Open Thread. Warning: Characters May Get Hurt.Pathetic and unprepared. Like taking candy from a baby, scouts loyal to this endeavour had been sent inside, taking advantage of the ditch along the fence to gain access and roam the grounds undetected. Contact had been made with each intended target, detailed descriptions, movement patterns and the layout of the Carnival were updated constantly. Until his presence was needed, Mitchelletto remained at an undisclosed location using Vanism, relying on his borrowed help to support the mission that was to take place tonight. Failure was not an option, and being apprehended would lead to self-destruction, hence the poison on each of his scouts tonight.
The instructions were simple. Grab the intended victims as discreetly as possible, using whatever means at their disposal. Utilizing the lack of a fence at the ditch to bring the losers through undetected, down the private road, and would exit off the road into a set of trees, close to the caravan park.
No one was to make it to the magical circle Mitch had prepared. It would be demolished if the location was compromised at any point and time, this was vital to the plan.
Mitchelletto received confirmation of what the scapegoat was wearing, black cold-shoulder blouse, fitted black leather jeans and charcoal knee-high suede boots. Impostures Guise was a wonderful little trick. The seeds of mistrust and fear would be planted tonight. He would receive the articles of clothing within the hour, his gender and build changed to reflect his intended patsy; hating how his body looked right now.
~~~
"That tank must have been freezing! Did you have to use Fortitude at all?!" Alena exclaimed rather loudly, a skip in her step and a twinkle of amazement in her eyes.
"I did for a bit," Sam chuckled humbly. "I didn't think that many people wanted to dunk me in the tank," a combination of students, friends, and the Anarchs took part in dunking Sam, with almost a sinister glee.
"You were a good sport when you accidentally got hit with the ball. And you made it pretty fun. That idea of doing a dance for a chance at an extra try turned out to be pretty entertaining," Alena mentioned and Sam couldn't help but smile.
"The look on Anarchs face was priceless," Sam burst out laughing at the image again of "Oh shit" plastered on their faces all at once
"Poor Amy! She felt soo bad, but she throws a wicked curveball," Sams's shoulder was sore but nothing a little blood wouldn't fix, grateful Amy didn't throw the ball at full strength.
"We should go to the fortune teller tent next," pulling at Sams's satchel around her shoulders. No one could tell the future like Maria, but Sam would amuse Alena.
Sam giggled. "Alright, let's see what other curveballs are supposedly in my future," letting Alena pulled Sam into the crowd towards the fortune tellers tent.
~~~
Mitchelletto couldn't help but cringe as he changed into the exact clothes his scapegoat was spotted wearing, he hated the female form in every way possible. Enslavement was the only way those abominations could perhaps serve a meaningful purpose. Using Vanism to move from his location, near the exit that had been picked off the private road, the two females were almost in position. Take the student, the teacher will follow. That was the plan.
Mitchelletto fished a small vial out of his pocket, unpopped the cork, and drank the dark and thick liquid. The potion was called Essence of Air, giving Mitch the ability to fly and the last piece to complete his god awful form.
~~~
Alena had been in the enclosed tent for quite a while, taking a position to watch the tent from the front. Sam didn't see Alena exit at all, how long was her fortune reading? She didn't want to be rude and open up the tent door, but for some reason, something didn't feel right. Sam thought about grabbing someone from the Ward, but if she was wrong she didn't want to be known to wasting the Wards time. She looked around for Al and Clara, oh no... did she accidentally give them the slip again! Fuck! Sam didn't need Jake yelling at them again.
Fuck it I'll just sneak up. Sam mustered up the courage to creep to the enclosed tent flap, focusing on the words inside, and to her alarm there were none, immediately throwing the flap open and walking inside.
It was empty! A small table, two chairs and a crystal ball remained inside. The back of the tent had a slit in the canvas, where was Alena?! Panic leap into Sam's throat, stepping through the slit into a dark alleyway behind the tent, she looked down and saw two sets of tracks. There was no time to grab someone from the Ward now, following the footprints with undue haste. Leading to the ditch, Sam could tell more than one person had snuck in, and she noticed there were only a few sets of tracks leaving the Carnival. Trying her best to follow the trail, which leads to the private road. Sam followed the trail on the side of the road, then Sam received the shock of her life, Zoheret!
She was speaking to a man Sam did not know, too far out of earshot to hear what they were saying, but there was Alena! Bound and gagged, she looked terrified. What were they doing with Alena? It didn't make sense, and why would Zoheret be involved? Sam couldn't come up with a viable reason they would take Alena, unless... Zoheret had an unknown dispute Sam did not know about. This is bad. Unexpectedly the man moved with Alena off the road and into a set of trees, Zoheret had taken to the skies, causing Sam to hid under a bush. There was no chance Sam could go back and alert the Ward now. Then Sam had an idea, pulling out her phone to call, only to find it was dead.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Sam had to act and now.
Moving with a sense of urgency, exiting the road where Sam had seen Alena last, looking at the way the grass was bent to follow the trail, leading to a remote area where she could see Alena sitting on the ground. The strange man guarding his prize like a dragon hordes their gold, Sam needed to get the man away from Alena. Slowly picking up a pebble, hoping this idea would work, throwing it far into the bush to distract the man, and it worked! The man took off like a bat out of hell, into the bush looking for the fake intruder.
~~~
"Jake is going to kill us," Al the Brujah mumbled in disbelief. Given the slip again.
"You don't think she would have left the Carnival grounds? That's not like Sam at all," Clara the Nosferatu asked. This didn't seem right.
"Let's do another lap. Sam can't be far," the Brujah did not want to feel Jake's wrath of losing sight of his daughter, again.
