#Lore24 – Entry #280 – Sentinel City by Night #6 – The Rough Part of Town

From the Journal of Sheba O’Rourke, Private Investigator

“Nothing was clicking into place.  I’d been to three of the four previous body dump sites, and I had no new revelations or insights into the killer’s nature, to say nothing of their identity.  Granted, it had only been a day, but still. 

Tonight, I’d started out immediately for the last of the sites, the second in the chain of killings, the Steel Shark Tavern, a bar on the far side of Sentinel City that tended toward the biker crowd.  Was feeling antsy tonight, realized halfway there that I needed to grab something to sate my thirst soon.  Sometimes forget to feed when I get absorbed in a case.  Careless of me, maybe dangerous.  Will get it taken care of.

No sooner had I pulled into the parking lot of the location did I see a body go flying through the front door.  It was that kind of place.  I could hear the shouts and sounds of fighting inside over the music.  The guy who had been tossed out got to his feet and reset his jaw, then headed back inside after pulling a knife.  Sure enough, as he disappeared into the doorway, I saw the distinct aura that revealed him as a ghoul.  Wondering what mess I’d just become witness to, I checked my gun to make sure it was loaded.  I tended not to use the little Smith & Wesson .38 often, but better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, right?

The ghoul was back outside in a heap a moment later, another biker, also a ghoul, sprawled on top of him, the first ghoul’s knife stuck into the second’s back, though not fatally.  The door flew open again, this time with a mountain of a woman charging out, two more ghouls firmly held in her huge arms.  She roared, tossing them into the growing pile of leather-clad ghoulish bikers, and stepped out of the way as a fifth ghoul was shoved out by another woman, smaller than the first, but still no stranger to a brawl judging by the way she handled herself and her victim. 

Didn’t escape me that these two were full-blown vampires, either.  The pack of ghouls surged toward the pair, the one plucking his knife out of his companion on the way.  The two women fought together as if they’d done it for ages, probably had for all I knew, covering each other and fighting almost as one.  The mountainous red-head was all about power, like a charging bull or a rhino, while the pink-haired one was all about finesse and technique, moving like a big predatory cat.  I had decided just to stay in the car for now; no sense getting involved in a mess like that if I didn’t need to.

The two vamps made quick work of the ghoul gang, breaking no few bones as they fended off the ravenous bunch and quickly forced them to retreat to their bikes, their limited reserves of their master’s blood having been spent.  With the busted up ghouls on the retreat, I finally stepped out of my car and approached the two vampires, who were busy jeering and taunting the fleeing gang.  They both whipped around on me in an instant, sensing my presence, still pumped up and ready for a fight.  I quickly introduced myself and complimented their display, though they were anything but impressed.  I noted that the pink-haired woman, who would eventually introduce herself as Catherine Ramos, had peculiar eyes, yellow and reminiscent of a feline’s, which she quickly covered with a pair of shades, her hair generally wild, almost like a lion’s mane, while her companion, Anita Winters, had less obvious animalistic features but for her larger build and perhaps a discoloration and peculiar pebbling of her skin not unlike the thick hide of the rhino I had compared her to previously.

Though our conversation was not the most civil, I would nonetheless join them for a drink in the bar, once they’d had their adulations for tossing out the gang, of course.  I had been looking for a meal tonight anyway, so why not?  They were working for Grim Jacobs as his Hounds, and were likewise of clan Gangrel, as I had already surmised.  The bikers they’d tossed out weren’t locals, were likely Sabbat, so they said.  Catherine swore they had the stink of Lasombra blood in them but wouldn’t give me more details as to how she knew that, though I sensed something deeper behind her obvious distaste, outright hatred of whoever she had in mind.

I informed them of my reasons for visiting the Shark this night, but they had little in the way of useful information for me.  They weren’t around when the body had been dumped, said they usually kept troublemakers in check, hadn’t noticed any suspicious types around till the ghouls had picked a fight tonight.  Got the impression they didn’t much care for me, and even less so once they had learned of my own bloodline.  Not the first time I’d experienced such mistrust, certainly wouldn’t be the last.  Not that I cared, really; everyone had their prejudices, and my clan certainly had a reputation.  I think I’m rather a positive example personally, but that is neither here nor there.

