Game sessions: ?/2011
A few weeks have passed since the Sin-Eaters followed the vampire Melissa out of the Underworld. The Montoya Botanica has become their "home base" and the krewe has taken over the basement as their private space. The orange tabby cat still hangs around the shop as well, and occasionally "checks in" with the other Sin-Eaters; he's popped up in Erika Cook's and David Klein's classrooms, and Erika ruefully concludes that the cat pays more attention during her lectures than her students while David mostly ignores the cat. The cat has popped up at Isobel Vanora's office and showed up once while Peter was filing paperwork before he returned to active duty; both Sin-Eaters also ignore the tabby.Anita has no such prejudice and welcomes the cat whenever it shows up at her Botanica.
The cat did provide Erika with a tantalizing offer: he found a useful ceremony warding houses against the dead in one of Anita's books. The cat found it while translating the old German and had Anita bookmark it for him. Erika is definitely intrigued, and persuades Anita to let her borrow the book. The cat helps Erika teach herself old German enough to translate, and Erika teaches herself the Warding the Household ceremony.
The school year has begun, so Erika and David are also focused on teaching. Both are facing larger class sizes as the population of students versus teachers grows, but sadly truancy helps keep things manageable in the classroom. David does get some good news; the teacher he's substituting for is taking maternity leave after delivering her baby, so he has a job at least until Christmas. Unofficially, the administration has stated he probably will work the entire school year, but they can't confirm that. David spends the first few weeks of school learning his way around the school, focusing on the side hallways, hidden alcoves, and the basement.
Isobel has settled into her new job with little trouble; the first two weeks were learning the insurance side of things from Marge, and shifting her sleep schedule over to be awake during the day. She has seen no men in black or black Ford pickup trucks, and has found the past two weeks to be pleasantly tedious. Marge remains aloof but polite, while Dr. Earnestine Spoto remains as bubbly and gregarious as ever.
Peter has returned to work, and the cops in his precinct threw him a small "welcome back" party. For the most part his return is markedly quiet, which is making the local cops paranoid. Jokes about, "It's quiet… too quiet," have gotten sharper as the police get edgy and paranoid about whatever's brewing in the underworld.
Abuela drops by the Botanica to talk privately to Anita; the krewe is downstairs and Abuela asks Erika to come up. She tells the startled Erika, "You're in charge for a few minutes," and she and Anita step outside. Abuela lays it out for Anita: her sister Del's bail has been set at $50,000. Abuela herself doesn't have that kind of cash available, so Anita goes back inside to grab the financial ledgers. Abuela eyes Erika and asks, "Why are you ordering a gallon of chicken blood?" Erika looks innocent and claims she is warding her house; Anita mutters, "Warding or painting?" Erika retorts, "Maybe both," and the two Latinas decide once again that gringos are loco.
Anita looks over her finances and realizes that with her recent expedited orders, her "nest egg" is thin. She can afford the bail, but that would cut deep into the Botanica's finances. Abuela says it's her decision; family is family but she has to also think like a businesswoman. Anita admits she can't help but consider Del as a flight risk, but promises to think about it.
After closing the shop for the night, Anita decides to take a trip to St. Michael's Cathedral in Springfield, where one of her abuela's friends spotted a bloody-eyed slaver ghost. She bribes the cat with tuna and assures him this isn't a trip to the vet. She bundles up the tabby and heads to the cathedral, which serves as the diocese of western Massachusetts. Due to its relative importance the cathedral is open twenty-four hours, which is a rarity these days. A deacon asks her if she needs confession when she walks in, but she demurs. The deacon notices the cat but doesn't say anything, so Anita heads over and lights two candles for her parents.
She notices something's wrong when she hears the cat hissing her name with growing volume; she looks down and the cat grumbles that she's been staring into the flame entranced for almost fifteen minutes. Anita shakes her head to try and tamp down on The Witch's influence, but notices that the cat is glowing faintly gold. The cat admits this happens on holy ground, but says there are no malevolent breaches in the building. St. Michael's has escaped the worst of the anti-Catholic sentiment in the region, and the place remains sacrosanct. The cat also warns that the Catholic Church still maintains the Inquisition. Anita nods and they depart.
Today is David's 34th birthday, but ever since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, he doesn't celebrate. This year is no exception, and he lets the day pass quietly, without telling his new friends in the krewe.
