"You know you'd be shaking your ass here too. Oh, wait."

Izzy stuck her tongue out and flipped Madison off. "Rude." She then turned her attention to the bottom of the stairs. Izzy had to stand on her toes, and crane her neck to get a look at what was going on. Upon seeing the bound girls and vampires, she squeaked and hid back behind the group.

Immediately, everyone was taking action and shit started happening. Izzy had to avert her eyes from the naked one. "Please put some clothes on dude. I've seen a lot of naked guys before, but you're gonna burn out my retinas." She gagged.

Once the entrance became clear, Izzy flipped open her knife and ran to the nearest girl. She decided to focus on cutting the girls free and getting them out of there. The binds took a bit of work to get through though, especially since her knife wasn't the sharpest. It had dulled through being used to open packages and letters.

Izzy hoped that the others would take care of the vampires, but braced herself for an attack just in case.

Herik could tell Emily was trying to be emphatic, even though it fell flat. He accepts it for what it's supposed to be and smiled all the same.

"Well... my sister's in a similar position to your mother. She got attacked by an apparition and currently... she's dying of some kind of curse. The hospital bills are piling up...It's why I joined the Coven. But, I doubt anyone here can help."
- Emily

“But what if we tried to track down the Apparition and use it to find a way to reverse your sister’s curse. Like creating an antivenom from the snake that bit you, you know?”
- Vashti

"I think Vashti has the right idea. Do you know what Apparition cursed her?" If she does, then she's in the lead for helping her sister. Herik can't say the same, since he doesn't know 100% what's wrong with her mother, but he'll find out. Another idea came to mind, something he found in his research about the different types of Extra-Normal, but he couldn't put...his...finger...A child in a blue t-shirt ran by him, followed by his father calling his name. "Ah ha!" He got it. "There's a type of Adept, correct. One that deals with curses. The blue one. I don't think anyone in the Coven has blue, but we could find someone that does, right?" He looked at Vashti, remembering what she and the others talked about when they met at DQ. "Kimberly Walton was in contact with the Coven when Agatha was leader." He smile fell a little at the thought of their ex-member, but that wasn't important now. "If we can find her she might know something that can help the both of us." He turned back to Emily, smile brighter than ever now that he had an idea he thought was the best course of action.

"Maya, Madison, knock 'em out for me."

Part of Madison wanted to snark about Lyss not wanting to be the leader and yet she was acting like it. Still, they had to take out these freaks to save the girls. Maya was quick to sound blast the naked one... which sucked because she wanted to take that guy out. Her ears were ringing from the blast and, really, really would have liked some warning. She rolled her eyes as she focused on the other goon and charged him. She grabbed onto him and pinned him up against the wall. If she remembered them from way earlier, they were nowhere near as strong as her.

"Hey, get off me," Jordan said. "Bitch!"

James was sent flying across the room by Maya's sound blast and he slammed against the wall. Fortunately, the blood he just consumed made him a bit stronger. A lot stronger. And it had the side effect of putting him on hard. He growled as he transformed... his arms lengthened, growing wings, as he was covered in fur. He grew razor-sharp claws as his face transformed to that of a bat. He also had a weird bat penis. He growled as he lunged at Maya with his claws outstretched and bringing that weird penis closer to her.

Frederick looked at Lyss and had an eloquent response to her demands,

"... Fuck you, dyke!"

Frederick looked at the one bitch that was cutting them free and his blood boiled. He quickly reached behind him and pulled his pistol out of his waistband and pointed it at Alyssa. "Hands in the air, bitch!"

"Okay," Taylor said with a wry grin on her face.... as she created a round flaming barrier in between the two. The barrier was fortunate enough to provide them protection... however the alarm went off and the room was doused in water. It seems that, in her buzzed logic, she forgot about the alarm. ".... Shit." She was soaked and her abstraction was now useless.

Frederick pulled out his phone as he quickly called Pa with the pistol drawn at them, "Pa! We need backup!" He shouted as he looked at Izzy and threw a kick directly towards her face. Not gonna let that bitch ruin this. He pulled the trigger and... it just clicked. He forgot he sold his bullets.

"... I think we need backup," Taylor muttered towards Lyss, realizing that this would be a bit of a bitch.

“Not to sound cheesy, but isn’t that the point of the Coven? To help out one another in a time of need?”

Emily coughed.

"... Some of the people here are under the impression it's a social club for lonely lesbians."

And yet again she was failing at this nicer thing. She shrugged. It was true in her eyes, but that wasn't the point. Vashti brought up something that she tried before.

“I’m sure there’s something we can do! I’m not going to pretend like I know a lot about this stuff but what if we tried to track down the Apparition and use it to find a way to reverse your sister’s curse. Like creating an antivenom from the snake that bit you, you know?”

Emily sighed.

"I tried to look for it," Emily shrugged as she finally took a seat. She didn't even look at Vashti (not out of disrespect), but her idea wasn't entirely unfounded. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack... I've been hunting for every Apparition that I can find, and yet none of them are useful. I just seal them and toss them away." Out of boredom, she grabbed a bunch of ware rolled up in a tissue.

