The Italian boy had been toward the street-side of the alley's entrance, falling behind as Ian moved further into the alley, while the vampire child negotiated using a smart phone app with the disembodied spirit of someone who had died before cellular telephones had been invented. Or, attempting to do so anyway.

The youth looked up from his phone when he'd heard Elizabeth's voice, the almost perpetual look of worry briefly dispelled by a small smile and sense of relief before the boy had looked back down at the device while Ian and Elizabeth exchanged a few words.

Enzo was engrossed in an exchange of his own, through one that was talking across the Veil. Speaking in low tones, the one-sided conversation with the ghost was none the less choreographed by the expressive gestures the Italian used when speaking.

"Good Evening, Gentlemen. Anything we can help you with?"

The change in tone caught Enzo's attention, sending goosebumps up his skin as the hair stood up on his neck. The boy's brown eyes were large as he looked up anxiously to realize that there was a group of men with bottles and chains that were advancing through the alleyway toward them.

Ian had positioned himself to confront them.

...wait, Ian was Brujah. Was he losing his temper?

Did Brujah have any manipulation Disciplines? Should he have paid more attention to Clan studies? Probably, but right now Enzo was imagining the scene unfolding in a violent way, which would put a spotlight on them and only further complicate the search for Ludwig.

So what was he going to do about it?

Wait, was Enzo going to do something about it? What was he going to do? He was just a height-challenged math nerd! "Che cazzo..." the boy uttered softly, as his legs seemed to now be carrying him toward Ian with some perverse will of their own. Internally, the boy could feel his own Beast pulling at him to flee.

"Ehi," the boy called out, the Italian equivalent to hey, hoping to draw eyes on him. Honestly, he didn't care about getting the attention of all of the Kine. Just the one who seemed to be leading the pack.

Brown eyes flashed as the normally mousey boy craned his head back to look the Kine in the eye. "Leave." The boy's normally quiet, subdued voice was atypically firm and astonishingly commanding. A glimpse of the Giovanni that Enzo tried not to be. Manipulative. Controlling.

The normally life-like child had stopped any pretense of breathing, instead frozen in place trying to project an air of confidence while being terrified and waiting in the moments between seconds that felt as though they were hours-long.

Waiting to see if the man would walk away.

Waiting to see if the others would follow suit.

@Randomguy @Bounce



Elizabeth seemed to be quite excited that they had gotten some information on where Ludwig was located. She was in fact both happy/anxious about this information. Happy that she knew where Ludwig was located, but was anxious because there was a possibility he could be dead. Walking over towards Enzo and asking him what he had learned. Taking in all of the information that was being told to her. Finding it amusing that the boy was speaking more with his hands than his mouth. Of course, they were interrupted by a group of men armed with random weapons they probably found on the street.

One of them being the man she had thrown onto the floor in the club. Shoving one hand into her pants unfolding the knife in her pocket. While Enzo was speaking to them, Elizabeth had used vicissitude to make a claw of her other hand. But she had this hand hidden behind her back.

The men were moving a little closer with the man Elizabeth had thrown pointing toward her. “She assaulted me for no reason.” He yelled out with some spit flying out of his mouth. Elizabeth chuckled and shook her head.

“You tried to hit on me, I felt your hand touching my ass. You are nothing but a pig. You deserve to get your ass beat.” Elizabeth noticed Enzo and Ian speaking to the group of men. All of their would-be attackers stared at Ian and then at Enzo. One of the men sighed and threw the bike chain away.

“Fuck it this is not worth it.” He shook his head looking at the three vampires. The others soon joined and left the alleyway. The man that Liz had thrown before looked disinterested in pursuit her for assaulting him. “Fuckin bitch.” The man said with a scold.

Elizabeth smiled showing the many sharp yellow teeth in her mouth. “I’ll see you soon.” A threat that she planned on fulfilling at a later time. Right now she wanted to find Ludwig, that was more important than fighting some scumbag and his buddies.

As they left Elizabeth changed her clawed hand back to normal before turning to face Enzo and Ian. “Let’s head to the Lower East Side. Did that ghost tell you where in the Lower East Side Ludwig was located?” She asked taking in the information that was told by Enzo. Elizabeth and the others soon were in Liz’s car heading towards the location the ghost had told Enzo. The three soon arrived at an old apartment building. Parking the car in front of the building, the three of them could see a few junkies hanging at the entrance. To Elizabeth, it didn’t seem as fortified as she assumed it would be. Although there could be a whole bunch of armed goons inside.

