Vampire

Vampire:??The Endless Waltz

Episode 3: Puppet Show???????Part 4

While the gathered Kindred headed into the cinema to watch the film, the ghouls stood at the entrances of the building providing security. Upstairs Dimitri, unaware that the????film was about to start, was feeding on one of the herd that had been provided for the evening. Both himself and the ghoul were high on cocaine, Dimitri feeding from her intoxicated blood. They were then disturbed when Lauren Esten and Liza Smith barged into the toilets where Dimitri was feeding. There was a small face off and then they left, with Dimitri realising that the film was about to begin.

Outside the screen room,??Thessaly, Kane and Spokesman Rain awaited for Dimitri while within the room, with the Kindred seated, the Prefect stood up in front of the screen to announce the film and present the producer of the film. Rain was some what annoyed by Dimitri???s attitude to the evening???s affairs, and hoped that he would not be causing trouble and be on his best behaviour. The together they went into the room and took seats towards the back to the room where they could watch the door and the gathered audience.

The film began and it was clear that the Kindred were sitting in particular groups. Max Neils sat apart from the Prefect. The Prefect was sat with Patrick Falken and the Myrmidon, while Julia Reinhart and Mizuki Xin sat a few rows back together with their small collection of revolutionaries. Priscus Kollins and Priscus Stewart sat together quietly discussing matters. But it was clear to??Thessaly??that Nails and Lauren Esten were not present. She was also overcome with a sense of d??j?? vu as she watched the film, the ticking of the film resonating in her mind.

Thessaly??got up to leave the screen, with Kane asking what was wrong. She simply said that it was going to happen now. What it was. Noticing them talking, Rain took them to one side, and though sceptical of Thessaly???s vision, ordered her, along with Kane and Dimitri to go and find them and the Prefect. The Prefect in the screen was in fact a fake, making use of the Obfuscate Discipline.

Out of the screen??Thessaly??headed to the basement, while Kane headed to the camera room and Dimitri headed up stairs to check the other screens and offices. Walking up to the ghouls guarding the way into the building,??Thessaly??asked if they had seen Nails. The ghouls acted with disrespect, of course thinking that they only answer to the Spokesman Rain. Insulted,??Thessaly??called upon the power of Nightmare, and with fangs bared, her voice a rasping hiss, she cowed the ghouls into submission and learnt that they had not seen anyone go past them of through the main hall.

In the film room Kane found nothing, noticing that the projector was quite antiquated. Upstairs, in the stinking disabled toilet, Dimitri spotted that the sink was stained with blood and recently, as if someone had been washing their hands. He then found under the toilet bowl, with blood stains and cellotape stuck to it. Dimitri walked back to the staircase, spotting Kane in the hall. At which point the lights went out. The building was in total darkness.

Spokesman Rain came out of the screen room and found that the hall was totally dark. He called out for the ghouls to bring a torch and Kane and Dimitri replied. Rain asked that he and Dimitri go find the Prefect while Kane stand guard here and not let anyone out of the screen. Meanwhile??Thessaly??was in the basement and could hear scuffling from one of the store rooms. She listened at the door, and then burst in to find Nails hunched over the body of one of the herd from the evening, gnawing at their face while feeding. He turned and was unaffected by??Thessaly???s mastery of Nightmare, her eyes reflecting Nail???s Beast. ???Thessaly??can???t you see I???m busy. Now fuck off! He growled and then went back to feeding.

In the gloom Kane stood before the gathered Kindred who were now beginning to become concerned that the film had stopped and that they wanted to go. But Kane had been ordered by the Spokesman to not let them leave and so he stood his ground. Some had descended into bickering, critiquing the film and arguing over the organisation of the evening.

Upstairs Spokesman Rain and Dimitri find the office where the Prefect had been holding a secret meeting. The door is locked and the key is still in the lock and so a ghoul is asked to go and bring Kane. While Kane goes to help the Spokesman Patrick Falken takes over Kanes position guarding the door. After a few attempts Kane is able to break in the door just as??Thessaly??arrives to see the scene. Inside the office they find there is a dead body, the throat torn out, and next to it another body, the ashen remains of the Prefect.??Thessaly??quickly scanned the room and discovered some photos on the floor under the desk, and noted that there were two types of blood. The dead mortal was the PI from the other night. On the window sill of the room there were bloody hand prints. But there was no sign of how the assassin got into the room. As they checked the body of the Prefect a moth was released form his remains.

