acrookedchild: (He found a crooked sixpence)
Abigail Widdowson ([personal profile] acrookedchild) wrote in [community profile] undergrounds2015-07-01 07:21 am

Stroke of Midnight [OPEN]

Miss Abigail Widdowson cordially invites you to Geap Manor on Wednesday, July 1st at 19:00.

Food, drinks, and music will be provided.

All are welcome, but individuals are to be aware that any hostilities during the evening's festivities will not be tolerated.


It is the first time in at least a generation that the doors of Geap Manor have been opened to the general population. Or, at least, as general as the supernatural community could be considered. Some invitiations were made personally, but most were formally sent to the higher ranking members of the various factions.

Dinner is announced precisely at 19:30. The small, intimate eating area for the family has been turned into a buffet room. The caterers Abigail hired have obviously been paid well to make sure there is something for everyone. Rich meat dishes, hearty vegetarian dishes, light fish dishes, plenty of accompaniments and finger food. There is also plenty of fairly fresh blood for vampires. For the others, there are wines, water, and tea available.

The grand dining room has had its large table removed, replaced, instead, by small tables that can comfortably hold four. They can, of course, be pushed together to allow for more room.

The ballroom is open to the guests, and the DJ has also been highly paid to make sure the music played is precisely to the hostess's tastes. There is plenty of modern music, good for dancing, as well as older classics. However, interspersed are classical pieces meant for waltzes and foxtrots and other such ballroom dances.

In the sitting room is a drink cart with wine, tea, water, and blood. Chairs and divans are available, as the room is a quiet place, a little away from the ballroom, so conversation can be had with ease. There is an unlit fireplace, and a portrait of Abigail a few years younger than she is now hangs above it.

Most of the rest of the house is locked. One can wander the hallways, but it may prove ultimately fruitless. One who simply walks up the stairways will find the walls of each lined with the Widdowson family portraits of every generation, starting with one of a ten-year-old Abby, her parents, and her six-year-old brother. As one takes in all the paintings, a pattern presents itself. Every Widdowson woman featured is pale, thin, and blonde.

The grounds are beautifully maintained and fenced in by wrought iron on top of stone. A very traditional look for such an imposing manor. On the path from the street to the house, there's little remarkable, save the knocker on the door. Behind the house, however, if one ventures away, one might get the keen sense of something from inside the house watching, waiting, and hungering. On the ground floor, the locked rooms are mostly unremarkable, save for the study at the back of the house. Linger too long near there, and one might hear a sound coming in a pattering set. It isn't a knock against the door, no. Instead, it is the sound of something hitting the wall. If someone were to force their way into the nursery on the second floor or the attic several stories up... Well. They likely won't be coming back to the party. Or to anything.

Wandering, of course, isn't a suggested enterprise. The old house doesn't like people poking around and trying to find its secrets.


(Everyone who has at least a familiarity with the supernatural is welcome, as the invitations were distributed widely. Mingle, make your own top comments, enjoy the food, etc!)
damnyank: (pic#9304197)

[personal profile] damnyank 2015-07-07 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
"We found two bodies removed of all their blood. Now, that wouldn't be so unusual for Whitechapel, if it weren't for a singular particularity." From out of his pocket, Jackson pulls out a single, elongated fang, as casually as though it were a two pence piece. He holds it up to the flickering light of the fireplace. "Vampires drained dry. The most ironic of supernatural situations."

"And a pain in my ass." Jackson tosses the fang up in the air like dice, and catches it, tucking it tight against his palm. "Tell me: does the Night Council even try?

[ooc: Whoops, I accidentally forgot to delete a chunk of tossed-out text from my last tag. >> Ignore the last part-- it doesn't make sense. ]

[personal profile] brightwitch 2015-07-07 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
She raises her eyebrows. Vampires being drained of blood. How interesting. Vampire-on-vampire rivalry, perhaps? His dig at the Night Council is less welcome, and she has to resist another eye-roll. Jackson probably has no idea of the vast majority of supernatural incidents that get covered up by the Night Council, and that's because they do a good job.

"We all have a duty to keep our world secret," she reminds him. "What have you done with the vampires?"

It sounds like they're dead, but a dessicated vampire corpse might well appear dead without actually being so. Unless Jackson neglected to mention a stake in the heart.
damnyank: (4)

[personal profile] damnyank 2015-07-12 09:06 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't got a duty to nobody," Jackson retorts, emphasizing his point with a petulant huff. "But for your information, I dressed him up all pretty and human. Not a fang in sight, I promise you."

Complaints and derision, Jackson knows he ought to work with the Night Council and Ms. Redbright, for his own sake. Making the right connections and accruing potential favors are crucial to his survival.

So he proceeds to delineate the case:

"All corpses sport the same wounds. Punctures into the radial artery of the right and left arm, and for the sake of irony, one in the neck. " As he talks, Jackson maps out the punctures on his own arm. Wrist, wrist neck. "Strange thing is-- the punctures don't suggest fangs. They're too small, barely visible by the naked eye, as if created by a needle." He tries not to smile. "Unortunately, that rules out cannibalism."
Edited 2015-07-12 09:13 (UTC)

[personal profile] brightwitch 2015-07-15 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, this just got even more interesting. She purses her lips. Puncture wounds that appear to have been created by a needle, and the bodies all drained of blood. There's one obvious reason for that...

"Sounds like somebody is harvesting the blood. We should find out who that is. Are you investigating, or did you come to me for help?"

Because if he needs help, she can offer it. She's already thinking about who on the Night Council would be best to deploy for this.
damnyank: (pic#9313060)

so so late sorry orz

[personal profile] damnyank 2015-07-31 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"Gotta say, it ain't a bad idea in theory. Save lives, make a grand profit, all while culling a pestiferous population."

It's said with a self-satisfied smile, making it tricky to discern whether Jackson's joking or not.

"I got approached by one of yours. Morgan. Came in and tried to fish details from me. I gave him what I knew, and offered some theories." And with that, he'd washed his hands of the case, feeling no reason to involve himself beyond what he could offer forensically. Dr. Henry Morgan had it handled.

But why is he telling Brightred? Easy: he's like a kid showing off an A+ paper, proving that he's being as helpful as he had said he'd be. A good connection with Brightred is something to foster, as much as Jackson finds irritation with her.

"See, I'm helping."

[personal profile] brightwitch 2015-08-01 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Whoever the culprit is won't be reducing the vampire population if they are indeed selling the blood on to others. Anyone who dies after consuming vampire blood will rise again as a vampire themselves. So there's a very real danger here, and she's relieved to hear that the Night Council is already on the case. Dr. Morgan is much more reliable than Jackson is, which eases her concerns.

But it's obvious that he wants validation, and so she nods in response: "You did the right thing. Thank you."

And she raises her glass, toasting him. It's like training a puppy or a small child. Offer praise and rewards to encourage good behaviour.