Roleplayer Guild - Forum Roleplaying Games

Nicky had spent the afternoon scouring the neighborhood for signs of a possible habitat. All day long he had been asking the residents about a particular photograph that he had brought with him. In it were two women with a striking resemblance. Both of them had long wavy hair that fell to their shoulders. Both of their faces bore dimpled smiles. And both of them had the look of innocence. How Ironic…

Kathrina or Kath as she was called today had a slimmer figure than her mother’s. Her skin was also of a lighter shade of brown. Her petite frame hid most of her potential for violence. She was more bloodthirsty and careless between the both of them. After all Isabella had lived for quite a while without drawing much attention to herself.

One of he florist in the vicinity recognized Kath. Said she had cut her hair shorter now. Apparently, she was still as charming as she was back in her old village. The florist had nothing but praises for her. Unfortunately, he didn’t know where the “poor girl” lived else he would have brought her flowers there himself. Nicky just said thanks and left the shop.

There were a few more people who recognized her. They said she a sweet girl but didn’t know where she lived. They couldn’t help out a “dear friend” who just wanted to see her again after all those long months.

That dear friend was looking for her now. Nicky was standing by the rooftop, his hand above his brow looking skyward. She frequented this area often looking for victims – most of the time innocents. He still had to pay her back for what she had done. Two people had been killed that night. There were bound to be more before and afterwards.

Nicky brought down his hand and relaxed his shoulders. He flexed his arms and gazed at the shelter in front of him. He smiled at a familiar figure behind the window. She was with that girl he had been watching the previous night.

Slowly, he got out his phone and dialed a familiar number. Four rings … someone picked up.

“Hi Banana, glad you could make it after all.”

Sara was humming to herself inside the van, simultaneously working on a hand-size rectangular object and watching the screens around her. Ri had hacked into various surveillance cameras in the area for her and these images were showing on a few of the displays, allowing her to keep an eye on everyone. The other monitors were hooked up to her own gadgets, which showed her a radar-like image of all sky, surface and underground movement in a one mile radius. So far nothing interesting had entered the area. Nothing they hadn’t seen before at least.

The object in her hand gave an audible beep and she looked down at it, frowning around a ratchet screwdriver she had wedged between her teeth. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Snatching a wrench up off the floor, she gave a few bolts a twist and waited. When the device remained silent she smiled. Much better. She slapped the rear panel back on and admired her handy work. The device looked somewhat similar to a small television remote, but with a wide grey screen across its top. She would need Ri to program it for her but, once they found out what they were actually hunting, the device should be able to track the monster down. Or at least narrow the search down a bit. The only problem was they would need some sample DNA. Sara was hoping Seth and Noelle would provide on that front.

She carefully set the tracking device aside and watched the screens, swinging back and forth on the van’s swivel chair. She was bored. She often got that way when she wasn’t tinkering with something. She’d been around machines since a very young age and, for some reason, they clicked with her. She saw them as puzzles. Every piece had a place and if all the pieces weren’t in their right spots, nothing would fit properly. Some kids were maths geniuses, some kids could hack Wall Street. She could pull a car apart and put it back together in one afternoon by the time she was twelve. When she’d been approached by the Agency, some had argued she was too young and immature, and in some ways she was, but she was one of the best at what she did and she was very serious about her job.

‘Well Stanley,’ she spoke the wrench in her hand, ‘all seems quite on the western front.’ She glanced at each of the screens in turn. ‘And every other front, for that matter.’ One of the displays caught her attention. On a rooftop across from the shelter, stood a familiar figure. She pressed a button linking her to the ear pieces of each of the team. ‘Heads up guys and gals, Nicky’s back in town. Oh, and Kiwi and Mandarin, you’ve got security headed your way.’

__________________

Seth turned his head slightly and looked around before speaking back to Sara through his earpiece quickly.
'What, seriously? Damnit...'
Looking towards Noelle, he sighed inwardly and covered up the body again.
'Come on, let's move before they get here, this might be a little hard to explain.'

