Burned Circle - ThirdWizard's Dresden Files Game

At this point, the sun has fallen behind the horizon and the cemetery is layered in shadow. For people who aren't keen on the supernatural, it can be a spooky place. For people who know that sometimes spooks are real, it's a really spooky place. This is the oldest cemetery in Atlanta, dating back to 1850. And its got some room to move around and hide in, coming out at 48 acres right in downtown Atlanta. There is more, and possibly worse here, than just ghouls.

Passing by tombstones and trees, the ghouls avoid the internal roads, favoring a direct route north through the sections. As the group passes by the old Confederate area, the ghouls' speed decreases gradually and they look over their shoulders less. Keira can see that one of the ghouls, the one that had the deep sword cut on its shoulder, just has a scar left over from the encounter that was now less than an hour ago.

Keira continues to keep her distance for now, intended to figure out where they are headed.

Of course, it bothers her a bit, that the wounds they have caused them are closing. If they were to fight them again, they would be better prepared - at least they would know now what they are up to - and unwounded once more. But they could sent them fleeing once, so they can beat them again.

Logan feels his cell phone buzz as Juno's car comes to a stop. He quickly grabs at it and backs as far away from Malcom as possible in the car, holding up a hand palm-out in the classic "stay back" gesture. As he flips the cheap phone open and presses a few buttons, he breathes out a grumble. "Keira texted. Oakland Cemetery." He looks out the window and sees the police car stopping and the officers within approaching. "And how do you want to explain," he waves a meaty hand around, "all this?"

"Just let me do the talking," Juno sighed as she fished her badge out. This was going to get her at the very least an unfun bawlout. Possibly, depending on how bad the mood was downtown, a little suspension. She hadn't really done anything wrong, but the story she had to give was a little flimsy.

The air was thick with the sound of horns. Two intersections up, a car had veered to avoid the barreling Cadillac and hit another one going the other way. From what she could see, the crash wasn't bad, but it had traffic tied up. Assuming she could turn the car back on after Malcolm's little Catastrophe Man act, she still wasn't going anywhere for a little while.

And neither was the other police car that had been in pursuit. They pulled up behind Juno and got out. She held the badge up to the window so they could see it, then rolled down her window.

Officer Emmanuel, "Manny" to his friends, Francis stooped over a bit and looked into the car. He took in Juno's passengers, then focused on her as she put her badge away.

"So...what the hell's this about?" he asked, after considering and discarding a few other methods of inquiry. "We've got shots fired...high speed chases...right in the middle of a public school zone."

Juno rubbed her forehead. It wasn't a nervous habit in this case, it was controlling the urge to punch him for being a twit. "I know what we've got," she replied tersely. "I was checking out a house, following up on a report the occupant was missing. There were a couple of tough customers in there. They ran into that Caddy, sprayed gunfire to keep me down, and drove off. I have no idea who they are, or what they were doing there."

Officer Francis frowned. "And...you're off duty?"

"Yeah. It wasn't official business, I'm doing it for a friend. Hasn't been long enough to make a missing persons case yet."

He glanced over the others in the car again. He seemed particularly preoccupied with Logan. "And these are...?"

Juno kept her face straight, even as she grimaced inwardly. Yeah, if Logan didn't scream 'I'm the Muscle' with his face, then she was Tinkerbell. "Also friends. They're helping me out."

Manny didn't say anything, and he didn't have to. Juno knew exactly how it looked. So you were checking out a supposedly empty house for a 'friend,' minding your own business when two guys shot at you and dived into a car to make a getaway? Why'd you bring two tough-looking guys with you to check an empty house? What did you think was going to be there? Why didn't you get us involved if you thought there was going to be trouble? And who's the girl on the motorcycle? Another friend?

"Look," she said more quietly, "it'll all be in the report. Short form: I had no reason to think anything like this would happen. I figured it was an angry boyfriend or something. If I'd had even...an inkling that guns and black cars were involved, I'd have taken it straight to the front desk."

Manny nodded after a second, though he still had his 'cop face' on, so he didn't let it slip whether he believed her or not. He surveyed the jammed up intersection ahead and shook his head.

"I hope this was for a good friend," he remarked. He didn't add, because this is going to cost you. It was clearly implied.

As Officer Manny starts to direct traffic around the wrecks, more sirens are heard coming closer. Pretty soon an ambulance and a tow truck arrive, allowing traffic to start moving, although a few daring individuals took a shortcut through some poor family's petunia garden while the officer's back is turned.

Juno just knows, though, that this isn't going to be the last time she sees Manny. He'll file a report, and that will be cross-referenced with her report, then some desk-bound ex-beat cop with delusions of being a detective will come around asking questions... But, that's a problem for another day.

Fifteen minutes, and you're on your way to the cemetery to meet up with Keira.

... who has finally found their apparent destination. At this point, all three of the ghouls she's tagging along after look fully healed, and they've now put on their human-esque masks. Arriving at a dilapidated old granite mausoleum in the area near the old Bell Tower, they stop and talk before going in, looking around nervously but not catching sight of their stalker. And, while two of the ghouls head into one of them, they leave the last to stand guard outside.

Sending a new text message to her allies, Keira lets them know, where the ghouls have arrived.

They are at the old Bell Tower. Old mausoleum. One is outside, standing guard, the other two inside. Approach with care.

Logan holds up another hand to Malcom as he holds up his cell to check the new text. "Keira again. Ghouls are at the Bell Tower in the cemetery." He flips the phone closed and stuffs it back into a pocket as far away from Malcom as possible. "We're not going to be able to stand watch over them, even in shifts. We'll get spotted at some point." He pauses and grins. "So let's stop for some pizza. My little cousins might be bargained with to lend a hand."

The closest nearby pizzeria is a small mom and pop shop on the edge of downtown. It's getting late, and ask you walk in the kid at the register gives you a pair of finely rolled eyes, as you've arrived about five minutes before closing. Tough luck for him. The inside is dimly lit, with pictures on the wall of past patrons, though you're the only people inside at the moment. As you approach the counter, the guy lets out a slight sigh at your approach, "What can we get for you?"

Juno gives Logan a raised eyebrow. She was skeptical about the 'little cousins' idea, as she had some idea of what Logan might call by that name.

"You know your cousins," she says. "Your call."

The cop then drifted a little ways over for some privacy and sent Keira a text in return.

sit tite, logan getng help. b rite there.

...she wasn't much of a texter. She didn't even have a Facebook page. Tweeting was something birds did. Maybe a wizard's anachronism wasn't so foreign to her after all.

Logan reaches into a pocket as he says, "Two extra large Supremes, the Works, whatever you guys call it here." He pulls out the payment from a worn leather wallet and hands it over. As the pizza-making gets started up, Logan steps to the door, quietly saying to Juno, "If I'm not back before the pizza is done, just come around behind the building. But slowly, and announce yourself." The big changeling heads around back and begins whistling a peculiar tune while beating out an equally peculiar rhythm on the wall beside him. It's a signal he's used in the past to call up some of the Wee Folk around the city, an old sign for any nearby friends to come out and chat.