[Group 10] Black Thursday

[Xian]

HARPER ROCK WASN'T particularly known as a party town. Like any other city, it had its own share of bars, clubs, cafes, lounges, and so on. On occasion, it even hosted major parties and events. But nothing that really made the rest of the world take notice, nothing that made it exceptionally stand out or be newsworthy to anybody who wasn't from the city itself.

This didn't mean that the people of Harper Rock were a dour, grouchy lot that didn't like to celebrate things. Quite the opposite, though the city's residents had reason to be, specially given what the city had been forced to go through in just the past few years. The Quarantine Zone was just one example of a potential cataclysm that the city's inhabitants had to survive. Worse, they then to live with on a daily basis - a place within the city where a disease was held contained only by the ingenuity and tenacity of man.

The citizens of Harper Rock had lived through adversity, and some even believed that they thrived in it. Indeed what little tourist information was availble stressed these qualitites of the Harper Rock resident. They were used to struggle, they had a history and tradition of it. They knew, at least on a subconscious level, that anything could happen at any time, and that each moment was precious. So they still managed to laugh in the face of tragedy, to survive and move on.

And while not everybody believed they should actually laugh at their misfortune, most would often simply struggle on and just try to live their lives the best they could. The winter weather settled in, people put on their warm clothes, celebrated their holidays, then went on with their lives as usual.

When news of an incoming blizzard broke, with the typical warnings sent out through various news agencies, media and even social networks, everybody just gave a collective shrug and went on with their lives. Though admittedly with another layer of clothes, and a warmer pair of gloves. After all, the news said that this would be a relatively mild one, nothing to worry about, just something to be aware of.

They'd all been through worse.

So even after all the warnings, the people of Harper Rock went on with their plans for the night. There were those who chose to stay home, or had even planned to do so even if the weather weren't disagreeable. But others went out to celebrate the end of the day, the near-end of the work week, or whatever other excuse they allowed themselves. People went to their clubs and cafes, their bars and lounges, to eat, drink, laugh and enjoy life. Snow and wind be damned.

The Damned of the city themselves had varying thoughts on the matter, at least those who even bothered to think about it. One vampire in particular, turned just a few months before, had been thinking about a great many things, among them tonight's weather. In some sense, he thought, it was easily an opportunity. The snow and wind would offer greater concealment, and definitely there would be less people outside.

Not that the vampire who called himself Xian had any particular plans to take advantage of the weather. Not in the way that others were thinking of, at least. He was in little mood to test any building security, though he'd done his share in the first month of his turning. These days he preferred to walk the streets and just take in the city, and watch its people.

It had been a long night so far, and he decided he needed a break to clear his head. So, despite the weather, and partly even because of it, the young vampire decided to treat it like any other night and just go take a long walk.

He was already wearing heavy denim pants that seemed almost siutable for the cold, not that he needed to worry about cold overmuch. He also decided that the heavy combat boots he'd owned and worn since he'd first arrived in the city would be enough as well. He changed his shirt to a simple plain white one, cleaner than the one he was wearing. Over that he pulled over a light black and blue sweater, to better fit in. He reminded himself to bring his dirty clothes to the laundry sometime, a menial, but necessary task. Then he pulled on a black winter jacket with orange piping.

He pulled a pair of gloves from an old, worn backpack, and stuffed those in the pocket of his winter jacket. That should complete the attire, he thought to himself. He didn't really need any of this additional protection, but people would take notice of the young man wearing next to nothing in the cold winter weather.

Winter. Snow. Wind. He looked forward to roaming the city tonight. He had a great amount of thinking to do, and he often did well by walking around and just watching the people of Harper Rock. Usually, he would imagine their mundane, normal, lives. Thinking upon their normalcy helped him calm down and be receptive to his ideas and philosophy. There wouldn't be many people tonight, but he would have the snow and wind, the elements of cold, as the muse of his thought, if not his art.