Isobel walks in to find her boss's door closed. Marge warns her that Dr. Spoto's daughter Vickie is here, and she's a "troubled child, a Visigoth or something." Isobel quickly realizes Marge means a Goth and confirms that Vickie wears black a lot. Isobel hears raised voices from within the office and realizes she's never heard Dr. Spoto yell before. Marge tells her that these family fights often last at least an hour, and she proves to be fairly accurate as a teenaged Goth storms out of the office fifty-three minutes after Isobel arrived. The girl yells over her shoulder, "You just don't understand me, Earnestine!" as she stomps out dramatically, but she glances over and spots Isobel. She stops suddenly and stares at Isobel, and Isobel gets very uncomfortable. She quietly asks The Corpsman, "Can she see you?" but the geist has no idea.
Dr. Spoto comes storming out of her office after her wayward daughter, but stops short when she realizes Vickie is staring at Isobel. Dr. Spoto looks confused, but Isobel quickly makes a lame excuse and hurries out of the office. Much to her consternation, Vickie follows like an obedient puppy, so Isobel jumps into her car and goes for a drive. She returns an hour later to find Dr. Spoto's door closed once again and Marge quietly working. Marge tells Isobel without looking up from her monitor, "We're getting free lunch today."
David receives word that his friend Fernando is back from Puerto Rico, and the two meet for dinner at the Fort that night. Fernando admits he went to Puerto Rico to get away from Luis, who apparently has been arrested on weapons charges but made bail. Fernando is worried Luis may make a retaliatory strike against somebody, unaware that David died when he went to confront Luis two months ago. David isn't overly worried and talks about his new friends in vague terms, although it comes out that Fernando knows Del Montoya. Fernando tweaks a bit, so David coaxes him to open up and learns that last year Fernando and Del hooked up and she got pregnant.
Fernando didn't know she was underage at the time and freaked out when she told him her age and her pregnancy, but the following week her big sister Anita dragged her off for an abortion. Fernando admits to feeling very conflicted, as he was relieved the pregnancy was terminated but aghast as he is a good Catholic and against abortion. David doesn't pass judgment and admits he made a few mistakes in his checkered youth, although luckily none of them resulted in children. He reveals that the family is struggling to raise the cash to post bail, so Fernando hands him $2,000! David is startled, but Fernando admits the money is from his family in Puerto Rico. David gives it back and says he can't accept it right now. He lets Fernando talk, but is amused when Fernando paints a very different picture of Anita than the krewe-mate he knows.
Peter finally gets his son Morgan for a weekend, and spends much of Friday morning cleaning his apartment. His son usually sleeps on his couch, but Peter's apartment is an open floor-plan so he's nearby in case of a problem. Peter eyes his new distillery and carefully disassembles it and stores it under his bed, just in case. Susie is supposed to drop Morgan off at 4pm, but she is habitually late. Peter is not surprised when 4 o'clock passes without a peep. Susie bangs on the door at 4:30, so Peter opens the door with a polite, "Good evening."
Peter immediately spots the fact that Susie is not carrying Morgan and gets suspicious. Susie insists they need to talk, which only fuels Peter's suspicions further. Peter lets Susie come in and demands to know if something happened to Morgan or if Susie is screwing around with him. Susie demands, "Stop talking, and get in bed."
Peter boggles at Susie and demands to know where Morgan is. Susie tells him that their son is alone in her car, which is turned off in the parking lot. Peter out-and-out refuses to consider sleeping with Susie and demands his son; Susie flips out and starts screaming! Peter forces himself to remain calm and threatens to call 911. Susie stops screaming long enough to stomp down to the parking lot and grab their son. Susie practically throws Morgan at Peter, and then she heads down to her car and speeds away in an angry huff.
Morgan is confused and near-tears so Peter brings Morgan inside and does his best to calm the toddler down. They sit together and watch movies and play for the rest of the night, until 8 o'clock, when Morgan is settled down for the night. Peter notes that Fallen Snow is oddly quiet, but the geist seems content so Peter doesn't question it.
Peter takes Morgan out for a day trip up north and brings him to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art at Hampshire College in Amherst. After that, he brings Morgan to the Natural History Museum in Amherst College, so Morgan can see the dinosaur bones. Morgan enjoys the trip and doesn't act out too much, so Peter texts his krewe and tells them he's bringing Morgan to the Botanica around noon with some pizza. Anita immediately gushes and Isobel warily agrees to come, but Erika and David both beg off. As teachers, they see enough children on a daily basis.
Midday is slow at the Botanica as the Latinas are all at church, so it's just Anita and the cat. Anita warns the cat that Peter is bringing Morgan, but the cat approximates a shrug and says he doesn't really care; he's fine with children. Isobel shows up promptly at noon, but Peter is running a bit late – the joys of carting around a toddler. He arrives with pizzas and Morgan at 12:15. Anita immediately gushes – this time in person – as Peter politely introduces Morgan to the two women. Isobel eyes the three-year old with tousled blond hair, blue eyes, and Osh-Kosh coveralls warily.
