CbN023: In Deep
General Summary
October 8th, 2017, Somewhere deep under Chicago
The cloudy night in the city turns into light rain as the night goes on, the air is cool and damp and the sky is shrouded in a blanket of gray clouds that block out the stars and moon. The rain transforms the cityscape, casting a glossy sheen over the streets and reflecting the lights of the buildings and the few passing cars, but down below there’s only darkness.
Deeper than the sewers or the train stations, The Lost Boys walk within the dark and shifting corridors of the Labyrinth. The tunnels are almost pitch black, with a pervasive dampness that clings to everything, and an earthy smell that permeates the air.
The passageways are narrow and winding, twisting and turning in a seemingly random manner. The walls and floors are rough and uneven, and the ceilings are so low and so covered in pipes and cables that one cannot help but feel claustrophobic.
The sound of the group’s footsteps echo throughout the tunnels joined by the sharp chime of drops of water as they gather on metal surfaces before joining puddles on the ground. The flickering lights overhead cast strange shadows on the walls, creating a disorienting effect.
FURTHER IN
The darkness seems to intensify unnaturally and oppressively, and it becomes difficult to see anything more than a few feet in front of them. The stillness is broken then by strange noises that don’t seem to come from anywhere in particular, heightening the eeriness of the place. The faint whispers of voices, the creaking of ancient machinery, and the unexplainable sound of movement makes traversing through a disorienting and nerve wrecking ordeal. It becomes clear quickly that it’s very easy to get lost in these tunnels, and the possibility of never finding their way out becomes a constant source of unease. They reach the intersection and decide to go right towards the Pump Station. Mary leads the way as they take note of what they just saw and left behind because it’s now very apparent that the Labyrinth holds many secrets, and the darkness seems to conceal many sinister things lurking just beyond their sight.PUMP STATION
The narrow tunnels quickly open up to a bigger room that was part of an old pump system built during the 1800’s. The old pump station is halfway flooded with stairs leading down underwater and giving the impression of an Olympic swimming pool filled with murky water and old broken equipment. Every now and then, sparks of electricity light up the room, allowing them to see pipes and cables running up the ceilings and through the sides of the oval shaped room where unstable looking railings are. Following the pipe’s path their eyes land on a workstation full of old machinery with levers, switches and monitors at the end of the room. As Mary looks through the glasses she can spot that the green glow ends within one of the machines. Liliana changes her body weight using one of her powers and easily makes her way across to take a better look. She comes back and explains what she saw then takes Mary on her back, slowly and carefully grabbing onto the railings. Unfortunately the added weight is too much for the frail rails and they break halfway across, causing Liliana to fall into the water while Mary narrowly avoids the same fate by grabbing onto a swinging cable attached to the roof. Liliana screams in agony as electricity courses through her body, she digs her claws on the sides of the wall and climbs as fast as she can. Clementine runs across the now broken rails and jumps the rest of the way across, ready on the other side to help Liliana if needed, just as Mary Tarzans through the air and lands beside her. Once Liliana has safely joined them, Mary makes her way to the machines and starts inspecting them. She notices that the tape won’t come out, as one of the old time-y monitors shows the message “Charge detected, Turn off to avoid data loss.” With Clementine’s help she safely turns off the electricity before trying again and this time retrieving the VHS tape and putting it safely in a ziplock. As they start making their way back across the electricity free water, Maude tries to investigate what’s underneath. As soon as they’re down there, darkness seems to surround them and they’re immediately reminded of the drowning sensation they’ve felt before during the monument incident and the fight with Kanker. They power through this anxious feeling, curiosity serving as fuel. Kim uses her phone’s flare to try to make it easier for them to see but it’s still too dark. They can only rely on touch and it’s unfortunately not enough for them to find anything at all. Feeling defeated, they make their way back up. “I didn’t find anything and it’s dark and scary down there.” They say dejectedly as they join the rest of the group who pat them on the back. The group checks the time and realize they could explore more of what the Labyrinth has to offer however... “I want to get the hell out of here.” Liliana has other plans.THE WAY BACK
They turn back the way they came, following Mary who suddenly stops. She tells them the glasses don’t work anymore and she doesn’t know how to go back. Liliana takes the lead then, using her superior instincts and experience in the wilderness to guide them best she can. Thankfully, it seems that the Labyrinth is not as confusing as before, the tunnels are still complicated, hard to navigate and easy to get lost in but they behave less erratically. What seems like hours go by until the darkness recedes and they’re back in the sewers, near where a crematorium and a homeless camp should be. In this new space they find many sets of footprints of people that have been frequenting the area. With the others' help, Maude takes a closer look and notices that some of the tracks look like people being dragged into the Labyrinth. They all find this extremely suspicious and make a mental note to come back here in the future when they’re more prepared, maybe with flashlights and 50ft of rope. With this in mind, they make it to an abandoned subway station where two people are talking farther ahead. Clementine looks through a shadow and notices they seem to be two homeless men standing near a trashcan bonfire. They decide to leave them alone by stealthing away and clouding their memories if they’re spotted. Once they’re finally outside, they find themselves in the West side of Chicago, very far away from where they first met with Wauneka. Each of them decide to go their separate ways to feed, Clementine taking on patrol of the Racks for the night. Maude goes to The Fat Lion in Southside, Kim heads back to the Confessional with Mary and Liliana goes to find prey near a club in the Racks.A NEW SHADOW
