Season 3 Interlude: Thompson, WV 1979 - Part 1

[00:00:01] Speaker A: You remember that time you almost hit a buck outside of Asheville? [00:00:08] Speaker B: I wouldn't have hit a buck if you wouldn't have been talking my ear off. [00:00:12] Speaker A: I don't know what you're talking about, sir. I was just making conversation, and we were fine. And then that little fucker came out of nowhere. [00:00:20] Speaker B: Yeah, you made conversation. And then you also would have made a pretty terrible rest of the evening for us. Do you know how much it costs to fix this car? [00:00:30] Speaker A: No, I don't. But I imagine you're probably about to tell me. [00:00:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I sure am. So, if it goes through the windshield, that's an easy 100. $5200. Do you have $150, calamity? [00:00:45] Speaker A: So is that. Is that, like, in us dollars? Are we talking, like, confederate doubloons or. I. [00:00:55] Speaker B: That's us dollars or your ass. Whichever one. [00:01:00] Speaker A: Okay. All right, so maybe I don't have $150 on me. What's the rest of it, then? [00:01:06] Speaker B: Well, so if one of the points goes through the grill and hits the radiator, or, God forbid, it's a real big bastard, and just goes straight through the block, we're not going anywhere. [00:01:20] Speaker A: This thing is solid steel, though. It can't punch through to get to the block, can it? [00:01:27] Speaker B: Do you want to find out? [00:01:29] Speaker A: Not particularly. I like the idea of getting an antler to the eyeball. [00:01:35] Speaker B: No, everyone has a plan until they take an antler in the eyeball. [00:01:39] Speaker C: Just like grandpappy used to say. The conversation kind of lulls because people giggle a bit. And you see the mile markers going by on state roads. They're small, but it's also old highway. So when you see that sign for the town coming up, it's not like a nice, fancy green metal one. It's one of those wood ones with, like, the Kiwanis club logo hanging on a chain below it. They raised money on Memorial Day back in 1967, and the Thompson West Virginia Chamber of Commerce had a hot dog drill out for charity. And they paid a local painter, someone, an older man, a carpenter, was on the verge of retiring, and it was like, he needs something to do. Let's get him some money for his house. And then how it all came together. [00:02:23] Speaker A: Let's get Mack out here, take care of this. [00:02:27] Speaker C: And there's probably a stone in front of it with a little plaque that has all the names of the five town aldermen, that kind of thing. But coming up on that creates a decision point, right, shell, you know the destination of this tribe, and you have the whole time. But there is something about a road trip. When you're going through the desert and you crest the hill, if you're coming from the west, there's just desert, desert, desert. And then you come up over this rise, and then all of a sudden, the valley where Vegas spills out in front of you and you can finally see what's been causing that gigantic glow on the horizon. It's a shift in mindset. When you find that second wind, when the road hypnosis falls and the mood changes, that's when glamley. I don't know if you expect that the car is going to continue into town, but it doesn't. For whatever reason, Shell pulls the car over and just the low idol of that engine, so much louder now and with music probably turned down, because this is a we're about to have a conversation moment. [00:03:31] Speaker B: So this glorious piece of civilization is where you want to lay down. [00:03:43] Speaker A: I mean, it's as good as any other, ain't it? [00:03:47] Speaker B: I look over at the rock that has all the ealdormen hanged on it. Well, according to the rock, they're at least pretty proud of what they got here. [00:04:01] Speaker A: Are you telling me you want to motor it all the way down to fucking Raleigh or Charleston and deal with the fucking city? [00:04:09] Speaker B: I look up through the windshield, almost searching for anything that seems worth it. [00:04:17] Speaker C: That question hinges a lot on your definition of worth it. You looking for food? Town's not that big, Shel. You've been around a while. You know, it takes a couple thousand people for one vampire to be able to feed without causing any trouble. You don't want the CDC coming in on some Jay Rockefeller money to see what's been going on. Why is there so much hemophilia in these rural West Virginia communities? That's how trouble starts. Certainly not for nightlife. It's probably one biker bar, like a half mile outside of town between this one and the next one. And you already know how calamity gets along with those places. If anything, it might be a little endearing. The only possible reason that she could have