Morgan is far more interested in the tabby, and the cat keeps the child entertained while the krewe watches and talks. There is some good-natured joking about Peter's offspring and Peter decides he needs a "crazy repellant" as he tells the women of Susie's latest actions. Anita immediately offers a protective candle – for $7. Peter snorts at his friend's crass capitalism but considers buying the candle anyway. Peter plans to leave the store around 1:30, before Anita's crowd of old Latinas descend.
At 1:15 an older Latina enters the store, Anita doesn't recognize her but the change in Peter is immediately apparent. He greets the woman warmly as the two Sin-eaters stare, and he introduces her as Victoria Hernandez, clearly an old friend. Victoria clarifies that she's known Peter since her was literally only days old; she's a social worker and was assigned his case. Victoria immediately claims Morgan for a few minutes and is genuinely happy to see the toddler; she admits she was on her way to visit Peter's apartment when she saw his white Mini-Cooper S in the parking lot of a Santeria shop… which confused her.
Peter is still ambivalent about religion but he introduces Victoria to Anita and Isobel as his new friends. Victoria asks how things are with Susie and Peter tries to be delicate about her proposition on Friday, but Anita sums it up as, "She wanted to play with his nightstick." Peter winces and casts a glance back at his son, but Morgan is completely absorbed with playing with the cat again and didn't hear. Victoria eyes Anita and muses, "You have no tact, do you?" Anita smirks and shakes her head. Peter and Victoria discuss the situation with Susie and Victoria promises to come by so they can all go trick or treating together next month.
Peter suddenly eyes the time and grabs Morgan before "the Spanish hens" arrive. Victoria looks confused, as technically she falls into the "Spanish hen" category, but Peter apparently doesn't associate her with Anita's Latina biddies. He heads for the front door but immediately dives for the back as the first gaggle of Latinas arrive; Anita giggles unabashedly. Victoria shakes her head in confusion but promises embarrassing baby pictures of Peter; Anita invites her back anytime. Anita is soon doing brisk business and Isobel realizes she hangs out here a little too much, as the Latinas no longer register her as a foreign presence.
Peter and Morgan return to the apartment and watch cartoons on Netflix until 4 o'clock. Susie is nowhere to be seen, so Peter lets Morgan continue watching TV while he starts preparing food. Peter feeds his son dinner at 5 o'clock, and starts calling Susie. Her cell phone is off, so Peter leaves a series of messages as evening meanders into night. Peter has Morgan note the time – 7:10 pm – at one point, just in case this ends up in family court. Peter puts Morgan to bed at 8o'clock, and calls the precinct to let them know he may have to bring his son in to the daycare tomorrow. The daycare is lacking, but it's better than nothing.
Peter is awakened by banging on his door at 4 o'clock in the morning. He stumbles to the door and finds Susie, clearly disheveled, waiting for him impatiently. He snaps a picture on his camera phone as evidence of potential impairment, but Susie misinterprets the gesture and sneers, "This is what you missed!" as she flashes him her tits. Peter snaps another picture, and Susie stumbles in.
Peter eyes Susie as he gathers Morgan's things; he can tell she's coming off something but isn't sure what. He bundles up his son and passes Morgan to Susie; Morgan stirs but doesn't wake up. Susie totters off and puts Morgan in the car before saying goodbye to Peter by flipping him off. She drives off, and Peter climbs into his mini-cooper and follows. He notes that Susie is swerving a bit on the road, but she never veers into the oncoming lane.
Peter follows Susie as she takes Route 20 through West Springfield, through Westfield, and into Russell. She turns right onto Old Westfield Road and then onto Grove Street, where she lives with her parents. Grove Street is a loop, so Peter goes the other way and drives around the block, to avoid any accusations. He passes Susie's house from the other direction, and notes her car is safely in the driveway and there is a single light on in the house. Relieved that his son made it back safely, Peter drives back to West Springfield.
The week passes quietly for the krewe, as they go to work. David sits on Fernando's revelation about him and Del for the moment. Peter speaks with Victoria about Susie's strange behavior and shows her the two pictures. Victoria is still a social worker but is not involved with Morgan's case officially, as he lives in Russell which is handled by Westfield's Department of Social Services. She promises to call in a few favors and try to get DSS to take a look at Susie Fox, and Peter passes her the sim-card in his phone. The krewe decides to "head below" to collect the rent on Friday, and make their field trip to Northampton on Saturday; Anita plans to close the store at 5pm.
