That Bites... (RP for Writers) (FULL)

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

[HEADING=1]That Bites...[/HEADING]
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a395/NewClassic/Forum%20Stuff/PCH12299.jpg

[HEADING=3]About[/HEADING]
Role-playing games really are ill-suited for forums. They tend to require more face-to-face interaction, and really work best with character sheets, a burlap baggie of of D20 dice, and three-point-five daily trips to the closest available fast food restaurant. However, I feel like a forum RP is possible, just different, so I'm going to try something new.

This is an RP for writers, by writers. Each of the five writers will be submitting to be one of the five main characters of the story, and they will take turns writing whole chapters of the narrative's progression. After each writer has written once, that segment of the chapter will end, and the next will begin.

Since we are full, any reserve applicants must PM NewClassic with their application.

[HEADING=3]Rules[/HEADING]
Each writer must compose a single character, and five eventual parts of a greater story. Each writer will write one of the five parts of a story, with each part measuring from approximately 800 to 1,500 words. (The GM will intervene if too short or too long, although exceptions can be made.) Five parts will make up a chapter, and five chapters will make up the entire narrative. Where the story goes is uncertain, and how many characters there will be (including NPCs, side characters, and villains) is likewise uncertain.

While its the writers turn to compose the narrative, they will have more-or-less complete narrative control over the story. The order is randomized between the five writers, and each chapter is considered canon unless voted out by the four remaining players. If all four other writers vote a chapter out of canon, that writer is also ejected permanently from the RP. A writer will also be ejected from the RP if s/he fails to submit their part on time without advanced notice. (A writer has 10 days from the posting of the most recent part, or in the case of new chapters, the writer's schedule has arrived.)

If a writer is lost, the next writer will not add another character, and the previous writer's character will remain.

The story will follow the following outline:
Chapter 1: Exposition: This chapter will be to establish the basic conflict, the characters, and the setting. For the purposes of this story, the character sheets will be invisible. It means that all of the writers' characters will need to be explained in full, along with at least one villain, and one major plot arc.
Chapter 2-4: Rising Action: In these chapters, the heroes will need to make major progress toward the climax of the story, and all of the side arcs will need to be concluded. What happens here is largely unknown, and will depend on the writers participating. Side characters and villains can be introduced up to Chapter 3. (Main characters' deathes are allowed in Chapters 4 and 5.)
Chapter 5: Climax/Falling Action: The final climax, and falling action, will occur in this chapter. If there are any unanswered questions by the end of this chapter, they will be hastily-resolved by the GM by the end of the chapter.

[HEADING=2]Setting[/HEADING]

In the year 1957, the National Association for Destructive Science (N.A.D.S.) has managed to unleash a virus across the landscape. This virus has managed to single-handedly revolutionize the human motor skills, turning a normal citizen in the city of Generic Falls into a super-human climbing, fighting, and physical machine. The unfortunate side effect is that the aforementioned human has some mysterious side effects. Their pupils are too-often diluted, making it impossible for them to see during the intense daylight. This can be counteracted by sunglasses, but they are still uncomfortable.

Another genetic side-effect is the secretion of a thin mucal layer on the skin, giving them a very shiny, if not cold, disposition. These scientific outbreaks have rendered 15% of the population of Generic Falls, CA into locally-dubbed "vampires." It's been 50 years since the outbreak, the virus has stopped directly affecting people, but vampires' children still contain the genes. Due to the close-minded conservative population of Generic Falls, a crazy cult of anti-Vampires is doing their best to repeal laws protecting the lives of vampires, and killing them in the night, if they can get away with it. Consisting primarily of the rich white elite, and mercenaries, there's a lynching group that hunts the night looking for vamps to murder, call Vampists.

[HEADING=2]Character[/HEADING]

Name
Age (Note, vampires are still technically human, so anyone over the age of 50 is deteriorating physically, anyone over 80 would likely need dentures.)
Affiliation (Human, Vampire, or Vampist)
Favorite Food
Appeance/Bio

Spoiler: Erikson Lars

[sup]NewClassic[/sup]

Name Erikson Lars
Age 19
Affiliation Vampire
Favorite Food Steak, medium-rare
Appearance/Bio It wasn't until the spill at N.A.D.S. that Erik found anything interesting about his hometown of Generic Falls. Being a devoted worker for Goth Topic, Erik stayed behind in order to complete his job as intended by his contract. Plus, he'd hate to lose his 15% discount. It means that Erik is like many of his peers, tall, skeletal, has straight black hair down to his elbows, and an unnatural love for Invader Zim and black clothes. His pants are laden with chains of pure silver (or cheap lead and good paint), and he has taken to wearing more eye-shadow than is entirely necessary, especially after he realized it dimmed the awful effects of the sun. The Ray-Bans help though. If only he could afford that kick-ass leather coat that's on sale this month.

Spoiler: Charity Rowson

[sup]Fairee[/sup]

Name - Charity Rowson.
Age - 25.
Affiliation - Human.
Favourite food - Chocolate. Hmmmmn.
Appearance/Bio. - Charity is a short, curvaceous lady, with long pale blond hair. She came to Generic Falls to meet her boyfriend, who has since gone missing. She has six months on her visa from the start of the RP, and she is intending to use them to find him.
She grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham, with her older brother. Her parents died when she was young, and her brother (who is fifteen years older) was left to care for her. She trained as a teacher, but after 3 months in her job she met her boyfriend, Greg, and after her first year in the job she left to spend a year in Generic Falls with him.

Spoiler: Rufus Von Bernkastel

[sup]Greyfox105[/sup]

Name Rufus Von Bernkastel
Age 18
Affiliation Vampist
Favorite Food Spaghetti Bolognese
Appeance/Bio At first site, he seems to be a very bland eighteen year old, just trying to get along with their life in Generic Falls. His overly-large coat helps to conceal their choice of clothing, a smart grey shirt, to match the neat grey trousers, and the slightly worn set of body armour they bought at a discount at an army surplus store at christmas.
Rufus lives a very odd life. He supports the Vampists, yet he likes to spend time on his own in a room, sitting infront of computers, or wearing circular mirror-glasses while out in the streets.

Spoiler: Günther Lynch

[sup]Neosage[/sup]

Name: Gunther Lynch
Age: 45
Affiliation: Vampist
Favorite Food: Soup with lots of vegetables.
Appearance: Black hair, likes to dark clothes, wide brimmed hats, leather clothes, rides a huge motorcycle everywhere. His face is very scared and generally a scowel etched into his stoney features. He has huge black side burns and a small beard. He also likes to wear big black sunglasses inside, aswell as his hats. He has a gravelly voice which makes him sound like he has been smoking since childhood, infact the opposite is true, he maintains a very healthly life-style, he is also a vegetarian. He has never smoked in his life and he never drinks. He is a buddhist, although he is most certainly not a pacifist, he does excercising everyday which mainly consists of weightlifting. A proficent fighter, although some Vampists consider him to be passed his prime, this isn't the case. His father has been part of the Vampists ever since Gunther's mother was killed by a Vampire (or so he has been told). He hates them with a passion and will stop at nothing to make them extinct.

Spoiler: Emerson Knight

[sup]Sparrow[/sup]

Name Emerson Knight
Age 27
Affiliation Human
Favorite Food Doritos, Tangy Cheese flavour.
Appearance/Bio Emerson, a self proclaimed failure of a journalist, first noticed the infection when he was approached by several of his employees. After the horde of pale looking men and women spent a good hour bombarding him with questions about his "dark and ironically cool" last name, Emerson decided to write an article on the mysterious infection overtaking Generic Falls. However, by the time he was finished the infection was public knowledge. As a result, when his deadline came along and Emerson had nothng worthwhile to submit, he was fired.

