Entering the tunnels, as shown time and again by Dominic, eventually a full room is reached. It is grand, and wide, and large. It seems perfect for a group of HMHVV-Infected peoples. It also seems perfect for a great hiding place.

Enter Solaris, the group's Conjuring Adept. She is somewhat scrawny for a Dzoo-Noo-Qua, but seems very agile. She is fairly good looking, if you tend to look at Trolls and their variants that way. She seems to put out an aura of power, but only because she knows her limits. On her back is a Claymore. An ancient style of weapon, indeed, but one that can be easily handled in her own hands.

"Nice place, Dominic." She winks. "How long have you had it?"

Seeming to melt out of the shadows, Grey steps away from the wall and turns off the Ruthenium Polymers. Reaching up to peel his hood back, exposing his grey, scar riddled flesh, he eyes the room with the same caution he always seems to have, ready to leap into action at any moment. His smile makes your mind recoil at the wickedness held behind those black eyes. Grey says nothing for the moment, for he was never one for idle chatting. Instead he just leans back against the wall, watching, listening, and waiting.

In response to Solaris' compliment, Dominic simply flashes one of his trademarked smiles that he's had ninety years to perfect. "It's a rather... recent... acquisition of mine," is all he says in response to her question, the charming smile never leaving his face. But judging from past experience with the nosferatu, it's fairly obvious that when he says things like that it's a wholly relative use of the term.

Without further ado, Dom escorts the pack to the private library in the commons area. He walks over to the rather impressive stereo nearby and slips in a MiniCD. As he begins to speak, the soothing sounds of some TwenCen oldies softly filter through the surround sound system. He then turns to address the rest of the pack.

"Welcome to your home away from home, my friends. Feel free to make yourself comfortable and enjoy everything this humble establishment has to offer. There's a room available upstairs for each of you, and they're all first-come, first-serve. I believe Cauldron and Monty," he waves a hand at his two bodyguards standing just behind everyone else, "have already claimed the two rooms nearest the stairs, but other than that they're all free game.

"There are two rules, however. One," he pauses, gesturing toward a somewhat concealed doorway at the other end of the library, "that door leads to my private chambers downstairs and is wholly off-limits to everyone except myself and Harlot. If you need to talk with me, just knock or use one of the intercomms you find throughout the place. Under no circumstances is anyone to come in without my permission. Two, beyond that we are all equals here. Everyone will respect everyone else's personal space and their privacy and I expect no conflicts over anything herein, otherwise you will answer to me. Beyond that, you're free to do whatever you like here. Consider the Bloodbath to be the sanctuary that it is."

His smile softens to a more gentle one. "Now unless there are any questions, I have some business to attend to downstairs." He folds his arms and looks upon each of you with a raised brow as he waits to see if anyone needs anything.

"I've got none." Solaris looks around, then immediately exits, heading straight for a very large and spacious room. She looks around it for just a moment. "This will do nicely..."

(OOC Note: Luxury space)

Thinker is already seated in one of the library armchairs, looking at the titles on the bindings. When Domanic stops, he says: "As long as there's room for my books, good friend, I'll be fine. Now, I believe my things have preceded me, I should be able to carry them, but where might they be located? I'm anxious to get back to my studies."

Sitting nonchalantly on the floor and filing her nails, Harlot looks around the room at this motley group Dominic has collected. Covering her mouth in a feigned yawn, she nearly rises from her position when she catches the tell-tale signs of Grey's appearance from the shadows. But after a quick assessment of his threat level and realizing that he's more friend than foe, she shrugs her shoulders and resumes a comfortable position.

Her attention then turns back to Dominic, or at least that's where it appears to be. In truth, she's studying everyone else closely, committing those minute idiosyncrasies that only a trained eye can pick up on. But as Dominic heads towards the stereo, Harlot slowly stands and assumes a comfortable position. She turns to the two bodyguards and waves a hand to them... but you have no idea if she's signaling them or dismissing them altogether.

She seems nearly oblivious to the nosferatu's words as she almost seems to float to his side. Not a single sound can be heard as she moves. But by the time Dominic says the word "business," everything about her seems to change. Her expression becomes completely serious and professional as she takes her position next to and slightly behind her master

Frank listens to Dominic, expressionless. Without a word, he looks around the room and he eyes every person with his bright green eyes. Anyone who happens to look at him is fascinated with the intensity of his stare. The fire that seems to be burning in the soul of this cute, blond child is definitely intriguing.

