Siren Search (Open to Siren Event Participants)

[Corentine (DELETED 6472)]

A message flashed over Cori's phone...a locale for the meeting. To say that this sparked Cori's curiosity even more was an understatement. The 8th dimension mall...an odd location for a meeting. Cori supposes that a mass meeting of vampires, that may or may not know each other should be done in a public setting. It keeps those with lacking social etiquette from over-stepping. Suppose my time in the sewers has ended for this evening. Time to prepare...

What to wear to something such as this? Cori knows that her normal hunting attire will not do... she is meeting others of her kind and needs to play the role that her grand-sire expects.

Cori makes her way back to the lair that Trahir and her had shared for awhile. She had not been there in a very long time, but knows that there are things there for her to dress in, that would be appropriate for this evening.

As she enters the doorway to the apartment, Cori sees that nothing much has changed. She half expected to see those vile crocs mulling about free...but they were nowhere to be found. She made her way to the bedroom, stopping only for a brief moment to allow a quick memory to enter and then exit her mind.

Cori makes her way to the closet and opens up the doors...a tiny squeak comes from the hinges, proof that this door has not been opened in a bit of time. She grabs her black sleeveless dress, that hits right above the knee and a small leather bolero. They are perfect for a meeting, and she hopes...for now..this is all that it will be. Cori grabs her heels that wrap up to mid calf and slides them on like a pro.

Cori's senses are heightened, paying close attention to any sound that may come from the living room. She hopes that Trahir is out for the evening, as she has no want to interface with him...he will expect an explanation. What would I even say, she thought? " So Trahir, I tried to seduce a human piece of meat...I actually touched him... but, it was not my doing..something MADE me feel as I did." Cori smiles knowing that he would give her that look she knew all too well. She was not sure if it was one of disdain or something different. It surely would be a look of doubt. Who would believe that some force could take over a vampires mind and make them do things so out of the ordinary...so unbelievable.

Cori dressed with great speed and ensured her hair was upswept and held tightly. Time to go, she thought. Cori headed out the door of the apartment, turning back for a moment..realizing that she would not be here again for another long while.

Cori gets into the elevator, ponders a moment and uses celerity to get herself to the mall within seconds. She makes sure that she arrives in a secluded spot outside of the mall, to avoid any prying eyes. Cori walks into the mall preparing for what she may be walking into. The Dragons Lair....

Cori scopes the mall out and walks to the information counter, which displays the location of all businesses in the mall. As her heels clicked along the polished cement of the mall, Cori wondered what lay ahead for he? Would it be possible to find out what or who did this to her? Cori wanted answers, that coupled with a need for revenge drove Cori to walk more swiftly towards the restaurant. She arrived, sighed a deep sigh and pushed open the doors of the Dragons Lair...

[Ambrose Acheron]

Ambrose spends some time gathering things he needs. The first is beeswax, he has Jose wrap the wax in plastic so it is protected and places it into his shirt pocket. The second thing he brings is his obsidian knife. His various reics are added to his wardrobe which tonight consists of a pair of jeans, sneakers, a white t-shirt and a blue button up work shirt along with a backpack.

He places some print-offs of the information he has found and tells Jose to bring a strand of the zombie ears, the hunters charms and a selection of ingredients primarily for protection and concealment rituals. If all goes to plan he will not need them, but it's best to be prepared.

His tome he keeps in the backpack with the othrr books.

A brief prayer to Tezcatlipoca and the priest steps out of the lair with thrall in tow. He explains to Jose exactly what he expects from him. Stay close, keep the automatic weapon close, be ready for Ambrose to kill the signal. The thrall nods his understanding as the two get into Jose's SUV.

The drive over is done in silence, not to say there is not communication between vampire and thrall, but there is no sound made. No music. It galls Jose to ride without music but he won't risk el hefe's wrath for some jams.

Finally upon reaching the mall Ambrose makes his way to the same sign Corentine had just resourced and uses it to find his destination. He walks alone through the mall, Jose satys in the vehicle. As he arrives, stepping into the Dragon's Lair he immediately notices Adelita.

The Spanish Rose no doubt. Into her mind he sends a message first. "You are not Spanish, you are Mexica."

The man nearby must be Niklaus. Ambrose appraises him quietly along with the blonde who apparently arrived just an instant before he himself. He again appraises the woman and turns his eyes to Dominique. The woman seems to know Niklaus but doesn't seem happy to see him. Ambrose reads her too.

Having finished his precursory examination of the group he makes his eay to the bar toward Adelita, backpack slung over one shoulder. He says aloud for the four of them to hear, "Are you all here for the meeting? We should get one of the tables away from prying ears."

With that he flags down a server and asks to be seated away for everyone and not to be disturbed until a server is called upon. A $100 slips from his hand to hers and Ambrose makes his way to the table without a backward glance to make sure the others follow. He seats himself at the head of the table when he arrives and opens his backpack, beginning to set out five packets of information at at table for the others.

