Buffy RPG - A Hellmouth in Waterloo - The Bone Collector S1E1

[Shayuri]

Juno jockeyed around the edges of the police tape, hands stuffed in her windbreaker. In the inner pocket was the bulge of the knife. She knew now that it wasn't the source of these weird 'powers' she'd gotten...but it still felt good to have it close. Just in case the 'watcher,' Mr. Daffy D (and wasn't that an effed up name? It looked like some lame "hip hop" reinvention of a Warner Brothers cartoon character...like "Here comes Daffy D and his homeboy, the Notorious P.I.G.! deh-duh-dee...dat's all, homies.) was wrong about all this.

Fact was, she still wasn't sure how to take it all. Mostly she was just pissed that the magic watcher-man had showed up AFTER her uncle got killed. Couldn't she have become one of these 'slayers' BEFORE that? It was like...from the instant she saw him die, her life had become some weird, surreal fever dream. She still half-expected to wake up any second.

But until then, she had an alleyway full of giblets to try to get a look at.

After getting the best vantage she could from behind the line...even getting up on a car's bumper to see over everyone...Juno decided it was time to try something more drastic. She slipped off to the side, glanced around to make sure folks were still distracted by the coroner's floor show, and started trying to climb up, using windowsills and other little pipes and things poking out as hand and footholds.

 

[jkason]

Gavin sat in the cafeteria finishing his breakfast.

"You're right. Talking does help," the freshman across the table from him said, sniffing and wiping her eyes dry. "He's a jerk, and I deserve better, and I'm going to move on!" she said, perking up. "Thank you so much for listening. You really are a sweetie."

The young man let go of the girl's hand. "Well, I'm just glad you feel better," he said, rising.

"Oh, you barely touched your food! I hope I didn't ruin your appetite, strange girl dumping all her drama on you."

Gavin blushed and stammered, "No, really, I'm actually ... quite full," he said. Thankfully, that's when the muttering started. He turned to see students hopping from table to table, pointing to one of the televisions on the wall showing a news report. Frowning, he moved closer as others called for those nearby to turn up the volume. After hearing about the mutilated bodies, he left hurriedly, clearly disturbed. Though unlike most of the students, it wasn't the report itself. Or, rather, it wasn't just the report.

No, it was realizing that his first thought had been about the pain-gorging he could have done if he'd been just a few blocks closer.

The young man shuddered and pulled out his phone. He tried Rechard's office, but it went straight to voice mail. Heaven forbid the codger actually managed to get a cell phone of his own. Probably was afraid they had evil spirits in them.

Then again, with the way his life seemed to be going, that might not be out of place.

Gavin rolled his eyes, deciding he was better off not coming up with supernatural scenarios that hadn't even happened yet. Might give the universe ideas. For now, he angled himself off campus to take a look for himself before Rechard's office hours.

 

[airwalkrr]

He turned to see students hopping from table to table, pulling up the news report on their smartphones.

OOC: This is 2001 remember. No smartphones. I was gonna give Dafydd an ipad until I realized this. There could easily be a TV in the cafeteria which has the news on though.

 

[Cor Azer]

EXT. DAY - AN ALLEY

Police and reporters milling about entrance. Some crime scene techs in the alley itself

TRACK down front of building to other side. Juno Reyes is climbing a fire escape.

CUT TO:​

OOC: With 3 successes, Juno has little problem scaling the fire escape, even swinging across to a drainpipe, and scrambling up onto the top of the building

ANGLE: ROOFTOP

Juno throws a leg over the edge as she climbs up, and carefully makes her way across, trying to stay in the shadows of the large air vents until she reaches the other side, and tries to shimmy out a bit for a peek.

CUT TO:​

ANGLE: JUNO'S POV

The alley from above. A few techs move about with their little yellow markers. Juno hears some vague conversation, but little fact, or even speculation; mostly technical details of evidence retrieval. There are five stacks of pallets crushed below, but only four gurneys of body parts are loaded in the police vans, and no body parts seem to remain in the alley.

CUT TO:​

CLOSE: ROOFTOP

Juno pulls back and sits for a moment, collecting her thoughts. Something to her right catches her eye, and she notices a silver rosary caught on a roof vent, hanging over a small patch of burnt shingles.

