Kerr's Return

[Existentially Odd]

Follows The Lacuna Coil

Kerr stepped back through the portal and into the hotel room he'd exited from under twenty minutes ago, smiling broadly.  He'd had an enlightening experience with the guardian inside the dimensional vault and now he was eager to get back to Ben and Ichabod to share it with them... only he wasn't alone, as he'd expected to be.  His smile faded as he encountered people, mortals in the room he'd so recently rented.  A couple of mortals, no less, because there was a male in the bed ahead of him and a female walking towards it.  She was about to brush past his left arm, in fact, heading past him to the bed with her book.

Things seemed to slow down oddly for the vampire in that moment because he had time to assess the situation and acknowledge that something had gone quite wrong, somehow.  How could there be people in this room, that had been empty less than twenty minutes ago?  Decent hotels like this place never double-booked rooms and even if it did happen, they couldn't have forgotten he'd rented it in the middle of the night!  The couple were older, probably in their fifties or sixties and they looked settled in here.  Like they'd been here longer than the time it had taken Kerr to even step into the portal.  The gentleman was in bed for a start, back towards Kerr, covered to his armpits with the bed covers, his sparse grey hair and an off-colour white singlet visible above it, as was his wrinkled, sun-kissed arm atop the quilt.  Older people didn't just invade a hotel room in the middle of the night, nor did they just climb into bed without a qualm.  Besides, Kerr had left the room key atop the bed - even if they'd come in mistakenly, surely that little card had alerted them to something odd going on?

Kerr turned to look at the woman passing him.  She had some sort of cream rubbed into her face, for her loose flesh was glistening in the light cast by the bedside lamps (Kerr hadn't even turned any lights on, for he hadn't needed them).  She looked tired, like she'd had a big day of exploring the city and would be glad to get into her bed; she was wearing a well-worn nightdress over her sagging breasts and wobbly little belly.  It almost reached her knees, he noted, before things started to feel more real and she reacted.  When he suddenly appeared at her side, the woman threw the book at him in reflex, stumbled backwards and screamed.  Kerr could only stare at her, not stopping the book from hitting him in the chest, as the man in the bed stopped dozing and rolled over to see what his wife was shrieking about.  Chaos suddenly erupted as the gentleman decided he needed to defend his partner and he began to make caterpillar movements across the bed in order to get out and throttle Kerr.  He yelled loudly as he came.

It was surreal and nightmarish and Kerr reacted on instinct, Dominating the woman first and the man second.  It didn't work wonderfully, for his concentration seemed somewhat off and he only got her quiet and staring at him before the man was on him, punching and kicking out at him.  He was quelled soon enough and Kerr instructed them both to move to the bed and sit on the edge of it.  Knowing he didn't have a lot of time before someone reacted to all the noise suddenly being broadcast from this little room, Kerr wiped their memories of the last minute or so and then disappeared before them.  As he backed towards the door, they blinked at each other and the woman asked her husband how she got there in German.  He repeated her question just as a pounding began at the door.

"Is everything alright in there?" someone from the other side asked and the couple began scrambling to pull bathrobes on over their bedwear.

"Ye-es, why?" the woman warbled back as she shoved her arms into her robe and belted it.

"We had reports of terrified screaming in the room!"

"Screaming?" the man echoed to his wife and she stared at him instead of hastening to open the door.  Kerr felt like a rat in a cage, because he couldn't open it for the mortals and he needed it opened.  He mentally prompted the woman to shuffle over to it, seeing as she was more or less dressed now.

"Screaming?" she repeated as her husband had, opening the door far too wide (especially considering her husband was a bit slower than she at getting his robe done up) because Kerr had made her want to.  He hadn't been in a situation this sticky for years and found he was on the balls of his feet, ready to react to everything.  He rounded the woman and the door, mentally influencing the hotel worker on the other side to not see him, to step back and not to worry.

Without being aware of it, both people allowed Kerr to pass between them and into the freedom of the hallway.  As he raced away, he heard the employee double checking that everything was alright.  He moved his influence from those behind him to the people standing in their doorways (similarly belted into robes as the old couple had been), clutching their lapels worriedly and staring down the hall towards the room he'd come from.  None of them saw him because he was being 'invisible' but he saw them and was aware of the impact he'd had.

