A World Beyond (IC)

[Metanih]

"A liability to what? Your particular brand of idiocy that seems to manifest in only you and Mr.G? Just let me go. If you are so powerful as you say, it must be rather inconsequential what i do. Besides, if i had killed this medic, i would be clever enough to dispose the body. I wouldn't want to invoke your wrath, as somebody has obviously tricked you into believing." Hailey said, to the vampire, sincerely considering stabbing him with her knife. He was annoying her intensely. Hey, Mr.G, pulling me out of this about now would make me love you forever. And ever. And ever.

[Al-Harakut al-Islami]

Annette had been quiet. Dancing around silently to the music in her headphones this whole time, thinking nobody was watching her this whole time, in a rather humiliating fashion. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was, Allah, I was with them this whole time watching me dance like that! She was completely aware that she'd followed them, but for whatever reason, she'd never realized that she could be noticed. A moment later, she noticed the owls. And then, a guy with a shotgun in a car -- the stoner from earlier.
Shamefacedly putting her iPod away, Annette muttered, "It's a good song, don't judge, y'all." and then said, more audibly, "Uh..." as she followed the others into his car. Realizing she'd never met the stoner before, she decided to awkwardly introduce herself.

"Hi. My name's Annette," she said, and then she wished she'd just stayed quiet.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Sachin glanced at her, having not started his car. "Very nice to meet you, Annette. If you excuse me, I have to go now."

He drove off. He then spoke to Hailey. "Here's the thing. I would not care about you. But the sheer idiotic layer of political ground you have to tread here makes it so that we need to put you down if needed. This city is one of the most complex ones in the Western hemisphere, and you need to be careful and-"

The tires popped and the car skidded. Sachin managed to control it before it crashed into a wall, and cursed intensely. Bullets flew toward the vampire, barely missing him and impaling themselves in a wall behind him and Hailey.. "Stay." he barked at Hailey, though the Command was weaker this time. He opened his door and jumped out. Two men in dark suits could be seen, wielding guns.

[Metanih]

"You know, i could have helped. I am sure they are less than appreciative of you." Hailey called from her hiding spot. Of course, she could stay, and do many other things as well. She pulled the silver dagger from its spot, and took aim, thanking whichever deity came to mind that her father had been military, and weird enough to think that meant throwing knives. And weirder still, to decide to train his daughter. Self-defense, or some such non-sense. Apparently, a can of pepper spray was ineffective. Hailey was hardly complaining, as she threw the knife at Sachin, all the while obeying and staying in place.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Sachin was stabbed in the shoulder, and yelled in pain. The other vampires then ran past him, clearly not trying to risk a fight. As they got closer, Hailey saw they were wearing gloves. Possibly hiding something...

"Don't attack." one advised. "We're fellow Amara Havana. We're here to help."

He ripped off the door, and snapped his fingers. "The Command's broken, now hurry!"

[Metanih]

"Hurrying!" Hailey said, bolting as fast as she could. Sachin was wicked fast, and likely angry with a silver dagger in his shoulder. She would have to apologize to the Doctor that she had wasted it escaping a homicidal vampire. He should understand. Hopefully. Of course, it wasn't really his. Hey! You get to meet some real vampires! Not just Beasty here!
Are you implying that i am not a real vampire?
Umm, of course not. I would never do that. PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!!!

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Hurrying!" Hailey said, bolting as fast as she could. Sachin was wicked fast, and likely angry with a silver dagger in his shoulder. She would have to apologize to the Doctor that she had wasted it escaping a homicidal vampire. He should understand. Hopefully. Of course, it wasn't really his. Hey! You get to meet some real vampires! Not just Beasty here!
Are you implying that i am not a real vampire?
Umm, of course not. I would never do that. PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!!!

Sachin turned, and moved. He moved incredibly quickly, but one of them had a bloody spear burst out of their hand, throwing it back at the other vampire. Sachin swung his head to the side, dodging, but then the other threw a tear gas bomb.

The pothead vampire seemed to be stuck back, coughing. It was beginning to rain slightly harder, and the vampires kept running. "Keeping up?" one asked Hailey, as they ran into an old building.

