Path of the Vampire forum

The red-head waved at each of the people to which Hannah was kind enough to introduce her. She certainly felt like the current outsider as each of the other arrivals, save the man looking for her, appeared to be well acquainted. If she was to hazard a guess, her money would have been on family friends based on the way they greeted each other and interacted. The two ‘L’s’ she suspected were a bit closer than friends, not that she cared, though it would make easier to keep names straight. She wasn’t usually decent with names when meeting multiple new people at one time.

Amalea’s attention turned fully to the waiting male shaking the offered hand. His name was really enough of an explanation as to why he was awkwardly waiting for her on the platform. She had known Doc wasn’t exceptionally likely to meet them here, so this arrangement made sense. “We have,” she agreed with a smile. “Amalea Devadas of Sanguine Services, but you knew that, I suppose,” she laughed softly. “My legal team is quite impressed with your work.”

Given she had zero experience with camping equipment, she was secretly happy for the bit of explanation as to what she was looking at. Sleeping bags were pretty self-explanatory and familiar. Almost everyone knew what one of those was didn’t they? The red-head sincerely hoped that Doc had had the foresight to include the set-up instructions for the pop-ups as she had no idea how those were generally setup. It was certainly promising to be an interesting afternoon.

She looked over at the group briefly as the last member of their group arrived. She waved as her name was mentioned; she was bit taken back by the fact it wasn’t a two-way introduction. The red-head supposed he’d either introduce himself or she’d just end up referring to him as ‘Hey, you’ all weekend. She allowed Cyril to explain the absence of their missing group member to the others given it was really more for their benefit than her own.

Amalea nodded slightly at his whispered addition; at least now she had a time frame for his arrival. She hadn’t expected him to arrive before then and really had thought it’d been later than that. The red-head was surprised to see his stop suddenly and hand her something small out of his pocket. Looking at it with interest as she accepted it, she smiled. “Thank you for everything. I’m sure we will and I certainly will. I doubt I’d look good in spots,” she laughed softly.

Waving as he left, she slid the small object into her bra before turning back to the rest of the group. Losing it would be problematic, she was certain, and she knew if it was in her pocket or bag it might end up missing. “Sorry about that guys, so I guess we’re all here now. So where do we begin?”

Mirella was honestly running late, and she knew it. But despite requesting the time off days before, she'd ended up getting into a...dispute, with her employer about the night off. That was the best way she could put it. However, the dispute ended with her being explicitely told to find another job. Still, she'd made a promise.

Still wearing her performance clothes under a simple grey peacoat, though she's switched into slouch boots from barefoot chain sandals, she lugged three bags onto the platform just as the redhead said something about everyone already being there. "Not quite!" she called out, hoisting her tent carrier higher on one shoulder. The same shoulder carried a black duffel bag, which family would probably recognize as her practice equipment, and a large suitcase trailed behind her on wheels, containing the other essentials she knew she would need, like enough underwear to last the weekend.

"Sorry I'm late. There was an issue with work," she said, smiling an almost genuine grin. Only one person present, only Judah, would see the pain and anger in her eyes.

Despite his lingering uncertainty, Jude's smile was convincingly cheerful and relaxed, artfully arranged on his face. It came easily to him, that naturally pleasant expression that he wore for those around him. It was rare to find him not smiling or laughing, unless you knew him very well. The smile he gave Hannah was warmer, genuinely pleased to see her and that she had managed to get a decent group together. It was a relief in a way, more people meant it would be easy enough to slip away if it got too much, or on the other hand if something bad happened there were others to help. Not that he was expecting bad things, he just struggled to shake that lingering feeling of foreboding that crept in his shadow.

He shook his head as Hannah spoke the name of the woman he didn't know, watching the brief interaction of the man who'd apparently brought her gear before he departed, leaving her alone. He smiled in her direction as she spoke, lips parting to introduce himself but was interrupted by the timely arrival of Mirella. He turned at the sound of her voice, wasting no time in putting down his own gear so he could move to assist his younger cousin with her own. Jude kissed her on the forehead, studying her expression with mild concern. He'd ask later, but for now he simply took the tent carrier from her and the suitcase, pulling them over so they could join the group. Jude knew better than to try and take the woman's practice gear, it was sacred to her and had ended up back on her shoulder after a small amount of reshuffling.

"Glad you could make it, Firebug!" He spoke cheerfully, trying to lift her spirits and his own. "We were just doing introductions, I was about to tell Amalea here that I'm Judah, though Jude is fine." The Pastor grinned across at the redheaded woman, dropping a casual wink in her direction. "Amalea, Mirella,
Mirella, Amalea. Obviously, you know Lou and Leonie, but I don't believe you've met Hannah? Hannah, meet yet another von der Marck." He puffed out his cheeks with a phew sound, looking around at the group, "Yeah, there are a fair few of us I guess." The man laughed sheepishly, putting down Mirella's luggage so he could tuck his arms around her in a familiar hug.

More Von Der Marck's. Hannah should be surprised, but she really wasn't. Though, it seemed her and Amalea were the odd ones out, with four Von Der Marck's surrounding the two outsiders. Not that Hannah felt like an outsider around Leonie or Judah, but technically, they were 'outsiders.' She wondered if this person named 'Doc' would end up being some sort of cousin too. Wouldn't that be hilarious in itself?

