It had been two nights since your first meeting with the prince.  Each of you had your own agendas that night.  Whatever had happened, your opinions were your own, so everyone kept quiet.  Besides, each group had a specific task.  Tonight, Marissa would be pairing her real estate background with Madhu's style and taste.

As part of his gift to everyone, Juan would cover the cost.  The entire cost.  All you had to do is pick it.  He had two conditions though.  He wanted the place to be presentable and functional as a potential elysium and as an emergency haven if necessary.  The other thing the prince wanted?  Juan wanted your decision by the end of the week.  He didn't say why.

Much to the chagrin of both of you, there were a lot of options to choose from.  Neither of you expected the market to be as open as it was!  Marissa, like Madhu and Natalya, were released.  The other new kindred you all had met just the other night were not.  Being released meant that you had certain advantages - namely, you didn't have to use someone else's (read: your sire's) resources to get what you wanted.  The downside, of course, was that you had to do everything yourself.

The three of you (Madhu, Natalya, and Marissa) had a better, more solid grasp of how kindred society worked then the other neonates in the Charlotte coterie, and so it was going to be you three that made the biggest decisions.  Some would like this.  Others, like DJ, were probably going to show their ass, but would likely cave to the "greater good" anyway.  Sooner or later though, the coterie was going to have to exploit it's own advantages.  The group of you were going to have to bring all of your skills and abilities to the table.  The prince had made it clear, failure was not an option.  You would succeed.  You would be quick about it, too, or he would yank his support (and subsequently that of the other elders) so fast you would wish he let Nigel dust you off.

It was currently 8:15.  The sun had gone down a little more then an hour ago.  Even though he was only 20 minutes away from the designated place to pick up Marissa, traffic had held Madhu up.  85 North was blocked with a three car wreck that took extra time because there were two fatalities.  One of them was a 4 year old.  If that wasn't enough, some idiot had lured police into a southbound high speed chase.  The perp made it to South Carolina before losing control and rolling his SUV into the low shoulder.  It was well after rush hour now, but with the extra traffic on the 485 loop as well as 77 north, things were still clusterfucked.  It wasn't stop and go or bumper to bumper, but you didn't want to be tailgating the old Dodge in front of you either.

OOC: You two are creative enough.  Pick up the scene and roll with it from there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:54, Wed 06 Feb 2013.

Marissa sat in the lobby of the, Ritz Carlon. It was her temporary home until she could find a more permanant place to set up residency. She checked her watch and noted that Madhu was more then likely going to arriving late. This did not sit well with her and immediately gave her the preconcived notion that he was probably not the  most timly of folks. She checked her watch again and let out a small sigh. She took out her IPAD and began flipping through notes of possible spots for the Prince. The first stop was to be the, Latta Plantation. It was a historic site, which meant that there might be some difficulty aquiring it. Of course in this day and age, everything had its price. The next was the , Bellmont Mill. It was a bit run down and would need extensive renovation, but it had so many possibilities. And unlike the plantation there wouldn't be nearly as many problems purchasing it. The last was the, Hays Plantation house. The last two seemed the easiest and fastest to get, and the Prince had clearly stated that time was of the essence.

Madhu was not easy to miss when he rolled up finally. He was in that black Caddy the Prince had given him. He'd driven it straight for two nights, even foregoing his usual routine of traveling by cab. He got out of the car, closed the door, popped the alarm and smiled at it. He was still gloating over it.

The Prince had managed to point out a nice thing about everyone, but his showing to Madhu was a pretty clear indication who was supposed to be calling the shots in their little arranged coterie, and Madhu wasn't going to have it any other way. He silenced his phone and headed into the lobby to meet Marissa. On the way he passed the valet, handed him a 50, his keys and took his ticket.

Once inside he approached her quickly. He glanced at her and could see the annoyance on her face. the slight pulling in of the corners of her lips. Yeah... She was mad. Madhu adjusted his posture, drooping his head a little, pushing his shoulders slightly forward and bending a little. This all made him look smaller.