Now unemployed and living off what little money he has left, Emerson is understandably upset.

 

[Pimppeter2]

This sounds like a great game. I wish I didn't have so much on my plate right now. Best of wishes! I'll be checking to see how this ends up.

 

[Quad08]

Tempting...oh so very tempting

 

[Fairee]

Spoiler: CS

Name - Charity Rowson.
Age - 25.
Affiliation - Human.
Favourite food [Side note - Nuke, WTH?!] - Chocolate. Hmmmmn.
Appearance/Bio. - Charity is a short, curvaceous lady, with long pale blond hair. She came to Generic Falls to meet her boyfriend, who has since gone missing. She has six months on her visa from the start of the RP, and she is intending to use them to find him.
She grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham, with her older brother. Her parents died when she was young, and her brother (who is fifteen years older) was left to care for her. She trained as a teacher, but after 3 months in her job she met her boyfriend, Greg, and after her first year in the job she left to spend a year in Generic Falls with him.

 

[Lost In The Void]

Really interested but I'm in like six RPs right now, and I wouldn't want the quality of this RP ruined by any possibly inferior writing on my part. If a spot opens in the next month I'd probably be game to join as this seems like a very good RP, with lots of writing, rather then the average One line dialogue ones.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Yay! I shall attempt this!

Spoiler: CS

Name Rufus Von Bernkastel
Age 18
Affiliation Vampist
Favorite Food Spaghetti Bolognese
Appeance/Bio At first sight, he seems to be a very bland eighteen year old, just trying to get along with their life in Generic Falls. His overly-large coat helps to conceal their choice of clothing, a smart grey shirt, to match the neat grey trousers, and the slightly worn set of body armour they bought at a discount at an army surplus store at christmas.
Rufus lives a very odd life. He supports the Vampists, yet he likes to spend time on his own in a room, sitting infront of computers, or wearing circular mirror-glasses while out in the streets.

 

[Neosage]

Character Sheet:
Name: Günther Lynch
Age: 45
Affiliation: Vampist
Favorite Food: Soup with lots of vegetables.
Appearance: Black hair, likes to wear dark clothes, wide brimmed hats, leather clothes and he rides a huge black motorcycle everywhere. His face is very scared and generally a scowel is etched into his stoney features. He has huge black sideburns and a small beard and large moustache. He also likes to wear big black sunglasses aswell as his hats, inside. He has a gravelly voice which makes him sound like he has been smoking since childhood, infact the opposite is true, he maintains a very healthly life-style, he is also a vegetarian. He has never smoked in his life and he never drinks. He is a buddhist, although he is most certainly not a pacifist, he excercises everyday which mainly consists of weightlifting. A proficent fighter, although some Vampists consider him to be passed his prime, this isn't the case. His father has been part of the Vampists ever since Günther's mother was killed by a Vampire (or so he has been told). He hates Vampires with a passion and will stop at nothing to make them extinct.

 

[Sparrow]

Spoiler: Emerson Knight

[sup]Sparrow[/sup]

Name Emerson Knight
Age 27
Affiliation Human
Favorite Food Doritos, Tangy Cheese flavour.
Appearance/Bio Emerson, a self proclaimed failure of a journalist, first noticed the infection when he was approached by several of his employees. After the horde of pale looking men and women spent a good hour bombarding him with questions about his "dark and ironically cool" last name, Emerson decided to write an article on the mysterious infection overtaking Generic Falls. However, by the time he was finished the infection was public knowledge. As a result, when his deadline came along and Emerson had nothng worthwhile to submit, he was fired.

Now unemployed and living off what little money he has left, Emerson is understandably upset.

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

[HEADING=2]RP is now closed. Reserves should PM NewClassic.[/HEADING]

The following are orders for the chapters.

[HEADING=3]Ch. 1[/HEADING]
NewClassic, Greyfox105, Neosage, Fairee, Sparrow

[HEADING=3]Ch. 2[/HEADING]
Fairee, Neosage, NewClassic, Sparrow, Greyfox105

[HEADING=3]Ch. 3[/HEADING]
Fairee, NewClassic, Greyfox105, Sparrow, Neosage

[HEADING=3]Ch. 4[/HEADING]
Neosage, Fairee, Sparrow, Greyfox105, NewClassic

[HEADING=3]Ch. 5[/HEADING]
Greyfox105, Fairee, Neosage, Sparrow, NewClassic

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Chapter One - Part One (1,464 words)
[sup]NewClassic[/sup]

Charity Rowson left the detective's office with a frown. Turns out that with all the modern technology of 2007, it's still a little too hard for someone to have the decency to look up the last purchase on a credit card. "We're terribly sorry, ma'am," the police officers had said, "but we're not allowed to look up records for non-family members or spouses."
"But I'm his girlfriend," Charity said bitterly, "how do you mean I'm not allowed."
"He's already in missing persons, if we get any solid leads, we can call you."
They wouldn't, Charity already knew that. Just like any police force in the country... The individual officers care a lot for the persons, but the police force as a whole cared only for the people. If serving a person meant harming a people, the people would win out every time, even if it meant slaying the person. "Stupid police..."

At least it wasn't raining on Charity like it had the entire week previously. It was hard enough dealing with her missing boyfriend, the rain was just fate's way of spitting in her face. Not that it was fair in general. Her visa was too short to really enjoy his company anyway, much less spend it wasting away trying to figure out where he was. It seemed unfair that she would have to cross an ocean for this crap. Despite her best efforts, a tear managed to crack through her defenses and and wept a little. The puddle showed her the reflection of a woman broken by too many days of stress. Her eyes were puffier than usual, and stressed. It made her face look rounder, which looked even more so because of the gray clouds in the sky. The reflection on a whole just looked upset. Sad. It wasn't her, and she knew it.

The park itself was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon, although there was one man that was hard to miss. He wasn't quite the age you'd expect to see someone sitting in the park feeding the birds, but he was clearly advancing in years. His black hair had a nearly invisible few gray hairs in a head of otherwise jet black, and his heavy clothes didn't entirely conceal the muscles trying to break free of the clothing. He was imposing in size, and clearly seemed like the sort of person that would have been a bodyguard or bouncer ten or so years ago. However, at 45, he looked more like a old-timey tradesman. His coat shifted in the breeze, but his hat never moved. He had an eye on the woman crying on the bench across the park.

She was a small woman, especially for this side of the country, and her image wasn't helped by her crying. She seemed really distraught over something, and despite having the outward appearance of a hardass, he still felt bad for the sort of hurt that was easy to see in society. The damned vamps didn't help one God-forsaken bit, either. "Yeah," he rumbled, voice naturally carrying the vocal tone usually reserved for construction equipment, or jackhammers. "This place isn't the same with them around."
The woman, Charity, looked up surprised. Her short hair kept a curtain between her eyes and the man's. "You don't miss it until it's gone, I guess."
He was surprised to hear an English accent from her, but he didn't let it show on his face. He couldn't place it either. "The peace? Yeah, this place isn't right without the peace."
She frowned bitterly, "I was hoping this trip would be a lot more peaceful."
He leaned back on the bench, looking out at calmness of the park. "I'm Günther Lynch." He said finally, handing her a card. "You look pretty new in town, so if there's something me or my friends can do for you, just let me know."
She seemed confused by the man's offer, and held that confusion as he walked away. She pocketed the card, and figured she'd better get back to looking. Her eyes were only pink as she stepped on the puddle, rippling her reflection away.

Across town, Erik was pinching his hair back. The thick sheets of hair was more a distraction than anything while he was standing still for several hours at work. It was the kind of job that sucked, but especially so whenever there was vampirism in the mix. Vampires got no love from the populous at large, and if anything, were seen as outcasts. This was already the second generation of vamps out there, and yet the people still saw them as monsters, despite them being wholly human.