He hates been in the company of so many of his own kind at once but he needs them. At least for now.

[Adelita (DELETED 5973)]

The first voice she knew pretty well, and it caused Lita to smile and turn just a little to where the sound of the voice was coming from. "Hola, Papi." Lita winked to the male before patting the seat next to her before the glass of red arrived and was placed in front of her. "I see you're itching to get your hands dirty tonight." She commented to the male with a small laugh as her right hand came around the stem of the glass, and lifted it so she could take a drink from of the liquor.

Her attention immediately deviated with she heard his thoughts in her mind, the woman bringing the glass back down to rest on the bar's counter. The woman turned away from Niklaus to see Ambrose approaching a small group of people that started gathering. Two other women, Niklaus and now Ambrose. Wasn't this quite the group?

"I hadn't realized you noticed the difference. Most don't." Lita said in Ambrose's direction, before standing from the stool and reclaiming her drink for the night. She waits until Ambrose is heading to a table before Lita talks again, this time speaking directly to the waiter. "Bring us your most expensive appetizer. He's paying." Adelita pointed to the back of Ambrose's figure before she finally followed the male. If he wanted to be in charge, then he could be in charge of the bill too.

She sits, making sure that wherever he is, she's not sitting next to him. Lita wanted to keep eye contact with the male that made a bloody mess out of her the night they met. She is well aware of the fact that he's a very dangerous person. "Keep me company, Papi?' Lita says as she looks at the empty chair to her left while sitting down.

[Tiamat]

Tia stood behind a young woman as they watched a monitor in the office of the restaurant. The raven haired woman pointed at the video to the group forming around the bar. “Well, it looks like our cast is beginning to gather, let’s make sure they get the best seats in the house.” The girl at the monitor nodded and instructed the hostess to guide the group to a particular table. She looked back up at Tiamat and spoke. “Why aren’t we getting the police involved again?”

“A group like this would murder everyone here, that enough for you? Whose section did they put them in?”

“It looks like Michelle’s section tonight.”

“Perfect.” Tia picked up a set of wireless headphones and placed them over one ear and dialed a number on her phone.

“Alright Joseph, you have everything on that list? Good, stand by. We’ll keep the phones connected so that you can move quickly.” She set the phone on the desk and sat in her office chair. “Now we watch and listen. We have enough microphones in this place so we’ll catch every word they say.”

[Niklaus]

Niklaus grinned at Lita’s words, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek before taking the seat next to her. “Hi Mami. And you know I always like to get my hands dirty”, he responded before eyeing the newcomers; Corentine , Batgirl and Ambrose. He recognized only Dominique out of the three and offered a wave to the woman. Ambrose then offered to get a table away from prying ears, and possibly eyes too and walked away. The Killer returned the gesture and telepathically appraised Ambrose and Corentine, the former showing up as a first generation; so that was the new guy in town. He had heard some rumours but hadn’t really investigated the man. That night was going to serve as a good way of judging his character and know what he was actually looking for to accomplish in Harper Rock. After all, everyone wanted something, right?

“I’d love to, Lita.” He responded once again to the Mexican, slipping off his chair to follow her towards the table Ambrose had picked. Sitting down besides Adelita and resting his backpack down beneath the table, right between his legs. He had brought a few items that he thought might come in handy, especially in a meeting place he had never visited before, like the Dragon’s Lair. “There are always eavesdroppers wherever you go”, he commented in general. Niklaus was one who believed in conspiracy theories; if it wasn’t the government wanting to keep an eye on its citizens, there would always be a third party who would have such interests, history showed that much.

Tossing a look back at Dominique to beckon her over, Lita was on his right and there was still an unoccupied chair to his left. He might as well prefer to have people he knew and talked to closest to himself, just so he could keep his eyes on the ones he didn’t know more easily. After all, he hadn’t gauged how trustworthy they were yet. The male made himself comfortable in his chair as he began to inspect the packet presented to him. There was bound to be at least one ‘spy’ or overly curious person around, especially when their conversation on CrowNet was public. Glancing around his entourage to see if anyone looked suspicious, paying attention to the decoration – that was usually where spy cameras were planted.

Niklaus discreetly unzipped his bag and picked up the small device, not extracting it from the bag but momentarily switching it on, noting that the red light was blinking rapidly. It was a bug detector and it had detected a lot of activity already. Maybe they were being spied on already or, it could be detecting the GPS trackers from some devices. Google maps was guilty of that and a lot of people who used Android devices didn’t know that Google liked to track one’s every move. He chose to share the image of the device all lit up to Lita and Dominique using his image telepathy power, accompanied by a few words. Something along the lines of “Someone may be spying on us already.” He had a camera detector attachment for that particular bug detector too but that would involve taking the device out and would definitely attract more attention to their meeting so he simply turned it off and put it back into his backpack. He had brought more toys but for now, it could wait. Was there going to be some kind of introduction from all the participants?

