CbN028: I Really Want to Stay at Your House
General Summary
Nov 21st, 2017
THE AFTERMATH
The night is draped in an eerie silence as all members of The Lost Boys stand outside the Blue Velvet building, their mission completed with very mixed results. Mary and Clementine are dead still, their faces etched with a mixture of exhaustion and anxiety, while Maude looks at nothing in particular in the distance and mumbles quietly. Liliana watches them with worry, feeling the tension in the air- she suggests they head back to the Confessional. The ride back is tense and quiet, with Liliana looking through the rearview mirror constantly at the back where the distorted image of Clementine is just staring at Maude while they look out the window and keep mumbling unintelligibly. Mary is sitting on the front passenger seat and is also looking out the window, her mind racing with all that just happened. Liliana parks the car near the Confessional and as they all step out, Maude walks away from the group and the church without saying a word. “Maude! See you later!” Liliana shouts after them, her voice cheery but confused. She turns around and sees Clem and Mary heading to the entrance of the Confessional, having paid no mind to Maude, and follows them inside. Brad is standing by the entrance looking at his phone to which Liliana slaps his arm and says, “Hey, look alive, Brad.“ She walks past while throwing him a disapproving look which snaps him to attention as he apologizes awkwardly and pockets his phone. The club is mostly empty, with just a few regulars sitting or dancing close to the single open bar and enjoying the default music playlist. Elliot is inside going through some paperwork as they head in, he looks up to Clem and tilts his head, most likely taking note of the group’s somber look. Kim looks at the group and quickly joins them. “We’ll talk later,” Clem mutters, sharing a brief look and a nod with Elliot before heading straight to the crypt with Mary, Liliana and Kim.SO, WHAT HAPPENED?
The door to the crypt clicks closed as the women can finally feel some level of comfort in the safety it provides. Clem brings her hands to her temples and massages it while Mary seats nearby and just thinks. Liliana fidgets in the tension, not understanding what happened after she got shunted out of the Guardsman domain. “Soooo,” She starts tentatively, “something happened…” Mary and Clementine explain what went down inside “the closet”- It was like going to a different dimension. They found out Elodie is some kind of Malkavian killer and there’s confirmation that she did marry Jason, though they’re not sure what that means for vampires. And finally, it seems Jason met Elodie when she was institutionalized and was most likely interested in her since then. Liliana wonders if Jason ever wears a wedding band as well and asks the rest of the group if they recall ever seeing it. Mary thinks hard about it and remembers seeing him wear a ring on his wedding finger always, all the time, but it seemed to be concealed somehow. As she remembers this another memory pops out of nowhere - it’s of her sitting in a room she does not recognize, with Jason sitting on a nice leather chair in front of her, writing a letter in a brown leather notebook - but that’s about as much as she can remember. “I worry that Jason has done irreparable damage to Maude. How do we help them?” Mary asks, as she considers the implications of Jason possibly making even herself forget. “We help them find Elodie.” Clementine suggests, pointing out that this seems to be the only other thing Maude is as passionate or more about than Jason. They discuss for a while the implications of finding Elodie and possible ways to separate Maude from him.ABILITY TO FORGET
The group is very concerned that Mary has went to see Jason but doesn’t remember. Clementine points out that the same happens to Maude every time and that they have said they lost 3 years of their memories when they first were embraced. Could that be something he can do with Dominate? Is that even possible? The group thinks about it. Mary had come across some information on abilities that allow the user to modify memories, the first that comes to mind is “Forgetful Mind” which can rewrite them but would take a lot of work to do something to the extent of what was done to Maude. Mary remembers another way, which is more obscure. It’s an ability called “Tabula Rasa”, used by the Sabbat. It completely wipes someone’s memory, making them essentially an empty vessel. This ability is so taboo that even amongst the Sabbat it is frowned upon. Clementine says she might be able to find out more, now that she has a name. She also mentions that they have to talk to Bronwyn and show her the ring. It might not be enough to get them out of trouble after intruding in Elysium but at least it’ll soften things, right? RIGHT.MAUDE’S HAVEN