picked this place is that it's small enough to be a baby step for you. [00:05:04] Speaker B: It's real tiny calamity. Just saying there are bigger places. [00:05:12] Speaker A: And I'm saying, sir, with respect, I know how you feel about those bigger places. Too much concrete, too much steel, and you start getting, well, more ornery than usual. [00:05:24] Speaker B: Not as ornery as when I'm home, but, hey, I've never been right about. [00:05:28] Speaker A: Anything, so I didn't say that. I just. I know the road is supposed to be finite. You drive and you drive and you drive, and eventually you're gonna hit the side of a mountain or the shore or a place you can't go over or under or through. And it feels like we've been driving for decades at this point. Ain't you tired. [00:06:00] Speaker B: Driving sure as hell beats walking or horseback riding or back of a wagon. Go on, tell me I'm old. [00:06:13] Speaker A: You're older than dirt, sir. [00:06:16] Speaker B: You know what? Sure, let's motor on into town. [00:06:24] Speaker C: Kind. [00:06:25] Speaker A: Of squint at him, because I don't think I've ever known Martin Shell to give up on a fight that quickly, so I am immediately suspicious. [00:06:36] Speaker C: What do you put those odds? If he's not doing it because he wants to do it? What motivation do you think is lurking behind those eyes? [00:06:48] Speaker A: Storyteller? We all know how the gang will operate. They don't choose lightly. They are not as bound by aesthetic as the lax, the toreador. They don't care about might the same way the fucking blue bloods do. No, our might is pure physical stubbornness. So as far as I know, the only son bitch who's more stubborn than me is the bastard sitting next to me in this fucking car. So this is gonna be fun. [00:07:36] Speaker C: That, at least, remains to be seen. So Martin Schull reaches down to his right, fingers wrapping around the pristine stock shifter knob. Every single piece of this car is original. And the engine roars back to life. It's not a long drive into town. Cause there's not a lot of town. A quarter mile later, you're at the beginning of the main drag. There's just two streets, one east west, one north south crossing together. And you can just see in the bones of this place that once upon a time, it was where the two roads, the two valleys, came together and just happened to be the place where people ran into one another and what once was marked by a single signpost and then a little traveling house, and on and on it went. Until now. You have a quaint little chunk of americana. But it is also a victim of time. Appalachia, on a whole, is a victim of a new economy. And what was always a poorer part of the United States has only gotten poorer still as the mines shutter and the trains stop rolling and the young people flee for greener pastures in other cities. So you see that cute antique shop boarded up. And without even looking at the owners, you can tell who they are. A pair of elderly, white haired, sweet little people. Anything you need, from a cup of sugar to a toe out of town. They'd be there for you in a heartbeat. And right next to it, the church. Three different times you can come to worship under that boy Scout meetings every Tuesday. It's that kind of town. But you know in your heart of hearts that the congregation's getting older and older. And we in our modern eyes can see what this town will be like in 20 or 30 years. But for now, for better or worse, it clings to life. And now, for better or for worse, calamity intends to call it home. I will say this. There's still a McDonald's. It can't be that uncivilized. [00:09:54] Speaker A: Not that it'll do us any good. [00:10:00] Speaker C: But neither shell nor calamity are a city gangrel by any means. And to the extent that this counts as a city, it would not do well to plant your flag directly in the town square. I would like to give calamity the benefit of the doubt and say that you've chosen somewhere or that you have a plan. So if not the upper floor of an abandoned storefront, where do you think you're going to find shelter for the night? [00:10:32] Speaker A: No, we can't exactly break into one of these boarded up shops. That'll get too many eyes on us. Other thing about towns this small, everybody knows everybody. Everybody knows everybody's business. And things have changed since I was embraced. Having Martin with me helps, but, Lex, me can't exactly go breaking and entering willy nilly. No, there's what I imagine was probably housing for the company and the mines that don't pulse and bellow anymore. Little, almost shanty houses, not quite long enough to be the shotgun houses that you'd see down in Louisiana, but not far off. [00:11:43] Speaker C: There's just something about these kind of towns where if you know where the town center is