She shrugged,

"It's some tick apparition, didn't ever catch its name...."

"Ah ha!" He got it. "There's a type of Adept, correct. One that deals with curses. The blue one. I don't think anyone in the Coven has blue, but we could find someone that does, right?"

"Yeah," Emily just affirmed as she shrugged. She focused on Herik's forehead as she responded. "Those are hard to come by, unfortunately." If she knew where one was, she would have found one already.

"Kimberly Walton was in contact with the Coven when Agatha was leader. If we can find her she might know something that can help the both of us."

Emily had heard bits and pieces about Kimberly... not really anything that interested her. However, she could only chuckle at the fact that Herik thinks that some loon with a camera could help them. If she and Agatha were in cahoots with each other (behind everyone's backs apparently); this Kimberly was probably just as competent as Agatha was.

"... This is the first time I heard about this," Emily had a bit of bitterness in her voice about this arrangement. Did Kayla know? Did Kayla even care? "She's a celebrity, do you think she's legit? And if she is, she won't just be using my sister to boost her own fame...."

---

Ears ringing and blocking out all noise, Maya looked in horror as the one she hit transformed into a horrific bat creature. Complete with a disgusting… bat dick. She straight up just wanted to bleach her eyes at the sight of it. She felt sick all over again and the sheer shock of what she was seeing stopped her from attacking him even as he transformed.

She screamed, soundless to her own ears, as he leapt at her claws first - though her worry was less the claws and more that. She brought her arms up to her face as she blasted the surrounding area with sound waves in reaction. She didn’t care even as she realised how stupid it was to hit everything around her… just immediately afterwards shot another directed blast at the naked abomination even as her head spun.

The sprinklers suddenly started as she started to shuffle back towards the stairs, shivering from the sudden shower and loud ringing in her ears - there was no way she was hearing anytime soon. She was certain that her attacks won’t have done much more than keep him away from her… what more could she do but constantly hit him until it tired her out?

---

Vashti tapped a finger against her chin to think of another idea after Emily revealed that what Vashti had suggested was equivalent to telling someone with clinical depression that they should just try being happy. A tick Apparition? If it was literally the size of a tick, it would be damn near impossible to just find out in swamp country. Vashti eyes drifted to follow a server carrying a tray of food, losing their luster as it passed by their table without stopping, and then she quickly glanced back at Emily. Now wasn’t the time to worry about her stomach, even if the last thing she remembered eating was just the empty calories of a DQ Blizzard and, possibly, part of an engine.

Herik had a better idea. Vashti sat up straighter in her seat as he explained that there were Adepts who could deal with curses. Maybe if they found one to help Emily’s sister that Adept could also, in turn, help Vashti with her Leviathan problem. Herik suggested getting in contact with Kimberly, and Vashti lifted her feet and tucked them under herself to boost herself up even higher as Emily expressed her uncertainty

“She’s totally legit!” shouted Vashti, her excitement a little too high when compared to the average peaks of the typical Red Lobster diner. Her chair rocked back dangerously on two legs before it settled down as she pointed a finger at Emily. “I know from first hand experiences when she helped me. Temporarily, anyway, but that’s not her—whatever! I have her number!”

Except Kimberly’s number had been lost. Vashti shoulders dropped and her face tightened, “I had her number. But it shouldn’t be hard to get in touch with her, right Herik? I’m sure Agatha would give us her number, or we could just try getting in touch with her through a fansite.”

---

As Lyss tried to avoid looking at the horrible and naked bat, she was glad that at least Madison was there with her Jaws to help. Now, all that left was Izzy helping the bound girls, and Lyss was stuck fighting the biggest guy in the room. Thankfully he was fully clothed.

"Fuck you, Dyke!"

Lyss gripped the riding crop tightly and put her left foot behind her. If he charged, she'd have to use his weight against him. Maybe a slap to the nose with the crop to make him hurt, and then an attempt to trip him over his big stupid feet to get him off balance. She was just about to go through with the maneuver when she saw him reach behind his back. Fuck.

A gun. Why didn't she expect these assholes to be carrying more than just a straw to drink their blood from? She felt her blood run cold when he aimed it her way. While she was thankful that he didn't aim it at Izzy, she was now stuck in a compromised position. Her stance faltered, and her face expressed her loss of thought for a moment as she stared at the barrel of the pistol. For one extremely brief moment, Lyss didn't know what to do. Save the girls, ruin the sigils, stop them from doing anymore harm- gun...?

Flames erupted between the two and Lyss was given a moment to breathe as she thought there was a silver lining to the situation. But, the vamp and the witches were soon reminded that they were indoors, and that sprinklers existed. Lyss lowered the riding crop as the water poured down from above. Her eyes moved to the sigils on the walls in the hopes that the water would wash the fresh paint away. Please, please, work.

The vamp pulled his phone out while Lyss felt her hair and clothes become drenched in water. "Pa! We need backup." We're outnumbered already. She stepped forwards as the vamp kicked out at Izzy's head. Her rage at the sight of the vamp even attempting to hurt one of the girls engulfed her mind, but when he aimed the gun at her head and clicked Lyss was lost to fear once more.