And so he'd walked around, almost randomly walking from street to street, his mind distracted by the falling snow, and the beat and flow of the wind. He liked rain far better, but, having been raised where it never snowed, he found himself fascinated by it. More than once, he had paused to watch a pattern almost form when the wind swirled some falling snow around. He'd smiled, though he didn't realize it, and then he walked on.

As he passed by people and buildings, he thought about other things, rememberd fragments of memories, stories of wind, snow, music and dancing. After a while, he noted that the wind was starting to pick up, and that it was, indeed, getting colder. The snow was starting to build up on the streets and sidewalks, and he expected that there would be far more of it before the night was over. He decided to turn into the nearest buidling, consciously to finally seek some shelter, unconsciously in order to seek some company.

The blue neon lights of The Lounge called to him out of the darkness and swirls of snow, and took determined steps towards it. He had been there only once before, though he hadn't bothered to actually stay long. He could almost hear the laughter inside, the noises of celebration and happiness, and he admitted he wanted even a small share in that tonight. he looked forward to drying up a little, getting a little warmer, and watching the other patrons while he pretended to nurse a drink or two.

As he was about to take his last steps to the opposite sidewalk, the earth seemed to leap and fall away beneath him. The street caught him, but he fell to his hands and knees in the snow. He steadied himself as he heard a great rumbling sound from beneath him, and as he looked upwards, the world around him seemed to tremble with increasing force, shaking like a great beast was willing itself free from its confinement beneath the city.

Down the street, a lone car went out of control and skidded into the front of a building. The few people still outdoors ran to the middle of the street, while some others ran from open doors, preferring to dare the wind, cold and snow rather than be caught indoors. The earth continued to vent its emotions onto the city, and above him, he heard a window shatter. His hand came up to ward himself from falling glass, while he pushed himself backwards to avoid a larger section of window. It crashed in front of him and shattered, sending a tiny sliver to draw a thin line of deep red on his right cheek.

The rumbling seemed to last forever. Nearby he heard the breaking of even more windows, and it seemed he could hear screams above the din of the rumbling and wailing of the increasing wind. It seemed the blizzard had chosen this exact same moment to show its true strength, as it lent its rage to the thundering beneath the city, assaulting it from above. For some reason, Xian imagined a giant hammer striking the city from beneath, while a legion of whips struck it from above.

He heard the sound of a lesser rumbling joining the thunder, and he absently registered it as at least one building collapsing. Cracks appeared on the building opposite The Lounge, and Xian knew that this was happening all over the city. Sparks flew as electrical wires broke free of their posts and fell to the ground. The street itself cracked, snow submerging as asphalt and cement gave way beneath it. Nearby, he heard something shatter, and water burst from what he suspected was a crack in the road. The water, slightly warm but quickly cooling in the frigid air, joined its cousin from other points along the street as well. In the distance he heard a few more cars screeching, more screams, more chaos.

Xian almost retreated into himself, almost reacted to the primal, instinctual fear that built up beneath him while both earthquake and blizzard peaked and surged, throwing their power together to savage the city of Harper Rock. He willed himself calm, not realizing the smile that came across his face, or that his eyes had taken on a darker color.

Then, as suddenly as they began, the tremors subsided. And while mere seconds had passed, the devastation, just on this street, rendered it almost unrecognizable. Voices wailed above the screeching of the wind, which continued to lash out at the city with cold ice-laced fingertips. It seemed to Xian that the wind had even gained even more strength, as if making up for the loss of its partner in destruction.

Xian picked himself up, though a part of his mind never registered the movement. Around him, amid the water spewing into the air and the wind whipping what would soon be sleet into his face, there were sparks of fallen power lines crackling, the unsteady creaking of buildings, their backs broken, still trying to resist the call of the earth and the force of the raging wind.

Xian looked at the remains of his adopted city, and like many other citizens of Harper Rock, for the longest time all he could do was stand, mouth agape.

