>>28251873
“At last, the boy shows some appreciation for the dramatic. But some things you need to do for yourself. Besides, I have... certain other demands on my attention right now. I'll look in to give advice when I can, but don't go in there depending on me to pull your arse out of the fire if you screw up.”

Well, that's wonderfully reassuring, isn't it? Great. So, there's about fifty feet of open space between you and the cover of the trees – which despite their surroundings aren't being torn out of the ground, so hopefully the winds are calmer there. All you have to do is get to them.

Now, how the hell are you planning to do that?

[]Just plunge right in. What's the worst that could happen – you die?
[]Try to find some sort of barrier or shield to protect you from the worst of the debris.
[]Get down and crawl. It'll be a lot slower, but you'll go under a lot of the worst of it.
[]Maybe Avril has some sort of Fae weather magic or something? Worth a shot.
[]Other

((Archives are located at http://archive.foolz.us/tg/search/subject/monsterhearts%20quest/type/op/order/asc/
and also at
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Monsterhearts%20Quest ))

>>28251887
>[X]Get down and crawl. It'll be a lot slower, but you'll go under a lot of the worst of it.

>>28251887
[x] Draw upon our little bit of magic in our finger tips...feel the nature of this place that is presently under Jill's assualt, and let it guide us along a safe path through her Maelstrom. Inform Avril of this plan, get her two cents, and her experience with this magic to help.

>>28251887
See if Avril can make us a shield while we crawl under the debris

>>28251887
Talk to Avril about the weather? Fae might know something.

Rolled 4, 2 = 6

>>28252052
>>28252059
>>28252027

>>28252051

((Right, time to get writing. Oh, and just ignore that roll. Nothing to worry about.))

>>28251873
>her girlfriend
;_;
We're losing them, guys

>>28252293
We literally have mind control powers.

We'll take care of it.

>>28252293
Not really. We wanted them to bond from the begining, and they did. We had other things to deal with so didnt spend so much time with them (and also mh kept getting one of them into some emotional trouble or other) but despite all that, between those three, they all love each other still.

Rolled 4, 3 = 7

>>28252279
You clutch Avril's hand tightly, and try to speak. As soon as your words leave your mouth, the wind rips them away. You can barely hear yourself speak. You lean in, shouting over the force of the storm.

"Is there anything you can do about this? Calming the wind, or something? At least something to shield me?"

Avril purses her lips and hums quietly. The sound slides straight through the winds and resolves itself as a quiet whisper in your ear.

"I can try. Some of the wind spirits are bound to do favours for the Spring Court, although that's not really meant to cover situations like... whatever this is. It might give us some sort of protection, though."

Avril reaches out her hands, plunging them up to the wrists into the faster-moving winds before you. There's almost a discontinuity in the air where the whirlwind across the park meets the merely incredibly unpleasant winds currently buffeting you. She looks like she's humming again, but the sound doesn't resolve into anything that sounds like words to you.

After a moment, there's a rippling in the air, cascading out in all directions from Avril's hands. The hurricane winds seem to almost bow and shift away from her, forming a little patch of calmer air extending out a pace or so onto the grass. Avril grins, and takes your arm with one hand, pulling you close to her.

You think you feel a buzzing in your pocket, like your phone vibrating. This really isn't the time to try and check it, though. You've still got to make it through the whirlwinds.

The two of you step slowly and carefully across the grass, the protective bubble wavering and shrinking occasionally but always holding. Sprays of fast-moving dirt and lethal branches whip by in front of your face from time to time, but never close enough to actually touch you. There's a worrying moment when Avril puts her foot down wrong in a spot where the ground has been gouged away, but you're able to grab her in time.

((Cont.))

>>28252806
Stepping into the trees is like walking through a waterfall to discover a hidden cave beyond. The winds suddenly stop dead as you pass between the first pair of trees, and the air here is completely calm and still. Even the noise of the winds outside seems muffled and distant.

You glance around. The little patch of forest isn't all that wide, compared to a real wood, but it's large enough and dense enough that you can't see Jill from where you're standing. There's no sound to indicate which way to go – if you can't work out some way to find Jill yourselves, you'll have to wander randomly through the trees until you spy something.

In the brief pause while you try to work out what to do, you flick out your phone and see that you've had a text from Miranda. She says she has some information, and wants you to call her as soon as you can. The windstorm outside seems to be blocking your signal, though – you can't even text her back right now.

