[IC] 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙺𝙴𝙳 - 𝙸𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚢, 𝙸𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝙴𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎

[DeadDrop]

𝙱𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝-𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 - 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚎𝚛? 𝙽𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 '𝙷𝚊𝚖𝚕𝚎𝚝' 𝚘𝚏 𝙱𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚡𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚍𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝟹 𝚂𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑, 𝙱𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙿𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚗𝚙𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚜. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝟿 𝚢𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚖.

𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 - 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝. 𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚙𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎. 𝙰 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎? 𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚢, 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚟𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝.

𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎, 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.

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𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚜
𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 '𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗' 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕.

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𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜

𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚢 - 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.

[Smike]

While it wasn't the swankiest location Ximena had ever met a contact at it also wasn't the most rundown. The nature of her work meant that she hobnobbed with nearly-legitimate crime lords in upscale restaurants almost as often as she did smugglers in abandoned car parks. The key to any meeting was privacy, and that could be secured in several ways. Front establishments could be closed for the day and remote stretches of forest could be counted on to remain undisturbed, as long as outsiders were kept away Ex had no complaints.

But she wasn't about to just walk in without doing her due diligence. Before she had set out for the meet Ximena had sent a message to one of her contacts, some faceless geek in a basement a thousand miles away. All she had to do was give them an address and they dug up the details, all the sordid shit that had gone down at 3 Sideroad.

And it wasn't much. There had been a small meth cook operation back in the early 2000s but since then the farm had been left unoccupied, on paper anyway. Whoever was behind the meeting had managed to snag themselves a solid hideout, just another bit of run-down real estate in a rinky-dink town.

She had elected to take a dirt bike as opposed to a car, the busted-up Honda she had in her garage more suited to subterfuge than the family car. Only just street legal and faded years of abuse under the Arizona sun the third-hand Honda blended in with Boring better than a Cadillac would. The bike puttered to a stop next to the beat-up truck, Ximena idling as she waited for more people to appear.

There was always some trepidation when meeting with new associates. The same isolation that kept her meetings free from law enforcement ensured there would be no one to rescue her if things went bad. Not that she expected her fellow fledgling hunters to try and stick her up but it paid to be prudent. That was why Ximena brought her Hellcat, the sub-compact concealed neatly beneath her jacket.

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

The professional shook the hair out of her face as she slipped her helmet off, curious as to whether any others would show.

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𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚜
Ximena makes it to the Mansion and waits for others to arrive.

Perks Used: Global Access-Ximena found that the Mansion, while once host to minor criminal activity, is considered to be abandoned as far as local government is concerned.

[Waylon]

Although The Exorcist had always been his favorite piece of fiction, not even in his wildest dreams did Father Stone see himself as Max von Sydow, wearing a hat with his clerics and arriving at a house that didn't look like a home at all.

The young Jesuit thought for a moment that perhaps Father O'Malley was playing a joke on him – but only for a moment. From what Father Stone knew and heard about O'Malley, it seemed as though there was never a time when the old priest wasn't serious. The few times that O'Malley bothered to write him back and the even rarer occasions that they spoke to one another face-to-face, it felt as though John O'Malley always carried with him an anchor around his scrawny, ancient neck that threatened to wrap itself around his neck too.

Ever since the day O'Malley became his mentor – if what he did could be considered “mentoring” – Alex Stone always wondered where that anchor would take him, were it allowed to simply fall.

And isn't falling the most natural thing in the world for an anchor to do?

Come to think of it, it wasn't disquiet that he was feeling at that moment. If anything, it felt more like a homecoming, even though he's never been here before.

“Should I feel bothered by that?” Stone asked out loud, before realizing that he wasn't the only one anymore standing outside the premises. There was a rider now, not too far from where he stood, and whoever they were, he hoped they didn't hear him talking to himself through that helmet.

“Pardon me, uh, miss,” he said, approaching the rider as her helmet came off, “are you with whoever's in that house over there?”