After a short amount of time, Frank goes up the stairs and enters a rather spacious room. I should be able to fit my enchanting equipment in here, he thinks. Oh, and I can't wait to have my own furniture moved in here as well. I'll make sure this room is soundproof too, I hate to be disturbed when I'm studying. It shouldn't take me more than a couple of days to get my stuff installed and to be at ease here, since everything is supposed to have arrived here by now.

Esmeralda drifted through the hall unconcerned by the others scuttling around. Fluttering around in the form of a bat, her almost second state of existence, she begins scouting out the various rooms. Preferably something small, dark, and cave-like. Of course they were all this way so it didn't really matter, but Esmeralda didn't know this yet. Entering the final room, in the furthest corner, the banshee marks her territory as per the usual bat method of guano deposits. She'd have to go retrieve her few possessions from her last safehouse, and bring them here since it seemed she would be around for a while. She'd also finally have a place to set up the lodge she'd been carrying with her since the NAN. With that in mind, she sat out to go retrieve what was hers. Swooping through the halls, diving down the stares and out the mouth of the cave.

Harlot stands stoically behind and slightly to the side of Dominic. A fluttering from the corner of her eye catches her attention as she spots the flying rodent meandering through the sunken nightclub. With only a slight narrowing of her eyes in annoyance, she moves forward and brushes the older nosferatu's shoulder. Her hand casually snakes around to caress his chest as she lifts up onto the tips of her toes to steal a kiss from his cheek, her eyes never leaving the bat.

"It seems that we have an infestation," is all the young girl whispers as her hand begins to move down his stomach and under his designer suit jacket. A smile forms on her lips when she finds her goal, the cold steel grip of a pistol, which she begins to pull out just as slowly...

Dominic was just about to answer Thinker's question about his belongings when he was distracted by Harlot's machinations. Turning his head to look at her, he followed her line of sight up to the bat.

"Now now, my dear," he says, his voice as deep and sultry as always. "Focus your attention onto the Otherworld... embrace your new senses and look more closely at what you're seeing." He moves his hand atop hers as she starts to pull out heavy pistol, and forces her to return it back into its holster. "Look past the bat and focus on her true form. Do you see it now? That, my immortal beloved, is one of our new family members. Esmeralda if I'm not mistaking..."

He looks as if he were about to say something else, but decided against it as the bat flew away. A dismissive shrug followed.

Dominic's attention again fell back on Thinker. "I believe your things are upstairs in the storage room to the right."

"Excellent! I'll take my leave of you all then. My study can pause for little." Thinker rises. Of the assembled, he is probably the plainest looking. Wearing khaki pants and a button-down light blue shirt, and over that a beaten-up brown leather greatcoat, a Mortimer from a few years ago, the only things that really stick about him out are his gold-rimmed spectacles and slight balding. He walks slowly with a straight cane in hand but not touching the ground. An odd collection for sure, the shadowy man looks like one not to triffle with, and I'm sure there's more to that child than meets the eye. It might be interesting to find out what being a bat is like, hmm, have to check my library for that...

Lost in thought, he walks by the storage room and into an empty cell. It is spartan and somewhat dark, but lining the walls are shelves and cabinets of various sorts, obviously not for books, but they could serve that role. Very good, this will do nicely. He begins moving in. His arms stacked high with books, and a few extra in tow with aid from his shadowy hands, it only takes him five trips to move the whole library. His computer and music box, as well as a few sets of clothes, take another trip. He almost forget the chemistry set, and sends off for it telepathically. He won't need it right now. He sits down on the matress on the floor, turns on an ugly, beat up lamp, and selects a tome form his hermetic library, "On Animal Transmutations and Shapechanging in General." He begins reading.

Frank works on getting installed as soon as he finds all of his possessions in the storage room. He would first bring them to his room, then unpack all the material. The process is long and he makes good use of the unnatural strenght granted to him by the virus which is both his greatest joy and his curse. Normally, he wouldn't be able to lift more than a few dozens of pounds, but since he had drunk fresh blood not long ago, he was up for the task at hand.

Frank meets with Thinker who is also moving in. "Goodday, my name is François Deneuville - you can call me Frank." ... "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." He didn't feel like saying anything more than that, there would be a lot of time for conversation later.

He then notices with disgust the small animal flying around above his head. A vampire bat living in here with us? What an unpleasant surprise! I hope he or she won't be staying in bat form too often and that it is just doing it for show this time. I hate these smelly and sneaky creatures. And so Frank didn't want to speak to it while it is in this form.

After a while, Frank is done moving in and begins unpacking in his room, behind a closed (and locked) door. This would take quite some time, since he wants everything to be placed in a very organized way. The enchanting equipment would take a long time to install too, but it was worth it.