Finally, the group talks about all the things in Maude’s haven that are a clear break of the Masquerade. Clementine shows them the 3 letters she absconded with which describe the group’s exploits in detail, using code names for each person, but still very obviously problematic. She explains that she wants to get rid of all the letters and possibly the wall too. Mary mentions she’s interested in checking the wall again without interruptions and points out that it might be dangerous for a mortal to look at, as it had some sort of supernatural effect. Liliana seems hesitant and unsure of how they could possibly get rid of it all. Clementine says she wants to tell Maude first, but even if they refuse to get rid of it, she’ll do it herself if she has to. Mary seems a bit unsure if Maude will be up for it, she brings up how Maude doesn’t seem in control any time Jason or Elodie are involved. She reminds them that Maude tried to attack her back in the Blue Velvet, “Thanks, by the way, for protecting me.” she tells Clem. “Don’t mention it, Clem says with a smile, “I wish I could say we’ve never seen them like this before, but we have… however, they did stop this time. That has to count for something, right?” One last chance. And so in the end they decide they’ll talk to Maude about it first, but if they refuse, they’ll take care of it anyways.FEEDING AND PATROLS
As conversations are wrapping up, Mary approaches Liliana and asks if it’s ok if she stays at her Haven, though she can’t guarantee it’ll be safe given how her own haven got burned. Liliana agrees easily and jokes about needing Mary’s help with the internet and security. Mary and Liliana go feed within the limits of Lost Boys domain while Clem heads to the Racks to patrol. Liliana attempts to jump an unsuspecting victim but fails to do so, while Mary looks online for someone who’s been let out of jail unjustly recently and tracks them down- but unfortunately is not able to feed from them either. Meanwhile, Clem finds a victim at a Cigar Club in the Racks and feeds from them. As she’s about to head out she spots Horatio Ballard, a Ventrue she has only seen a few times during Camarilla gatherings. He talks to some gentlemen for a while until his eyes meet Clem’s and he nods, saying his goodbyes to the men soon after. Clementine approaches him and they talk briefly about nothing in particular. He’s a bit condescending and voices his distaste of people other than the Ventrue feeding in the Racks- He doesn’t seem fond of change. Clementine points out that change is often good for business, to which he smiles and agrees. She then offers him her card and asks if there’s any way for her to contact him. “My people will find you,” is all he says, as he pockets her card, stands up and leaves.EMERGENCY
Just as Mary and Liliana are getting ready to head back to Liliana’s haven Mary phone gets a ping about security- it’s a power surge warning. Soon after she gets a text from Elliot: “I think you are going to want to come back ASAP. Please let Ms Montano know too.” He sends her a picture showing Bronwyn waiting by the door with Evan holding onto her leg in supplication. There’s a scratched out message on the wooden frame above her that reads “Let me in” and she does not look happy. “Should I let her in?” He asks, but Mary ignores her phone for now. The two vampires rush to the Confessional and send Clem a text, hoping she can see it for once. Clem gets the message and is able to see it, immediately making her way back. As Liliana and Mary reach the entrance of the church, they find Brad holding his hand against his bloody nose. He seems frazzled and confused by this and explains that a weird lady is just standing by the entrance and won’t reply to anything he says. The two very hungry vampires resist the urge to feed from the bleeding human but stare at him intently for a while, which makes him a bit uncomfortable. “This is ok,” he says hurriedly while pointing at his nose, “I need to stop sniffing coke…” Liliana raises an eyebrow at this, “I mean! I didn’t have any tonight!” He tries to defend himself, but the two women ignore him and head towards the door. Bronwyn stands exactly the same as in the picture and seems calm, as she waits for them to let her in. Evan grabs onto her leg and makes himself as little as possible. “Please, come in, Mary says and the other woman immediately steps in, shaking Evan off of her who crawls behind her. Elliot is inside and looks very unsure about the situation, as they approach him he says that Bronwyn has been waiting there for about 20 minutes and didn't reply to anything he said. Then, his nose starts bleeding and he holds a hand to it and his head. “You should have let her in.” Mary says between gritted teeth as she stares at him hungrily and resists the urge to feed from him, “She’s on the guest list.” Elliot looks around as lights flash in and out and Bronwyn looks at them steadily. He’s taken aback by all this, but simply nods even though it’s the first time he has ever heard about a guest list, “Of course.” he mumbles nervously, still wiping at his continuously bleeding nose.THE SECOND TRADITION