“I’m thinking when we get inside we split up and check every floor for Ludwig’s whereabouts. Or perhaps you guys have a better plan? I wouldn’t mind kicking down the door and killing everyone inside.” Elizabeth got out of the car as the two junkies were now staring at them. Whatever plan they do come up with Elizabeth hoped that Ludwig was inside the building. The three of them soon got inside of the building, with Elizabeth going towards the stairs. She thought they would be keeping Ludwig somewhere on the top floor.

Right when Steele was hoping to get a little info out of the drunkards holed up in the watering hole, Elizabeth came and snatched him away. He was more or less along for the ride for the moment, blowing off the bouncer, seeing the others intimidate the would-be walking corpses that tried to be tough. Finally pile into a car and roam down to one of the city's seedier areas on a tip from beyond the grave. Steele was beginning to feel like Dorothy with the whirlwind he was caught up in.

The car eventually came to a stop and the group piled out, discussing the game plan going forward. "I think staying as under the radar as possible's the way to go. I'll never turn down a good slug-fest but going in blinder than a mole on moonshine isn't a great idea in my book." Steele put forward, reading the proverbial room before continuing.

"Why not ham it up a little, try to be just a fly on the wall? We're just here for the same reason the gentlemen out front are." Anyone who was anyone in the showbiz gig knew that a good performance was 50 to 30 percent skill and the rest was show, whether that be from the heart or a putting on a con. Steele had been on both sides of the quarter but ever since his own heart stopped he'd been more partial to the latter.

---

Ian was glad that they managed to avoid escalating the encounters with the drunk men earlier. Avoiding escalation meant less risk of a masquerade breach. Less risk of a masquerade breach meant fewer complications. Although...there was a part of Ian that felt disappointed he did not get to sink his fist into those men, a...form of stress relief using the stupid mortals who just can't help but pick a fight. The night was already frustrating enough for Ian, due to the fact that it was becoming more likely that Ludwig's disappearance was caused by certain parties rather than self-inflicted, meaning the possibility they would need to confront people who were able to take down a Brujah of the 9th generation like Ludwig.

...Nailing a liver shot or two would at least allow him to vent.

Of course, Ian realized that was but the Beast speaking, amplifying the Brujah's curse for rage. Succumbing to it would only prove to do more harm than good. Indulging on it in a fight was one thing, but succumbing to the rage while they were about to confront people who were likely to be stronger than they were was foolishness. And so, Ian spent the remainder of the car ride calming himself down.

Once they arrived at the old apartment, Ian told Alex, who was driving the car the same as when they stopped in the club earlier, to be on standby and not to turn off the car's engine. His ghoul nodded, before wishing him luck.

Ian then joined the others, as they were discussing plans.

"I am against splitting up. Remember, we are against people who were able to kidnap a 9th-generation Elder Brujah like Ludwig. We mustn't split our forces. For now, it's probably best to find out more."

He turned to Enzo, "Any ghost around here that might be amenable to help us out?"

"Any ghost around here that might be amenable to help us out?"

The small Italian boy craned his head back, delivering a look up to Ian that belied a hesitation fueled by a fear -- a fear of something other than why they were here.

"The restless dead are rarely so easy to strike a bargain with," Enzo supplied, with a sigh as he seemed to resign himself to making an effort nonetheless.

The Brujah had no idea the forces that the Giovanni was flirting with. Whatever had taken Ludwig was scary, yes. But if Enzo awoke a wraith or, perhaps worse, inadvertently created one by botching the bargaining then that would be more than just frightening, it could be truly disastrous.

There was a reason the Giovanni did a number of Embraces each year. Plenty of necromancers blew themselves up talking to ghosts.

Wrapping his arms around his torso, the child seemed to hug himself as if from the cold. Or perhaps comfort. Closing his eyes, he tried to let his perception shift to that which was like the wind. Unseen, yet felt. Heard, but a whisper.

A sharp yelp slipped from his lips, as the boy suddenly doubled forward and clutched his left hand. If Ian or one of the others got a glimpse in that moment, it would have seemed as if, for a moment, the Cappodocian blood were reasserting itself. The back of Enzo's hand seemed as though it were corpse flesh, the fingers seeming to wither for a moment before it began to return to normal again.

