Breaking the Veil

((ATTENTION EVERYONE! THIS POST IS DIRECTED AT YOU!))

Just as Kat is straightening up from treating Jacob, the door to the bar suddenly swings open, and a bully of cops comes streaming through, falling out in formation around the entrance. Three of them have guns. Constantin and Rufus - who is wearing two crosses around his neck - come through the door last, behind one of the gun-holding officers, on either side of a little twelve-year-old girl, also wearing a cross.

Alexander, who is furiously and unhappily conversing in an undertone with his two wounded waitstaff (one of whom is still dripping guts on the floor), freezes mid-syllable, and whirls around to stare incredulously at the squad's leader.

Sasha, still completely black-eyed, bows solemnly to the group at the doorway and intones, "She is Here", before snapping back to attention.

The leader is dressed (unlike the majority of his fellow officers) in a full beat cop's uniform, with a nametag that reads "Officer Morgan", carrying a long sharpened wood pole and a bottle of water. While most of the officers stop in shock or horror at the sight of the gutted waitressvamp, he doesn't even blink, glancing around the room and cataloguing the exits before sending two officers over to Jacob (currently lying on the floor near the bar with his head in Kat's lap) and one over to guard the door leading to the kitchens before striding forward, pole held like a spear out in front of him.

Alexander has opened his mouth, and gotten as far as "What do you think you're doing he-" before Morgan grabs him by the collar and shoves him bodily up against a wall.

"What did you do to her, Alexander?" he roars, gesturing at the gutted waitressvamp. His nose is about an inch from Alexander's face, and his hands are shaking.

"Relax, Morgan," Alexander drawls, staring calmly back into Morgan's eyes. "That innocent woman is safe from me. As you can see, she's not dead."

Morgan pauses, blinks, and, as if realizing what he's doing, slowly lets go of Alexander's shirt and takes a step back. Alexander leans his head pointedly over toward the waitress, who bows politely back.

The police officers behind Morgan have all gone white, staring. One of them is crossing himself, while another mutters under his breath.

"My God," says one of them. "My God, Morgan. I'll never doubt you again."

"But-" says Officer Thompson, looking horrified. "But- what the- her guts are falling out-"

"Costume makeup," says Alexander. "Of course."

"Of course," snarls Morgan, turning bright red all over and moving forward to grab Alexander by the collar again. "Right. Costume makeup - you turned her, didn't you, Alex? Made her like you. You killed an innocent woman-"

"I killed her? But isn't she still moving around?" Alexander's mouth gives a slight twitch, that might, possibly, maybe, be construed as a smile. "My, my. That would be a precedent. The first suspect ever arrested for murder, while the victim was still able to defend herself in court-"

Morgan goes purple.

"Someday. Someday, Alexander, I will see you in chains-"

"Please. We both know exactly how much faith the London authorities place in your delusions." He glances pointedly down at Morgan's hands on his shirt collar, then back into his eyes, raising an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, you might want to let go now, unless you want me to file for another restraining order."

Morgan lets go, but the red starts fading away from his face, and as he steps back, he's smiling.

"Yeah, see, but that's where you're wrong, Alex. I saw what happened at Heathrow tonight. I saw that explosion, it was purple, and I've heard the rumors about the bodies. I know you're involved in this somehow, Alex, and by dawn everyone in this city is going to know that I was right. That magic is real. That you really are a monster, and then, then we'll see just how well your pretty excuses stand up in court."

Morgan takes another step back, and glances over at the cops, standing shellshocked and staring around the doorway. "Guard the exits. Nobody here gets in or out." He throws Alexander another heated glare. "Now that I know you can turn others, everybody in this room is under suspicion of being a vampire. Until the word comes in from the higher-ups to let us arrest them, nobody is coming in or out. Millions of people are dead, Alex," he adds in an undertone to Alexander, voice turning rough and sorrowful. "Millions. I don't care if I break the law to put you behind bars - you aren't getting the chance to hurt anybody else, ever again."

((general interaction. we're all in the same encounter really, now))

Constantin looks like he'd rather be anywhere else right now, but at least that Cyrus person is making less with the psycho. That's a plus. On the other hand, he's kind of trapped in the gaggle behind a new psycho, with a badge, so that's less great.

((Cyrus and those near him at the bar.))