[Metanih]

"Barely." Hailey replied, turning into the building as well. Wow... Mr. G has really defined his story well, to have so many different clans of vampires. It probably has more detail than some of the real world... I wonder if he invented the real world? He is such an amazing author. I wish i was a character in one of his books. That would be so much fun. Fantasy thought, annoying virtually every other voice in Hailey's brain.
Seriously? You are worse than a twilight fangirl. Seriously, this guy is nothing but cliches mashed together.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

The vampires led her into the building, which was much more furnished on the inside than the outside's decay would have appear. They led her into a large luxurious room, resembling an expensive hotel suite.

The inhabitants were a group of around 15 people, ten female and five male. The two men with Hailey joined them, increasing the number to 17. One thing they shared was the fact each and every one of them seemed attractive, had eyes that were various red shades, and had blood on their hands.

One particularly beautiful female, who seemed Nepalese in appearance, spoke up. "You must be the new Amara Havana we have heard of. Welcome. We are some of the other Amara Havana residing in this city." she smiled at her.

[Metanih]

"Umm, hello." Hailey said, feeling uncomfortable. With her hands behind her back, she removed her gloves. It seemed wrong to be the only one hiding something that everyone else showed with no issue. She was rather nervous. Ooh. Nice. There are apparently more. Interesting. Make sure to make a good impression! These guys are cool!
I plan on making a good impression, no matter how cool you think they are. They are part of my specific... umm, clan or something. I don't know exactly what it means. I hope they like new vampires...

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Umm, hello." Hailey said, feeling uncomfortable. With her hands behind her back, she removed her gloves. It seemed wrong to be the only one hiding something that everyone else showed with no issue. She was rather nervous. Ooh. Nice. There are apparently more. Interesting. Make sure to make a good impression! These guys are cool!
I plan on making a good impression, no matter how cool you think they are. They are part of my specific... umm, clan or something. I don't know exactly what it means. I hope they like new vampires...

The same vampire spoke up. "You probably have questions, so we should answer those first." she said, smiling. Hailey felt a powerful Awe being used on her, and she or the Beast might recognize the effects as the same she used on others.

[Metanih]

HEY! They are using our mind powers. How dare they! We would have cooperated without it, but then they had the audacity to do this. Cooperate anyway.
"I think i know my own power. I don't think it is really needed to do that, seeing as i am perfectly willing without it." Hailey said, glaring, but nonetheless compelled. "For one, i would like to know a little bit more about the clan politics. I know there is this clan, and the clan of the guy who tried to abduct me earlier, and i don't think you get along well."

[Ameriganastan]

"Now Mr. Mason, we just need to give you a little shot. If you would just cooperate, this would go a lot faster, and..."

The unlucky doctor was met with a punch to the balls, falling over in pain.

"Bring that needle near me again Doogie, and I'll make sure you'll be a patient instead of a doctor!"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Frederick walked all alone in a very dark hallway, lit only by torches that were very far apart from each other. He had both of his arms, but he felt quite... Different. Either way, he advanced through the seemingly infinite hall, until finally he came upon a large gate. Struggling to open it, he realized that he had merely entered another hallway. However, this was a well lit, marble hall. There were strange portraits on the walls, very far apart from each other. Upon inspecting them closer, Frederick realized that they moved.

The first one had a mere child playing around. It was nothing special, save for the ominous shadow looming over it.

He advanced some more only to find another portrait, and another, and another. Eventually Frederick realized that those portraits were, in fact, his memories.

Eventually he reached another large gate. Upon opening it, he saw nothing but a mirror. However... That mirror reflected the actual Frederick. The one who had only one arm and a messier hairstyle. The mirror image began taunting Frederick until he, in a fit of rage, smashed the mirror with his fist, only to look at it afterwards and notice that his fist was but a shadow...

After that, he woke up.

He realized that he had fallen asleep on the waiting room, and that everything had just been a dream. A rather weird dream, but not quite a nightmare.

"I wonder where the others are?" He thought aloud as he went to the hospital's exit and looked for anyone he knew that was currently around there.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

HEY! They are using our mind powers. How dare they! We would have cooperated without it, but then they had the audacity to do this. Cooperate anyway.
"I think i know my own power. I don't think it is really needed to do that, seeing as i am perfectly willing without it." Hailey said, glaring, but nonetheless compelled. "For one, i would like to know a little bit more about the clan politics. I know there is this clan, and the clan of the guy who tried to abduct me earlier, and i don't think you get along well."

"Who is he?" the female asked, but one of the men answered.

"He is Sachin. The Anvari."

