posted by : mdman
Dahlia had just heard her phone give a text notification as she was getting dressed for the day. She bent over to pick up the phone, when the fire alarm began to go off. She quickly read the text, then forwarded it to Yeong.
Yeong himself had just got out of the shower, when he heard the alarm. Of course! We’re in this fire trap and now we have a fire.
He quickly put on a pair of pants and picked up his phone. He read the text from Dahlia. So, it wasn’t a fire. He finished dressing and met Dahlia in the hallway.
Dahlia knocked on Kat’s door. Choi knocked on Sung’s and Power’s.
“We’ll need to take the stairs,” Choi stated. “With the alarm going off, the elevator won’t be working.”
Once Powers and Ekaterina were outside she texted Dahlia she and Powers were outside but they didn’t have Sung’s number.
As the alarm went off Sung sighed. He was not too happy about this. Sung wondered what was going on. He looked out his window to see people start together outside. Then, he knocked on the door, walked up to it and opened it when Sung felt Choi’s presence. “Choi this better not be a joke or some dumb plan someone thought up,” commented Sung as he walked out of his room.
Sung paused on the stairway for a moment. shook his head “Why, this?” he said as he continued down the stairs.
“There is a bomb threat,” Choi replied. “We have to evacuate the building.”
Choi looked at Dahlia and nodded. Dahlia nodded back. “Kat is already outside with Powers.”
Choi was about to say: I bet she is, but chose to remain silent.
“Let’s go, then,” he replied.
While waiting on the others to find them Ekaterina asked Agent Powers, “How did you find out about the bomb?” Agent Powers gave her a smolder as he replied, “Alyssa tipped me off. You managed to pack your bag fast. Is it due to random enemy attacks?” Ekaterina smirked and replied, “Sometimes, but mostly for the paparazzi.” Agent Powers nodded as he gazed into her eyes and got nervous. She then put her hand on his large muscular chest and softly said, “I did enjoy our time together, but we should be careful of our enemies interfering in our friendship.” Agent Powers nervously nodded as he understood that what they did in his room was a big secret. Of course he was afraid to admit he wanted to do it again since he was new to this kind of relationship. Then Agent Powers got another text that the bomb squad was on their way so he forwarded the text to Ekaterina who forwarded it to Dahlia.
Choi, Dahlia, and Sung exited the building on the ground floor. He was amazed at the people loitering about, looking for the fire or the trucks to arrive.
He turned to Sung and quietly spoke. “We’ve got to get the people away from the building if there is a bomb.”
Back in the van:
Peter typed in what appeared to be binary code and then looked for a message. “Yes, everyone is outside,” he said with relief.
Alyssa breathed but maintained her speed down the road. The traffic was probably never great around Chicago but it wasn’t as bad as it could be. They would arrive in about thirty minutes at the hotel in Gary.
“All the civilians are safe, the bomb squad should be able to disable the devices. This was definitely done by “The Phoenix Society.” They met their calling card on the radio last night.” said Sartre
“That’s good and I agree with your assessment. I think we might need the team to move to a more secure location, somewhere where the public isn’t staying.” Alyssa responded. "I am pretty sure I can get us a private home to rent or a safe house.”
“Alyssa take a look at this”, Peter said as he looked at his phone, finally accessing his “Vault Data Access.” as an “Illuminated Agent” earned twelve years ago. "You’ll probably want to discuss this with the others. Chicago would be a better place to purchase a permanent base. “Look for a decent private rental home. Later we may be able to get a permanent base.”
“Well, then you can start looking. I won’t be able to do much until I stop driving.” Alyssa had no plans of that until they arrived at the hotel in Gary.
“You’re great at evasive driving! Go Alyssa go!” he said as he admired her concentration.
“Text Max, let him know the bomb squad said they can defuse the bomb.” Alyssa said. "And thanks for the compliment “
Peter texted Max, The bomb squad will be able to take care of the bomb.
“Done.” he said.
In the chip, Peter said, “These radical Anarch’s tried to destroy our time together. You might do a little bit of research when we get to the mansion. I wasn’t finished relaxing and spending time with you before you received the message about the bombs.”
Back at the hotel:
Sung got an evil grin on his face and answered Choi. “That will be easy. Just start yelling, it’s a bomb and everyone will run. Make sure you sound sacred and start to run yourself. Just run say 25 yards and stop. The people will run away.” whispered Sung looking over the crowd.
“I don’t want to panic everyone,” Choi returned, “just ease them away from the building.”
“Easing may be too slow,” Dahlia suggested. She had seen the effects of bombs upon her people. She did not wish to see that happen here. She began to wave her hands away from the building, shouting, “We must get away from the building! There is a reported bomb!”
“Should have said gas leak, too late now. Now the police will want to know how you know,” remarked Sung.