Erik leaned on the glass counter, trying to summon up some entertainment out of the glass case of products. The display case wasn't reflective, and the products inside were the Bluhd-Lite make-up products, as they had been for the past ten months. Every day was the same in Goth Topic, all black clothes, occasionally colored corsets, and never any change. He got halfway through counting the number of nail-polish bottles in the counter when he heard his manager barking from the back room. "Lars!"
"What!?" Erik shot back, guiding a handful of hair behind his ear.
"Get in the back, I need your help."
Erik sighed, and vaulted the counter as one would hop over a pothole in the ground. He opened the door to the stock room to find the manager, a fat lazy slob, stressing over a small box. "Can you get this back on the shelf?"
Erik scowled, "You had me get that box down, it can't weigh more than fifteen pounds."
"It's too heavy," the man said matter-of-factly. "Put it back up there so I don't wrench my back out."
"You lazy bastard, that weighs well under a tenth of what you do. What excuse could you possibly have for not doing it yourself?"
The manager put on his authority face. "Because I don't have super-freak powers like you do. Now pick up the damn box."
Erik growled, hooking a finger into the side of the box and raising the box with a single finger, gingerly placing it at the top shelf, easily a foot higher than the manager could ever reach. "There you go, boss. Anything else?"
"That's it," the manager said honestly, pushing ceremonially at Erik's waist. "Now go, you're supposed to be at the counter."
The push itself felt more like a fly had brushed against his clothes, but for as weak as the human was, it was the thought that counted. Erik left the back, and went back to the counter in the middle of the store.

When Erik finally got to the front of the store, there were two friendly faces waiting for him. "Hey Brittney. Mark. What're you doing here?"
Mark spoke first. He was just like Erik, tall, pale, and had long hair. His was brown, and jutted out aimlessly all over his head and shoulders. "Just came to pick up a pair of shades. Didn't know you were working today."
Erik hooked his thumb at the back, "Slave driver, as usual. I get off in an hour though. You guys want to do something?"
"Naw," Brittney said quickly, tossing her dyed-black hair over one shoulder. Her blond eyebrows betrayed her true hair color. "We're going to see Unearth tonight. There's a party this weekend, maybe then will be better."
"Maybe." Erik said noncommittally. "Well, I should get to work, you guys ready to check out?"

It was another hour until another another customer so much as looked crossways at the store. When she walked in, she didn't fit the usual bill for customers. Her clothes were too casual, light blue t-shirt and jeans. Nothing was black, and she didn't seem pierced anywhere but the ears, and even those were mundane. She had heard from security that someone was asking around for a man, but he wasn't expecting the person to look like this. She seemed too nice to report to mall security. Not that it carried much of a threat. "Be good, or I'll call security, and your ass will be thrown out in thirty minutes" didn't seem appropriate, so he simply said, "Hello."
Charity smiled, holding up a photograph of a man. "Have you seen this man?"
"Uh," Erik said helpfully, "I'm afraid not. But, uh..." It was only five minutes until his shift was over, and he oddly had the compulsion to help this woman. He decided to wait until his shift ended to see if he'd help her.

[small]To be continued.[/small]

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Chapter One - Part Two (1,096 words)
[sup]Greyfox105[/sup]

Rufus turned from the glow of his screen as he heard the phone ring once more. How many times had it rung? Three times? Perhaps even four? He had been so engrossed that he only noticed it during a quick break, but now he paused the program on his computer and picked up his mobile. "Hello? Who is it?" Rufus enquired in a sweet, innocent voice, turning back to gaze longingly at his screen. "Yow!" He exclaimed suddenly, wincing as he dropped the phone, which he immediately retrieved. "Oh, is that you, Günther? I thought that I was in an earthquake, what with the sound of your voice" He moved the phone away from his ear as the Vampist officer shouted down the line at him, voice like thunder. "Wait, what was that last part? Some lowly Vampire you've seen?" He reached his free hand out towards the screen wistfully. "Sure, I can meet you. But can it wait until I finish this animé episode? It's really good!" The line went dead.

Twenty minutes later, Rufus was rushing through foot-traffic on the crowded paths near the center of the city, conscious of how late he was for his meeting with his commander, but never-the-less pleased with himself for finishing his episode. He brushed some of his just-too-long hair out of his eyes, making a mental note to go to the hair dressers this upcoming weekend, while accidentally knocking into some of the pedestrians, the concealed body armour he wore making it difficult to move agilely between the passers-by. As he edged his way to the outside of the footpath, he saw Günther's Motorcycle parked at the edge of the road. Firm in the knowledge that he had made it, he turned the last corner, to spot his group leader with two of his other fellow Vampists, one a slight, short woman with bleach blonde hair at odds with her dark clothes, and the other a male with brown hair and terrible dress sense. He appeared to be wearing a skirt with a split all the way up the front over his tan trousers.
Günther's voice rumbled out to greet Rufus as he approached. “Ah, so glad for you to finally join us. I hope we are not taking up your valuable time” sarcasm tinged his voice, and he looked at his two subordinates. “Since you took your time, we have decided to discuss matters over a meal”. At that, Rufus' face lit up, and a grin split his normally blank face ,“Oh yeah! Bitchin'!”, he cheered as he performed a small arm pump of celebration. Günther grinned back. “You're buying”.

After a brisk walk unhindered by the crowds, which parted before them now that Günther was at their head, they had arrived arrived at a relatively mediocre and not too eye-catching diner, one which was a favourite of their group, not least because it refused to serve the Vampires of Generic Falls. They took to their regular seats by the front windows, to keep a watch while browsing through the available tattered menus, waiting for the sprightly young waitress who was occupying herself with tidying her shoulder-length vivid auburn hair. Recognising the usual customers, she smiled at the group, blowing a kiss to Ian, the guy wearing the skirt. “what will y'all be havin' today, gents?”, she inquired in a cute voice, looking between the people,but mainly watching Ian. “And of course you as well, Katie.” she added afterwards, as if only just realising Katie's exclusion. “Oh, come oooon, you already know what we like Nina, so we'll just have the usual” Katie said in a cool soprano, surprising the others with her input. Nina stood up straight, and answered in a now bland voice “Fine, stop me from having my fun then”. She pulled as face as she turned away, getting a smirk from Günther and Rufus.

And so, with a meal in front of each of them, the meeting was ready to begin. “Ok, you all know why we are here. Yes, even you, Rufus” Günther said, pointing a spoon in Rufus' direction, before using it to eat a mouthful of vegetable soup. The others took this as a cue to start devouring their own meals. They all knew they wouldn't have long, and they would all need as much energy as they could get. “Right, to business. As you all know, I have called you together because we've spotted one of those damn freaks so lovingly called 'Vampires'. Make no mistake, their skin does not sparkle, and they aren't as cuddly as some authors make out. This, we know” Günther stabbed his spoon downwards into his soup, bisecting a chunk of carrot. Ian took another bite out of his cheeseburger, “So what one is it this time? Some deprived Vampy chasing innocent women?”, he said around a mouthful. Rufus snickered at him, also setting off Katie, and drawing a questioning gaze from the other two. “Of course you'd know what that is like”, Rufus said, “seeing as you go around wearing a bloody skirt, you have to deal with chasers as well!” He celebrated his little victory by claiming a bit more of his Spaghetti Bolognese, grinning at the red-faced Ian who sat opposite him with a murderous look on his face.