Cyrus is, above all, confused. Last he remembers, he was at the table, and now...he's on the bar, there's blood all over his shirt, there are werewolves and cops and vampires freaking out EVERYWHERE, the wards at the bar are down when they've never been before, there's a stench of death in the air...and there's a (quite attractive!) changeling he's never met that knows his name.

"I...yes, I'm Cyrus," he finally tells Rush once the cop finishes blowing up at Alexander. "And I have a bad feeling I just did some things that were very...stupid."

He sits up, placing Celine in his lap so he can pet her without getting blood on her pretty white fur. He glances between Rush, the werewolves, and everyone else in the bar. "So, could someone explain what's going on? Pretty please?"

"What does the name Harvester mean to you, Cyrus?" Adam asks, ignoring the cops for now.

At the question, Cyrus groans. "I was afraid of that...uhmm..." He fidgets a bit as he tries to think of an answer. "Well. You see. Uhmm. I'm...kind of crazy? As in, ah, I have another personality thing. And that's Harvester."

At this point, Cyrus glances at Jacob, and then at the waitressvamp everyone's yelling about. Huh. She's dripping guts. There's an awful lot of blood on his shirt. He leans in and loudly whispers, "...Did I hurt these people? Please tell me I didn't."

Adam nods slowly. "You, or something in your skin, did." He narrows his eyes, "It didn't talk like a multiple personality. It talked like something different, from somewhere else. What is Harvester?"

"...Can I not answer that?" He asks hopefully. Of course, he knows he has to answer. Making sure the cops and vamps aren't listening in, Cyrus eventually says, "He's...sort of a power trade-off, you could say. I have access to some power others do not, but in exchange, Harvester appears sometime. I suppose he's like a manifestation of my power, sort of? I've...never actually met him myself. He just leaves me notes, sometimes."

With a sigh, Cyrus adds, "I'm really sorry about all this. I mean, this usually doesn't happen--I swear, I have medication for this. It's just..." He looks worried, almost scared, as he says, "...I felt the death. Those millions of people? I felt their lives get snuffed out. I guess it just...shocked me out of my senses? And so, Harvester showed up. I think that's why, at least."

Adam listens, his face growing flinty. "You made this choice. To bring him into you?"

His eyes flick across Cyrus, looking for answers.

Constantin is staying well and truly out of all of this, keeping a tight grip on the young girl just in case, and feeling utterly absurd: standing in a bar in sunglasses, drinking something (that seems to be topped with an umbrella?), while a werewolf questions an aborted-spree-kill mage with an evil genius style white cat in-lap, and some poor dead girl is dripping blood all over the floor.

And their flight's cancelled.

"Well, I didn't knowI'd go power-crazy until I woke up covered in blood and sticky notes a few years ago! And no, I didn't summon him earlier. He just...showed up. Like I fainted from the shock of all the death, and he's the stunt double taking over--except, you know, he tried to stab people."

Pausing to move Celine to his shoulder, Cyrus finishes, "But no, I didn't summon Harvester here tonight. I rarely ever summon him on purpose, and he rarely shows up. I'm terribly sorry it happened tonight, of all nights." He laughs, a bit sourly. "And to think I came here to avoid all the chaos...universe works in weird ways, right?"

As Cyrus speaks, Celine, for reasons unknown, watches Claire.

((Quietly, Adam talking with Cyrus))

Adam follow's the cats gaze to Claire. ((OOC: GM, insert question here to be specified offline whenever you are back))

Without taking his eyes off the little girl, he asks, "What happened, there at the end? What did he do to Sasha? And what was that burst of energy?"

[Oh look, interaction.]

Claire

And suddenly...everything happening at once. Her gaze shoots around the room, dizzyingly fast, before she notices Celine.

Claire stares straight back at the cat, completely unblinking. Out of everything that's going on, she can't decide whether this is the strangest thing going on or not. After a few moments, she feels Adam--for now known to her as Really Burly Shirtless Bloke--return the favor on her. She shivers but maintains eye contact with the cat. She looks awfully...soft.

Confused, Cyrus finally looks over at Sasha, unmoving except for his pitch-black eyes. Slowly, he answers, "I...don't know. I can never remember what Harvester does. But...you sure I did that? That doesn't look like any spell I know..."

Celine keeps staring at Claire and mews quietly. Cyrus follows the cat's gaze over to Claire, and smiles (as if that would overcome his blood-covered visage).