As Clementine patrols the streets of the Racks, she notices a curious scene near an alleyway in the outskirts of the Domain. A man is backing away inside the alleyway, eyes wide with fear as a shadow extends towards him and wraps around his torso and neck. Clementine approaches carefully and follows the source of the shadow. Just as she enters the alleyway and looks in that direction, she sees a creature jump on the man suddenly and aggressively, immediately latching to his neck. From this angle she can recognize what seems to be a small woman with long black hair, but not much else. Stealthily Clementine goes to grab the vampire off the person but realizes they’re stronger than she thought. Her beast takes over and yanks the woman with inhuman strength, dragging her away from the man without a second glance. As she’s dragged away the kindred starts yelling in Spanish for Clementine to release her. They exchange a glance and the young woman seems suddenly afraid, as shadows cover Clem’s eyes and pour out of her coat in unnatural wisps of the Abyss. The Lasombra turns the woman around, but keeps a hold on the back of her blouse and pushes her forward as they walk through the streets with the intention of getting somewhere private. Suddenly, the woman's expression changes to something more curious and she looks at Clem’s neck, “Wait, you woke up with a mark too?” Clem looks down at her for a moment, the Beast not allowing for anything further and she murmurs between clenched teeth, “yeah, yeah. Stop fighting, I can help but you need to come with me.” When they reach a desolate area near the river Clementine finally lets go, walking in a tight circle and shaking her hands to get rid of the Beast’s control before turning to the young woman. In front of her stands a short, stout woman in her early 20s. Her skin is almost completely gray and she has straight black hair that reaches her mid-back, with side-swept bangs. She’s wearing a blouse and skirt that shows wear and tear. The woman pushes her blouse aside to reveal a big, rough tattoo of a roman number seven, “What does it mean?” she asks with a shaky voice. Clementine shakes her head and walks very close to her so that she can hear her whisper, “How long ago?” “Couple of weeks. What does it mean? Did you also see the shadow?” The woman whispers back. Clementine takes a little step back, “My name is Clementine, what’s your name?” “I’m Araceli, but people call me Celia.”The name immediately rings a bell in Clem’s head. Celia Rivera is a business world’s “princess”- she comes from a wealthy and famous family that owns a latin american news channel called “Pulso del Mundo”. Her father had mysteriously died about a month ago and his daughter went missing shortly after. So Celia was probably turned about three weeks ago.“Fuck. He’s getting sloppy.” Clem whispers then looks back to Celia, “Listen, you’re fine--” “I don’t think I’m fine!” Celia quickly interrupts, clearly distressed and confused. Clem then reassures her that she can help her, but they need to go somewhere more private, she knows that they’re in nosferatu territory after all. And so she leads her to The Confessional.
THE CALL
After feeding, Mary heads back to the Confessional and finds it empty with the exception of their guardsmen, which is unsurprising on a Sunday. She quickly makes her way to the backyard and inserts the tape into the cobweb system that she had set beforehand. As the compartment closes shut, a light turns on on top of the phone. Mary walks towards it and sees the numbers 6, 0 and 7 glowing. She dials them and places the receiver to her ear as the phone starts ringing until the line connects and she curiously whispers, “Hello?”At The Fat Lion, just as Maude is finishing feeding from one of their herd, they hear the loud ringing of a phone directly in their head followed by Mary’s voice. They answer, “Hello?” In an underground bar, a pissed off Damien sings his heart out when suddenly his bassist, Evan, drops his instrument and walks out of the bar without explanation, picking up a red beret as he goes. Two Malkavians that were present at the vote, Molly and Damon, are playing chess when suddenly they both lift their heads up in surprise and ask at the same time, “did you hear that?” In the Blue Velvet, sitting on a fancy chair, Bronwyn jumps a bit in surprise, her eyes go wide. Deeper down, the Guardsman sits in the dark and hears the ring, five voices exclaim at the same time, “ring, ring! Who’s there?!?” By the side of a highway, Alexa is staring at a dead raccoon in fascination when suddenly a loud ring interrupts her, she seems annoyed and ignores it at first but then suddenly stands up and yells, “fine! Fuck!” and walks away.. At a hospital, Jason is working on... something. The rings go off but they fall deaf to the primogen’s ears.All at once, Mary hears all voices come in almost in unison, and then silence. Mary takes a moment and says, “That’s interesting. I don’t know where to go from here.” And suddenly, to everyone’s surprise, a summon is sent: “come to the confessional, now.” Mary can feel it go out, and every Malkavian that felt the call can feel its summon. Mary hangs up and quickly makes her way back inside, frantrickly wondering what the hell she’s going to do. She calls Liliana, “I did something, people are coming.” she says simply and then hangs up. Moments later Maude comes in, “did you ring?” they ask with a cheeky smile. Liliana arrives moments later just as Clementine comes from within the crypt. “What’s going on?” Clementine asks at the same time as Liliana goes, “Who’s coming?” But before anyone can answer there’s knocks at the front entrance, followed by the door opening to reveal Brownwyn and Evan stepping in.
Report Date
12 May 2023