There was some angry and fearful conversations among the small group. "Did he follow you?" the female asked, maintaining her composure.

"Of course not." the male replied. "We are not that foolish. We distracted him."

The female nodded, and turned to Hailey. "The Anvari are a clan widespread in San Francisco. They are a clan of drug addicts, but still a powerful and concerning one. Most of them are rather weak, but that particular vampire should be feared. He is the leader of that disorganized clan, as much as they can have a leader. Do not attempt to fight him unless you have people on your side."

[Metanih]

"I kinda got that when he stalked me all over. He has my knife too. Is there much to know about your, err, our particular clan?" Hailey asked, the next question. She didn't like this. She was better at answering questions than asking them. You should be more curious. They can explain much more than i can, i think. If they are willing. And nice enough.
And they are awesome! I wonder why there was never any vampires in Harry Potter? That would make the books more interesting.
Because Harry Potter didn't need vampires. Like Twilight, it was better with no vampires.

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"I kinda got that when he stalked me all over. He has my knife too. Is there much to know about your, err, our particular clan?" Hailey asked, the next question. She didn't like this. She was better at answering questions than asking them. You should be more curious. They can explain much more than i can, i think. If they are willing. And nice enough.
And they are awesome! I wonder why there was never any vampires in Harry Potter? That would make the books more interesting.
Because Harry Potter didn't need vampires. Like Twilight, it was better with no vampires.

"The Amara Havana are one of the most ancient bloodlines in the world, and we descend from India. The class structure and caste system was originally extremely rigid, but we've loosened some of those things. At least, we have. There are still those in this city who cling to the old ways. But the Amara Havana are warriors of the Gods. In each of us, the blood of Gods flows through our veins." the female vampire said proudly.

[Metanih]

"Interesting. I am out of questions, sadly. Do you have any for me? I lack creativity in that field, you know, the one made for designing questions." Hailey said, smiling. It was interesting to learn of the vampire's lines. Blood of the Gods... I bet the Priest would get a kick out of that.
See? I told you G had this all planned out. He is so thorough. I would love to read a book by him. I bet it would be a very interesting read. Don't you think?
Yeah. Sure. Assuming i didn't already know the plot. You know, because it is completely predictable, by counting the cliches inside it. Also there is the little thing where I AM IN THE BOOK!

[Nightkill the Emperor]

"Interesting. I am out of questions, sadly. Do you have any for me? I lack creativity in that field, you know, the one made for designing questions." Hailey said, smiling. It was interesting to learn of the vampire's lines. Blood of the Gods... I bet the Priest would get a kick out of that.
See? I told you G had this all planned out. He is so thorough. I would love to read a book by him. I bet it would be a very interesting read. Don't you think?
Yeah. Sure. Assuming i didn't already know the plot. You know, because it is completely predictable, by counting the cliches inside it. Also there is the little thing where I AM IN THE BOOK!

The female nodded. "I do. You are Hailey, we know this. But who were the members of the group you were in?" the vampire asked her.

[Metanih]

"Ok, let's see... There is Vernon, he is a jerk, who thinks he has everything plotted out, and has long, complicated schemes planned out. He flips out if they fail. Then there is Damien. He is crazy, and got possessed by a Strix, which left him with some of it's powers. Then there is Gabriel, who is a priest, along with being ex-military. Then there is Annette, who is Islamic, but that is all i know of her. Then there is Fredrick, who is the only remotely nice guy in the whole group. Only rational one too. Then there is Earl, who i don't really know because i think he is always high on pain meds, and rather harmless when on them. Lastly there is Mark, who is a jackass, but is getting better, in the mental way. Physically, he is almost dead because i shot his internal organs with a gun." Hailey explained. It didn't really cross her mind that she was giving away information about the group to a possible enemy. That she was being a traitor. It was probably the Awe doing some of that though...

[Vortiaganica]

A taxi stormed through San Francisco. Completely lost, its occupants (The Doc, and a very confused young Asian driver) went on a comical chase through the town.

Having passed multiple doctors' offices, the Doctor was furious. The driver had accepted the $20 as payment upfront, knowing that the hospital was close by, but his poor command of English and the Doctor's poor command of, well, most of the languages he had tried to talk to the driver in, meant that the Doctor's directions to 'go faster', 'take the next right and follow that speedy blur', 'slow down, you'll get us hit by that bus' and 'Hit the brakes, that's a wall you idiot' were for the most part badly translated. Given the situation, though, the driver probably didn't realize there was a wall when the Doctor had just previous tried to communicate to him 'Park in that lawn or I'll kill you' while flaunting what was obviously a neo-Nazi knock-off of an SS officer sword AND a German handgun.