Isobel goes to work; she's now working directly with patients instead of HMOs, which is nice. Unfortunately, around midday she finishes with her latest client – an elderly man who lost his beloved wife in a car accident two years ago and was mired in depression afterwards – and steps out into the office to find Dr. Spoto's daughter Vickie sitting in the waiting room. The teenaged Goth immediately stares with rapt fascination at Isobel, who quickly excuses herself and heads out "to get lunch." By the time she returns, Vickie is gone, but the girl creeps Isobel out.
Around 1 o'clock in the afternoon the door chime to the Botanica rings and someone bellows, "Hey, where are all the white women at?" Anita grins as her friend TJ comes inside, especially when he hands her a mocha latte. Her mood sobers when TJ admits that this is an unofficial visit, but he's been keeping tabs on – and protecting – Del while she's in prison. Unfortunately, she's been a disciplinary problem ever since she got there, but this morning things got really bad when she pissed off an older black woman with "the n-word." Anita swears in outrage and TJ says quietly that he might be able to get her tossed into solitary, but they need to bail her out before she gets herself shanked or made into someone's bitch.
Anita angrily grumbles that being made someone's property might be good for her, but calms down a few seconds alter and thinks rationally. TJ says he'd help with bail money if he could, but as a cop he can't get involved. Anita thanks him for the offer but says she wouldn't accept anyway. TJ's cell phone rings and he answers it. Apparently it's his contact in the women's correctional facility and there's been another problem with Del; TJ winces and shoots Anita a warning look as he talks on the phone.
TJ hangs up and tells Anita that Del is in the infirmary after pissing off a white supremacist by claiming "brown pussy tastes better than white pussy." The other woman attacked Del with a shiv and slices open her arm pretty badly. Anita boggles at her sister's absolute stupidity, but realizes they need to get her out as soon as they can. TJ admits Del's actions could impact her bail, so they'd better get her out this weekend or Monday before a judge gets involved. Anita thanks TJ for the tip and calls the bank immediately.
David finishes his last class of the day but overhears one of the students exclaim, "Crap, I forgot my iPod!" The student, a freshman named Jesus, darts back inside as David prepares to lecture the young man about bringing electronics into the classroom, but David stops when he realizes Jesus doesn't own an iPod. Jesus warns David quietly about a gangbanger outside his classroom that looks like trouble, before he "finds" his iPod. David thanks Jesus quietly before he departs, leaving David alone in the classroom.
David unlocks the Stillness Shroud Manifestation and becomes partially invisible. He cuts through another classroom and peers out into the hallway to see Luis in a yellow and black windbreaker, leaning against the railing for the stairs. Luis has a smirk on his face but David can't tell if he's packing or not. Assuming the gangbanger is carrying – and knowing that he left his own gun at home – David decides discretion is the better part of valor and slips away unnoticed.
David calls Peter's cell phone in another stairwell to try and get help, but Peter's cell goes right to voicemail. He then calls 911 and reports "a possibly armed gang member at Central High School." The dispatcher immediately puts a call out to the Springfield Police Department, and Peter hears the police dispatcher summon available cars to Central High. Worried that David or Erika could be in trouble, Peter asks Doug to join the response to the high school. Doug shrugs and reports, "Car 34, responding." There are a few confused inquiries as Central High is way outside of Indian Orchard, but the precinct command doesn't question it.
Peter and Doug pull up to Central High School without lights around 2:00 o'clock, just before the final bell. The local unit is one very tall black man and a petite Latina, and both greet Peter and Doug curtly but without rancor. Peter makes it clear that they're here as this pair's backup, not to steal glory, so the two other cops relax a fraction before they all enter the school. They head to the principal's office, where David has relocated.
David nods to Peter and says, "It's Luis." Peter tells the other cops what he knows about Luis, including the fact he's out on bail for a weapons charge after his car blew a tire in the Six Corners neighborhood. The four cops tell the administration to lock down the building to prevent student injuries, and swarm up the stairs to David's classroom. They run into Luis as the cocky ganger descends the stairs; Luis takes one look at the cops and runs back up to the second floor!
The black cop tells Peter and Doug to cover the ground floor while he and his partner pursue; Peter and Doug fall back without protest. They run for opposite ends of the building, hoping to try and cover as much space as possible, but then they hear over the radio, "Target apprehended, officer injured, send a bus!" Peter and Douglas then haul ass up to the second floor, where they find the local cops covering Luis, who is on the floor with his head cracked open from apparently hitting a locker.
The Latina officer's arm is badly cut, and Peter and Douglas learn that Luis was smart enough not to carry a gun onto school property, but he did have a combat knife. An ambulance arrives swiftly as the cops evacuate the high school, and the officer and Luis are taken to Baystate. David gives a statement and stays to help out as Peter, Douglas, and the black officer also give statements and fill out paperwork. They wrap things up around 6 o'clock in the evening.
Recap originally published on Livejournal.