On the Streets: 3:12 PM

Downtown Detroit
Plum Street
3: 12 P.M.


Several people move about the street, mostly moving east towards the shopping areas. This street leads towards the attractions of downtown, most of the traffic flows in that direction.
Standing in the center of this street is the 'Fly Trap', a beige box style family diner dating towards the seventies. Several people sit outside on the deck, making their way through late lunches.

As you move along, you hear a woman emit a sharp yell. Its a brunette- a Caucasian woman, in her late twenties. A muscular man with darker coloring, perhaps Hispanic, with the beginning of a gut was sitting across the table from the screaming woman. His hand reaches out to the plate on the table, his voice angry. You notice cries of alarm from people sitting near the couple.

Your eyes are suddenly drawn to the red fluid on the woman's plate that the man shoves from the table. It's blood. No doubt about it.
Lifting your eyes, you see a grinning man, pale, nearly Nordic in his coloring. His pale pallor draws attention to the red liquid across his mouth. You have a distinct feeling of dread about that color and the plate, no doubt some hideous correlation to the plate- a prank? Or something more?

http://www.planetware.com/map/detroit-map-us-midet.htm

Joshua had been walking through the centre somewhat aimlessly, having half had a thought that he might walk through Grand Circus Park for a little while. He knew Terri wouldn't be home yet, and he had already written his sermon for the Evensong that would be happening at St. Jude's later that night. He thought it was quite a good one, really, on the Seven Fruits of the Spirit. Hopefully, his parishoners would feel the same way- it had been a rough week. Three funerals, one of a child.

He turned his head when he heard the cry. All instinct forgotten, he stepped towards the woman. He half closed his eyes, trying to feel with that sense he'd been born with for the supernatural. It could just be a prank, after all.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" The words came soothingly and quietly.

As Joshua approached, he instantly had a feeling of dread descend upon him. It most certainly originated from the table in front of him- but whether it was from the red - lipped pale man, the woman or her dining partner, you can't determine.

"No! " The woman answers you, her voice shrill with fear. She backs away from the table, upending her chair. Her dining partner also rises, backing away with her.

The pale man laughs without mirth, a dry, rattling sound.
"Why bother to run away?" He asks the couple. "You can't resist forever. It would be easier this way."

He licks his lips, ingesting some of the substance around his mouth.

Joshua felt the prickling, sharp sensation in his neck that meant the supernatural was at work here, and he breathed in slowly, stepping between the woman and the pale man. There was no fear in him. He believed he would be protected. He always had been. That was why he had been born with this sense of the supernatural. He needed to help the desperate.

"Leave them alone," he said, his voice calm and authoratative. "Whatever you are. Let them be."

The Nordic paused, staring across the table at Joshua. There's something in those eyes that makes Joshua wonder what dark, impure thoughts are racing through the man's brain.

Yet he pauses long enough for the woman to sidle up beside Joshua. He can see that she's panicking, her eyes wide. Yet theres a set to her jaw- something desperate, something that says she senses a bad wind blowing.

The man stands a bit in front of Joshua and the woman, his hand ominously under his jacket.
The moment drags before the Nordic smiles. There is something nasty to it, a sharks smile.

"You don't want any of this."

Liam is sitting in a slouch next to a window, drawing whatever he sees outside when he notices the commotion. When he sees the Nordic man, he nonchalantly tries to take a picture of him using a cell phone.
Liam rolled 5 dice to "Photograph" 1,8,5,10,5,3 (2 successes)

After a moment when the camera saves the photo, he notices that either there was a defect in the camera - or the Nordic man doesn't throw a reflection. There is a clear photo of the side of the woman and the man speaking to the Nordic, however. Clearly the camera was working!

Liam puts the cell phone in his pocket and pulls out his lighter, expecting things to get a bit ugly.

"Obviously I do, or I wouldn't be standing here." Joshua said, his eyes locked on the Nordic man's. Inside his head, he soothingly recited the 23rd Psalm. Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. He smiled, a charming, polite smile that was full of steel.

"This is a public place," he added to the Nordic man. "And I think we outnumber you by a rather huge amount, so I suggest you leave."