Nothing happened. Empty chamber She thought, and relief flood through her. She gripped the riding crop again and brought it up beside her head like she would have with her bat. She heard Taylor to her left, but as much as she knew they needed backup, she needed to take care of the unarmed vamp in front of her first. With a forceful swing, Lyss stepped forwards and drove the riding crop against the vamp's nose. She then stepped backwards and sent her left foot's heel right into his nuts.

Maya screamed nearby, and Lyss was knocked back against the wall from the blasts. Her ears rung, and she looked over at the vamp just to make sure that he was hurting too.

"Taylor, go upstairs and get the DENs agents!" She shouted. "Call the others while you're up there. Just get yourself out of here." She backed away from the vamp and brought the crop against the wall as she did. She drug it across the wet paint and smeared as many sigils as she could with the time she had before the vamp retaliated. It wasn't going to be a fair fight. He had the strength and the speed to take her out, but if she could hold him off long enough for the DENs and the other Coven girls to get there it would be worth it.

"Who are you trying to summon, big guy? Who put you up to this?" She asked, her hand gesturing for Taylor to be on her way. "There's no way your dumb-ass boss would know of these sigils. Do you even know who you're summoning? They're probably going to eat you, too."

---

---

Interactions:

"Mah balls!" James shouted as the sound blast hit him there. Except it was a shrill-shriek, that was inhuman. Fortunately, with the blood he received giving him a boost, he was able to take the attack... even after hitting the wall so hard that it cracked. He felt something crack on his body.

The riding crop hit Frederick directly on the nose and he hissed as he grasped it with one hand. What didn't help was that this slut bringing down her foot directly on his balls. "Ouch, I wouldn't hit you there, bitch!" He shouted as she asked who put them up to it, "It was Blake Schmidt! He made a deal with the Outsider! We're just getting paid, chick!"

Lyss gave Taylor an order... and to be frank it was kinda the only thing she could do soaking wet. "On it!" Taylor shouted as she charged up the stairs, pushing Quinn's drunk ass out the way. She made it up the stairs and realized something... she only got the barest glances at them. Still, it wouldn't be hard to find two old chicks in a bar. But the priority in her eyes was contacting the others for help. If the vampires called for backup, then getting the rest of the Coven should be a priority. Fortunately, Taylor was let into the Coven's Snapchat group, so she pulled out her phone and pulled out a DM.

Girls come to veni vedi veni we need help

Afterward, she put her phone away as she went to go find those two lovely ladies they spoke so glaringly about.

Madison was keeping the other one pinned against the wall while she looked over her shoulder. Maya and Lyss handled the other two (and the other three members of their group were kinda just there). Madison knew that they had the situation under control. She was holding this degenerate by his arm just so he wouldn't activate any sigils.

However, a switch went off in James' weird bat head (and not that one). He shook his head as the world was still spinning, and would probably keep spinning. He was nauseous, in pain, and he thinks he pissed himself. He looked down. It was just blood. The lesser evil at this point! He saw the glowing sigils on the wall and quickly lunged for the nearest one and then the strippers that were bound started screaming. They were engulfed in orange light as they disappeared.

"No!" Madison screamed as she let go of Jordan as her heart sunk. This gave Jordan the perfect opportunity to cheapshot Madison in the face... and break his hand on contact.

---

Seeing that she’d successfully stopped the naked bat dude from coming closer to her, and even by some miracle managed to hit him there, Maya let out a shaky breath. Using the wall nearby to support her, she pulled herself back up to standing on shaking legs. All the sounds around her were muted, barely there through the intense ringing in her ears. She looked towards Lyss to see that she was still alright (Madison could definitely handle herself) but it seemed that she’d taken pretty good care of the other one.

And Taylor had run upstairs which meant they’d hopefully get some backup soon.

She glanced towards the one she’d slammed into the wall to see him lunging towards one of the sigils. No. She shouldn’t have taken her eyes off of him… she shouldn’t have stopped hitting him until she was sure he couldn’t get up. She prepared to hit him again but was too late as he activated the sigil and the strippers disappeared.

“You piece of shit!” she shouted, even though it came out heavily accented and barely understandable (not that she could hear it herself). “I’m going to fucking-” she cut herself off, clenching her fists and realising that actions spoke louder than words… that she could barely speak, due to her current deafness.

Maya took a clumsy step forward and held her hands up even as they shook with anger, slamming James with yet another blast of sound. It knocked her backwards against the wall, which she used to stop herself from falling even as she let out a hiss of pain. It was worth it to hit him again… and she’d keep doing it until every bone in his body was broken. She narrowed her eyes at him, ready to blast him again if he could still move.

---

"It was Blake Schmidt! He made a deal with the Outsider!"

Lyss froze in her steps, the riding crop dropping to the floor. She felt her breath hitch in her throat. Anger boiled up inside of her like a volcano about to erupt, but the chills that were sent down her back when she heard the Outsider's name cooled the anger and froze it in place. No... No, no no. She stared at the vampire at a loss for words. How did he...? Where did he find it? It can't be true.

She was broken out of her stupor by the flash of orange light. Her arm came up to cover her eyes and she shut her eyes tightly. When the light had faded and she opened them again, the strippers were gone. "No... You didn't... I..." She felt her hands begin to shake as she lowered her arm.

