[VtR][Mature] Born into Darkness: Arc 1

As Beth sits in her silent reverie she secretly wonders just what in the hell she's gotten herself into. As if being a vampire weren't bad enough, now she finds herself suddenly immersed in this clandestine underworld that's been going on for God knows how long right underneath the world's collective noses.

How naive are we?

She decides now is as good a time as any to try to get a handle on what happened in the freezer and focuses on Nice and the childlike freak next to him, seeing if she can make out anything despite the partition being up.
 

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[sblock=Beth's Eavesdropping]Beth tries to eavesdrop on Nice and Oscar as they sit in the front seat. However trying to "tune into" the sounds in the front seat is futile.

Beth can pick up the sounds of squealing tires, the thump of the shock absorbers, the sound of air rushing over the car body, but any conversation the two are having eludes her.[/sblock]
 

"It's kind of an honor to ride in this kind of car and not die. We call these "Black Cars" on the street. Never even heard of one getting stopped, so he can drive however the hell he wants. Mobs own these...... or rather, I guess vampires do. Either way, being is one is usually not a good thing. I don't get the feeling we are in trouble though, at least, not bad trouble."
 

Mount Elizabeth Parking Lot

Nice "parks" outside of the elevator lift, with two wheels up on the sidewalk. People navigating the tight rows of cars are going to have to really squeeze to get past.

Oscar gets out and heads to the lift.

Nice gestures for the group to gather around.
OK. Here's how it's going to work. I'm going to make you all invisible. People won't see you. They'll try to avoid you so long as you avoid them. No speaking. No doing anything. Here's the most important thing: You have to keep me in sight. You lose sight of me...
Nice makes a dramatic gesture, wiggling his fingers.
poof! You appear. And I'm telling you... people will freak if you do that.


Got it?
He looks around the group.
If you need to communicate then gesture. If you need to get my attention or whatever then tug on my clothing.

Ready?
Nice doesn't wait for answers this time. He just closes his eyes and furrows his brow. And....

Nothing happens. You all look the same. You all feel the same.

Nice opens his eyes, puts his finger toward his lips and then glides toward the elevator.
 

Well this is new, Diego thinks. He may not be that far off of Vanderchild, ah hell, might as well play along. Diego walks in silence, but is careful to keep tabs on Nice.
 

Beth can't help but stifle a giggle as Nice's trick seems to fail miserably. This guy's got to be some kind of cook, she thinks to herself.

As they're all walking in silence to wherever it is they're going, she keeps an eye on the man with the bleeding neck. Archer, wasn't that his name? Why him, I wonder?
 

Mount Elizabeth Hospital

Mount Elizabeth is largest public medical facility in the region and probably the best that most people could hope to get.
A single florescent bulb emits a clicking sound as it flickers; struggling to illuminate walls stained and cracked with age and neglect.

Nice taps the button. The group can see one of the elevators slowly making its way down to the sub-basement.

After about five minutes the other elevator arrives disgorging an young couple and an old man in a walker. They pass through without taking notice of the odd motley of people standing in the lift lobby. Looking through or around people.

The group gets into the now vacant lift, Nice hits Basement One and herds the group toward the back of the elevator; the six of them still take up almost a two thirds of the available space.

The phenomena that occurred in the lift lobby repeats itself throughout the elevator ride. People (a few orderlies, several patients, one tired looking man in a doctor's coat) get on, looking blankly toward the back of the elevator, and cluster toward the front.

The old doctor gets out on the same level as the group, Nice leads the group after him, when he makes a turn toward a dimly lit passageway labeled "Morgue" he makes a thumbs up signal.

Mount Elizabeth Hospital -- Outside the Morgue
The old doctor rounds a corner. There is a jumpy looking little man standing there. Balding and pudgy, protuberant yellow stained teeth and beedy eyes add to the feral, rat-like appearance.

He seems to have been waiting for the old doctor. "Saul! Nice to see you've come back to work!"