[Dominique]

Dominique nodded to Niklaus lifting her petite hand with its plain palm opening in greeting while casting a dark gaze the rest. Her fingers gripped the black hoodie on her back and tugged it up over her shoulders as she made her way behind the man who got his nickname for his failed attempt to chase spiders out of her pocket in the caverns. That was his excuse for his hand being discovered in her pocket. Like the shadow that she was her steps were soundless. She was clearly prepared at any moment to disappear altogether if one thing gave her a reason to find something seriously off about this gathering. Moving up to the left of the man that earned a wink she settled into the open chair doing her part to secure both sides of the fellow superhero. Spider Man was now taken care of. Her dark orbs eyed the rest that were gathering

While the possibilities of just who she was actually looking at went through her mind the scent of what she had given up or close to it in aroma started to fill her. The dark haired woman wiggled back and locked her backside into the chair. She leaned back slightly because even in the most unpredictable situations she believed first rule of thumb was to be as comfortable as possible. Or in the very least appear to be.

While the craving for Panang gai started in she found difficulty in concentrating on the red curry paste that would be fried up then splashed quickly with coconut cream. Yes, she was serious about her Thai food and it was a hell of a sacrifice in giving it up just to get a good day's rest in return. The difficulty in concentration wasn’t from the chicken likely still cooking in the back on a grill. It was from the images suddenly thrust into her overactive brain that had a message attached courtesy of the clever Spidey Dude next to her.

Of course there was an audience sitting somewhere watching this meeting. The whole city was decorated with cameras, recording devices, traps, sensors and even cages that would leave most with a mega watt smile and a delay on arriving wherever they were intending to be. She slid her hands over the top of her denim covered thighs then felt the left corner of her mouth lift slightly. Something told her to take in an eyeful of the man who seemed to be heading up this gathering. He looked to be a little more than just unfamiliar. For all she knew he could be shady as all hell or he had something more serious than a game of Candid Camera going on. Was he looking for Penelope Pitstop? She glanced to Niklaus. She bet her superfriend knew who she was. It would be worth asking later. For now the one getting the most of her eye time had something about him that made her hair on the back of her neck tingle. Most of the time that was not a good thing. Dominique said nothing and waited for the pow-wow to start.

[Corentine (DELETED 6472)]

Cori walks through the doors of The Dragons Lair, not sure of what she will find behind them. As she steps into the restaurant she stands for a moment and scans the crowd. She sees a various people, not any that she is familiar with. What she does make mental note of, is how many exits there are and scans for possible escape routes if things go south, with this meeting.

Cori does spot a dark skinned male sitting in the back of the restaurant, unpacking what she believes to be some sort of bag. This must be the one that called this meeting...and he seems to have come prepared.

She scans the entire place, making sure she does not make direct eye contact with anyone. Doing so may put her at a disadvantage. Being caught up with one individual could give another the opportunity for an attack. Being prepared both mentally and physically for what may come to pass, it something that Cori prides herself upon.

Maybe it is why she has such a passion for finding out WTF happened to her..when she tried to seduce a piece of human flesh. Just the mere though of it brings a small grimace to Cori's face. With a deep breath, done out of habit, Cori makes her way towards the dark skinned male. Her heels make a slight tapping noise as she makes her way to where he is seated, while her hands are kept close to her waistline. the dress she chose was sheer.., but it hid her weapons well...

She ended up at the table and stood in front of the gentlemen with the bag. he was laying out materials...none of which she was familiar with. In her usual upbeat tone, she walked over to him..standing above him and outstretched her hand..." Hello, I am Corentine..are you the one that sent the message?"

Cori knew that not all vampires were schooled in etiquette...Trahir had told her that many a time. it surely did not mean that she would push hers to the side.

[Ambrose Acheron]

Ambrose gives each of them a nod in turn. He answers Corentine with a small nod. "Yes, I am indeed." He takes her hand and shakes it when she offers it, "Ambrose is my name."

The packets of information set down before each of the vampires are titled A Study of the Mythology of the Siren.

Ambrose opens his book to the first page and says, "Thank you all for coming. I don't usually hold classes in such informal settings but with the time constraints on scheduling I'm sure you can all understand. Allow me to begin. Sirens have been in mythology throughout ancient times. The first time they enter into stories is in Argonautica, The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the second in The Odyssey by Homer. They are two unnamed creatures living on a small island who lured sailors with their song promising knowledge. Future writers altered this, naming seven of them. Aglaope, Leucosia, Ligeia, Molpe, Parthenope, Peisinoe and Thelxiope.