After a few thunks and clunks, Solaris finally looks out her door. She blinks a few times in surprise, then lets out a piercing scream.

"Oh, God! Who let that bat in here?"

She runs for her door and slams it shut, hoping that this isn't some sort of coven for bats. She takes a quick breath, then speaks a little Latin to herself to calm down. After a few moments, she takes a deep breath and walks to her multiple suitcases.

She begins unpacking, moving things around to clear a space large enough to fit her Hermetic Circle. Out of a suitcase, she pulls a sign that states "Do Not Disturb" in somewhat sloppy handwriting. She pulls out a tack and sticks it to her door.

She takes out some paint and begins drawing in the Circle, filling it with symbols and equations that only she could truly understand. In the direct center is a blank space just large enough for her. It takes her a good ten hours to fully create the Circle, and it is ten meters wide. After the ten hours, she stands up and opens her door to go see how everybody else is doing.

Grey can't help but laugh at the sight of a Dzoo-Noo-Qua screaming in fear at the sight of a little bat. So much for them being as tough as he'd heard.

Seeing as how no one else seems to have any questions, Dominic gives a polite wave of his hand through the air and a nod before turning to head towards his chambers.

"Monty, Cauldron," he announces as he passes by the well-dressed Rastafarian and a more casually but still formally adorned ork, "I won't be needing you for the moment, so feel free to take a break. I'll page you if I need your services."

...so the mana-effect matrices are restorpliated through a Schzmatic warp field, thus interfacing with the atomic structure of the... As Thinker reads, an ear-splitting scream of terror interupts him.

"This will not do at all. The door is closed, and still it interupts me! How often will noises like that..." He puts down the book and looks around the walls of the room for an electric socket to plug the stereo set into. The lamp is hooked into one, and he plugs the sound system in. Looking through one of his boxes, he selects "The Best of Beethoven" and inserts it, then presses the "Play CD" button.

A resounding knock is heard from the front of the building. What follows is another resounding knock, then a bit of a tiny earthquake. Nothing much, just enough to get the attention of somebody.

Solaris sat in her room, in the center of the Circle, concentrating on summoning an Earth Elemental. Through the entire summoning, she chanted in Latin, aiding her concentration. After a mere four hours, she opened her eyes, sensing a new Earth Elemental just outside of the Circle.

She commands the Elemental to help her move her belongings around and set them up.

Grey's head comes up at the sound oh the door being banged on. His voice comes fowarth, sounding like he has ash in his throat.

"We expecting anyone else?"

He stands up from where he was seated and begins to make his way towards the door. As he walks, he seems to fade out of sight, as the Ruthinium turns back on.

Thinker's first thought is that the base on his speakers has failed, but then he feels the vibrations coming from outside his cell. Hell, there's no end to this, is there? But his annoyance is overtaken by concern, what if this is a serious problem?

He stands up, severs the link with his shadow hands, and mentally runs though a series of recursive formulae. He focuses his concentration on the awayness his body could achieve, on evading beams of light, on trying to disapear.

With his body cloaked from sight, he creeps out of his room and down the stairs, trying to get a better view of the entrance.

Frank was trying to make sure that his small forge was still functional when he heard the distant sound. He had precious minerals in his possession that he would want to work on with the forge.

I don't think that we're expecting anyone.. I wonder who this could be. In any case, I won't take any chances.

Frank speaks some incomprehensible words in a low voice, waving his hands in some complex gestures; now he would be well protected against physical harm. He then puts on his small, dark red lined coat and goes out the door of his room. He looked down to see who was disturbing him, hoping that his shadow would stay unnoticed in the dark.

Deep in the luxuriously-appointed bowels of the Bloodbath, Dominic heard the booming sound of Solaris' summoning, but thought little of it. He was busy making a few phone calls to the staff at Bedlam, making sure everything was in order for tonight. All the while he's combing through his wardrobe, looking for something to inspire his choice of clothing for the evening.

From the many years of being her father/lover's shadow, Harlot had come to realize the minute signals from her master. His lack of concern over the boom of thunder over them put the young nosferatu at ease. She took a seat in one of the many Euro-stylish chairs scattered around the underground penthouse and strummed her fingers to a methodical tune. Her brow furrowed as she watched the older vampire talk on his cellophane, but she was too lost in her own thoughts to pay attention to what he was saying.

Harlot was often disappointed with herself when she jumped to conclusions, especially since her first instinct was often one of violence and destruction. Whether this instinct was the result of her rather 'unconventional' experiences at the hands of Ol' Bones or not, or simply her lack of trust with anyone other than Dominic, well... it didn't really matter. All Harlot knew was that she had to learn to control her instincts, for if she had she would have realized what the bat truly was.

