cleostsebastian
Daughter of Darkness
Posts: 114
(3/31/06 6:05 pm)
Reply
|
Game Thirty-Nine 02/26/06
August 21, 1995
The Return Home
Cleo, Damien, Aria and a torsoed Jeremiah arrived at the other side of the cabinet inside the bottom layer of the Manassas temple. While Jeremiah was still out, Damien seemed to have forgotten about their travels and claimed to not know Cleo. He was freaked and startled by the company of strangers that were around him. Cleo eventually assuaged his fears and calmed him down enough for her to figure a way out of the temple.
Cleo utilized her telekinesis to transport Jeremiah up the ladder out of the lower portion of the temple. The others followed her up to the top which led them to the main temple room, which was hollowed out. Everything had been confiscated. “What had happened here,” she thought to herself?
She quickly found the front area where Jacob Matteo had once knocked a sizable hole, but was now sealed up with cement. Cleo pondered how they were going to get pass this obstacle. After three forceful attempts at using the path of force, she managed to shatter open the recently-sealed area. Once she exited the temple she saw that they were inside a large crate that encased the entire temple. This presented another dilemma. Would she run out of vitae before she could get them out of their confinement?
She touched the wood to feel the surface to get a sense of its structure and then tapped on it to ascertain its density. It seemed like ordinary 2 x 4 wood, just very huge. Hopefully this was not created by a master craftsman, as it could take more force to penetrate it than she wanted to exert. She called upon the path of force once more and was able to pierce the construct enough for them to be able exit.
Once out she looked around and could see that the temple was not only inside a crate, but held within a barn, which she guessed was to conceal its true nature.
Damien ran past her into the fields of tall corn. Cleo ran towards him but was finding it hard to catch her bearing as the vegetation extended into what seemed like forever.
Eventually, she managed to make her way to the clearing where she decided to use her ring that allowed her to sense nodes. The signal that she felt was very weak. The node appeared to be much weaker than when she left to go into the past. She pondered on what must have happened as she walked a bit further into the open. She found Damien staring ahead towards where there once was a dirt road. He told Cleo that he was leaving. She asked him where to, but he wouldn’t reply.
As they ventured through the woods they eventually made their way to a major highway. Cleo could see some lights in the distance. They were coming towards the group. Cleo told Aria and Damien to duck as two motorcycles made their way to the side of the road. Cleo looked up to see that it was Reggie and another female. Cleo stood up and signalled Reggie, who was surprised to see that she was alive as she had been gone for some time. She inquired how long they had been gone and she was not prepared for his answer. Five years.
The temple had missed its coordinates and managed to place them into the late summer of 1995. August 21, to be exact. Reggie called for a car service to pick up the group. Cleo let Reggie know where they had just come from and also let him know that Jeremiah was still back at the temple. He told her that he and Eudora, his deputy, would reseal the temple in the barn and would retrieve Jeremiah to take back for medical observation in Manassas’ Elysium.
The car service soon arrived at their location as everyone piled in and made their way back to Bricktown.
They soon arrived into the parking garage underneath the Manassas Elysium. Cleo got out with Aria still holding her hand and made her way to the elevator. They got in and she pressed the button that would take them up to the top floor. Her security codes still seemed to work. At least that had not changed. She saw that they were being scanned, which had been normal procedure back in 1990.
The door opened and they were greeted by Rachel who instructed them to wait in the lobby until she notified Taggert of their arrival. Cleo sat Aria next to Damien as Cleo looked back at the door that separated her from Taggert. She looked at her outfit that was in tatters and wondered what kind of impression she was giving them as they had no idea when and where she and Damien had just returned from.
The door opened and Rachel signalled for Cleo to enter the meeting room, where she could see Ryan and Taggert had been going over paperwork. Ryan looked up at her and seemed to be dissatisfied by her her arrival. This surprised her as she thought that he would be excited about seeing her if just to ask about Jacob. Taggert motioned for her to have a seat. Cleo asked if everyone could leave the room as what she had to say to Taggert was private. Ryan reluctantly agreed and flashed Cleo another disdainful glance as he left with Rachel.