It shouldn't have been this way, though!  He rounded the corner towards the lobby and leaned against a wall to gather his wits about him, a frown marring his forehead.  Nothing could explain to him how he'd gone into a portal in an empty hotel room just a short while ago, then come out to find it was occupied and scare the life out of two innocent bystanders (not to mention the occupants of the rooms around them and the hotel staff called to take care of the drama).  He pulled his phone out of his back pocket in order to text his fledglings he was on his way home - for he could feel them again now, and he was consciously attending to his bloodline even though they were asleep on the other side of the world and wouldn't know he'd been cut off from them (he hoped) - but he stopped.  His phone wasn't working properly.  It was still on, but it was displaying 'No service' in the corner of the screen.  When he went to contacts and tried to send a message to Ben, it told him the message couldn't be sent.  It came back to the main screen and he glanced at the time.

A curious lightness entered into him and a little laugh bubbled out as he saw that the time was almost exactly what it had been when he'd gone into the portal.  Just a few minutes had passed?  He shook his head, grinning queerly at the screen as if a joke was being played on him somehow (and he'd been suspecting that oddity ever since he'd stepped into a hotel room holding two strangers), and then his gaze slid to the date displayed on the screen and he froze.  That grin on his face was a leer of contempt, of uncertainty, of confusion.  Utter confusion.  It was... the wrong year.  It should've said 2012 but it didn't.

He looked up, sightlessly, finding that lightness in him was swaying his vision somehow and the wall sporting a fancy artwork across from him wouldn't come into proper focus.

How could that be?
You know how
She kept counting the time...
The time, the time
It wasn't important
IT WAS FUCKING EIGHTEEN MINUTES OR SOMETHING!
It was over a year
IT WAS MINUTES
Minutes there, months here
Oh my fucking God I've been gone months
I told them I'd be right back and I am
But you're not
It's been more than a year
Eighteen minutes/eighteen months
Oh, god please don't say this is right, it could be a technical glitch-
But the people, the people had been there for hours
And your phone's out of service even though your account is fully paid for
OH MY GOD NO

He sucked in a breath, ready to talk, and held it as he stumbled onward, approaching the reception desk at an odd shamble that drew startled looks from the woman - alone and obviously already on edge - behind it.

"What's the date?" he asked her urgently, automatically speaking English.

To her credit, she responded smoothly, perhaps hoping her prompt response might make him go away.

"Are you sure?" Kerr asked her through gritted teeth, finding himself clinging to the reception desk like a drunkard.  That odd swaying had become a ball of panic in his gut and it was so heavy he felt like it was difficult to hold himself upright.

"I'm sure, sir," she repeated in German-accented English, her tight shoulders telling him that her hand would stray just a few centimetres to the right and call security - or the police - if he didn't get himself together.  "Are you a guest of the hotel?  What room are you staying in?"

"No, I... was just visiting someone.  Thank you," he said with a smile that felt like an open slash upon his face and he turned away.  He more or less fell into the nearest plush lounge - and they'd changed the decor, now that he thought about it, while he'd been gone. Gone.  He'd been gone.  He huffed another laugh out again and suddenly found tears welling in his eyes.  It didn't feel real, didn't seem possible, and his loves were expecting him home in a few hours.  He wouldn't have a plane waiting for him any more.  The cabbie would definitely not be circling now... the thought had him barking another laugh as he sat there, his hands casually grasping the chair between his thighs, near his crotch, like hanging onto it while he sat on it might stop the wild, freewheeling ride of confusion cavorting gaily inside him.  He supposed he just needed some time.

The thought sent him into peels of unstoppable laughter.

[realworldweirdo]

Hesiod had been waiting. Not alone, definitely not alone. Not for this long. He'd only found out the details six months ago, but he'd taken it upon himself to keep watch on the hotel where the Luminary of the Oligarchy had vanished so mysteriously. The screams had alerted him at first; he was lucky that he'd been on watch instead of one of his subordinates. The Domination he'd felt had been smooth and quick, not the hurried action of a panicked vampire, but the reflexive action of an experienced manipulator. One of the chantry apprentices would never have felt it.