“You two, shut it, before I make you shut it. We have a job to do, remember?” Lynch asked, whacking Rufus around the back of the head for emphasis, claiming a rather odd “Owwie!” from the grey-clad Vampist. “Anyway, you slackers, back to the point: Some 'Vampire' has been spotted with a young lady. We can all guess what such a predator my be planning to do if we don't find him first. The target is a tall, skeletal-looking guy wearing black clothes with a lot of metal attachments.” Günther grabbed a chunk of bread, using it to soak up the last of his soup, before cramming it into his mouth, chewing enthusiastically. Seeing their leader nearly finish, the others hurried to eat their own meals, petty jokes forgotten. Günther carefully picked up his cup of herbal tea, attempting not to spill any, but still managing to get some on the table before taking a gulp of the hot liquid. “ Rufus, you're with me. Katie, you're with Ian. Let's get out there and stop that beast from claiming a victim”. Rufus checked his metal baton was with him, Katie pulled out a Taser and grinned.

[small]To be continued[/small]

 

[Neosage]

Chapter One - Part Three
[sup]Neosage[/sup]

"Okay boss, how are we gonna get there?"

Günther pointed at the huge bike leaning against the wall of the building.

"Get on, boy"

"Don't I get a helmet?"

Günther laughed a deep booming laugh, Rufus felt as if the very earth was shaking.

"No. You shouldn't need one at your age anyway"

Rufus hopped on the enormous motorcycle, Günther revved it a few more times and then, they were off.

?ARE YOU SURE WE BE SHOUDLN'T BE WEARING HELMETS?!? Rufus screamed into the Bluetooth headset connected to his PDA.

??And you call yourself a vampist?? Günther growled into his microphone.

Rufus promptly shut up, he liked Günther but that didn?t stop him from being scared shitless every time he said something, especially on a mission.

Meanwhile, Katie and Ian had chosen to take Ian?s old mustang to the shopping mall. Ian had one hand on the steering wheel and another mercilessly fingering his glove compartment.

?Hey Katie, you seen my magnum??

Katie took the two vintage Cuban cigars out of her mouth, ?Yeah, its back in the trunk.? She put them back in. She checked her weapon. To the untrained eye it appeared to be some sort of modified stun-gun, Katie?s weapon was actually was more like a shotgun, instead of firing a small electric spark at point blank range, it propelled a web of copper strands, through which an electric current is run, easily stunning whoever it touched at the very least.

?You only taking your hand cannon??

?If I know Günther, and I really don?t, I think he?ll probably be doing most of the fighting, if there is any, the pussy-ass vampires usually run off before we can do any real damage.?

A few minutes later they arrived at the mall, Ian parked the black muscle car in the parking lot. ?Kate, go buy a ticket.?

?Why the fuck do I have to buy a ticket? You buy it, lazy-ass-bastard.?

?Because I fucking told you too!? Ian opened the door and proceeded around the car and opened Katie?s door. ?Now go and fucking buy a damn ticket, I don?t wanna have anything else on my record.?

?It?s not my fault you?re a murderer.?

Ian ignored her and opened the trunk; he placed the magnum carefully in the holster strapped around his shoulder, careful to make sure that it couldn?t be seen by anyone under his suit jacket. Kate bought a ticket.


Günther skidded to a halt in front of the mall. ?Get off?

Rufus hopped down from the huge chopper, ?What weapon are you taking, boss??

?Alexandria III, what about you, kid??

Rufus pulled out his long stick. Günther gave him a blank stare and then his craggy face split into a grin.

?You?re not taking that? Günther snorted. Attached to the side of his bike, with a dozen leather straps was an immense rifle. Günther carefully undid the straps and handed the gun to Rufus.

?You?re taking that.?

?Uh? Okay boss? Rufus could barely lift the thing, he said as much.

?You?ll be fine.? Günther grumbled while readying his weapon from the bike. Alexandria III was a triple-barrelled-shotgun-pistol, or at least. This is how he described it to anyone that asked. ?Okay kid, we?re going in, just follow my lead, and if the shit hits the fan, get behind me.?

Meanwhile at the other end of the shopping mall Erik had decided that it was probably a good idea to help the girl. He had left the shop and sat on the bench the girl had been waiting on, her eyes slightly red, probably due to crying over her boyfriend.

Could making a new friend really hurt, anyway? It?s not like I have anything else to do?

?So? he started, ?Are you new around generic falls then? You certainly don?t look like one the regulars and your voice??

?Yeah? Charity interrupted in her faint brummie accent. ?I came here to look for my boyfriend; the police don?t think I am important enough to help me though.?

?That sucks, how long has he been missing?? His ridiculously made-up eyes bored into her the effect of which similar in to that of a melon, when a drill is applied to it.

The girl shrugged, ?Well? I haven?t actually ?met? him. Yet.?

?Ah right, you met over the internet?? His manner remained fairly neutral, although the surprise in his eyes was hard to mask.

I wish I had a girlfriend?

Charity looked at her feet; she seemed slightly embarrassed ?Yeah??

?Cool. So what have you found out so far??

"Well, not much. Although, I did find this guy in the park, he seemed nice but? kinda weird?."

"Yeah, there are some weird people around these parts, you get used to it though. What?s your boyfriend called?"

"Hugh Jefferson"

Erik raised an eyebrow, ?Well, I gotta feeling we?re not gonna find him in this mall, let?s see what we can find out around town?


[small]To be continued[/small]

 

[Fairee]

Chapter One - Part Four (1,062 words)
[sup]Fairee[/sup]

It took Charity a moment to realise Erik had got up and started walking. A couple of steps away, he stopped and turned to look at her. "C'mon, I offered to help you." She quickly stood and hurried to him, and they started walking towards the exit.

Back at Goth Topic, Greg had some unwanted visitors, in the form of Gunther and his friends. "Whad'ya mean, he's not here?!"
"I-I told you," Greg stammered. "Th-the guy finishes his shift at 3, if y-you'd got here f-five minutes ago..."
"Are you saying it's my fault?!" Gunther shouted at the small fat guy. Greg squealed in fear and cowered from his leader. "You shouldn't have let him go! You KNEW we were coming to get him today, you told us he would be here! So if it's anyone's fault we haven't got him yet, it's YOURS!"
"H-his next shift is on Monday, i-if that helps at all."
Katie, the woman behind Gunther, intervened. "Look boss, we didn't exactly have a plan today. Sure, we had weapons to threaten him, but we couldn't have done anything with them. People would've seen, and if they had, the cops wouldn't have a choice but to arrest us. And the group can't do much with our leader in jail.
"In a way we were lucky we didn't get him today. Now we can plan out ready for Monday, and get him then. We can make sure we all know what we're doing, and we can have somewhere ready to take him. If he knows other vampires, we'll need to torture him for information, and for that we need somewhere secure and hidden to keep him."
"Hmn..." Gunther stopped to consider this. "Good thinking, Katie. You're finally proving your use on the team, apart from being a pretty face." She scowled, but kept quiet. "You'd better talk to Greg here, then, and get as much information as you can. Not just about the one who works here, his friends too. The three of us will go back to our HQ and start planning. We'll see who else we can get involved. Meet us there when you're done."
The three men headed back outside, leaving Katie with the shop manager. Once the others were out of earshot, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him up level with her face. "You're damn lucky I put myself on the line to cover your ass. I could have left it and Gunther would have punished you for failing. Now, you're going to tell me everything you know about this... vermin and his horrible little friends to say thanks for what I did. Understood?"
Katie let go of Greg, and he passed out on the floor. She shook her head. "These humans can be so weak..."

