It had been two nights since Beauty was last seen by any of the Clan... She went missing the lower outlying tunnels collapsed after the mines.

Tonight she staggers into the Hovel looking much worse for the wear... She is covered in mud and filth, she lost most of her dress digging her way out of dirt and rock. One of her arms is mangled and twisted, his spine looks painfully displaced and half of her face is torn open...

Hyde had the Tremere's driver drop him back at the same place they picked him up, he considered 'accidently' breaking the car-door off of its hinges as he exited, so that Thaddeus would be less likely to insist any such thing in the future, but figured the Regent really was doing it out of a sense of duty and not overtly trying to control the Nos.

As is his custom when things become… complicated, he aimlessly wanders the underbelly, setting traps, repairing archways, speaking to vermin. Anything to try and silence the din in his mind. Hyde is unusually pensive tonight. Perhaps it’s just age. More likely it is the fact that this town has gone from comfortable-monotony to hell-in-a-handbasket in a mere couple of weeks. Everything is changing, and nothing makes the immortal quite so uneasy as change.

Too many changes. The Sheriff drawing far to much attention to himself and having no one to answer to for it. The almighty Prince, the one who is supposed to protect and lead us has conveniently disappeared. Hyde does not really respect Carter, never has, but he respects his position. He respects the Camarilla and what it stands for, and so he has never given Carter any indication of his disapproval because until the Kook meets his demise or the Primogen sees fit to strip him of his office, Carter is not Carter, he is the Prince.

Beauty, the one who took him in when he was banished from his home for his indiscretions, the one who guided him, molded him and made him what he is has also vanished without a word. Hyde wonders if she simply found a way out of the city and selfishly took it because allowing anyone else to tag along would potentially compromise her escape. He also knows he cannot possibly fault her if this were the case because he would do the same.

Regardless, such a thing would be out of character for her. Hyde knows that she has been wracked with self-doubt of late, after spending a couple hundred years with someone, you begin to pick up on their patterns. She suffers from one of the more troublesome afflictions of the ancient: the feeling that the world has left you behind. Unable to keep up with changing times, she retreats to what is comfortable. An old dress, an antique, burned-out car, artifacts that remind her of a better age. Naturally when confronted by the things that do not fit into the picture she has painted, she retreats. Maybe she thinks that they will just go away.

Hyde has seen her spend months in the back of that car, eventually she snaps out of it, puts her face back on and does what she needs to do ‘for the clan,’ but not for herself, and certainly not for him. It is not love that he feels for her, of that much he is certain. He was in love once when he was still human, and this is not the same. He cannot seem to articulate it, it is just a longing of some sort, a desire to be near her but as soon as he is, she spurns him, time and time again. It would be so much simpler if he could just devour her, make her part of him so she could forget her obligations. The two of them could be as one, complete somehow, stronger than either of them were before. He has wanted to try and explain this to her so many times but it is so difficult to put it into words. It is just a feeling, and Beauty does not like feelings.

And now she’s gone. Hyde wonders if it is mere coincidence that she has spent so many years priming him in the politics of the clans. He has no desire to try and fill her shoes, but then he never had any desire to come to this godforasken place either.

Looking up from the ground to find himself in the Hovel once more, he decides to go and pester Mr. Grey, he will provide a few minutes of distraction before becoming annoyed at Hyde’s interruption and by then, Hyde will have thought of something else to do. He is halfway across the enormous chamber when she comes hobbling in. The rest of the world seems to fade from existence for just a moment before he realizes that she is hurt.

“My Queen…” Hyde says it without thinking. He knows she hates it, thinking it some sort of pet-name. Hyde has always thought of it as a term of respect, considering his origins, and it certainly fits her, being the matriarch of a Brood, and that Hyde considers her opinion above that of even the Prince. “what has become of you?”  

--Last edited by Mister Hyde on 2008-05-06 20:09:52 --

Beauty makes it as far as her burned out car before she has to sit... she sort of collapses on the hood, looking at Hyde.

'The Shug Monkey has betrayed us... I caught him meeting with Sabbat in the tunnels out by the mines... and then everything collapsed on us.'

Her words are half slurred, her torn face making speaking difficult. Sheh as suprising poise for the amount of pain she should be in... if nothing else, beauty is one tough bitch...

"Shug?" Hyde says it with no small amount of disbelief, finding it difficult that they could be betrayed by one of their own brood. Knowing that Beauty could not possibly be mistaken on such a matter, a look of primal rage and disgust washes over his face, it is the kind of thing that would give the average person nightmares for the rest of their life. "I'LL FOOKIN' KILL 'IM!!" he bellows, "I'll make that useless shite wish the fuckin' Niktiku had been the ones to find 'is sorry arse by the time I'm dun wif 'im!" From this point, hydes words become completely unintelligible. A mixture of slurred syllables and guttural growls as saliva flies and he gnashes his teeth while he paces in a circle.

