Game was 4/12/19.

William sits as Gladys bustles in the kitchen, preparing the strawberry rhubarb pie she made for dessert. Sam just stares accusingly at William, but William doesn’t fill the awkward silence. Gladys serves the pie and chatters as they eat, clearly sensing the tension and falling back on old habits as a cop’s wife. Once they finish, she starts clearing as William and Sam relocate to the living room. Sam immediately hisses, “What was that?” William alludes to the supernatural, and Sam demands, “Why is it in my house?” He also tacitly admits he still has nightmares about the asylum, and William explains that the being Sam saw is a friend who is helping prevent another creature from spying on him. Sam immediately revers to cop-mode and growls, “Something in my house is spying on you?” William replies, “Not anymore.”

Sam leans back and thinks things through aloud; he murmurs, “Something came into my house and put spying equipment. Someone is watching Gladys and me to get to you.” William says nothing – and then the totem manifests behind Sam! William struggles to keep his face blank, as Sam remains oblivious – until the totem reaches down to pat him on the head. Sam freezes in horror and whispers, “It’s right behind me, isn’t it?” William nods but says firmly, “It was just leaving.” The totem takes the hint and glides through the wall – and Sam catches it in the corner of his eye. He whips his head to the wall, but William sighs and says, “It’s gone. That was the friend, though, and she just cleared your house.” Sam shudders, but declares, “Brandy.” William replies, “I don’t think that’s it’s name – oh,” as Sam heads for the liquor cabinet.

By 8 o’clock, the X-Krewe is navigating the Underworld, heading for the hallway to collect the rent. Anita, Abby, Isobel, Peter, and David are all wearing somber clothing to avoid unnecessary attention, and Anita has not mentioned Templeton’s visit. As they pick their way cautiously down the section of the Underworld that resembles crumbling tenements, the deathly silence is shattered as Anita’s cell phone rings! She grabs it instinctively and answers; Polly’s voice comes through with a bit of static. Polly tells Anita of Josh Troy’s video and sends a screen cap to see if Anita recognizes the spider-beast. Polly adds, “Sorry, but I wanted to catch you before you went below.” Anita replies, “We already are.” There’s a moment of silence, and then Polly mutters, “Great.”

Polly hangs up but Anita gets the screen cap without issue. Although it’s fuzzy, Anita is pretty sure it’s the same creature that attacked her shop in February. She texts back an affirmative, and then puts her phone away. David demands, “How the hell is your phone working down here?” Anita admits, “I don’t know,” but Abby retorts, “You just answered your own question.” It takes David a second, but then he shakes his head and asks, “So, wait. I get that you deal with angels and demons, but it really didn’t hit me until just now. Are you saying the Bible’s actually real?” Anita shrugs helplessly, but Abby replies, “Not necessarily. Veltis refers to some Biblical stories, but I suspect he’s just using a common frame of reference to try and explain something we simply can’t grasp. Try describing dying and making your Bargain to someone who’s never gone through it. I actually feel sympathy for Veltis.”

Peter jokes to Anita, “I think you have more fun with them than us.” Anita snorts and explains the situation, but is sure to clarify, “This is not Spiderman,” to Peter. Peter mock-sighs about Anita getting more jaded; she refuses to take the bait. They continue to the hallway but do stop to talk to some of the local ghosts they’ve befriended. Once they get to the brothel, David and Peter enter to collect the rent while the women linger outside. The Madame – whom the krewe now believes was a French courtesan in life – comes outside to talk. She shares some ‘salacious gossip’ about a powerful Kerberoi that has slaughtered the gangs in the Gangland, the Dread Dominion closest to the Upper Reaches. Although the krewe has yet to go there, they’ve heard enough stories to piece together some things.

The Madame states that the Kerberoi is a powerful hunter, with antlers and a giant spear. Anita immediately recalls Templeton’s warnings while Abby frowns, but the Madame heads back inside as David and Peter finish. Once they’re all in the hallway and out of the Madame’s earshot, Anita quickly tells everyone of Templeton’s warning. Abby immediately freaks out, although the others have no context. However, Isobel opines, “If she’s flipping out, I’d invest in Depends.” Peter and David joke a bit, causing Anita to mutter in Spanish. However, the krewe decides to skip the temple this week. At that moment, at about at 8:30 PM, both Anita’s and Abby’s phones ping to indicate a group text. They pull out their phones and read the text from Dr. Ranjip, “Cooley Dick. Now.”¹⁾

Peter suggests taking the ghost train to Northampton, and he, David, and Isobel all decide to accompany Abby and Anita, as long as they get a ride home after. The five Sin-Eaters hustle to the pipe room, and navigate through the screaming machinery to the train terminal. Thankfully, the local ghosts know their habits enough that the train is waiting for them and the Conductor – just a skeleton wearing an anachronistic conductor’s uniform – waves them aboard. David pays the toll of a minor amount of plasm, but then an unearthly roar drowns out the machine-noise as Sethic the Hunter plows through some pipework to charge them! The Sin-Eaters gape in terror but scramble into the engine car as the Conductor pushes the levers forward as far as they’ll go!

