undergrounds | [OPEN] MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR

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[OPEN] MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR

The Duke of Central London's Samhain festivities are open upon invitation only. Those who are fortunate enough to have received one, either from the Duke himself or from one of his guests, are privy to quite the affair. Raymond has obviously been planning this for some time now, and the bar is fully stocked, the room fully decorated for the festivities. Collected from the fae hunt that their leader had encouraged, fae blood flows freely, available freshly served in punch bowls or straight from the source itself, in the form of kidnapped fae off of the streets. The vampires who partake are drunk with it and high on the euphoria that it offers, a drug unlike any other their kind can partake in.

As promised by Raymond himself, it is a rave the likes that London has never seen before. And it's about to get a lot more memorable still...

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Tonight feels different than the Southwark claim. Caroline is still scared to be here, to be involved, but she feels better able to deal with that fear. She knows she cannot let it rule her anymore, not if she wants to make a difference and prove that vampires aren't all bad.

That said, she still has to be smart. She spends the evening near the doors, ready to support anyone out there while also making sure she doesn't get trapped in a fight she can't win. Luckily, so many of Raymond's followers are high on fae blood and thus not in a great position to fight.

She has a stake ready for anyone who tries to escape.

Daryl would have been too conspicuous inside. He knows that. But the knowledge does nothing to make him less agitated. He'd been asked by Jean-Claude to help. To watch the exits and make sure no one escaped. He just didn't give much in the way of time frames except sometime later after most of Raymond's cronies were too drunk to fight well. It was going to be a goddamn purge of everyone that had hurt him and his kind over the summer and he couldn't even get a front row seat.

No one was getting out the doors alive unless they were one of Jean-Claude's.

But would it be too much to ask for it to open so he could have the satisfaction of getting a kill?

Caroline does her best to keep anyone from reaching the doors, but there's just too many of them. Eventually, all she can do is move with the pack and try to get back in front of them. She raises her hands, making sure the bloody stake is visible, in case anyone outside tries to kill her by mistake.

She really hopes JC is a good enough judge of character that they'll make an exception for her.

The first bolt lands in the back of the vampire right in front of Caroline. The wooden tip piercing their heart and stopping their hap-hazard attack before the press of the small crowd spilling out could aid them in harming her further. That was the only warning on his end that someone more had joined the fray. The next attack he took was up close and personal, all teeth and fur as he tackled one of the vampires he recognized from the cage fights and ripped his throat out.

He could clean up the mess and finish the guy off properly later.

As the vampire collapses, a bolt in his heart, Caroline manages to move into a better position. To her side, she sees some sort of animal charge through, though she doesn't get a good enough look to know exactly what - or who - it is. As long as they're on her side, Caroline doesn't really care.

Another vampire gets close to her and she readies the stake. Unfortunately, this one seems a little more lucid than some of the others and manages to knock the weapon to the ground before Caroline can use it. She only has a moment to think but luckily the vampire with the bolt through its chest is still in her line of vision. She rushes towards it and pulls out the bolt. Just as she is about to be attacked again, she spins and stabs the vampire in the chest with the bolt.

Once his first target was down, Daryl lunged out of the fray and rushed around the outside of the group fighting each other and fighting to get out. He harried a few of those he wasn't sure the affiliation of and brought down those he recognized from those nights of torture. He still had to watch the door and make sure no one escaped. Full revenge would have to wait until lines were clearer.

As the group thinned out, Daryl had to take more time to assess who was an ally and who wasn't. Blood was everywhere and it made scenting 'his' people difficult. He ended up pacing and watching the edges of the group more than helping kill the last of them.

It seemed like either the vampires inside had realized escaping wasn't an option, or most of them were already dead. Or both. Either way, there was definitely fewer of them trying to get past now, which gave Caroline time to reclaim her stake. She moved back a bit further, trying to stay focused - everything smelled of blood now, which didn't make it easy.

She was finally able to get a better look at the animal she'd seen before. It was a bobcat and it was now wandering around the same area she'd retreated to. She kept an eye on it, not quite sure what exactly it was, other than on their side.