After a few minutes, Charity realised she hadn't been to this side of town before. It was strange, for some reason she'd always stayed the other side of the hospital, and yet she never knew why. There was something about the slightly grimy buildings, the lack of people outside and the wornout road that told her to stay away.
Erik stopped at a building with no door, in this wall at least. About eight feet up was a metal fire escape, and somewhere inside loud music was playing. Charity looked around, and was a little confused to see they were in an alleyway between two buildings, with a wall at the end. The only place they could be going was up the fire escape.
Erik made towards the fire escape, as if normally he could get up there. After a moment, he came to his senses and called up. "Guys, it's Erik. I've got a friend with me, mind dropping the stairs so we can get up?"
Someone upstairs sighed and shouted back. "Erik! Don't tell me you've gone and brought one of thos-"
"Yeah, sorry, I brought a new girl here. But her boyfriends gone missing and I thought we could help her."
A door opened two stories up and a pale girl with dark hair came out. "Ooh yeah, we can help her!"
She was quickly joined by another pale androgynous person, this time with pale hair, who seemed to have some authority. "Erik, does she know about us?"
Erik turned to look at Charity, slightly nervous. "I-I dunno, I didn't think to mention..."
"How the hell did you know she's not one of them then?!" The person screamed down. "What if she was one of the Vampist scum, coming to get info on us? If they got in here, they could kill us all!"
Charity whimpered. "Look, I'm really sorry. I have no idea what's going on. I'm just trying to find my boyfriend, he's gone missing and I'm worried. Erik offered to help me, I didn't meant to get him in trouble. I'll just go now so I'm not a problem for you..."
Charity turned to leave the alley, but the two people jumped off the fire escape and landed a few feet in front of her, keeping her where she was. She gasped, and stepped back. "W-who... h-how did you do t-that?"
"We, hun, are vampires. We're stronger than you puny humans. We can climb better, we can fight harder, and we can take more damage before we go down. And yet, there is filth out there who want us dead, just because we're not like them. So, before we let you leave, we need to make sure you're not going to go talking about us. Mel!" The first vampire called to the girl, "Take her back to your place. I think we should make this young lady comfortable to make her talk more easily."
"What about the hangout? We got couches and a fridge up there, that's pretty cosy..." Mel suggested. The other rolled their eyes.
"Don't be stupid Mel. If she's one of that lot, and she gets in there, we're screwed. That's why we didn't let her up there in the first place."
"Oh yeah... that's smart thinking, Charlie." Mel walked over and put her arm around Charity's shoulders. "C'mon, we're going back to my place! I'll even make my special hot cocoa!"
Erik smiled as Charlie groaned, and the two of them lead the way. At this point, Charity wasn't sure if she should be concerned about the situation...


[small]To be continued.[/small]

 

[Sparrow]

Chapter One - Part Five (738 words)
[sup]Sparrow[/sup]

Emerson leant out from behind a well concealed wall and snapped several pictures of a seemingly normal group of people. "I'll even make my special hot cocoa!", one of them exclaimed as the group walked away.

"I'll give you some damn cocoa in a minute.", Emerson growled under his breath.

His phone had been vibrating in his pocket for a good few minutes, but he'd ignored it. Emerson knew who it was, but he didn't fancy listening to another ear-wagging from his former assistant. He wouldn't have answered it at all if not for the looks he'd been receiving as people passed, due to his ringtone playing "Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl" at full volume.

"What is it Frank? I'm busy.", he whispered down the phone, trying not to draw attention.

"We've got a lead.", Frank's raspy voice replied.

"A lead?"

"A lead."

Emerson looked up, then left, then right, before slowly pressing the phone against his ear.

"Turns out that guy you've been tracking, that Erik bloke, he's one of them.", Frank continued, a certain sense of cockiness in his voice, "One of 'dem vampires."

"How'd you find this out?", Emerson whispered, making sure once more that nobody could see him, "I didn't know we had any sources about stuff like this at the office."

"We do now. If you weren't fired yo--"

"I quit."

The phone went silent for a few seconds, the distinct sound of typing was the only thing Emerson could hear. Lots and lots of typing, like always.

"Sorry, continue."

"After you were let go, as you like to put it, we started getting crap-loads of sources pouring in. Rumours, mostly. Still, some of it is pretty interesting. For instance, your little Erik has a vampire mommy or papa. The specifics were a little bit vague, but we've got the evidence. The paper is planning to do a story on it, a big expose."

"They can't do that, there would be a state-wide manhunt! Those Vampist guys would hunt him down. You'd be charged with manslaughter!"

"Look.", Frank snapped, his casual tone now stern, "We need pictures. You get us pictures, you get your job back. That's what you want right? Are you really going to throw that all away just so some little vampire and his vampire buddies get to walk free?"

Emerson didn't respond. He was too busy weighing up the pros and cons.

"Get it done, and get it done fast.", Frank's casual tone now returning, "You've got three days, or you're permanently fired. You got that?"

The phone went dead. Emerson sighed, and stuffed it into his pocket. The girl, Charity, seemed to have stopped the group to buy ice-cream nearby. Erik didn't seem too keen on it, not that Emerson was paying any attention. He was far too concerned with the matter at hand. Even he was not sure wether or not he was desperate enough to kill another person for his job.

No, I can't., he thought, I just can't.

He was poor, he was definitely poor, but he wasn't needy enough to kill someone else for personal gain. If he was quite honest with himself, his old job could get stuffed.

However, the story would still be published regardless. Nothing he could do would stop that. The least he could do was inform the people that he was sacrificing his personal happiness for that the entire human population of Generic Falls would soon be tracking their every move.

"What about mint flavour?", Charity turned to Erik, pointing at the vendor's selection, "Or chocolate? Everyone likes chocolate."

"I don't really like ice-cream.", Erik whispered, his head hung in shame.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't ask did I? It's alright, we can get something at my place instead. That sound good?", she smirked, poking Erik in the nose, "Maybe some steak?"

Erik's face lit up as his mind scrolled through the different ways he could, and most like would, have his steak. He really quite liked steak.

"Excuse me.", Emerson interjected, "I'll get these."

He handed the vendor a ten dollar bill, who then handed Mel and Charity their selections. Emerson put his hand up to the vendor, telling him to keep the change. He nodded, and slipped the bill into his pocket.

"Walk nice and slow. Happy faces all around.", Emerson whispered, slipping his arm around both Erik's and Charity's shoulders, "We need to talk."

[small]To be continued.[/small]

 

[Fairee]

Chapter Two - Part One (1,149 words)
[sup]Fairee[/sup]
Rufus sat back and watched his commander pace backwards and forwards across the room. Even when mumbling to himself, Gunther had a voice like rolling thunder. Rufus still wasn't sure if this low level of noise was good, and broke the tension that often came with complete silence, or whether it scared him. Gunther was a hard man to read, and it was only on rare occasions that the Vampists could tell what was going on in their leaders mind.
This time, Rufus was fairly sure he knew what was angering the boss. It was now over an hour since they'd left Katie at Goth Topic, and there was no way it would take this long to interrogate the manager. He had told her to meet them back here, and she knew as well as the rest of them that you did as you were told. So if Gunther had not told you to go elsewhere before returning to headquarters, then you didn't. And yet, this time, it seemed like she had.
Gunther went to check at the window, and saw the truck still hadn't returned. He growled, and Rufus covered his ears. After all the months, he had picked up a few of his commanders signals. The most important one being when he growled, you covered your ears. Nine times of out ten it meant that he was angry.
"WHERE THE HELL IS THAT DAMN GIRL?!" Gunther boomed, his voice even louder than usual, and proved Rufus right. Which was a really good point, where was she?

