Cast: date: 'September 3, 2012'
place: 'Brixton, Lambeth'
participants: 'Edith, Huruma, Jack, Mattie'
synopsis: 'Too late to the scene, the Watch investigates what remains of the previous team and make plans.'
log: "The call came in a little after 3 AM. The team sent to dispatch a nest of vampires in a basement apartment in Brixton did not report in at the scheduled time, and repeated attempts to reach them over the radio have been met with silence. This was a little more than two hours ago; in the time since, Edith Sonnenschein has rounded up a crew to investigate the situation. They arrive on site in an unmarked black van when the sky is just beginning to turn from black to gray to find the building already cordoned off by the authorities. \n\nAn ambulance sits outside on the curb, its back doors hanging open, a paramedic taking a cigarette break inside. Two police cruisers are marked on the opposite side of the street with their lights flashing to deter anyone from turning down the road without good cause. \n\nThe Watch is not without friends in high places, however, and a few curt words spoken to one of the officers by Edith gives her team access to the crime scene on the other side of the tape. \n\nOut of the drizzling rain and down the steps that lead into the basement, the team's worst fears await them: plaster walls riddled with bullet holes, overturned furniture, and the bodies of their colleagues covered in plastic sheets, and although there are plenty signs that point to a struggle, there is no evidence of the creatures they came to combat.\n\n\"Fuck,\" Mattie mutters, summing up the situation concisely. She's looked better, to put it mildly, dark circles under her eyes and skin a bit pastier than her usual pallor suggesting she's had a bad day or two — not uncommon results of her ability. Most people know better to question her when she looks like this. \n\nShe scowls down at the obscured face of one of the fallen as if she could find what she needs to know from what little she can see of his face; no such luck. Her arms cross herself defensively, one tucking within her trench coat to touch a blade she keeps tucked against her side — just in case any of the creatures jumps out at them. \"Any ideas?\" This is addressed to Edith.\n\nJack's got his slightly sleep deprived face on. Perhaps wishing just a little that the apathy that had been clinging to him over the past two days was still sticking around. He follows after Eidith in silence, having been mostly quiet on the way over too and managing to steal a few quick drags from a fag before ducking down out of the rain into the basement. There's no statement other than a quiet grunt of agreement with Mattie's assessment. Sympathy can wait until later. For now, best take a look while they've got the opportunity. Is it the bullets that got the Watch, or something else. What's beneath the plastic?\n\nThere is some idle comfort in knowing that the Watch wastes no time in putting its people to work. Even considering Huruma has only been here for days, it is good to know that she remains an asset despite that. In a manner of speaking, this is a test run. The African woman is a step behind the others when they are let on in, looming behind, attention fixed on her surroundings rather than her apparent partners. Less uncertainty, and more wanting to see how they function before she directly adds herself to such an equation. \n\n\"This is no good, is it?\" Huruma murmurs, a subtle reminder of presence, and an additional note of displeasure. Her nostrils flare a moment, before stepping forward and over debris on the floor to have a curious look around.\n\nEdith must be wondering the same thing that Jack is, because she crouches beside one of the corpses and peels back the plastic. The first paramedics to the respond to the scene had the decency to brush closed the eyes of the deceased, which makes the operative's expression seem more peaceful in death than it must have appeared in her last few moments of life; the carpet under the body is thoroughly saturated with her blood and her chest perforated with bullet holes. \n\nIt is not common practice for operatives to wear kevlar while out on the field, for their enemies so rarely wield the kind of weapons that would justify it - and yet that's exactly what happened here. A few yards away, Huruma finds an assault rifle with a pale, bloodless hand still attached, cleaved off just above the wrist. \n\n\"No,\" Edith says to Mattie, touching the back of her hand to the deceased's cheek. \"This is new.\"\n\nThe redhead turns to look at the rustle of plastic; her eyes narrow but she doesn't look away — at least not until she moves to help search for any clues as to the whereabouts of whatever did this thing to their colleagues. The rifle regarded next, she shakes her head. \"It's not like Vampires to use weaponry usually,\" the American murmurs quietly. \"Is it possible they used some sort of mental power to turn the operatives on one another? Can we get someone to look at the ballistics and the injuries?\"\n\n\"Ah.\" There's a sadder note there. \"Jill. I just fuckin' spoke to her yesterday.\" Jack and Jill. No jokes please. Letting out a sight he turns from that body, slipping on a pair of black leather driving gloves and moving to the others to check that they have similar methods of expiration. He's a little more thorough, looking for any obvious signs of bite marks or markings other than bullet holes. Mattie's suggestion is probably a good one, since Jack is about as far away from a medical professional as it's possible to be.\n\n\"Did they check in or anything before breaching? Last transmission?\" he asks, looking up toward Edith with a querilous brow. Turning his face toward the door, he addresses all the other agents, \"Was their van out on the street?\"\n\nHuruma picks her way over the room in silence, save for the hum of noise which comes on as she locates the rifle- and its attachment. The tall woman stoops over to wrap one gloved hand around the grip of the gun, having no qualms about using her other to pry the dismembered one off to get it there. There's not much she can particularly… ruin, in that case. She brings both up with her, weight on one leg. \n\n\"Is this rifle even yours…?\" Huruma turns the weapon to the side, inspecting it once over. \"Which one… is missing this?