What's your plan to find Jill, if you have one?

>>28252822
"Avril...her Geas that binds her to your protection...can you feel it? Could we follow it?"

>>28252822
it is just a patch of trees, it shouldn't take more than a minute or two of looking around in order to find her.

>>28252822
Can Avril call up any will'ow wisps? If so, get them to do some scouting for us. Otherwise, Avril can probably jump around the canopy to do some looking.

>>28252895
I'm pretty sure we asked this already, and her answer was "No".
Can we please not have Chris exhibit signs of early-onset Alzheimer's?

>>28252822
Shouting her name seems the most direct approach.

>>28252899
>>28253146

>>28252942

((Okay, writing.))

>>28252895
>>28253119
((I know the last thread was a week ago, but it was only about ten minutes or so ago for Chris, so I'm just going to note that a Fae pledge doesn't really establish any kind of telepathic connection or anything. It's just a magically enforced order with some really nasty penalties if you decide to go against it.))

Rolled 3, 6 = 9

>>28253213
(( Geas, not pledge, sorry. Also I forgot my dice roll.))

>>28253213
>I know the last thread was a week ago, but it was only about ten minutes or so ago for Chris
Could you warn us if anything is obviously wrong or would be against something that we JUST were told about?

I know that a week goes by between threads, but honestly, if we keep on asking the same questions all the time or forgetting details we were told not 10 minutes ago in-character, Chris is going to seem like that one guy who has such severe amnesia that he forgets everything except the fact that he's married every 60 seconds.
Because holy shit, that was really sad to watch.

Rolled 3, 4 = 7

>>28253404
((That's what I'm doing. Oh, speaking of which, >>28252942, the will-o-wisp you met previously wasn't a magical construct. It was a Fae who happened to be ball-of-light shaped. Since you didn't bring anyone with you, no, you can't summon a will-o-wisp to help you look.))

>>28253213
>>28253233
"Right. Avril, can you get up a bit higher and look around? It shouldn't take us too long to find Jill, but we should probably still move fast."

Avril nods, taking hold of a nearby branch and almost throwing herself into the air, springing from tree to tree. You follow as best you can on foot, calling out for Jill as you go. There's no immediate response, but soon you see Avril waving from above and pointing you towards a small clearing.

You fall silent as you approach the clearing. Jill is standing in the centre, her hands raised. A small cloud of knives floats around her, of many shapes and sizes. As you watch, she flicks a finger and one of the knives shoots out, slamming itself into the trunk of a tree a few inches from her mother's head.

Jill's mother is almost slumped against the tree, which has a variety of other knives embedded into it at various points. One of them seems to be pinning her in place by her clothes, but you don't see any blood yet. She's laughing softly to herself, not looking at Jill, who seems to be getting angrier and angrier. Another finger twitches, and another knife flies forward and slams into the tree. There's an open bag by Jill's feet, from which a few more knives float up to replenish the cloud around her.

What are you going to do?

[]Try and talk Jill down. She has some valid issues with her mother, but this isn't the way to deal with them.
[]Don't get in the way. You may not have to worry about dying again, but a knife to the face will still hurt. And Jill will calm down eventually, right?
[]Encourage Jill to work out her anger. It'll be cathartic for her. And Margaret White certainly deserves her just desserts.
[]Other

>>28253757
She made us save her mother from the fae, only to try and kill her herself? The fuck man?

>>28253757
We did tell the Fae king we were gonna punish her, you know.

Let her go, but remind her we she needs to be intact when we return her. We're not authorized for an execution.

>>28253816
Call her out on it maybe? Then say we aren't going to judge her for it. We just were worried when we couldn't find her.

>>28253757
>[x]Other
Remind Jill that, while working out her anger can be quite cathartic, we all now have requirements that we must fulfill.

We can't turn Margaret over to the Spring King for execution if she's already dead, and I'd rather not waste magical power on resurrecting her to kill her a second time (though Jill and Avril might be up for that).

>>28253816
I like Avril and Jill less and less as time goes by, then again im an unemotional person. Need to have a talk with them about controlling this bullshit.

>>28253757
Try and talk her down, I guess.

