{V:tM - IC} New York by Night

[Shalimar]

Sabrina Montague

Crown Plaza Hotel, Montague Family Suite – The Study
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

The little girl let out a small sigh when her uncle put her down in the chair, she really loved it when she was held, and she knew that it was more difficult to punish her or even just to be mad at her if he was rocking her in his arms. Her face continued to fall at the seriousness of her patriarch's expression.

Did he... did he just say I.. I'm not part of the family anymore. she wondered her lip trembling in fear, does that mean him and Jemal don't love me anymore? she wonders helplessly her eyes filling with crimson tears. "You...you don't love me any more." she cries out, her tiny frame seeming to sink in on itself, and at the same time its racked with sobs. "Why... why don't you love me anymore?" she asks between hicuppy sobs.

 

[Catulle]

Crown Plaza Hotel, Montague Family Suite - the Music Room
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

His eyes still staring out onto the city, Carrick's reply came as a soft murmur, barely audible even in the stillness of the music room, "I think a hundred years' experience would yet fail to do this city justice." He broke from the sight with a reluctance which Cate could feel as if through heightened empathy, turning to the singer with a wistful sigh. The smile had faded from his lips, but was now reflected in his eyes "But that wouldn't stop me from trying, nor do I think it will stop you, Caitlyn Tran."

 

[Catulle]

Crown Plaza Hotel, Montague Family Suite – The Study
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

The elder all but blanched at Sabrina's reaction, and for a moment it appeared as if he might reach out to comfort her with a touch, salve away the pain with an uncle's caress...

It took all of Nathaniel's potent will to keep him rooted to the spot. In an uncharacteristic lapse, he found himself chewing on his lip, and put a stop to the motion as swiftly as it had begun.

"Look at me, Sabrina." The urgent tone conveyed the gravity of the Ventrue's concerns, "And know that you are still a Montague. Alas that you are not Ventrue also, but I must choose to believe that this can be mollified, if not remedied. These outbursts of passion must cease - they are the hooks which our enemy has set to tear our house apart! They are the legacy of Brujah worming its way into your soul. Let discipline be your guardian where Jemal or I cannot be, and be aware that while you remember your family, so will we remember you."

 

[Catulle]

Frederick Douglas Memorial Cemetery, Staten Island
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

The harsh chill of the air cut them again, bone deep, now. The temperature was dropping, and they could see the steam of the policeman's warm breath rise to the heavens with his every mumbled utterance. He was praying, Nikolai realised, a note of faith in his voice that was aowed entirely to desperation rather than conviction. A deathbed conversion, as it were.

As his clanmate focused, Gabriel could see the scourge moving around in a wide circle to roughly the point at which a path had wound towards the cemetery gates; the flagstones had been torn up and piled to one side. Something, he realised, was crushed beneath the weight of the makeshift concrete cairn. Something that had been alive, to judge by the dark stains on the chipped slabs. By the time he looked up from this latest discovery, there was no sign of David. He could surmise that the witness' line of escape was cut off, though.

Through the blood, Nikolai could discern the grain of the wood used on the sign beneath the peeling off-white paint, and make out the rust on each link of the chain that had held it, wrapped tight against dead wood, to be nailed atop the tree.

He could see words daubed upon it in blood, and bitter memories dragged him backwards in time. That night. This night. His percerptions of reality blurred about him and, as he struggled to reassert himself, the Beast raged.

(OOC - Nikolai self control - 9,7,4,1 = 1 success; good for a single turn before checking again)

 

[KitanaVorr]

Crown Plaza Hotel, Montague Family Suite - the Music Room
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

A very faint smile danced over her lips. "Would that I had a hundred years...I would spend it all in the pursuit of this perfection. Its the pursuit, not the attainment that gives our life meaning after all."

Her fingers trailed along the edges of the grand piano, cold wood against warm skin. "Its in the creation of something that is immortal that makes our mortality even more precious. For why would we strive so much if we knew we had forever? We'd become jaded, deluded, lazy...we'd lose that spark of life and exist only as faded memories of our former...our spectacular selves."

Dark eyes met Carrick's with a strength that flashed with her vibrance. "That's why music...why art is so precious. It captures that instant...that essence of our souls and let's it live in so many nuances...indefinitely." Strains of mozart tinted the air as she let her fingers run over the ivory keys. "And so you're quite right...death won't stop me...as long as my music lives forever."

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

Gabriel, realizing that there was no escape for the unfortunate police officer, decided to put and end to him so they could further study the sight.