As quickly as it began, the rage subsides, spinning on his heels to face the broken Beauty with a look of shock, he says "By all that is sacred... it was me that did this to you. It was I who set the explosion in the mines..."

Normally, Beauty would hiss at him for endangering her... But in her broken state she cant muster the anger. She only lowers her head... not entirely understanding. But she has a request:

'I need your help Hyde... I need blood to finish healing, and im in no shape to hunt..'

"My Lady and mentor, you know that I would do all that you ask, though you know too that my own blood is tainted. Would you wish for me to fetch you a vessel?"

She nods to his suggestion... not gong to be picky, she hasnt felt pains of hunger this great for the last few decades...

'Where are Grey and the others?.. have they been accounted for since the collapse?'

"Grey, yes, he informed me that both you and the Prince had gone missing when I came back through here with that one (pointing at the gnawed-upon remains of the dead ghoul) and the other trespasser I found shortly after the second blast, I  am not sure what caused that one, but it was much more substantial than the one I set."

"Roach, James and of course Shug, I have not personally seen since before all of that, though I have had my hands full. I have just returned from an interrogation of the survivor at the Chantry, perhaps Grey knows something of the other two."

'And things above ground?...'

She asks... she missed alot clawing her way out of the debris for the last two days...

Hyde fills her in on the status of the Amber alert, the mass-murderer that is on the news, the flood of advertisements for the new tower, the black sedans, increased police patrols and neighborhood watches, the Sheriff's indiscretions, and all the other doom and gloom that he has been privy to.

Hyde does not lie to Beauty, nor does he ever withhold information from her.

Moving closer to her, "I know this is a lot to take in. I am also supposed to begin keeping an eye on the Commons, the Regent thinks there is reason to believe there is a Sabbat contact there. And the one called Collio was confirmed by the captive, I think that they are trying to find her now."

Only a few feet away now because Beauty is still looking at the ground,he asks "Is there anything else you need... Beauty?"

Beauty shakes her head...

'We have much to do then Hyde... Find me a vassal, and quickly.'

Hyde turns to leave and stops suddenly, turning to face Beauty again he says, "Almost forgot, it's been buggin' me sumthin' awful. What do you call those things that the Regent is always smokin'?"

Beauty narrows her eyes at Hyde for a moment in response to his question.

'The expensive cigars?.. Havanas. Why?..'

Hyde grins his toothy-mawed grin and touches his finger to the end of his nose and then points at her knowingly. "Just checkin' ol' girl... just checkin'.

With that, he quickly spins and launches into a full run. Hyde dashes madly for the nearest manhole, his gait is awkward-looking, with every third or fourth step he uses the knuckles on his hands like an extra set of legs, but he is amazingly fast. He takes the winding tunnels from the Hovel up and up until coming to the sewers proper. Upon reaching the ladder, he barely slows down, knowing the distance intuitively, he does not climb, but leaps the 18 feet to the top of the ladder in one bound. Willing himself to be unseen he pulls the little fibre-optic periscope from his satchel, sticking it through an opening in the man-hole cover to see if anyone is around. 2008-05-10 17:40:48 Hyde rolls 6 dice to Wits+Percep  4,2,10,5,9, 9 (3 successes) Seeing that the coast is clear, he proceeds to the surface of Downtown Sanfield.  

--Last edited by Mister Hyde on 2008-05-10 20:43:53 --

It took much longer than he wanted it to, probably even more so for Beauty, but Hyde returns eventually, carrying his paltry offering over to her, laying it across her car and backing away.

Beauty was waiting, patiently as she could... She looks from Hyde to the weird little metrosexual and back again... were she not on the verge of frenzy she might have had some quip about his choice in men...

But instead she pounces and burys her fangs deep in the mans neck with a crackling of crushed flesh. She will feed ravenously, shaking her head against the wound like a wild dog tearing at meat...

Needless to say the man wont survive, nor would he be able to have an open casket...

When finished beauty slumps to the ground next to the car. She looks up at Hyde with a bloodstained face as her arm pops and her gashes begin to knit closed... And for the first time in a long time theres no bitch in her voice when she gives him a sincere: 'Thank you.'

"Nothin' to it m'lady, now about this... Hyde's phone dings into his bluetooth earpiece, notifying him of a message. He pulls the phone out and looks at the screen, then looks at Beauty "The Regent is holdin' another Primogen... at his place." he says to her.

"Will you be attending or will I?" he asks, though he already knows the answer, it is still good to ask.  

--Last edited by Mister Hyde on 2008-05-11 08:17:26 --

Beauty will ask Hyde to attend in her place, and also request, strangely, that he not tell anyone she has returned yet...