Path of the Vampire forum

The self-assigned mission required a delicate approach. She knew the factory had guards stationed around every corner, but she needed to hit the place. She'd been scoping the building out for the last three nights and she'd monitored the shift changes. She had a twenty-minute window where security dropped to two guards. Twenty minutes to break in. Twenty minutes to travel the length of the warehouse, gathering items as if she were grocery shopping at the closest market. She needed chemicals, and she had a feeling that the most patrolled factory held the best goods -- high security meant high quality. Clo lowered her binoculars and continued staring off into the second-story windows. She saw the shadow of a guard as he walked along the catwalk and then descended the narrow stairs to the main floor. The man looked too big to be on the catwalk, but she forced that rude thought aside. During the twenty-minute window, one guard usually inhabited the first floor, while the second made a round on the catwalk stretching around the perimeter of the interior of the factory. Clo usually kept smoke bombs or knockout bombs, but she planned on using shadows to slip in and out. Cheap. Efficient.

She could have used more help, but she didn't want to waste precious time calling up Fforde members. The mission wasn't impossible for one person. The downfall was the fact that she hadn't done a proper B&E for months. She was rusty, if she had to be honest with herself. Tossing the binoculars into her black backpack, Clo stood up from among the bushes and slid her arms through the straps on the bag. She'd dressed in all black to blend into the shadows she summoned, so no one saw her as she emerged from the foliage and began her descent down the small hill toward the back entrance of the factory. Hidden amongst the trees, her shadows also shielding her, Clo watched as an armoured truck pulled up to the loading dock. Three guards came out, two carrying a long wooden crate and the third holding the door. The driver of the truck got out to oversee the loading of the heavy crate, but he returned to the driver's seat as soon as the two guards managed to fit the crate into the back. As expected, the two guards got into the back of the truck with the goods (most likely gold) and took seats on either side of the crate. After they each tugged a door closed, the driver shifted into gear and the truck rolled down the road toward the gated entrance.

The third guard turned and disappeared back into the factory, and Clo took that as her signal to emerge. She left the line of trees and crept across the lot to the rear entrance. The loading dock opened and closed from the inside, but there was a secure entrance to the right. Clo only had to decipher the code for the electronic lock. When she did, the lock clicked, and she pulled the door open just enough so that she, and her bag, could squeeze through. As expected, one guard made rounds along the catwalk, while the second guard monitored the main floor. There were different areas throughout the facility, separate spaces designated for specific chemicals. Most of the older factories had the same basic layout, so she expected four areas: Clo expected three large rooms and the loading room. She checked the loading area first.

“Nuts and bolts,” she sighed, loading a few small cases into her bag. Clo checked the area once more, but all of the barrels she'd once assumed full were actually empty.

“Did you hear something, Vince? Over."

Clo drew the shadows up around herself and backed into a darkened corner of the room. Just as she'd taken her last step back, the main-floor guard poked his head into the room. He walked around in a little circle, his club held tightly in his left hand, but he didn't bother checking into the spot where Clover hid. “Did you find anything, Paul?” The second guard's voice came from the walkie talkie, his words slightly distorted from a bad signal. “Stop saying 'over,' man. It stopped being funny two hours ago." There was a pause and then another crackle of the walkie talkie. "I'm not seeing anything from a bird's eye. Do you want me down there?”

“Nah, man, I must be hearing things.” The guard waited for another minute or two, but he moved on quickly enough. Clo exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding and then took slow and careful steps down the hall toward the first of three main rooms. The guard had gone right, so Clo went left.

“I've got some movement near One. Is that you, Paul?”

The club went down hard at the base of her skull. Clo stumbled forward a few steps, but she stayed on her feet. She turned and raised her arms to defend herself, calling on everything that Logan had showed her about boxing. Left. Left. Right. Uppercut. The guard dropped to the ground, his face a bloody mess. She didn't need to know that her head was bleeding. She didn't need to poke and prod at the open wound. Clo took a few shaky steps, but she had to lean against the wall for support. For a human, Paul hit pretty ******* hard. Vince was on her before she had a chance to clear her vision. He came hard, like a freight train, and he aimed for her right leg first. When he landed a hit there, he want to smash his club down over her head, but she blocked and sent a fist right into his large stomach. Vince doubled over, groaning in pain, and Clo delivered one more blow to the guy's head. Before she hit him, she saw him press the panic button on the belt of his gear. Lights started flashing. Doors started closing. The cops were on their way.

Clo finally drew a handgun and pressed the end to the guard's right temple. He moaned in pain, showing he was still very much alive and conscious, unlike Paul. “Open the doors. You have ten seconds, and then I blow your brains out all over the concrete. Ten, nine,” Clo began counting. When she got to two, Vince began to panic and fought with a large ring of keys. In the end, Clo shot him. And that's how the police found her. She was stooped down over Vince’s body, the keyring clasped in one hand and her gun in the other. Three officers cornered her. “I don't suppose you'll believe I fell asleep at my desk.”