and you know how geography works, you can roll uphill and you'll eventually find what you're looking for. These towns were built by a mechanical mind concerned only with putting people in mines and then coal on trains. So you can follow the ridge of the land coming off that state highway onto county roads. No more fancy curbs, the kind where the asphalt just crumbles away into gravel on the sides. And that paint, it's the oldest thing in this town, Shell notwithstanding. But eventually, even that gives way to something more rural. Nice gravel road. Imagine it being washed out in a storm years ago. The fact that it remains is a testament to how ignored this place is. Not just by people, but apparently also by time. But you arrive at something approximating a cul de sac, you can see a wealthier version of this place where the road spills out into a big gravel circle, tiny shanties stacked all around it. Even in the glare of the headlights, you can tell this is not much to look at. These houses weren't well built when they were built, and that was a long time ago. So, Shel, we know what calamity's attitude is. She's been trying to convince you of this for three years and 700 miles. But is this it? Is this it? This is what calamity wants to give up that life for. This is where she thinks you can start. [00:13:43] Speaker B: I think this is a grade A shithole. These are company houses built for company men. And the companies nor the men are around anymore. I don't imagine these houses are going to stand much longer than that. But of all the places that we've. We've seen and we've been to, I just cannot wrap my head around why here? [00:14:26] Speaker C: Perhaps that hesitation is something that calamity is familiar with, something she can see in her sire's eyes. [00:14:40] Speaker A: I know it's nothing. Less than nothing. I just. Asphalt and highway and backcountry and asphalt and highway and backcountry and maybe the mountains and maybe the ocean and the occasional city that, may I remind you, you still fucking hate what's bad about starting smaller. Ain't you tired of moving? Ain't you tired of running? [00:15:32] Speaker B: No, I mean, the moving and the running. It's kind of, it's what we do, right? That's why we don't go to the cities. We aren't, we aren't beholden to any, uh, any of the more intricate hierarchies. But shit, I like, look around at this ramshackle cul de sac. There certainly ain't none of that out here. [00:16:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Why do you think we're here and not driving into fucking Charleston? We can still go where we're called. If the prince or the baron or who the fuck ever got a problem with the garru edging in. I'm not asking you to sell the fucking car, sir. [00:16:25] Speaker B: I'd give my left leg before I sell this cardinal. And I'll reach over to the ignition and kill the engine as the rumble from the. From the car just slowly dies as those old big blocks do. [00:16:47] Speaker C: The engine winding down much in the way that shell's resistance has. Not quickly and not without letting you know. We hear the metallic whine of old hinges as the door swings open and boots on gravel up above you, wide open sky stars the kind that city folk don't get to see. And then laid out around you, housing that would give our urban friends a much keener appreciation for the phrase cat on a hot tin roof, because these are corrugated walls scrapped together from the cheapest material that was closest at hand. Wooden doors mismatched. Some windows blown out if they were ever there in the first place. The dregs of curtains swinging in the breeze. But it's not entirely abandoned. You open the door, and inside you see someone has tried to make this place a home in the way that only working people know. Those small, cheap vestiges of ownership, the small baubles that say, this is mine. There's a dresser, wobbly, uneven, stitched together from scrap wood. And if you were to open the top drawer, you'd find that family bible going passed down generation to generation. Leather dry and cracked and faded. There's an old stove, that pot belly kind of thing, that'd come to life in a Disney movie. But here it's been dead for decades. On the stovetop, cast iron pan, another heirloom, an object of pride. If you let your mind wander back in time. You can see proud father seasoning the hell out of that thing because it was what he owned and he was going to take care of it. And now this place is what you own. You have inherited the mantle. [00:18:56] Speaker B: I look around and see the just entire building made of scrap wood and hand me down ten. You see that, uh. You see that. That spot back there where, like, a back door used to be? Yeah, we're gonna want to probably do something about that. [00:19:27] Speaker A: Yeah. No, I figure since we