With Alyssa’s driving skills, the two made it back to the hotel, in less time than it should have taken. Alyssa saw everyone outside and hopped out of the van, then locked it when Peter got out. She stood by the van a moment and watched people move quickly away from the building. Then walked over to the team. “The bomb squad has it under control.” She reported.
“Theirs or ours,” Sung asked in his normal relaxed tone. His question to Alyssa was more out of curiosity than anything. Was the organization going to keep this quiet or just stand back and watch?
“My guess is theirs, but don’t know for sure. Anyway, we have another issue. This wasn’t the only bomb planted, one was also where we,” she non-verbally indicated she meant Peter and herself, "were. Which means we need to find somewhere to stay that the general public isn’t.”
Dahlia responded to that, “So, someone is attempting to kill us?”
It wouldn’t have been the first time for her, but she was now thinking from the Mossad side of her being, something in which the others, except for maybe Kat knew nothing about.
“We pissed someone off,” Choi stated with a raised brow. Then he grinned, as he rather enjoyed getting reactions from others. That was when people were apt to make mistakes. “Of course,” he continued, “it’s better than being pissed on!”
“Once we find out who it is,” Dahlia interjected, “I can take care of it.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I know who it is. I received a text that pretty clearly stated who is behind it.” Alyssa stated.
Ekaterina saw Agent Powers was looking around with a smolder as if he was looking for someone in particular. She then asked Alyssa, “I’m sure we all have a long list of enemies but who was it this time?”
Sung looked over the crowd. “So is it the people of the night?” asked Sung referring to the Vampires. Sung closed his eyes and took a slow breath and mumbled some words. He opened his eyes looking one more time. “If they are within 50 yards I will see them or detect any aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead. For the next 10 minutes. I will keep an eye out for them.” Sung informed them while being vigilant.
“Good idea,” Dahlia agreed with Sung, “I will go the opposite way as you. We can cover more ground together.”
Dahlia clasped her hands before her. She muttered one word, “Chokmah!”, meaning wisdom.
Suddenly a light surrounded her head, her mind being enlightened. Wisdom from the nothingness before time, because it was part of the great Creative Source, was hers. She walked away from Sung, looking into the eyes, the light of the souls of people. She could readily read them. She assumed if she came across someone whom she couldn’t read, it would be a soulless one.
Choi looked after each. He would be quick to respond in the heat of either. He readied himself for a fight, if needed.
“Alyssa, see if you can find us a place to stay. We all need to relax.” said Sartre.
"I do have a card, Alyssa. This card is untraceable so we can get you in somewhere. We need to get with the Prince. I have a feeling it was not the Prince that ordered this. I know little about them. They are about as secret as we are; this was not secret and out in the open. " commented Sung.
“This could be the chance we are looking for to introduce our team,” Sung added, looking a little annoyed.
Choi looked at Alyssa. “Where was the bomb? I may be able to sense the presence of whomever placed it.”
“It was the Phoenix Society, pretty sure they’re big Prince fans, the singer not the other one.” Alyssa responded. “I don’t know where they planted it.” It wasn’t like they offered that info in the text.
Alyssa started looking for a place with her phone, it didn’t take long. “Alright, got us a rental house, it looks like each bedroom is set up like a Master bedroom with a private bath, enough for everyone to have their own.” She texted everyone the directions. "It’s not directly in Gary but over by the lake, still about a 15, maybe 20 minute drive and it’s more secluded which might help with safety issues.”
Choi responded to Alyssa, “Does this house have eight bedrooms, in case Eun-Ji decides to join us. We are seven now, She makes eight.
“Yes,” Alyssa had already thought of that. The place was really a mansion but it was the size they needed.
"Everyone needs to try and relax, it might be good to do some studying, but don’t push yourself too much. Relax and regain your thoughts. said Sartre.
“Well, we first need to get the all clear to go get our stuff.” Alyssa had noticed that Peter tended to get ahead of himself and she was trying to be patient about it. "I’ll check us out, but if others want to go ahead before I’m ready, in the directions I added the code for the security system and lockbox, so, you can get in.”
“I completely forgot about our stuff,” said Sartre. "Who wants to call the bomb squad?”
“You told me, in the van, the bomb squad was taking care of it, already.” Alyssa sounded understandably confused at his comment.
“You are not touching my stuff,” Choi insisted. “Nobody but me.”
“Same here,” Dahlia added. “She didn’t sense anything sinister coming from Sartre, but the idea of him going through her things didn’t sound…well, kosher.
“We’ll go back in if it’s clear,” said Choi.
Alyssa sighed, “We should just retrieve our own things. I will need help with the printer and the box of office supplies.” She wasn’t sure why Sartre thought he could carry everyone’s things, anyway. Her phone buzzed. “It’s clear to go in.” About five minutes later someone in a police uniform would step outside to tell the public the same.