As he was turning to leave, he saw a well built man in a blue shirt and tie with a baton and a badge saying 'Security' on.
'Bugger.' He said to himself quietly as he saw the man approach, and walked up to him, his hands in the air and a reassuring smile on his face. As he got close to the guard he pulls one of the studs from his leather collar and hid it in his hand, before patting the guard on the shoulder. Watching as the man fell to the floor convulsing violently, he sighed yet again and started to leave.

'Electric pulse, hits the nerves causing muscle spasms and also temporarily shutting off conscious signals from the brain to the body. Something I got Sara to help me with... Genius girl...' He said to Noelle quietly while stepping over the twitching unconscious body of the security guard and walked out of the door back to the car, and getting in.

He flicked the button on his earpiece gently and spoke into it.
'Me and Kiwi have examined the body, looks to be something that purposefully took the child, i'll send through a full report in a few minutes, looks like something that could have done it without disturbing the victim, that is until it ruptured the stomach somehow. Peach, when I send this file through, you might want to check it up on the database and see if there's anything similar on there. By the way, someone say hi to Nick for me.'

__________________
Van Hellsing Detective Agency - Hiring again!

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.
If You Have Already Abandoned Hope, Please Disregard This Signature.

"Dude, we really need to research this," Noelle said after a moment, "I've seen a similar case, it wasn't explained though."

She pulled her digital camera from her pocket, examining the pictures.

"We've established that the point of entry is the bellybutton, which I am guessing it then enters through the placenta down the umbilical cord, devouring the foetus and then moving to the stomach. It does explain it, but we definitely need to move those women elsewhere until it is safe, we can't risk anymore deaths at the hands of this killer."

Kundiman stood by the window where she could see the company truck parked. She knew she was in plain sight of everyone and that didn’t bother her at all. That meant her team knew where she was and that would make it easier to contact or locate her.

She faced Aimee, the doe eyed teen whose brown eyes saw things so gruesome that Kundiman couldn’t even begin to imagine... perhaps she could... she’d been through a lot of missions where she learned at least a hundred and one ways to butcher a human body. Perhaps she just couldn’t picture how this specific victim was, well, butchered.

Aimee leant on the wall near but not visible from the windows where Kundiman was framed. She had crossed her arms and she was staring straight at the television where a young man was struggling with a glowing green stone. The room’s heater had stopped working that afternoon and so the room was empty but for the two of them and a nun who was praying near the door. Most of the women had moved to the prayer rooms or their bedrooms where there was heat at least. Aimee didn’t seem to be bothered by the cold. Kundiman wouldn’t leave the girl alone. And so they stayed in the room, watching a rerun of a cover of a popular superhero.

“She used to be the pretty little prom queen you know.” Aimee said without taking her eyes off the screen.

“Are you talking about Cory?” Kundiman asked, referring to the victim who now lay dead, with her midsection shredded, in a morgue near the police station.

“Yeah. She was a bitch too. She kept on talking about it and bragging about it like somehow it sets her apart from everybody else here.” She snorted derisively. “A lot of good it did her. She told me she was the prettiest and the most liked girl of the bunch. The teacher who got her pregnant certainly thought so.”

“She was in a relationship with the teacher?” Kundiman hoped Aimee would say yes.

“Who needs a relationship when you can just rape the damn girl? She was asking for it. She was pretty right? Every girl who happens to be beautiful is just asking for it.” Aimee took her eyes off the screen and faced Kundiman. “That’s what she told me...”

Kundiman’s eyes darkened at the idea. More than half of the girls she had talked to were here because of abuse. That was a kind of pain she didn’t want to imagine. At least vampires didn’t have a choice about things. They needed to drink blood to survive. They were driven by a basic instinct to kill. And these... men, for lack of better terms, gave in to their baser instincts despite having an actual choice. They could not have thought with their d*cks. They could not have raped the girl. God, why blame others for their emotionally stunted growths? Why blame others for their pathetic impotence?

“And you? What do you think?”