\" She presents the hand, nonchalant for a few reasons- one being that her not knowing any of these deceased agents gives her a somewhat outside advantage.\n\nEdith shakes her head at Huruma - the rifle isn't one of theirs. She lays the plastic back over Jill, braces her hands against her knees, and rises in a smooth but cautious motion. \"The last time we spoke was before they left,\" she tells Jack, who finds no evidence of injury on the corpse other than the ones that were plainly fatal. \"I can ask our contact with the authorities for the ballistics report as soon as it's available. The autopsies as well.\"\n\n\"It feels like it must have been a trap. Maybe they knew we were coming,\" Mattie says, and even as she does, grows transparent to move more easily around the room without having to worry about stepping in blood or over body parts. It's also a defensive maneuver, as she's less vulnerable in the ghost-like form, though her colleagues can still see her as she drifts from one spot to the next, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Over her shoulder, she nods to Jack's question. \"Yeah, that's their van outside.\"\n\n\"What else'd we know about these vampires?\" Jack asks, standing from the bodies and pulling the plastic back over the top. \"Were there anyone else workin' the case, like? Anyone what had info that brought us here, that wasn't on this team?\" The other two are already looking about, but he joins in regardless. An extra pair of eyes, focusing on the areas that haven't already been covered.\n\nHuruma casts some glances towards the bodies when they are briefly uncovered, yet an observation of the hand is more important to her. The manner of the cut, the gender- she even lifts it to sniff the scent of the blood, just in case. You never know. \n\n\"This must be theirs as well.\" Who has a bag? \"Th'shooter's, if this gun matches.\" Huruma clicks her tongue on the inside of one cheek, upper lip curling slightly at the edge. She lets out a small exhale through her teeth, propping the rifle up against the wall.\n\n\"The nest came to our attention a few weeks ago,\" says Edith. She opens a garbage bag for Huruma with a crisp crinkle of black plastic. \"We received a tip from the local coroner after several prostitutes came in with bite marks on the inside of their thighs, though cardiac arrest was found to be the official cause of death. Overdose victims. Whoever it is that we're dealing with has access to drugs as well as high-powered assault weapons.\"\n\n\"They're not poor, that's for sure, if they've got guns like those,\" Mattie says, tired voice as thin as her transparent self at the moment. \n\n \"It's cheap enough to get a flat like this and pay in cash so they can just walk away when shit gets sketchy, right? Lots of people are happy to get the money and not ask questions, but we should find out what we can from the landlord. I doubt we'll get much of a paper trail. Police have anything on the owner of this place yet?\" she asks.\n\n\"Reackon we should get with the rozzer too an' see if there's any CCTV footage on this street.\" It's perhaps a long shot, but you hear enough reports on the news about how Britons spend most of their day on camera and you start ot believe the big brother stories. Jack rolls his shoulders while his fingers are locked, causing knuckles to pop.\n\nA nod in agreement with Mattie's comments while regarding the hand that Huruma has. \"S'also possible that not all the hooers are gettin' jobbed on the first bite. Maybe we can get word around an' see if any of them have any tales to tell.\"\n\nThe creak of leather accompanies Huruma's movements; she puts the hand into the opened bag, unconvinced of who it may have belonged to. She nods one at Mattie's words, a quiet look of agreement to the wraithling. \n\n\"I know things to feed on women like that, in our cities. They made a show of it. There was not usually much left over.\" Huruma purses her lips and goes into silent thought. \"But there were some who were- ahh- sources. \n\n\"Mm,\" Edith says in agreement with- someone. She steers a look over her shoulder at the stairwell to ensure that none of the authorities on the street are beginning to encroach on their space. They have only so much time to look around. \"Mitchell, I want you and Dahl to take the lead on this one. Huruma will stay on to consult. Bring aboard whoever else you think you'll need, but let's try to keep the team small for now.\"\n\n\"How about I talk to the landlord, and you talk to the hookers, then?\" Mattie says dryly to Jack, then looks back to Edith; it's more unclear than it would be on her more tangible form, but one can still see a brow lift on the transparent ghost-like face. \n\n\"Does this mean we don't have to go to college and baby sit Murdoch?\" Yes, Mattie is still dreading the day she has to go sit in a lecture hall at King's College.\n\n\"She was just saying the other day that she wanted more assignments with me.\" Jack is being sarcastic, but he doesn't have much heart in it. It's late. He's tired. People are dead. This results in just a shrug in response to Mattie's question, \"Yeah, fine. Whatever's clever.\"\n\nHe turns, regarding Huruma, wondering perhaps what she'll bring to the table as he pulls out a fresh cigarette, ready for their return to the street. He's still listening carefully for Edith's reply though, since that's quite pertinent.\n\n\"Go to college an'babysit?\" Huruma's brow knits on her forehead, eyelids squinting more over the pale eyes underneath. She has not had the pleasure of running through recent goings on, just yet. After Jack joins in on the thought, however, she leaves the question at that. Instead, she is faced with a staring contest, of sorts, when her gaze attaches itself to Jack's. He has quite the feline eyes, for someone less so inclined. Her lips curve smoothly into an unsettling little smile, formed to be a response. \n\n\"I will be at your service.\" The manner in which she says this, however, tends toward the bitter. And almost like an African Lurch, in terms of any enthusiasm. You Rang?\n\nEdith's response to Mattie's inquiry is a flat look. A sense of humour isn't something their supervisor is known for, even if she must have one beneath her chilly exterior, no matter how small and withered. \n\n\"See to the paperwork,\" she says shortly. \"I'm on call if you need me.\""
Date:
Nesting