The handcuffs went down on her wrists as if they weighed a ton, or more, and she forced the officer to half drag her to the squad car. She fought the entire way, like a caged beast, but she let them have her. She let them capture her. She didn't need to slaughter half a squad and two assisting soldiers. She didn't need the extra attention.

Charles had been a thief for a long time, in fact it had given him a huge step into where he was today. But even though he had no need to do so anymore, he still did. In part because it was a really easy way to make a lot of money, or just get a lot better at it. It also provided a few good reasonably good items he needed for his practice of crafting things.

Piece of cake...maybe He thought looking at the factory in front of him, it was a bit high security compared to the usual ones he would try for. But he hoped that would just mean greater rewards if he pulled it off. It would take some effort, but it would all end up being worth it in the end.

He wore rather normal clothes as he usually did, they allowed him to be far more convincing in the case somebody did end up catching him, helping him bluff his way out of it. He snuck up to the front door just as a cop passed by and crept inside. It was empty at first, he took a right turn, there was usually a similar layout in places like this. Bingo, an electronic door tucked away to the side, would indeed be a piece of cake. That was...until he noticed how full this place really was.

As Charles glanced around a corner he noticed the place was in fact crawling with guards. At least three just in his sight. That was bad, he grabbed a noisemaker and rushed into the electronic lock to get at it before the guards got too close. But in the rush he found it was way too high tech for him, tripping a security system and making his situation even worse. A guard was already headed in his direction and he hurriedly threw the noisemaker away, but it wasn't convincing enough, instead of distracting the guard long enough he shouted orders for someone else to check it out and just moved even faster.

Cursing under his breath the would be thief tried to go around behind a wall, only to be greeted by another unfriendly face of a guard staring straight at him and shouting for him to halt. He had to think quickly, and with it he found he'd brought up his rifle and already fired off a few quick shots taking the guard down with ease but resulting in people hurrying around to find him.

Before he knew it not only had other guards come to find out what was going on, the cops had as well. He didn't bother trying at this point to take them all on. Rather simply raising his hands over his head and looking at the body in front of him cooly while closing his eyes as they rushed in to handcuff him at gunpoint.

He went along very easily, without much resistance at all in fact, rather just being entirely neutral about the event. The law enforcement here wasn't immune to hacking and break ins either, it'd take a good escape and a bit of work and he could end up scot free, thanks to all the vampires a single break in would be a far less attention grabbing situation.

What he wasn't expecting, was who he'd be running into as they took him towards a cop car. A fellow criminal, and one that happened to have shot him in the throat not all too long ago.

With all of her fighting, another officer had to assist the first officer in apprehending her. One officer on each arm, she looked like a high-profile criminal, and, right up until they opened the door to the squad car, she acted like one. Clo reared her head back and her skull connected with one officer’s nose. Almost immediately, she smelled the fresh blood. Her eyes flashed golden, pupils elongated, and venom pooled in her mouth, but she didn’t get a chance to fight for her meal. One sharp shove and she fell, face first, into the backseat of the car. She slammed her foot into the window and the glass cracked. The two officers stared at her in awe, but both soldiers narrowed their eyes. Clover knew, right then, that they knew, and both soldiers pulled the police officers aside to have a mumbled conversation. The words “possible vampire” and “hostile” came up quite often, as did the sentence “shoot to kill.” Clo laughed, even as she struggled to get in a seated position. By the time she got into a seated position, both officers had returned to the squad car and claimed the two front seats. While one drove, one kept a pile of paper towels covered his bleeding nose. Every so often, he would glance over his shoulder at her, and Clover read him like a book. He reeked of fear, even though he tried his best to project anger and hatred.

“Come a little closer,” she practically purred. “I’ll do more than break your nose.” Clo could have easily snapped the handcuffs; she could have easily broken the reinforced barrier shielding them from her. Instead, she sat back into the seat and watched the bleeding officer turn to his companion. The man really wanted to shoot her, but his partner was steadfast, all about going by the book. He must have been the only cop in Harper Rock with an appropriate sense of justice. Clo decided then that he would live, if she did decide to go on a rampage. “This isn’t the way to the station,” she thought aloud. That asshole of an officer slammed his fist against the partition, startling her. After a beat, she began to laugh at him, as he’d clutched his stinging hand.

“Sit back and shut the **** up, lady. It’s called a detour,” the officer scowled, trying to act like a big man. Sadly, with his injured nose, everything he said sounded distorted. The man needed little help making a total fool of himself. “Jarrod, maybe we should drop her off before we respond,” he tried whispering to his partner.