Everything was fuzzy. Her heart felt like it had dropped into her stomach and was being eaten by the acid within. So many girls... gone. Madison's colleagues, friends. The Outsider had gotten her sacrifice. Twelve girls... Just twelve. She still needs eight more. As devastated as she was, she felt determination rising within her. Her shaky hands clenched into fists, and the rage within her began to crack the layer of fear that was holding it back. Her eyes became ice cold, and she looked at the tall vampire and gave him one of the coldest stares she'd ever given. "You haven't won yet, bastard." Her voice shook with the emotions swirling around inside of her.

"If you continue to do the Outsider's bidding, she will rise. At full strength, she will annihilate anything in her path. Including you." She took a step towards him, unafraid of any blows he might send her way. "Your drugs, your family of bloodsuckers, and your life are worthless to her. Even Blake fucking Schmidt won't survive it."

"Do you really want that? Whatever you're getting paid, it won't matter. All that money, and all that power you will be given, will be taken away from you the moment she gets bored. She will destroy you and all that there is in this world..."

"...and you won't be able to stop her."

"...and you won't be able to stop her."

"Shit, you're right" Frederick's seeming only functional brain cell activated as he realized pretty much everything that Lyss just said was right. They were fucked if they let the Outsider get to full power. "Stand down boys!" He shouted.

"Ouch!" James said as he was slammed against the wall one more time. Okay, even though he was tough and his emotional field was protecting him... this was honestly starting to hurt. He was bleeding as he glanced over towards Fredick and Jordan... and heard that Frederick told them to stand down. He did something even better! He passed out due to pain, blood loss, and probably getting his balls destroyed.

"... You didn't just punch me," Madison hissed as she whipped around and punched Jordan in the chest so hard that the loud cracking of bones was heard. He passed out in sheer pain and agony as his fucking rib cage was caved in... which was what she probably should have done in the first place. Her heart had sunk seeing her friends getting sacrificed... but then she realized the ugly, bitchy, strippers were sacrificed too.

"Look!" Frederick said as he hissed in pain, "We just wanted to get high, can you blame us? I'm sorry!"

The Jaws deactivated as Madison brushed off her hands as she walked over to Frederick. And crossed her arms, her eyes were narrowed as she was practically twitching. "... Sorry doesn't get my friends back, does it?" She asked.

Then something strange happened. Something that Madison has never seen or experienced before. The Jaws had manifested again, on her back, three long snake-like necks that were strange skeletons that ended with a small T-Rex skull. They arced their necks downwards until their heads were next to Madison and spoke in a deep menacing and bestial voice to not just her, but everyone listening,

"... The Outsider isn't fully powered yet," One head spoke,

"We must rip her to shreds before she reaches full power." Then the one next to it continued the sentence.

"Then perhaps we can save the souls of your friends." Then the final head finished the sentence.

"If we fail,"

"Then the Outsider's rampage begins again..."

"... And we all suffer."

"Umm..." Madison was honestly thrown off by the Jaws... because it never did this before. Was it the fucking alcohol fucking with her? The Jaws was usually the least talkative out of all the Apparitions.

Then they heard a massive crash upstairs and a lot of screaming.

"... What fucking now?"

---

And what a night Meifeng was having. She shoved a twenty dollar bill between the stockings of a stripper so flat that she wondered how she got employed here! She had a titty in one hand and orange juice mixed with vodka in the other! Cindy wasn't having as much fun as her but Meifeng needed this... And what this night better was that annoying Coven was staying far, far, away from her.

There was screaming out the front door as she saw some headlights... and a fucking red ford explorer came crashing through the front doors and sent debris everywhere. Meifeng's heart started pumping as she used her arm to shield herself from it, so did Cindy. When the dust settled they heard a lot of coughing as a shirtless hick jumped off the bed of the pickup.... with katanas duct-taped to his arms.

Meifeng sat there, still with a titty in hand. Staring in abstract shock as she wondered what in the world was going on here?

"... What the fuck did you do that for?!" A female redneck shouted as she climbed out the passenger side.

"So we can let them know what's coming for them!" The one in the driver seat replied.

"Do we even know what we're doing here?" Another one said.

"Yeah, where even is Frederick?"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Shit."

Meifeng immediately pivoted in her seat and let go of that stripper as she said to the bartender,

"... Another round, please."

And prayed to whatever deity would listen that she could recover this night.

“She’s totally legit! I know from first-hand experiences when she helped me. Temporarily, anyway, but that’s not her—whatever! I have her number!”

"... That remains to be seen,"

Hmph.

Emily still wasn't all that convinced... probably because she didn't know the slightest bit about this girl in front of her. Not even her name. And if she was like the rest of the Coven; she was either stupid, useless, annoying, or a horrifying mixture of all three. Emily shook her head as she was barely convinced to trust Kimberly... however, Emily didn't have any other options. She shrugged. Beggars can't be choosers and it'd be stupid to dismiss her without at least hearing her out. There was one thing on her mind.