"Sequelae," Enzo supplied cryptically, using the back of his right arm to wipe away a blood red tear brought forth by the pain that had come with the spasm. Without explanation, he'd uttered it as though it were a four letter word.

The boy's hand had returned to almost normal, though a patch of dead skin remained as the undead child flexed his fingers and shook out his hand from the sudden affliction. "Scusi. I'll need a moment before I try that again." Enzo offered, glancing back up at Ian. "If I'd known this is what we'd be doing tonight, I'd have... done something that would have given my abilities a boost."

---

Raph let out a shallow breath – more of a mechanical reflex from his past life than a voluntary action of his present one. As a rule, the dead don’t breathe unless they’re pretending to be one of the living. Yet some habits do not die when their owners do.

Looking to his right, Raph instantly locked eyes with his gigantic dog, her massive head sticking out from the little space between the Hyundai’s front seats. Djobi sensed her owner’s discomfort and stared up at him with a look of both inquiry and apprehension. A fraction of a smile crept up in Raph’s face, trying to reassure his canine ghoul that everything was okay – and trying to reassure himself as well in the process.

“Don’t worry, old friend. I’m sure it’s nothing serious,” Raph said as he gently stroked the thick hair of the dog’s neck. Djobi did not protest, but she was hardly convinced. Whether it was the blood bond or just pure animal intuition speaking, Djobi knew that Raph’s words did not match what was going on in his heart.

Raph sunk back to the driver’s seat as he pulled out his phone, his slender fingers working their way back to that cryptic email – Edwina reaching out to him at this time of the year? And what’s this “urgent matter” meant to be?

For all the time that had passed since his departure from the manor, Raph could not posit that his “adoptive parents of the night” could be in some sort of danger there. Their estate seemed like the safest place on earth for a vampire like him after decades spent on the road and barely surviving to see the next sundown.

By the looks of it, the manor remained as impregnable as it was when he last left it. A small reassurance, he thought, one that yet made him question the urgency of Edwina’s invitation even more. The possibilities racked his brain as he finally opened the door of his car, parked before a long and very familiar driveway. After he let Djobi out, the two made their way to the grandiose manor. A face they both had not seen in a long time greeted them by the front door.

“Monsieur Quentin! Mon Dieu, it’s been so long!” The French vampire immediately rushed to hug the proud butler, who for all his unnatural strength would not break from the tight hold. Djobi was much more reserved in her greetings, as she usually is towards vampires, but even she could not fully hide her excitement at seeing an old acquaintance. “My apologies for being late, the traffic in Brooklyn is a mess tonight. Edwina's home, I presume?”

With a nod, Quentin stepped aside and motioned toward the door. Dog and Ravnos entered the closest thing New York City had to a Kindred “orphanage,” a safe haven for the weary and disenfranchised. Raph fit that bill all too well in the past; walking into the living room released a flood of memories, an acute nostalgia mixed with a sense of the helplessness he felt when he first walked into that home.

And then he saw her. Edwina. The matriarch. The motherly figure in this atypical vampire family.

For an instant, Raph forgot everything and everyone and just stood in awe, the flood of memories snuffed out by the Toreador’s sheer presence. He could swear he felt his long-dead heart contract at that moment. Djobi stood beside the young Ravnos unimpressed, proving yet again she was actually the more sensible of the two.

“Hello, Edwina.” Raph opened his arms wide, inviting the matriarch for a hug he hasn’t had in years.

---

Raph came out of the manor even more tense than he was when he went in. Tears of blood swelled in the corner of his eyes as he tried not to think about what could have happened to Ludwig. The patriarch of the family had been a mentor to him; he was – is – a powerful Brujah in his own right. Who in New York could rival Ludwig in strength and age? The Prince? An elder from the Sabbat? An ancient Methuselah? Or perhaps even-

Raph shuddered to think of an answer. Ever since he arrived in the city, he had heard rumors about what kind of monsters New York was harboring. Could it be that one of these creatures was behind Ludwig’s disappearance?