[Phoenix]

Coastside's streets were practically devoid of vehicles that night - of course there was the odd passer-by, but those were the anomalies in an otherwise bleak looking side of town. Most reasonable people were home, tucked away safely in bed - not because they feared a storm, but because that's what most normal, well-adjusted humans did on a Wednesday night, and Phoenix was glad for it. A quick glance to the glowing clock on the dashboard quickly corrected her, however. 'Well alright, Thursday morning,' she thought with a skyward roll of her honey brown eyes. The wind was picking up, and the glare from the headlights was hardly making the drive a pleasant one. This close to what passed for the red light district, Nix realized she probably should have left her baby at home, but it was a bit too late for that now.

Nearly lost amid the snow blowing across the street, the white Mustang GT pulled up to the curb near the series of run down bars and cafes that called Coastside home. Parallel parking wasn't something the redhead at the wheel had quite mastered. Each minute mistake on her part was amplified by the power of the stupid car's ridiculously overzealous engine; why she'd bought a white sports car to deal with winter conditions, she'd never know. At least her enhanced reflexes kept her from smashing into the fire hydrant half obscured by a blanket of snow. The process of twisting, turning, backing and inching forward had Phoenix in a rather foul mood by the time she switched off the engine.

Grabbing her bag off the seat, Phoenix swung open the door and prepared her escape from the accident waiting to happen that was a white car in a snow storm. That's when the fire hydrant got its revenge for the number of near death experiences it'd been subjected to over the past few minutes. Instead of bouncing off the snowbank, the sound of the car door swinging open was the thwack of metal against metal.

"Why me...?" she asked no one in particular, voice laced with frustration and despair as she stepped out into the cold. Above the sound of the wailing wind, the sound of the brand new Mustang's door slamming shut could be heard from at least a block away. She didn't wait to inspect the door for a dent she was almost positive would be waiting. That was a hurt she could deal with later; right now, she had someone else to hurt - literally.

As she set off down the street, Phoenix's skeletal silhouette made a stark contrast to most everyone else in their puffed up winter jackets. It was never a dull night at Genesis Solutions: tonight's mission was to find some drunk and drag his *** home. Again, a twinge of regret shot through her; the poor Mustang... Shoulders hunched against the snow and half-frozen slush that pelted her face, Nix made her way to the shitty bar - apparently some idiot had decided The Drunken Sailor was a great name for a bar in Coastside. Then again, she may have been just a bit bitter that Doc'd made her come out on such a shitty night.

The cold didn't bother her much, but being pelted in the eyeballs by a constant barrage of snow did. Not to mention how annoying it was to walk through the accumulating crap. The deep treads of her combat boots were quickly packed with the sticky mess of fresh fallen snow, leaving the footing treacherous even for someone like her. A few crunching footsteps later and she stumbled. Her hand shot out, immediately grabbing the brick wall of the building at her side for support as a second tremor rumbled through the earth.

'You're not going crazy, Gingy, that was an honest to God earthqua--'

Phoenix didn't even have time to finish her thought before the third contraction hit and didn't subside. Time slowed to a crawl. In her bewildered state, the redhead stayed pressed against the building that had become her safe haven, mouth falling open and eyes going wide as saucers. With all the power at her disposal, she could do nothing but stand back, watching the earth heave and twist before her as Mother Nature unleashed her wrath upon the city of Harper Rock. Seconds felt like hours, and the sounds of shrieking metal and crunching concrete all blended together into an indistinguishable barrage of sound.

Something above her snapped, but Nix didn't associate that sound with anything more pressing than the destruction around her. Her eyes stayed fixed on the rest of the city until the heat of the ring on her finger gave her the split second warning she needed to bolt. Despite her shock, that heat she knew well - it meant 'move!' - and she did, just in time to avoid being crushed by a falling balcony. The brush with death, albeit an impermanent one, jarred her enough to send her sprinting down the street, away from her refuge and the slick of water rushing down the street, following the city's natural slope towards the lowland of the river. In the back of her mind, she realized that something must have burst uphill. And all the while, the storm raged, indifferent to the stresses from below, or perhaps satisfied by the devastation.