Sartre followed Alyssa’s lead.
Agent Powers slung his bag over his large muscular shoulder then carried Ekaterina’s bags for her. She then said, “Mr. Powers you are such a gentleman.” Agent Powers gave her a smolder then replied, “Uh thanks. Its not heavy.” Agent Powers figured he would be carrying more stuff from the hotel anyway. Ekaterina then elegantly walked beside Agent Powers on the way back to the hotel as she remembered she left her toothbrush and hairbrush in the hotel.
Once in the hotel Ekaterina went to her room to collect the few things she forgot on the way out and since Agent Powers still had her bags she made her way to his room to put them in her bag. Meanwhile Agent Powers was collecting the last of the stuff he left behind since it was not critical to keep. Once he was all packed up he carried all his and Ekaterin’s luggage as she followed him to Alyssa’s room. Then Agent Powers knocked on her door and asked, "Need me to carry anything Alyssa?”
Posted by : Cindy
Alyssa opened the door at Max’s voice, “Do you have the box of office supplies?” She asked Max?
Agent Powers nodded as he presented the box in question and replied, "Sure do.”
Choi ensured he had all his belongings. He packed what he had stored in the drawers, gathered his gao and other weapons, then checked on Dahlia and Sung.
Dahlias had all her things packed. She put her .38 into the back of her pants. She looked at Choi’s gao. “Let me have that and I can bless it for you.”
“When we get where we’re going,” Choi agreed. He shouted to Sung, “Master Sung? Are you ready?”
Sung smiled and looked to be thinking. “I am always ready,” replied Sung. “Let’s go take my SUV?” Sung asked, helping with what he could.
“Good then, let’s go.” When they got downstairs, Alyssa said to the group. “Not sure, who’s riding with who but with Peter, Max and myself, there’s room for one more in my van and their stuff without being cramped.” She opened up her van, “Max just put the box in the back. Peter, see that tub there.” Pointing out a blue tub in the corner, put the printer and cords in that." She stashed her items in the back then waited to see who was riding with her.
As he collected her printer, Peter noticed that two notes fell out of one of the trays. They were both addressed to Alyssa. “Alyssa, someone seemingly found a way in here. These notes are addressed to you.” He handed her the notes. “I’ll ride with you my hacker.” said Sartre.
“I’ll take you up on that offer,” Dahlia offered to Sung, “Master Sung. I have too much for Yeong’s car.”
Choi looked rather dejected. It would have been the perfect opportunity for them to talk about last night. He would need to process this on his own. He was the odd man out, as the Princess was sure to ride with Powers. He was sure of that after what he witnessed this morning.
As Alyssa waited, by her van, for the others to decide who they were riding with, she read the messages. Her brows raised. "Well, these both are something to discuss when we get to the house, after everyone is settled.”
Sartre climbed into the van.
Dahlia placed her luggage into Sung’s SUV. “Thank you for the ride, Master Sung. I haven’t had the privilege of actually meeting you yet!” She reached to shake the older, distinguished man’s hand. “I thought we could talk along the way.”
Choi got into his car. He texted Alyssa: Send me the address so I can plug it into my GPS.
“Alyssa is a great driver,” said Sartre.
Alyssa had texted everyone the address but did realize there were sometimes glitches, so, she resent it with the code to the security system.
Before anyone arrived at the SUV Sung got his phone out and seemed to open an app. He looked at the app the light of the phone lit up Sung’s face as he tapped on the screen of his phone and walked around the SUV twice then unlocked the doors and got in.
Sung greeted Dahlia and shook her hand gently. “I look forward to it,” said Sung now looking at his dash as things flashed across it as the engine started.
“It seems the other Dragons deem you as the wise one,” Dahlia probed.
Agent Powers asked Ekaterina if she wanted to ride in the van with him or with Choi and Dahlia. Then after pondering for a moment she replied she would ride with him in the back of the van. She had a lot of questions figured she could observe and find them on her own. Then Agent Powers loaded the van with the bags and helped Ekaterina in before he got in.
“Alyssa got us a mansion as a safehouse,” said Sartre.
Agent Powers listened as he heard they were going to a mansion. This meant they had more privacy from the public but it also meant they were easier targets for the enemy. He pondered in deep thought till Ekaterina asked, “Something troubling you Mr. Powers?”
He gave her a smolder then replied, “Just thinking about our security now.”
Ekaterina smiled as she said, “Oh relax, Mr. Powers I will help with that. I can get eyes all around the mansion.”
Agent Powers gave Ekaterina a puzzled look and she smiled as she wiggled her finger and a dragonfly fly up from behind her and landed on her finger and did a few tricks before flying behind her again. She then winked at Agent Powers as he was in awe by her cool trick.