With a soft purr, the grey Hyundai moved away from the manor, its new destination being this club named Sheol. Raph struggled to remember if he had been there before; the way seemed familiar to him anyways. His foot squeezed the accelerator as he deliberately ignored stop signs and traffic lights. Reuniting with his “siblings” and finding Ludwig was paramount; US traffic law would have to take a back seat this time.

---

“What do you mean, they left?” Raph’s voice struggled to rise above the loud music, even as he stood right in front of the bartender. A back-and-forth of helpless yelling and hand motions left Raph with a bare hint – according to the bartender, he heard the group mention going to Lower East Side after nearly getting in a fight with some of the patrons. Raph left the club just as fast as he came in and drove out into the night once again, hoping to reach the other four vampires before they could go somewhere else.

The trip to the old apartment was quick, in no small part due to Raph’s determined (read “reckless”) driving style. The black Toyota he saw did not ring any bells in the Ravnos’ mind, but Elizabeth’s old Honda Civic was unmistakable. Parking a little ways ahead, Raph hopped out of the Sonata and allowed a rather bored Djobi to do the same. The Anatolian Shepherd lunged out of the car and in the direction of the other Kindred, following a particular scent of undead she had not come across in a very long time.

“Djobi, arrête!” Raph followed his ghoul in suit, trying to keep Djobi from launching herself into danger. The mad race seemed to have drawn the attention of a man in the black Toyota, but Raph could not be sure.

Turning into the apartment, both dog and Deceiver appeared just in time to witness Enzo cry out in pain as he clutched an afflicted hand. The poor boy offered an explanation to Ian while trying to recover from the daunting experience.

Djobi interjected with gruff barking, as if sensing the violation of natural law in the air. Raph walked right behind with a smirk.

“Bonsoir, my brothers. Sister.” He glanced at each of his “siblings,” as kids do to measure how much the others grew since they last saw one another. “I have to say, I expected a much better venue for our little reunion.” Raph did not want to admit it, but he was happy to see them all together again – even in a place as old and decrepit as that one.

@Randomguy @Bounce @rocketrobie2 @Adamastor



Elizabeth watched Enzo doing something she hadn’t seen before. Part of her wondered what the hell he was trying to do. She didn’t know much about the Giovanni and their necromancy techniques. The only Giovanni or Cappodocian she interacted with was Enzo and another vampire named Christopher. Christopher had tried to sell her heroin, to which she politely declined his offer. “Mmm, good idea, but we can’t just storm the front because they might expect us. Honestly, maybe we should have stolen some guns or something.” Sighing loudly, feeling bad for not acquiring a weapon before coming here. But it was too late to get some guns, although they could find some improvised weapons. “I guess we could try to find a backdoor to the place. Hi Steele, do you have a gun on you?” She said, assuming that the roughneck would have one on him.

Her eyes looked at the voice speaking to them. It was Raph the Ravnos, who had joined the family a few decades ago. Her head turned to face Raph with what looked like a grimace. “Nice of you to finally show up.” she said. Then, she gave him a quick summary of what was going on, mentioning that they were trying to devise a plan.

She was worried that something terrible would happen to Enzo. She hadn’t seen him fight anyone, so she wasn’t sure how useful he would be. Elizabeth knew she could handle a fight but didn’t want him or others hurt. If she did lose a sibling like she did her “father,” she would be utterly heartbroken. “Well, I don’t wanna wait around any more. Ludwig needs our help. I think we should just go in and wing it. We ain’t helping much, just chit-chatting. We just gotta be careful, that’s all.” She didn’t notice someone watching them from one of the first-floor windows and standing up, causing this person to run further into the building. The young vampire was walking towards the alleyway of the building and picked up a 2x4 laid against a trash can. Following the group, she started to jump up and down, her reason being to get her adrenaline pumping. Growling and snarling like a wild animal, tightening her grip on the 2x4 in her hand.

Whatever the plan, they would soon be inside the building. Elizabeth was beside Enzo to protect him if things went wrong. The group was met with silence, only occasionally hearing footsteps and people speaking to each other. They could hear loud conversations down the hallway but were muffled from behind the door. Unbeknownst to them, their presence was noticed. The ones that were holding Ludwig were getting ready for what they thought was gonna be a shootout.

---

"Well, worth a try," Ian said to Enzo, as the boy reported his findings, or lack thereof. They only found this place because of Enzo, so Ian didn't think it would be fair to begrudge him for his failure.

