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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 4056834" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Two-hundred-seventy-one, “Ruby’s Disappearance“, Wednesday, June 21st, 6:00 P.M. Kate sat down to Alvina's good dinner and ate with a will. Her appetite had kicked up with a vengeance the last few days, and today was the first chance she'd really had to indulge it. She says, "Grandpere, while we're here maybe we can find some strawberries to take back. They're all I've been thinking about for weeks." The old elf laughed and some of the thick tension in the room eased, but it still stalked them through dinner. Ruby remained upstairs, but then she had a night out to get ready for, and who knew what else was going on up there. Kate didn't really want to know. As they finished up, Alvina came out to clear up the dishes and they all thanked her again for the dinner. "I suppose we'll want to wait for Ruby to see what we're going to look like before disguising ourselves. And we'll have to figure out how we're following." Mina Parker sweeps into the dining room, much the way Ruby normally does. She is dressed for the theater in her new evening gown. "Evening everyone. I hope you're all prepared for an exciting night," she says with an easy smile. <a href="http://www.lenox.com/cat/index.cfm?fuseaction=prod&cat=col&subcat=fash&flt=fash&pid=737&kf=117" target="_blank">http://www.lenox.com/cat/index.cfm?fuseaction=prod&cat=col&subcat=fash&flt=fash&pid=737&kf=117</a> "Prepared for one, but hoping to find it exceedingly dull. Dull is much better for my digestion," Kate answered. "Ruby must be nearly ready by now, they won't want to be late." Mina laughs. "From what I know of my granddaughter, she takes her time primping. Not that she needs to. Someone might have to remind her to hurry up," she laughs. Manuel Gonzales stands and says with a smile, "My Mrs. Parker, you look ravishing. If you were not already married I would offer to be your escort." She smiles easily in return and nods her head. "Why thank you, that's very sweet. You may call me Mina. May I call you Manuel?" He says, "Certainly, Ruby has spoken of you so often I feel that I already know you." She replies, "Very good. While she was at my home she talked a lot about you too, all of you actually. She seemed very excited to have you all in her life. She was on a very bad path that if she continued would not have ended well. So I am very grateful to you all for the difference you have made to her." "Well, I suppose that should be me," Kate said with a smile. "Or at least it shouldn't be Mr. Gonzales or Nanuet." She left the others in the parlor and hurried up the stairs to the room they had stolen Ruby out of earlier. "Ruby? Mr. Eastman? You're going to be late," she called, knocking on the door. Kate waits for a while and hears no answer. When she eventually opens the door she sees George Eastman lying on the floor. Ruby is not in sight. The window is open and hanging out are the bed sheets, knotted together with the other end of the sheets tied to the bed-rail. Lying on the floor beside the dresser are a white left shoe, a white right glove and a white ascot. "Grandpere!" Kate shouted, and ran over to kneel next to George Eastman. She laid her fingers against his neck, checking to see whether he still lived. "Ruby's gone!" Mina heard the desperation in Katherine's voice and the concern on Gonzales face in return. With surprising speed for someone her age, Mina Parker runs up the stairs but she is still passed by the Indian Nanuet. Nanuet runs into the rooms and scans it quickly. Mina arrives behind him, pushes past Nanuet and over to Eastman. "Does he live Katherine?" She sees that he remains alive and there do not appear to be any puncture wounds on his neck although there is a red bruise on the side of his face. Kate says, "Yes, he's alive. But that bruise is going to nasty. He may need a doctor, but there's nothing I can do." Nanuet wastes no time. He runs back down the stairs, calling to Maska as he does. He senses no response from Maska, who is still outside on the same side of the house that the bed-sheets went down from. Going to the window he sees the wolf lying the lawn. Nanuet knows instinctively that the wolf still lives, as he would have sensed it had the animal died. Nanuet cautiously makes his way across the yard to his companion and carefully assesses the wolf's injuries. Kate looked at the items of clothing strewn about the room, then looked to see if Mr. Eastman had finished dressing. He was far enough along for her to know those clothes weren't his. Mr. Gonzales had arrived just a few steps behind Mina Parker. "I don't think those are Mr. Eastman's," Kate said, pointing out the clothes. "It must have been Turner. He wouldn't have left those accidentally." Mina hurries to the window and looks outside, looking for any clues she might find. "Look at this flower," she comments, "It's glowing slightly. That's a bit odd, no?" Mina turns and says, "I think you are right Katherine. Why would he leave them here for us to find? Perhaps they are clues themselves, where we can find Ruby. Do you think he wants us to confront him?" Kate kept looking at the clothes, something tugging at her memory. "That doesn't seem his way. If he wanted that he could have come downstairs for us... How did he..." She lifted her hand to her throat and looked at the ascot, then at the shoe. Kate exclaims, "He was the gods damn dog! White throat, white front paw, white rear paw. He's been invited in, no one is safe in this house now. Maybe that's what he wanted us to know." Mina's eyes grow dark and her lips form into a grim line. "The creature must have known Ruby's love of dogs from watching her in your Promise City." She comes over and kneels next to George, pushing some hair off his face. "Poor boy. Let's get him on the bed." Mina and Gonzales lift him gently off the floor and onto the bed, keeping his head raised. "It is good, he was not bitten." Mina stands and in a firm voice says, "We do not have much time. Surely he will not wait to try to turn Ruby. Do we have