Sundays at Tabú didn't attract the same crowd as Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday's crowd had a more mature vibe, even if some of them didn't appear to be that much older. The main floor with the restaurant seemed to be as busy as any other night.

In the basement, a few more tables and chairs had been set up, all facing the stage. They left room for a dance floor in the middle, and a few couples were slow dancing to the music. Most of the people were a little more dressed up than the previous night. It was a good-looking crowd, and those on the dance-floor moved gracefully. On Saturday night, Tabú had a party atmosphere with a touch of goth. On Sunday, a shift in music and mood had transformed the place into a classic jazz club.

On stage was a woman in a slinky, wine-colored dress performing a seductive song. She was stunning, with long blonde hair and evocative eyes. Even more mesmerizing than her beauty, was her voice. It felt like smooth silk gliding across the listener's skin. It was difficult to look away from her.

"Rusted brandy in a diamond glass
Everything is made from dreams
Time is made from honey slow and sweet
Only the fools know what it means
Temptation, temptation, temptation
I can't resist

Well I know that she is made of smoke
But I've lost my way
He knows that I am broke
But I must pay
Temptation, oh temptation, temptation
I can't resist"

Temptation ~ Diana Krall
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-L25ayQEdI)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:28, Thu 12 Dec 2013.

Tom surveyed the floor with a slight sense of nostalgia: the entire atmosphere brought back strong memories of his first life.

And he supposed the same was true of most of the crowd: most of them clearly smelled supernatural. "Uh, Zoey, Jack? Unless my nose is seriously wrong, most everyone here is older than they appear, if you get what I mean. Maybe... Try and be extra-polite to your elders? Humans stick out like a sore thumb in this crowd, and security already likes us less than I would like."

Zoey looked around as Tom spoke and nodded accordingly, "Great, I wonder whose fault that is" Zoey said as she glared at Jack, "I'm pro para honest, maybe I should get a t-shirt that says so... or maybe Tom should do his thing and we can get out of here just in case" Zoey said with a sheepish smile.

Tom smiled reassuringly at Zoey: "Don't worry too much: there are a few humans in the crowd, and I'm sure people are here to have fun, not to pick fights. I'll ask security if they can keep the entry way free for a few minutes. It's less distracting if there are no people coming and going while I try to figure out what exactly happened." With that, he walked up to one of the bouncers, and explained the situation in broad strokes.

Jack glared back a Zoey. "It is not entirely my fault. I was told the staff would be cooperative. How was I to know they  weren't  -  willing to be cooperative. It is a logical assumption." He huffed and crained his neck to scaned the place. This suggested the matter was closed and he was right, at least as far as he was concerned. On to more pressing business.

"While Tom is doing his thing, I'm going to see if I can find the bartender that served her, see what they have to say. And no less important, how they say it."

A few customers took notice of Tom's spell-casting. A couple of them began to protest, but Belladonna's staff stepped in and calmed them down. The wary customers and the staff continued to watch Tom and his group closely. Everyone was still on edge due to the earlier protest, and a stranger casting spells in their vicinity was obviously making everyone uncomfortable.

Tom finished watching the scene, and went back to Krys and Zoey with a dark look on his face. "That was not helpful. Whatever killed her was either already inside her when she came to the club, or it was done so skillfully that they managed to hide every trace of it. I think she was poisoned with a delayed-effect magic."

Jack came back to the group. "Well, the bartender confirms Tom's  account. Ashley didn't appear to be intoxicated to him and he only served her one drink. Clearly, this is not the run-of-mill over indulgence of alcohol." Jack's face morphed into puzzled appearance. He pondered their next move.

"If what you say is true, Tom, that this is some sort of a time-delayed spell? Then we need to find out what she was doing, where she was, before she got here. What we didn't know is how long the "timer" was set for. An hour, a day, a year, ten?

Or, is there something here that triggered it. Like that one movie, the bomb was inactive until the bus reached 50 miles an hour. God, that may be a needle in a haystack approach. It may be better to try and figure out why her rather than how."

Jack huffed and shrugged. "Anything else you guys can think to do while we are here? To me, it appears this is the final location of the crime, but not the scene of the crime."

Krystal shrugged, "We could probably talk to her friend. Get a time line of where she was or what she did before coming here." she pointed looked at Jack and gestured to Zoey, "And I do mean, we. If all your social interaction goes the way I've seen, the girl will probably mace you before you can get anything useful out of her. Just a thought."

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life."

Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) ~ Green Day

Over the next couple of days there continued to be protests and anti-protests near Belladonna's club but, everyone was managing to keep it peaceful. The media was full of people giving their opinions both for and against Tabú, and the paranormal crowd it attracted. Friction among humans and paras in Chicago was on the rise.

The Liar's Club bar in Lincoln Park seemed to be one of the few places unaffected by the growing tension in the city. It had always been a place that welcomed all kinds of people. The owner, Frank, didn't care what color anyone's skin was, which side of the tracks they were born on, who they loved, or even if their DNA was human. As long as they didn't cause any trouble, they were welcome in his place. Most people behaved themselves at Liar's. Maybe it was because they did't want to ruin one of the few places where everyone was free to be themselves, or maybe it was because they believed those rumors that Frank used to be a Golden Gloves boxer, and they didn't want to get on his bad side.

Wednesday night at Liar's wasn't quite as crowded as the weekends. There were less college students, which gave the regulars more elbow room. This allowed Jack to give up his customary bar-stool and grab a small table where he could chat with Tom and Krystal. Zoey was working the DJ booth, but was able to join them on her break.

Jack had selected a table away from the bar and along the wall. This was an unusual choice for the reporter. He much preferred to be closer to the tap. But, close to the bar meant more people traffic past the table. Tonight, he wanted them to speak more freely with less extra ears listening in. Not that this crowd was all that interested in eavesdropping, but the setup would be more conducive to chatting.

Jack had two glasses in front of him; a half empty beer mug and a full Shotgun. The pitcher of cold beer was partly full in the center of the table. "There is a calming order to things. On good days, first a beer then the Shotgun. On bad days, Shotgun first. On really bad days, just the Shotgun and more than one."

He looked at the other faces at the table. "I'm not getting any good leads on my end. Everywhere I look, it seems like Ashley fits the 'least likely to have been murdered' type of girl. Attended the memorial and nothing seemed amiss. Well attended, sincere mourning, no shady lurkers other than me there. Any luck on your ends?"

Tom took a sip from his glass (he liked sweet cocktails, he'd found) and replied: "I tried to ask the Great Collective for something that would allow me to speak with the dead, but they haven't been particularly forthcoming. I will ask again in a few days. Usually, it takes between a few hours and a day or two, but apparently this kind of spell is quite uncommon, and the Goddess is reluctant to release its knowledge."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:05, Wed 08 Jan 2014.

Zoey bounced over on her break as Tom spoke, she gestured toward Krystal as she added, "Yeah, same here really, we talked to her sister who was there that night and she pretty much said the same thing, first grade teacher that everyone loved, no sordid past, not a partier and definitely not a heavy drinker. I don't know really, I'm out of ideas, maybe we should wait and see what the cops are digging up?" Zoey shook her head in slight disappointment before grabbing her soda and taking a few big gulps.

Jack finished his beer, which was quickly followed by the Shotgun. He smiled slightly as he grabbed the pitcher and refilled the beer glass. "Ashley wasn't married, engaged, or even seeing someone steady, as far as I can tell, so jealousy seems to be off the table as a motive. Money as a reason also is a dead end. Graduated college two years ago, normal amount of debt, no gambling I can find, and living within her means as a new teacher. It doesn't add up.

I would have liked to get a look at an autopsy, but I'm not certain one would have been done. The doctors seemed to feel certain of their diagnosis. And if it wasn't, we can't get one now. She was creamated, as was her wishes. Seemed like a very nice girl, and such a senseless loss.

As for the cops, I not even sure they are digging. Even so, they will probably put that shovel down soon. Unless something significant happens, this will be a cold case quickly."  Jack sipped his fresh beer and wiped the foam from his top lip.

Tom rapped with his fingernails on the table - making a sharper noise than one might have guessed - and said: "I have a feeling that Ashley was just collateral damage, and that the real target was Tabu. I could be wrong, of course, but either way I think the right question at the moment is: cui prodest?"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:06, Sat 11 Jan 2014.

Krystal shrugged at Tom's question, responding as if he hadn't jumped to Latin. "The problem is, the people who are gaining from it are the muggles. They usually don't have the clout for this kind of thing." She sipped on her blushed wine, thinking. "Maybe we're going about this all wrong? We're focused on one girl and can't find a pattern. What if we look for a pattern? Jack. How would we go about seeing if this has ever happened to anyone in the past? This doesn't ring of random first time to me. Something like this seems very calculated to not leave us much to go on. Maybe it's happened before and, unlike us, no one bothered to think twice." she shrugged, lifting her glass to her lips as if to say that's all she had for ideas.