He then turned to Elizabeth, who was lamenting their lack of weapons. Ian replied, "Well, as far as I'm concerned these fists of mine are my weapons. So we're not entirely defenceless. Regardless though, we should still proceed carefully,

A Brujah being the one to warn for caution made for an odd sight, but Ian supposed someone had to. Elizabeth was a bit too reckless because this concerned Ludwig while Steele was too nonchalant. Enzo was cautious, but the Giovanni was not one to say his thoughts out loud.

“Bonsoir, my brothers. Sister. I have to say, I expected a much better venue for our little reunion.”

It was then, that another 'sibling' of theirs joined them, his loyal ghoul dog by his side.

"Would have appreciated you showing up earlier, but at least you're here now. Considering we're up against people who could kidnap Ludwig, we'd need all the help we could get, Ian said, greeting Ralph. He then glanced at the massive Sheperd dog by his side. Having her wouldn't hurt either.

As the group gathered around the backdoor, Ian turned to Ralph, "You mind going in first? Use your discipline just in case. I'll go in after and engage our opposition if any,

Out of the five of them gathered there, Ralph had always been the most resilient. Should there be an ambush, Ralph had the best chance to survive unscathed. After that, Ian, as the most combat-oriented would go in and hopefully quickly take them down while they were focusing on Ralph.

---

Raph’s attempt at a witty entrance fell flat as his siblings were quick to point out his obvious tardiness. After all, this was not a social visit – they were gathering in that old apartment to save their missing surrogate father. Time and expediency were of essence.

“Well, I don’t wanna wait around any more. Ludwig needs our help. I think we should just go in and wing it. We ain’t helping much, just chit-chatting. We just gotta be careful, that’s all.” Elizabeth brought the focus back on the mission ahead. She had placed herself beside Enzo and was going to keep the Giovanni boy safe should things get messy. The rest of the gameplan, however, was still up for discussion.

Ever the analytical fighter, Ian suggested Raph to take the vanguard: "You mind going in first? Use your discipline just in case. I'll go in after and engage our opposition if any.”

Raph nodded in agreement. He was hardly the stereotypical Deceiver, but “resilience” was practically his middle name, more so thanks to the gift of supernatural Fortitude in the Ravnos blood. Still, he was not at all excited about being the first to walk past that door. God knows what or who was standing on the other side, and getting torn to pieces was hardly on Raph’s plans for the night.

With a subtle hand motion, the Ravnos beckoned Djobi to come to him. Staring her right in her light brown eyes, Raph knelt before the Anatolian Shepherd, running his fingers across the light brown hair in the back of her head while whispering: "Reste derrière moi. Attaque seulement quand je te le dirai." Djobi obeyed without question and positioned herself behind her regnant.

Raph stood back up and turned to his siblings. He spoke softly, though stealth and discretion seemed useless at this point. “Alors, just in case shit hits the fan: I go in first. Ian and Djobi will come right behind me and engage if we come under attack. Beth follows in with Enzo. But what about Steele?” Raph looked towards the Caitiff, unsure of where he might be more useful. “What says you, mon frère? I know you’re used to being the frontman, but it might be good to have someone covering our undead hides once we pass through that door.”

Ralph was here?

Wait, did that mean..?

The Italian boy took a step back at the sight of the ghoul hound.

Falling silent, Enzo seemed to almost fade away as the others talked. He noticed Elizabeth had moved close to him, though he was concerned for the fact that she seemed the most eager for a fight. Ian was cool and composed, but if things turned ugly that may not be likely to remain true.

Ian was proposing going in. The boy swallowed nervously, still not certain just why he was here. He wasn't a field guy. Hell, he'd never even been a field ghoul. He was Giovanni, not Puttanesca or Millner. He'd spent his entire unlife in an office, with stacks of ledgers and a calculator. When being ghouled had resulted in Enzo developing Potence, he'd only ever used it to move boxes of tax returns that weighed more than he did.

"I'm not sure I'm the guy you want for this," Enzo remarked quietly, when Ralph proposed Enzo go in with Elizabeth. Judging by the grip on that two-by-four, she definitely wanted to go in swinging. Enzo wasn't sure he wanted to be standing next to her when she started.

For that matter, he wasn't sure it was all that safe for Ralph or Ian to be in front of her when she started swinging either.