just got here, for now it'll be tarp and duct tape, but we can gather the bits we need, reinforce the door, reinforce the windows, actually. Well, get windows first and foremost. And I sort of walk further into this one room shanty and do a slow turn. Just. I see the place for what it is. I see the cobwebs and the half inch of dust, and it. God, it still smells like coal dust. [00:20:16] Speaker B: That smell ain't never gonna go away. [00:20:21] Speaker A: No. [00:20:24] Speaker C: Well, dawn is fast approaching, as it always does. Strange how time flies once the early evening gives way to late evening. And for people who are immortal, you always seem to be in a hurry. So it's a quick trip to the trunk to retrieve your day bag. All the home improvement supplies, phrase in massive finger quotes. Kind of bag that would make a police officer nervous if they opened the trunk. Who needs a tarp and body bags and duct tape? Well, but you are murderers in your own right. So the walls get patched and the ceiling gets covered. Everything taped down, once, twice, three times. And when all the work is done, someone has to get the flashlight out, stand on one side, making sure not a single beam of light cuts through. Time weighs heavy on this building, and soon, time weighs heavy on you. It's been a long time since you've had to sleep, since you've had that feeling of fighting off the need to go to bed. Just long enough to finish that article and just long enough to sew up that last piece of something or other. Just long enough to wash the last dish. But the weariness arrives all the same, and you know that as your eyes finally close, eight long hours of nothing until it's time to rise again. And as night ends, so too does it begin. The familiar weight of unlife returning to dead bodies. Calamity. You've always been the late riser among the pair, and I imagine part of your routine is that look left, look right, see what shell is up to. For better or for worse. But I regret to inform you that this evening your sire is nowhere to be found. He's never been the type to leave you alone. He'll wake up before you, but he's always there, keeping an eye over you, or at least making sure that he doesn't get into trouble. Before you can help. He's gone. [00:22:52] Speaker A: I think there's the initial expectation of Tom Foolery, because for his big age, he is not above pulling some bullshit over on me if he gets the chance. [00:23:08] Speaker C: Yeah, there's no frat boy prank, bucket of water above your head. There's no scoutmaster diligently packing and then just leaving it in a pile above you. Important fact, the situation seems incredibly normal, which is not normal. [00:23:31] Speaker A: The initial irritation does drift into just a brief shiver of panic because, well, you can never quite tell. Things go badly so quickly. But I'll get up and do an initial sweep of the place. [00:23:58] Speaker C: I'd say that it's as you stand up that the ruse is revealed. A folded scrap of paper, say, half a normal printer page falling off from where it had been neatly perched atop your sleeping head. [00:24:17] Speaker A: You motherfucker. I will mutter to myself something about childish big age. Fuck her. Pick up the paper and see what my sire has decided to leave me with. [00:24:37] Speaker C: And what has Martinshiel decided to inscribe behind the shack? [00:24:43] Speaker B: I'll be back. Once I checked out past that second stop sign. Can't imagine scoping out all five acres of this shithole is going to take long. Double check those spots we duct taped. M. [00:25:03] Speaker C: Well, you can take the gangrel out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the gangrel. That paranoid impression to ensure one's surroundings are safe extends beyond these walls. You've been on enough of those back road hikes to know what Martin Shell is up to. [00:25:20] Speaker A: Yeah, and he ain't wrong, neither, which is what makes it even more infuriating. And he's doing this the way that I should have. But there is reason that he is my sire. He is better at this than I am because he has the experience to back it up. And no, I would not tell him that to his face. [00:25:41] Speaker C: But now it turns to the work that needs done. In a bigger city, you'd have a prince to report to, a primogen to account for. You'd have all your little kindred neighbors scheming, wondering who the new arrival is. Refreshing to not have to deal with that. As best you can tell by the sounds, your nearest neighbor is a family of possums. And then past that, nothing. [00:26:10] Speaker A: I am a country gangrel for a reason. I understand that. There is a particular population that we need to be able to survive comfortably. That's just how it works. But there's something to be said for still being able to see the skyd, for not having