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𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚜
Father Stone considers the house he was sent to just as Ximena arrives, and makes contact with her.

[DeadDrop]

𝚇𝚒𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙶𝚕𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚕 𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚕𝚍, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚝. 𝙱𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚢𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛, 𝚢𝚎𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔.

𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙾'𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝. 𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚗, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎.

𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚞𝚙 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍.

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𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚜
The Two meet at the house, in due time they'd enter. Some things are not as they seem.

[Smike]

She hadn't been interested in speaking to the man, not yet anyway. He could have been one of her allies, or just someone lost and looking for directions, or even an undercover cop. Ex knew that her name wasn't listed in the police files as anything more than the victim of a break-in but she had no idea how secure her new organization was.

So Ximena ignored him for a moment, reading the information sent to her by anonymous code monkeys. It wasn't as much intel as she would have liked but it was enough to ensure that she was headed into a building long forgotten by the rest of the world. Just the right location for a secret of hunters looking to take on the vampiric underworld.

Or just the right location to set up an idiot fledgling hunter to be murdered before her career even began.

Ex had in fact heard the man talk to himself, cataloging the statement as she hoped he would stay focused on his monologue instead of her. No such luck, the stranger feeling the need to approach her as she shook the hair from her face.

"Yesss, I think so?"

The sentence curled into a question, Ex working to buy herself some plausible deniability.

"I was supposed to meet someone but I've never been all the way out here so I might be turned around. Are you local?"

Or are you with me?

The second question remained in her head, Ximena wondering if the bespectacled stranger was an ally or a liability.

𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚜
Ximena answers Father Stone and answers evasively, trying to figure out if he's a Hunter.

Perks Used: None

[Bazmund]

To hitchhike was a dangerous practice, to do so this late at night and so far from civilization a riskier prospect still - but the drivers who'd been picking him up on and off on his long walk out to Boring had found themselves lucky enough to be harmless themselves, or wise enough not to push it if they weren't; now, Rose was on the approach to the farmhouse proper.

Initially his plan had been to arrive a few hours early and stake the place out, see if he couldn't get eyes on whoever it was he'd been more or less instructed to meet out here before they could get eyes on him - but on reflection it seemed a tad hostile, especially considering that he'd at least met somebody in person this time around. In fairness, even when he hadn't, these sorts of meetings had a way of working out for him - sure, there had been mishaps in the past, but more often than not he'd walked away with a new job. For once, there was no need for excess caution.

He still watched for an hour. When he saw others arrive - a woman and a man, each carrying themselves with a similar kind of nondescript weight, as if it were a secret rather than something physical they were wearing. Rose had felt and seen the same weight in himself at times - when he caught snatches of his own face, reflected in windows as he passed them by, or when he thought back to that night, and that indestructible woman; some posh bitch who didn't see staff as people, who took them to bed for sustenance rather than company, whose skin bore strong against not only blade and bullet but bomb as well.

Normally that weight meant nothing. Everybody had secrets. Everybody would feel them on some days more than others - everyone knew what it was like to have that guilt-fear burning a hole in their stomach, the idea that they'd done something or found something out that could get them into serious trouble.

Normally it was normal - and normal meant nothing.

Not tonight. Coincidence is a mask worn by conspiracy, and this conspiracy involved him.

His plan had been to watch from concealment in a surrounding field, then move around the house to gain access from the rear, and either join the meeting in progress or avoid an ambush before it happened. But this felt right.

Right enough.

Rose worked his way from cover in the field back to the main road, and started to walk up the path towards the house - and his suspected-colleagues - much more openly. He held up a hand in greeting and beamed a grin at them.

"I was beginning to think I was on my own out here, you know."

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𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢, 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚔𝚜

Ever paranoid, Rose decides to break his stakeout and approaches both Ximena and Fr. Stone at the front end of the house.

Perks: None.