“There’s a full security system in place as well.” Alyssa made sure of. "Hopefully, we can ramp up the system a bit, as well.”
Agent Powers gave Alyssa a smolder before he nodded and replied, “Sounds good.”
He then gave Ekaterina a smolder and she winked at him then gave him a sly smirk before she asked him, “You mentioned using special ammo on vampires earlier. Do you only have it for your gun?”
Agent Powers then reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden 12g shotgun bullet and replied, “I have the 12 gauge shotgun shell and slug only. I asked for smaller rounds but my father told me it’s less effective to use a smaller shell. This is an all rounder to the supernatural types.”
Ekaterina sighed as she replied, “Oh, too bad I only have pistols on me.”
Agent Powers then opened his bag and dug around till he found a small 12g black mini pump shotgun.
Agent Powers then said, “Here you can use my backup if you want. The pump is a swivel handle and it holds up to six rounds if we pull out the choke.”
Ekaterina elegantly accepted the shotgun and examined it like a trained soldier and nodded as she found it cute. She then replied, “I like this. I’ll have to order one later on.”
Agent Powers pulled out a box of golden shells and handed it to Ekaterina as he replied, “Keep it. I have several of them.”
Ekaterina elegantly smiled at Agent Powers and replied, "Such a gentleman.”
Alyssa heard the exchange in the backseat, she knew it wasn’t the Vampires they were going to have to worry about, but she really wanted to tell everyone at the same time.
As it turned out Alyssa’s van was the first to arrive, she drove up to the large rod iron gate, the keypad, fortunately, was able to be reached from the van. She keyed in the code and the gates opened. It led to a long winding paved driveway and at the end the house with a multi-car garage off to one side.
Alyssa was glad it seemed as nice as described. “So, will this work?” She asked.
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Agent Powers gave the house a smolder before he nodded and replied, “Nice. I can workout here.”
Ekaterina smirked at Agent Powers and then began influencing the small rodents and bugs outside to patrol the grounds for intruders. She then replied, “It reminds me of one of our summer homes in France. Have you ever been there for vacation Mr. Powers?”
Agent Powers was confused and replied, “I have never been on a vacation before. I only travel for work. During my downtime I am held up in a hotel room till my next assignment.”
Ekaterina smiled and said, “You really need to go out more.”
“Well, you’ve got 25 acres and an indoor pool and hot tub. So, yeah I think you can work out here.” Alyssa parked the van, got out and walked up to the front door, she keyed in the code and opened the door. “Well, home sweet home or temporarily at least. Being we’re the first here, I say we take our things to our individual rooms.” This also gave them the first pick of rooms. While each room was like a Master Suite with a private bath, Alyssa chose a room down the end of the hallway on the second floor with a view of the lake. Because she was at the end of the hall, that would allow Max and Peter to both have a room near her. Even though she figured Peter would end up in her room eventually, she wasn’t ready for the team to know exactly what was going on between the two of them. Alyssa put her items in her room and then waited for Peter to be ready, "Let’s check out the rest of the house.”
Sartre surveyed the interior of the mansion. It was extremely spacious, he wondered when they would get together to discuss the contents of the notes found in the printer.
He watched as Alyssa went to their room.
He dropped off his belongings in his room that he would stand until later in the evening.
“I wonder how long everyone else will be.” Alyssa realized none of them had breakfast. Into the chip, she tried to get Max’s attention. "Max, are you willing to help make a list of food, as in groceries, we need.”
Agent Powers gave Alyssa a smolder before he nodded and replied, “Sure thing. I’ll have it delivered.”
Ekaterina looked at Agent Powers and said, “Impressive Mr. Powers.”
Agent Powers nodded and didn’t look at Ekaterina as he asked, “Thanks. So which room are you picking Princess? I can take your bags there.”
Ekaterina gave Agent Powers an elegant smile as she put her finger in her chin and pondered a bit then she looked around and saw what rooms were taken and debated a bit before picking the room next to Agent Powers.
Then he dropped off her bags, before putting his bags in his room. After that he talked with Ekaterina on ordering groceries that accommodated everyone. After placing the order he texted Alyssa that it would be delivered soon via drones. Then he and Ekaterina decided to walk around the house to see where everything was and the outside as well. There she began setting up her bug and small rodent sentries.
Alyssa walked around the house, with Peter, getting a good look at the large home. It certainly seemed like everyone would fit without being crowded. They got to the indoor pool and hot tub, “Well, that’s nice. Might have to take advantage of the pool and hot tub later.” She smiled at Peter. "So, did you pack a swimsuit?”
"Unfortunately no. Think we can discuss those notes over breakfast? Did you pack one?” Peter asked.