"Jill, yesterday you plead for us to keep Avril's father from executing your mother for a crime she was actually guilty of. We could have just left her there. I know she's hurt you, probably more than I can really understand, but as long as you're flicking knives at her she still has a hold on you. You didn't want her dead yesterday, and I don't believe you want her dead now. So if all you want is to hurt her, just walk away. Stay with your aunt and let your mother live out her year and a day knowing that she drove you away with her zealotry. She isn't worth this carnival act, and we worry about you."

>>28253923
I don't think it's because you're unemotional, but because they aren't under your complete control that won't do a single thing without your consent.

>>28253757
Shit, is she borderline darkest self right now?

>>28253980
>borderline

Riight.

>>28253943
And then walk up and hug her.

>>28253847
>>28253878
>>28253918
>>28253943
>>28254018
((Okay, consensus on at least somewhat talking Jill down, at least from outright killing. Roll me 2d6, please.))

>>28253980
>borderline
((Hahaha.))

>>28253958
I would prefer they didnt run off with valuable hostages to torture them in the woods without telling us, yes. Honestly I would,ve rather let Jill's mom die with the fae.

Rolled 5, 4 = 9

>>28254105

Rolled 2, 6 = 8

>>28254105
Here's to see how badly things go.

Rolled 3, 6 = 9

>>28254105
So she's gone full Carrie.

>>28254140
>>28254163
((Best of first two is 9. Writing now.))

>>28254247
"Jill?"

You step out into the clearing, not really raising your voice, just saying her name. It rings out clearly in the silence, and Jill turns suddenly, looking at you in shock. All the knives swivel to follow her gaze, pointed themselves straight at you. They seem to quiver for a moment, then dip in unison as Jill's gaze falls.

"Come on, Jill. Yesterday we talked Avril's father out of executing your mother. We could have just left her there, but you wanted to save her. I know she's hurt you, but if you can't let go of your anger then she still has a hold over you. I'm not here to judge you for that. You can do what you want. But I don't think this is what you want, is it?"

Jill shakes a little, and you take a step forward. She raises her head, the cloud of knives swivelling up to point at you again.

"I...." She stops, choking back sobs. "I don't know. I don't know what I want. I want her to understand what she did." Jill's head snaps round to look at her mother, still slumped against the tree, and another knife lashes out to embed itself in the tree, closer to her mother's face. "I want her to understand what I went through. How I suffered. I want her to suffer like I did."

"You want to know the best way to hurt her?"

Jill turns back to you, confusion written across her face. "What?"

"Walk away. Let her know that she's lost, that she doesn't have any control over you any more." You take another step forward, watching the cloud of knives shake again. "Stay with your aunt. Let your mother know that all she managed to do was drive you away, towards people who care about you, who love you. Who worry about you."

((Cont.))

>>28254857
You walk forward, close enough now to reach out and push one of the knives out of your way. There's a brief moment of resistance, and then Jill springs forward and almost collapses into your arms, sobbing loudly. You think you hear her mother scoffing in the background, but Jill doesn't seem to hear her. The knives surrounding her have fallen to the floor.

Avril walks softly up to the two of you and wraps her arms around you and Jill, joining the soft hug. After a little while, she whispers to you, “The storm's died down. I think we can leave safely now. Where are we going to go?”

>>28254878
Punch Mother dearest in the face?

Can we?

>>28254891
((Well, she is still pinned to a tree by a few knives. She'll tug herself free eventually, they're only through her clothing, but she's not going anywhere right this second. You could totally walk over and sock her one if you like.))

>>28254878
Meet up with Miranda and get Margaret committed tonight. That's our first priority.

>>28254934
I vote for face punching, and then telling her what she did and why she deserves this.

>>28254878
We still have to make sure we can lay a hand on Mrs. White when we have to bring her back to the court next year, so we can't just leave her to her own devices. We call Miranda, tell her what's happened and ask her to come and pick up her sister, and then we take Jill and Avril out for a romantic dinner followed by a nice evening in.

>>28254949
Consider that we do need to get her committed. Leaving physical evidence like that might be problematic.
There are other ways to inflict pain that won't leave bruises that we could use. Tying her up should come first so she can't escape.

>>28255018
We can manipulate people fairly well. We can probably get her to stop wanting to leave.

Lets call Jill's social worker, and have the mother taken away.

Then let's call Gloria and make sure she is all right.