Taggert asked where they had been and Cleo told him this was in the strictest confidence, though she knew to never trust a Ventrue. She told him that they were in the past before the Broujah even existed. That they followed Hirut and were able to defeat her with aide of several vampires that lost their lives. He asked of Jacob. She replied that he had met his end battling Treole. They also had lost Samantina and one other that they met in the past.
Cleo then questioned Taggert to find about what has happened since she was gone for what was to everyone else, five years. He told that Bricktown was thriving and that he and Ryan had made this place very successful. Cleo realized that Taggert also seemed somewhat perplexed by her arrival. “We thought you were dead,” said Taggert. Obviously he had moved on from their relationship. Cleo started putting the pieces together and realized that Taggert and Ryan were involved. She mentioned this to him and he seemed surprised as he didn’t deny its validity. She was actually relieved as she thought she no longer had the energy or desire for Taggert or setting up residence once again in this hellish backwater town. She was now a free agent and she had a lot of loose ends to tie up before she could permanently move on. There was a knock on the door and Rachel entered. She said that Taggert’s guests had arrived. Taggert then asked Cleo if she could stay long enough to support him to add visual strength to his appearance as prince of the city. Cleo agreed but requested a different garment as the she was wearing would not do. Rachel was about the same size and agreed to let her borrow one of hers. Cleo quickly changed into the new garment and shoes and made her way to the throne room to sit by the side of Taggert and Ryan.
The prince motioned for Rachel to let the visitors in.
Two male vampires entered. One was a grungish looking young kid wearing concert T-shirt, combat boots and attitude. The other seemed more mysterious. A priest that didn’t quite carry himself in the manner that most clergy did.
They were here to be welcomed by the local authorities as was customary when a vampire entered a city as there were strict guidelines that always needed to be adhered to which was dictated by the laws of the masquerade.
The prince questioned each vampire and asked them what their purpose in Manassas was. Each gave their answers as Cleo gazed at the priest. Something seemed familiar about him. Something she couldn’t put her finger on but still, it was eating away at her.
Julius, the younger vampire approached Cleo to grant her his servitude for two days. How odd this seemed as she didn’t even know the young man.
Later Lucas, the priest, approached Cleo and asked if she could meet with him to discuss where he could get financial assistance in this town. She told him that Ryan would be more helpful in that area of expertise as that was his background. Her answer seemed to not be the reply that Lucas was wanting. He confessed that he had wanted to meet up with her to talk about some other important matter and he gave her his business card. She agreed to meet up with him tomorrow as she was too busy to do so today as the hours were growing late.
Soon, the meeting was over and the others made their way towards the elevator.
Taggert was left with Cleo and they both reentered the meeting room where she retrieved her items and told Taggert that after she had tied up a few loose ends in town, she would be leaving. Taggert seemed as if her statement surprised him as he eagerly agreed to whatever she was saying. She asked if her old apartment was still available and he stated that it was still hers then went to retrieve the key from a drawer and returned to give it to her. She wished him well in all his future business endeavors and then made her way back to Aria and Damien. Damien had already left. Cleo didn’t even get to say goodbye. She felt somewhat alone as everyone that had experienced the same adventures was either dead, gone or incapacitated from injuries.
Cleo grabbed aria’s hand and walked her out of the Elysium and made her way to her apartment.
Once there, Cleo looked around and saw that Katrina’s old apartment still stood next to hers. Final end to a vile creature, she thought as she turned the key in the front door lock.
Inside she saw that there wasn’t any furniture. The place had been gutted. She had asked Taggert what had happened during the meeting and he said that the Tremere came in one day about a year after Cleo’s disappearance and raided the place. Taking everything with them, even the two vampires and her ghouls. Cleo sat down on the stairs with little Aria and brushed her hair as she looked at her apartment that brought back memories of those days when it was full of activity and held within these walls so much potential…
|
Email This To a Friend
Topic Commands
Click to receive email notification of replies
Click to stop receiving email notification of replies