“I figured we’d discuss the notes when everyone got here, so, yeah, over breakfast sounds good.” Alyssa said. "Yes, I always pack a swimsuit, never know when you might need one. Well, you could order one, it wouldn’t take that long to get here. I mean if you wanted.”
"I should order one. " He placed an order in pax to be delivered by drone.
In the chip Peter commented “A bathing suit for me would cover up the bruises. There are more on me than you my hacker.” he said. “What if I didn’t want a swimsuit?” he whispered.
She responded, "That would be a little awkward if anyone else decided to use the pool.”
"Indeed, my swimsuit will arrive soon.” Peter said.
Soon, Choi’s Veloster was seen coming back the long driveway to the mansion. His first glance of it caused him to grin. It was larger than his place in California. Leave it to the Little Hacker, Choi thought in admiration.
He had stopped along the way for breakfast, thinking things over with a nice hot cup of tea. Since Dahlia wasn’t with him, Choi enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes and sausages. He wouldn’t dare eat sausage in front of her. He respected her that much.
He pondered why she wanted to ride with Sung. Master Sung could have just hauled her belongings, and she could have ridden with Yeong. Not thinking of a reason, Choi finished his tea and hurried to the safe house.
There were screens monitoring the outside of the property in various location throughout the house. Alyssa looked up at the one hung up by the pool. “Choi’s here.” She commented. Then commented, so are the drones. Damn those things were quick. Into the chip. “Max, the drones are arriving.” To Peter she said, “I’m going to head upstairs to help.” She went upstairs and outside, watching, the drones drop off the packages and then fly off.
“Hi,” She said to Choi. "All the bedrooms are on the second floor. Feel free to pick one that’s not taken.”
Choi was surprised that Sung hadn’t arrived yet. He acknowledged Alyssa.
“Thank you for the accommodations. A lot better than where we left,” Choi agreeably said.
He retrieved his luggage and weapon cases from the rear. Carrying them upstairs, Choi took in the locations of the rooms.
The drones finished dropping off the items and Alyssa started retrieving them. One was marked from a Kosher food store and Alyssa tried to remember what little she knew about keeping Kosher. No pork, or shellfish, no meat with dairy but wasn’t there something about special plates or a kitchen blessed by a rabbi. She felt very unknowledgeable about the whole thing and Alyssa being Alyssa decided to research it more later.
Agent Powers and Ekaterina were exploring the garden when he got a text from Alyssa that the food was delivered via drones. So he told Ekaterina that he needed to help make breakfast. Ekaterina was curious what his cooking was like so she agreed to go help. After going back to the house they began sorting the food before he began making breakfast.
Alyssa left the two to cook, as she tended to not do well with that kind of stuff and took the box with Peter’s swimsuit. When she found him, she handed him the box. "Here you go.”
In the chip; “You seem to be enjoying taking a leadership role Alyssa.” said Sartre.
"Your swimsuit has arrived. And I don’t know, I mean its not something I would have thought I’d like but I, kinda, do.”
“Thank you.” Peter noticed Alyssa seemed to be taking the lead with things. He smiled then grabbed his swimsuit unwrapping it from the package.
Choi chose a room and began unpacking his belongings. He laid out his weapons neatly upon the top of the dresser. Then, he began to place clothing in an organizational manner into the drawers.
“Max and Ekaterina are making breakfast,” Alyssa told Peter. She assumed they would let people know when it was done.
Meanwhile Agent Powers was in the kitchen working like a chef making pancakes with fresh fruit topping, cheese omelets, toasted beagles, bacon and French toast. He made fresh fruit juices, gourmet coffee, chai tea and assorted condiments for the for and drinks.
Ekaterina nibbled on some grapes as she watched Agent Powers work with laser focus. She found his cooking skills attractive as she liked that he was like a loyal pet, only with bulging muscles.
Once Max was done he texted Alyssa that breakfast was ready.
Alyssa glanced at her phone. “And apparently breakfast is ready.” Not knowing that Choi had eaten already, she texted him a similar message. Then turned back to Peter. “And I’m starving, so I’m going to head downstairs.” Alyssa did just that arriving in the kitchen area a few moments later.
“Max, that looks and smells wonderful.” Alyssa complimented.
Agent Powers gave Alyssa a smolder before he smiled and nodded at her. He replied, “Eat up.” He then made sure Alyssa and Ekaterina had a plate to serve what they wanted, before he served himself.
Ekaterina sampled his cooking before she gave him an elegant smile and replied, "Wow Mr. Powers. I would love to hire you as my personal chef.”
Alyssa nodded, “Thanks,” but herself a cup of coffee before diving into the food. Upon hearing Ekaterina rave about Max’s cooking, Alyssa nodded. “Yes, Max here is an excellent cook.” She then turned to Max, “You should be in charge of the food while we’re here.” She smiled at him.
