Leonard slows to a halt just beyond where the woman is likely to spot him. Most of her phone conversation is meaningless to him, though he does note the name of the dancer who owed Elias some money. In case that information will be useful later. Otherwise, he waits for the phone call to end as he prepares to roll forth another shroud...

[private to GM: roll for another Shroud of Night, just as soon as she's done talking. And then he plans to move in and take two blood points (assuming he started the night at -1).

13:29, Tue 14 July 2015: Leonard Dusek rolled 5 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed, Specialised system with a target of 7, rerolling 10s ((7,9,4,2,10(+1),10(+9),7,4)).]

Whoever she was talking to her had raised their voice.  Yelling through the line he told her she was on her own.  He couldn't be involved in what was going to happen when repercussions came from Yanos.  The phone call then ends abruptly leaving her sobbing into her hands as she throws the phone at a wall with an expletive.

It's then that the darkness rolls forward and envelopes the young woman.  She gasps in horror then claws at the air as the suffocating darkness covers her.  Leonard is able to easily move forward and delivers the kiss.  As his teeth sink in the euphoria envelopes the woman.  She lets her hands fall and her lips part in an inaudible moan.  Once done she slumps to the ground lost in bliss...

At least she was getting a moment of respite from whatever screwed up life she was leading. Meanwhile his curiosity has been piqued about all the action back at the club. Leonard leaves her slumped against the alley wall, then starts circling back in its general direction to see if he can catch any more glimpses of the assault(s) in progress, or to see if the police had arrived yet ... from a safe distance.

The chaos at the club had settled down and the armed men were loading up when Leonard got back.  The stripper they shot was being loaded into the van, along with a young man and two of the bouncers.  The man who was wearing the scope was standing near the doors to the club.  The scope hung around his neck.  His facial features spoke of an Eastern Europe ancestry, while his accent was undeniably Russian.

"No sir, we have a negative on the subject.  He must have slipped away during the assault.  This is the problem with joint task forces.  We should continue our work without the Americans.  They are sloppy...and don't get me started on the Brits.....I understand your position and the need for politics but Vassily will be angered over the slip up.  We risk exposure carrying out these gestopo style assaults....I understand....No, bravo team has not reported in.  Understood..."

Reaching up and clicking the button on his ear piece he holds up one finger and whirls it around telling everyone to wrap it up.  With that simple hand gesture the men load up and within five minutes are prepared to leave in a small convoy of vehicles...

Leonard suppresses a low growl of indignation at the comment about the American soldiers. How dare that Russian scumbag criticize American competence? He quickly puts it aside as it then occurs to him that an international assault had just occurred at this local nightclub. Surely Candy couldn't be that important in the grand scheme of things?

As the vehicles prepare to move away, Leonard withdraws farther into the shadows. So much for his 'quick' snack. Now he was left where he started, still with no idea what he wanted to do with his evening. He should probably track down Dre, Andrekis, or Balthazar, but now that the club is ...unavailable, he isn't sure where else they might be. He pulls out his phone to see if any more cryptic messages have arrived as he makes his way stealthily back in the direction of his apartment.

The skies have eyes and they know when you've been bad or good....

Almost immediately after looking at his phone the message comes through.  The screen momentarily shows the camera as active but that flicks off as the message comes in.  It's quickly followed by what looks like code covering his screen and running upwards across it.  The program doesn't take long but once done Leonard's phone now says it's in Taiwan and a new contact sits on the home screen.  Though it's only for text the number is 843-733-3667.
This message was last updated by the GM at 02:14, Thu 01 June 2017.

Leonard withdraws even farther into the shadows, looking suspiciously up at the sky. Then, in angry disbelief, he checks the state of his phone - did all of his settings and data get erased when they did whatever they just did to it?

[private to GM: looking for signs of helicopters or whatnot that might be watching him from above...

20:49, Today: Leonard Dusek rolled 4 successes using 4d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed, Specialised system with a target of 6, rerolling 10s ((4,10(+9),10(+4),6)).]

It takes a moment to spot them but once he does Leonard quickly spots other...high tech, military style drones equipped with some sort of camera array. They are whisper quiet and seem to be running a search grid over the city...he can spot at least eight but can safely assume there are others.

Looking at his phone, everything seems to still be the same save for the number on his screen.  Perhaps someone with some computer knowledge could ascertain what was done.  The Camarilla had Kid One....some hacker who was embraced by the Sheriff.  Though Brujah he was of a mild nature and usually stayed locked in his penthouse off second avenue.  There was also Morrigan....independent, Sabbat, who knew?  She was rumored to be Assamite but did not show any signs of diablerie or violence.  Indeed she usually came across as very friendly and warm....but either of them would require favors and have many questions.

