Vampire: The Masquerade

It was Anthony who opened the door.
"Oh, it is you!" he said while he opened the door wider for Morris to come inside. He saw he was the last one to arrive.

"Please forgive my lateness. I had a bit of trouble...getting situated for the night." Morris said with a bit of a nervous quaver. He had sat down and began listening to the others. Anthony had returned to his seat and his conversation. Vance was kind enough to give Morris a bit of detail on the discussion thus far.

"Perhaps the Brujah do have some information," Vance repeated. "Maybe contacting them."

"No....Tremere...." Morris said in a slight daze. His hand was now clutching the paper with Harold's writing on it inside his pocket. He was uncertain whether or not to show it to the others.
"Don't do it, Reggie! Best they not know about that!"

"Tremere?" Anthony asked. "What could they know?"

"Not certain." Morris said, his voice a bit far away. "I heard about a Tremere on Mercer Island...in passing....that is something of a fount of information."

Morris was sure the others weren't going to quite buy that but for them to know the truth? Most unwise. The damnable voice had a point this time.

Upon hearing the knock on the door, Vance motioned for Anthony to open it. As expected it was none other than Morris who made the noise. Morris was brought up to speed on the situation, and then brought forth a new piece of information: A Tremere on Mercer Island.

The others continued to talk, but Vance had gone off elsewhere in his mind. He recalled a Tremere visiting his gallery once about two years ago who mentioned living on the island.

"Mercer Island you say? I don't know what lead you're following, but... About two years ago this Tremere woman came to the gallery. That beautiful temptress convinced me to sell her one of my paintings." He smiled and paused in reminisce. "Such a memorable night," he sighed. "I think she mentioned being a lighthouse keeper. I don't really think there could be too many Tremeres on Mercer Island. Perhaps we could see if this leads to anything? It's not like we have much else to go on."

"Please, take a seat." Gladys walked over to the couch and sat down, leaning back against the left arm and reclining with her legs crossed on the seat next to hers, taking up nearly half of the four-person couch just for herself. She continued to hold the parasol casually over her head and set King Clarence up on her lap. Wilder moved one of the chairs to right beside the couch, behind Gladys, and sat down in it.

Soon Anthony arrived, without his childe. Vance remarked on this fact and Gladys was thinking about saying something too, something about how being rebellious against the Camarilla was akin to suicide, but Vance then said something that distracted her attention. "Perhaps the Brujah might know more than we do." The Brujah...what was it Leon had said about the Brujah? They can not be trusted.

Before Gladys could say anything, Mr. Morris arrived. Lexington repeated his suggestion about the Brujah but Morris didn't seem to like the idea either, instead bringing up the Tremere. Or rather, a specific Tremere. He didn't say much about this Tremere and, in fact, it didn't seem like he knew much to say. But, despite Mr. Morris' damnable insanity, he was a Malkavian after all and Gladys, Malkavian herself, was inclined to listen to whatever bits of information he had. Malkavians had a talent for insight.

Gladys spoke up, the first time she'd said anything since the meeting had started. "I agree with Morris. Let's find this Tremere."

"Well how far away is Mercer Island?" Anthony asked with a slight frown, folding his arms across his chest. He wasn't well prepared at the moment for any long distance traveling. If they were going to be traveling any length of distance, he would like to stop by his apartment and grab a few things.

Morris was lost in thought again. Worrying, but he tried to push it away.
"Mercer Island? Harold says that it isn't far. It's within the large lake to the east. Oh bugger if I can recall its name at the moment..."
Morris wasn't terribly familiar with the area just yet.

"Lake Washington." Vance said with a small smile.

"Right, that's it! Thank you, mate." Morris smiled back. "I believe you can take a ferry or go by the bridge. Harold mentioned it was not even a half hour away."
Morris partially wanted to take the ferry but a part of him thought about taking the infernal cab out there as well. Either way, the thought of going there to meet the mysterious Tremere made him nervous. What would they find out.

"Well then, why don't we give this Tremere a visit then?" Anthony suggested standing up. "The night is still young after all."

Plus, he wasn't sure about leaving Kandice alone for any length of time. While he could trust her for tonight, if this little blood hunt dragged on he might have to start bringing her along, God forbid she does something stupid.

Plus while he was aware the others (except for Vance) were Malkavian, he wouldn't mind another clairvoyant on the team. He wasn't sure if she could do general predictions of the future, but she was an expert on personal predictions of the future once she smooched the person. That could be useful he thought.

"A ferry sounds rather quaint, and we could all drive there in one car. Shall we depart? I can drive us, unless there is another arrangement you all wish to make?"

"I am fine for whatever," Anthony replied. "I would offer to drive, but my car only seats three other people."

Morris thought about taking the infernal cab but realized it would be good to be away from Carl.

"Mr. Lexington, I would be most pleased to travel with you." Morris definitely missed his Bentley. He pondered idly about having it shipped out to Seattle.

"Very well. If Gladys and Mr. Wilder are fine with it, we can depart now. There are two seats in front not including the driver and three can sit comfortably in the back. We should be fine."

Vance began to walk towards the door. "If you would all follow me. I just need to lock this door and we can be on our way. We have decided on the ferry, yes?"

Gladys got up from the couch she was sitting on. "These conditions are acceptable to me," she said, without seeking the opinions of either Wilder or, for that matter, King Clarence. Gladys followed Vance, and Wilder followed Gladys, out to Vance's vehicle. Without waiting for anything like permission or approval, Gladys climbed into the front of the car, taking the middle seat. Wilder got in after her and sat in the passenger's seat next to Gladys.

Anthony climbed into the back on the right hand side. He never did like being in the middle seat. In most cars it was rather cramped. Plus you didn't have any doors to lean on. In all honesty, it was the most awkward seat in the car.