Still, after I had excused myself, I surveyed the dump site, and then left the bar; I had managed to secure a proper apartment and would be moving in tonight.  If I had time, I would see about paying Delia Emmerson a visit, though I suspected I would be far too busy with arranging my case notes tonight.  Priorities and all that.”

LORE24 ENTRY #43 – Supers Month #12 – Anita Winters

 

From the Personal Journal of Jennifer Tempest…

 

What can I say about Ms. Winters?  She has her uses, certainly, as limited as they are; everyone in a position such as myself has need of dumb muscle from time to time, and she certainly fills this niche.  I suppose I was fortunate enough to ensnare her into Edgewater’s web before she could get herself into real trouble after that floundering career as a MMA fighter.  I would hesitate to call her preferred fighting style a style, however; she could be compared to a rampaging rhino flying headlong at her target, absorbing punishment until she finally connects with a sufficiently strong blow or actually manages to land a submission hold.

For the record, Ms. Winters had been accused of massive steroid abuse following the event which gifted humanity with superpowers, due to the very noticeable increase in her muscle mass, though she insisted, and tests would prove, this was not the case.  Though she would be quite the challenging combatant in the women’s league, after a few bouts against one Catherine Ramos in particular, whose style was A) an actual fighting style, and B) was diametrically opposed to Ms. Winters’ “style” by actually using her brain and agility, Ms. Winters would seek ‘greater challenges’ by fighting in the men’s league.  She would prove herself quite a bit more capable here, quickly rising through the ranks and taking the top spot, even taking on the moniker of ‘Emasculator’ for her deeds.

This of course would lead to her further downfall, primarily because of Ms. Winters’ rather distasteful belief in the modern day, highly toxic version of feminism; the less said about that particular area the better.  Truly the cognitive dissonance on display with the modern world is staggering; were it possible, I would insist upon therapy and treatment for much of the current generation of humanity, but alas, I am but one humble succubus and there are much larger issues I must contend with.  She had her following that praised her, had the glory of defeating male after male in one on one combat, brutally so in many cases, but she still struggled with (and would rarely accept challenges from) female opponents, even her proclaimed nemesis, the aforementioned Ms. Ramos.  A curious trait, one which I certainly did not miss when I researched her following her arrest for assaulting several people, in public, in a fit of rage over a disagreement about the nature of her successes.  Making use of some of my family’s influence, I made certain that she was brought to Edgewater for a mental evaluation, not that it took an especially large push to have this done given her violent outbursts and obvious difficulties interacting with people.

During Ms. Winters’ initial observation period, I learned more of the nature of her powers, which I’m still not entirely sure she recognizes she even has; she is rather dense, to put it simply.  She possesses a most unique ability to actually emasculate men simply by virtue of being engaged in combat with them, physically weakening them in a nigh imperceptible manner over time.  The longer she faces them in combat, the weaker they become, though I have yet to find a single test subject that realized this until it is far too late for it to matter; they may as well have been children against Ms. Winters.  This ability was certainly useful, given the direction I am taking Edgewater, even if a higher ratio of superpowers seem to be possessed by females.  Perhaps it is simply that the men haven’t caught up yet; they are generally slower on the uptake in most matters, after all.

Ms. Winters is currently under my employ as a nurse in the special wing of Edgewater.  She is quite useful in restraining patients, especially the growing number of male patients, in particular the one known as Rampage, and now that I’ve been helping her overcome her less desirable attitudes and delusions, she has become mostly tolerable (though I find that her personal hygiene to still be insufficient; she does tend to work out far too much and either doesn’t realize or doesn’t care that she is not the only person in the vicinity).  She is still a blunt instrument, certainly, but a slightly more elegantly crafted one.  Like any good pet, however, she is capable of learning her place through proper incentives and punishments.  She is also quite useful in testing Specialist Leopard’s newest designs for high-security restraints, and I was personally quite amused by her behavior surrounding the illegal fight that occurred between her and Catherine Ramos in the hospital’s employee gym, as well as the subsequent time the pair spent together inside an isolation cell.  That cooled her fire for a time, though I am certain she’ll require further punishments going forward, and I am only too eager to oblige her.  Her continuing education and development shall be most amusing indeed.