The Spokesman, enraged that such a thing had happened ordered for them to find Lauren Esten. In one of the toilets upstairs they soon found her with one of her ghouls, feeding. The Spokesman demanded that she come with him and they led her down into the main hall, just as the power came back on. In the main hall the Kindred were gathered and watched as Lauren was pushed forward by Dimitri into the shocked crowd.

Julia Reinhart demanded that they be free to leave the cinema, and that this was once more a sign of the tyranny that the Chairman allows within his city. ???See how we are once more dominated by fear!???

???Enough Julia!??? retorted the Spokesman. ???The Prefect is dead and the murderer is amongst either amongst us, or their accomplices are! I bring before you a traitor to the Traditions of the city and the laws of the Carthians.???

Panic rippled through the gathered Kindred, and Max Neils walked forward and confronted the Spokesman. He looked at Lauren. ???As representative of the Clan Daeva, and as an elected member of the Board of Representatives, I demand you tell me what evidence you have????

???She and Liza Smith were trying to find a place to go so they would not be in the cinema screen and so could go and kill the Prefect.??? Dimitri said.

Lauren looked at Dimitri and replied. ???You accuse me of being a traitor. Let me tell you I know who the real traitor is.??? Dimitri was shocked by this.

???Words will get us nowhere. What physical evidence do you have? After all the powers of the Blood are open to abuse??? Max Neils asked.

???We believe that this bloody phone,??? Dimitri held it aloft as the Spokesman spoke, ???was used just before the Prefect???s death, planted by the killer or accomplice to allow them to communicate within the building. Dimitri if you could dial the last number used.???

Dimitri did so, and expected for a phone to ring, a phone on Lauren Esten. Kane patted her down and found nothing. ???Well Spokesman? Where is your proof? Where is your proof that the Laws of the Carthians have been violated? How can we trust your word???? Asked the Myrmidon Estabelle Duncanson. Dimitri could see in the crowd of vampires that Liza Smith was scrabbling to turn off her phone. Dimitri moved through the crowd, quietly as the elder Carthians faced off. But when he got to her he found that there was no phone.

Meanwhile up in the office??Thessaly??used the pool of blood from the Prefect???s body as a mirror to scry within. She had a vision of a snake, a snake who???s skin pealed away and from it???s mouth a rat was vomited forth. With that she headed downstairs, past the gathered Kindred and back to the basement. The killer was still here, and was a Gangrel.

The Myrmidon continued her attack on the Spokesman. ???With the Prefect dead, I, not you, speak for our Covenant. And so for now I declare that a full investigation be conducted, but by the rules of the Carthians and not the Chairman. I and those officers under my command are the only trusted investigators and so I take this matter seriously. All Kindred here are suspects, even you yourself Spokesman. Lauren Esten will be watched, mark my words. But for now we must also concern ourselves with the matter of the upcoming election.???

In the basement??Thessaly??found the a number of ghouls dead, their bodies torn apart. Rather than face the threat on her own she went back upstairs, hoping that the killer had left the building.

With the election announced the Kindred were permitted to leave while the Myrmidon gathered together her own investigation team. She had announced that if any Kindred try to leave the city they would be treated as guilty and hunted. Patrick Falken approached the troupe. He could tell that they were frustrated with the current situation with the death of the Prefect upstairs, and that Carthian Law prevented them from using their abilities from getting the evidence they needed. But this is the democracy that they exist in and that these are the very Laws that stop the elders of the Invictus from acting like real tyrants. Now with the election declared the stability of the Carthians was in danger. With Julia Reinhart as one of the obvious candidates Patrick announced to Kane,??Thessaly??and Dimitri that he too would be running for the position of Prefect. They would be his campaign team.

But there was still another matter to deal with. The photos that??Thessaly??found had shown the junk yard where the PI had gone to. They also showed a house with a post box outside. Somehow these, the PI, Liza Smith, Lauren Esten and the death of the Prefect were all connected.