"... Sounds like you have experience with her," Emily started, her eyes were still forward, away from Vashti. "Mind sharing, if you don't mind me prying?"

“I had her number. But it shouldn’t be hard to get in touch with her, right Herik? I’m sure Agatha would give us her number, or we could just try getting in touch with her through a fansite.”

"Have fun getting it from Agatha," Emily chuckled as she played with her hair. "That loon probably changed her name and took her ass to Cuba."

Finding Kimberly shouldn't be super hard... provided that she even wants to be found. Emily shrugged, again, it's not like she'll lose anything by trying. "I'll try a fansite," She shrugged. Better than nothing, she guessed. Maybe a supernatural expert like that should make herself easier to get in contact with. Emily pulled out her phone as the Snapchat group had a notification...

Girls come to veni vedi veni we need help

Emily seethed as, again, the Coven got themselves in trouble. Goodness fucking gracious, it was almost like they couldn't go five seconds without getting into or causing trouble. Emily rolled her eyes as she assumed that Herik would jump to their rescue. To be honest, here, she knew that they weren't smart enough to avoid trouble but smart enough to get themselves out of it. Which was why Emily wasn't rushing to their rescue.

Still, they have to look out for each other.

"... It's every weekend with them, is it?" Emily said to herself as she looked at Herik, "I know for a fact you're going to jump through hoops for them, but I'm going just to be sure it isn't serious."

Then her eyes landed on Vashti,

"... You have a ride, right? There's space for one more on my moped."

Izzy tried to keep focus as chaos erupted around her. There was a gun pulled and a wall of fire thrown up only to start the sprinklers. The ropes were beginning to finally fray as Izzy got soaked from above. But as luck would have it, some dickwad kicked her in the head. Izzy's knife skid across the slick floor as her body heavily fell to the side. She tried to reorient herself, and noticed the gun pointed at her. Instinctively, she curled up bringing her arms up to protect her head. Oh god. This was it. She was gonna die on the floor of a strip club basement.

Click

Izzy flinched, expecting pain. After a moment of nothing, she looked up to see Lyss start to beat the shit out of the Vampire. Relief flooded Izzy's system, and she shakily crawled over to retrieve her knife. She flinched hard once again as Maya decided to break everyone's eardrums. This fucking sucked. This FUCKING SUCKS. Izzy was about ready to just fucking give up and lie in a fucking puddle until someone killed her, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Quinn stumble over.

"Got your back... Go... Go get 'em."

She barely managed to hear through the ringing. But, with the way she was stumbling and shaking, Quinn wasn't exactly the picture of optimism. However, just having someone watch her back was enough to give Izzy the motivation to continue cutting the girl from her binds. She gave a slow nod to her covenmate and with difficulty began back at her job. The knife was slippery and Izzy's hands were shaking, so progress was even slower.

The ropes finally fell away, and Izzy felt a rush of happiness run through you. Which of course was instantly decimated as the girl she had just released began screaming and a bright orange light briefly blinded Izzy. She could only stare wide eyed as the space in front of her was empty. Looking around the room, it seemed as though all the bound girls had disappeared.

"What the FUCK is going on," Izzy whispered, as hot tears welled up in her eyes. The mix of frustration, fear, and alcohol finally got to her. Her makeup had already be ruined by the sprinklers, and soon tears began to mix with the cold water on her skin. She couldn't do much but grip her knife and watch as the fight seemed to cool down. Izzy really didn't understand who or what they were talking about, but it sounded like something big was going on. Izzy was tired, though. She brought her knees into her chest and laid her head on top of them. She took in a deep shaky breath trying to calm down-

CRASH

Please no.

Herik was excited when Vashti revealed she had Kimberly's number, just to dash his hopes when she said she lost it. Okay, so it won't be that easy to get a hold of her, but he'll help Emily however he can. "I'll also contact her on a fansite. More than one of us trying to get her attention should work better than one."

The waiter arrived with their appetizers just as his phone buzzed with a notification. He pulled it out. Oh no. The girls are in trouble. What kind of trouble could they get into at a strip club that wasn't of a sexual nature? Unless that's why they're in trouble. Let him find out someone sexually assaulted them and there'd be hell to pay. He didn't like throwing his weight around, but he could for the Coven.

"... It's every weekend with them, is it? I know for a fact you're going to jump through hoops for them, but I'm going just to be sure it isn't serious."
- Emily

"Yes, it seems every weekend is trouble, even when some of us isn't involved. I'll be right behind you. I have to settle the food first." He grabbed the waiter's attention. "Could you wrap this up for us and how long will it take for the pizza to finish?" The waiter said another twenty minutes. That's too long to wait.

"I'll pay for the meal if you could box it up when it's finished. I'll be back to pick it up." He looked at Emily. "Keep me posted on the situation. I'll be there as fast as I can." The waiter left to the get the check and boxes for the food. "Vashti you can ride with me if you don't mind waiting." And she could eat on the way. He knows she's hungry. It took a few minutes for the waiter to come back and another ten for Herik to pay for the food and box it up. Afterwards he hit the road on his way to the strip club, phone in his hand and unlocked. He looked at it for updates every time he came to a traffic light.

---

"Shit, you're right."

