CbN027: Deep Velvet
General Summary
GENERAL SUMMARY
Nov 3rd-21st, 2017THE ELODIE WALL
In the heart of Southside Chicago, hidden amidst brick buildings stands an old, run-down butchery. The exterior of the building has seen better days, with peeling paint and faded signage that simply bears the name “Fresh Meat” in weathered letters. The Lost Boys stand in front of the building, led here by Maude who had wanted to show them the place, “I need fresh eyes.” they had explained. Maude takes them to the back, where a dilapidated, rusted fire escape barely hangs on against the brick foundation, clearly not up to any sort of safety code. They all climb carefully and reach an iron door to what should lead to a storeroom. “Welcome,” says Maude with a smile, as they open the door. The first thing that hits them is the smell. The scent of rotten meat is only overpowered by the stench of twenty years worth of cigarette smoke. While the smell is a lot, the place is relatively clean and bare except for an old moldy sofa, a coffer full of letters, an unplugged 40 year old refrigerator and an old mattress laid on the floor of a small side room. The next thing they notice almost immediately is that the walls are absolutely covered in papers, cut outs, photographs and strings that seem to stretch everywhere. The walls are old and filled with holes that show moldy insulation foam behind it without a single window to air out the stench. Maude leaves for a moment and goes to retrieve something from the “bedroom” while the rest of the group look around the place. Mary heads straight to the wall, trying her best to make sense of it all, but it’s nearly impossible to decipher. After focusing in on her Malkavian nature, she notices that the links seem a bit flakey, there are huge gaps that are connected where they shouldn’t be and it seems to have been rearranged many times to get different outcomes but no new information has been added. She has a feeling that if she took everything down and rearranged it again, she might get to the original state of it, which would get new and more useful information. Clementine casually walks to the coffer full of letters and picks the first one on the pile to read through. The letter is addressed to Elodie and recounts the events of the group’s heist on The Grand Cardinal Casino as well as their meeting with the Seneschal afterwards, the names seem encoded but she can easily figure out who was who. Very disturbed by this, she grabs a few other letters at random and pockets them stealthily before joining the others just as Maude comes back out with a plastic ziploc bag in hand. Maude explains that the wall is Elodie, as alive to them as a person. It has everything they have been able to find out over the last 17 years about where she could be and they believe they are very close to a breakthrough. Mary tries to persuade Maude into letting her rearrange the wall but they immediately refuse, explaining that it would be like “tearing her apart limb from limb”. Clem suggests that Mary uses post sticks and writes down on them what she thinks should be the right order, that way the wall remains intact. As Mary starts writing down the notes and arranging them on the floor Maude stares for a while and tenses up before pouncing on the notes and tearing them up, fangs out. They frantically stick them to the gaps on the wall, in a way that makes no sense. There’s a long pregnant pause before Maude turns around and thanks Mary for the help, with a proud nod towards the wall. They all stare in shock but silently decide to drop it for now.THE NOTE
Inside the ziploc bag Maude brought with them is a note. They pull it out carefully, with globes on their hands and explain that it is the last note Elodie left, it reads:“I’m sorry Mop, love you, don’t come looking for me.”They tell the group that they gained a new ability from Bronwyn that allows them to see into the past of an object, they can tell who handled it last and what they were doing. They are sure that this note holds some of the answers they have been desperately looking for. Everyone waits and watches as Maude stares at the note until their unblinking eyes roll to the back of their head and the scene in front of them changes.