The redhead bolted blindly through the chaos, past fallen branches and cracked pavement, between writhing wires and a deluge of ice and rubble. Somehow, she managed to run without tripping or falling, and only stopped when she was blocks away from her precious car. By then, the tremors had subsided, leaving pure chaos in their wake.

The mangled ruins of the city lay sprawled before her like a rancid, gaping wound. With only a few buildings nearby having come out of the shock unscathed - or with seemingly superficial damage - her options for refuge were few and far between. One of those buildings was The Lounge; something she at least recognize. Standing tall amid its damaged peers, the building seemed to have attracted at least a few people already. Not that she cared for anyone else right then. All she wanted to do was get away from the ruin and regain her bearings.

Phoenix bulled her way through the few people daring to get between her and somewhere to drop her ***. The Lounge was blissfully quiet despite the clamor of sirens that had hailed her outside. Letting out a sigh, the redhead stepped over to one of the sheltered tables reserved for the VIP crowd and flopped down, waiting. For what, she didn't know.

[Monique (DELETED 725)]

Monique Archer was in a decidedly foul mood. She had spent the better part of the last two weeks attempting to track one of two wraith guides with little luck, until tonight. It, of course, had to be the crappiest night of the year weather-wise. Noting the location, she shook her head and headed towards the door to get her coat. She didn’t really want to go out, but with her ever expanding family, she needed the skills she could learn more than her desire to stay inside safe and dry from the store. Suitably attired for the elements, the woman concentrated on her destination before fueling her energy into the vision.

Although she no longer felt the difference in temperatures, the wind whipping at her bit into her barely exposed flesh still bit. The snow clung to her garments in a desperate attempt to turn the woman into some sort of snow creature – all barely seconds after materializing in Coastside. Pulling her hood tighter, she walked the short distance to where the alley flowed into the main street, grateful that she had the gift to teleport herself about the city. Walking from the transit would have been an incredibly miserable experience if her brief venture was any indication.

When she was done here, she decided, she was going to West Towers for the night. It was very much a snuggling on the couch while watching a movie kind of night to her. Given the general nastiness of the weather and the sense it was only going to get worse, Monique also planned to drag their childer over for the event. The idea of an impromtu family night delighted the woman. As she plotted, footsteps traced their way through the snow to where the guide was last reported. The allurist let loose a string of unsavory words when she realized her journey had been for naught and the guide had already departed. With a soft sigh, she trudged back towards the alley so she could teleport herself to the alley behind West Towers.

She smiled as the text message from Calix tickled at her mind. Learning that skill had proved invaluable and had allowed her to pass her physical phone off to Christian. She had no need for the device any longer given her mind was constantly in sync with Crownet. It gave her a bit of peace of mind that her childe had a way to call if he needed something or was in danger. Mentally pressing the reply button, she felt the earth beneath her feet shudder and shake. Shrugging it off as a Mystic toying with the humans, she quickly tapped out a reply stating she’d see him at the West apartment in a couple minutes as she was in Coastside. An ‘I love you’ closed out her message. With a quick jab of the send button, it was on its merry way as the woman continued her short-lived stroll.

The next vibrations were unmistakable as being an earthquake. The sheer force of the tremors ripping through the city tossed the female towards the nearby building as the street began to crack and break. She heard the distinct crackle and pop of a snapped electrical line, rolling out of the way just as it fell where she had just been. Standing up, a loud, colorful string of expletives spewed forth from her mouth as she assessed her situation. While she could certainly teleport out of this mess, the earthquake had sent a flood of idiotic humans into the streets. Given she had no desire to end up being spotted and tracked down for scientific research, she quickly dismissed that and her tome as options – never mind that she no idea what the other parts of the city looked like.

Looking around to survey her options, her mind wandered to Calix and their family. She knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself, but their new members weren’t so well adapted to their new life quite yet. Tapping into her texts as she decided on The Lounge, she wasn’t entirely surprised that the signal seemed to be down. The buildings surrounding her seemed to have mostly folded in on themselves so she was sure the cell towers must have collapsed in the tremors or somehow been incapacitated. It seemed a relatively few places had survived unscathed or with minimal damage. She sincerely hoped her family was alright and not caught in any of the collapsed or severely damaged buildings.