The engine lurches forward, throwing everyone off balance. Sethic races forward and leaps – only to slam into the second car and wrench it free of the engine! The rest of the train derails on top of the dead True Fae as the engine speeds away, but then they all hear another roar as Sethic stands up! The massive True Fae wrenches an entire train car over his head and hurls it at them! The Sin-Eaters duck as the car slams onto the engine, wrenching the roof down and nearly decapitating them! Luckily, the engine keeps running and Sethic roars in frustration as his prey escapes; the Conductor responds with two upraised middle fingers. As the Sin-Eaters crouch to avoid the wreckage, Abby shakily drawls, “So, that’s a True Fae, in case anybody was wondering.” David snaps, “You hunt those things?” Abby shakes her head vigorously and replies, “Hell no. Actually, True Fae are one thing Hell actively avoids.”

Back at Packard’s, Josh rejoins his friends and then Polly texts him to ask how to get a screen cap of the video. He replies with instructions, and then she calls him several minutes later. Josh excuses himself and steps away from the table. He answers, and Polly says, “Did you know the phones now work in the Underworld?” Josh asks about UMass, and Polly admits, “I don’t have any authority or jurisdiction there. That’s actually the state police. But I’ll call a friend and see what I can do.” Polly hangs up and Josh rejoins his friends. He eyes Brad, an old friend a few years his senior who graduated last spring from UMass with a degree in sports medicine. Brad is an adventurous sort, so Josh carefully asks him about the tunnels.

Brad hesitates, and then admits there are a series of tunnels linking the buildings on the UMass campus. Some are access tunnels, and some are unused steam tunnels. Most believe the tunnels are an urban legend, but he went down there a lot in his freshman and sophomore years. He adds, “The last time I went down there was winter of my sophomore year. I’d gone down with a guy and a girl, and they stopped to screw, so I moved on. I was walking down a dark corridor when I just stopped. I knew there was something else in there with me, and if I moved, it would eat me. So I stayed very, very still for over an hour, until my friends found me. Although it’s silly now, I was so scared I never went down again.”

Josh asks Brad if anyone still goes down there, and Brad replies, “I think the frats still do. It’s a rite of passage thing, although I don’t know why the administration doesn’t shut it down.” Before Josh can answer, his phone rings. He steps away again and answers; Polly informs him, “Emergency services extracted someone from the tunnels and sent them to Cooley-Dick. No word yet on who.” Josh thanks her for the update, and hangs up. He sends an e-mail back to Angie Nakamura, but gets no response. At 8:30 PM, he gets Dr. Ranjip’s’ mass text. He then texts Leta to see if she needs a ride, and admits he’s at Packard’s. While he’s not drunk, he’d appreciate if someone else drove.

Leta agrees to the ride and forces Veltis to wear pants, as the demon insists on going out in human form. In a fit of pique, Veltis dons a T-shirt, a kilt, and crocs. Despite the absurdity of the outfit, the incubus still looks hellishly attractive, and Leta grumbles as they exit their apartment building. As they cut through Pulaski Park, they realize a young mana in a windbreaker, jeans, boots, and a baseball cap is following them. ²⁾ Their tail is passable, but Leta has seen better. They cross Main Street to Masonic Street, and spot Josh leaning against his Ford Explorer. Josh is oblivious to their tail, so Leta announces loudly about the ‘guy in the shadows.’ Realizing he’s been made, the young man bolts back across Main Street.

Veltis sighs and grumbles, “Get in the car, Sundance,” although Josh isn’t sure if he’s Sundance or not. Veltis claims the driver’s seat, so Josh gets in the passenger’s seat. Annoyed, Leta clambers into the back. She rants about Veltis’s choice of footwear, but Josh upbraids her gently, as many nurses at Cooley Dick wear crocs for comfort. He also mentions the phones apparently reaching Abby ad Anita in the Underworld; Veltis frowns and replies, “That should not happen.” Veltis drives up Main Street to Colley Dickinson Hospital and comments, “Did you know there’s a severed hand in your engine block?” Josh is horrified and wonders how it got there; Veltis retorts, “I think we can safely blame your grandfather for that one.” Josh wonders how Veltis can tell the appendage is present, and Veltis replies, I’m a fucking demon, remember?”

