Blood In The Water

[stakes_and_daggers]

The Shark Tank... Usually, just a casino, but flyers had been posted and handed out, all over Vegas, indicating that, for this night, gambling would be optional. That there would be a party for Hallowe'en and a themed costume contest to match. Good for publicity and, not to mention, the bar - especially with no entrance fee!

Downstairs was the gambling section. Upstairs being where the main party was being held. Only the two floors existed and it made for a nice, self-contained atmosphere.

No actual vampires or other denizens of the night, of course. At least, for the most part. They tended to find nights like this a little offensive.

Something else which would be changing later...

[OOC: Open to everyone! Make yourselves at home and things will take a change for the violent in a little while. :)]

Comments

[stakes_and_daggers]

Biker chick? Joan Jett-alike? Whatever people assumed, it felt good to have an excuse to walk around with fangs out; the undead spin of stretching your legs after a long car ride. Just flash your teeth and twinkle those yellow eyes - that was your costume.

"Places, people... Exits and windows - both floors."

"Wait... That mean one of us gets bathroom duty?"

"Yeah, Steve, someone gets to stand out by the enchanted grotto. Ding-ding-ding, you're our lucky winner."

Giving the other vampire a knee-kick in the rear to hurry him on, the fanged brunette watched her entourage fan out through the crowd. Heading on up a level to where the costumed masses were holed up. One of her lackeys remaining by the entrance, making sure no-one would be making it out.

Mystics... Getting an accurate premonition was always a little hit-or-miss with psychics. Some put it down to free will being an unpredictable element, but after catching wind of someone who ticked all the right boxes turning up at a place like this? Well, even if no Slayer showed up, doing something like this felt like a fun way to spend an evening her kind would normally take a rain-check on.

"Hey, nice mask!"

The contest wasn't due to get judged for a little while, but forcing head back and slicing fangs into the MC's neck only elicited a small round of applause from those nearest. People who assumed it was just all part of the festivities, even when she dumped his corpse to the floor; microphone taken from his hand as she did so. Wiping gore from mouth with forearm and stepping up on a table to gain some height.

"Ladies and gentleman!" She began, hearing the music go silent. An underling taking care of the DJ on her cue. "Tonight's entertainment is brought to you by random acts of violence...! Excuse me? Sir? Are you here for the contest?"

Door security hadn't seen to what she carried on her. Their unconscious figures still laying on the ground downstairs. Switchblade flashing out as one of Katherine's own shoved the man forward, gutting him in front of the crowd. A couple of screams being made soon after, upon guests realising the MC's death had been just as real.

"Now...! I can let you good folks go or, uh..." More commotion over by an exit, as someone attempted to leave, only to find themselves confronted by a vampire every bit as real as the brunette, herself. The encounter leaving them silenced - permanently. "I could just let this place live up to its name. Have ourselves a real fun feeding frenzy and all... So, what we got here is a choice."

The crimson-slick blade was tapped against chin in consideration. A pause for dramatic effect.

"See, I'm looking for a young lady - maybe more. Got a thing for holy water, stakes, beheading... Sounds real swell. I meant to have a date with her in a little town named Searchlight, but dang it - bitch didn't show. So, y'all catch wind of a girl like that? you send her right on up here. 'Cause otherwise, I'm thinking this place could do with a touch of art. Some human crucifixion here, lynch-by-intestine from the ceiling, amputations and kneecap removal for a little extra sparkle... I go with my heart, y'know? Might rip a few of those out for good measure, while I'm at it."

Making a show of it, the vampiress then announced, "Can we have our next unwilling volunteer, please?"

[wolfs_daughter]

The smell of blood carried when the MC died, and Echo felt a cold shiver wander up her spine as she watched the brunette wipe crimson fluid from her mouth. The beer mug slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor. The sound of shattering glass was very loud in the sudden silence caused by the lack of music.

Vampires. A whole fucking shitload of them.

Her immediate reaction was somewhere between fear and revulsion. Holy water, stakes, beheading. Searchlight. What? She could still smell blood and dead flesh. Inside her skull, the Wolf growled uncertainly.

Stop. If they find out you're a were, they'll split you open first on principle. Whatever she's looking for, it's probably not here.

Someone else foolishly tried to make a run for it, and there was a gurgling scream as more blood sprayed into the air. Echo touched the stone around her neck. Her face was a stoic mask. Just breathe

[rhiannon_lee]

“Ah, shit.” Rhiannon put the rag down in slow motion.

Though the MC was dead, a strange back beat of music kept playing. Thump-thump-thump-thump, over and over again. Light canisters continued to spin overhead, bathing the dance hall in alternating orange and blue, purple and green. The slick of blood on the stage was so dark that it looked more like ink than what coursed through human veins. As the second death unfolded, a stench of panicked sweat rose on the warm air.

Crash. A glass broke to her left as it slipped through a stunned customer’s fingers. The cowgirl.

Was this message for her? For Valerie, hidden somewhere in the crowd?