CUT TO:​

EXT. DAY - WATERLOO UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

Steven Moon is leaving the gym in a fresh change of clothes, still seemingly distracted by the sight of the crime scene during his run. He fails to notice the young brunette approaching him.

SANDRA
Hey!​

Steven continues walking, oblivious to her until she almost touches his elbow.

SANDRA
Hey! Hi! Umm... You're Steven, right? From the rugby team? I'm... I'm a friend of Matt. Your hooker? I mean, in the scrum, not to say that you're a pimp or something.​

She stops, embarrassed about her babbling.

SANDRA
(nervous, talking quickly)
Ok, and there's the babble. I babble. And then I try to explain the babble, and oh, God! Please tell me to shut up!
(beat)
Hi! Again, I'm Sandra. I see you running to school everyday, and I was wondering, and you probably won't, but I thought I'd ask, if maybe... I don't know, maybe you'd like a running buddy? Maybe... some day?​

She smiles nervously.

CUT TO:​

INT. DAY - DAYFDD'S COMPUTER LAB

Dafydd is working at his computers while Rechard is painting. Several browser windows are open on the laptop, and one starts blinking, indicating its search is complete.

CLOSE: LAPTOP SCREEN

A search result page is displayed.

TEXT (on screen)
Your search for "'find the bone' + 'finish the blade' + witchcraft + demon" has returned 213,429 hits.​

The screen scrolls through various junk - obviously D&D, Vampire: the Masquerade, or Everquest related. Stop scrolling at two hits.

TEXT (on screen)
11. The Modern Bloodwitch www.notarealurl.net : The use of chicken bones has been traditional... to finish the blading... bind the demon in human form...
12. Contents of The Rezervaţi întuneric www.stillnotreal.org : ...to restore the demon, find the bones of... any well-stocked store of witchcraft paraphernalia... finish the blade by polishing it with...​

CUT TO:​

EXT. DAY - UNIVERSITY AVENUE NEAR CAMPUS

Outside crime scene. Still bustling with the reporters, police, techs, and gawkers. A local TV news crew is setting up for a quick on-site shoot, and the female reporter approaches Gavin as he nears.

CLOSE: REPORTER AND GAVIN

The reporter presses the mike towards Gavin, a stunningly well-faked look of concern on her face.

CINDY
May I ask you a few questions? Cindy Druthers, CKCW News.
(not really a beat)
What do you think of this latest vicious assault near Waterloo University? Are you, as a student, afraid to walk around these streets at night?​

OOC: As airwalkrr said, no true smart phones (but some precursor devices like Palm and the early pager-looking Blackberries are around. In particular, the makers of the Blackberry - Research in Motion (RIM) - is based in the actual Waterloo, and is the basis for the fiction Edge Communications in this setting.

 

[DrZombie]

Waterloo university campus

"Oh Hiya Sandra"

Steven says, smiling at the wall of nervous babbling coming his direction.

"Seen you around, didn't know your name."

He stops, sticks out his hand.
"Steven Moon. I am pleased to meet you, Sandra. The morning sun shines in your smile."

Laying on the native a bit thick? Nah, she'll fall for it.

"The earth is of every man. It is not for me to say where you may run, but I'd be happy to have your company, even if you know my hooker."

Steven points towards the cafetaria:

"I'm gonna have something to eat before class starts. Care to join me?"

 

[jkason]

Gavin deer-in-headlights as soon as the reporter shoves the mic in his face.

"I, well, of course it's scary, right? With body parts and blood and police and ... stuff," he says in a bout of verbal spew. Then he stops a minute and frowns. "Wait, latest? And, um, how did you know I was a student?"

 

[airwalkrr]

"Aha! Here we are, a couple of things here look interesting... let me see." Dafydd peruses the links. He clicks on the second one (Contents of The Rezervaţi întuneric) first and examines in before bookmarking it in his newly created "Bone Blade" browser folder and saving an offline version of the page.

"This one seems promising. Something about restoring a demon. That isn't good. Apparently witchcraft is involved... no surprise there."

Dafydd then clicks the first link (The Modern Bloodwitch) and does the same, briefly perusing it before saving both the link and an offline version of the page.

"Oh dear... definitely not good. It looks like someone is trying to harness the power of a demon, and I think they need uh, human bones to do it."