As he ponders this another message flashes across his screen....Knowledge is power...but what you don't know is more powerful .  Is truth worth seeking..or is ignorance bliss?  The night cannot be owned...it was merely rented for a time and the debt has come due...run...NOW....

As the last of the message flashes across the screen a series of darts pepper the concrete near Leonard as a drone lowers closer to the street level and fires where Leonard had been standing a scant second ago.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:54, Sun 04 June 2017.

Leonard ducks for the nearest cover, letting loose yet another shroud - this one over the drone that is firing at him. He had to get somewhere indoors, out of view of the searching drones. He will beat down locked doors if he has to.

In the back of his mind, he is already wondering how many different groups have drones in the sky. Surely whoever keeps sending him messages wouldn't've told him to run if they were also trying to shoot him...

[private to GM: shroud of night (40 ft diameter) - 23:20, Today: Leonard Dusek rolled 4 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed, Specialised system with a target of 7, rerolling 10s ((5,4,7,8,5,9,4,7)).]

The drone stops moving and the camera array whirls to life...cycling through various instruments it just hovers in the darkness.  Still the cover gives Leonard time to find a door at is partially ajar and easily pried open, even for a mortal.  Popping the door open and ducking inside Leonard finds himself looking at a young girl with red hair.  She was maybe seven or eight and held a Halo Warthog in her left hand as she panicked against the darkness.  Trying to scream in terror she drops the toy and claws at the air around clearly terrified.

A quick scan of the area and Leonard can confirm he's in an apartment building's lobby.  It's a pretty shabby, obviously low rent building and no one else is in sight.

Leonard walks around the frightened girl, far enough away that she won't notice he's there. He'd already eaten and was full, after all. He starts looking for exits from the lobby other than the door he came in from - other exterior doors, windows, stairs, and so on. While he's in relative safety, he flips back through his phone to send a text to the number.

"WTF do you want?"

It's easy to find another way out.  The backdrop, side window, fire escape, etc.

Almost immediately after sending the text he receives a message back stating "undeliverable...."

The drones frantically search around the area Leonard was last in but quickly reverse course and disappear into the dark night's sky.  This seems to happen almost at the same time as an ambulance springs to life and sirens begin to blare.  As the ambulance races by Leonard receives another text.

....Watching or hunting?  Friends or foe...do you know?....

Leonard growls in irritation. Why would someone provide him with a new number to text when it isn't even available? Why badger him with inane questions that he won't be able to answer? He feels like he should hunker down in a dark corner somewhere until all the danger goes away, yet is also enraged that anyone should make him feel any such thing.

After the ambulance passes by, he takes a few moments to decide where to go next. Not back to his apartment. If someone is watching, he doesn't want to lead them there. But he will at least need somewhere dark and windowless if he's stuck outside during the day. Maybe there is somewhere he can hide in the basement...

It occurs to Leonard that the number might not be a number...perhaps it was a cipher or code....

Meanwhile his luck seems to be intact.  The building has a storage area in the basement and though dimly lit there was plenty of cover and shadows.  All in all it was kinda creepy yet beckoning.  Glancing down into the room a shadow crosses past the light...it's almost shambling in nature but disappears into the shadows and away from the stairs.  It's then that the smell hits Leonard...the scent of freshly spilled blood...and by the smell of it, a large quantity....

[Private to Leonard Dusek: Hope you don't mind, I rolled for you to notice something about the number.  Not many successes but it definitely is not a phone number.  Also, please roll a frenzy check diff 4]

[private to GM: welp, that didn't go so well...
15:07, Today: Leonard Dusek botched using 2d10 with the World of Darkness 3rd ed, Specialised system with a target of 3, rerolling 10s ((1,2)).]

As he moves down into the basement, Leonard is still distracted by the notion that the number might be some sort of code, and at first relaxes into the beckoning creepiness of the storage area. He looks up at the light flicker, wondering if someone else is there. Before he can ponder it much farther, the smell of blood overtakes his entire mind...

A red haze seems to settle over Leonard's eyes.  There are occasional flashes of clarity but they are just snippets of violence in the red darkness.  When the fog begins to subside there are bodies strewn around Leonard.  Two cops, a woman, a man, and two eviscerated dogs.  They are scattered around the living room and the front door is completely splintered open.  The young girl from the lobby is screaming and huddled in a corner outside the door.  Her mother snatches her up and begins to run for the outer door.  At the same time Leonard becomes aware of the smoldering hole in his shoulder (gunshot wound) and the approaching sirens...