to report to some primogen or prince high on their own fucking power. [00:26:40] Speaker C: Had enough people like that in real life and a small enough taste of it in unlife, to know that you still don't like it. [00:26:46] Speaker A: No, I do not. But you are right, storyteller. There is work needs done. I will double check the duct tape that was mentioned if I can. I'll see what I can do about scoping out what we need to make this shack a little more hospitable. [00:27:10] Speaker C: Well, the basic safety has been taken care of. You've checked the spots, you've done it right the first time, but. Never hurts to be sure. But in terms of creature comforts, both humanly and beastly, much can be done. I suppose the question is, which of those do you intend to deal with first? If Martin were here, he'd give you a list. Is this a test? Is he gonna come back and see what you've accomplished? And then judge how ready you are for this kind of life? [00:27:44] Speaker A: God, he fucking would. [00:27:47] Speaker C: So what is it, then? The hardware store? There's no way it stays open this late at night. Michelle has the car. So that Walmart two counties over is a no go. [00:28:05] Speaker A: Well, first and foremost, one thing we always need, no matter what, is to make sure the beast is satisfied. [00:28:20] Speaker C: Then we embark on the hunt. Your palate is not so refined that it requires human blood. Although any vampire will tell you that that's the good stuff. If you were a city gangrel, you would know the faces that ventrue and toreador make when they find out you've been sucking on rats or dogs or God only knows what other urban filth comes around. It's undignified calamity. [00:28:47] Speaker A: In what fucking world have I ever given a shit about dignity? That is a word reserved for people who care about what the others will think. [00:29:00] Speaker C: Am I to take that to mean that we're heading out into the forest instead of into the town? [00:29:04] Speaker A: For now. [00:29:09] Speaker C: In that case, this hunt will be a test of wits and survival. [00:29:15] Speaker A: That would be three successes, storyteller. [00:29:21] Speaker C: Well, three successes in familiar territory is more than enough to find the prey that you are looking for. That just raises the question for me. What is the prey you find? Gotta be something big if you wanna slake that amount of hunger. [00:29:35] Speaker A: This time of year, the bucks are out in force. And there is something satisfying about prowling through the dark. [00:29:49] Speaker C: An image ripped from Hollywood films. Although not normally the kind about vampires. It's strange the number of ways that you resemble your prey. An animal charging through the forest, stalking like a wolf, one might say. Cat like as you are. Can't deny the visual. [00:30:12] Speaker A: No. [00:30:16] Speaker C: But you find this splendid creature. That is something nice about these woods. They're not hunted thin by Alexandria suburb folks coming out to prove their masculinity for a weekend. The forests aren't untouched. The coal companies have seen to that. But they've been given a long time to return to the earth. And given your skill and the location, it should come as no surprise when you see that beautiful tendency point buck. Perched just below the ridgeline. From your angle, you see the body. But silhouetted up against the sky behind it is that stag's crown. It's that majestic embodiment of freedom. Just looking at this creature gives you an understanding of how shell sees the world almost out of sight. Master of his own domain. [00:31:23] Speaker A: Almost makes me miss the early days. They were so much more open forest. Like you said, storyteller, the coal companies have sort of chewed their way through most of it. But it was still that beautiful pine. The soft underbrush, nothing but the night critters stirring. [00:31:52] Speaker C: Well, not much has changed, except that now the night creature is you. You are an accomplished hunter with a predator inside of you. You don't need to roll to take down this beast. I can only assume you do so humanely. You're not violent in that way, and you have a respect for this land that others don't. [00:32:19] Speaker A: Whether I am hunting a creature like this or hunting something over more bipedal nature, the thing that I always try to remember, no matter what, is that we are beasts, and we do not have to take pleasure in what we do. I do not take pleasure in killing. But if I do not, I do not survive. And that is all anything on God's green earth is trying to do is survive. [00:32:58] Speaker C: The goal that you accomplish at the expense of this animal's similar desires. But the blood slakes the hunger. The beast is pleased, and you can proceed to the remainder of your evening having been