They did not find Sam, deciding to take the time to go look in the parking lots. The two became uneasy with each passing second they could not find Sam, the Nosferatu decided to call her phone, only to find it was dead. Something was clearly wrong.
"Her phone is dead," and the two exchanged looks of panic.
"What was the last location on her phone?" The Brujah asked.
"Down the private road. Why did she leave? She understands that's not allowed without telling us first," Sam would not leave without good reason. But, why Sam left and didn't say a word remained up in the air.
"Let's make our way down there. Maybe she's with a secret fling or something," wouldn't that be the surprise of the hour.
~~~
Sam rushed to Alena once the man was out of sight, loosening the rope around her wrists and feet, "You keep running no matter what happens," Sam whispered. Sams's priority was to make sure Alena was safe, her protective instincts taking over.
"They're targeting people employed at the Academy," Alena told Sam. This meant Sam was also now in danger, they had to move and quickly.
Sam grabbed Alena's hand and they both took off running for there lives. It was not long after that Sam heard an angry howl in the distance. The man had found his prize gone, and the strange man would soon pursue the two, if Sam could get Alena to the private road and send her for help, they might have a fighting chance. A decision had to be made, and Sam made a tough choice.
"Run to the road. Find anyone, alert the Ward the Carnival has to be shut down," letting go of Alena's hand, but not before giving it a brave squeeze.
"What about you?!" Alena exclaimed in shock.
"Don't worry about me. Just go!" Sam darted off in a different direction to give Alena time to make it back to the private road. And like a fool, the strange man went after Sam.
"All units are to pull out now. We have been compromised. I have one of the targets in sight. Fall back or get left behind," giving chase after Sam and closing the distance with relative ease.
~~~
"These are Sams's footprints. But these other sets I do not recognize," the Nosferatu pointed out to the Brujah while crouched down examining the ground.
"Maybe she does have a secret fling?"
"No. Look at the tracks. Sam didn't come with them it's like she was following them. And one set of footprints just vanish." Clara rubbed her chin, a worried look in her eyes.
Both their heads swivelled at the same time, someone came running up to the road, the sound of panicked feet both made them think it was Sam, they were both mistaken.
"Please help! Sam told me to run there going to take her!" Alena cried, tears streaming down her face in terror.
"Go Clara, take her back I'm going after Sam. What direction?" Al inquired, not able to keep the concern out of his voice.
"North!" Alena blurted out.
~~~
Both were covered in blood, trying to beat each other into submission, he was stronger and faster, but he didn't have the stamina Sam possessed. Her double-breasted jacket has been torn to shreds, the contents of her satchel thrown around on the ground, her shirt had been partially ripped. He tried tackling Sam to the ground, but her grappling check was no match for the man. Managing to throw him off his balance, taking the chance to run again.
But it was no use, blindsided by a sucker punch to the face causing Sam to fall to the ground. This was no longer one on one, her arms were grabbed pulled behind her back, it hurt. This one was tougher than the man who tried to take Alena, where did he come from? It didn't matter, Sam was caught and unless Alena made it to the road, there was no helping Sam now.
~~~
Al found her satchel, some of Sams's clothes had been shredded. Sam had put up a good fight, which meant she was alive and here somewhere. Something caught Al's eye, ducking down against a tree, taking a better look once hidden, a strange man. And he was in a hurry, perhaps that was one of the footprints Clara pointed out earlier, he hoped the man would lead him to Sam. God only knows what condition Sam was in right now.
Careful to keep his distance from the intruder, hoping Clara had time to alert the Ward and get a hold of Jake, things had gotten to a critical stage. Deep off the private road in a small clearing was what he had been looking for, there was Sam, bound and gagged, looking pissed off more than scared. Then Al got the scare of his life, the men were disappearing through thin air, how was that possible? Blood sorcery? This was way over his head.
The only choice was to wait until they made Sam try and step through, he would attack and hopefully, there would be fewer men to fight.
~~~
Clara and Alena ran up the road. Jake had already been informed, and back up was on its way. Someone was meeting Alena and Clara up the road, she didn't know who, and Clara wanted to get back to Al as soon as possible. But the terrified child had to be returned before Clara could take off. Sick with worry that her partner could be killed, or already dead. A familiar face, and a powerful ally that was needed right now.
"Tyler! They took Sam! Al is alone and needs help! Go north!" Her voice was frantic, she could not believe this was happening.
~~~
Sam frantically tried to get out of the handcuffs wrapped around her wrists, Al was taking a beating. It was loud and the two older men outmatched Al, this would not happen, she would not sit here and let Al die. They only way to get out was to try and slip through the cuffs, it would slice her wrists but Sam was desperate. Slicing her wrists and letting the blood coat the handcuffs, making it slippery, working her wrists back and forth, using Fortitude to dull the pain. Pulling her hands through, at last! She was able to slip out of her cuffs, with the hands-free she tried to break the chains around her feet, but couldn't, these were not normal chains.
"Time to die, boy," Sam swivelled her head at the voice. Seeing Al on all fours, a gun pointed to his head.
Before he could pull the trigger Sam in a desperate act to save his life threw the handcuffs at the man, he dodged the handcuffs with ease, but his attention was no longer on Al, it was all on Sam.
"Take the teacher. I will stay and sacrifice my life. Our brothers and enemies will be here soon," the younger of the older men, nodded at the command.
Grabbing Sam and throwing her through the circle, she was gone. The unknown man stepped through, leaving the older man alone with Al, grabbing the poison from his pocket and drinking it before resuming his actions. The circle had been destroyed from the other side, no one could follow across.
"You will die with me a vampire. There is no one to save you," pointing the gun once again at Al's head. A cruel smile painted on his lips.