They pull into the parking lot at 9 o’clock, and William pulls in a few minutes later. They all get out and Josh glowers at William. William ignores the look and says they should wait for Mick and Polly, as he assumes Anita and Abby are beyond reach. Veltis grumbles, “Apparently not,” but Josh demands, “When did you put a severed hand in my car?” William evades the question but eventually replies, “Because I didn’t want it in my car? How’s it running, by the way?” Josh concedes that the Ford Explorer is running better than usual, which William takes as a victory. Unusually, Josh refuses to let the matter drop, despite William’s gaslighting, and keeps pushing. William tries to blame the alcohol, but Josh insists, “Just tell me next time you stick a severed body part in my car!”

Before the argument can progress further, the hunters all hear the unmistakable sound of a train whistle and brakes – except the train tracks are miles away. William dimly remembers the bike path used to be train tracks decades ago, but there’s no way they should be hearing train noises all the way out here. Then, by the parking lot, the hunters all see a ghostly engine materialize as it comes to a screeching halt! The train shows heavy damage, with another car crushed into the first car’s roof. The hunters gawp as the Conductor exits the car, eyes the damage, and rips up one outer panel to allow Abby, Anita, Peter, Daniel, and Isobel to wiggle free! The Conductor boards and gets the engine car moving again and it fades from sight as the five Sin-Eaters walk over to the assembled hunters.

Anita announces, “So, we ran into a True Fae tonight.” The others flinch as she and Abby detail their run in with Sethic the Hunter – dead and apparently unfazed by that fact. Anita refers to the ‘spider snuff film’, which earns her a few looks, but Josh explains. Anita and William get into a light tiff until Mick and Polly pull up in Mick’s car. Oblivious to dead True Fae or ghost-trains, Mick and Polly get out of the car and greet their friends – and allied Sin-Eaters. The allied group enters Cooley Dickinson via the main door, but seconds later an alarm blares and a frantic nurse comes over the PA to issue a code! Most of the hunters and Sin-Eaters tense, but William, Polly, Mick, Peter, and Isobel all recognize the code from their time as cops or ER nurses – suicide in the hospital!

Someone yells, “Call the cops!” and Mick, Polly, and Peter surge forward as training kicks in. William and Isobel force themselves to hang back, and then Peter realizes he’s way out of his jurisdiction – and that Polly and Mick don’t give a shit. William sighs but makes a decision and also strides forward. They race up to a group of people clustered around a surgery room; Dr. Ranjip is nearby, looking very rattled. As Polly, Mick, and Peter assume command of the scene and start herding witnesses and rubberneckers away, William sidles up to Dr. Ranjip. The changeling looks up and says flatly, “We need to talk. All of us. Meet me in the morgue.” William nods and heads off to inform the others as the doctor slips away.

William manages to catch Polly, Mick, and Peter individually and let them know, and then returns to the main reception area. He informs the others, and David looks to Anita and asks, “Is this a normal, non-Friday night for you two?” Abby shrugs and Anita makes a face. Leta heads off to grab snacks for people – and subconsciously takes a roundabout route to the morgue to avoid the furnace where her ‘grandfather’ once greeted her. They gather next to the morgue, and a few minutes later Dr. Ranjip joins them. Peter, Mick, and Polly clamber down a few minutes after that, so Ranjip leads them into the empty morgue.

Ranjip growls, “What the fuck is with the spiders?” The allies look at each other as Dr. Ranjip calms down and quietly explains that EMTs brought a male UMass student in a few hours ago, badly mauled in what appeared to be an animal attack. Ranjip and a nurse started work to keep the young man alive, but when they opened his chest, thousands of spiders poured out and shot up the walls and into the vents! The student then messily died, and the nurse fled the surgery suite – and just committed suicide. The experience has clearly rattled the good doctor, so Josh tries to explain the video he got earlier. Anita threatens, “If you try to recruit the spiders into this, I’m out.” Josh shrugs in acceptance.

Polly cuts in and does her best to explain the Azlu, the spider-shifters, from what Hope has told her. Although the allies don’t follow most of it, Polly does add, “And apparently the pones reach the Underworld now.” Veltis grumbles but Anita and Abby relay their terrifying encounter with Sethic the Hunter. Dr. Ranjip retorts, “If you ever want to go into the Underworld again, we’re going to have to deal with that. However, right now the True Fae is the less immediate problem – which is something I never thought I’d say in all my one hundred and twenty years.” Josh reveals what his friend Brad told him about the tunnels, but Polly interjects, “Our next step is clear. We call the Daughters.” Most of the Sin-Eaters look lost, so Abby translates, “The local werewolf pack.” William adds, “Oh, we can ask them about their totem.”

Polly turns to the Sin-Eaters and says quietly, “Mr. Klein, Ms. Vanora, Officer Sweets. This isn’t your fight, and if you want to leave, we understand.” Anita frowns but Polly snaps, “You signed up for this.” Anita grudgingly sighs as the three Sin-Eaters share a meaningful look. Peter turns back to the hunters and replies “We’re in this. Also, we need a ride home.” Polly snorts but nods in gratitude as she fishes out her cellphone to call Hope.