06: The Killer

Zack fumbles his way into trouble.

Harm 5 | Stress 4 | Blood 2 | Focus +5

Red Howl makes Zack wait two hours until her shift ends and they can go find Taylor Kahan, the only lead in the lycan Robert Jones' murder. It's just 9pm after all at The Sound Factory, and there's a party starting. So while this happens, he resolves to go inside and have some fun and maybe a snack. He is starting to get peckish.

The Sound Factory is loud and bright and filthy, and colorful and vibrant. Lots of neon sunglasses, blue light and white toothy smiles. The techno music appeals to Zack and he resolves to have a good time.

Oracle
Does he need to appear human? Unlikely.
13 - Yep!

Activate Power: Appear Human
Glamour 6
7, 7 - Miss w/match! -1B

Zack realizes the context is not favourable for a too-pale, red eyed man. Not that kind of party and the blue light is a bit revealing anyways.

But it costs him. And he doesn't like it. He needs to feed quickly now, he can't wait, can't, can't. He roams the party hungrily, staring at all the young folk, looking for an easy mark.

Secure an Advantage
Intellect 7
5, 2 - Strong, +2F, +1 roll

He finds a young latina observing the party from under a black iron stairwell, slightly hidden from view, sipping a fruity drink, all by herself. Perfect. He doesn't care. Normally he's more cautious about it. He takes a deep breath (it feels good to breathe again) and smiles broadly:

"Hi!"

Feed
Glamour 6, +1 roll
6, 9 - weak, +2B, -1F

Harm 5 | Stress 4 | Blood 3 | Focus +6

He still gets somewhat nervous when feeding in public. First they are talking, then they are making out, then he's biting her throat gently against the wall. Her blood tastes great, though that's probably the hunger talking. he feeds and finds his sanity returning to him. It feels good, and--

"Hey! Back off Maria!"

[OOC: That's the miss with a match]

Oh. Oh no. He looks over his shoulder, his lips red, but fortunately the blue light conceals it. A group of girls are converging on him, keychains and pepper spray at the ready. This 'Maria' is, of course, dazed and content. Zack has to bolt out of there, stat.

Action: Secure an Exit
Intellect 7
2, 10: Weak, +2 roll, -1 S

His heart is, for once, actually pounding, his nerves fray as he finds an opening and decides to run for it.

Action: Escape
Dexterity 6, +2 roll
9, 9 - Miss w/match, -2H & extra

He does find his opening - into a pair of black-clad bouncers, Red Howl not among them. They grab him by the throat and proceed to beat him up, amidst curses and screams from the girls, then throw him outside. By the time they are done with him, Red has to fish him out, looking angry and frustrated.

"You just couldn't help yourself and went to fuck it up, huh? I had to explain that you can't handle your candy. This'll look bad on both of us."

Harm 3 | Stress 4 | Blood 3 | Focus +6

As she takes a bruised Zack away on the back of her bike, someone inside SoFac is already uploading the phone-recorded video of the neck-biting freak. It's blurry and messy and perhaps even explainable, but it is caught by a certain algorithm, and it reaches a certain inbox of a certain organization...

They are riding through town. Red doesn't speak, she's still fuming. Zack feels humiliated. He has nothing to say except, at a stop light:
"I'm so sorry."
"Yeah."
And they move on.

Flickering lamplights reveal broken cobblestone paths, as the pair stop before a motel on the city's outskirts. It's about 1am and it's been a long and tiring ride. Red and Zack step off the bike, and she extends an upturned palm and coolly demands:
"Give me the phone. And use your blood to tidy up, you look like shit."

Zack obliges on both accounts rather sheepishly.

Action Roll: Healing
Force 5
5, 8 - Weak w/Focus burn

Harm 5 | Stress 4 | Blood 2 | Focus +2

Zack is back to square one tonight, at the cost of his pride. Sigh. Red puts his phone in the storage under the bike's seat, then moves to a specific room with no car outside. She knocks three times, then three times more.

The window curtain shifts, then the door opens.

Taylor Jones is a caucasian blonde in her 20s with a goth aesthetic about her. Her eyes shift from Red to Zack and she frowns, then says in a somewhat high-pitch, tense voice:
"Inside."

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