“The person who did that to her deserves to be eviscerated. His insides should be churned with the violent tongue of death. He should have been the one to suffer through the pain of having his midsection shredded by an invisible thread. He should feel the pain of that needle piercing through skin and flesh and muscle. He should be the one to feel the burning pain of having life sucked out of you, of having talons dig into your skin, of having teeth sinking and ripping into your flesh—” Aimee suddenly stopped her litany and stared, pale and frightened at Kundiman.

“Is that what happened to her? You saw it? What did it?”

Aimee’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know, all I saw was a thread thing from the roof landing on her bellybutton. I couldn’t stop it because I was so scared!” tears fell unheeded down her cheeks. “Please, just drive whatever it is away. Don’t let it hurt me or my baby. It’s after me you know. I think it knows I saw it.” The woman sobbed.

“We won’t let it hurt you.” She embraced the young woman. We’ll guard each other. We won’t let anything happen to each other, alright? Shhh, hush now.”

“It might hurt me and my baby.”

“So you have to be strong for the baby. Pull yourself together; don’t let fear, anger or anything stop you from protecting it. Remember, they say the baby feels what the mommy feels right? C’mon, cheer up.”

Aimee nodded and began wiping her tears with the back of her hands. “I think I’m going to have my rest now. Aren’t you ready to turn in yet?”

“Not yet. I’ve trouble sleeping, don’t mind me, I’ll come in when I feel like it. Good night.” Kundiman smiled, already itching to call the group about the information she had gathered.

“Alright. Good night.” Aimee sniffed and walked out of the room. The nun who stayed by the door looked at Kundiman and smiled before following the girl to her room. Kundiman answered with a wink. She was still a little bitter about the woman being allowed to be a nun. She could be as good a nun as Ri. Maybe even better. She certainly looked more angelic than her.

She took out her phone, about to press the speed dial to the truck but an incoming call flashed in the screen and she answered it with a ready smile. “Hello—”

“Hey Banana, glad you can make it.”

She almost dropped the phone. The second she recognized the deep voice, emotion swept through her. It was almost overwhelming, if it weren’t for the fact that an ice cold wave of logic followed the tide so closely after.

“I’m sorry monsieur, ‘o eez zees banana zat vou are talking about? I believe vou ‘av called zee wrong number.” She hang up the phone. She would have spoken in French but the man spoke it too so it would have been useless. She did the next best thing and spoke with a heavy French accent; hopefully the man couldn’t decipher it. The gall of the man to call her now... to call her at all was considerable.

The phone rang again and she answered it, resisting the very tempting idea of throwing the phone against the wall. It would have wasted money, and Kundiman would be damned if she’d waste anymore of anything in his name. The man spoke, before she could even say “Hello.”

“C’mon banana, I can see you. I happen to be standing on the roof of the building next to yours. St. Anthony’s is it?”

Kundiman worked to get her voice sound pleasant. “Hello Nicholas, what demon bit your ass that you actually called me?”

“What demon bit yours that you actually answered it?”

“Touchy aren’t we?”

“We both know you just miss me. It won’t be long until you ask me to come around again.”

“In your wildest dreams honey.”

“Not particularly, I know the demon you’re after.”

Oh, of course you do! How the hell can you not? “Which demon Nicky, there are a lot of them out there.”

“The one that ripped open that little girl. I also know how to kill it.”

Goddamit.

“See I told you you’d ask me to come around again.”

“You had to transport a monster from wherever you’re from to Chicago just so you can say you’re needed? Anyway, since you know so much, come to tonight’s midnight meet. We need to brief the group. I’m sure they’d be happy to see you again.” She hung up, not giving him time to answer. She then calmly flipped her phone closed and walked towards the washroom. She had to brush her teeth. Talking to the man tended to cause that.

She was about the exit the door when a message from Sara flashed on her phone. She listened to it. “Heads up guys and gals, Nick is back in town.” Kundiman almost laughed. If only the message came before the man rang her up. Dammit. As if pregnant women being torn up weren’t enough.

__________________

...some people are only alive because it is illegal to kill them...

Ballog was sorely tempted to kill someone at that exact moment. To be precise, he wanted to kill the two people up on the roof with him. It's bad enough that they had to work with the two newcomers but now he was stuck with them on the roof while on the lookout for anything suspicious. Well, the... knight and his assistant were on the lookout anyway. Him? He was too busy going through his contacts' reports about recent developments.

