Path of the Vampire forum

The first text message was ignored.

Every stood at her desk, looking down at the screen of her tablet her fingertips hovered over the falsified police bulletin that she had been working on. A scanned copy of the drawing that Amalea had given her had been adjusted to be smaller, as well as the photograph that had obtained from a security camera through her hacking. Her hair had been swept back, keeping it away from her face after a few strands had begun to get on her final nerve as they brushed against her throat. It was almost perfect, one replicated after another bulletin that she had stolen from the police department, and, it would at least make life miserable for the man whom her uncle had hired, for now.

“Suspect is armed and dangerous. Wanted for questioning as suspect in homicide.”

Of course, Every had her plans. She had back up plans, and some of them would come in due time, but for now? She’d make herself comfortable by tugging at strings. Rolling her head on her shoulders, the shadow turned off the tablet and lifted her arms above her head to stretch. “One down. Too many to go.” She wrinkled her nose before she moved her hand to rub at the back of her neck. There was a nudge at her hand, Richter’s snout rubbing against her flesh. Absentmindedly, she patted at the animal before she seemed to appreciate what attention was given. It didn’t surprise her, Richter had always preferred Spade to Every as a master.

The large cane corso went to lay down at the foot of the couch in the dwelling, the steady dripping of the water behind the walls soothing to the animals that she owned, as well as their owner. Again, her phone beeped - a different text message from the one before. It was strange that a few months ago, she would assume that it was only spam, but now, she’d placed herself back within a social line. She had a family again, small, but one that was growing. Her friends were of both old and new faces. There were people that she would die for, and people that she would live for and it was a different feeling, one that she didn’t have to worry about leaving for the time being.

Reaching into her back pocket, Every collected the device and tapped the screen. Her eyebrow lifted as she let out a soft huff. Freyja’s first came into view, followed by Caligrace’s text. There was no doubt what they had planned; she had seen the announcement by the Administrator, she’d seen all of them. There was an angle that she couldn’t quite her finger on that made her uneasy about the individual, particularly the simple fact that they always appeared and disappeared just when trouble was on the horizon. With the exception of announcing when **** was bound to hit the fan, or disabling human use on CrowNet, Every didn’t believe that ‘The Administrator’ was remotely useful for anything but broadcasting.

In regards to the sirens, she only liked one of them. Ayuka had been polite, friendly. There weren’t many that she knew, truthfully, but at least the woman had given a better introduction to her species rather than the blatantly violent introduction that she had on her own. All in all, there was no reason that she trusted either side. She didn’t know enough about either, and therefore, she’d keep her loyalty to herself - besides, any time that it seemed that vampires did what they felt was right, something blew up in their faces. Longslade had been a mess; it was something that the city itself was still recovering from. Her thumb hovered over the screen as she considered it. The labyrinth wasn’t easy ground to cover…

A group message was created between the three women, a text sent out in response at once: I’ll be there in a few.

“Locryn, I’m going to need you to watch the dogs for a bit and run Apparition - if you need any help, ask Chelsea or her brother. They can run it. I’m going after a key.” Her thrall lifted her hand to show that she had acknowledged her, a sigh escaping past Every’s lips as the shadow moved to put on a pair of sneakers. Her mind linked into Zachary’s immediately, her wraith following unspoken instructions as she saw his gaze focus on the nearby transit before heading north. She collected a knapsack from the closet, a glance at the stupid owl nicknamed Derp Derp that Enver had given her several years ago sitting on a shelf with a tripwire shotgun resting underneath it had her rolling her eyes.

She threw a few flashlights and replacement batteries inside - the last time she’d gone in, her phone hadn’t been enough, as well as a headlamp, so that she could go hands free from time to time. It took her a moment to decide on which backup blade to grab - ultimately, Princess would have to do. There was enough ammo thrown into the bag to kill a small village if she was conservative with it and as she lingered on whether or not to bring a jacket, she ultimately brought it with her. “Alright, what all can I do…” She wouldn’t need to use the transit as she would leave her dwelling underneath Gullsborough, decisively using celerity as she made her way to the labyrinth, and then into the tunnels below.

"Zach," She greeted as her wraith floated to her side, the man giving her a nod of his head in greeting. "If you start singing anything involving Alice in Wonderland, I will find a way to hurt you." He sighed. It was a book she'd read a hundred times and rather than respond, she flipped the dead vampire off. "Not nice."

It was without a doubt as Every entered the Labyrinth that she knew had she been human, it would grow warmer the further inside she got. That was how caving systems worked, but would it be the same for this? There were creatures within that were enchanted, inhumane. It would only make sense that the system of tunnels and floors beneath their feet would be the same. Her jacket was pulled off once she was out of sight of human eyes, the cloth being stuffed into her knapsack as her weapons were retrieved. The handgun was tucked into the waistband of her jeans, the blade held properly in her right hand - she retrieved a flashlight from her bag, as well. Although she knew in time, her eyes would adapt to the darkness, it was just easier.