reduced to one hunger. The thing about hunting, though, I'm a city boy, but I do know this much, it takes time. Are we heading back to the shack before we get on with our night? [00:33:33] Speaker A: Yeah, if I want to do any sort of shopping, I'll have to get up and do it quicker if I'm gonna be hoofing it. I understand why he took the car. It's his car. But God damn it stuck. [00:33:50] Speaker C: Well, what if I told you when you returned to your shack, there was a vehicle there. [00:33:58] Speaker A: That was fast? [00:34:04] Speaker C: Notice I said vehicle, not car. This is not a 67 gt. This is a conversion van, the kind that one might make deliveries in, or, if the lettering on the side is to be believed, the kind the local electric company drives. The headlights are on. You can see someone behind the steering wheel. Difficult to make anything out about them. Both the side door and the back doors are closed. [00:34:37] Speaker A: What in. Sam. Hell. God damn it. I don't understand why the city would potentially send somebody out in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night. So that is strike number one. But strike number two comes from the fact that my shit is in the goddamn cabin. [00:35:06] Speaker C: Give you the benefit of doubt and say that you wouldn't go hunting unarmed, so a pistol or a long gun would not be out of the question. But anything more than that, you left you a werewolf hunting kit, either in the house or in the trunk of the car. [00:35:21] Speaker A: Yeah. No, it's definitely in the trunk of the goddamn car. [00:35:26] Speaker C: What's the move, then? [00:35:30] Speaker A: I have no idea how long they're gonna be here or what exactly they're trying to get up to. Problem being that if they decide to stake out until morning, I am in trouble. [00:35:45] Speaker C: What are the odds? What possible business could the power company have. That will take until morning. [00:35:51] Speaker A: Fair enough. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a look at one of the other close by shacks. Somebody's gotta have a storm cellar. At the very least, it'll be light tight. [00:36:04] Speaker C: That requires a role, and I believe that role is dexterity and stealth. [00:36:11] Speaker A: Apparently, I am not as stealthy as I thought I was, because that is two successes. [00:36:17] Speaker C: Two successes is not ideal, but not entirely bad. It's not a matter of stepping on a twig. It's not a matter of blundering your way into a room that's already occupied. The plain truth of the matter is it's difficult to be sneaky when you have so few places to hide. And as we've established, not many doors or windows for cover. We'll say that you notice them a hair before they notice you. Time enough for one action? Your choice, depending on how the rest of this plays out. But you will be noticed no matter what that action is. You see a white woman, medium height, and she's wearing utility coveralls. The thing that's going to cause you the most concern, I believe, is that the logo on the coveralls does not match the logo on the van. And as far as you know, a crossbow is not part of the standard issue. Utilitymen get. You see the beam of the flashlight cutting up from one of the storm cellars you intended to investigate as it crosses the room from right to left. That is when it spots your face. You can see in this frozen moment of time, the shout rising up in her chest. We can freeze this camera frame. You can see the bob of her throat as she draws in that breath. What do you do? [00:38:06] Speaker A: I'm gonna sprint towards her and I'm gonna knock her out. And then I'm gonna keep running. [00:38:12] Speaker C: Hard to say what she would have yelled. She only makes the eye before the gu as the full weight of a calamity collides with her diaphragm. Despite her size, she's got more mass than you might have expected. There's muscle underneath that outfit, but you barrel through her all the same. Where are we going? [00:38:36] Speaker A: Into the woods. Terrain like this, I can find a hovel, something that'll give me shelter if I need to. [00:38:46] Speaker C: Sprinting away from the clearing, you can hear it before you can see it. The spark of a flare gun, that familiar pop and hiss. All stars disappearing behind an orangish red glow. That way. That way. He went that way. And the sound of footsteps roll. Whitsun awareness for me. [00:39:10] Speaker A: Zero successes. [00:39:15] Speaker C: Not too late to spend willpower if you think it's important. [00:39:19] Speaker A: Oh, it certainly is. [00:39:23] Speaker C: Two successes feels better, doesn't it? [00:39:28] Speaker A: Yeah. I don't know if that's gonna matter much, though. [00:39:31] Speaker C: On two successes, I will give you a choice. Left or right? [00:39:36] Speaker A: Left. [00:39:37] Speaker