THE VISION
Everything is blurry and unfocused except for her. Elodie sits on the back of a very nice car, the windows are tinted but her window is open and Maude can see the apartment, the way it was 17 years ago. She holds a black notebook, pen against paper and she’s wearing a sharp black suit, the same one they remember she had on the last time they saw her. She appears dapper, but with edges of her signature rebellion baked into the loose collar, unbuttoned cuffs and colourful pins. In the front driver seat is another figure Maude cannot recognize. It’s hard to tell who this is as only the back of them is visible and even that is covered in shadow. Elodie speaks, without pulling her eyes away from the notebook. “Let’s go over the list again. Let’s see where it gets us.” Her voice is cold and distant, with an edge Maude has never heard before. It seems almost inhumane. As Maude ponders about the strangest of it, a raspy and distorted voice is heard from the front. "Delivery boy, neighbor Shaun, the lady manager, a couple of kids from when you were young... Honestly, it goes and goes, very long Miss E. There's no way you can make them all stay quiet." The mysterious man says. “Don’t worry about it old man… I have a very convincing tone of voice.” She grins, but something is different. Her voice has a familiar, beautiful lilt and her grin reminds Maude of Jason’s sweet, beautiful smile. Elodie breathes deeply and without another word takes the notebook, rips a page off it and walks out of the car, slamming the door like a malevolent slap that pulls Maude out of the vision.REQUESTS
Maude comes back to the present, unblinking eyes re-focusing on the room and people around them. The rest of the group looks at them with varying looks of concern and apprehension. They recount what they saw, but are utterly distraught by Elodie’s attitude. “She wasn’t sad. Why was she not sad?” They persist, even after the rest try to focus more on the names and the mysterious figure driving the car. Concluding that Maude needs time to process this new information, they move on to other topics. Maude explains there’s two more things that they need help with. First, they want someone to talk to Martin, the nosferatu they met before the Labyrinth- they explain that he might have some more information about Elodie but was not willing to help Maude because of their connection with Jason. The second favor is getting into the Blue Velvet and finding some documents. Apparently Maude had spent all summer with Alexa and she had revealed that there are some documents in there that might have clues about Elodie. They explain that they can get in with the help of Evan in a few days. Liliana asks if they can trust Alexa or Evan, but Maude reassures them that they trust them both implicitly. They also reveal that the reason Alexa was so willing to help with finding Elodie is that she was marked for final death, for a bloodhunt. Maude was aware of this for some time, but had always assumed it was because she turned Maude - just another reason why they’re so grateful to Jason as without his help, they’d have been given final death. Clem points out how that doesn’t make much sense, since the public thinks Jason made Maude, so why would there be a bloodhunt because of something so unofficial? They have to make sure they know the real reason for why Elodie is being blood hunted.BEFORE THE VELVET
During the next few weeks, the coterie works on individual tasks. They meet a few times before then and update each other on recent findings. Liliana tells Mary and Maude about the deal she and Clementine made with Marcel. She explains how Mactavish broke his deal with Marcel and that Marcel has been in contact with werewolves before as well as the list of ten Anarchs they have to make. Clementine brings up her conversation with Celdric Calhoun, the acting primogen of the Nosferatu while Khalid is away. She tells them that he does not want them to go back to the Labyrinth ever again, as it is the domain of the Nosferatu. He also told her that someone is asking around for details about the Lost Boys and the people close to them, which raises big concerns for the whole group. “You think it’s the same people that came after us during the day and burned my haven?” Mary asks. The rest think it could definitely be the same people. They have to investigate this and get to the bottom of it. Maude mentions they can kill two birds with one stone, as they’ve learned from Naomi that the Anarchs have ties to Gary - they’re key to getting information on the people who attacked The Confessional, Snowman and Malort. Mary tells the group about Hurricane, a hacker she has seen twice now, once at her haven before it got burned and another time during the recent heist. She also shares that she had helped uncover the name FIRSTLIGHT from the night her haven and old work place was attacked and had found some information about it.“FIRSTLIGHT is a joint operation among the world’s intelligence agencies, tasked with learning about — and hunting — tonight’s vampires. Their directives involve killing them and dismantling their power over mortal affairs. They call vampires BLANKBODIES.”Mary is on edge with this information—if someone can find her, make her look like a terrorist, and put humans she knows in danger, what else can this group do? The group seem very disturbed by this new information, immediately making the connection to their meeting with Flyboy all those months back and how Mary had almost been hacked soon after. Mary and Clementine seem deadset into looking into Flyboy and the airport more, as this might bring out more clarity on the matter.
INFILTRATING THE BLUE VELVET
It’s November 21st and the night has arrived for the group to infiltrate the Blue Velvet. They had made sure Bronwyn was away and not coming for the night. They meet Evan outside, dressed in a very nice suit, very similar to what Bronwyn normally wears. He seems excited, explaining he hasn’t been Bronwyn in a very long time. He turns around and when he turns back to the group, Bronwyn stands in front of them. She’s silent as ever and waits by the door of the car expectantly. They all get in and make their way to the Velvet. At the lobby they find a clerk, a lady who seems very surprised to see them. Evan-Bronwyn walks past the reception confidently, the woman reaching for her phone and quickly following. The group exchange concerning glances at the sight of a phone. Liliana attempts to compel the lady but her beast has other plans and instead of compelling her, she grabs her arm and twists until it breaks and the clerk yelps in pain, “No phones.” She says between clenched teeth. “I-I just wanted to open the elevator!” She says in horror. Evan-Bronwyn looks back at them sternly, then back to the lady who holds back tears in her eyes but says no other word. They get on the elevator, door closing behind the shocked clerk and make their way up. Once they arrive, they notice how odd it is to be in this space when no gathering of vampires is happening. The fluorescent lights illuminate every inch of what is usually masked in dim lights and sensual shadows - giving the club an unnerving, liminal energy in it’s nakedness. Evan-Bronwyn heads to Bronwyn’s regular chair and sits down triumphantly, a small smirk appearing in the corner of her face before it goes back to neutrality. Mary takes them to the White Room and opens the hallway with the paintings per Maude’s request. The space here is just as Maude remembers. They use their Auspex ability to Sense the Unseen and notice that one of the paintings seems to have a fake circular shape. They put their hand through it and hold onto an iron key, which they use to open the prison cell-like door to the left at the end of the hallway. The group watch in stunned silence as this all transpire but don’t get to say anything before they hear a voice come from inside:“Within Blue Velvet's deep domain,
The guardian stands, a mystical reign.