So far there hasn't been anything that they didn't already know so it wasn't all that useful. At least there was one interesting thing that he noticed, not that he could remember if it was already on the report nor did he care. All the victims had been attacked at night, that had to count for something at least. There had been no sightings lately but that was understandable. If it was so easy to find then they would have gotten word of it sooner.

'At the very least they should know about this,' he thought. Pulling out a cellphone, he sent a message to everyone, excluding the two with him on the roof, telling them that they should save their energy for tonight. For a moment he debated with himself whether or not to tell the two behind him but figured he'd probably get in trouble if he let those two tire out and become useless should the creature attack later that night.

"Hey," he called out to the two, not even bothering to look up from his laptop. "I suggest you two don't waste your energy. If the reports I got are right then the creature won't attack until nighttime so keeping watch right now is useless."

There, now nobody could say he didn't tell them anything. Whether or not they listen, well, that's a different matter altogether. Though he was hoping that the inquisitor would insist on staying vigilant. Hearing his cellphone ringing, he picked it up and answered the call. "Go on," he paused, listening to his contact speaking on the other line. "Good work. If you see anything suspicious send word immediately."

Ending the call, he leaned back against the wall. Now all he had to do was wait for word from his contacts or for night to arrive, whichever came first.

__________________

Click … the other line went dead.

Nicky dropped his head and allowed his chin to rest on the phone in his hands. His lips curved ever so slightly upward before it was replaced a stern frown. It was nice to hear from her again but he could still trace a hint of hurt during their conversation. He felt a pang of guilt come over him at that moment. Normally he respected her wishes and the boundaries that she had set up but he could really use some help in this case.

Maybe she could unload some of that aggression on Kath. Kundi was good at that sort of thing. She’d have this calm demeanor, but when she’d vent her rage – oh boy there’d be hell. Kath deserved no less. Most manananggals were content to drain blood from their victims. Some were wary or considerate enough just to leave mothers with an unfortunate miscarriage. This creature brutally murdered every one of her victims. But she seems to have learned a bit from when she was in the remote provinces. She had become stealthy and evasive as of late. A necessity when you’re in the city. Too many dangers…

Nicky looked at a familiar van parked beside the shelter. He waved casually at it knowing who was probably inside and mouthed the words “see you later”. He turned back to the stairway behind him. Maybe he’d watch a bit of Idol before he came to the midnight meet. He had grown to like both Davids and hoped they’d make it to the finals.

The habit was beginning to itch. Her scalp was getting prickly. Ri tried to ignore it as she walked Aimee back to her room. She needed to get back online. Plus, making small talk with Aimee was like listening to TV on mute. Her mumbles were that low. Ri sighed. At least she spoke to Kundiman. Or at least that was it looked like.

After making sure Aimee was tucked in and resting, Ri stepped outside the room and reached for her notebook. Sara phoned in and told her the news. Ri closed the connection to her phone. So...Nicky was back. If her files served her right (and they always do), something had happened between him and Kundiman. What now, hmmm? Ri thought, smirking. Fireworks between two people was fascinating to watch when hostility was in play.

Wondering away from Aimee's room Ri typed rapidly and searched their database for a possible connection to their monster. She entered the office, smiled in relief when it was empty and headed for the nearest flat surface. Ri frowned at what she saw on screen. Judging from the photos Noelle sent in, what their target did was completely hideous. She barely kept her food from coming back up. It's all so angry. So very angry. Ri paled at the flood of memories that threatened to pour before shaking them away. She had a job to do. Scanning the listing of those most probable to be their monster, Ri noticed that the list was made up of creatures that generally inhabit Asian countries. If so, why here in the US then? How did it get here? A ringing from ear phones brought her back.

"Wrap it up, it's time for our meeting." Ri immediately closed her notebook and stood to leave. She stopped at the sight of herself in the mirror by the desk. Smiling at herself, she wondered what her father would think about her dressed like this. She remembered the irritation in Kundiman's eyes. Giving out a small laugh, Ri left the room. Her father would have had a heart attack and Kundiman was just going to have to live with it.