any idea where he might take her here? I know you all are just as new here as I." Gonzales says, "Perhaps, but turning her takes three days and he would have to cart her body around that whole time. He could travel much quicker with her as his still-living slave." Kate says, "Yes, that makes sense. Nanuet has been behind him destroying all his hiding places. He may have intended to return to Promise City with her, he'd been taking steps to set himself up there. Now he may be forced to flee wherever the train took his coffin. Mr. Gonzales, can we use those clothes to find him? Since we're not in your workshop I know it's doubtful." Gonzales replies, "I have only one more scry spell. I could use it now to find her present location but if they are moving that might not be helpful unless we could get to that spot before the spell ends. I also have one more transport spell, which could be used for that purpose but it might be better to use that to get her away from him instead." Kate replies, "You're right about that, which means we still have the challenge of finding them." She went over and looked at the rope of bed-sheets. "I suppose he would be strong enough to hold on to her and climb down at the same time." Kate started to pace, trying to think of the best way to find them quickly. "He must be staying close by, he was here during daylight. Shadows are safe enough for him, but to get here he would have had to travel through sunlight." She stopped suddenly and leaned out the window, looking toward the house where they had industriously pretended to garden earlier. "Could he be there? At the neighbors while they're away?" Gonzales looks out the window at the neighbors house that they had used for their own morning kidnapping and says, "That would make sense. The puppy did not show up until the shade from this house covered the yard. In fact, the sun still hasn't completely set now, so they probably exited back that way as well, although at this point Ruby could have possibly shielded him from the direct sunlight." Mina adds, "Isn't it possible he is still even in the house? Perhaps that is just a decoy, throwing the sheets out the window. We should also check the house just to be sure." Kate says, "Let's be quick then. We could be quicker splitting up, but if he's in the house no one should meet him alone. Check the upstairs, don't enter any rooms, just open door and look inside, then we can all see each other in the hallways. Once we're downstairs we'll send Alvina up to take care of Mr. Eastman." Mina nods, then hurries to the upstairs. She starts with the room she had napped and dressed in and opens the door, checking inside. She continues to check each door quickly. Kate and Mr. Gonzales also check the other upstairs doors. Kate does it very quickly, not believing they are in the house, but making sure they aren't is best. Nanuet has now checked Maska. The wolf appears to merely be asleep not far from where the makeshift sheet-ladder reaches the ground. Nanuet notes that several grains of a crystal powder are lying atop his skin as well as on the grass near him. Nanuet gathers as much of the crystal powder as he can quickly in his hand and then with his other hand he tries to wake Maska. The wolf companion awakens. After they check all the rooms upstairs Mina says, "I will stay with the boy. Katherine, why don't you ask the servants to come upstairs? All this will probably come as a shock to them but we don't have time to coddle them." Mina sits on the bed next to George and looks him over again. George appears to be uninjured aside from the bruise on the side of his face. As Mina holds him he begins to regain consciousness. Mina gently strokes his face. In a calming voice, much like Ruby's she says, "Don't try to move much Mr. Eastman. You're going to be alright but you should take it easy right now." Kate nodded and ran down the stairs to the kitchen looking for Alvina. "We need you upstairs, with ice if you have it. How much have you heard of our discussions today? And don't worry, I don't mind if you heard everything." "Oh, we would never eavesdrop," Alvina states. Kate says, "What's happened won't make much sense to you then. Mr. Eastman's taken a blow to the head and Miss West was kidnapped from the room. We need you to come care for him so we can go after her." Alivina get Rosaire and William to come upstairs. Rosaire examines the injury and then casts a healing spell on Eastman, causing the bruise to fade. Eastman gives a very vivid description of what transpired until he was knocked out, describing Turner in intricate detail. Kate looked over at the rose after Mr. Eastman finished his description. "I think we should take the rose with us. Aphrodite was obviously trying to warn them that something was wrong. Let us hope Diana is not a jealous goddess and that Aphrodite isn't angry with me," she said, and reached for the flower. "My, your job duties around here are vast," Mina comments to Rosaire. "Mr. Eastman is blessed to have found such caring and talented friends." "Now we know what this creature looks like and that those here in the house are no longer safe. I would assume though that he will not return here but you should be on guard anyway. Let us go outside to Nanuet, and hope he has a way to track them. Otherwise we may have no choice but to use one of Manual's spells." She smiles as she looks to the rose in Katherine's hand, "That is of course only if the goddess Aphrodite does not show us the way first." Kate says, "As I said earlier, I think they're in the house next door. Turner couldn't have gone far in the daylight, and no one is there right now. Or Turner took their minds, one way or the other.” The house manager William states "Mr. and Mrs. Collins are away visiting family down in Maryland. The only one who might be there now is their gardener and housekeeper, a German named Rolph Herrmann." Mina says, "That could be useful information, thank you. Take care of Mr. Eastman. Hopefully we'll return soon with Ruby." Kate says, “We will bring her back Mr. Eastman, have no fear." Kate looked to her teacher and they went downstairs. They all make