Choi quietly returned downstairs after organizing his room the way he liked it. Walking into the kitchen area, he shook his head.
“I stopped along the way to eat,” he admitted. “But I will have some chai tea. Thank you!”
Ekaterina looked at Choi and then behind him before she asked, "So where is Dahlia?”
“There wasn’t enough room in my trunk,” Choi reported to Ekaterina, “So she rode with Master Sung.”
Ekaterina smiled as she replied, "I see. Did they also stop to eat?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I thought they’d be here by now. Sung is usually pretty fast” he quickly added, “at driving.”
He smiled a knowing smile at Ekaterina with that reply. They held each other’s secret.
Agent Powers swallowed his food before he replied, “If she’s hungry later I’ll make her something different.” Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she replied, “How thoughtful of you Mr. Powers.” Then she asked Alyssa, "So will we have another meeting today?”
“Yes,” Alyssa responded. "I have info that I’m pretty certain that everyone will want to know about.”
Sung touched the screen on the dash. his phone lit up “Alyssa, Text,” Sung ordered. there was a pause. "the voice came on “What would you like to say?” the voice asked. “We have arrived, Sent text.” said Sung as they drove down the drive way.
Alyssa’s phone buzzed. “And Sung and Dahlia have just arrived.” She texted back. “Bedrooms are upstairs, pick an unoccupied one and then meet us down in the kitchen.” She texted the same thing Dahlia. Then texted Peter to let him know they’d be meeting in the kitchen, in a few minutes.
Sung walked in with a grin. “Honey, I am home,” Sung shouted in a joking tone.
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Agent Powers gave Sung a smolder and a pause before he asked, “Who is Honey?”
Ekaterina held in her smirk as she knew Agent Powers missed the joke.
Alyssa smiled at the joke, “Max here was nice enough to cook breakfast, if you want some.” She said to both Sung and Dahlia.
“Powers cooks? Is it safe?” said Sung chuckling as he walked to the dining area. “That was nice Powers. What do you have for this old man?” asked Sung.
Agent Powers pointed at the spread on the table which had pancakes with fresh fruit topping, cheese omelets, toasted beagles, bacon and French toast. He also made fresh fruit juices, gourmet coffee, chai tea and assorted condiments for the for and drinks. Agent Powers swallowed his food before he asked Dahlia, "If you’re still hungry I can make something kosher. The princess gave me some recipes in case you wanted something in particular.”
“Whatever you can put together, Agent Powers,” Dahlia felt agreeable in the new surroundings. “I’m famished. We didn’t get a chance at breakfast this morning, a rather rude awakening.”
“I’ll help you with your things,” Choi commented.
“Thank you Yeong,” Dahlia affirmed. “That is most appreciated.”
Choi went to the SUV and gathered much of Dahlia’s things, leaving some for her to carry. When they were alone at the SUV, “The room directly across from mine is open,” he stated with a grin.
“How did we manage that?” She asked with a sly grin.
“What’s for breakfast?” Sartre asked as he entered the kitchen.
Alyssa gestured at the table, “All of that.” She finished with her own plate of food, but got some more coffee. “Does everyone want to do the meeting now or after breakfast?” She was fine either way. Not exactly a need to be in a hurry, but the hacker did know some might be curious.
Agent Powers nodded as he got up and began making a few kosher breakfast meals for Dahlia since she was waiting on him.
Dahlia returned after she and Choi offloaded her belongings in the bedroom across from his. She would organize things later, after the meeting.
“I think I have everything,” Dahlia said thoughtfully, “but if you need anything, perhaps we can go get it?”
“That should probably wait until after the meeting,” Choi suggested.
Alyssa hadn’t gotten a response to her question, she shrugged figuring people just wanted to do it later. She grabbed her coffee and said, “I’ll be in the living room when people want to join me for the meeting. I have some things I need to do first.” She went up to her room and grabbed her laptop before going back downstairs to the living room.
In the living room:
Choi walked in with his chai. He sat in one of the comfortable armchairs. Sinking into the seat, he sighed.
“While they’re eating,” Yeong suggested, “What do you think Little Redheaded Hacker?”
Alyssa looked up at Choi and asked, “Depends, what do I think about what?” She smiled slightly.
“Well,” Choi expressed with a deep breath, “you’re the logical one. According to the Council of Venice, they want us permanently working together. Do you believe this group of very different individuals can continue their success and work together?”