Ah, shit. Leonard stands frozen for a few seconds in the middle of the carnage as his mind catches up with the rest of his body. Living room? Wasn't he in a storage area in the basement? He doesn't hang around to try to figure out how that happened, and instead starts looking for an exit in the opposite direction from the mother and child - hoping that he's still on a low enough floor to get out of the building quickly.

An open window to the left leads onto a makeshift balcony and from there it's relatively easy to hop to a nearby roof and then down into an alleyway.  As Leonard leaves the apartment he catches the scent of something old...deathly smelling but the source is a bit obscured and with the approaching sirens it leaves little time to search.

As Leonard looks down into the alleyway dozens of rats stop and look back at him from below.  They stay perfectly still for a split second before disappearing into the shadows.

Ah, shit. Rats, and the scent of ancients. Leonard hopes that he hadn't just crashed a Nosferatu haven or messed with another vampire's herd. He didn't need even MORE people chasing after him tonight.

He drops down into the alleyway, checking the sky for drones as he ducks for overhead cover. Perhaps he would make his way over to some other apartment building somewhere else and see if there were any safe basements there. He checks on the gunshot wound as he begins moving stealthily away from the first building, trying to stay under overhangs as much as possible.

[private to GM: is the gunshot wound just one damage?]

A trashpile seemingly moves and gradually becomes a malshapen form of a man.  Almost looking like a cross between some sort of ghoul and an animal of some sort the creature shakes his head and mumbles before looking to Leonard with a mild expression of irritation but it makes no aggressive moves.

When it talks the voice is melodic and almost enchanting and paints an odd paradox.

"You've made a mess above my home tonight.  Tell me, why we're the soldiers stalking you?  Oh don't worry they aren't going to be a problem going forward but I really must ask, what you've done to attract their attention?"

The rapidly changing topics seem to loosely flow together but transitions are obviously missing and the way he speaks seemingly shows a long term lack of interaction at least of the speaking kind.  As he speaks he looks down to where he was just hiding and Leonard can see five severed heads with tac-com headsets shredded.  Lying stop the pile is a strange looking item, almost like a crowbar but with some sort of device attached at the end and next to it is an odd pair of Google's that give off a green glow.

Leonard freezes as the trashpile moves, transforms itself into a man, and starts talking to him. He eyes the remains of the soldiers for a moment, then ducks back under the nearest overhang in the alley and turns to look at the misshapen creature.

"Sorry about the mess. I was just looking for somewhere to hide for a night. I have no idea what they want with me. I've not been in this city long enough to make enemies, certainly not among the mortals. I don't suppose you know more about who they are and what they're after?"

"It seems odd...is he honest...is he real?"

A different voice with a rough edge comes from the man and he cocks his head to a side as if considering it for a second before stepping towards Leonard with a curious expression on his face.

"Hunters don't hunt without purpose and these have been sweeping sewers, basements, warehouses, and anything without windows, but they've done it quietly.  Tonight us different...messy, noisy, in the open.  This one..."

Tapping one of the severed heads with his foot he pauses for a second before looking to Leonard once more and tossing some sort of wristband at him."he had this.  Simple password though Daylight17!  It has your picture in it in various locations around the city.  So once more I find myself asking, why you?"

[Private to Leonard Dusek: If you looks at the device its some sort of touch screen device set into a wristband.  the opersting system is fsst and not something youve seem before.  There is an entire file with pictures of you and one for about ten others, including Isabella de Orsi.  Yours doesnt contain much in the way of written reports but has photos showing you in various states with some from tonight at the club.]

Leonard tenses a bit at the second voice, and he frowns suspiciously at the shadows behind the (presumed) Nosferatu. When the other creature steps closer to ask the same question again, he can only shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine, friend. I've done nothing unusual and have only barely met a few notables of this city."

He then starts looking through the contents of the wristband device. His picture was in it? Why yes, yes it was - many pictures in fact, all together in a file. Leonard recalls each moment that they had captured him on film, and he can't help feeling violated.

Then his frown deepens. "This is very odd. How did they get these pictures? I shouldn't be visible at all by camera."

Turning and picking up the goggles he holds them out towards Leonard.

"These seem new....it would appear they can photograph our kind, though I'm not sure why or how.  You may keep them as a gift...the price of which is you returning to this alley and returning that which I've gifted you....information, that is"

Turning and picking up the crow bar looking device he turns it over in his hand and tosses it to Leonard.

"New weapon...attacks muscle activity.  Seems to cause paralysis, but again....not sure how it works but seems effective."

Leonard accepts the goggles, looks them over with a faint frown, then tucks them under his arm with a nod of acknowledgment. He also catches the crowbar and looks it over, then tucks that under his arm too unless the other gestures to take it back.

"Should I know any of these others who have pictures in this wristband? I have not yet found the right notables to make introductions to. As for information, what do you want to know?"