"OOC":

Having finally gotten the chance to grab a bite to eat after exercising earlier on in the day, Sara Lawrence was finally relaxed and satisfied. The cheeseburger and fries had hit the spot and, while not the best of the healthiest cuisine in the world, it was excellent food for the person on the go.

She pushed the empty plate aside, finished the glass of Coke and stretched languidly. Sara pulled out her purse, paid for the food and left a nice tip before heading out into the night. She strode past the tables, but the commotion gave her decent enough reason to pause.

"Is there a problem here?" she questioned sternly as she surveyed the assembled group.

"Outnumber me?" The Nordic man smiled, somewhat condescendingly.
"Let me see what I have facing me here.. a washed up doper,-" He pinned the Hispanic man with a withering glance. "- some good Samaritan who has yet to intimately become aware with his own intestines," this look to Joshua - "a traitorous little turn coat," - this look to the unknown woman standing next to Joshua- " - ...and some little muscle bound female?"

"I don't normally do horrible things to so many people at once, but I'm out to expand my horizons. Unless you let me me have my fun with little Kimmy here."

With startling speed; the pale man had somehow grabbed the female and pulled her close to him. She made a pained cry as the Nordic man contorted her arm behind her back. His other hand rested across the woman's throat, its mere presence threatening,

Liam pulls out the spray can and gets out of his seat. He slowly walks towards the others.

Joshua's fingers clenched around the thin, metal crucifix in his pocket, and he locked eyes with the Nordic man. "No. I won't let you do whatever it is that you want to do to her. Nothing she's done deserves this violence. There are other ways to settle a dispute that don't involve something so ridiculous as killing people." He kept his back straight as his mind raced, picking out symbols, looking for the names of the unfortunate supernatural creatures that could have ended up in this state.

"OOC":

*The Fly Trap*


As Joshua stares at the violent stranger, his sense that something is off grows. As his uneasiness causes the hair on his arms to stand up, he notes that the hand that holds 'Kimberly' is completely still. The woman's intense expression of pain and fear cause her to tremble, drawing your attention to her assailant.

While her throat expresses anxiety to the point you can nearly see her jugular throb under the man's hand, the man himself is devoid of any sense of anxiety. No sweat... no tremble... That hand that holds her is unusual as well, now that you have time to study it. The finger nails are long and sharp, as though he could actually cut with them. The pale skin of the hand is marred with brown clods of dirt, some flecks that have transferred onto Kimberly herself.

As you stare at him, you note an odd chain around his neck that runs under his shirt. Your eyes catch on the collarbone by the chain- the completely still skin and chest, as though he weren't breathing. Wouldn't an ordinary man's respiration be accelerated by these violent activities- the attack, the stressful stand off? Yet he seems as still as an alabaster statue.

"This isn't a dispute." The man snarls, a movement of his arm making Kimberly whimper with pain. "This is a property issue. One that I've just resolved."

He takes a step towards the street, dragging the helpless Kimberly with him. His movements bring him closer to Liam, although the assailant doesn't look twice at him.



http://www.planetware.com/map/detroit-map-us-midet.htm

Liam watches, unsure of what to do. Not wanting to start a fight unnecessarily. He tries to figure out what is going on before he takes action.

Spoiler:

To Liam:
As Liam watches the man move past him, the man's focus on the group by the diner allowed Liam a glance at the the odd man. The sight of the red substance on the man's face, so similar to blood made a memory surface - his old friend Greg; accounting of his travels with Dino... the creatures need for blood.

The memory expands to Liam's own memories of vampires and territory. He had recently tipped off vampires to incite a inter species battle; after all. Perhaps the talk of property; of ownership of Kim... was similar if not precisely how a vampire would exert his control over a wayward claim.

If the claim happened to be a whimpering, pained woman; what would the vampire care? It was by definition, inhuman. Weren't vessels but food? Yet... Liam glanced upwards; at the sun. Indirect sunlight; but sunlight all the same.

A man who appeared to be a vampire yet who walked in the daylight? Was this some terrible new beast?

With a frown of frustration at the man's idiocy, Sara moved forwards quickly. She reached out with the speed of trained reflexes, trying to grapple the man away from the woman. She knew how damn well that this couldn't be allowed to escalate any further, and any guy who decided he was going to drag a helpless woman down the street and call her 'property' wasn't worth shit.

