Night 5 cont. Tuesday April 23rd, 1996
In the Headlines, 15 gang-bangers were found this morning shot to death in their Chicago Heights hideout. No wittnesses could be found, and the polica have no leads at this time. The Giovanni Funeral home will be handling the Cremations.
After calling Claudia before the nightly check-in with Lucinda Washington, Hale and Nolan et. al. have their first of many confrontations for the evening. After Claudia arrives they discuss what to tell to Lucinda, and it is decided that Claudia will make the call. Meanwhile, Hale hears back from his "friend" that there was in fact a house in Palos Hills recently bought, a rather large one in a several square-mile estate, on the border with the Forrest Perserve. The house isn't in view of the road, but there is a picture of it on a Real-Estate webpage.
Meanwhile, Claudia calls Lucinda, and informs her that the Tremere roumors are nothing more than a smokescreen to cover the arrival of the Giovanni. Lucinda demands proof before she will accept this. The two also talk about the nights headlines, specifically to one to do with the gang-bangers murders. They agree that this may have something to do with the Sabbat, and Lucinda is concerned.
While Claudia is on the phone, Hale and Chakan have their first confrontation of the night, and the tension grows.
As the evening wears on, and the three try to decide what to do, Hale is interupted by a call from The Blob. The Giovanni have attacked, and Mikhail is injured. She (The Blob is female!) is very disturnbed.
Arriving at the Sewers, they find that all lights have been put out, and the bums in the area are gone. While Claudia goes off to buy a few flashlights, Chakan fumbles around in the darkness, getting lost. He stumbles around in the darkness for a while, hearing gunshots in the distance, and once seeing the trails of Dragonsbreath ammunition being used. Still he proceeds on, and manages to fall into a pool of sewage. After climbing out, he proceeds to wander around aimlessly.
Claudia returns to Hale with flashlights, and as they make their way towards The Blob's lair, the lights in the complex come back on, providing just enough light to not run into a wall. Claudia continues to use her flashlight, while Hale fades into the Shadows, becoming effectively invisible. When they reach the lair, they find Mikhail laid out on a pallet, three charred gunshot wounds in his torso. The Blob is despondent, blood tears dripping off the loose flaps of skin on her face. She wants protection, and Hale wants to continue his quest for Giovanni heads. The Blob ups the price on the head of one Vinni to $20,000 and offers a vial of her own blood as well. Vinni is the one who shot Mikhail. Hale remembers Sid, the Brujah who had been hired by the Giovanni to hit the Navy convoy, and after calling Michael for a number, makes contact with him at Hell's Pit. Sid offers to assign bodyguards to The Blob for $200 per day, per guard. The Blob sends rats to seek out the Malkavian who is by now hopelessly lost, and bring him back to her lair. After a time, Chakan arrives, and Hale recieves a call from Sid, wondering where exactly the lair is, his boys are waiting outside the sewers. Hale leads them up, and Chakan and Claudia return to her car. After introducing "Cackles" Torley and Hank to The Blob, Hale is informed that the first days payment is due then. And nightly thereafter. Hale calls Claudia who had gone home to change and clean up (Chakan had given her a GREAT BIG hug when he was found...soaked in Sewage)
Chakan has left again, he flags down a cab, and has the cabbie take him to the abandoned asylum wher most of the Malkavian's live. When he refuses to pay, the Cabbie pulls a pistol on Chakan, who proceeds to pull out his shotgun. The cabbie pulls off, cursing. After rolling aournd on the floor in the hallway (inspiring another Malkavian to do the same) Chakan cleans up by trying to take a bath in his sink. Dressing in dry cloths (though probably none too clean, he does have a zero in resources) he decides to bak to the Michigan Underground, sprinting and hollering. He is now the blithering idiot.
Meanwhile, Claudia arrives back at The Blob's lair, without giving warning first. Cackles hears it first, and with a (namesake) cackle (think the monkey-thing sitting next to Jabba in Jedi) and dissapears from plain view, displaying a high level of Obfuscate (now that's an oxymoron, isn't it?). Hank and Hale both hear it next, and while Hank pulls out a nasty Desert Hawk handgun, Hale asks who it is. Upon hearing it's Claudia, Hale let's the other two know, and Cackles appears, perched above the archway of the door, a wicked punch dagger in each hand. Hank doesn't put his gun away until Claudia is in the room.
Meanwhile, the Malkavian is sprinting. He takes out his axe, and kills the occasional signpost.(Gotta love Chicago, what other city could a madman run down a main road with an axe and not be stopped by the cops? Maybe Detroit.)
Claudia and Hale leave the sewers, and head towards Hale's apartment. They stop near a hardware store along the way where Hale proceeds to break in and steal a glass-cutter and suction cups. Afterwards they head off towards Hale's apartment. Along the way they see the Malkavian engaged in one of his random acts of sign-slayage. Stopping Hale tries to convince the Malkavian to come with them, but he proceeds on his sprint towards the ahrdware store. Trying to stake the Malkavian once, Hale fails on his first shot and decides to walk on home. Claudia heads over first, parks, and waits. Hale goes in and picks up his rifle, and the two head back towards the hareware store. Finding the cops around the place, they pull past and Hale goes on a search of nearby dumpsters. His cone of silence alerts the rambling kook to there being something amiss ("they stole my voice!" and he jumps up and out of the dumpster just as Hale was about to reach in. Hale sees at this point the chainsaw and empty gascan that the Malkavian had stolen from the store. Thoroughly disgusted with the kook at this point, Hale again attempts to stake Chakan. He doesn't quite suceed on the first attempt, but the second strike drives the wood deep enough to pierce the heart, at wich point the Malkavian drops uncaoncious.
The time is 11PM,
Thus ends the next chapter of the Endless Saga, tune in next week for more