@Randomguy @Bounce @rocketrobie2 @Adamastor



As the group walked further down the hallway they could smell something foul emanating from the door at the end of the hallway. Parts of the walls were broken so they could see into the rooms. The residents were mostly junkies and prostitutes who were going on about their business. As they got closer to the door they could hear voices on the other end. This made Elizabeth tighten her grasp of the 2x4 in her hand. There were sudden footsteps indicating that the people on the other side were getting ready. Elizabeth motioned for Ian and Raph to go through the around into the other rooms. Whispering to them they could ambush them while she and perhaps their ghouls could take the goons head-on. Instructing Enzo to be positioned behind her for protection.

As got closer towards the door they were met by gangbangers armed with various melee weapons. Some however were armed with guns mostly pistols and shotguns. One of them shot at Enzo, to which Elizabeth used her body as a shield. Letting out a grunt of pain as the bullet ripped through the meat of her shoulder. “Fucker.” Screaming out loud as she dropped her 2x4 to hold the wound. There were a few other thugs that were coming closer to the group. A few were trying to attack Ian. One of them moved forwards trying to slash Ian with what looked like a kitchen knife. Another one of the thugs approached Raph firing at him with his shotgun. Elizabeth meanwhile quickly recovered attacking a thug by jumping on top of them. She could tell he was a human so she didn’t mind sliting his throat with her now sharpened nails. Another thug armed with a torch came at Enzo trying to set him on fire.

---

As several thugs charged at them, Ian's attention was, first and foremost drawn to the thug carrying a torch. Even someone like Ian, who had survived an underground fighting ring in the 70s had to repress a shudder at the thought. Fire was a universal bane for kindred, and thus priority number one to be taken down.

Evoking the supernatural discipline of Celerity, Ian ran past the thugs that were going for him, intercepting the one armed with a torch. He then delivered a sharp jab to the thug, before following up with a heavy blow to the side of his head. Drawing upon all the supernatural strength afforded to him by the Potence discipline, Ian brutally drove the thug's head into a wall, cracking his skull.

He then shouted, "Anyone else wants to die!? If not, scram!"

---

“Merd-”

A loud discharge squashed every other noise for a moment. It was the sound of a shotgun, firing at Raph from a close distance; the Ravnos was sent aback by the instant impact of dozens of pellets lodging into his chest and neck, which prompted Djobi to immediately pounce on the armed thug as he attempted to reload for a second shot.

For Raph, the initial shock gave way to ire. A shot that would have seriously injured most Kindred neonates – and even a few ancillae – had done more to rile the Beast inside Raph than actually harm him. His high stamina and supernatural Fortitude had soaked most of the lethal damage, but the stinging pain, enhanced by the element of surprise, now brought the Beast to the forefront. It took a great deal of self-control for Raph to quiet down the monster in him.

Fortunately for the French vampire, the thug was never able to repeat his earlier deed. Once knocked down by the massive Shepherd, he could not resist having his throat ripped out by the animal’s vicious bites. His life ebbed away just as fast as his blood spurted from the torn arteries, and in moments the man went limp.

By now Raph had regained enough composure to assess the situation: Ian had performed masterfully by taking out the thug threatening Enzo and drawing attention to himself, allowing Raph and Djobi to charge almost unnoticed. The Brujah had dared the attackers to fight or flee, but the Ravnos was not going to give them the option.

The young vampire jumped, a high-pitched yelp escaping him as Elizabeth intercepted a bullet.

His hands pulled on his t-shirt, as the boy shied behind the Tzimisce and shifted anxiously as the situation started to go bad in a rapid and spectacular fashion.

This was bad.

The sight of a flame caused the boy to give a shrill scream even before he'd processed that the fire was being carried toward him. Then, before frenzy had gripped him, there was a blur and the torch-bearer was suddenly just gone.

Blinking, Enzo realized that Ian had moved. The Brujah was now standing next to where the torch-bearer had gone limp, his head smashed through a wall.

The snarl of the ghoul-hound and the sound of a man's violent death brought the Italian boy's stunned gaze over to where Raph and Djobi had jumped into the fray.

This was really bad.