(ooc: gladys and wilder are up front, so no one has to sit in the middle)

After everyone was inside, Vance turned the ignition on. The engine roared to life and he backed out of the parking spot and drove out of the parking garage. Next to him sat Gladys, and he made a mental note to wash the seat when he had a chance.

Shortly after leaving the garage, Vance turned the radio on, which was currently set to his favorite channel. Coincidentally a song had just ended and a new one was beginning. The first few chords began and he recognized it immediately as Bad Moon Rising. He put his foot on the brake as they came to a redlight, and he couldn't help but smile at the apparent ominous song that happened to be playing.

For some reason Anthony couldn't help but wonder what Kandice's reaction would be upon hearing the song that just came on the radio. She always would freak out at the randomest songs (well she would freak out at all songs, just some more so then others) and he felt that this would be another song which would be "mocking her."

He couldn't help but let an amused chuckle escape his lips.

Morris, upon entering the left side of car, pondered what would come next. He made a comment thanking Vance for the transport but it was drowned out by the song piping out of the car's speakers.

"I see...bad mooon risin'. I see trouble on the way...."

How appropriate... Morris thought. Trouble on the way, indeed.
"You said it, Reggie. Between that cab driver and this--"
Morris managed to block out the rest of voice this time by focusing on the song. He was wistfully staring out the window. As an interesting sight of a pink elephant neon sign passed by, he wondered, not for the first time, the true origin of that other voice in his head. The one that often gave him information.

Some time passed before the sight of water came into view. Those waters were black but there were lights coming from it. Some from what appeared to boats and floating homes. Another string of lights was rather distant. A string of cars on what appeared to be a bridge far away. Finally, the lights from a ferry building approached.

Gladys sat quietly in the front of the car, between Lexington and Wilder, with King Clarence on her lap. Some music was blasting away on the radio but she wasn't listening. She was instead occupied in her own thoughts, occasionally muttering a thing or two to the stuffed bear, although not loudly or clearly enough for anyone else to decipher. She began to wonder if she was making the right decision.

Going out to Mercer Island to look for some unknown Tremere woman seemed like a safe enough diversion, a good way to spend the time during the Blood Hunt in the hopes that some other vampire would settle it and prevent her from having to get into any real serious danger without looking like a traitor to the Camarilla. Gladys was never exactly subtle about the fact that her own interests largely came before the interests of the Camarilla and the Prince was likely looking for any excuse to confirm this and get rid of her.

So she surrounded herself with reliable witnesses and put forth the best appearances of an effort to participate in this mandatory brouhaha, while in reality making sure she chased only after the wild geese and red herrings. Let the less intelligent vampires beat each other to death while she stayed well out of the way, that was her strategy. But still, she couldn't help but think that something, somehow would go very wrong. Leon insisted that she always thought that way and, well, that was probably true.

Then there were these strangers. They seemed safe enough themselves and Gladys thought she could hold her own against Lexington and Belmont if it ever came to that. Morris was a bit off-putting, however, and Gladys found it slightly uncomfortable to be anywhere near him.

The vehicle slowed and Gladys came back to her senses. Lexington was paying for a ferry ticket at the window. Soon they would be boarding.

Anthony was feeling more uneasy as the time slowly approached to meet with this Tremere. One ferry ride was the only thing currently separating them from this vampire's abode.

Anthony couldn't help but pray (ironic he supposed that a vampire was praying of all things) that this Tremere would lead them on a wild goose chase. He wouldn't mind running all over the state if it meant he wouldn't have to be the one to kill the Brujah.

The car approached the ferry and Vance reached for his wallet. As he did he recalled a bit of history on the ferries. They were cancelled sometime when he was a very young boy, but in 2004 they reopened them suddenly. It wasn't until in a passing conversation at one of the Toreador Guild meetings that he learned it was the Toreador who reestablished them. Vance wasn't sure what it was that drew them to it, but he presumed it had to do with getting a little bit of control over the city. Even if it was just a small piece of control, it was still something that could be used to gain favors and possibly use in trade with other clans.

Vance paid the man and was told which lane he was supposed to go in. The boarding process for this one had just begun, and so the wait was not long. There was a lot of turning and sudden braking he had to do, but only four minutes passed before they were on the ramp that led onto the ferry itself. There were staff members directing the cars to ensure the weight on the ship was as evenly distributed as possible. Vance was directed somewhat near the bow of the ship. He parked the car and turned the engine off.

"Alright," he said, "that wasn't too bad."

"Very quaint," Anthony agreed as he looked around the ferry; it wasn't particularly big; it had a flat bottom deck with a spiraling staircase to the left of the group which lead to the top two deck. It was one of those open ferries, only used to cater people back and forth to the island.

Despite that, he could see the monetary expenditure here; it was a novelty most people wouldn't be to experience, and people, especially tourists, would pay just to ride across the river in a boat. It was an adventure. A pathetic one, but an adventure none the less.

Gladys walked to the back of the ferry and climbed up on the railing so she could look over the edge, down at the wake the boat left as it chugged along across the waters of the lake. It was a cold, damp night and a stiff breeze caught in her hair and kept what few humans were aboard at this late hour and under these conditions inside, huddling inside their jackets.

They probably sent a few mystified glances in the way of the oddly dressed little girl and the tall middle-aged gentleman in the tuxedo with the cane standing nearby her, but otherwise paid them no mind. If they had looked closer they might have wondered about the ornate dagger tucked under the girl's belt, or the tattered bear she carried so dearly.

It wasn't a long trip. The distance was short and the ferry covered it quickly, so soon the passengers found themselves making their way back to their vehicles to disembark. Gladys climbed down from the railing and looked around for the other kindred.