Just as she was ducking into the club, she heard the sound of rushing water. A slight ‘eep’ sounded from the blonde as she looked up to see the water streaming down the street. The river had clearly gone over its banks or a water main had burst. Given her current proximity, she was betting on the former, though a mixture of the two was certainly not out of the question. Pushing the door behind her closed, she hoped it was as water-tight as it looked otherwise they might be up to their ankles in water shortly. With the downed lines, that would be a rather unfortunate situation.

Putting a fair bit of distance between herself and the door, her gaze swept over the quiet, nearly barren tables. Spotting what looked to a bit of red hair peeked over the top of a booth, she wondered if it might be the Altaire matriarch. Making her way over, mindful of the few toppled chairs, she sighed in relief as her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. Leaning against the side opposite Phoenix, she softly inquired, “Can I join you?” Her mind meanwhile was busy sending a message directly into Calix’s mind telling him she’d found Phoenix, was currently with her and that she hoped he was safe. A similar message was sent to each childe in turn.

[Xian]

THEY WOULD NOT KNOW IT for hours yet, but the city had just been struck by a magnitude 7 earthquake, one of the strongest to hit North America, at least in recent history. Power lines were down in over half the city, and many telecommunications towers had either toppled or had their power cut as well. This meant that cell phones had become expensive bricks for the most part, and that almost nobody could get any news anywhere.

Telecommunications problems were not among the pressing concerns most had to deal with, however. After getting over the initial shock, many of the survivors had to deal with their own injuries or the injuries of their companions. These ranged from slight bruises and lacerations to head injuries and broken bones. There were even some who suffered aneurysms and heart attacks. Others who had survived the earthquake had nonetheless become trapped beneath collapsed buildings.

With little hope of rescue, given the damage and the elements creeping or even exploding into their oubliettes, few of those trapped would last the night.

The city cried out in pain and desperation, confusion and fear. With the loss of power also came the loss of life-sustaining, reassuring light: darkness had wrapped itself over much of the city, and now the cold was winning its war against the warmth as well.

For many people, it took a long time to get over the initial shock to try and just survive. Even the young vampire named Xian too far longer than he expected to get a grip on himself. But soon enough, he finally had a clear, coherent thought, and it was a name: Charlotte!

There were few people in the city that he cared for, and she was the first of those he had met in his new life, and the first to help him through his stumbling, foolish first nights. He tried his best to reach out to her with his mind, assuring her that he was safe. He did the same for the Vedarian Matriarch, and he imagined her reaching out to the rest of her bloodline as well.

He calmed his mind and reached out to both of them. I am safe he said to both. He decided not to dare add that he was not sure for how long.

He finally realized that he was still standing in the middle of the street where the earthquake had first caught him. He could feel pressure on his booted feet, and he saw that the waters were starting to rise; likely the sewage and water systems along this street had been damaged. Then, he realized where he was: Coastside, so very, very close to the river that ran through the middle of the city. There was a good chance that the earthquake had caused it to overflow, and that some of this was actually from the river itself.

He could see exposed power cables down the street, and decided that he would not care to test for the conductive properties of a vampire. He stepped from the street carefully, but quickly, avoiding debris as best he could, while he contemplated his next move. His previous destination, The Lounge, whether by miracle, design or both, still stood despite the fact that a number of its neighbors had suffered quite catastrophic damage. Xian decided to find some shelter there; the wind was starting to really pick up, and at least there he could plan his moves more carefully away from the debris and rising waters.

All over the street, people had begun to wander outside to view the devastation; not too visible because of the wind and snow, they continued to trickle out, some heedless of the rising water, some heedless of their own injuries. Xian even saw a few step out from within The Lounge; the faces he saw showed signs of immediate sobering, coupled with shock. As he ducked passed the few near the door, he muttered some encouragement to get back inside and out of the street, but he stepped through without bothering to make sure that they did.