There were risks everywhere here. No win/win options. If she announced herself as a Slayer to save a string of hapless victims, then there was no guarantee the carnage would stop. Rhiannon would likely find herself bogged down in an unfair fight while the fanged muscle swept through the building, reigning terror and carnage. She could slip through the crowd and pick off as many lieutenants as possible, but that might draw the brunette’s attention. She could pull the fire alarm, which summoned the men with fire axes, who could hack through a barricaded door. Doing nothing was obviously not an option. At times like this, she wished she carried a handgun. It wouldn’t dust a vamp, but it could do a ton of cerebral damage. Usually if she did in the ring leader, the rest of the party fell apart.

She needed a compromise. This was the second floor, which meant there was a fire escape through the small kitchen behind the bar, an exit that the ring leader might not have considered. Even if she had, it was unlikely that one vamp in the alley could halt a stampeding herd of people on the stairs. The slayer grabbed the arm of the nearest bartender and stuck a phone receiver in her hand. “Duck under the counter and call the cops. Be quiet about it.” The girl nodded and happily tucked herself out of sight.

She’d need more help than that. Rhiannon looked at the frozen cowgirl. Would she step up if Rhiannon asked? As covertly as possible, the slayer opened a little swinging gate and signaled at the cowgirl. “Hey… psst. C’mere. There’s a door back there,” she mouthed and pointed over her shoulder. “Get as many people through the back as you can!” What she did with the command was up to the girl.

Rhiannon wiped her hand and looked around. Was there a way to announce herself without showing her face just yet? Strike some kind of bargain with the vampire who craved an audience? She spotted the electronic control booth in the back of the room and began to edge in that direction, weaving between the shoulders of people too confused or freaked out to take a step. Rhiannon winced as a neck snapped near the back exit. That snap reverberated in her own spine.

She crept into the door. She closed and locked it behind her, cut off the dim overhead light, and then snapped her fingers at the guy manning the controls, whose fingers lay trembling uselessly on the switchboard. “Hey. Get me a mic. Do you have a mic back here?”

He didn’t answer, just weakly pointed at a fuzzy microphone mounted on the panel, which was used to communicate during sound checks. His headphones were on crooked.

Rhiannon flipped a couple of buttons.

Scre-e-e-e-ch.

Bingo.

“Y’know, I’ve gotta hand it to you. This is pretty clever,” she said. “And you’re in luck, because I am more than willing to kick your ass tonight. Mind if we let the civilians go first? I’m not crazy about an audience.”

[stakes_and_daggers]

In the process of seeing if someone really would turn blue if deprived of oxygen, Katherine was in head-tilt when she heard the challenge. Her prey struggling in futility as she held them aloft with a hand clamped firmly around neck.

But with the announcement coming over speakers, it was anyone's guess where her primary target was located. Still, it provoked quite the grin of satisfaction across the brunette's features. Her reckoning had been on the money. There was a Slayer here. Just had to lure it out to her.

"Oh, honey," she responded with sardonic emphasis. The latest would-be added notch to her bed-post of kills being hurled away like yesterday's trash, crashing into the surrounding audience. Hurt, gasping for air, but at least alive. "And here I was thinking blind dates were going outta' fashion..."

Blood was in the air, literally, but a summons like that had Katherine on edge in the good way. A quiet before the storm. Excitement and anticipation.

"How about no, nuh-uh, no way and, hmm, lemme' think... Yeah... Pretty sure that's not on my to-do list, Stakesworth."

Her next gesture might have seemed odd, at first glance. Katherine reaching for her belt, unhooking the clasp and snaking it out of the loops in a swift, practised motion. The ideal behind it, however, soon became clear as she sounded a viciously loud crack in the air: A belt by way of disguise only. In truth, a long, flexible metal cord she could use like a bullwhip.

"So, here's a better idea: You show yourself or I start flaying me a space whore..."

Again, switchblade in one hand and whip in the other, Katherine cracked it just inches away from one of the scantily-clad Princess Leias, who was likely heavily regretting tonight's decision to go in metal bikini.

In truth, though, Rhiannon held the upper hand. Outnumbered, yes and the fanged brunette was certainly armed, but the Slayer could strike from any direction and there was a wealth of improvised weaponry to be had in a place like that. More to the point, the vampiress seemed the type to give up other considerations in favour of a show-down.

[birthright_npc]

It had taken Abby a while to comprehend what was going on, but when she finally realised that the muddled mess in her head was not just in her head, but actually happening, she did what most people do in those instances, and ducked down, pressing herself up against the edge of the bar, and ignoring the noises all around her. Maybe if she just shut her eyes really really tight, and hid her face they wouldn't see her.

[wolfs_daughter]

Get people out. As many as she could. Echo could feel herself calming now that someone has taken charge. The Tiger's Eye swung on its gold chain. She might not be able to shift here, but she could summon the Wolf's sense of command. Her shoulders squared with purpose.

She slipped into a patch of shadows, out of range of the strobing lights. She knew this was dangerous, but she couldn't afford to let fear take over. Lives were at stake. That mattered more than how she felt.

The first people she rounded up were huddled in a far corner, possibly a family. When Echo got close enough, she smelled piss. The stench of fresh blood wasn't as strong this far away from the stage. The hybrid put on her best calm expression.

"Come on, I can get you out," she whispered, reaching for the man's lanky shoulder. He inched towards her, clutching the arm of the woman he was with. In turn, she grabbed for the shoulders of the teenaged boys and towed them along.

The door was a darker shadow. Echo shuffled the civilians along, herding them towards safety. If she kept her cool, she'd save lives tonight.