The Doctor and the driver were both whiteknuckled by the time they started swearing at each other, and it just compounded the problem when the Doctor slipped into Sinhala and the driver slipped into traditional Chinese, both mixed with English.

The only time the cab actually stopped was when they nearly hit a pedestrian. A French tourist, who when walking to complain to the driver, did so in French assuming the driver was Vietnamese and thinking that as a result, the driver could speak French. The ensuing fight resulted in the Doctor storming out of the cab in a rather unplanned end to a simple taxi trip.

Damn San Francisco cab drivers.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Frederick walked around outside of the hospital, trying to locate any members of his group that were around the area. However, as he did so, he couldn't stop his mind from drifting off to the strange dream that he had a while ago. There was one thing in common in all of the portraits, something he didn't remember actually happening: In all of his memories, there was an ominous shadow looming over him. When he smashed the mirror apart, his fist was a shadow. Would the two things be related? Was it even worth thinking about? Would that dream have some kind of importance?

He shook off those thoughts as he looked for his fellow, shall we say, party members.

[Norvenia]

Gabriel spun on his heel and stalked out of Mark's room - and the hospital. In the rain outside, he sat down on a bench and put his head in his hands. He felt the water soak through his close-cropped hair, running in a cold trickle down beneath his leather flying jacket. His hands were shaking, beating against his head. He had, in the last hour, fought off an army of zombies, fled the scene in a car controlled by a student driver, and watched a man apparently die of battle wounds. It's too much. Lord, I don't know if I can do this. Help me. Show me a sign. Anything. Please.

And then he understood.

I think that Mark has work to do here still undone, Gabriel had prayed. As much evil as he's done, he has at last the chance to do some good. Save him, Lord. Save him for the good he might yet do, for the chance You've given him to redeem himself.

And it had come true.

Mark's last act was to give a real smile, a true smile, and to undertake an act of selfless compassion, an effort to help someone who needed it - Hailey. Mark had lived long enough to do some good at last, to win redemption.

God had answered Gabriel's prayer, and Mark had died better than he had ever lived. It was a sign as clear as blazing writing in the heavens, and at the thought of it the priest quietly wept tears of joy into his shaking hands. Even now, You guide me. Even here, You are with me. Sitting in the rain, Gabriel felt himself a witness to a miracle, and he felt the courage and the strength to go on flood back into him like fire in his veins. Be Thou with me, and I with Thee, and I will fear nothing - not death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation. In You, I can do all things.

Gabriel realized that his hands had stopped shaking. He took them from his face, and leaned his head back so that the rain fell full upon his forehead, running down his cheeks. He took a deep breath, and stood. There is much still to be done. He looked around him, and the beauty of the hospital garden hit him like revelation of divine love. He smiled quietly. It is enough. Praise God, it is enough.

[Rupudska]

Catrin was outside the hospital when Damien arrived. She noticed there was something different about him. Something more different than you would expect from someone going into Chinatown, and it wasn't the Coiled Viper. She walked towards him. "So...." she said, unsure herself of what was wrong, but knowing that something certainly was. "What happened in Chinatown?"

Damien shrugged. "Nothing you need to worry about, yet," he replied to Catrin. He didn't need her yet. "Now, girl, show me where everyone else is. I have important information for them, and I'm sure they'll want to know that I'm one step closer to helping find the Coiled Viper. Now, show me where they are."

Catrin nodded. The sooner they got out of this whackjob city, the better. "Gabriel's with Mark in the hospital room, not sure whether he's alive or not, though." It was odd. She felt, almost a twinge of sadness at Mark's condition. But only a twinge: She still despised him. "As for the others, I think it'd be best if we just call them. I don't really know where they are."

[New East Ireland]

"Take me to Gabriel," Damien said. He had enough with Vernon, who he very much despised, and decided that, out of everyone, Gabriel would be the most important of the group; for now, at least. He would need a badass to help get the assistance of a Vampire faction anyways. Well, that's only what he hoped. Werewolves might be of help, but Vampires had, apparently, the most influence. At least, for now.