Steam would have been shooting out of Lyss's ears if this was a cartoonish reality. Lyss glared at the vampires as Frederick told them to cool it, and when the girls knocked the other two vamps out cold she felt like they'd been taught a good lesson by this.

"Sorry doesn't get my friends back, does it?"

Madison was completely right. Lyss felt her stomach twist, and the shame of letting those girls get sacrificed turned her usually pale face red. How could I have let that happen? She thought bitterly. The shame she felt for losing this battle made it hard to be surprised when the Jaws manifested in a different way than usual.

Lyss looked at the three headed appearance of the apparition. His presence felt stronger than she'd ever felt. The look on Madison's face meant that this had never happened before.

"... And we all suffer."

Lyss's stomach twisted even further. Into a knot that she felt only alcohol could unravel. It was all her fault. She'd told Blake fucking Schmidt about The Outsider, and he used his power and wealth to find the music box. Why didn't she see it coming? Why did she think an ancient spirit would scare him into staying away from it? All Blake heard was "ancient power" and his god complex did the rest.

She was going to kill Blake Schmidt.

She turned to the last conscious Vampire, her eyes fierce and almost ablaze with anger. She opened her mouth to speak, but flinched when the crash was heard upstairs. Whose reinforcements? Ours or theirs? Will he still attack? She pressed her lips together for a moment. I can't let him walk away from this without giving us answers first.

She reached down beside her and picked up the riding crop again. It wouldn't do much harm to his arms or cheek, but it would sting enough. She whacked him across the shoulder first.

"If you want to save any fucking ounce of morals you have after today, you're going to tell me exactly how Blake Schmidt found the music box that contained the Outsider." She whacked him again. "Now!"

---

Vashti fumbled with the straw in her water glass and almost poked herself in the eye as Emily asked her to share how she knew Kimberly. She let out a long um as all three of their phones buzzed right as the food arrived. She moved to shove a handful of mozzarella sticks in her mouth, wincing in agony as she was scalded by the burning hot low-moisture cheese. Vashti grabbed another one. She figured as long as she was eating food, she was expected to answer Emily’s question. A look of worry crossed Herik’s face while one of annoyance appeared on Emily, and for a moment Vashti thought they were judging her unladylike table manners. Only then did she put down the fried cheese tubes and look at the message that they all received.

Girls come to veni vedi veni we need help

How? Did they get caught with a fake ID trying to purchase a twenty dollar PBR? Did that one girl try to sleep with one of the strippers? Vashti frowned, remembering what Emily had said about the Coven. Did all of them try to sleep with one of the strippers? If it was something stupid like them getting in trouble with the club security there was nothing she could do, and if it was something serious like them discovering the strip club was run by a skinwalker there was nothing she could do. Still, she felt her neophyte status tug on her sleeves. She had to make up for her unimpressive display at the meeting.

“Just in case it’s serious I’m going to go with Emily,” said Vashti. She pulled out a stack of twenties from her jacket and, without thinking about it, passed more than was necessary to pay for the food and leave an unforgettable tip thrice over. “Since you’re getting our next one, this one’s on me.”

Vashti moved to follow after Emily, but paused after taking a few steps away from the table. If things kept on spiraling out of control like this she’d never have an opportunity to tell Herik about the Leviathan, and this way she wouldn’t have to deal with the awkward car ride once she did. Quickly she whipped back around and bolted over to the table where Herik was still sitting.

“Also I kinda sorta omitted the fact earlier that I am also cursed to transform into a weird mutant alligator that might be the physical embodiment of chaos and wanton destruction and I’m pretty sure I punched out a federal police truck that was snooping around your guys old hideout last week and I know it sounds bad but trust me it’s actually probably worse and anyway if you could somehow bring this up to Lyss or Kayla for me that’d be great because I really don’t want to screw this up and I’m already in hot water okay anyway byeeee!” she said in just one breath, snatching a mozzarella stick and chasing after Emily before Herik could even raise a single question.

“Hey wait up! I’m coming too,” said Vashti, reaching Emily just as she was about to get on the moped and cruise off. She hopped on behind Emily. “Is there like a seatbelt or a helmet or…”

"What the FUCK is going on,"

"... Question of the fucking ages."

Madison said with a roll of her eyes as Izzy was honestly confused as she was. She curled up into the fetal position and Madison honestly couldn't help but roll her eyes again. Sooooooo overdramatic. She had her arms crossed as the Jaws continued to manifest against her will. As a test, she tried to put it back but she was unable to do it. Still, she wasn't going to roll up in a ball like Izzy was... that was just sad.

"If you want to save any fucking ounce of morals you have after today, you're going to tell me exactly how Blake Schmidt found the music box that contained the Outsider. Now!"

If Frederick's last response didn't already piss Lyss off, his next answer was likely set to push her over the edge.

"Oh I gave it to him!" Frederick said, probably out of fear (of losing his nuts). He put his hands up as he looked at her. "I got naked one day and found it in some old lady's house. He bought her! Please, I just wanted to get high!"

Madison put a hand on her hip and just chuckled as she looked at Lyss.

"... I like how he just had to say he was naked." She tried to add some levity to the situation.