>>28254938
>>28254963
>>28255018
>>28255175

>>28254891
>>28254949
((Okay, writing.))

>>28255287
You quickly check your phone. Now that the unnatural storm has vanished, you've got signal again. You slowly extract yourself from the hug, making sure that Jill's mother is still pinned to the tree. She is, and she's glaring silently at you. Whatever. You know just what to do now.

"Miranda? Hi, yeah, it's Chris. We found Jill. Could you come over to the park near the middle of town and pick us up? Don't worry about the storm, it's gone now."

"Oh, thank goodness. I'll be right there. Oh, actually... uh, I'll be bringing a friend along, okay? So don't be naked when I get there."

"Hey, what sort of... oh, you hung up. Fine."

You pocket your phone with a sigh, grab a few nearby vines, and make sure Jill's mother is somewhat more securely fastened to the tree before you go back to rejoin the group hug. And actually, while you think about it...

"Hi, Department of Social Care? Can I speak to Annabelle, please?"

"I, uh... no. No, I'm afraid that won't be possible. I'm very sorry." The lady on the other end of the phone sounds far more apologetic than you expect from a government functionary, although her voice is shaking a little bit.

"Why not? Has she gone home for the day?"

"No, she, ah... she's no longer with us. Uh. Can I ask what it's regarding? Do you have a reference number?"

"No, I'll... call back later."

Well, that was odd. Did Anne somehow get herself fired between lunchtime and now?

You can ask her about it next time you see her, anyway. Right now, you need to carry on comforting Jill. And hopefully Miranda will be here soon to give you a hand. And transport Margaret White somewhere a little more secure than a tree with some vines tied around it.


Miranda does indeed arrive quite quickly. The friend she said she was bringing is a woman, dressed in a hooded red robe. It's smooth and shiny - silk, perhaps. A long black veil covers her face completely, but she bows to you as you approach.

"Greetings, Ambassador. I am Mira, seer."

((Cont.))

>>28255742
Miranda steps forward, taking Mira's arm and gently guiding her over to a nearby tree stump, where she sits down.

“I thought you needed to talk to her,” Miranda explains. “Mira is one of the Court's most reliable oracles. Which doesn't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things, the future is too changeable to be absolutely predicted, but she's helped me out more times than I can remember when it comes to less world-spanning matters than most of the Court are interested in. She had a series of vision trances a little while ago. Four in all, although she won't tell me about the last one.”

Mira waves her hand, beckoning you over. “Sit, young Ambassador. There are things we should speak of. Three visions that I have concerning you and your companions, three pieces of what may be. They mean little to me by themselves, but perhaps they hold more insight for you. There is one other warning I give to all who seek my counsel: what may be is not what shall be. Your path is your own, at least as much as anyone's path ever is.”

She straightens a little, and although you can't see her eyes, you feel like she's looking past you, reciting rather than talking.

((Cont.))

>>28255765
“I saw a great plain on which two armies had fought. A man in full armour walked among the debris of the battle, holding a sword in one hand and a crown in the other. When he reached the centre of the battlefield, he found a great stone table, wider than he was tall, across which the bodies of the kings of the armies had fallen. He laid the crown on the table, took his sword, and sliced the crown in two. As the two halves of the crown rolled apart, they caught fire, burned, blackened, and turned to ash.

I saw the trees of my home, the bushes and houses and clearings of the forest, and a great whirlwind swept through them, and in the whirlwind were knives, sharp and jagged, carried by the wind. The whirlwind rushed through the forest, and all in its path was destroyed. Only barren earth remained in its wake.

I saw a field of plants, flowers of many types, all dead and withered. I saw you, Ambassador, dressed all in white, walking through the field. As you walked you reached out your hand and touched some of the plants, and they sprang to life again, green and white and red and full of colour and joy. But as you walked on, the plants that you left behind withered and died again. The field was full of many flowers, but you touched only three types – the vervain, the gorse, and the hollyhock.”

“That is all that I have seen. Do you have any questions?”

[]”That's great, but what does any of it actually mean?”
[]”Tell me about the fourth vision.”
[]”Can you see anything else?”
[]”Are your visions always so... cryptic?”
[]Other

>>28255790
Fourth Vision.

Crown sounds like it refers to the Winter Kings', and the two kingdoms could be courts.
Whirlwind with knives is pretty clearly Jill when she develops?