"Oh, hello there! Uhmm..." He sets Celine onto the bar. "You can pet her, if you want. She doesn't bite." And a lot less scary than everything else at the bar, he mentally adds, but doesn't say allow.

With this, he turns back to Adam and Rush. "Anyway, sorry I can't remember what happened. Is that all? I don't know about you, but I'd like to get out of here before anyone else starts pointing fingers." He doesn't seem to mind that there are cops guarding all the entrances.

[Rush, whispering to the group of Adam, Claire and Cyrus.]

RUSH:
Rush's face hardens at the appearance of the police, with their various vampire hunting accoutrements. He places a slightly shaky fin on Cyrus's shoulder, trying to calm his nerves and go back to being the good cop. Or at least the sensible and way too pretty to die cop.

"I'm really sorry this is happening to you, Cyrus, and I totally agree, we should focus on gtfo-ing. Unfortunately, I'm not sure getting out is really an option right now... I might be able to pull something off, but it might also prove a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire for most of you." He notices Claire with some surprise, eyes widening at her cross.

"Honey... don't tell me the cops are holding you too?"

Adam finally breaks his gaze from the little girl, his brow still knotted as though he's trying to figure something out. Then he seems to register what Cyrus said. He sighs and says, "Only the whole world going to hell.

"I don't know if you caught all of this, but I guess Heathrow airport exploded. They say the big man himself is dead. Alexander's people were going nuts looking for someone capable of time travel, or mental influence on a massive scale. You know anyone like that?"

He finally looks at Cyrus, seeming almost to see him for the first time--young, confused, and very much not responsible for this mess. He looks at the blood on the mage's face. "You really ought to clean yourself up... I tried to get those vamps to do it before you came back."

Without thinking about it, he steps in and lifts the other half of his torn up t-shirt, still dangling from one hand, to clean the blood of Cyrus' face.

((Completely OOC: Sorry Rush! I didn't see your post before I got mine out there :P

Also, I don't want to assume that Cyrus will let Adam clean the blood off his face. Adam can be a little thoughtless--but I as the player am curious! I tried to stop at a point where you can either accept the gesture, or interrupt it and keep at arm's length.))

[Oh look, interaction.]

Claire

Officer Thompson's voice is low and cold. "Now you leave her out of this, son. "

Claire blinks and finally tears her stare away from the cat. She makes a move toward the bar, but halts as her hands tug on the ones currently grasping her own. She blinks again, this time somewhat dazedly, when it finally registers that a tall blond man has asked her a question.

Her mouth drops open as she stares at him. Not...quite sure if she should answer that. Or even how to.

((Still with the people at the bar. Y'all know who you are, yes? And of course I'll accept having a striking looking werewolf clean my face. XD))

"Oh, don't worry about getting out. I have a trick or two up my sleeve still." He almost starts chanting another spell, but then Adam speaks. He pauses to think for a moment, flinching slightly when Adam starts wiping his face off. He doesn't seem to mind, and even tilts his face so Adam can clean it better.

"Thank you. And yes, we do know some people like that. Uhmmm...there's a mage in Putney, Phillip Aramancer, who might be able to help with mindwiping or whatever. And Pacifiens--wait, wouldn't Alexander have grabbed him already? They seemed to be close business-wise, I thought." Blowing air into his bangs as he thinks a bit more, he finally adds, "Aaaand...I think one of the succubi that lives under the Law Courts might be a help. Can't remember her name, but...that's all I've got on short notice."

His attention's caught by Claire again. She seems a bit...off? Maybe she's just scared. Goodness knows they all are--or should be. Celine seems to note this, and creeps a bit closer to Claire, mewing again.

"I suppose now that the wards are down, getting out won't be a problem for you. I wish I could say the same for the rest of us." He glances at Rush, and says, "Although if I know this man, he's got a trick or two up his sleeve, too."

He finishes wiping down Cyrus' face, looks at it critically, then grunts and nods to himself. "Good enough, till you can get to a shower."

Then his gaze is drawn back, almost magnetically, toward Claire.

To Cyrus, but without looking away from Claire, he says, "Are there any of them you can contact on short notice? Maybe who would be willing to help?"

[...Y'all know who you are. :'D]

RUSH:
Rush gives the policeman a huffy look, crossing his arms and looking more like a whiny college student than usual. "Well, I was just worried. This isn't a great place for a kid." He gives the girl a sympathetic look, before smiling at her and the cat. "Aww, she likes you~!"