Jack nodded his head thoughtfully. "That is really good Krystal. You are right, we were trying to discern a pattern with a sample of size of one. That will not work. Let me think." Jack pondered a moment. "Nothing leaps to mind, but I can ask around, dig into our Police Beat archives to see if anything else comes up. I have some contacts I can talk to, now that I have a question. They hear things, but never talk unless they get asked - with the right monetary motivation. Okay, I have a direction to investigate."

Jack drummed three quick taps on the edge of the table with his hands. "On to the 'getting to know each other better' part of the night. If we are gonna work this, I think we should." Jack took a healthy draw on his draft. "I'm easy. Hard working INS reporter. Been working these streets a long time. I got my snitches and my instincts, mostly I just ask a lot of nosy questions. I'm just one of those 'muggles' you were talking about, Krystal. But, one of us isn't."

He turned to face Tom. "I know you are hiding in plain sight. Your eyes that one day... But I can't put my finger on what you are hiding. If you want to stay in the shadows, that's cool with me. But, Tom, I am a very open guy. The girls were arrested the other day supporting paranormal rights. I think it is safe to say you are among friends. As for the Liar's Club, if you don't cause trouble and your cash is clean, you are welcome in here."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Thu 16 Jan 2014.

Tom pulled on his ear: "Well, I'm not hiding much - much that you could find of use, that is: you already know about my blessing ability and my spellcasting, and that's pretty much the extent of my active powers. As for the rest..." Tom switched to telepathy, projecting to all three of them: {I'm telepathic, more or less immortal, and have limited shapeshifting abilities. Also, I see dead people. If you want more details, we can talk in my apartment... Or perhaps I can give you a demonstration. It's about time for my smoke break, and here's a hint: I don't smoke.}

Krystal put her drink down and spoke aloud, "Ah, anyone care to join me for a smoke?" She put a napkin over her glass, then dashed a few grains of salt across it. She grabbed her large purse and headed for nearest outside door where she could light up.

Zoey listened intently and then grinned widely, "Wow, that's pretty cool. I'm just a lame muggle too" She straightened herself up quickly at Krystal's prompting, "Yeah, I'd love to...uh I don't smoke, but I'd love to keep you company" she glanced over at her dj station and added "I think I've got a good playlist going, they won't miss me" Zoey smiled as she pushed her drink aside quickly and followed Krystal outside.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 13:07, Thu 16 Jan 2014.

Jack stood as well.  He called out to the man behind the bar. "Frank, we're just going outside for a little air. We'll be back in a couple of minutes. Don't let anyone clear this away!" Jack pointed to the pitcher and his mug specifically and the rest of the glasses in general. Then he followed the others outside.

After finding a discreet spot, Tom looked at the others and began: "Alright, I have two options to explain this: the first starts with 'a long long time ago in Egypt', and the other with 'are you familiar with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?' - and they both end like this."

And with that, Tom turned into a cat.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:53, Fri 17 Jan 2014.

"Holy cow! or uhh I guess I should say holy cat" Zoey laughed awkwardly, she reached out as if to pet the cat before feeling weird and retracting her hand, "This is so cool" she turned to Krystal, "So he's some kind of were-cat? Can he talk?" she said as she turned back to look at Tom in awe.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 08:54, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

{Humans seem to have a compulsion to pet fuzzy things. Go right ahead, I don't mind, just be ready for me to pet you right back once I'm human again.} Zoey could clearly hear a smirk in Tom's mental voice, and so could the others, as he was once again broadcasting to them all. {Now for a bit of history... A long time ago, in Egypt, cats were, as you correctly surmised, worshipped as holy. The reason for that, is us. Well, not me personally, I'm nowhere near that old, but my race. I am a Bast - a High Bast, technically, as I can turn into a human being. Collectively, we are the Goddess Bast, also known as Bastet, as well as Baast and Ubasti, deity of protection, pleasure, health, and magic.}
This message was last edited by the player at 09:30, Mon 20 Jan 2014.

Jack was amazed into stunned silence as the man became the feline. The voice in his head sort of sounded like Tom, but different. When it - he - Tom finished, Jack regained his tongue. "That is my new knowledge for the day, month even. So wait, you are a collective called the Goddess Bast? Like the Borg Collective? Mentally linked to other of your kind? Where did your clothes go? Can you become other animals? Clearly I need to read more books!"