But at least now there were corpses. Enzo didn't much care for ghosts, but dead bodies? He liked dead bodies. They didn't have agendas. They did bicker. And, best of all, they weren't likely to become emotional time-bombs capable of rending the veil between the mortal world and the Shadowlands. Extending out his arms, the boy's fingers spread and began to move as though he was a puppeteer manipulating unseen strings.

The color drained from out of the Giovanni's lifelike countenance, his skin growing gaunt as he took on a more Cappodocian appearance. "Extremum vitae spiritum edere," he uttered in Latin, pulling one arm back as the body near Ian began to shift and move, pulling its head from out of the wall.

With his other arm, he made a lifting motion, prompting the thug whose throat had been ripped out to rise from off the floor.

Were they tossing the Masquerade aside? At the moment, yes. Very much so.

The two zombies shuffled over toward Elizabeth and Ian, taking up positions to shelter the pair from any more bullets. Enzo's necromancy had never delved into using the corpses to attack, but they could be meat shields. And probably cause a mortal to shit themselves -- if Ian's display hadn't already done that.

@Randomguy @Bounce @Adamastor



The thug that was armed with the makeshift torch was unintentionally head; his head was thrust into the other side of the wall. It was a good thing since that guy would cause much damage. Another thug didn’t seem to be listening to Ian’s threat, picking up the makeshift torch and moving it towards Ian, then thrusting it towards Ian. Another thug armed with a pistol was pointing his gun at Ian’s head. But before he could pull the trigger, he was hit in the head by Elizabeth throwing the 2x4. Doing so caused him to fall on the ground with the gun rolling towards her feet. Quickly picking it up, she started firing at the last of the remaining thugs. Most of them had run away from seeing what the group did and the shambling zombies of their friends.

Elizabeth fired a few shots, hitting the remaining ones to fight them. Seeing the bloodshed from Ian and Raph made her quite ravenous. Emptying the pistol, she ran over to the remaining thugs. She was extending her arms while jumping from wall to wall and stinking her teeth into one of them, which made blood spray onto the wall beside them. The other thug was trying to get her off of the person she was draining blood. His hands are holding onto her shirt, ripping it slightly. She stopped what she was doing and swung her extended arm, slamming the man into the wall beside her. Before he could get back up, Elizabeth was on him, using her sharpened nails to slick his throat open and enjoying the taste of human vitae, letting some of the thug’s blood spray onto her face. It seemed she didn’t mind letting the Beast out of its cage. “Yummy.” She muttered while licking some blood off of her face.

The group of thugs was defeated by the possibility of more goons behind the door at the end of the hallway. Elizabeth stood up after feeding on the dying thug and returning her arms to normal but kept extending her nails so they were sharp as knives. Ignoring her “siblings.” she started walking towards the door, not noticing there was a thugs armed with SMGS behind the door. Of course, one of her siblings could stop her before she unintentionally fell into the trap.

---

"It looks like they're not backing down," Ian thought as he wiped blood off his fists.

Regrettable. Ian was not particularly remorseful that he had killed them. They were attempting to kill him and were most likely involved in various unsavoury businesses. It was justified self-defence, and on the broader utilitarian scale, Ian had probably prevented them from harming others. Perhaps in the moral framework of Kant's Deontology there might be some argument from duty to inherent good to attempt not to kill them, but Ian had always found deontology to be too rigid and idealistic to be practical. Furthermore, even in deontology, there were variants of the moral framework that allowed permissible harm such as the more contemporary Frances Kamm's.

No, Ian's 'regret' did not come from guilt or any thoughts that what he did was wrong. He was certain that given the circumstances, he did the right thing. Rather, the regret was the fact that a series of bad life decisions were made by these people that led them to die here. It was, just as how Ian regretted his sire's hardheadedness, a waste of potential.

Still, there was nothing he could do for them now. And so, he turned away. As he did, he noticed Elizabeth walking toward the door. He then shouted, "Stop! Remember the formation we agreed on?"

Keeping an eye on the door, Ian turned to Raph, before indicating with a jerk of his face for Raph to check the door.

---

“What the f-” Raph snapped from his murderous intent as he saw two lifeless bodies rise from the ground, reanimated by the peculiar powers of Enzo's blood. It was the exact kind of supernatural freaky stuff that Raph still had not wrapped his head around in this world of darkness, despite having travelled so far and wide since his embrace. Even he could not help feeling a chill run through his spine at the sight of actual zombies.