“Hmm…” Alyssa seemed to ponder that for a bit. “Yes, but only if we can learn to all trust each other. With me, you and Sung earned that trust. The Templar just haven’t been around long enough to have that opportunity, once they get a chance will see how it goes.” Alyssa paused, then added. “I’m not one to usually hold my tongue, but I have been regarding Enu-Ji, if you want to know the biggest obstacle to us working as a cohesive unit, it might be her. She doesn’t trust anyone who’s not a Dragon and even then, it seems iffy. Except Sung. She doesn’t really seem to want to be a part of the group. I will give her credit, the last meeting she was at, she was far more willing to work with the group than against it, so, if that sticks then we’ll all be headed in the right direction.” Well, she was just being honest.
Choi chuckled, taking a sip of the chai. He remembered the nickname Sartre had given Eun-Ji: the Emerald Dragon. “I don’t think Eun-Ji liked the name your partner gave to her.”
“Tell me what you think about the case,” he asked.
Alyssa had to think - what name, then remembered, “Well, it’s not an insult.” She shrugged, not really getting the problem. Dragons were the green, an Emerald is a beautiful rare green gem. Alyssa wouldn’t be upset if someone called her a sapphire Illuminati.
“I think the case is going to require a lot of caffeine and, possibly, some aspirin.” Alyssa joked. "I’ve found some things out and we were all so focused on the Vamps but, as it turns out, they probably aren’t the enemy.”
“Really?” Choi responded with an eyebrow raised. “Who would be the enemy, then?”
“I’ll explain everything at the meeting.” Alyssa said. "But the threat I received was from a different group and the cryptic text from yet another group.”
After Agent Powers made some kosher food for Dahlia he put them on the table for her and went back to his seat eating.
Ekaterina gave him a pleasant smile as he was attentive to the team’s needs. She planned on telling him when they were alone later on.
Dahlia thanked Agent Powers. She looked at Kat. “So, what did you guys do with your free time last night?”
In the living room, Choi replied to Alyssa. “Fair enough. It’s important we all hear the same information.” He chuckled, “You didn’t work all night when we had some down time, did you?”
Alyssa grinned and shook her head, “No, I didn’t really work at all. However, it tends to find me. I went on a date. So, what did you do with your time.” Alyssa looked up as Peter arrived.
Sartre was excited to begin putting things together. He followed the hacker into the living room, wanting to hear her theories.[
“Oh,” Choi said with a sense of excitement. “I went dancing.”
In the Kitchen:
Kat gave Dahlia a sly smile as she answered, “Oh just a pleasant conversation about our hobbies and such. How about yourself?” Ekaterina knew where this was going but she preferred to keep a low profile on her getting intimate with Agent Powers.
“Choi actually took me to dinner and dancing,” Dahlia announced. “It was an enjoyable evening. And Choi was quite the gentleman.”
Ekaterina smiled elegantly as she replied, "Oh how fun. It sounds like you really enjoyed it. I’d love to go one day but I have to watch out for those internet content creators putting my face online. Each time I get caught my family lectures me for weeks.”
“Poor Kat,” Dahlia empathized, “if it weren’t for the paparazzi, you could really have a fun life. Agent Powers, the blintz soufflé is excellent. The girl who lands you is going to be so spoiled.”
Agent Powers cocked his head to the side with a confused expression. He didn’t understand what Dahlia was referring to since he hardly had any knowledge on relationships, especially the lingo. As it was he was still trying to register that he and Ekaterina got intimate. He replied, “Ummm your welcome but I am not a pilot, so the only landing I have done is from a parachute.”
Ekaterina tried not to giggle at his response then she replied, "I’ll explain it later Mr. Powers.”
As the others were going to the living room Ekaterina finished her breakfast and looked at Agent Powers as he was clearly eating for five people. She smiled at him and asked, “Shall we move to the living room for the meeting Mr. Powers?”
Agent Powers swallowed the last of his food and swallowed down his juice and coffee before he nodded and gave her a smolder before replying, “Yes.” Then the two made their way to the living room.
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Alyssa wanted to ask follow up questions about Choi’s night but with the other’s arriving decided to hold off until later. She spotted Jaxx and Ekaterina arriving and that left Sung and Dahlia to come into the living room.
Dahlia entered with Sung in tow. She hadn’t had a soufflé quite like that in a while. Dahlia sat in a chair, Sung stood.