He turns back to Adam and Cyrus, lowering his voice but trying to keep as vague and casual as possible as he leans on the side of Cyrus's chair. "Well, yeah, if we could go strait to them, that'd be great. Eheh," he chuckles with false modesty, "I do... But we probably want to go with the lesser of two evils. What're the drawbacks, Cyrus? And, um, you need someone to cover for you... when you explain to your wife why you're late tonight?" He gives Cyrus a deep blue, meaningful look.

Adam leans in close and whispers, "Do you notice anything... strange, about that little girl?"

Then he seems to catch what Rush just said, and he looks at Cyrus with with surprise and amusement, "You have a wife!?" (Clearly missing whatever implication Rush tried to communicate...)

Cyrus shrugs. "I...might be able to get in contact with them? I'm not sure...I don't really know them personally. I might be able to get Phillip..."

And then Rush speaks about his 'wife'. And Adam actually helps by not getting the hint. Cyrus glances over at the corner he occupied earlier.

"Actually, I can do two birds with one stone; I left my phone over at my table. Say, would you boys mind coming with me, so I don't forget to say anything...?" He nods toward the table in question, which is still mostly covered by a fern; still a perfect hiding spot. And a perfect getaway spot. Hopefully, the others will get the hint.

Oh, wait, Celine. He glances at Claire again--yes, something's up with her, but he can't tell what, exactly. He shrugs it off and calls to Celine, "Honey, we're going back to the table. Come on."

Celine, oddly enough, doesn't move. She still watches Claire, only looking away when Cyrus scoops her up. "Celine, don't make me carry you everywhere, you silly cat..."

Adam is getting distracted, looking over to his own table, where the three younger members of his pack are still gathered, quiet and miserable.

Without seeming to have caught the hints thus far, he puts his hands on the shoulders of Rush and Cyrus and says, "You two see what you can figure out. I need to check on something."

((OOC: This is basically me needing to go to bed for the night. Sadly, my bedtime coincides with Amelia's wakeup time exactly. Feel free to continue plot; Adam will be over with the other Summer Wolves, protecting them if necessary and otherwise staying out of it.))

Before he goes, he leans in closer and says very quietly, to Rush in particular, but to both of them, "I don't know what's up with that little girl, but she doesn't smell right."

He claps their shoulders one more time and goes over to talk quietly with the other Summer Wolves.

[Oh look, interaction.]

Claire

Officer Thompson laughs humorlessly. "No kidding." ...Pun thuroughly intended after the fact.

Claire, on the other hand, continues to stare--first at the cat, her eyes widening as it actually starts to approach and then, after she's scooped up and away, at Big Burly Shirtless Bloke. There's something oddly...pulling about his gaze.

"I--" She starts to mumble something through cold lips when Adam's question reaches her. She stiffens, shoulders tensing up as he calls her 'strange' and continues to stare.

Maybe mom was right. Maybe the world isn't so great after all.

RUSH:
Rush frowns, looking back at the little girl worriedly, but nods affectionately at Adam.

"Thanks, bro. We got this." He throws an arm over Cyrus's shoulder.

"Dooon't worry man, as you know, I have talked myself out of many an awkward sitch with many a girlfriend (and boyfriend), so I've got your back all the way." He winks.


((That's a good idea-- I think I'll do something similar when I have class. :'D))

((this interaction involves Constantin, Claire, Rufus, and Rush))

Constantin shakes his head at Rush. The girl's not in custody.

But she's certainly been behaving oddly. He glances down to Claire, at the tug on his hand. She seems almost dazed. Which is perfectly understandable. This is why you don't bring children to crime scenes. Or suspect's places of employment. Or whatever is cop talk for bad, bad, places full of monsters.

He can't do anything about an exploded airport, he can't do anything about rumors of the supernatural being real, but maybe he can help take care of a kid like he promised. He squeezes her hand, just enough to help break her brooding and get her attention back. "You doing alright?" he asks, as kindly as he can manage.

((OOC GM's post: you are all so CUTE!!!! :D :D :D I want to cuddle Rush and Claire and Celine and Constantin and all of the werewolves forever....))

One of the officers catches sight of Larry's phone, and shouts out to Morgan, who's still hovering obsessively over by Alexander.