their way downstairs and out back to Nanuet, finding him hovering over his wolf. With concern in her voice Mina asks, "Is everything alright with your friend?" Nanuet says, "Yes, I believe he will be OK. I think something used magic to put him to sleep. What have you ascertained about the mess upstairs?" Nanuet listens to what information they were able to gather from the clues left behind and their knowledge. "Well, hopefully Maska and I can try and track them. I would think that even if she was under his spells that Ruby would either have to walk or that he would have to carry her." Nanuet begins looking for tracks near the bottom of the "rope" coming out of the bedroom window and Maska tries to pick up Ruby's scent. Kate comments, "He's being careful about not killing here, probably since bodies would bring the authorities," Kate observed. She kept quite about her theory that they were next door, not wanting to influence what Nanuet found. "Crystal power, perhaps as the sand for a sleep spell." Gonzales says, "Belgium sands, an ancient sleep remedy." Nanuet is able to follow tracks of Ruby alone, no other, heading next door to the house that Kate and Gonzales had visited that morning. The tracks go around a break in the shrubbery, behind the carriage house, and to the back door of the house. It is a three-story brick design very similar to that of George Eastman's. Mina says quietly, "Well, let's go. Everyone prepare yourselves, and may the gods watch over us." Kate tucked the sands away in her spell components with a little self-satisfied smile as they reached the door to the house next door. She quite enjoyed being right. Mina comments, "I do have some spells that will be helpful," Mina whispers. "I can detect an undead creature but only for a limited amount of time. This seems like it might be the time. I can also help keep the creature from possessing someone, but it has to be before the possession actually occurs. If there was a way to break Ruby from the spell... I could cast it on her and prevent the creature from accessing her mind again. Does anyone know how we can accomplish that?" Kate says, "There is an elixir, but I don't have it, nor do I know how to create it," Kate whispered. "His destruction ends it.” Nanuet tries the door. Kate watched as Nanuet tried the door, and comments “I can open the door if it's needed." Nanuet finds the door locked and is unable to open it. Gonzales uses his final spell of that type to open it. Mina says, "I am going to use a spell but I will have to concentrate. I should be able to detect if he is in the house and nearby." Mina utters the incantation and begins focusing on what is just beyond the doorway. Kate watched carefully to see how this spell was cast, then turned her attention to the inside of the room, looking for anything obviously out of place. She detects that there is one powerful undead creature within the building and is able to determine that he appears to be on the middle of the second floor. She whispers, "He's here, on the second floor, right around where George's room is in his house. We should hurry, I doubt he's going to be unsurprised by our visit. I will be prepared with another spell but I am uncertain it will work, he is very powerful. Before we go, I am going to cast another spell. I believe Nanuet will be the most important of us in this battle, we need him to be able to use that arrow. This will help protect him from Turner's unwelcome influence." She again speaks an incantation. Mina states, "Now we are ready." Kate says, "I have some spells that worked against a vampire in Thomaswell, and a few other tricks," Kate whispered. "Quiet as we can, everyone. Do whatever you can to get Nanuet a clean shot at him." Kate paused for a moment, then bent and pulled off her shoes, which tended to click when she walked. Once she was silent, she started carefully forward with the others. The group of Kate, Mina, Nanuet, Gonzales and Maska head quietly across the room and head towards the stairs to the second floor. The building is nicely furnished. It is currently dark as the shades and curtains have been pulled shut and even pinned back at places, blocking out almost all remaining light of the still setting sun. Kate made sure to examine the windows carefully. Her little mirror was in her pocket, and she kept her eyes open for any mirrors in the home that would be small enough for her to carry easily. Turner had probably not chosen a room with western facing windows, but reflected light should work just as well. As they near the top of the steps they almost trip over a thin wire strung between the top landing rails around an-inch-and-a-half above the floor. The slow progress up the stairs suddenly stopped, and Kate leaned sideways to try to see why. Mr. Gonzales was gesturing, indicating a thin wire stretched across the top of the stairs. Kate listened carefully to see if the wire had set off any sounds and hitched up her skirts so she would be able to step over it. They all carefully step over the wire, Nanuet alerting Maska as well. Once on the second floor hallway they see that the wire goes around the corner to a series of tin cans tied together, which would have clanged together had the wire been tripped. Kate had been worried about Turner knowing they were coming, but apparently even a Vampire Lord's senses weren't sensitive enough for him to just know they were coming. If they were lucky, Nanuet would have a chance to shoot before Turner even knew they were there. Kate put the wand in her hand with Aphrodite's rose. Nanuet withdrew the blessed arrows from it's spot of safe keeping. He unslung his bow and was ready to take a shot if the opportunity arose. He continued in the direction that Mina had detected the undead presence. They arrive at the door to the room which was where the creature was felt. Gonzales reaches over to check the knob, finding the door locked. Kate stepped forward and mouthed silently to her teacher, "Let me." As quietly as she could she spoke the words that would magically unlock the door. The door unlocks.</blockquote>

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