"Well, it looks like we’re all here. Basically, I want to fill you all in on some messages I received. I’m suspending the rules of order, unless their needed again, because I just feels my info takes precedent. " Alyssa the continued. “I don’t think the Vampires are out main concern. First of all when Peter and I were out last night the Prince of Chicago paid for our meal, he knew we were there and did nothing to harm us, even when he could have. Second, I recieved a note this morning, which stated that the Prince of Chicago, Olaf Lodin, he has invited the team to meet with him at his office at the Sears Tower, in two evenings, at 9 PM.” She pulled out a note and her phone. “I knew about the bombs because I received a text, warning me. It was only signed “a friend” but I had similar texts sent to me on the last mission. Now, for the real threats. I received a text this morning” She read from her phone. “Our patience has been tested for too long By the tower by our so-called allies in the movement. Most of them are nothing but traitor’s the Kindred need look no further then the newly anointed Prince Of Indianapolis the witty “Hackmaster9000” She argued so much for our cause, and yet look at what she does just a few months before a grand conclave here in the United States and a meeting of the inner circle in Venice. More betrayal. The tower must fall. We own the night and the day.” Alyssa added. "The message was signed ‘The Phoenix Society.’ She then opened the note she had received. "Though you are good at your craft Wilson , we do not appreciate things like continued industrialization that ruined this once beautiful forest of Gaia. This one was signed The True Earth Liberation Front- Garou.”
The hacker paused, then added. "And one more thing the Nosfartu’s computer network is called SchrekNet 2.0. The message from the Phoenix Society came from a web page called Schreknet. I can say no decent hacker would name their page after the network or server they are using.”
Agent Powers gave Alyssa a smolder before he pulled out his phone and tapped on it then he looked up as he said, “Garou seems to be another word for werewolves. I’ll have my father send some silver bullets.”
Ekaterina looked at Agent Powers and asked him for some nine mm rounds for her guns.
“So,” Choi responded, “I guess we need to research how to fight a werewolf. I take it isn’t as easy as a silver bullet.”
“Max, good idea.” To Yeong, she said, "Yes, whomever would like to research that feel free and let us know what you find. A few things, for the time being, it’s probably safer if no one goes off the premises by themselves and don’t go wandering around at night, the property is pretty secure, and I’ll be working on upping the system to make it even more secure but there’s 25 acres here and a lot can happen within all that space. Right around the outside of the house, including the nearby gardens and the gazebo have cameras, also there are screens connected to all the cameras throughout the house. Near the tvs should be remotes which can flip their image to the different locations. Feel free, of course, to utilize those, as necessary.”
Dahlia asked, “If you are bitten by a werewolf, is it true you become one?”
“Rumor has it,” Alyssa responded. "A lot of that is conjecture but some is real. I can get on the dark web and see if I can find anything.”
“I’m thinking the same things that killed a vampire would be used to kill a werewolf,” Choi suggested.
Agent Powers texted his father for some silver ammunition for killing werewolves and his father replied that he will send the silver ammunition and that fire type ammunition will work as well. Agent Powers wondered if his father knew more about the werewolves but didn’t say anymore. He then said, “My father is sending silver bullets and said we can also use fire type ammunition like the white phosphorus rounds I already have.”
Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she replied, “I see, then I will keep your mini shotgun close by.”
Agent Powers gave Ekaterina a smolder then nodded in silence.
“Well, I think fire will kill most things, probably decapitation. Anything else I’d really like to verify.” Alyssa then added. "However, Max’s father has been in this line of work for a long time, from what I know, I would take his word with the silver bullets.”
“Well,” Choi commented, “Master Sung and I will take care of the heads.”
Dahlia added, “I can add fire. Most likely, if we don’t burn the bodies, they will regenerate.”
“As far as I know werewolves aren’t undead, what makes you say they would regenerate?” Alyssa was curious about that. She had heard zombies could but not werewolves.
“What seems to be the main difference between the Anarchs And the Camarilla? The Phoenix Society, Does not seem to have any issues with killing vampires from either side even though they say they align themselves with the Anarch movement The werewolf action seems to have different motives all together. They seem to think of themselves as environmental warriors.” said Sartre
“That sounds accurate, from what we know. I think the Prince will probably know more than we do, about the werewolves. How much of that information he’s willing to share though is debatable.” Alyssa commented.
“They’re also immune to vampires,” Choi spoke. “At least that is what I’ve read in lore.”
“It’s the curse upon them,” Dahlia suggested, “controlled by the moon. That’s why I believe they do regenerate when moon beams meet their bones.”
“Curse?” Dahlia stated in a surprised voice. “A far as we know, vampires settle in an area. Werewolves are wanderers. Could it be that the werewolves are the children of Cain?”
Sung just sat in the back listening to everyone talk eating a bagel and sipping tea. He thought these kids really are amazing. But should he warn them not to get involved in a passable war? Maybe they will find out on their own.
Funny thing Sung has dealt with undead a lot but never werewolves or vampires. He knew that Dragon’s wrath could kill them mostly. That sword was one of a kind. An ancient sword some say might have been forged by dragons but no one believed that either.
Sung spoke up not that he wanted to. but he did not want to see them walk into their death possibly either. “If there is a war between them do you want to get in valved? Them killing one other is not our problem,” added Sung thinking. “Or did I miss something in this conversation?” questioned Sung.
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