He didn't bother concealing his presence as he exited his room across the hall and followed Galvin to the front desk, looking casual as best he could, as though he were trying to figure out what was wrong with the apparently inebriated man in front of him. Connall had not only surfaced, somehow, after centuries thought driven underground, but he'd managed to break his compulsion and ensconce himself as the effective baron of a formidable territory. Removing him by brute force was no longer an option, but Galvin could be a key. He had potential.

A touch of very light Domination on the human at the desk smoothed over her immediate alarm and kept her from alerting the authorities. That would be problematic. He knew that Conall's people, the Ward, were watching this place like hawks.

He stood back as Galvin started laughing hysterically, taking quick stock of the situation. Hesiod was presentable and modern, unlike most of his clan. Black wingtips and a tailored black wool business suit fit into the environment perfectly well. Hesiod was handsome, but hardly the ideal of modern tastes. He didn't quite stand at a full five feet and ten inches, and sported a neatly trimmed beard of golden-brown shot with streaks of silver. He was powerfully built, but not exceptionally lean. His hard gray eyes were shadowed by a heavy brow, and the pallor of undeath clashed with the olive-tan of his Greek heritage. Handsome, powerful, intense - but not young. He'd been near early middle age when he had been Embraced, and appeared to be a well aged thirty five by modern standards. Galvin should be able to recognize another vampire, but hopefully wouldn't be able to distinguish Clan, and the only part of Hesiod's appearance that betrayed his heritage was the gold ring on his right index finger with the symbol of Clan Tremere. Information on Galvin's specific abilities, such as Auspex, had been virtually nonexistent, in no small part because of the original problem that was Connall Iessan.

An alliance would be preferable - they could negotiate for Connall's head later. Galvin's bloodline bowed to their elders, and he would use that in his favor heavily, if he had enough decades on his side of the balance.

"Kerr Galvin," he said, sharply, forcefully in Gaelic, as he strode up behind the cackling vampire. "You must stop this foolishness at once. Come with me. I am here in anticipation of your arrival and my patience is growing thin."

He kept his eyes cold and hard, waiting to make eye contact when, he felt sure, his quarry would turn to see who had just spoken to him so.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr was so startled by the expulsion of his name that he did indeed stop laughing almost immediately.  Hearing his mother tongue spoken had him tilting his head straight back; it rested on the back of the couch as an upside-down man he didn't recognise approached.  He finished speaking as Kerr cocked his head and then rolled his body around in order to turn and face the stranger.  The manouevre was inelegant and largely ineffective so Kerr stood and turned, feeling gawky and strange to be addressed so.

"Who are you and why are you waiting for me?" he asked, amazed by the fact that he'd been gone so long yet someone was still waiting for him?  Sent by who and why?  Surely things with the Oligarchy were fully resolved by now and he had no place of importance among them, given his unexpectedly extended absence?  It wasn't with any sense of suspicion of impropriety that he asked his questions, it was merely with fascination that someone could still find him important enough to wait for him - someone that wasn't Ben or Ichabod.  They were still far away, their blood connected to his but so distant it was hard to focus on.

"Do you know how long I've been gone?" he wondered, his eyes opening with a dazzled enthusiasm generally reserved for young and easily-impressed children.  He wasn't testing the stranger, he was simply looking for a friendly face and some sympathy for the truly stunning awareness he'd so recently gained.

[realworldweirdo]

"One and a half years, approximately. My name is Hesiod. Your disappearance caused something of a curiosity, and those of us who are more educated than most found that to be of interest."

Hesiod was accustomed to lying, and he did it smoothly. The reason he was there is because Connall had practically invaded the hotel, devoting critical resources when he should have been consolidating his position. He tilted his head forward slightly, taking note of Galvin's aura and what he could glean from him without intruding. It didn't appear to be any psychic shock from whatever magic had been used, which indicated that he was in shock from something else.

"You weren't aware of the passing of time, I take it? Come, let's go to my room and discuss it further there. Unless you'd rather leave for your home immediately?"