“Negative. We’re the only ones in the area. You’ll stay in the car with her and I’ll respond to the break in. I can’t have you getting injured again. And keep the towels on that nose until we get back to base. It’s still bleeding, Harry,” Jarrod replied, looking over at the older man with a concerned expression. “It won’t take long. We’ll get some ice once we’re back at the station.”

Clo watched the exchange with some curiosity. They were going to send some poor piece of **** into her cage, like offering up a juicy steak to a hungry lion. At the thought, Clo recognized the venom in her mouth. Just one bite, she thought to herself. But then she remembered that she meant to play nice; she meant to play the role of a human, despite being so hostile. The driver, Jarrod, glanced back at her in the rearview mirror and she winked at him. He frowned. “Are you going to behave or do I need to use the stun gun?” In response to Jarrod’s question, Clo pressed her lips together and slowly shook her head from left to right. No, he didn't need to use the stun gun. “If she acts up, use your stun gun. Do you hear me, Harry? Only if she acts up. If I find out you used it, without a good reason, I’ll report you myself.”

Harry looked back at her then, a dark expression on his face, but he mumbled out a response, a promise. He wouldn’t use the stun gun unless she acted out. When they pulled up to the scene, a factory in the warehouse district, Clover wiggled closer to the side window. She didn’t notice the way Harry stared at her, the way his eyes roamed over her face. “Give me a reason to use this stun gun on you. Better yet, I’ll break your nose. Let’s see how you like it. Smear those plump lips with your blood.” Harry opened the passenger side door, but before he had the chance to get out, Jarrod returned. Harry had to close his door, but he looked back at her with a silent promise in his brown eyes. She smiled at him.

Clo didn’t pay attention to her new companion until after Jarrod had slammed the door and returned to the driver’s seat. When she saw the man sitting next to her, she let out an unmistakable groan. Harry looked back at her in confusion, but Jarrod understood. “So you two know each other. Good. You can have a nice chat while we drive back to the station. And then you won’t be so alone when we book you.” Jarrod had a sly little smile on his face, but Harry looked unhappy. Clo looked just as unhappy.

“What the **** are you doing here?” She had no venom in her voice when she asked Charles the question, but there should have been some hostility there, some leftover hostility from their last meeting. “Breaking and entering again?” Harry slammed his fist on the partition once more, as if telling her to shut up, to cease any conversation before they had a chance to catch up. “How’s your nose, baby? Still sore?” He slammed on the partition again and Clover cackled. Jarrod chastised his partner, and she only laughed louder.

As Charles saw the officers put him in the car he was already pretty sure he wasn't really considered a serious threat, the reason why he wasn't certain about until he saw the cracked window and was sat next to someone. He paused and turned his head as he saw the person next to him. An amused smile started growing on his face as he saw her.

He didn't really want to mention that she'd shot him last time he saw her, but he was pretty sure he could imply his amusement at it without the officers having anything to go off of, just avoid actually stating anything incriminating and everything would be fine.

Charles tilted his head at the mans injured nose and the reaction she was getting by his irritation before speaking with a laugh just at the back of his throat as he spoke casually, "You really like breaking things don't you?" he said quietly tipping his head towards the window, the guys nose, and then tilting it back tensing his neck in reference to where she shot him.

"And I'm afraid I can't answer you question, I happen to like the idea of the right to silence." He commented, before raising an eyebrow, "So then, I'm really guessing I was spot on when we last met."

As the car started moving he readjusted himself and opened his mouth. He could practically feel Jarrod partners irritation rising as he was about to tell him to shut up or at least say something, and Charles turned his head to face him. He was pretty sure Jarrod had given him a warning glance and mumbled something to him but he wasn't really paying attention, just turning instinctively because he thought something was coming.

Charles looked back at Clover, "Actually, in answer to your earlier question, here's a good way to answer it. I'm basically charged with breaking and entering and killing a gaurd." He shrugged, "Charge you with anything if they think they can get away with it won't they. But what about you? You certainly couldn't have been considered much of a menace then, but here you are, stuck in a cop car. This is just terrible if you wanted to keep a good image."

He paused and looked at her again, "Well, public image I mean, of course."


Charles was far more amused with himself then perhaps he should have been. In part, he was trying to annoy her just out of a sense of revenge from last time. But at the same time he wanted to do it casually enough to where she knew there weren't really any serious hard feelings about the situation, and that he really wasn't taking much of this seriously in general.

Although he did allow his smile of amusement turn to one of contemplation as he started trying to consider how to get out of this mess. He couldn't really mention that part aloud in here, the cops were right there after-all, but it was evident that he was in thought and probably about the situation. He didn't need to hide that, there was no reason to. The cops were going to do the same thing either way, and the only possible downside was that Clover would try to screw it up for him. But there was also the chance of the reverse.

"You never did tell me your name. Do you mind?" He asked looking at her with a furrowed brow.