Silent husks fill the room's expanse,
Whispers of their desires, a mute dance.
When yearning souls seek to depart,
The Guardsman bestows a voice, a work of art.
A chamber awaits, Malkav's Child's claim,
Whispered invitations, a mysterious game.”
THE GUARDSMAN
Clementine and Mary walk in front of the group stealthily and can see about a dozen people wearing gray bathrobes lounging around. The side walls have different colored curtains that lead to other rooms while at the center back there’s a big, dark closet. They hear a knock coming from inside the closet. Knock, knock. Knock, knock. Knock. This seems to make the people around the space react as their mouths open but no sound comes from them, instead all sounds come from within the closet. A few different voices expressing many degrees of emotions talk amongst each other about “The Guardsman” and “finally taking him down” and “No, no we shouldn’t.” until there’s only silence. Maude approaches the closet as the dozen people stare at the group. They knock back in the same way until the door opens on its own and from it steps out a tall man of native american descent. “Oh Child of Malkav, you're here again, the contract's ink is barely dry, ready to begin?” Maude nods in agreement and immediately can feel an odd sensation in their throat, as if something is being pulled out of it. They try to say something but no sound comes out. Instead, the Guardsman starts talking again, using Maude’s voice. “You are not invited. You are not part of the child’s contract.” He says solemnly while looking at the rest of the troupe. “One word, taken forever, for admittance, given forever.” They all look at each other, understanding dawning upon their faces upon what they must do. Clementine thinks about something she has been trying to give up but hasn’t had the courage to do all the way. “Guerrero” she says, giving up her human last name forever. The guardsman nods, satisfied. Liliana tries giving a word rarely used but the Guardsman seems unsatisfied. He brings the palm of his hand up to his lips and blows in her direction, like one would blow away the seeds from a dandelion, and she is shunted out of the room. Mary hesitates for just a moment before saying, “Blood”. They all stare at her in shock, even the Guardsman seems impressed by this choice. The Guardsman steps aside and opens the door to the closet once more and gestures for them to go in. Maude heads inside, with Mary and Clementine following close behind.THE ELODIE DIMENSION
As they step inside this new room, it feels like going through a portal to another dimension- the room is very different from the one behind. Droplets of water drip from pipes along the ceiling and the walls, which are nail scratched and covered in blood and soot. Faint, blue tinted light peeks through narrow windows- the glass frosted and impossible to look through. There’s rotting furniture and some indication that someone used to come to this room often, even though it is all trashed and burned. The floor is covered in water, ruined pieces of paper and debris floating within it. They can hear the sound of metal music, Elodie’s music, coming from the upper floor and even though it’s muffled, the intensity of it shakes the space and makes dust fall off the cement and wood foundations from time to time.WALL OF POLAROIDS
On one side of the room is a curtain right against the wall. As Mary and Maude approach it the Guardsman yells in Maude’s voice. “I don’t want to! You’re making me do this, you were told to obey, you were told not to stray!” He says in a desperate tone just as a silent Maude pulls back the curtain. It reveals a wall covered in polaroid pictures of different people and mutilated bodies. Mary recognizes some of the faces and names written on the front of the pictures- they’re Malkavians from Chicago she had heard had gone missing. Maude flips the pictures around and finds messages written in Elodie’s handwriting:• The price of his love is to find them.
• They deserved it.
• They are sinners.
• No matter how much I punish myself, I still smile when their skulls crack under my foot.
• I smile when their minds break under my gaze.
• I wish I could stop, but fresh tears taste good.
• They keep his voices away.