Prying eyes were bound to be all over the place in very short order, and that would be inconvenient at the least. The faster they moved, the better.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr's expression brightened, though his eyes narrowed intently at the offer.  "Oh, yes, I'd much rather get back home," he agreed.  "Do you have means to get there?  My... things don't seem to be working," he confessed, looking down at the useless phone he was somehow still holding but thinking about his credit cards as well.  He'd been gone a year and a half, this stranger had confirmed it.  By rights, all his worldly possessions would have been divvied up by his lawyers by now; that was the way he'd specified it happen.  He likely didn't have two cents to his name, let alone have a working communications device.  Best to just get home as quickly as he could, chase nightfall and arrive as his fledglings were waking up... his heart fluttered in his chest even as he thought about it.

How would he approach them?  How could he just walk into his home and announce he wasn't dead?  Worse still, what if they'd moved on without him?  What if Ben had found... it didn't bear thinking on but it prompted another question.  "Who do you represent?" he asked Hesiod, wondering which faction this man was tied to.  The Oligarchy cards had been scattering to the wind when he'd left

yesterday

so it was possible this man was connected in a way he wouldn't immediately understand.  It would still be someone he knew, surely, and he was hoping it was Ben.  Hesiod might therefore know what sort of situation his fledglings were in.  Looking the robust vampire over, he sensed age not too far from his own, so it was possible he'd met Ben and was here on his behest.  Just waiting for Kerr to emerge and return to him.  If he'd lost his love again... well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it, lest his sanity desert him.

[realworldweirdo]

Hesiod's eyes narrowed slightly before he managed to erase the tell from his expression. He'd have to dance carefully; too much lie would create a treacherous foundation for future interactions. Too much truth and Galvin would be aware of more than was wise at this point.

"I represent myself in this matter. There are issues that the disruption of your government have unearthed that impact my interests. It's to the benefit of my bloodline and holdings to ensure a return to the former status quo, or something resembling."

He smiled sympathetically, showing just a glint of teeth. "Getting back on your feet after an absence is always such a bother. Let's get you sorted so we can resolve our mutual problems, shall we? For the time being, do you have any immediate needs? I can arrange transport for us in short order, as such things go."

He hoped Galvin wouldn't ask for a phone. Premature contact with his offspring or old government officials could seriously disrupt his plans.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr's thoughts were reeling all over the place, delving into suppositions about Ben and Ichabod before being hauled back to a plane where he could control them, so he didn't notice Hesiod's expressions shifting.  The stranger's words, however, struck him metaphorically between the eyes.

"You want to reinstate the Oligarchy?" he demanded, his chin pulling back to press into his throat and a frown of confusion lowering his eyebrows as his surprise was exclaimed in a louder voice than was warranted - a side-effect of his shock, no doubt.  With his mind caterwauling all over the place, he was very much reacting instinctively and discretion was beyond him.

He got the distinct impression that Hesiod was... smooth talking him as he failed to acknowledge Kerr's query about the Oligarchy, yet still referred to their 'mutual problems'.  This ruffled Kerr in such a manner that now his face poked forward and he squinted at the shorter man opposite him.  "Look, I don't know what your game is," the Irishman said, raising his hands as if in surrender and creating another distance between them by dropping the Gaelic and speaking in accented English, "but I don't have any interest in reinstating the former government!"

Kerr's expression became wry as he took a step back and dropped his left hand, leaving his right suspended between he and Hesiod to wave dismissively at the man who'd offered him help.  He also shook his head, negating the offers he'd received.  "That's the last thing I care about right now!  All I want is a flight back to the States to my family to tell them that my being gone all this time was purely accidental.  I don't give a shit about your agenda and I'm not interested in enduring your political ranting in order to get your help.  I can get back there myself," he said firmly, turning to look at the foyer around him.

Even if his feet didn't immediately move, his mind was gallivanting away, convoluting a plan to accomplish his goal without his usual financial resources or interference.  A flight to America... with no money and no jet.  It wasn't that he couldn't call his pilots and get the plane here - he was sure he could talk them around, even after this long - it was the matter of waiting.  Urgency was blossoming inside him like an infectious disease, he had to get to Ben as soon as possible.  The quickest and safest way would be the next flight leaving Austria but the only way he could be certain to avoid sunlight would be if he was closed away somehow... he had it!  He needed to find a funeral home and book himself in a coffin back to the States.  He might also need to feed to properly Dominate all the people he'd need to convince-

Hesiod distracted him from his thoughts and drew his attention once more.