His cane at his side, he stood up straight and strode partially into the light. He made sure his face was still shadowed. There he waited until the officer saw him.

"A fine mess you have here," he said quietly. Gabriel's raspy voice was just loud enough for the cop to hear.

 

[Shalimar]

Sabrina Montague

Crown Plaza Hotel, Montague Family Suite – The Study
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

The child continued to cry hysterically despite her uncle's attempts at calming her, perhaps even because of the words. Telling a crying child that she wasn't suppoused to feel emotions had never worked in the past, and definitely wouldn't work here. Sabrina was an 8 year old, and even had she not been of the hot-blooded Brujah clan, her extreme youthfullness was simply not up to the task of keeping her emotions in check, not that she wanted to in the slightest.

Sabrina uses the red kercheif that Vych had given her to wipe away some of the crimson lines from her face. What he said about not using her powers was really confusing to the child, why should she be given them if she was meant to use them? She also knew that Miss Vychtorya got to use her powers on Miss Cate, so why can't I? the child wondered.

"Thats not fair," she says in answer to her uncle, still sobbing with a note of anger starting to enter her voice, "Miss Vychtorya uses her powers on Miss Cate, so why can't I?" she asked with her face set in very suspicous lines. The child instinctually reaches out with her ability to cause awe, wanting more then anything her uncles acceptance and love.

 

[Catulle]

Crown Plaza Hotel, Montague Family Suite - the Music Room
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

"We would strive out of love. Eternity need not seem so very long, compared to the myriad of experience the world has to offer. Just see what's come about this past century... and think what the next might bring. Here, in this city, and across the globe humanity is waking up to its destiny - a new renaissance in science, in art and in society. Doesn't it make you want to see it all, weave that together in your mind..."

His voice trailed off, though the spark of the passion with which he had spoken hung in the air between them. Carrick closed his eyes and stepped back to place his back against the window as Caitlyn started to play. Viewed from the piano, he seemed to hang suspended in the air above the city.

"They say that art killed Mozart, too. Van Gogh died mad and the state ordered Socrates' demise." He sighed softly as he tilted his head back to rest on the cold glass, "exegi monumentum aere perennius."

 

[Catulle]

Crown Plaza Hotel, Montague Family Suite – The Study
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

(OOC - Sabrina Awe diff7 - 9,8,4,2 = 2 successes)

This time, Nathaniel did reach out to the girl, offering her his arms to pick her up out of the chair, scooping the tiny weight up and holding her to him. When he spoke, he mollified the natural harshness of his voice to a dry calm that echoed Sabrina's sobs.

"Sabrina. Very little is fair in this world. Caitlyn... Ms Tran, is mortal, and as such outside the world of our Kindred. Vychtorya is the childe of an elder of high standing, and a different standard must apply." He looked about to add something else, but perhaps thought better of it. The pause lengthened almost to discomfort, before he continued, "You are my neice, Montague despite your Brujah blood, and I would raise you by my standards. To use our disciplines is a sign of desperation, of action required where finesse has failed. The wielder disrespects his -or her- chosen target, if that target is Kindred, for by swaying their mind, he or she has effectively deemed that target beyond reason. That insult may prove lethal in our society over time."

He shook his head, and with the gesture, his long, unbound locks partly enveloped Sabrina, a flowing cloak of dark thread. She could smell him all around her, now. "With mortals, the kine, the matter of finesse still stands, the matter of giving offence less so; our first commandment, laid down five hundred years ago by Mr Ashton's ancestor, demands secrecy. To interfere too much with a mind too quickly might bring a mortal to the point of suspicion - or madness. Neither is an acceptable state of affairs, and I would look poorly indeed upon any who assailed that girl's sanity in the knowledge of her actions' consequence."

He gave a smile that fell a little shy of reassuring, despite his likely intentions. "I could command your obedience and enforce it through my will, or sway you to my cause through mastery of my clan's disciplines. I will not, however, because you are worthy of better treatment than that. Others, you will find, are less deserving. It saddens me to say that you will generally find them amongst the Brujah that created you, and I hope you will not fall to their base instincts."

 

[Festy_Dog]

Frederick Douglas Memorial Cemetery, Staten Island
Wednesday 11th December, 2002

Max tries not to focus on the sight before him, lest he gain full comprehension of the horrors.

I'm a vampire, a desensitised one at that, why won't I let myself take a closer look? Because the cop's there, thats why, yeah...

Max sees Gabriel approach the policeman, and decides that he'll be safe enough with Legba standing guard here.

"I'm going to check the perimeter," he whispers to the others, "Nikolai, wanna come with?"