C: You see another flashlight dead ahead of you, probably 15 yards. Trees are getting thicker, so it doesn't spot you immediately. But you know you can't go forward. You wheel to the left, he sees you. It's just a stroke of fate, one of the weird tricks of geography, that you spill out from the thick trees into a smaller kasp, perhaps there used to be a shack here. Nature hasn't entirely reclaimed this space. If you had the time to investigate, you might be able to see the rubble of something that used to be the stone on the ground that's preventing the vines and the seeds from taking root. But you make that turn, and you are in the open. Two things happen. One, you see this gentleman, because it is a gentleman, older than the woman you smashed into, probably by 25 or 30 years. He has a weathered face, a mountain man kind of face. And because you will remember this face for the remainder of your life, no matter how long that happens to be, I can tell you that that frozen image you can see, it's not the weathery cloud of someone who spent too much time in the wind, but scars that are familiar to someone with your kinds of claws. You'll see the surprise on his face, curious arch of the brow from behind, the sights on the weapon he is carrying. And you will hear him say, not what I expected. Before you hear the twang of the bow being released. You can roll. Dexterity and athletics. [00:41:22] Speaker A: I will do just that. That is war with the critical. [00:41:27] Speaker C: Don't know if calamity's ever played football, but the footwork is like that. Perfect cut. You can see the free safety coming, and then on a dime, you are to the right. There's no need to wait and see any of the details that are going to play out. You know, danger is. Danger is danger. If you ever took the time to look behind you, you won't. You're running. But you can hear that heightened gangrel sense. The snap of tree bark being shattered as a thick steel bolt penetrates. We still running? [00:41:59] Speaker A: Or some still fucking running. [00:42:01] Speaker C: Then this becomes a different kind of battle. You've broken sight, but they know the general direction you're in. Which means we have a contested test. I'll give you wits and survival, or wits and stealth, whichever you think is more appropriate. [00:42:22] Speaker A: Storyteller, I think I'm gonna call it wits and survival, because I can run along the ground until kingdom come. But humans occasionally forget to look up. Three successes. [00:42:40] Speaker C: Well, now, you are not the only one who is lucky. You are correct. Humans occasionally forget to look up. There's something about these humans. I wonder what it could be that makes them slightly more aware of how predators might predate. It's not a flashlight that finds you. Your heart rate, were it beating, would just be at the point where it starts to come off that cliff where it's been quiet just long enough. You haven't seen flashlights. You haven't heard voices. Maybe you have gotten away. And then you feel that sting, that piercing, tearing sting. You've been shot. As you look down, you can see that fashioned steel feathers sticking off the end. Based on their role and the weapon, we will call that three superficial damage. That's after you've halved it. [00:43:50] Speaker A: Hunters. Fuck me. [00:43:56] Speaker C: I mean. [00:43:58] Speaker A: I can never tell if. If the body just remembers, no matter what. This hurts a lot more than I remember it, though. [00:44:11] Speaker C: It appears they know how to hunt. What? You are not gonna say you can't keep running, but one has to wonder. The wisdom. [00:44:20] Speaker A: You want a fat fan? I'll give him a fucking fat. [00:44:28] Speaker C: Leaping down from the tree. We're done pretending to be human. There is something incredibly animalistic in the way that you jump from perch to ground. There's no pain to worry about. You don't limp. The things that animate your body are beyond the reach of sensation. They have been closing in. You can see two flashlights. One of them may or may not belong to the person who had shot you. The woman is back on her feet. You see her again with utility coveralls. It's a different man this time. Not the first one who missed a second. He's just like a hiker. The kind of person you would stumble into on the appalachian trail. He is not carrying a crossbow. Oh, that appears to be a Remington. A twelve gauge Remington. [00:45:15] Speaker A: That is a nice gun. I might take it off of his dead body. [00:45:20] Speaker C: I have the opportunity. It's close quarters in the forest. Sight lines being what they are. [00:45:26] Speaker A: Is he still coming straight at me, Storyteller? [00:45:29] Speaker C: I wouldn't say he's charging into melee distance, but he is definitely closing. Get the distinct