Bronwyn looks at Mary and sends her images through the cobweb that convey the question, “Is Elliot one of your ghouls?” Mary responds out loud that he’s Clementine’s to which Bronwyn nods. She looks at Elliot in the eyes and he screams in pain briefly before his eyes roll back in his head and his posture and demeanor changes to match Bronwyn’s calm stance. “You better explain yourselves.” He says in an eerily still and firm tone of voice, lights flickering. Mary and Liliana look at each other nervously. They lead Bronwyn, Elliot and Evan upstairs to one of the VIP rooms and listen intently as through Elliot, Bronwyn asks them why they went inside her haven, took something from her and harmed one of her ghouls without her permission. Mary and Liliana seem a bit taken aback by the intensity of it all, they were not aware of how huge this whole thing is. Bronwyn explains that they broke the Second Tradition of the Camarilla: Domain. She tells them she could have them killed for this, easily. They try to explain themselves, letting her know they weren’t aware what they were doing was so bad and they never meant to take anything from her. Bronwyn does not seem satisfied by their answer and makes Elliot break his own hand. “He's innocent," Mary tries to reason with her as she sees bone break through the skin of Elliot’s hand, though he doesn’t seem to react at all. “And so was Stephanie.” Bronwyn replies simply. They ask for her to wait for Clementine who should be back soon, to which she agrees. They stand in silence and massive amounts of tension for about 20 minutes, like children being chastised by a disappointed parent.JASON AND ELODIE
Clementine makes her way into the Confessional and joins the others. Immediately she can tell the situation is tense, but not the extent of it. She notices Elliot's situation but chooses to ignore it for now, directing all her attention to Bronwyn. At first Bronwyn is not impressed by how nonchalant she seems about the whole situation to which Clementine apologizes for and begins explaining that she was also unaware of how grievous their actions were, but will make sure it doesn’t happen again. They can tell Bronwyn really doesn’t want to kill them and just wants them to give her a good reason not to. The Master of Elysium repeats everything to her, asking again why they did it and the consequences such actions could bring. Now that they’re all together, they recount everything that happened in the Blue Velvet to the most minute detail. They show her the ring and point out the fact that Elodie married Jason. Bronwyn doesn’t seem to know who Elodie is, even though she apparently should. When trying to think about Elodie, only Maude comes to mind. She is very distraught by this fact and says that she doesn’t remember and is not sure she wants to either. “This is what happened last time.” Bronwyn says distractedly, referring to what happened years ago during Maureen's days. Clementine explains that the reason they couldn’t come to her about this in the first place is because Jason has been looking and listening to them through Maude so they’re really not sure how far his influence goes and also do not want to implicate her. Bronwyn seems very hesitant to believe them and asks how they could tell it was him. Mary explains what she saw in the Cobweb that day and that Jason knows she knows. Bronwyn is shocked by this and is worried that the premonition she had of Mary's death will come true sooner than expected. She thinks Mary and Maureen are the most insane Malkavians she’s ever met. During this whole situation Mary is very embarrassed and is hurt over disappointing Bronwyn, who’s someone that has been so helpful. She wants to prove her wrong by showing Bronwyn that she’s not like Maureen, that she will make things better, not worse. The elder kindred seems worried and wonders if Jason saw them all gather that day. Mary admits that she doesn’t know for how long he had been looking but that she broke the connection once she found out. Bronwyn points out that the only way for him to do this is if he’s having Maude drink from his blood- they confirm that that’s something they have been suspicious of before.THE PLAN