Erik stared at Emerson. "You cannot be serious."
"Do you think I'd joke about something like this?!" Emerson asked in amazement. "Oh yeah, it would be so funny to pretend your lives are at risk. Y'know, because you guys don't have enough to worry about already with Gunther and his friends."
Charlie sighed and shook their head. "Sometimes humanity really disgusts me."
Mel smiled at Charlie. "It's okay, Emmy was being sarcastic. He's not really playing a cruel trick on us."
Charlie chuckled, surprising Charity. It seemed like too soft an action for such a tough person. "No, that wasn't what I meant Mel." They walked across the room and sat by Erik on the couch. "It disgusts me that this newspaper is going to run the story. If they know that much about what's been happening, then they know about the Vampists, and they know that some people will come after us and kill us. That means they must be running it purely for the attention, without worrying about the effects, and I find that horrible. We're people too, and we don't deserve to be treated like this."
Out of the blue, a phone beeped. Erik looked worried. "That's the VI phone...."
Emerson looked confused. "VI? What does that mean?"
Charlie returned to the room, having disappeared without anyone noticing. "Vampist Informer. We have someone on the inside who keeps us up to date with major news." They slowly read the text message, and the blood drained from the face. Mel tried to ask what was going on, but Charlie shushed her and called the person who sent the message. "Katie? We're at Mel's house. You need to get here, now. I got the message."
Charlie ended the call and put the phone in their pocket. By this point, they were shaking badly, and almost in tears. Obviously the tough persona Charity had seen earlier was a defence mechanism, the hard outer shell that hid a scared weak person.
Charity stood up, and walked over to Charlie. Despite being almost a foot shorter, Charity wrapped her arms around them to offer as much comfort as she could. Charlie rested their head on her shoulder and started sobbing. Whatever they had found out was evidently bad news. "Can you tell us what it is hun, or do you want to wait for Katie to get here?"
Charlie shook their head, nuzzling into Charity's shoulder. They stood together, holding each other, until the doorbell went. Erik went to the door, and returned with a woman of similar height to Charity with long pale blond hair and dark clothes.
Charlie turned around when they realised someone was there. They let go of Charity and grabbed the new woman for a hug. "Katie, are you serious?" They sobbed. "Are they really coming for Erik next?"
Charity looked around, confused. Emerson was equally bewildered. Erik and Mel though seemed really worried, and Charlie was still shaking in Katie's arms. Erik quietly moved next to Emerson and indicated for Charity to join him. "There are people in the town who hate vampires, called Vampists. Katie is part of the group, and she gives us information when she can. She tells us who the next target is, if she knows in advance, so we can try to avoid any... problems. The Vampists have been killing people, although the police cannot prove who it was. We only know for sure because Katie tells us.
"I know what you're thinking, we should go to the police with Katie's evidence and get them arrested. Sadly there are too many of them, and we can't prove all of them were involved. We could get the leaders in jail, and then a new group start up. And if we did, we wouldn't have an inside source."
"Charlie, they don't want to kill Erik," Katie whispered. The room went silent. "At least, it won't be the first thing they do."
Charlie looked up at Katie, more than a little confused. "Well, what do they want him for then?"
Katie glanced around the room, and realised everyone was staring at her. She breathed deeply, trying to stay calm, hoping that as they thought about it someone would realise. She hated the plans they had in store, mostly because she had thought of them. She had tried to save the manager, seeing him as innocent, but he had wanted Erik killed. Erik was the innocent one here, and now he would suffer. And it was purely her fault.
"Wait," Emerson said, interrupting her thoughts. "Erik said they were killing the odd person as they found out, right?" Erik nodded. "Well, if they think you know others, maybe they want to torture you for information. That way they can plan more killings."
Slowly everyone turned from looking at Emerson to looking back at Katie. She slowly nodded and burst into tears. Erik walked over and hugged her tightly, wiping away the tears. "It's okay, hun. It's not your fault."
"B-but it is," Katie sobbed. "I-I told Gunther to torture you to get information. He j-just wanted to ki-ill you."
"When and where is he going to get me, Katie?"
"M-Monday. He'll be a-at Goth Topic at the end of your shift."
"We've got bigger problems before then," Emerson told them. "The story gets published on Saturday."

[small]To be continued.[/small]

 

[Neosage]

Chapter Two - Part Two
[sup]Neosage[/sup]

Rufus Von Bernkastel was staring out of the window thinking about who was the stronger out the two Elric brothers from one of his favourite Animes. Alphonse is definitely physically stronger, but then again? He doesn?t have alchemy, BUT alchemy requires equivalent exchange, BUT Edward could always use Alphonse?s own body as part of the equivalent exchange?

?Right!? Günther Lynch, head of the Vampists, announced. Rufus waited. Something was probably going to happen. That something would probably concern him doing something that would show Günther?s unconcern for Rufus. This wasn?t exactly true. Günther felt rather affectionately for the kid; of course Günther could never tell him that, because then Rufus would become weak, Günther couldn?t have any members of the team putting any other members of the team before the mission, Günther told himself it was for the greater good.

A few moments passed, and Günther still hadn?t said anything since his earlier statement which was uttered precisely an uncertain number of immeasurable portions of time beforehand, an indefinite amount more of these ?moments? occurred and Rufus decided to risk it.

?Right, what??

?I need to relax. That ***** is giving me a migraine.? In reality Günther was fraught with worry for the girl, she had only joined the team recently and he was questioning his earlier decision to leave her alone. Maybe I should have left her with Ian. If anything has happened to her?

?I?m gonna take a herbal bath, don?t disturb me. You should watch TV or something? Günther threw the remote at Rufus. Rufus dodged magnificently, the remote landed on the floor loudly. Günther shook his head and sighed then headed upstairs.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ian was making lunch and reading the newspaper simultaneously, an impressive task. He flicked to the back; Generic Gazelles were at the bottom of the league.

?As usual? Ian sighed, he didn?t much care for sport, but like a lot of people he felt that he should be rooting for the local team. And, like most people he felt good when they were doing well. This has never-happened, so he couldn?t really know that. He just assumed that he would feel good.

Rufus could hear the The Bhudda Lounge?s rendition of Metallica?s The Unforgiven faintly from upstairs. He decided to switch on the TV. He flicked through the channels. Nothing's on?He ended up on the news.

?The owner of the store in question, named Greg, was unavailable for comment due to being hospitalised. According to one witness, she saw ?A female member of the vigilante group, she wore a leather coat and had long darkish hair, I saw Günther and his men leave the shop, but the girl stayed inside with the manager.? Other witnesses at the crime scene agree with the description given. As of yet, we are unsure to the manager?s condition and the reason for it. We?ll keep you posted on any information we receive, now over to the sports with Olly?
This is not good. This is really not good?

Erik spoke up ?This story is going to go through, I am going to be tortured and probably killed, eventually they are going to find out about the rest of you, I don?t deserve that, WE don?t deserve that.?

?What can we do though?!? Mel asked, she understood what was going on now.

?We have to stop the press!? Charlie yelled.

?How? Are we just gonna go in like the Vampists themselves, are we going to threaten them? That?ll just give the bastards even more of an excuse to hunt us down!?

?I don?t particular want to die, and I?m fairly certain none of you do, either.? Erik said resolutely, ?They don?t need any more of an excuse. They hunt us down anyway! We have to put an end to this. We?re going to have to take matters into our own hands. The police don?t give a fuck about us. Half of them think we should be burnt at the stake. I don?t want anyone to get hurt, but it?s either us, or them. First off, we need to stop this story. Emerson, what do we need to do to stop this??

Emerson considered for a moment. ?Well, you could try and talk them out of it, I don?t think that?ll work though, these guys are like magpies, once they see something shiny, they will get it. As your friend said, you could just threaten them, but? They won?t listen or if they do, they?ll just get the police involved. Neither of these things is any good. I think you?ll have to find out everyone working on the story and break their computers or something??

?So we are going to break into people?s houses and destroy the property?? Mel said sarcastically.

?Do you have a better idea?? Emerson asked pointedly.

?I do!? Charity interjected, everyone stared at her.