However, the Jaw's three heads hovered over towards Frederick until they were inches apart and each ghostly skeletal head said to him,

"We ought to rip you to shreds," The leftmost skull started.

"Kill you in a way so brutal," The center skull continued.

"It would create a dozen apparitions." The rightmost skull finished.

"Then we will seal them in what's left,"

"In a fragment of your skull,"

"Yeah, you ought to," Madison narrowed her eyes as the idea of killing this bastard for what he's done seemed a lot more appealing... Part of her wanted to skip off that poetic crap and just have the Jaws sever his spine and make him a quadriplegic. Fitting for a piece of shit like this guy.

"Wait, you can't!" Frederick said, "I gotta call off the boys!"

That was true too... but they could always kill him later.

"We can work something out!" Frederick said, "Just don't kill me!"

"We can," Madison said. "You help us fix this shit you started and maybe we'll let you."

"Okay! Okay!" Frederick said.

"Renege on this," The Jaw's spoke again.

"And we will make you regret it,"

And the Jaws retracted... and Frederick looked like he was about to piss himself. Madison would to in his situation, she knew that this bastard was the Coven's bitch now up until this is over. Some part of her wanted to let the Jaws have his way with him. However, the Jaws faded and she turned towards Lyss.

"... I think he's got the message."

"I'll pay for the meal if you could box it up when it's finished. I'll be back to pick it up. Keep me posted on the situation. I'll be there as fast as I can."

"Let's jus-" Dash and let it go. Emily mentally finished the sentence in her head but kept her mouth shut because Herik was the goody two shoes of the Coven. He would never consider anything close to dining and dashing. Again, it probably was nothing but part of her wondered if it was something. Emily wouldn't put it past those sluts to do anything stupid and get in trouble with the law (and if they did, then Emily doesn't have a dog in that fight). "Alright, I will, Herik."

Afterward, she made sure to get to her moped, assuming that Vashti was going with him. Vashti was probably more interested in waiting and getting something to eat and Emily's moped wasn't made for multiple riders. Emily made it outside and was hit with the good old Florida heat! Fortunately, she didn't order anything or eat anything for that matter, so she didn't have to worry about dining and dashing. Emily was going to grab some actual food from Ocean Prime later-

[quote=Vashti][color=darkcyan]“Hey wait up! I’m coming too, is there like a seatbelt or a helmet or…”[/color[/quote]

So it turned out that Vashti did want to come along. Emily didn't have a problem with that.

"Sorry," Emily said, completely not sorry. "Usually I fly solo, so grab on tight and don't do anything weird while you're back there." Emily just had to say because she was probably one of those depraved lesbians. Or else she wouldn't be in the Coven.

Emily started the moped and at this moment Babylon finally manifested... floating in the air not too far away from Vashti as if she was lying on her stomach. She had propped her face on her hands with her elbows on the "ground" with her legs in the air. She had a cocky grin on her face as she looked at Vashti. She lightly poked her on the nose before disappearing.

Emily slammed on the gas pedal after putting in the GPS coordinates for Vedi Veni Vedi and prepared her nose for the stench of unwashed vagina. It was about a ten-minute drive and part of Emily wondered if they specifically picked this place because it wasn't that far away. Before she zipped off she looked back at Vashti.

"You better not be under sixteen or I'm going to make you walk."

And with that, Emily zipped off on her moped. It wasn't long until they showed up at the strip club... and Emily's strong nose immediately picked up the smell of unwashed vagina.

Oh yeah, and somebody had crashed a fucking pick up truck through the front door.

Emily did a very overdramatic, Akira-esque, skid as she came to a stop to look at the damage. This was most likely what the girls were referring to and the very first thing that Emily did was consult her slut-ghost. Babylon manifested, not caring that she had just booped Vashti a few minutes ago completely randomly.

"Babylon," Emily started, "How many Extra-Normals are in there?"

"About thirteen," Babylon answered. "Give or take."

"Shit," Emily hissed to herself. Problem is that she has a rough approximation of who went to the strip club or not. For all she knows... all those Extra-Normals could be hostile. However, Emily had an ace in the hole... or dead weight.

"Vashti now would be the time to tell me what you can do," Emily stated, "Because... well, this could get a little ugly."

Not that I'm going to put my neck out for these sluts. Emily thought to herself.

Herik wasn't expecting Vashti to drop more than enough for the food and then some, but the waiter already walked off with his card. What should he do? He contemplated it when Vashti came back in a rush. He looked at her alarmed, worried something was wrong.

“Also I kinda sorta omitted the fact earlier that I am also cursed to transform into a weird mutant alligator that might be the physical embodiment of chaos and wanton destruction and I’m pretty sure I punched out a federal police truck that was snooping around your guys old hideout last week and I know it sounds bad but trust me it’s actually probably worse and anyway if you could somehow bring this up to Lyss or Kayla for me that’d be great because I really don’t want to screw this up and I’m already in hot water okay anyway byeeee!”
- Vashti

That was...a lot. Herik can't say he caught all of it. He sat down on his seat, packing up the food forgotten, until the waiter came back with his card, the receipt to sign, and a pen. He took it from him, ready to sign it.

