1. San Francisco 2022, October 7th(RP)

Sure. But, you know, keep your heads down for now. Reaching for her own phone, Giulia entered the number and sent a hello text. There now you have mine. If you find out anything else, let me know as soon as you can. Drowning the last of her coffee, Giulia turned to Patrick and looked at the nervous man. She wondered.

Have you fed recently?

October 7th, 11 o'clock Hour, The Coffee Shop | Giulia
Patrick looks out the window of the café. He watches a group of mortals walk by, obviously headed for a bar and a fun evening.

"You ask that so casually..." he sighs. "No. I've not "fed" recently. And I don't know how much longer I can put it off... should I be fighting it?"

Giulia you can see, when now that he mentions it, he's starting to look gaunt, and ghoulish for a Thin-Blood. You can practically smell the hunger on him.

Look I’m not going to give you the usual nonsense about ‘the lion and it’s prey’, but it is a fact. You are what you are and you want to survive otherwise you wouldn’t be coming to me if you didn’t care about your own survival. If you don’t, how can you expect to carry on?

Giulia almost felt pity. Want me to take you?

Erik smiles as he reassures the scared woman. It'll be okay. They won't lay a hand on you.. Gently Erik moves the woman behind him and then looks back at the thugs.

With a feral grin on his face he drops into a boxing stance and simply wades into the thugs..swinging hard.

October 7th, 12 o'clock Hour, The Garage | Erik (Success)
After the first few blows, the gang know they're in over there heads.

The garage is quiet but for the sound of fabric whooshing, shoes squeaking on concrete, and your preternatural fists connecting with the bones of their faces.

Erik, you'd feel the beast lurking inside you, trying to get out, but you're able to keep your composure and only do just enough damage.

The last of the five falls to his back, head bouncing off the concrete with a *crack*!

"Jesus Christ man, enough!"

The young woman is behind you, holding a snub-nosed revolver in one hand, and a dull, shining police badge in the other. Despite the shout to stop, she looks rather impressed with the work you've made of the thugs.

"Detective Laurie Callahan," she says as she flashes the badge.

October 7th, 12 o'clock Hour, The Coffee Shop | Giulia

Patrick seems to relax at your point. Your observation seems to have click with him. "Fuck, but you're right."

He looks you dead in the eye. "You're right. I want to go on and I need to get the hang of this. Yes, take me to feed. I'm a fast learner. I'm an engineering lead at Chase Innovations. This can't be too hard..."

Giulia, he's ready for you to take the lead--he'll follow where ever you take him.

As Giulia and Patrick left the coffee bar, she took him a little giddy and excited by the prospect though she tried not to show it. They wound through the streets until they reached a quiet place, a closed pawn shop. Do you have a usual way of doing this? If not, why don't you go hide out in that alleyway there? she pointed across. I'll find someone willing to follow me, then we spring them.

Any preferences?

Erik stands looking down at his handiwork..smiling a predatory smile. The hunger wells up inside him and threatening to unleash itself, but Erik manages to keep it pushed down and locked up.

Satisfied the threat has been eliminated, Erik turns and looks at the female....the female that's now holding a badge and gun. Erik's smiles from a predatory smile to one of curiosity. Putting his hands out in front of him..wrists touching, Erik simply says Detective in an almost flirtatious way.

October 7th, 12 o'clock Hour, a San Francisco Street | Giulia The neighborhood you two walk through is gentrified; "up-and-coming" some would call it. Businesses like the pawn shop, not long for the neighborhood, still huddle among the overpriced townhouses.

"Dean works at the hospital, as an orderly. He gets us bags of blood now and then." Patrick runs the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Other than the one time I "lost it" and attacked a hippie in the park, bloodbags are my usual way."

"Just pick someone who, I don't know, "deserves" it. If you know what I mean." He heads for the alley.

October 7th, 12 o'clock Hour, a San Francisco Street | Giulia (Critical Success)
As you wait, the breeze blows leaves scattering across the still damp street. It's not long...

Stumbling down the street comes a young man, dressed in stylish, casual clothes. He sees Giulia leaned near the alley.

With a grin he puts a cigarette in his mouth and walks up to her. His colonge smells strong and gourmand.

"Hey. You got a light?"

October 7th, 12 o'clock Hour, The Garage | Erik
She blushes, slightly, at Erik's tone, and then gets annoyed that she did.

She seems satisfied you're not a threat and outs her revolver in a holster attached to her thigh. She walks toward the unconscious thugs, high heels clicking loudly.

"Some of these guys look like they'll need a hospital." She looks to Erik, quizzically. "So who are you? Good Samaritan?"



She approaches the groaning thug who appeared to be the leader, and, with an ungodly amount of force, stomps her heel into his upper thigh.

He half sits up and screams in pain

"Hey asshole!" She shoves a small picture in front of his face. "Have you seen her? Did you take this girl?! Look at it asshole!" She twists her heel and he cries out, further in pain. Her anger is palpable.

Erik watches the detective and her interrogation technique. A grin flashes across his face as watches. Feeling like he's in the mood to play nice, Erik answers her question. I saw them eyeing you in the club, their intent was rather obvious so I followed them. You pretty much know the rest.

Watching some more as Laurie continues to question the thug, Erik reaches over and gently pulls the picture out of Laurie's hand. Looking at it Erik tries to remember if he's seen her around the city or at the club. Who is she...a runaway?

October 7th, 12 o'clock Hour, The Garage | Erik
Erik, the picture is of a young woman, smiling happily at the camera. She wears a college sweatshirt, and her hair is in a relaxed tail.

It would be hard to recall and compare the girls appearance in the photo with women you see in the clubs.Laurie looks over to you. "She's not a runaway, she's my--" she sighs. "Shes my cousin. And just an ordinary 22 year old. Anne."

The gang member sputters that he's never seen Anne before. Resulting in Laurie stomping his leg again before she grabs his hair and pulls his head up until his neck is stretched out. She points at a tat on his neck.

"You see this," she asks Erik. "The tattoo of two yellow eyes and a two fangs. They deny it, but these assholes are a gang, The Boogeymen, and they all have this tat."

She releases the man's head, stands and walks closer to Erik. "It's not news yet, but young people are dissappearing--snatched off the streets after going out for the night. A couple have been attacked, and gotten away. In both cases they identified these tattoos as markers on the perps."

Erik looks at the picture and tries to think if he's seen her or not.

October 7th, 12 o'clock Hour, The Garage | Erik (Failure)
Erik, there have been too many faces in too many clubs to recall if you've seen this one young woman.

She watches Erik think over the photo, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Look... I'm not calling this in, so you're not gonna need to file a report."

She pushes her hair behind her ear. "To be honest, I'm not even supposed to be out here looking into this--I was told explicitly not to. But it's personal to me. And the "danger" isn't going to put me off."

She hands you her card. "I'm going to leave these losers here, and we can both pretend this never happened. But if you think of anything, or see anything, call me--what was your name?"