Daryl's prowling made it difficult for any of those now crowding the door to make a run for it. Caroline's more obvious threat meant several of them were pushing back against those trying to push forward. Acting like crossing the threshold would make them targets and not would keep them safe. The safety was an illusion. They were being herded. Kept together so they would be easier to pick off as those inside were whittled down.

He moved his pacing over to pick up the stray bolt Caroline had used briefly. He gripped it with his teeth and pulled it out delicately before making his way back to patrol opposite her. Eyes on the door and one particular vampire who'd locked eyes with him. With the power he'd been granted by the fae, he was able to transform back to his human form while the vampire watched. Fully dressed and fully armed. He still held the bolt in his teeth, but he was making a show of pulling his crossbow up and loading it.

As another vampire charged her, Caroline began to wonder if there was ever going to be an end to this fight. Well, obviously there was one way to end things for her but she wasn't counting her own death as an option.

She spun out of the reach of the approaching vampire, using his speed and bulk against him. She turned quickly and stabbed her stake into his back but he moved at the last moment, so she didn't pierce his heart.

"Damn it," she muttered, especially since she was again unarmed. At least the vampire couldn't reach the stake and use it on her, though he was trying. She moved to stand in front him then, while he was still trying to get it out of him, she threw herself at him, pushing him back into a nearby wall. As the stake made contact with the wall, it was driven further into his body, finally reaching the heart and killing him.

This happened just in time for her to catch the end of the bobcat's transformation. Okay, shapeshifter then. Caroline put that down as something that was good to know, but not necessarily something she could put to much use right now, given that he was already doing what he could to kill Harris' supporters.

The one trying to make a break for it through Caroline's line getting staked riled more than a few of those hesitating at the door. Between her, the other vampires slowly working their way through them, and Daryl, they were starting to see their own deaths flash before their eyes. Flight wasn't much of an option. They were damn near in a turkey shoot.

One of them broke from the rest, hands up, panicked, blood of other vampires and fae soaking his shirt. "I surrender!" He shouted, glancing around and lowering himself to his knees. "I'll serve Jean-Claude! I don't care about Harris! Please I-"

The bolt that now stuck out of his chest cut him off and Daryl loaded the one that had been in his teeth. He glanced around at the others on Jean-Claude's side as if to remind them not to go easy on the Harris' cronies, "No survivors."

Caroline saw the vampire try to surrender, and then saw the shapeshifter kill him anyway. She didn't like it but there wasn't anything to do right now but accept it. Better safe than sorry, right?

The next vampire to try and escape didn't offer any pleas for leniency, which made it easier for Caroline to drive a stake into her heart. But it still felt a bit different, less of a necessary evil and more of a mindless slaughter.

Jean-Claude had been more than clear about his intent and as the night and fight wore on, Daryl got the idea in his head that maybe - just maybe - he'd been tasked with watching the door (along with a couple other willing Hillingdon hunters) along side the actual Islington supporters to make sure those orders were carried out. Many of the people - vampires, monsters in human form because Daryl didn't want to give them even the mental dignity of being called a person - they were killing tonight were friends and probably even family to those who supported the new leader. It would be hard on them to not let one or two go out of loyalty or love if there wasn't someone there to reinforce the need to not be lax in their executions. Those same people might be friends and family of a few, but they were also the ones most willing to attack anyone openly, to drain fae of their blood, to drag shapeshifters from their beds and into the night for blood sports and death.

They were the enemies of Islington's new leader.

Daryl would give them no mercy and he would make sure no one else did, either.

In reality it didn't take long for things to settle down. Maybe a half-hour to an hour after everything got started. The fighting inside died and there were eventually no more bodies making their way out. Things went quiet before new celebrations started. He could only assume that meant Jean-Claude had been successful.

And with the change in the air, Daryl relaxed enough to start walking from body to body and make sure each and every one had been dealt with appropriately. He'd ripped a fair few throats out, after all. Those would need to be stabbed before they got themselves fixed. As he did so, he started looking to the Vampires who were there with JC and nodded to each of them as he came up to them, gave them a quiet thanks and "Ya did good."