They embody the sensual characteristics of the female voice and though throughout literature they have evolved from false promisers of knowledge to seduction, to lulling their prey to sleep and then killing and consuming them, one thing remains unchanged. If you hear their song, you fall under their spell.

In the Ovid, the y were revealed to be servants of Persephone, cursed to be what they are known as today by Demeter when they failed to aid Persephone when Hades took her and claimed her as his bride. According to Hyginus, sirens were fated to live only until the mortals who heard their songs were able to pass by them and when Odysseus managed to do so the Sirens flung themselves into the sea and drowned.

There were two sirens bodies discovered, Parthenope, Ligeia and Leucosia. Their bodies were found washed ashore. This means the siren, though thought to be aquatic in nature may in truth be susceptible to drowning."

The spiel comes across as perhaps a teacher giving a lecture, a cover-up in case anyone is listening uninvited.

He looks around the table, appraising those he had missed, and closes the book. "Any questions thus far on Sirens?" To each one in turn he speaks telepathically, "Where were you when it happened? What were you doing?"

His eyes focus directly then on Adelita seeming intent, the same intensity from that night when he was holding that lethal little blade.

[Adelita (DELETED 5973)]

Lita doesn't really look at the pamphlet she is given. Lita had come to the conclusion, based off what Ambrose shared with her that it was one of three things, and the biggest possibility is that of a siren. She hears his questions in her head, and that's when she opens the pamphlet up, breaking their eye contact.

"Hmmm. Where was I?" Lita keeps flipping through the packet as she does her best to avoid Ambrose's intent gaze. "You know...I'm not sure. Oh, wait. Yes. I remember now. I was with this very attractive looking Hispanic man the night a lot of odd occurrences happened." Lita closes the book and looks up at Ambrose and flashes him a smile. "And then I met a friend of his. I barely remember his name, but I doubt he's the siren." The woman laughed, obviously doing her best to avoid the topic of where she actually was and who she was with. "What about you?" He was always wanting to know other people's business, but not so open about his own business. It made Lita edgy and untrusting of the male.

[Dominique]

Dominique's eyes drifted to the packet that she would assume would be for her then upward to the one who was appearing rather comfortable in broaching such a subject out in public. Her body leaned forward with the ease of one that would belong right where she was. Healthy inked fingers subtly moved to the surface in front of her. She looked slowly at the others as her hand reached for what was left on the table. While voices were giving reason for distraction she left her focus on the dark one who seemed to be vying for it the most. A darkness was in his eyes. Something more beyond their deep oak hue. She had seen it many times. It left a chill running up her spine before she realized she was looking too long. Her eyes dropped down to what was in her hands and opened it. A gentle roll of her petite shoulders guided her body back to rest against the back of the chair that anchored her to the ground.

The young shadow wondered what invaded another so much so that power was a thirst that drove them to want to rule the world or dominate it dead or living. An unquenchable thirst at that. Time had delivered the proof in front of her and around her. Some wanted to save it and others wanted to pillage all that was in their path and desecrate what managed to remain. It was a bitter and unpalatable truth to swallow for her mind. It would have been easier to accept and a smooth transition for her if she had lost more of herself than just her blood in the abandoned building when her final living year expired with her last breath. How can a heart live as it once was but no beat any longer? She was pulled from being distracted by her own thoughts when the air around her shoulders and face cooled considerably to the point she could not ignore it.

Each page offered more insight into the what a siren was while the man’s voice resonated with history, facts and generally what was in print on the pages in front of her. So this is what I should have been paying attention to back in school? A slow exhale of cool air seeped over her plain lips.There was so much Dominique did not know and she was well aware of it. So much she perhaps had not attempted to question when she should have and now she was reminded of as much as another page turned in front of her. Sirens. Who would have thought? That is when she felt the presence of that voice in her mind when she looked up to find his lips were no longer moving.

The vision of a mermaid briefly came to mind while she stayed as quiet as a church mouse. Cree. The name stuck to the tip of her tongue that was trapped there unspoken. Her wide warm chocolate orbs glanced to those who were also present and silent. Were they answering? A flat line was pressed hard with the joining of her lips.

If you can hear me great. If not then oh well. That night it happened it was a golden haired beauty that appeared on a dark empty road out of control with her car scraping against the side of a cherished red mustang. My mustang. The music wasn't my usual station I listen to but I was in the mood for it at that time. It was interrupted briefly. That mermaid of sorts seemed to be everything perfect at the most unexpected moment that I was not looking for or in want of. It is not my style to be so easily impressed but it seemed to happen. Then as fast as she had appeared it was gone and over. All except for the damage to my car to prove it even happened.

If this guy was one of those mind walkers then she was ready. Dominique Jane Doe gave no one an invitation to what was in her mind. Her defenses just increased all the way around as she looked at him refusing to blink. That was all she was going to have say about what happened that she still couldn't explain while the booklet closed in her hands.