"I am so very sorry. Traffic in this city is preposterous." He approached her quickly, "Accidents everywhere, and I don't understand why 485 was backed up. I can only help it gets better when they complete The Turbine." The Turbine being a massive interchange to help speed up traffic as it changed through the 3 major highways moving through north Charlotte. Those highways being, I77, I85, and I485. There was also the many miles of construction. You knew Madhu lived north of the city, which meant he had to run 85 south to get to you, and nearly all of 85 north of W.T. Harris Blvd was under construction as they widened and repaved it for the second time in about 10 years.

"Really, I am, very sorry. I would have called but the police are everywhere..."

Marissa stood as Madhu approached her, straightening her jacket. Her hair was pulled back in a tight French twist making her eyes and face more striking. Her attire for this evening was all business. Flared slacks, button up blouse, and business jacket fastened at the waist. She slipped her IPAD into her briefcase. “We need to be going. Our instructions were made very clear that we have no time to waste, and buying real estate can be time consuming enough during daylight hours. Working this late will make it a bit more difficult.” Marissa headed straight for the door pausing only long enough to make sure that Madhu was right behind her.  She had made a list of the three properties that she was considering for purchasing.  “I do hope you know this city better then I.” She said handing him the list.

It was clear that Marissa wasn’t concerned about apologies at the moment. She was all about the business at hand for many reasons. If friendship was to be made it would come later.

Yes, time was ticking.  With traffic being as it was, the need to get going and be prompt was obvious.  Perhaps that was the reason you two were assigned this task with such little notice - efficiency and ability.  Of course, having more resources between the two of you then the rest of your makeshift coterie had combined could have had something to do with it too.

Madhu shrugged. Party because his effort at making himself look cowed in front of Marissa had failed, and partly because he had no clue. "GPS," was his only reply.

Madhu whirled and started walking. He handed the valet his ticket and a twenty and looked at Marissa. "Where is the first place? And I'm assuming you've called these people? Throwing a little extra money at them usually works to get them to break out of their usual office hours." He shrugged again but his face changed slightly. There was something a little harder to it.

"We'll go the to closest ones first and work our way out" He looked at Marissa again, "Tell me about the first place."

The car arrived and Madhu immediately surged around the trunk and to his side as the valet slid out of it. The kid was ecstatic to have driven the car, but he knew better than to compliment it. He just gave Madhu a knowing smile and ran around to open the passenger door for Marissa. The Indian Brujah slipped into the driver's seat, adjusted it slightly and closed the door.

"Bellmot Mill is our first stop. And no, there won't be anyone meeting us. There to many questions to answer for after hours buisness, besides I have ways around working the daytime. Fax machines, email, and the other advances that technology has made makes my job very easy. Besides I don't like the idea of buying my way." She said the last as she got in the car and closed the door. She punched in the address to the GPS on her phone and showed the map to Madhu. "This is where we are going." She said pointing to the red dot. "It's run down, but it can be aquired quickly with very little problems if my instincts are correct. I already have the  number of the realtor in case you are in agreement."

OOC: Just with DJ and Alex, y'all two seem to be doing just fine without any intervention from me.  Good.  Do you need anything from me, or are you content to keep rolling along?

(ooc: I'm good at the moment, but I'm thinking we will need you before to long when it comes time to do the actual purchase unless you want us to wing it)

Actually, I do have something... (EVIL SMIRK) Both of you can roll Perception + Occult at difficulty 9, because you're distracted, and this "thing" trying to get your attention is having some difficulty of it's own.

(6:22, Today: Marissa Lee rolled 1 success using 5d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed system with a target of 9 with rolls of 8,10,2,4,4. perception+occult.)

Dice results.

OOC:  Marissa, you get the strange feeling someone is in the backseat.  Carry on. :P

The hairs on the back of Marissa's neck were starting crawl along her skin, "Not to alarm you, and not to sound completely insane or paranoid, but I don't think we are entirely alone in this car." She kept her eyes forward so as not to alarm Madhu completely. "Pull over and park at your next chance would ya?"

Madhu raised his eyebrows and looked in the rear view mirror. "What? I don't see anything." Still, he was Kindred, and thus paranoid by nature too, so he whipped the big car into the next gas station he found, pulled his Glock and aimed it back through the seat. He glanced at Marissa.