>>28255790
"How do you know the first vision relates to me? The second one seems like an obvious reference to Jill, and the third one featured me in person, but the first is even less clear than the other two.

And...Can you tell me about the fourth vision? Or is that one meant for someone else?"

Rolled 3, 3 = 6

>>28255790
Mention we have 3 lovers, possibly represented by the flowers.

>>28255790
[x]”Tell me about the fourth vision.”
Something about that is not dead which can forever lie, and when the stars are right?

>>28255880
I think the three flowers that live at the touch of the man in white and then whither again at his departure represent other people he's brought back from the dead and helped to power only to abandon.

The vervain is often used on altars to zeus, and represents some ancient greek, possibly old Alexander himself. The Gorse is taken from the emblem for the Plantagenet dynasty of English kings, and the hollyhock from the seal of the Tokugawa shogunate.

Vervain is also used against vampires, for what that's worth. Maybe it's a clue to dealing with Cassandra? I think the first interpretation is closer to the mark, though.

Rolled 6, 1 = 7

>>28256069
Greek hero, zeus. Maybe Perseus?

>>28255815
>>28255845
>>28255968
>>28255880
((Writing now.))
>>28256069
((Hahaha.))

>>28256069
The Man never did answer who his previous hosts were. That might have been one of the questions that got lost.

>>28255742
>sounds far more apologetic than you expect from a government functionary, although her voice is shaking a little bit.

Welp, Annabelle is dead then...

>>28256149
"Okay. Yeah, I have questions. Are you sure all of those are about me? I mean, I know I'm in the third one, and I can sort of see the connection in the second vision, but what about the first one? And is the fourth vision meant for someone else?"

Mira sighs. "When I look into the weave of the world, I must look for something specific. I saw you at the Court last night, so when Miranda asked about you, I knew who to look for. Everything that I have seen is something that touches, or will touch, or might touch, you or those who are linked or connected to you."

"Everything? Including the fourth vision?"

Mira turns her head to the side. "That is not something I wish to speak of here. That is not something it is safe to speak of here. I wish I had never seen it."

"Okay. What about the flowers? Could they represent people close to me? Or people in the past, perhaps?"

Mira shrugs her shoulders a little. "I see what I see. I do not often try to interpret it. Often it has meaning only to those who it is linked to, in any case. I know a little of the flowers as they are used by the Court in oaths and pledges, but not enough to give you any sure interpretation. Seers do not make oaths lightly, and we do not swear by flowers."

Miranda gently places a hand on your shoulder. "I know a little more of the flowers. Vervain is strength and magical power, generally... it can mean a change of state, too. Gorse is the sun, and protection, or being trapped, as in its thorns. Hollyhock... I'm not sure. People don't generally swear by the hollyhock. Vanity, I think, and ambition? And... something else. I can't remember. It's probably not important. Visions are always really cryptic until you look back after they've happened."

"Right. And there's nothing at all you can tell me about the fourth vision?"

Mira shoots a sharp glance at Miranda, who takes a few steps back, and she leans in close to your ear.

((Cont.))

>>28256695
“If you meet a woman with the falling stars in her eyes, run. Run as fast and as far as you can. Run before she can speak a single word. You must run before she can speak.”

She straightens up again. But, though you can't really see her face well behind the veil, Mira doesn't seem quite as dignified or stoic as before. There's a cringe in her shoulders, a shifting in her gaze. Even that much was enough to scare her.

“I shall go now,” she announces. “There are many who require my guidance, and I have said all that I shall say.” She raises herself up slowly from the tree stump, and allows Miranda to take her elbow again, guiding her slowly around the trees and bushes and out to the park. It seems strange, until you pay a little more attention to what Miranda is saying and how she's guiding Mira, and realise that she's not leaning on Miranda for support. Miranda is telling her where the branches and roots are. She can't see them, herself.

Miranda returns after a little while, takes some of the vines you secured Margaret with, and uses them to tie her hands together.

“I'll make sure she's put somewhere she can't hurt anyone else,” Miranda promises. “It's still early enough that I can get it taken care of before dinner time. You go take care of Jill.”

She leads away a sullen but thankfully silent Margaret White, and you return to where Jill is now sitting on the ground, with Avril holding her softly and gently stroking her hair.