?Which is???


[sup]To be continued...[/sup]

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Chapter Two - Part Three [small](1180 Words)[/small]
[sup]NewClassic[/sup]

"You've got to be kidding," the police officer said, "you mean to tell me you have a tip on the recent bank robbery?"
"Well," Emerson said with an affable smile, "we've been getting a lot of tips on the topic of that particular robbery, and we have enough detail to consider getting the police involved. You can call and get verification from my editor, but I'm looking forward to getting some progress on it. You mind coming with us so we can get some progress?"
The officer clearly wasn't meant to be doing that kind of thing, and the indecision was painted on his face. "I don't know, our chief needs to give authorization before I can open full-blown investigations."
"Alright," Emerson said, running his fingers through his hair, "If we can get you some kind of concrete evidence on it..."
"Then I'd still need to run it through the chief," the cop said, without life.
"Alright, I'll get a write-up from our department. Expect us again sometime tomorrow."
"Alright, can I get your name?"
"No," Emerson said, checking his memo pad with a pained expression, "I only have a small opening for it, so I probably wouldn't have time to take a call."
"Whatever, see you tomorrow."
"Bye."

In the waiting room, Charity was already on her feet, pacing. "Any news?"
Mel chuckled, "Heh heh, 'news.' Because he's a reporter. Get it?"
Erik jabbed her arm lightly, and turned to Emerson. "So no progress?"
Emerson shook his head, "Nothing."
"So we'll stick with my idea?" Charity offered.
"Which was?"
"Call in sick."
Everyone turned and look at one another. A pregnant silence filled the room. "You know," Erik said into the stunned silence, "we're all idiots if that never occurred to any of us."
"It's not a perfect solution," Mel said into the group, as they left the station. "Erik's next shift is Wednesday. I'm not sure about you, but 48 hours isn't really a procrastinator's wet dream. We'll be back on the hook sooner rather than later."
Emerson interrupted, "Except that you guys forgot about the story. It's going to run if we don't do something about it."
"Actually," Erik said, "I've had an idea about that."

Katie was growling as they exited the store. They had armloads of bags, some from a hardware store, others from farming surplus, one from a run-down pawn shop across town. Erik's mysterious scavenger hunt had taken two hours of store hopping, and had paraded the group miles in all directions. "Enough," Katie said, hefting the smallest bag out of the group. It was also the lightest. Made for an odd picture, seeing a muscular woman hefted a small bag around while a group of seemingly unfit twenty-somethings carried larger bags, which looked heavier, without effort. Katie made certain to voice her complaints. "You've dragged us all around town, practically tried to make the Vampists see me wandering around while missing. What the hell has this big trip been about?"
"Pipe bomb," Charity said, several tubes of piping under her arm. "These are ingredients for a pipe bomb."
"Almost," Erik explained, "it lacks one ingredient to really make it a pipe bomb."
"Which ingredient?"
"Explosives."
"Oh," Katie snapped, "Well that makes this all better. How does this help us?"
"For starters, a decoy bomb is the first thing anyone needs to plant before they can call in a bomb threat. The second thing is getting a good decoy that can use my favorite science experiment."
Charlie spoke for the first time in a while, "Science experiment?"
"Electromagnet."
Mel scowled, "So we're going with the breaking and entering plan?"
"Not exactly," Erik said. "I have a favor to call in."
"Do you need me?" Katie asked, nervous.
"No."
"Good, I'm out. Günther is probably about to collapse the town looking for me."

"Where'd you learn how to do all this?" Mark asked, looking at the pipe bomb. It was zip-tied into a thin sheet of wood, timer jury-rigged from an old cell phone and the display from a digital alarm clock. If an expert paid too much attention to the wiring, they'd know it was a fake. It'd look good enough for anyone else, or just casual inspection, which was good enough for Erik.
"Burn Notice," Erik said. Mark looked puzzled. "Action show, about a spy. Part Mythbusters, part MacGuyver."
"Who's MacG-"
"Nevermind. It's not real."
"The show?"
"The bomb."
"Oh," Mark said, visibly relaxing. "That's good. What's in the pipes?"
"A very watery aerosol mixture, mostly. There are some really questionable things in there, but not enough to do anything. Especially not explode. Although good chemical scanner's going to pick it up and flag it, but anyone opening it up only has to worry about the stench. It's no more toxic than orange juice and toothpaste."
Mark brought it close to his face for a sniff, "But apparently as rancid."
"Yeah. So you remember the plan?"
"Um... Submit my internship as a journalist in college, take a tour, plant the bomb, electromagnet the hard drives, while you call in a bomb threat."
Erik nodded, "Yeah, sounds right."
Emerson chimed in, "The only problem is, due to the editor's paranoia, everything's backed up weekly. On all computers. Both on external media and online. The best we can do is make them take a week to recover, that still doesn't solve our problem."
"Well, I'll take a week to prepare. It'll give us more time."
Emerson didn't seem certain, "I guess."
"Well, if you really want to do the destroy property outlook, then at least don't use your real name, Mike."
Erik spoke, "Right, good idea."

After a particularly boring hum-drum tour of the downtown loft office, Mark excused himself to the bathroom. His backpack hummed uncomfortably against his back, but he had already noticed several computer monitors turn black. Thank God for lunch break tours. He decided to plant the "bomb" in clear view of the front door under a stall, but just a corner of the bomb so it wouldn't be in clear focus. The next step was to go around and rub his backpack against a few computers.

The car battery made it heavy to carry nonchalantly, but Mark managed. He finished around one, right when two or three editors were coming back from their respective lunches. They were starting to settle back down on their desks, which made Mark nervous that they'd notice something was up. Thankfully, the only one who tried to boot up their system went to the chief with the problem before announcing it aloud. The fire alarm went off, jolting Mark literally off of his feet. They building was cleared out, and the police and fire departments were already on the way. The bomb threat must've just gotten through.

Mark was halfway down the street when the police arrived and cordoned off the area. Just when he thought he was about to get away clean, a uniform ran after him yelling. "Wait, stop!"
"Oh crap," Mike said, and tried to decide whether or not to bolt.

 

[Sparrow]

Chapter Two - Part Four (1,000 words)
[sup]Sparrow[/sup]

The officer hastily approached Mark, as he frantically looked from left to right. He could see two clear exits, but the officer was blocking his path. If he was going to run, he'd need to get past him.

"I can't take on this guy, he's huge.", Mark thought, "I'd have to try and maneuver around him. This place isn't exactly wide though. Oh man, I'm screwed."

"We've sectioned off an exit for civilians.", said the officer, breaking Mark's train of thought, "That way we don't mix up any of the bomb squad with any civvies. Just a precaution, y'know, better safe than sorry and all that. Take the exit on the right."

As Mark's heartbeat slowed from it's previously erratic levels, he nodded to the officer and made his way down the corridor. A few officers sprinted out of a door on his opposite side, shouting things in police-dialect he couldn't understand.

"I can't believe I just got away with that.", he laughed under his breath.

A few minutes later, Charity was sat watching Emerson and Erik play Snap with a pack of cards. It was all she'd done for the past half an hour, as the only alternative was to watch Katie's Desperate Housewives DVDs.

The boredom was broken by the doorbell ringing through-out the house. Emerson looked up as Charity got up to answer the door, Erik using the opportunity to slam his hand upon the two aces on the table.

"Snap!", he laughed.

"Aw, shit. I suck at this game.", Emerson sighed.

Charity peered through the thin glass in the door, easily spotting Mark's wide grin. She slowly freed the door from it's several locks, which Mark himself had insisted upon, and opened it wide enough to peek through a gap.

"What's the password?", she chuckled.

"How about, "let me in before you get a shoe up your ass"?", Mark replied.