It took some effort to get the doors to The Lounge opened, but a few other stragglers helped and they managed to enter and then close the door behind them despite the protestations of the wind. He would not be sure that this would be enough shelter, but it would do for now. He also hoped that the water would not continue to rise, but also accepted that his luck, and the luck of the city, had been bad all through the night so far.

There were few people inside, even though The Lounge having stayed open despite the weather. Xian thought that it was likely because people had eventually become concerned about the weather and returned home. He wondered how many of them considered that a good decision now, with The Lounge still standing, one of the few safe havens on this street.

Xian took off his wet coat, as he took in the people inside and looked for a private booth somewhere. He needed to rest and to think. He needed to figure out how to survive the night. Daylight would be coming soon, and the streets were no way safe.

and wondered if he could find a private booth somewhere, so he could rest, and think.

[Phoenix]

Time seemed to be the enemy of Phoenix's frayed wits. Not much got under the Shadow's skin, but watching the city she loved fall to ruin bothered her deeply. The longer she sat, the more worry crept into her psyche, sinister and nagging. Was everyone she loved alright? That was easy enough to check: a mental list of individuals was tabulated and then each name on the list verified with an appraisal. The simple act of verification reassured her - no one was gravely injured or in mortal peril - at least not physically, anyway.

The more pressing issue was the earthquake itself. Harper Rock was not situated on a fault line. Sure, they'd occasionally felt minor tremors from deep rumblings of the earth's mantle, but nothing above a magnitude 4.1. The devastation she'd just experienced was far more than that; this had been massive. What could cause an earthquake of such magnitude in a no fault zone? Unwittingly, the visage of the ancient tizheruk sprung to mind. No one knew how long that creature had lived before being slain; what if the tizheruk had a friend? Something larger that lived deep under the city. Something that storm had woken from its slumber...

Without a watch by which to tell time, it seemed like ages between when she entered The Lounge and when the door swung open again. Grateful for the distraction from her thoughts and the nervous glances at the floor, Nix looked up. In the dusty darkness, it was hard to make out the approaching figure, but as she came closer, a faint smile curled Nix's lips. She'd have been far happier to see the blonde under far less stressful circumstances.

"Nique. It's nice to see you... alive..." Phoenix sounded far less enthused than the revelation was due, but that was likely due to shell shock. The redhead barely noticed the door opening a second time, admitting a small group of humans and another member of the undead. Her senses picked it up at the periphery, but she wasn't particularly in the mood to care whether or not she was overheard; anything said or overheard now could easily be attributed to trauma.

"By all means, have a seat. Not like you need to ask... I darted in here to get the hell out of dodge. Everyone's well enough, given the circumstances - I checked." She knew she was rambling and forced herself to stop, swallow, and take stock of the situation. The support walls seemed strong enough; maybe this place had been built to withstand far more than a shifting fae...

"I have a working theory," she whispered, voice lowering conspiratorially, though not quite low enough to prevent keen ears from hearing. "I think there's a massive earth fae living under the city."

[Alexandrea]

Watching the falling snow from inside the mall, the Allurist smiled softly. It looked beautiful outside from where she stood at her office window. Alex went out into the mall, which was almost empty. Almost all the humans had left to go home because of the storm, save for a few that were employed and had to be there or one or two die hard shoppers. And like many of the other business owners in Harper Rock that day, the blonde decided to start sending staff home.

Breyanna was the only one that Alexandrea didn't give the rest of the day off, the gallery upstairs was closed off for the rest of the day, and the classes and workshops all were cancelled. Alex's childe made the calls to the few students that hadn't already called in to say they weren't going to be attending.

Then the power started to flicker and Alexandrea sent Breyanna home too, shutting her store completely and going to check on Orin. Odin was no where to be found but the Allurist didn't attempt to disturb him, she had this. The back up generator for the pool's heater was easy for the thief to break into, she knew exactly where her one time stalker had the system set up, from having stalked him enough times.