He then packs up his laptop and pulls a couple of stakes from a drawer in his desk. He hesitates briefly, looking out the window and seeing the daylight, then shrugs and tosses them into the side pouch of the laptop case anyway. "You never know," he says to Rechard as he heads out of his office.

Stopping by the front desk, he speaks to the senior student staff, "Excuse me, ah, Cookie is it? You mind keeping an eye on things for a little while, I have an uh... important meeting to go to."

Then, cutting her off before she can respond he says, "Yes, yes I know my schedule is clear for the day but this is an unscheduled meeting."

As he heads out the door he mutters, "have to find her... she might be in danger. The uh, crime scene... first place to check."

Dafydd gets into his car and programs the coordinates of the crime scene into the car before leaving campus.

OOC: I am assuming Rechard follows. He is welcome to drive along. Dafydd drives a Jaguar so it's sure ot be a fun ride.

 

[Systole]

"A demon after all?" Rechard says, his eyes brightening. "Of course, it would be most ... distasteful if it were contaminated with human bones. We should proceed with haste. Let us away." He walks with Dafydd out to the car.

At the Jaguar, Rechard hesitates, a clear look of dismay on his face. "Must we?" he asks, then sighs. He struggles with the door for a moment before getting it open. "Push, pull, twist! Why do these abominable contraptions never work the same way?" With ill grace, he settles into the passenger seat.

 

[Herobizkit]

Rory Shanahan

OOC: First posts are always the hardest.

Rory slowly woke from his dreamless slumber, the first dreamless slumber he'd had in over a week. Almost immediately, he felt a dull ache in his ribs, his jaw, and his head all at once. He vaguely recalled a drunken brawl with some loudmouth rugby players... and a girl... but at least he he'd been exhausted to the point where a decent sleep was possible.

Thankful for small miracles, he moaned and rolled over to check the time. The large, red digital readout on his clock-radio showed that it was nearly noon. Sighing, he got out of bed and flicked on the radio.

[music in: "Closer", Nine Inch Nails]

Rory got up, crossed the room, then entered the bathroom. He took a quick shower, cleaning himself up as best he could.

[camera shows tattoo of a massive Celtic cross on his back]
After drying himself, he brushed his teeth, then threw on a white wife-beater and his favourite jeans. The song ended, and the news at noon took its place.

"Today's top story. Police are still investigating the discovery of four bodies found mutilated near the University of Waterloo earlier this morning. Police have not yet released the identities of the victims, though it is confirmed that they are all male and between nineteen and thirty years of age. One spokesperson claimed that the victims appeared to be brutalized by animals, as the bodies displayed numerous bite marks along the neck, arms and shoulders. While the methodology of these killings is similar to others in recent past, the police do not yet suspect the murders to be related."

Rory blinked. Not related, he thought sarcastically, that shower of savages couldn't pour piss out their boots with the instructions on their heels.

He clicked the radio off. Well, best be gettin' to class.

Rory threw on his bomber jacket, then picked up his guitar bag and slung it over his shoulder. He grabbed the keys from the bowl near the door, locked up, then went for his motorcycle. Helmet on, shades... and he roared into the street towards the university.

 

[Shayuri]

"Hm," Juno hmmed. She was no great whiz in math, but she knew the basics. "Four bodies...five things got hit. So either someone took twosies...or someone's missing," she mused to herself.

It could be the killer himself, of course. Maybe one of the victims put up a bit of a fight. She didn't think so though. It didn't fit. Five people thrown into pallets, to stun them probably, then attacked. One didn't die. Or didn't die here. Why?

"One of these things is not like the others...one of these things just doesn't...hm?"

A glint of metal, not on the ground below but up here on the roof. She crabwalked over to it, staying low so the cops wouldn't notice her, and got a better look. Some kind of silver necklace or bracelet hung there. What got her attention though was the searing of the shingles under it. Because, ladies and gents, what has a bad complexion and is burned by religious icons?

She grinned and snatched the necklace, tucking it away in her jacket pocket before heading back to the fire extinguisher for a quick jaunt back down. Homeboy Daffy-D would be able to figure out what it was and why it was up there...and then she'd find whatever was doing this and give it a taste of sharp, wooden justice!