"Is it all set up?" Kundiman asked quietly as soon as she saw Ri step out of the room. She was referring to the motion detector device and the video camera that they had put in the room with Aimee and the rest of the girls as part of their surveillance.

"Yup, no cockroach can enter the room unnoticed. Don't worry."

"Oh God, of all the examples you can give, you just had to mention cockroaches." Kundiman shivered, disgusted at the thought. She rummaged through her bag and looked ang pulled out a can of bug spray, feeling such relief when her hand closed around the cold metal container.

"Sorry. Anyway, we'll see everything from the truck so I don't think Aimee'll be in any danger."

"That's reassuring. She saw the whole thing happen. The creature has a needle like thing come down from the roof to cut her open. She actually used the words shred the midsection so it's not like I'm exagerating."

"I didn't think you were."

They reached the hallway, nearing the back exit of the shelter. Kundiman looked around and when she was sure no one was around, she opened the fire exit and stepped into the night. She saw the truck and she had to take a deep breath before starting towards it. It was going to be a long night.

"It's almost midnight, why aren't they here yet? And why haven't I heard from Marcus? Did he find out anything?" Kundiman said as Sara opened the door of the truck.

"They're on their way, don't worry." Sara greeted.

"Hopefully, they hurry. I just want to get things over with. I want the beach already. I want a massage. I want an umbrella-ed drink. I want to do sunbathing and most of all hot, tanned men to adore me and pay for everything." Kundiman sat beside Sara in a swiveling chair, closing her eyes and envisioning the comfort. "Oh God, I can't wait to get away from everything! From battling butt-ugly creatures that eat human flesh, from staying in this dreary and cockroach infested neighborhood and no offense, from waking up and greeting you people every damned day!" She sighed. "I don't even know why I dress up so well everyday. You guys don't appreciate Manolo or Gucci or Natori at all."

There was a knock on the truck's door. "Ooh here they are."

__________________

...some people are only alive because it is illegal to kill them...

The church bells sounded as midnight mass was held. Brother Antony said a quick prayer asking forgiveness - full penance would have to be granted later, when he was in front of a priest acting for the Lord. Confessions were something the Brother didn't like. They made him anxious, and the demeanour of his personal priest-confessional made him faint. His hand reached for the sword he had only used in training exercises and he drew it, pointing it about in the air.

The others on the roof stared at him.

He sighed. What was the point of having a sword if you never got to use it? Semi-automatics and pistols were well and good against human adversaries, but against the servants of the Adversary, nothing worked quite as well as a sword blessed by Him. That was more than enough proof of the Lord's existence, at least for Antony. He'd heard stories that his mentor, Sir Brightglory, had even spoken with St. Michael. They were, of course, stories, and Sir Brightglory didn't enjoy speaking of them, so he didn't push it.

His mentor scared him, on occasion. Not because he was a bad person, far from it. But more because he was the most visible extension of the Lord's will Antony had, and anyone like that could easily kill Antony by poking him. Not that his tutor would do such a thing, but still. The thought was there, in the back of his mind, and he prayed that he never strayed too far from the path of Light so as to fall from grace, as Lucifer did. We can fall for the best of reasons, after all.

He knew that whatever it was they were hunting would soon arrive. He knew nothing of the beast, because no one told him anything. He was just 'Sir Brightglory's assistant', to the hunters. He'd have to prove otherwise through valiant deeds and actions - just as fair. That test would be his final one. If he could win their hearts, he thought, he will have found his Voice, and his Vocation will be complete - as long as his ruler for all eternity (His Holiness) obliged.

For people often misunderstand vocations. They are not the goals are not ones that higher powers assign you: rather, they are the choices you make in fulfilling these goals. If you 'save the village' by murdering half of it, you have hardly fulfilled your vocation. The letter-of-the-law is not what God is interested in. God doesn't seen flags, he doesn't see faces, nor countries, nor even religions. He sees hearts. All Brother Antony could do was pray his heart could see God.