MARRIAGE ALTAR
While the two Malkavians inspect the wall, Clementine walks to an altar of sorts. “Jason and Elodie, sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” She hears Maude’s singsong-y voice through the Guardsman from behind her. There’s a golden ring and a leather folio case. Clem grabs the ring first, checking the inside of it where she finds a carving that reads “J&E “My Sun”” She pockets it quickly and grabs the folio, some of the words are smeared but she can make out the words ““Witnessed and officiated by the Ashen Priest at Our Lady of the Covenant”” Maude and Mary join Clementine by the altar and she shows the folio to Maude, the smeared words are clear for them- it shows something they had seen before in a vision when they scried Jason’s soul."And I swear on My Blood, to be bound to you and you only, in spirit and flesh, in blood and sacrifice, until the night perishes, the world burns, and ALL is ash. Now, and forever more, I am yours, and you are mine. My Sun."Maude puts down the folio and swallows their feelings, turning away from the altar and searching for anything else left in this room with determination.
METAL FILE CABINET
Maude approaches a metal cabinet and opens it. “I am here about some Monkeys.” Maude’s voice says behind them in a serious tone. Inside they find records from Chicago-Read Mental Health Center. The documents are for a person referred to as “Jane Doe” but Maude recognizes their description instantly as Elodie.• “Admitted at 16 y/o for biting the ear off a“Not them, not them, not them, not them.” They hear the guardsman plead behind them, Maude voice sounding desperate and brokenhearted. Under the documents is a leather bound diary, most of it is burnt beyond recognition, but Maude is able to decipher scraps of the remaining text. It is incontestably written in Elodie’s handwriting. The second they begin to read, the information finally overwhelms Maude, choking their mind into a state of catatonia - their eyes going blank and their body freezing in place. But they have to continue, they have to know. And so they bargain with the beast, allowing it to throw away their human reactions in order to press onwards. The words in the diary become all too clear, reading:Santiago Olsen”
The name Santiago Olsen is struckthrough in red sharpie and a message beside it reads “CUNT FACE BITCH”
• “Described as rolling through catatonic, extremely seductive and violent. Dissociative Identity Disorder, PTSD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Intermittent Explosive Disorder.”
“So many words to say you can't fucking handle me.”
• “Was under the care of Dr. Santino Loomis”
“Nickname? Why so many masks…”
“First time I heard him, tasted,felt alivedied, second time, not last. I will not keep me together. Shit.”
“He knows, he asks too many questions…”As they lower the leather book and look at their friends, a sudden need to destroy and attack overcomes them. Mary looks behind them for a threat but sees nothing and once she looks back Clementine has stepped in front of her and stands in between her and Maude who is looking directly at Mary, fists clenched and standing tall and menacing as if ready to pounce. "You, Sonny does not like you. You're one of them. You are a sinner!" Are the words that go through Maude’s mind as they open their mouth but no sound comes out. And then, Maude shakes their head and goes back to their normal stance, looking back at the now ruined and torn leather book in their hands and then back up to their friends who look at them with shock and distrust.
“I saw his shadow the other night. He follows me now?”
“I can’t remember last night, I was meant to visit Maude.”
“I need to protect them, they’re mine.”
Circled number of a detective agency called Lake City Detective Agency. “A way to protect Maude?”
GETTING OUT
The Guardsman steps forward just as the whole room starts shaking and explains that he doesn’t believe they’ll find anything else here any more. They exit quickly as the rumbling intensifies and the Guardsman closes the door behind them. Once outside, with the contract seemingly complete, the Guardsman seems ready to take Maude’s voice forever but suddenly he grabs at his throat and black dense ichor pours out of it. “Ack, what a nasty thing. Broken thing. Lying thing. Disgusting thing.” He exclaims with rage in his eyes as he looks at Maude, “Your voice tastes of vile, of ichor blood, of lies.” Maude looks at him with confusion, taking a step back. “Trick, Trickery, Trickster! How magnificently vile of you to trick me so.” The Guardsman exclaims, but then seems to calm down and become neutral. “This voice is not welcomed. You can keep this broken thing, to pretend like it’s yours to give. I’ll keep this room.” He cups both palms and blows towards the three of them, making them fly backwards through the room and out the metal cell door, right next to Liliana. “So soon?” She asks in confusion, as from her point of view she had only being out her for about 2 seconds before them. “WHAT THE F--” Clementine starts to exclaim but Liliana shushes her. Clementine clears her throat and whispers, “what the fuck?” They head out the way they came, a catatonic Maude in tow, making sure to put the key back where they found it. Evan-Bronwyn is waiting for them where they left him, still sitting on Bronwyn’s chair, he salutes them as they exit, staying behind none the wiser of all the things the group just witnessed.
Report Date
14 Jun 2023