"Sounds right to me."

Mark greeted Charity with a hug as he entered, ruffling her well kept hair as he did so. The two of them then entered the living room, where they found Emerson and Erik half way through arm wrestling.

"C'mon, c'mon.", Emerson grunted as he slowly began to win, "Just a little more."

"Having fun, I see.", Mark laughed.

Emerson turned his head to look at Mark, Erik once again seizing the chance to to slam his hand down in a victorious motion.

"No freaking way.", Emerson sighed, burying his face in his hands, "This has got to be a personal worst."

"So.", Erik said, rising up from his seat, "How'd it go?"

"Pretty well. I managed to get in and out without much fuss. And I planted the fake bomb without anyone noticing either. I doubt many of those guys even remember I was there."

"Good, good. That'll buy us some time then."

"What's the plan now?", Charity asked, stepping inbetween Erik and Mark, "I mean, we didn't exactly get this far when you boys were throwing around your manly ideas."

"I'd quite like to know what the next step is too.", Emerson said, looking toward Erik.

"Yeah, just what is the next step, Erik?", Mark laughed.

However, before Erik could respond, Emerson's phone began to ring once more. As he fumbled about with it, trying to stop the embarrassing ringtone from continuing, he noticed the caller ID.

"Holy shit. It's Frank.", he gasped, "The hell is he calling me for? Oh, God, this can't be good."

As Emerson gave the others a rather worried look, he pulled his phone up to his ear, clearing his throat beforehand.

"Hey, Frank. Haven't spoken to you in a while."

"I know what you did, Emerson. You and your vampire buddies. Did you not think I'd find out?"

Meanwhile, the vampists were all congregated around the TV, much to Gunther's dissaproval.

"I was all happy, siting here, watching the news. But no, your shitty 90210 takes preference doesn't it?", he mumbled.

"Shouldn't we be planning what to do with that Erik guy?", Rufus asked, sitting next to Gunther on the sofa.

"I suppose we should, really. There's not much to it though. We go in, we grab him, we dispose of him somewhere. Job done. It'll of been like he never existed."

"So, we go in. We grab him. We kill him. Nice plan.", Rufus laughed, "Why don't we just set him on fire and run away? That'll be much more sneaky. Less effort too."

"Or maybe I could just strap a bomb to your face, and send you in there.", Gunther growled.

"Shut it you two, Brendon is just about to ask Kelly out.", Ian snapped.

Rufus and Gunther gave Ian blank stares, which he ignored in favour of his TV program.

"Anyway.", Gunther said, turning away from Ian, "We don't usually plan that much. People around here have a little unspoken agreement with us. They ignore all of our rather illegal methods and in return, we rid this place of all that vampire filth."

"Really? They just ignore it?", Rufus asked, still staring at Ian.

"We get a few do-gooders who try to report us to the police, but we've got a similar deal going on with them too. And anyone who approaches them about our methods tends to disappear, rather permanently."

"The police kill the civilians?!"

"What--? No, of course not you moron. They find loopholes to make sure they stay quiet. After all, they're the people we're trying to protect. Wouldn't be much point in doing that if we killed them all."

"Would you please be quiet?! You're ruining the sex scene!", Ian shouted.

"Ruining the se-- what?", Rufus laughed.

"You didn't think I actually watched this thing for the plot, did you? I just like it when the characters get it on. Which is like, every episode."

"I can't believe you people hunt vampires.", Gunther sighed.

"And I can't believe that girl's body. I mean, come on, it's like it was crafted by a God or something.", Ian chuckled.

[small]To be continued.[/small]

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Chapter Two - Part Five (817 words)
[sup]Greyfox105[/sup]

“Listen to yourself, Frank. You're making no sense. Has something happened?” Emerson tried to sound innocent as he spoke to Frank, moving the phone from one ear to the other. “Don't try to weasel your way out of this one. I know it must have been you and those freaks. So how'd you do it? You better start preparing your answers for when the cops catch you. Oh, yes, that's right. The cops are gonna be searching for you. You and your little friends...” The line abruptly went dead, and Emerson put the phone in his pocket. “Well. That went better than I expected.” Emerson smiled reassuringly at the others, who all returned a worried gaze. Erik shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Well, I'm thirsty, would anyone else like a drink? No? Must just be me then...” he wandered into the kitchen, as the others sat down around Emerson. “So, what did Frank say?”, Charity asked, poking Emerson for attention.
“Well, my dear Charity, it would seem my boss has gone overboard. Sorry everyone, but I have a feeling the police may be involved.”

“So... we'll have to leave this place?” Emerson nodded in affirmation.
“We can't afford to stay here if the police will be looking for us as well. Someone is bound to know something about this place, so they would check here first. Which means we haven't got much time.”
Erik came back from the kitchen and grabbed an empty cardboard box that had been upside-down beside the sofa as a makeshift end-table, complete with coffee stains. “Alright then. We'll have to grab whatever we can. Whatever isn't boxed up in five minutes stays here. Bring only the essentials, we can't carry much on foot without looking too suspicious”. Mark went into the kitchen with another box, and began to pack up some tins of food and other perishables from the cupboards and fridge. Charity was standing in the middle of the living room, looking a bit helpless, as Erik grabbed some things from the bedroom and bathroom. Nobody noticed the copy of Desperate Housewives that went into the box, along with three bottles of beer. Erik hurried back out of the bedroom. “Okay everyone, our time is up, time to move on.” He motioned towards the door, while hefting one of the boxes. “Ladies first”.

Günther slammed a fist down onto the arm of the couch. “That's it. I've had it with this damn show!”, he yelled, before hurling the remote at the back of Ian's head, satisfying himself with the cracking sound it made upon impact. Ian slumped forwards onto the floor, groaning, while Rufus stared in horror at the broken remote control. Günther took a step towards Rufus, as if to deal with him next, but luckily for Rufus, at that very moment, the door opened, and Katie stepped through into lounge, and raised an eyebrow when she saw Ian lying seemingly unconscious on the floor. Günther stopped what he was doing, and turned to look at Katie, red-faced with anger. Rufus sighed, glad that he had been forgotten for now. Günther took a few long, deep breaths, and when he spoke again, it was like caged thunder. “And you, Katie... Perhaps you would like to tell us where you have been all this time?”. His hands clenched and unclenched, trying to work off the anger instead of releasing it on another member of his group. Katie lifted a bag in her left hand. “Sorry boss, I just thought we could use some beer”.

Three minutes later, and Katie had a bandage securely wrapped around Ian's head, while Ian pressed a bottle of cold beer to the growing lump where the remote had hit him. When he wasn't trying to drink the beer, of course. “I'm not too sure what happened, or if I want to know, but please refrain from hurting Ian, Günther. I assure you that we are all more useful alive than dead. Even Ian”. Günther snorted and leaned back against the wall, raising a cup to his lips and sipping some herbal tea. “And what about you, then? I'm pretty sure it doesn't take that long just to get some beer and other assorted junk”. Katie stopped what she was doing, thinking hard. Then a thought struck her, and she had to try hard not to smile as she turned to stare into Günther's eyes. “Heh. Seems that someone forgot to put some gas into their car. So I had to spend my time walking to the nearest station, buying fuel with my money, then lugging it back to that scrap heap. And when I finally get back here, I get the honour of bandaging his head up. I doubt he has a brain worth damaging.”

[small]To be continued.[/small]

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Host Note

Due to some havoc in real life, Greyfox is having difficulty posting. For how, Grey's switching places with Fairee. So, another ten days deadline extended for her, and Greyfox will be taking Fairee's place on the roster. So, if you have any questions, let me know. Due date on Fairee's is the 15th.

EDIT: At request, the deadline has been extended to the 20th.