“Okay, Chris,” Avril asks you as you carefully wrap your arms around the pair of them, “where do you want to go now?”

>>28256728
"We can get dinner, if you'd like, or just go home and hold each other. It's been a long day."

>>28256728
i'll second >>28256792

>>28256792
thirding

>>28256792
>>28257005
>>28257107
((Writing))

>>28257150
Let's have Chris call Ajani and Gloria, to see how they are holding up.

We should text Belle, and tell her we would like to practice bridging our minds again... In a more private setting.

>>28257150
"I don't know, really. We could get dinner if you want, or just go home and hold each other some more. It's been a long day."

Avril nods. "I don't think I feel like going somewhere fancy and formal, but I could do with getting some food inside me. Jill? Are you hungry?" Jill nods slightly, and the two of you help her to her feet.


Soon, you're all curled up on the bench at the edge of the park (which despite the debris scattered around it, and the shredded bushes right behind it, is helpfully untouched), with soft drinks, fast food, and pizza. It's still fairly light, and Jill sits twirling a small leaf between her fingers, musing quietly to herself. She seems a lot happier now. You check your phone and give Esther a brief call. She tells you that Ajani and Gloria are recovering surprisingly quickly - they'll hopefully be up and about by Friday, in time for the dance. She's worried that Gloria in particular is pushing herself a bit hard in order to be well enough to go to the dance, even if she's worse afterwards, but as you're well aware, there's very little point in arguing with Gloria. Esther would prefer it if you could keep one eye on Gloria on Friday evening, though, just to make sure she doesn't tear some stitches or anything.

You lean back on the bench as the sun slowly sets over the trees, watching the last fingers of sunlight filter through the leaves.

"Not bad, kid. Not bad at all. But it's no use resting on your laurels, you know."

A bit of down time is good for the soul, though. A breather before the next crisis.

"Oh, the next crisis has already begun, trust me. But you've still got a few current crises to deal with first. What's your next target?"

[]I need to sort out Isabella. Having her fully on board makes everything else easier.
[]I need to deal with Cassandra permanently. Mark something off my to-do list.
[]I still need to do something about the Winter King, don't I?
[]You know, actually, I have a few questions for you.
[]Other

>>28257814
maybe we could somehow combine
>[]I need to sort out Isabella. Having her fully on board makes everything else easier.
&
>[]I need to deal with Cassandra permanently. Mark something off my to-do list.

maybe get Belle to help deal with Cass

>>28257814
Isabella. I want to get this brain-to-brain thing working properly, and we did want to help her out with her father. There was a proposition a while ago to hook him up with Esther's family- They employ him to grow their wealth, and keep him out of the casino with threats of being eaten by snakes. Is this workable?

>>28257867
This.

The women in our life really need some extra attention. A gentleman would oblige.

Izzy first

>>28257952
>They employ him to grow their wealth, and keep him out of the casino with threats of being eaten by snakes
Again, he isn't that good of a stock broker. His successes in the stock market were only because of the booming economy, not on any skill on his part.

>>28258080
>Isabella's father is a piss-poor trader
MH, you never clarified this, and we still can't seem to agree on what Isabella said.

>>28258130
((Isabella's father is neither a useless incompetent nor a superb genius. He's a vaguely average stock broker, and this is not currently a good economy to be vaguely average in.))

>>28257867
>>28257952
>>28257954
((Anyway. Writing now. Last post of the night coming up.))

>>28258178
So he's average.
In a bad economy.

Which means that regardless of threats, he's not going to be able to turn a profit without some luck.

So again, getting Fae assistance is a better course than going with Esther's family. Unless they've got an in with MI5 to have a direct line straight into the market servers and can get market fluctuation data before it gets publically available and trades in the 3 second window that such access would provide.

>>28258178
>He's a vaguely average stock broker, and this is not currently a good economy to be vaguely average in
So it's exactly as we were saying; he was successful before only because he was in a booming economy, and the gambling addiction didn't lead to his company's plunging profits but the greater stock market and his mediocre skills.

>>28258347
Or you just buy stock in a company, kill all the owners and chairmembers of it's biggest rival, and watch the numbers skyrocket....

>>28258559
That's the kind of thing that will get you noticed. Companies big enough to make something like that profitable are also big enough that national intelligence agencies consider them to be of national interest.