"Hey! The kid's trying to call someone!"

Morgan frowns.

"I thought cell phones didn't get reception here?" He shakes his head, then comes over and gives Larry an apologetic look, holding out his hand. "Sorry, kid, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to give me that. I don't know where you stand with Alexander here, and for all I know, he could be calling for backup to kill me. Speaking of which," he adds, looking pointedly back to Alexander, "I've left reports of my whereabouts with everyone in the station, and I'm currently carrying three different recording devices all transmitting back to secure receivers, so if anything happens to me or to anyone in here, I'm taking you in."

"I'll take the phone from the child," says Alexander, insinuating himself in front of Morgan and holding out a parallel hand to Larry. "It belongs to me. He was assisting me with a security issue. And I hardly think lawful police officers have the right to confiscate private property."

((OOC: Well, Larry? What do you want to do with the phone? :D )))

Across the room, the two police officers have made their way over to Jacob, but are hanging back a few feet away, clearly unwilling to go any closer to Borogris and his glowing sword.

"We just want to check his vitals," says one of the officers, raising her hands soothingly. "It looks like your friend got hurt pretty badly, and we want to make sure he's ok. Can you put down the sword now?"

"I cannot. I must guard my Beta," says Borogris. "Please don't come any closer."

Kat flinches, and scoots backward against the bar, far away from Borogris, the officers, and Jacob's unconscious body.

"If he's in serious danger, I'm going to have to come closer," says the officer. "He needs to go to a hospital. I swear, I'm not a vampire and I'm not going to drink his blood. Or let any of the other vamps get him. We just want to get your friend to safety. Morgan!" She yells, turning. "I think we need to get this one to the hospital!"

"Um, the bleeding's slowing down?" Kat offers, tentatively. "Maybe that means he's ok?"

"Who stabbed him?" asks the other officer, looking around the bar and noticing Cyrus and co edging toward the corner. "If it wasn't you with the sword, then who?"

(During the course of this conversation, almost all of the wait- and waitressvamps have made their way silently and unobtrusively around behind the bar, circling the officer standing there. He looks kind of nervous.)

((this is an interaction between Constantin and npcs, and inherently Claire and Rufus thanks to the little kumbayah hand circle they've got going on))

Constantin lets the glass make just enough noise as it's set down on the bar to remind the waitvamps and the officer that they are hardly unseen at the moment.
They all have big enough problems at the moment without eating each other.

There's no threat there, no posturing, just a faint smile stretched over concern and the reminder that there's a lot worse going on right now.

((This is between Cyrus, Rush, and dat NPC Cop))

"Thanks for the help," Cyrus murmurs, resisting the urge to wink back. "I've never been the best at talking myself out of things..."

Which, of course, is when the cop starts asking questions. And Cyrus, of course, looks the most suspicious with the blood all over his shirt. Okay, how to bullshit his way out of this...?

"Well, you see, sir..." Cyrus hitches a thumb over toward Rasputin. "I think something snapped with that guy over there. He attacked the lady with her guts dripping out--while she was serving me, so don't worry, this blood's hers and not mine. Jacob over there, he tried to stop the fight, but he just got stabbed. And then...well, I don't know, but now that weirdo's just sitting there, mumbling something about a lady coming. I'm not really sure."

He sets Celine on his shoulder and adds, "Look, I'm sure I can explain more later, if you want. But I really need to call my wife. She's going to have my head for being out late..."

((OOC: Do I need a roll to convince the cop that I'm the most truthful thing since sliced bread? If so, I'd like a roll to go along with what I said, please.))

[Rush, Cyrus and NPC Cop.]

RUSH:
Rush gives the cop a reproachful look, keeping a protective arm around Cyrus's shoulders. "Yeah, THAT guy's the psycho you're looking for." He jerks his head at Rasputin, still reluctant to look at him. "He's the one who started flipping out on people and talking about "saving their skin" like he's from Silence of the Lambs or something." He shudders a bit theatrically, though... hell, that's probably not too far from the truth.

He looks worriedly at Jacob, regretting the barrier of cops and overprotective werewolves between them... And the fact that pulling a Jesus and healing someone with a touch would probably be pretty suspect.

((Note to GM: I would also like to roll for convincing this sucker, hopefully with but-I'm-so-pretty bonuses? I'd also like to roll my contract of Dream to try and locate a hedge gate, just in case.))