Session 9: The Things I Do For Love Report

General Summary

At the elementary school, the coterie discovers it's Parent Teacher night. Although the presence of staff here at night could open up some dialogue possibilities, it also could put the group in an awkward spot when the other adults at the school realize they've got no children who attend this school. Instead of trying to muscle their way in through the front gate, the group eventually makes their way to a ladder on the back of a classroom building and uses that to stealthily get into a classroom before devising their next move.   Ultimately, they know objectively they need to find her classroom and potentially also her office. The classroom is more easily located and pilfered through, Maki eventually finding a syllabus (After John flips Eve's desk) that details where Eve's office is and this leads El into discovering a plastic shelf filled with little maps of the school campus. Deciding not to linger long enough to face the consequences of their destruction, the coterie races to the office building in search of any leads to who this mysterious significant other might be. Sneaking into the office building, El makes her way straight to the desk and with enough patience, finds a glasses case embossed with initials that are not Eve's-- "C.E."   Reviewing her notes, she finds only one contact from her list matches the names she was given, "Clint Evans" the preferred butcher of Eustace. Cursing herself for joking that the butcher could be their prime suspect and hating that she was right, she gathers up her colleagues and they head straight to Killian's car to speed straight off to "Rusty Nail Meats" to confront their suspect.   Arriving at the shopping center, the coterie first makes their way to the back of the building to try and confirm in some way that Eve could actually be here. With some... difficulty, eventually, the coterie resigns to just cracking the street-accessible garage open and finds that Evangeline's bug is parked inside--   Killian, earlier that evening, ran the VIN for her missing car and discovered that he in fact sold her father this vehicle about 9 years ago as a 16th birthday present. Perhaps, almost a decade ago, he maybe met this girl. Regardless, he instantly recognizes this vehicle and decides to give it a good inspection to see if anything is suspicious about it. And indeed there is; the car's brakes have been cut and the ignition has been severed-- measures likely taken to disable the vehicle to keep anyone from using it for any reason. This proves to be evidence enough for the coterie to confront the butcher inside.   They enter the establishment through the front door, greeted by the butcher that warns them he'll be closing up his shop in about an hour. During this time, John creates a small diversion that allows Maki to sneak into the kitchen in search of where Eve might be hiding. With a keen eye, she finds a door hidden behind a storage shelf, but unfortunately, no key is accessible. Returning to El with this information, the group tries to stay discreet as they come up with some kind of plan on the fly, but John's suspicious movements toward the back of the deli as well as Eleanor's fearful glance at the butcher seem to trigger something inside him.   The music on the radio behind the counter is drowned out by a growing rumble of static as Eleanor's Auspex-enhanced eyes allow her to see the butcher for what he truly is- His eyes seemingly popping out of his face and strobing with aggressively flashing colors. Startled by this, Eleanor falters back and gasps, sending the butcher into a swift transformation. His lower jaw dislocates before elongating into a wolf's shape, this distortion resulting in a grotesque tearing of skin on the man's face as he is no longer able to conceal the beast within.