He then heard Ian’s voice calling out to Elizabeth. It took Raph a moment to understand what was going on, but once he saw the Brujah motioning towards the door it became clear that a certain Tzimisce was about to do a big no-no.

“Oh, bordel de merde! What are you doing?!” Raph snarled in frustration as he dashed towards Elizabeth. He thought about pulling her back, though that could very well end with his throat ripped by Elizabeth’s claws. Instead, he attempted to place himself in front of the Tzimisce, running with his arm extended against the door in order to prevent Elizabeth from opening it.

“Aaagh!... Putain!” The impact of his arm on the door sent shockwaves of pain from his mangled shoulder, where the shotgun pellets were still lodged. Raph hoped he had done enough to stop Elizabeth from making a rash decision, though in that moment of lacerating pain he had no way of stopping her from pushing him aside and walk through that door.

@Randomguy @Bounce @Adamastor



Elizabeth stopped where she was as Raph was blocking the door. At first, she wanted to push him aside but only stared at him. Her eyes were intense, and she stared at the other vampire with a fierce look. She seemed focused on getting past Raph but didn’t move a muscle for some reason. Instead, she looked over at Raph before looking at the door behind him. Part of her wanted to rush into the room behind him. However, she didn’t want to break the plan they had agreed on. They were so close to saving Ludwig that she didn’t want to lose this opportunity.

Her long arms slowly started returning to normal as she took deep, haggard breaths. “Sorry…” She looked at her other siblings. Enzo suggested they bring in one of the freshly risen thugs to go through the door. An idea she could get behind. It would save her from being ripped up like Raph and standing down and starting to walk away while the zombie thugs shuffled towards the door. As the zombies opened the door, they were blasted apart by gunfire. She was glad she was stopped by her siblings before she was turned into Swiss cheese.

As soon as the gunfire stopped, Elizabeth jumped into the room and attacked the first thug near the door. She was ripping into the flesh of his neck with her teeth. She could see Ludwig inside a cage from the corner of her eye. He looked pretty beaten up and entirely starved. Being chained, and his hands staked to the walls. The other thugs were firing or trying to fire on Elizabeth. Unbeknownst to them, someone was hiding in the shadows of their room. The others would get the opportunity to follow her into the room to try and free Ludwig.

The undead child shied back behind his zombie meat shields.

Nondescript brown eyes stared out from behind the disheveled and bloodied corpses as Enzo watched the scene unfold around him.

The sight of Elizabeth ripping into one of the thugs made the boy’s stomach growl.

...wait, did they even have stomachs anymore? How did that work exactly?

He really should have packed a lunch for this sort of thing. Of course, if he’d known what they’d be doing tonight, he’d have made a couple of preparations. Cosi e la vita, as they say.

Though, shouldn’t that be cosi e la morte in their case?

Ian’s voice snapped the boy back to what was happening around them. Elizabeth had started toward the door, but the Brujah was trying to get the situation under control and the others in line with the plan.

When Ian suggested that Raph check the door, the meek Giovanni spoke up. “Why don’t we send these guys?” the boy asked, using one thumb to indicate the zombies that dwarfed his small form.

Extending a hand out toward the door, the diminutive necromancer uttered, “Andiamo!”

...and then bravely relocated himself so that he was hiding behind Ian as the zombies proceeded.

Elizabeth was through the door as soon as the gunfire had stopped. From behind Ian, Enzo couldn’t see much beyond the doorway. And didn’t plan to step out of line unless Ian told him what to do.

---

Ian followed Elizabeth into the next room, finding her being fired by thugs, meanwhile, their objective, Ludwig, was caged up.

None of the mortals appeared to be any different than the grunts they had dispatched earlier, it was hard to think of them being able to capture Ludwig. Meaning, most likely whoever was behind it had not shown themselves yet.

Elizabeth, as usual when concerning Edwina and Ludwig, had already thrown herself into the fray. Again, fortunately, these were just mortals.

Ian briefly turned to Enzo and Ralph, "Keep a lookout."

He then rushed at the thugs, using his supernaturally enhanced speed through the Celerity discipline, before smashing his fists into their skulls, with enough force to knock them out at the very least, though he would not be surprised if their skulls caved in, as he draw upon the Potence discipline.