She had her own tools on her, having planned ahead before locking her own place up, and switched the power source for Orin's tank to the propane fueled emergency heater and then made sure the pipes were all secure. The tank itself Alex had no worry over, Odin had spared no expense and it would survive a nuclear blast if it had to. The sensitive blonde just wanted to make sure her favorite shark would be comfortable.

And having no idea where the owner of the shark and the mall was or how long away Odin might be, Alexandrea told security to start closing down the rest of the shops and sending everyone home. She had the rest of the mall's staff see to the buildings utilities and once all was secure, and all personnel were out of the building, Alex herself decide to close the whole mall.

She sent a message to Odin's email with her mind and waited a half an hour to get any kind of reply or a summoning and have to explain why... but with the power out, it seemed everything else was as well. Her phone was getting no signals at all and the laptop wasn't finding anything either. She wasn't even able to get on the internet with her Telepath power any longer. So there was no way from Odin to communicate to her. But he didn't summon her to question her decision. And he was a very clever clock, Odin Birn. Alexandrea was sure that he probably knew why Alex had made the judgement call she had.

But just to be sure, she let another 15 minutes pass before the Allurist decided to go ahead, that if Odin had really hated her locking up his building he would have found a way to let her know. If he could....

Quickly, Alexandrea did a check on Odin and smiled warmly when she saw he was just fine. The doors were all closed up and locked tightly, alarms turned on even, the power would be back on soon enough Alexandrea was sure and the system would reset itself.

The blonde was about to leave herself and head home when the quake first hit. The first aid room was the closest place with a door frame and the Ontario Native who had never in her life been in an earthquake, had no idea what to do but find a door and stand inside it.

Her eyes were as wide as saucers but she giggled a little as the dust settled around her. Alex didn't move for a good long while; and the building shuddered many times, paintings fell off walls and furniture tumbled around the small room, and the sounds were unlike anything Alexandrea Quartermaine had ever even imagined.

Some time after the ground below stopped heaving, the blonde cautiously went into the atrium to check on Orin. The shark was huddled at the bottom of his tank but otherwise unharmed. Alexandrea still didn't know for sure what it meant to any critter's mind when she sent to them but she believed that they understood her, so sent communicated with Orin some reassuring thoughts and feelings before she let herself out of the building.

The 8th Dimension mall had stood almost completely unaffected by the quake, minor damage that wouldn't be any issue for someone as skilled a craftsman as Odin. Alex grinned and shared the news and the images in her mind to the man's mind as she walked around the outside, letting him know that both his property and his pet were safe.

Other buildings in Harper Rock hadn't been so lucky.

It didn't surprise Alexandrea at all that Odin had made his building one of the strongest in town. Hell, as far as the lovesick Allurist was concerned, the 8th Dimension Mall and the Killer that owned it were both the strongest and the best at everything.

The Metronome still stood as well, Alex was very happy to see, And the Casino across the road from it. But all was not well with people inside, shouts for help were coming from so many directions that the normally helpful woman didn't know which way to turn.

The vampire was soon stunned into an almost trance like state, wandering lost in the chaos around her as people panicked and sirens blared. After nearly getting beaned on the head by a falling brick from one of the shattered building facade's, Alex snapped out of it and left what was left of the sidewalk and stepped into the street.

There was no traffic, there was just gridlock and madness. And the subway was the last place that the blonde wanted to be if there was any more earth quaking to be had, and her house in Willow Court was above ground.

She decided to head north, towards the river. The bridge might be out or impassable and it was bound to be crowded if it still stood, so Alexandrea didn't go back eastwards but continued west, planning to avoid people and water walk into Gullsborough.

Alex Q never got to see a view of the river, however. The Allurist never made it out of Coastside. Long before Alexandrea got to the end of the block where she could try to continue north, her boots, feet and pant legs were soaking wet. And the blonde just hoped it was only water from the river she was wading through, but some unsavory things that were went floating by left that in some doubt.

She could tell it was getting deeper, as the cold rushed around her legs and seemed to have a strengthening current. If a dam had burst someplace up river, being swept away by an undertow wasn't impossible, and despite being a strong swimmer the mixture of river water and sewage around Alex's feet wasn't something she wanted to try and swim around in.