"Oh, wait. My friend left cash for the meal." He took out the receipts and stuck the cash inside, instead. "Keep the change she said." He grabbed his boxes and continued to pack what was left. He couldn't believe Vashti had, a what did she say? Alligator that's chaos and destruction? He's sure she said that and she attacked a police truck last week. Oh no. The FBI agents. And right after Lyss and Maya made a deal not to get involved with anything that'll catch their attention. A giant gator is definitely on the list of things to not get involved with, especially when it took out their truck. But Vashti is a member now. If the FBI thinks she's a problem, then they'd have to protect her and he wasn't going to let them do whatever without a fight this time. Not if a friend's life is on the line.

He wrapped a the biscuits up in a paper towel and stuck one in his mouth. On the way out the waiter called for him with a pizza box in hand. Oh, it finished early. Great. Vashti will be thrilled. "Thank you." He took the box and placed in the back seat of his car. He kept the biscuits with him, got in the driver's seat, and started his car. He didn't know where the strip club was, so he look it up. Ten minutes away, great. He won't be too far behind. He kept his phone in his hand while he pulled out of the parking lot, waiting on updates from Emily.

---

Maya smirked slightly as the disgustingly naked guy passed out, even as she slid down the wall into a sitting position. Her head was beginning to ache from the constant, deafening ringing in her ears and she really wanted another drink. But she also just wanted to go home and curl up in bed. She rubbed her head as she watched what was going on. It seemed like the three rednecks were standing down (well, two had passed out anyway).

She half jumped as the Jaws manifested for what seemed like no reason, only this time it was like… a fucking hydra with three skeletal heads. She could tell that they were talking as the ringing was slowly reducing but not what they were saying.

Like tonight wasn’t already weird enough. She snorted at the turn of events of what was meant to be a fun night out. At least she wasn’t dealing with it like Izzy was. She rolled her eyes as she watched the other girl curl up on the ground as if the world was ending. Like she’d helped in anyway to stop it.

“...naked one day and found it in some old lady's house. He bought her! Please, I just wanted to get high!"

Maya’s eyebrows shot up as her hearing began to come back, enough to make out what was being said even as it still felt like someone was holding an alarm clock up to her ears.

And she had absolutely no context for what was being said. She could just about piece it together… there were reinforcements, they’d sold whatever wanted the sacrifices to some man and they were now agreeing to fix it. And the guy looked scared shitless at the Jaws’ threat and Maya could hardly blame him for that. He deserved it for this shit, though.

“Someone’s gonna have to fill me in on everything I missed,” Maya commented quietly, tapping her ear before slowly standing up. She folded her arms as she still leaned against the wall, turning her head to glance between Madison and Lyss. “And since when could the Jaws talk?”

She shook her head. That wasn’t important right now… what was important was moving things forward so they could get out of here! “So what’s the plan now?”

---

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Interactions:

Lyss continued to give Frederick the death glare. His words only fueled the fire behind her eyes. She gripped the riding crop tighter, and her hands began to shake with the anger she felt. He just gave Blake the music box? He just had to get high? There was no doubt that Blake would have paid good money for something like that. But how the hell did a naked fucking vampire just happen upon the music box of all things? Why couldn't he have just found a fucking pearl necklace and sold that?

Madison's joke would have been funny if it was about any other sealed object than the Outsider's own personal cage. At this point, Lyss agreed with the Jaws. Rip him apart. Tear Blake fucking Schmidt a new one. BURN THE IDIOT WHO OPENED IT.

By the time Madison turned to her, after the Jaws had gone back to hiding, Lyss didn't know what to do about this fucking vamp. What she did know was that Blake Schmidt was on the top of her shit list. He was gonna pay for this.

"So whats the plan now?" She heard Maya ask from the other side of the room.

Lyss held up the riding crop, and was extremely intent on bringing it back down right onto the vamp's cheek, but she stopped before she could swing it. She breathed through her nose and shook her head before lowering the weapon.

"Our toothy friend here is going to go home. He's going to get as high as he fucking wants, and then tomorrow he is going to help us stop Blake Schmidt." She spat. She held out her hand to him in a forcefully demanding way. "Give me your phone."

"Tomorrow, I'm going to text you to meet me somewhere. If you don't answer, I'm going to show up to your shithole and drag you out by your ears."

She shook her hand just to make him hand it over faster.

"When we meet, your buddies are going to take me and a few of my friends to Blake. Offer us up as sacrifices for his new pet."

She looked at Madison and Maya. "But that isn't how its going to work."

"The bloodsuckers are going to turn on Blake when he least expects it and keep him from getting to the Outsider. Once he's neutralized, I'm going to try to seal her back in her box."

She looked back to Frederick, her eyes as icy as ever. "She isn't at full strength. I may be able to do it, if I rest up and prepare. But you and your buddies are going to keep Blake as far away from it or me while I do it. If he steps out of line, you're going to make him regret it. Got it?"

The group may not have liked the idea, Kayla certainly wouldn't, but at the moment Lyss just wanted to take care of the Outsider before she could get her hands on any more souls. She glanced at Madison. "What does the Jaws have to say about that?"