OOC:

"What the hell are you doing?"

The unknown man demands angrily. He struggles within the woman's grasp, before rolling his eyes heavenwards and ceasing his struggles, as though the attempt would be demeaning.

Freed, the brunette rubs her arm, a pained grimace on her face.
"Thought you were going to feed me to Carson, you fucker!" Kimberly shouted. Her emotion was raw, frightening in its intensity.

Her unknown partner withdrew his arm from his jacket, revealing a pistol. He levels it evenly at the struggling Nordic man. His expression is contorted, twisted into a rage that is frightening to behold.
His hand shakes, the barrel of the gun shaking between the Nordic man and Sara's bodies.

All around you the diners have flocked from you, clustering in pairs and groups a safe distance away. They stare at you transfixed, unable to tear their eyes from the scene of imminent violence. One or two screams or cries in alarm, fleeing down the street.

"Hey! Don't shoot him!" Joshua said quickly to the unknown man. "Your hands are shaking too much, for the love of Heaven, you're as likely to hit Kimberley or the woman holding him as you are him!" There were too many people around, and Joshua didn't want anyone ending up in jail. Particularly not people who'd moved from a kindness. He looked at the strange woman who'd overpowered the Nordic man with a frightening ease.

"Thank you," he said gently. "Try not to hurt him too much. Kimberly and... I'm sorry, I don't know your name sir- why don't you come with me away from here?"

"I'm stopping you from doing something that'll get you shot in front of all these nice people, you dumb fuck." Sara said levelly. She nodded to the man in the clerical shirt. "See? He's got the right idea. We're all going to break up nice and easy and no one's gonna get hurt. They're going away, and then if you play real nice, I might let you go." She grinned a bit internally, her focus levelled. She did sort of miss the adrenaline rush sometimes.

"Gotcha!" Kimberly hissed, striding closer to Sara's captive. "How'd you find us?"
"Price on your head, bitch." The Nordic snarled. "Prize pickings for whoever hauls you and that newsboy in." He jerks his head towards Sara.
"You'd best let me go, now, girlie. Been a whole... three minutes?"
He tilts his head, glancing around the street.
"Any minute now..."

"Shut up, scum bug." The unknown man steadies his gun at the pale man.
"Edgar..." Kimberly turned towards her armed companion, worry flitting across her face.

The man doesn't lower his gun, though his eyes dart towards Joshua and back towards the Nordic. He licks his lips as a bead of sweat drips down his brow.

"Put the gun down, Edgar. We're going to leave," Joshua moved in front of Edgar and gently, but firmly, pressed his hand to the back of the barrel to point it away. He was certain, at least, that the other man would not shoot him for no reason. "We're going to leave now." This time, he made sure the tone didn't really brook much of an option. He started to steer Kimberly and Edgar away from the pale Nordic man, using all the authority he could summon in his voice.

"Eh, I'm pretty sure I can go a few more minutes. You can get talking now, of course, or you can tell the cops. And don't fucking think you can pull 'this crazy bitch assaulted me'. You think they're gonna believe your word over a vet?" Sara said cheerfully. "I know these boys. Half of 'em served with me."

Liam set the lighter and spray can on his table, got out his phone and sent Professor Stevens a text:

Ur not gonna beleive this but im at a diner and i saw a fang immune to sun and it sounds like its gonna start a fight w/ some ppl

"Yeah, you grunts do that whole bonding thing.. but you don't get promoted all that much. My employer has this wonderful thing- called money. Kickbacks. You should have seen the girls I dumped off at the P.D. last week; just to make the pigs dump 'em for me." The Nordic smiled; surprisingly bold for being within Sara's grasp. "So Kimberly, you're bringing Carson two more bodies. Maybe you won't die.."

"Shut up!" Kimberly shrieked, a primal rage on her face.
Nordic continued to speak. " This ones is spunky." He wiggled in Sara's grasp.
"I sense she'd be your replacement."

"Shut your whoring mouth!"

Edgar levels the gun at the Nordic man. "Kim?" He turns to her for confirmation; the gun wavering for a moment. "She's got 'im. Maybe we can tie him up. Get him to tell us where the fangs are.

"Bite me; blood whore." The Nordic man snarled, beginning to struggle in Sara's grasp.