Despite her internal admonishment, Harlot allowed herself the absolution often applied to the young. She instead turned her attention from an internal reflection to an external adoration. Her lips curled into a gentle smile as she continued to watch Dominic on the phone and rifling through his wardrobe, knowing that she need not concern herself with either of these as her master always made sure she was properly dressed to accentuate himself. While most people would find his vanity disturbing, Harlot never doubted his motives or his taste and was thrilled to project any imagine he required of her.

Upon arrival in the main room, a few voices are heard very quietly through one of the walls.

"Yeah, man, it's just a wall."

"I dunno, I thought I heard a scream."

"Nah, just your imagination."

"I dunno, man... Let me try that again."

Two more thumps are heard, followed by that same tiny version of an earthquake.

Seeing that no one else is going to bother opening the door, Grey walks over and does just that... but he is still invisible, so it looks to whoever is outside that the door opened by itself.

Two kids are outside, looking rather perplexed as the door opens all by itself. They look at each other, one screams and runs off. The other stands there and blinks.

"Dude. You look... Weird. And why are you invisible? I mean... Wow. What's wrong with you? You look... Sick!"

The kid speaking is no more than 13, but is very dirty and unkempt.

While still yakking away on the phone, Dominic approaches his personal sound system and turns it up a bit, hoping it'll drown out... well, whatever it is they're doing upstairs... while he continues to attend to business.

When an opportune moment appears, he covers the mouth piece of the phone. "Harlot, would you be a dear and see what they're up to?

Grey runs over and snatches the kid running away in a flash.

"'Ey! 'Ey! Lemme go! Jake, if this is you, I swear, I'm gunna keel ya!"

He suddenly notices the graying of the cloak and turns a ghastly pale. He lets out a piercing scream and begins squirming in Grey's grasp.

Grey's ruthenium turns a dark grey as he reaches out and grabs the kid by the hair, just before he turns to flee. He then yanks him into the house and turns back to the other kid that was talking.

"What's it to ya, punk?"

His hand goes to the hilt of his katana, ready to draw in an instant.

"N-N-Nothin'..."

He looks around, then back at Grey.

"Waddya want from me?"

"Your soul... But that can come later. How did you find this place?"

"I 'unno. My friend an' I were just kinda walkin' 'round and saw this cool place. We came closer and I heard somethin' like a scream, I guess. What was it?"

"Come on in and find out."

With that he grabs the kid and yanks him inside as well and slams the door shut behind them.

The kid screams and is jerked forward into the building.

"Wha--What is this place? Some kind of ruin?"

Grey just smiles at the kid, then yells out to the rest of the house, "Hey everybody, we've got ourselves a guest! Why don't you all come and introduce yourselves."

A ragged, yet oddly poised, figure appears behind the lad clutching her few belongings aside from the clothes on her back. Her brown hair seems to be permanently fixed in place, although it is hard to say whether this is intentional or not from the shape it has. Oddly exotic, like a princess of some far off land. "What has the cat drug in so soon?"

Thinker loosens the grip on his cane. Why would two children be knocking on our door? He walks over to Grey, still invisible, careful not to get too close to the warrior in case he was jumpy. Guessing that anyone with a ninja garb and a katana might have some experience in the land of the rising sun, he says in Japanese, "Pardon me, friend, but what do you intend to do with them? I personally do not need to feed, however, I find their story of just casually strolling past our lair's security and stumbling upon our front door... suspect."

Without waiting for an answer, he draws his Alta, very conspicously cocks it, and places the barrel against one of the boys' head's and says, "Be very careful with what you say, young ones. There's many of us here and we're far smarter than you want to know. In summary, I smell bullshit. How did you really get here?"

At Dominic's command, the younger nosferatu stretched and proceeded toward the front of the Bloodbath. On her way, she casually stops to tell Monty and Cauldron to get on the clock, in case they are needed. As she approaches the scene, a bemused smile crossed her lips as she notices several of the other inhabitants toying with two young boys. Before anyone else can notice her, she returns to tell Dominic of the current situation.

Dominic lifts a brow in Harlot's direction, then holds up a single finger as if to tell her to wait a moment.

"Yes, that sounds good, Syrinx. Listen, something just came up that demands my attention. I'll call you later and we can finish going over your playlist then. Au revoir et à bientôt." He flips the mouthpiece of his phone to disconnect.

Upon hearing Harlot's words, the nosferatu gives an exasperated sigh then turns and paces towards his colleague and the door leading upstairs. "Two boys, eh? Honestly, I can't leave these blokes alone for more than a few minutes without them getting into trouble. I assume you apprised Monty of the situation?"