>>28258637
You could always do it with local, incorporated contractors.

You'd only pull a couple g's per gig, but you could have more than one interest.

Obviously you would need to make the deaths look like accidents...

>>28258780

Very violent or subtle accidents

>>28258322
You leave Jill curled up in Avril's lap, slowly munching on the final slice of pizza, and step away to make a phone call. Isabella answers straight away.

"Hi, Chris. What do you need?"

"Well, firstly I wanted to check you were okay, but it sounds like you're feeling better already. I think we should try that again some time, but maybe slower. And in a more private setting. I don't want to piss off Mr Coombs again."

"More private setting, huh?" Isabella chuckles softly. "I get the feeling that it's not just minds you're thinking about joining together. But sure, some other time. We'll be out of school next week and we'll have a lot more free time to, ah, play with."

"I might have a few ideas about what to do with your father's company, too, but I want to run those by someone else first before I can say anything definite. I'll talk to you about those next week, too. And the last thing we need to figure out is Cassandra."

"Mm. That's definitely going to be an issue we want to deal with. She's attracting attention again."

"Magical attention, I assume? Have we got yet another faction moving into town?"

"Oh, no, no. Regular, mortal attention. Which is just as bad in some ways. Magic doesn't hold up well under the spotlights of modern journalism."

"Okay, what sort of mortal attention, then? I haven't heard anything about this."

Isabella sighs loudly down the phone. "Don't you read the papers? I know you have a smartphone, do you use it for nothing but games?"

"Not... nothing but games. But I don't look at the local news sites."

"Okay. I'm going to hang up now, and then you can take a look. Or just google 'Annabelle Lowe'."

That name does ring a bell... you punch it into the search bar. Annabelle Lowe. 18. Missing presumed dead since Sunday. Last seen at a party, you knew that bit... trainee social worker. Ah. And there's a picture, just to confirm your suspicions.

Well, fuck. Now what?

>>28259040
((Okay, everyone. Once again, unfortunately, there will be no thread on Thursday the 14th. I'm sorry, but I do have other commitments. The next thread will be TUESDAY the 19th of November, at around the usual time slot. Good night, and thank you all. Questions, comments, etc. below. I'm particularly interested to know if anyone has cottoned on to what's going on with the Man in White, given the two massive hints I've dropped this thread and the substantial one a few threads back...))

>>28259040
Wait, I thought we already saw her alive not a few hours ago, and were wondering why she was hanging around our school?

>>28259129
((Yes. Yes you did.))

>>28259040
>I get the feeling it's not just minds you're thinking of joining together.

What a gem she is.

>Annabelle missing
Damnit, I knew we should have discussed the Jill thing with her. Now she went and got herself missing. Cassandra.... Needs to be chained. Leashed. Spanked. All of the above really.

I say we offer her one more shot to see things our way. Having a vampire would be very useful, but a loose cannon is aggravating.

>>28259189
((In case you've forgotten... Cassandra explicitly acknowledged having drained her female victim dry.))

>>28259119
>clues about the man in white

It will take me a long little while to decipher this thread. I am not a clever man.

But I am determined.

>>28259212
Wait, if Annabelle was Cassandra's female victim from the party, and Cassandra said she drained her female victim dry, then who was around the school that we thought was Annabelle?

Did Cass raise Annabelle as a ghoul? Or are we dealing with a shapeshifter who took Annabelle's form without realizing she's dead?

>>28259189
We offer politely one more time. If that doesn't work we threaten her with the police report we have. If that doesn't work, we kill her. The constant parade of crises has drastically reduced my patience for Cassandra's brand of game-playing.

>>28259228
I've had a spark of inspiration.

lucifer

>>28259251
((That is an extremely good question.

Which I can't possibly give away the answer to just yet. That would spoil the fun! ))

>>28259251
She could be a Ghost

Why is this quest so damn good?

Why do I revel in mystery all week long until the next threads?

>>28259298
Possible. We'd have to ask the Man about it; we may as well use him and his powers while he's accommodating, before his sudden yet inevitable betrayal.

>>28259274
Agreed.

We should take her out for a stake dinner.

>>28259335
I like to think the man enjoys riding around in our head, just to see how far we are willing to go.

>>28259040

Now we see how Vampires like being suspsended upside down by telekinetics surrounded by numerous sharpened pencils.