The sparks of a power line coming down finalized the blonde's choice to get someplace dry and quick as she watched it falling, and one of the safest bets for both had just had the door conveniently forced open by a young man and a few others that Alex had never seen before but she was sure one of them had to be another vampire, like herself. Although in a crisis even the weakest of humans could show amazing feats of strength when their hulk juice kicked in.

Alex hurried inside behind him and the rest, but even rushing at top speed the surge that kicked in as the electrical current of the lines hitting the water gave the vampire enough of a shock that when she went to jump the last few feet, an arc of electricity trailed along with her and slammed the blonde into the door frame.

Blonde hair slightly sizzling, Alexandrea ignored a few stares and headed straight for the bar. Slamming a few shots would help her appear less supernatural and calm her nerves. The other occupants of the Lounge were unnoticed by Alex, as she busied herself between charming the barkeep and using her skills as a Telepath to do quick check on everyone she loved.

[Xian]

AMONG OTHER THINGS, Xian felt uncomfortable once he'd entered The Lounge, though he figured that was mostly because his clothes were wet. He'd taken off his jacket, but he'd walked long enough in the wind and snow to get at least a little soaked most places. He'd also had to wade a little through the rising waters, so the tips of his denim pants, and the inside of his combat boots were wet.

He stood for a while by the door, and allowed the people who had come in with him to head deeper into the club. A swirl of blonde hair caught his eye for a moment, and as he looked at the young woman, he couldn't help but feel a sense of recognition, though he was sure he had never seen her before. Not too tall, she was definitely beautiful, though he shook the thought from his mind, thinking about survival first.

Once she and the others had passed, the young vampire headed towards a booth that seemed unclaimed, near the table of another young woman who caught his eye. This one had long fiery hair, and looked tall, likely as tall as he was, also remarkably beautiful, but then, The Lounge often had its share of beautiful women. He couldn't understand what made him notice her in particular, but as he tried to figure it out, another blonde, different from the one he'd noticed at the door, joined the tall one.

He continued to the booth, which meant he had to pass somewhere behind the tall blonde.As he neared the two of them, he decided on a quick scan of their minds, which he thought would at least help him figure out what had called his attention to these women, of all the others in The Lounge.

He stopped short as he pictured the one still standing sending mental images to her husband and childe. Childe? Then everything fell into place, and he realized that these were other vampires, or at the very least other supernaturals. That's what had caught his attention, though he didn't realize it at first. Something about them was different, specially in this place, at this time, when the earthquake and storm had seemed to enhance his senses, like a layer of skin rubbed raw.

He blew out some air through his lips, a strange human behavior, he realized, but one that expressed his surprise and, admittedly, excitement, at meeting others of his kind. Despite the circumstances, he wondered how he could approach them; he'd met others of his kind of course, though most of them were of his bloodline, or related to his bloodline in other ways. He wasn't even sure that these two, three if he counted the blonde who'd headed for the bar, would respond favorably to him, or his bloodline.

He decided that his Charlotte and Keara would have warned him about other vampires if there was any need, and took another step closer, close enough to hear the last few words of the red-haired, tall vampire. Most of them, anyway, but he'd registered some of the important ones at least: massive fae, under the city.

This, once more, stopped him short, and the greeting he'd rehearsed quickly in his mind retreated. Despite his usual self-control, his surprise got the better of him, and he blurted out the words before he was able to restrain himself.

"There's a massive fae beneath the city?" he said out loud. Then, realizing that he'd just essentially put his foot in his mouth by, firstly, showing that he'd been eavesdropping, and secondly, appearing like the neophyte vampire that he was.

He tried his best to salvage his situation, and his mind raced to remember what he'd planned to say. "Uh," Stammering, not good, he thought, and he started again. "Hello," he said. "I'm Xian, and I apologize for listening in, but," His curiosity got the better of his anxiety, and he continued, "Did you just say that there's a massive earth fae under Harper Rock?"