"Yes Father, I informed the bodyguards of the situation. They should be waiting for you at the upper level door." Harlot quickly stepped aside to allow Dominic to go first. The action, though subtle was done more out of respect and love then submission.

On his way out the door, Dominic simply flashed a genuine smile to Harlot. Without any other words needed, that simple smile was more than enough to convey his pleasure with her. Nothing more was said as he approached the others.

When they finally did make it to the upper level, both his Rastafarian and ork bodyguards filed into a strategic position so as best to protect both of the nosferatu. Dominic gave them a nod of acknowledgement before turning to assense the situation quietly from approximately ten paces behind the others. If he was annoyed at being disturbed, there was absolutely no trace of it apparent in his expression.

Frank is very surprised to see two boys coming into their hideout and some long-lost memories come painfully to his mind. He's determined to make sure that no one feeds off them and that no one infests them with the virus. He would not tolerate that, not after what he has endured and suffered. These persons could be infested later, perhaps in several years, when the time is right.

Frank goes down the stairs in a hurry as soon as he realizes that they might be in danger. Running toward Thinker and the boys, he says in a loud, relatively high-pitched voice: "Put down your gun, Thinker! Just what the hell do you all think you're doing? There's no need to threaten them and to scare them so much! Let them explain themselves first."

In a soft and comprehensive voice, but with a serious attitude, to the one boy that didn't run away (OCC: supposing that Thinker's gun is not in the direction of anyone's head nom more) : "Hello, I'm Frank. You don't have to be scared from us. This is our place and the fact that you're in here is.. hum.. quite surprising to all of us, and that might be why some of us have over-reacted. I'm sorry about that, and you can be sure that I'm on your side if anything is to happen to you. I will still ask you a few questions so that everyone here is convinced that you mean us no harm. What are your names, how did you come here, and why?"

"What I think I'm doing is taking precautions. If you think that ordinary kids could just stroll past the defenses we saw on the way in, well..."

He returned the gun to his pocket without making any indication of doing so. The threat had been made. He could understand why Frank wouldn't want the children harmed, though: Thinker's own infection was frightening enough, but to happen to someone at such a young age...

"Maybe they're not ordinary kids, but they're still only kids, and they probably don't know what they're doing. Now, I hope you put your gun away, they're scared enough as it is."

Frank seems to be unsure as of where exactly is Thinker, looking in the direction where he is most probably located.

Laden with all her belongings, Esmeralda is beginning to strain under the weight. A wave of pain washes over her face, engulfing its once serene gaze in a roar of agony as one of the items slips pinching a nerve on her shoulder.
"I believe that you gentle folk may carry on here without me to the best of your abilities. I will show myself to my segment of the cave and see you all shortly I trust. Do make sure that you aren't too wasteful with the lads, they could be a great resource if we sew and harvest them properly."

Harlot looked at Esmeralda, her eyes narrowing in disgust. "Some 'vampire,'" Harlot thought to herself as she turned her head towards the two appetizers. She licked her lips as her eyes danced with the excitement of the potential meal before her. "I always did like veal."

Grinning wickedly down at the frightened boys, Grey says, "So what are we gunna do with em? We can't just let em go."

"Well, that's what I was asking you, I had assumed that since you brought them in, you had an idea..." But then, I also assumed you knew Japanese.

Thinker drops his invisibility, walks in front of the boys, and addresses the assmebled: "I am personally interested in recieving an answer to my question from these two young men, perhaps we should think about ways to facillitate their cooperation. And, it might be good from someone to check the status of our defenses. However, I think that since they did invade Dominic's lair, the final decision should by up to him. Just a suggestion: since at least one of us seems to dislike the idea of harming them, perhaps it would be better to simply make them our pawns. I'm sure we could always use a couple of dedicated errand boys to fetch things for our various pursuits while the cursed daystar lingers in the sky."

He nods and steps off to the side to allow some discussion of his ideas.

The second child, the one without a datajack, blinks in surprise.

"You mean... You're... You're... Vampires?! That is so cool!"

The first child begins thrashing violently.

"What do you mean, cool? They're gonna eat us!"

Grey smiles at the screaming child, "Yes, yes I am. Lets just dine on this one and the little mage boy can answer our questions."

"Please let them live. At least for a while. Sure it would be fun to feed off them, but Thinker is right: they could be useful. Just give them a week with us, and we could discuss sparing their lives or not after we'vecome to know them a little bit. Have you all become inhuman to the point that you don't think twice before killing an innocent kid?"