Once the fighting stopped, Caroline found herself just standing there, staring at the scene around them. She'd been in fights before, killed people before, but nothing that was on this scale.

She looked down at herself and she's covered in blood. A bit of it is hers but not most. She took a deep breath and clasped her hands tight in front of her, to try and keep them from shaking.

When the shapeshifter got near her, she looked up. "Don't thank me," she said softly. "I just did what had to be done."

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During the fight, Evie caught sight of a familiar blonde. Hardly allowing herself more than a small smirk of reflection during the attack, she vowed to come back to her later. That time came far sooner than expected, as one of Raymond's goons began to approach the young American. Evie didn't waste a moment- sending a stake through the heart of the man she was fighting, she ran over toward Caroline.

"Caroline!" She yelled, hoping she'd turn and see the man set to attack her and if all went well, the man would turn his attentions to Evie.

She got her wish, as he pulled out what appeared to be a very long bowie knife.

Well. This was going to be fun.

Without a moment's hesitation, she moved in towards the thug, wielding her own kukuri with swift, precise movements.

Caroline spun around when she heard her name, just in time to see the large vampire who was getting far too close. Thankfully, he turned towards Evie, which allowed Caroline to quickly get out of dodge. Once she was a safe distance away, she turned back, just in time to see Evie and the vampire getting close to each other, blades drawn.

Her attention was drawn away when another vampire came stumbling her way, his arms flailing. Thankfully, this was another one drunk on fae blood and Caroline moved in swiftly, driving her stake into his heart.

The vampire's clumsy. He's big, drunk, and he's only got a knife. Evie's light on her feet, sober, and she's been trained. Evie's able to make short work of him, getting in close until she's able to send her hidden stake through his heart.

"Good to see you fighting the good fight!" She calls to Caroline. They can talk after this.

God, she hopes they can.

Caroline manages to see the end of the fight and it's pretty damn impressive. "You have got to teach me that," she calls back to Evie.

Caroline may be young but she's fighter. She definitely plans to have time after tonight for lessons or conversation or anything else that she wants to do.

Evie doesn't have time to even think of calling back to her until after the the last gunshots have rung out. It's then that she tries to see if she can find the much younger woman amidst the survivors.

"Caroline," she says breathlessly when she finds her, reaching a hand out to touch her shoulder. "You're alright."

Caroline must admit that she's a bit surprised that this is the case. But she is indeed still in one piece, albeit it a bruised and battered piece. "Yeah," she says finally. "You too." She'd had far less doubts about Evie's survival, especially after seeing her fight.

Evie shrugs it off. "It comes with hundreds of years of doing just this." She looks around at the carnage and frowns deeply. "Usually, I prefer more subtle methods of dispatch, but Jean-Claude had a statement to make."

She turns her eyes back to Caroline. "And it certainly seems he made it."

"Yeah, if people don't get the idea from this, then there's no help for them." It had been awhile since she'd seen carnage quite like this. At least this time, she didn't feel guilt about the bodies she was responsible for. They'd all had their chance and they wasted it.

She nods grimly. "You're terribly right." She intended to keep working alongside Jean-Claude, having come to grow close to him in the most recent months. Perhaps take some time out to work on rebuilding London again, without heeding the call of the Brotherhood.

Her city, after all, continued to need her.

"So, what happens now?" She's asked Jean-Claude that question after Southwark but this time she needs to know the answer. And she needs to be part of it too.

"We rebuild. Things are going to change, again, and this time for the better. We have to repair our relationship with the Night Council, the witches, everyone. There is much work to be done, and we'll need all the help we can get." She doesn't want to put her in harm's way, but she was already here. Here of her own free will.

And allies were always a valuable asset.

"That makes sense." Caroline paused just for a moment, before adding "I want to do what I can, to make the Nest a good thing to be a part of." No more blaming her for people getting killed by vampires running amok.