impression of a snare being set and the rope being pulled in. [00:45:41] Speaker A: Well, I suppose I have been acting like prey. It's time to turn the hunters into the hunted. I would like to activate my feral weapons and I'm gonna charge them. [00:45:56] Speaker C: Distance is no problem. So that would be strength and brawl. [00:46:04] Speaker A: You know what, storyteller? These motherfuckers came in and ruined a perfectly good night because they had to be nosy. I would like to activate lethal body while I'm at it so they know exactly what the fuck they're dealing with. [00:46:20] Speaker C: For a few seconds, anyway. [00:46:22] Speaker A: For a few seconds. That is five successes. [00:46:28] Speaker C: Excellent. More than enough to overpower. You see him leveling the shotgun tight against his shoulder. He's fast. You are faster underneath the plane of the weapon, raising up with your arm. The trigger pulls. The sky turns to day that has not been loaded with buckshot. There is a cone of fire that erupts from the barrel of this weapon high into the sky above you. You hear him grunt with that strength against strength test, but you've beaten him by three successes. So with your claws, ready to do whatever pleases you with this man's arm, what happens next? [00:47:08] Speaker A: I told you I was gonna take that gun. It does spin off into the underbrush. I can grab it later, but he's not gonna be using that arm anytime soon. [00:47:18] Speaker C: Buy one gun, get one arm free. The thing about those claws, they are razor sharp. Those are talons. And you can feel as you pass through skin, as you pass through fat, as you pass through muscle, as you get to bone. And the scream he lets out pleases the deepest, darkest parts of you. However, I did say the f word just a little bit ago. So will you roll frenzy check for me? [00:47:52] Speaker A: Uh huh. Zero successes. [00:47:58] Speaker C: That is crime. You can hunt any prey you choose, and you've dispatched more than your fair share of interlopers. You've tackled subhat vampires, you've tackled werewolves. How dare this human decide that he is worthy of entering into solo combat with you. But there is something primal about fire. There's a reason the gods punished us so hard for stealing it. And it's that level of basic kindling in the eyes of a distant human ancestor that you feel the fear of this thing that is not understood and refuses to be constrained in another universe. Calamity. You might have charged through with the rest of your attack, wrenched the one arm off. Make sure he's down. He doesn't need a throat. He doesn't need lungs. He doesn't need a heart. Those things are wasted upon the insolent. But that red eruption is enough to cause hesitation. And a shell has no doubt told you a thousand times, hesitation is dangerous. Any other vampire in the situation, having seen the fire, would run however, any other vampire would probably not be facing the affliction that you currently are. Because while you were entangled with this man and his arm and his firearm, the woman had escaped your eyesight. You know where she is now because you can feel the wooden stake piercing through your back and into your heart. And then there is no fear. There is no anything. [00:50:00] Speaker A: Storyteller. Can I. Can I hear what's going on? [00:50:05] Speaker C: All the senses are alive. You can see. You can hear. You just can't move. To that end, you can hear the man screaming. You can see the woman as she makes a slow circuit around you. There's something not entirely sure about her. Recognize that in her face. That's an experience. That's uncertainty. That's fear. You can see the quiver in her lip as her eyes dart away from you to her comrade just long enough. Because she doesn't know for sure if it's safe. And you can see horror. You can see someone having their very first experience with this kind of violence. You hear a voice from behind. Kendra. Kendra. She quibbles out the meekest of sounds. I got a sturdier hand. Finds her shoulder, holds her back. Just get the tourniquet. Get it on him. And then a very different kind of face. The man is wearing a black turtleneck underneath a black duster jacket. If you could smirk, you would appreciate the cliche. But despite his choice and fashion, there is something deadly serious about this man. He is not sizing you up as something that is not understood. He is sizing you up because he knows exactly what you are. Hmm. Well, you're not Martin shell, but maybe you'll do. He whistles and more bodies appear in in the next few minutes, you will be secured with chains. Thick chains, the kind you use to strap things down to the back of semi trucks and hauled like lumber into one of the buildings. And we've got the rest of your life to hear what happens next. But that's a story for another night.