"I'm not sure..." Hannah commented, thinking the woman had strikingly enough features to stand out, yet Hannah wasn't sure they had ever met. She didn't recall a name like Mirella. "Welcome! The more the merrier." She looked to Amalea, then the others, before adding in..."Well, since this Doc person will be around later, guess we should get a move on it? No one wants to set up camp in the dark." Not that it would be dark for a few hours...but they needed to get to a location before setting things up. "So, how are you?" Hannah looked to Judah, giving him a nudge with the side of her body, against his, before she leaned down to grab the cooler. "Tell me on the way?" With the cooler in both hands and the rest of her stuff, sans the backpack on top that, she was ready to go. And go she did.

A single eyebrow rose at the sight of the newest arrival. Amalea had thought she was out of her depth with this whole camping thing. That the woman was wearing some sort of heeled boot and toting a wheeled bag made her rethink her estimate; both seemed highly impractical to her. Goodness only knew what sort of terrain they would encounter on their journey into their camping site or where they would end up.

The red-head bit the inside of her cheek to keep from commenting. It was still too early in the weekend to piss anyone off so she settled for staring at her pile of gear trying to figure out how to juggle it all. She looked up as ‘Hey, you’ mentioned doing introductions in hopes of getting a proper name for the man. A slight nod and a smile acknowledged his statement. “Nice to meet you both,” she commented politely as she processed Jude’s statements. It seemed most of the group was related and Hannah was a family friend though she could have been mistaken. Either way, she certainly felt like the outsider of the bunch.

Her attention turned back to the gear as she slipped her bag off her shoulders. One of the sleeping bags was securely fastened to the bottom of the bag. The other was affixed to the cooler as if it were a bumper pad. The popups were attached to either side of the bag with a couple carabiners; she wasn’t worried the actual weight but rather the distribution of it. Satisfied, she carefully reshouldered the bag taking care to clasp both the chest and waist straps for extra stability.

“Not particularly, the red-head replied to the statement about setting up in the dark. It was going to be an adventure in itself, never mind if she had to deal with crappy lighting as well. Grabbing her own sleeping bag topped cooler, she started to follow Hannah towards their weekend spot. Hoping the woman had some idea where they would be heading, she posed the question on her mind. “Did you have a spot already picked out?”

"It's a pleasure to meet you officially - you might know me by my online handle, which doubles as a family nickname. Fireflower," Mirella said to Hannah, smiling. Of the four von der Marcks present, Mirella was probably the most out of place, given her lack of an inheritance and whatnot. And now her lack of any income at all. With one hand, she unbuttoned the top of her coat, just enough that it wasn't a stranglehold - and enough to reveal the metal collar of the performance outfit she was still wearing, bronze and amber, though not exposing the chain clasp at the back. It did also expose that her orange top was looped through a metal hoop at the front of the collar.

"If we end up getting there at dusk, I have torches," she added, as a note. "About five of them. Part of one of my routines." She didn't juggle, but she did often use the torches for firebreathing tricks if she was outdoors. "The wick can last up to two hours on each one - long enough to set up tents." She waited to move until the rest of her cousins began their movement.

No, she wasn't much for camping, this was true. But she needed a break from the city, just one break away from the trappings of modernity.

Also she is NOT wearing her barefoot sandals, she's wearing slouch boots. Clarifying.

Jude tipped his head in agreement to Amalea, always pleased to meet new people, the Pastor was rarely accused of being anti-social, though like anyone he enjoyed his moments of solitude and of late been better at making time for himself. He laughed as Hannah knocked against his side, giving her a quick one-armed hug, dropping a kiss her to her temple. "That your way of telling us to shape up and ship out?" He asked, putting in his pack and lifting the cooler, leaving him one hand free to take the small piece of Mirella's luggage. "Amalea makes a good point, I trust you've picked us an awesome spot." More enthusiasm was creeping into his tone, eager now that he'd committed to the outing to get set up for the night.

To Hannah's earlier question he shrugged, ducking his head almost sheepishly so he could reply quietly. "Oh, you know... I'm doing better. Good for now, but... I think it might be a temporary fix. I'm stronger, though, feeling a lot more like myself. What about you?" He glanced around to ensure the others were doing ok with their luggage and no one getting lift behind, his warm brown gaze lingering briefly on the one person he didn't know. Was she a friend of Hannah's or just someone from the forum who had seen the post?

It had been a couple of hour since Cyril had dropped the the items off for Amalea, and Doc should have been on his way to meet up with the camping group. However, time and unforeseen occurrences, cannot not always be foreseen.

Barely glancing at the huddled pile, Doc pulled out his cell and swiped the screen and called Amalea. The first attempt failed to connect. “Hmmm.” He frowned and manually dialed the number. This time, the line connected but after several rings, it went to voicemail instead of Amalea picking the call up.

After the professional recording of Amalea ended, and there was a beep, Doc started to leave his message. “Lea, I am running late. Something..” He paused for a second as he grabbed the crawling figure around the neck with his free arm, “.. came up.” The sounds of fumbling may possibly be heard as he wedges the cell with his shoulder and jaw, while other free hand now covered the nose and mouth of the person. “It shouldn’t take that much longer.” He gave a quick twist with hand, the sound of a cracking neck and a weight falling the to ground is possibly picked up. “I just need to incinerate the trash.. And I am on my way. If anyone asks.. I am practicing my tracking skills.”

Grabbing the phone with his hand now, he tapped ‘disconnect’, and shoved the phone back in his pocket. He then checked the apartment for any trash bags, or large suitcases. He didn’t find what he was looking for, but he did find, a duvet cover. Wrapping the body in the duvet cover, he and the body teleported to the sewers under Gullsborough. Making his way to his sewer location, he tossed the body, also known as trash, into the incinerator, and locked the incinerator door. Turning the temperature dial up to 1200 degrees. He left the dwelling and headed back above ground, to start tracking Amalea.