After a bit more back and forth Bronwyn decides she’ll let them off the hook with a warning to never ever do things behind her back like this again. As they return the ring to her, she asks that they never take something from the backrooms, as nothing can be taken without a cost for her. She also admits to wanting to uncover this whole Jason situation as well. She wants to set a few traps for him and also protect Maude in the process. She mentions she might have a way to make Jason not able to see through Maude anymore and wants to do a public announcement:“We’ll say that Maude is being scryed by an unknown faction and everyone should be careful. This will be a public reason to refuse requests from the Primogen.” she says. She seems apologetic that Maude will have to be put on display, but it’ll be for their own protection.“Maude is innocent in all of this.” Mary intercedes. Her disdain for Jason and this whole situation is apparent in her voice. Clementine also pipes in saying all they want is to help their friend, that’s why they’re doing all of this. Bronwyn nods and suggests that next time Maude has to go meet Jason, they hold them back and instead Evan will go. Evan looks up at Bronwyn and nods, “Anything you want.” he says in Maude’s voice with a bowed head. When Clementine asks where Jason’s haven is, Bronwyn pauses, clearly unsure. She mentions it’s in his domain, but then, both her and Mary go in a trance and describe at the same time:
“The warm room, the comfortable room, the leather chair, the space we all share.” They both snap out of it as if nothing happened, while the rest look at them with trepidation.“What?” Mary asks after a while of nothing but silence and stares. “Nothing.” Clementine says with a forced smile, exchanging a worried look with Liliana and Kim. With this new understanding, Bronwyn stands to leave but not before saying that she’s not going to ask anything from them for now, but if the guardsman knows their name, it means she can use them in the Goblin Roads. Mary is the only one who recognizes this name from a memory she heard through the phone long ago, but is not sure what it means. She then leaves and Elliot comes back to his senses, immediately clutching his hand and screaming in pain. Clementine rushes towards him, cuts her own wrist and feeds him her blood, which calms him down instantly and heals his wounds. She pets his head and clutches him close, whispering apologies all the while and feeling extremely guilty for putting him through this.
A WEEK LATER
As a week goes by, Liliana, Mary and Clem wonder where Maude could be and start to worry that they might never come back. They gather as usual in the Confessional and busy themselves with menial tasks just as Maude comes bursting in through the door and motions for them to follow. They all take a moment to exchange curious looks before following Maude down the crypt, where they have already started pinning pictures and notes against the wall. Maude doesn’t pause for even a moment as they begin rambling, the words tumbling out without need for breath, as if their mind raced faster than their ability to form sentences:“I’ve spent the last week investigating everything we saw - had to follow every lead, no other choice. Only thing I could think about, only thing I could do. Couldn’t chance anything going cold. Went to Turner’s last agency - Lake City. I asked around. It was weird, very strange. They said he quit 20 years ago, a long time ago, left without explanation. Very unlike him. Changed a lot - connected to the mob? Some elites? Need to look further. That day… him in the car… Strangest thing - he should be 80 now. But he doesn’t look a day over 55. How did I not notice? I should have noticed - all this time, he hasn’t aged. Had other things to dig into. Went to Alan next, needed info on the Ashen Priest, the church, the wedding. Said the church is near Gary, deep in Anarch-Sabbat territory. Just some regular church, for all we know. Ashen Priest, though? Not regular, not a bit. Old Malkavian, real old, this guy is big game. Used to run with the Archbishop of Madrid, scary stuff. Our guy is independent though, sounds like all the sects had beef with ‘em. Here’s the big thing - he’s some sort of ‘Prophet of Gehenna’. Everywhere he goes it follows: cults, destruction, apocalypse. He’s supposed to be dead, Alan thinks so, but it doesn’t make sense. He can’t be, not if he married them. Somethings not right. But I couldn’t stick around, had to see Alexa. Spent nights looking into that wall of faces. Murders, all of them, obviously. Through the 90s and 2000s, all the way ‘til 2010 as far as we could figure. Violence, mysterious deaths, masquerade cover-ups. A lot of them Sabbat, big ops too. Good thing they were killed, everyone thanked Jackson for it. Doesn’t make sense, though - it was Elodie, not him. Taking credit? A deal? Not sure. Maybe the letter… I don’t know. Alexa was freaked - some of them were Malkavians. War of Chicago, a lot of them young. A few of her friends, even. Sad. Biggest thing - they were the craziest Malks running around town. Weird, right? Seems too targeted. But why? I don’t get it. How could she do this? How did I not… How… I don’t know.. I don’t know anything.”They trail off, still murmuring to themselves as they frantically flip through the notes pasted to the wall haphazardly. Tears of blood pouring down their cheeks.
Report Date
12 Jun 2023