Madhu easily and quickly pulled the caddy into a spot off to the side of a Shell, careful not to be too near the pumps but also to avoid catching the cashiers' attention.  There were two guys outside too.  One was black, the other was white or maybe Latino, and both were in fairly nondescript, baggy clothing.  Latino was on a cellphone.

So far...nothing, but Marissa couldn't shake the creepy feeling of there being someone in the backseat.

Marissa sat in her seat and pulled down the visor to see in the back with the mirror attached, "If you don't want to bring unwanted attention to us, I suggest you put that gun away and turn around in your seat. There may not be anything physical back there but there are two physical bodies right over there that I'm quite sure can see us just as easily as we see them." She was holding her phone to her ear pretending to talk on it in hopes to distract any attention they may be drawing.

Madhu shook his head. He wasn't in any mood to get any lip from some prissy Ventrue.
"Just stop talking and let me work."

He kept the gun below the window, because he didn't want to attract attention, and he didn't want to attract attention because he wasn't an idiot. Now he turned fully around in his seat, keeping the gun down. He had no idea what to expect but he kept the gun pressed into the back of the seat where he figured someone would be sitting.

To anyone on the outside it would look like the driver of a nice Cadillac had lost something and was looking  for it in the back seat. Too easy. Madhu had discovered through a life time of crime that most people assumed the things they saw were innocent. The gun, if anyone seen it, would be a cellphone.

Madhu had a point.  He knew his criminal shit.  When he took a paranoid, climactic pause before turned to look in the back, Marissa just followed his instructions.  There was unsurprisingly nothing in the back seat.  On the other hand, something weird did happen.  The locks on the doors shifted both audibly and visibly.  Neither one of you were Malkavian crazy and that just did happen!  What the fuck?

OOC: Sorry for the small post.  :(

Madhu looked at Marissa and then back down in the floor boards of the back seat, just to be sure. He shot Marissa glare and eased his gun back into it's holster. "Is this a joke?"

When the locks flipped Madhu shifted and immediately unlocked them. Maybe he had hit the button when he turned around, or maybe Marissa was still fucking with him. "Are you quite done?" He looked at her with the intensity only a Brujah could manage. This was annoying. First she was bitching about being late and how much of a pain in the ass it was to get things done at night, and now she was playing practical jokes on him...

Marissa looked at Madhu at nearly the same moment he looked at her. The flipping of the locks obviously had not been his doing or he would not be blaming her unless he had accidentally hit it while he was turned around towards the backseat. She held up her phone that was in her right hand, "If you hadn't noticed my hand never touched the lock. Maybe you should be more careful not to hit the switch when turning around in your seat."

*Thunk*

Marissa's lock went to the opposite, unlocked position while Madhu's driver side door lock remained in it's locked position.

Marissa looked from her door to Madhu's door, and back to hers. "You want to explain that?" Marissa paused for a moment before continuing, "On second thought... you sit there and figure it out, I'm getting the hell out of this car." She reached for the door handle and opened it as quickly as possible.

Getting out of the car seemed to work for Marissa, but when Madhu tried, not so much.  The doors locked, unlocked, and locked again.  A few seconds later, and the windshield very briefly fogged over.  But just as soon as it did that, the mysteriously appearing fog dissipated.  Both of you were getting the odd feeling that the car was possessed.

Marissa getting out of the car caught some attention too.  An attractive white girl stepping out of a classic caddy, dressed for business was just the sort of thing the two guys outside the store were looking for it seemed, since it was their attention she got most.

To make matters worse, neither of you had time for this shit...there was somewhere to be!

Marissa stood there with the door partially opened, one hand on the hood and one on the frame of the door, "Seriously??? You're gonna just stay in that possessed creepy car???" She looked over her shoulder and saw two guys coming her way, "Fuck! I so do not need this shit tonight!" She turned her attention back to Madhu, "Why not ask it nicely to either let you out or to stop fucking with the car so we can leave?" She looked over to the approaching men again to keep an eye on them, "Madhu," She lowered her voice, "I'm not sure if you know this, but we are about to have a serious situation in less then 3 minutes, aske the car what it wants so we can get the hell out of here."