Her phone had spotty receiption, any message received going unchecked as she slipped into a dead zone temporarily until the chime came back out when she stepped into an area with more bars. As she put her foot down, a squeak escaped past her as she recognized the signs too late. Her weight pressed into a spike trap, the pointed ends shooting towards her and it was on instinct that the shadow scrambled backwards, nearly missed. "Oh for fucks sake." She muttered to herself. It was the spikes slid back into place that she rest her back into the wall, digging the device out of her pocket to read the text message.

You both are equal menaces. Phone is spotty, turning it off for now.

After she pressed send, she turned it off and tucked the device away. It'd help to conserve battery, plus the fact she wouldn't need it for days down on the ground, she wasn't worried. "Find them and give me heads up about traps." Every instructed as Zachary smirked down at her, clearly amused. The ghostly appearance of her childe, the childe that had never returned as a vampire - dying immediately at the hands of a hunter, was irritating enough. "Got it, Eve." His deep voice had her rolling her eyes as she bent down to pick the trap up. After a few moments of deciding, the shadow threw it back into play before it connected against the ground. There were footsteps down the hall, the voice in her head calling out, "Eve, some sort of skeleton on your way."

Her knife was tucked away. She brought her gun back out, removing the safety as she headed towards the skeleton. "Firearms are better with some of these things, might as well start out right." She thought as she went, setting her flashlight above it and gripping the metal properly. The creature shuffled in her direction, Every's grip tightening on her gun as her finger was held over the trigger. Years ago, she had difficulty even touching a firearm, but now? Now, it was secondhand nature, just like her blades. The moment the creature shuffled into view, she fired off two shots. One to it's knee, causing the skeleton to buckle beneath its weight, the second shot piercing its skull and causing the back to explode into pieces. Zachary found the girls and Hudson, hovering nearby and simply watching as she overheard their conversation.

"Every says blasting through the door won't work."

The thought went through her mind and out past her wraith's lips. She could hear and see everything that her thrall and wraith did - a neat little power that had been learned over the years. He wouldn't mean to startle them, but if it worked out that way, it would be more enjoyable to him. It was through his formerly blue eyes that she saw that Freyja had been fighting, that Caligrace was as glamorous as always. She really needed to teach both women that glam and monsters did not mix. Another skeleton shuffled her way and instinctively, the petite shadow raised her gun and fired away. As she headed towards her wraith and family, Every paused to collected a familiar looking key for the floor below. Her fingertips curled around it, picking it up after she shook off a piece of rotted flesh.

It wasn't what they were after, but it would help. "Explosives will only cause a cave in." The message was passed along as she turned it over and over in her hands. The Administrator had mentioned a key, but exactly what were they looking for? How long would it take them to get to it? The question ran through her mind until she approached the three younger vampires. "But this will work getting us lower." She held it up between two fingers, "Might as well try being on lower levels for now. I don't think we'll be able to find them on the first floor. It's too easy. We'll have to look for false walls, as well."

"She sent me ahead to search for traps, Cali." Zachary explained, although the roll of Every's eyes wasn't missed by the wraith as she headed in their direction. Another spike trap was disarmed, the small shadow jumping over and out of reach of being impaled before she snorted. "She says bite me." She didn't actually say it, but she was thinking it. He could feel her minor annoyance, the pull of her lips turning into a frown as she lifted her weapon and fired a few more times. The enchanted bones collasped, the brunette simply stepping over it afterwards. "You aren't the first to say that." He smirked towards Caligrace as his attention faded from Every once she stepped around the corner.

"It's not only explosives," Every said, "but anything that can unsettle the earth. That means quake is out, as well. I don't need to be nearly buried alive again." It wasn't a secret that she hated small places, nor was it an announced thing, but she'd rather not advertise it to anyone. The woman brushed her hair over her shoulder. Afterwards, she removed three flashlights and held them out. "I think it's labor with some magic within. The creatures - they're stronger here, unlike the ones to be dealt with on a regular basis. The fadebeasts themselves are older, more vicious even than the ones I used to summon." She answered.


As Freyja mentioned needing to find a faster way down, Every gave a shake of her head, "I doubt there's something like that, but we can try. Silas is going to be looking ahead of us." She said as the wraith disappeared through the door and began to scout ahead of them, "Fighting in unison will make it less of a chore for just one person. Would there be a service exit or something of the sort down here? She sincerely didn't believe it. It wouldn't be that easy, not when the Administrator needed them to do his dirty work once more. "Our best bet is going to be doing it the nitty gritty fashion."