'Saul' groans, "I told you I'd call you Detective."

"Yeah well. I got sick of waiting."

"I have three tonight. Yours came in last. It gets done last."

As the men speak Nice slips past them and eases one of the double doors partially open. Holding it open Nice gestures for the group to slip inside.

"I can help you with that. Cause of death? Getting high, wandering around on the highway and hit by a damn semi-! Pair of junkies, nobody cares!"

Mount Elizabeth Hospital -- Inside the Morgue
The Morgue is quite, save for the muffled argument from the door outside.

The room is much wider than it is deep; the far wall is dominated by lots of little doors, presumably filled with bodies. Three different forms laid on three different tables, each one has a cloth draped over it, obscuring the form.
The sheet over the one closest to the door hangs tent-like, over some large object protruding from the body's chest.

[sblock=Everyone notices]There is a bit of cigarette ash on the sheet covering the body.[/sblock]
 

Biggs taps Nice to get his attention, walks towards the wall and taps the fire alarm a few times for emphasis, and makes a hand gesture of many people scurrying away. If we pull the alarm, the place will evacuate and we can do whatever we came here to do. Then we can leave the same way we came he thinks, trying to impart this on the others silently.
 

Mount Elizabeth Hospital -- Inside the Morgue

Nice blinks. And then nods.
He slowly reaches over and... gently tugs on the alarm.

[sblock=Beth]The din is overpowering. It's almost like getting socked in the gut. You manage to recover enough to wobbly follow the rest of the group out when they depart.[/sblock]
[sblock=Archer]Archer manages to turn down his Auspex before being hit.[/sblock]

The old coroner is backing through the doorway "And don't think I can't smell that, this is a hospit..." the fire alarm starts of with a wheezing rattle but soon cranks up to a deafening roar that reverberates throughout the building.

The old man looks around, doesn't see anything out of the ordinary and mutters something under his breath and heads back out of the room.

Nice quickly picks up body and screws his eyes tightly closed. The body disappears completely. Nice looks just as he did before, as if there was no body at all.

With a nod of his head he leads the way out toward the corridor.

Mount Elizabeth Hospital -- Basement One Elevator
As the group returns to the elevator you can see the rodent-faced Detective leaning against the wall near the button. His face is a sour mass, like he's stepped in something unpleasant.

Nice sidles up so to the panel and gently pushes the button.
Nothing happens.

The alarm continues to echo deafeningly in the building.

Less than a foot away the Detective shifts pulls out a cigarette.
Nice presses the button again, gently.
Nothing happens.

Nice looks up at the little indicator for the elevator lights. They seem quite still.

The Detective snarls, throwing his unlit cigarette down and stalks off toward the Morgue.
"...horse pucky..." you can make out through the din.

Nice looks at the elevator, then at the detective's retreating back and then at the elevator again. Finally he walks over to the stairwell.

[sblock=The parking lot and Nice's direction] The hospital parking lot is on the third floor of the building. Nice is heading down deeper into the basement.[/sblock]

Mount Elizabeth Hospital -- Basement Two
Nice comes out of the stairwell and makes a left toward an area marked RESEARCH -- AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

At a pair of double doors he waves a passkey, the doors swing open, and he leads the way into a better maintained area.

Mount Elizabeth Hospital -- Private Laboratory

[sblock=Beth]As you pass through the double doors you have an overwhelming sense of deja vue. For a minute you think that someone has their arm around your shoulder, But you look to your left and there's no one there.[/sblock]

The fire alarm is muted here allowing easy conversation in normal tones of voice.

Nice says, We'll have to stay here until this thing blows over.
With a grunt he "drops" the shroud wrapped body of the other neonate. It suddenly appears on a table next to him with a heavy thud.
 

"That detective is going to be sh_tting bricks when he sees the corpse is gone. How secure is this area? Maybe we should un-stake torpor-boy here and learn what we can."
 

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