((Continued from: Flies on the Wall, and in Your Soup ))

Before she knew what was really going on, Noel was in a jeep. Dice were rolling. Rules were being partially explained and partially hand waved because they didn't especially seem to matter.

>"Got it?”

"No, but let's do it anyway." Once the car had stopped Noel had a notepad out and was writing furiously. They would probably laugh at her if she asked if this was some kind of satanic something. She'd heard rumors about that kinds of stuff surrounding DnD, but there didn't seem anything particularly satanic about a man rolling a kind of round piece of plastic with numbers on it.

"So who am I?"

She was handed a sheet and after a brief explanation the brunette started making even more notes. "I'm warning you now that I'm going to get really uh... into character."

She was a vampire slayer. Imagine that. Writing the lies made them impossible to discern from truth. She scribbled down what she remembered of the Buffy series as if she were the slayer, as if vampires were real, and as if vampires were discovered as allergic to foam, not garlic. "Will other people be vampires?"

She just had to think of some reason to tell herself to fight in slow motion and she would be ready to assume this persona. "Do I need to use this name?"

She wasn't even sure if she would believe her name was Ariana Moonbeam.

Katrina looked at her own character sheet. Her name was supposed to be Lavie Silvana, a fifteen year old girl and younger half sister to Ariana Moonbeam who was training her to be a slayer. She peeked at Noel's sheet. She was Ariana apparently. Then below that they both had a lot of numbers.

“Are we close enough in age to be sisters?” Katrina wondered out loud.

Edward peered over Katrina's head at Noel's sheet, then groaned. “Artemis, not every name has to have moon or feather in it.”

“Sorry,” the blonde archer shrugged, “You wanted them done quickly, I just wrote down the first thing that came into me head.”

Edward rolled his eyes and whispered to Noel, “You can change it if you want.” Then he took a look at what his own name was supposed to be. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Sorry, couldn't hear,” Percy called over some obviously unnecessary loud rattling around in the trunk. “D'you say something Mr. Cullen?”

It took a few minutes to sort out who would get each weapon, but soon they where ready to begin. Katrina gripped her foam dagger in front of her, ready to impale any nocturnal ner-do-wells. She was confident that she could handle this adventure, for as far as she knew, she was the only one who had any actual experience with unfriendly vampires.

Percy pulled on a black baseball cap that said “Judge's rule!” and straightened it with great dignity. He attached a printout to a clipboard and cleared his throat. It meant he, too, was ready.

It was Percy's hat that set her off. "Ohh!" A test! She wrote that down as Katrina peeked at her character sheet. She was being given a test... or rather her little sister, Lavie, was. That explained why there was a judge and why they had to move slowly and deliberately for clean "kills."

Perfect. Cue one reflective surface and she would be Ariana Moonbeam.

Everyone else seemed to be ready so after a few nods all around she passed a note to Percy that said "Ariana's Eyes Only: do not open until END of game" and then she went wiggly eyes on herself using the side view mirror or the Jeep. It probably just looked like she was checking her makeup or getting herself psyched up for her character.

Forget your job.
Forget what makes you Noel.
Forget your name.
Forget how old your sister is.
Her name.
Her appearance.
Forget Katrina.
Forget Percy.
Forget Edward.
Forget that vampires aren't real.

That was quite the laundry list, but it would have to do. The memorymancer made sure to leave herself clues. She didn't forget Nigel. She didn't forget the restaurant or meeting Slate or spying on him. That would hopefully let her piece some things together later.

For now she closed her eyes and let things settle down in her head.

She'd done it again. There was a notebook in her hand. The smell of grass. The sounds of people nearby and waiting. The brunette opened her eyes and ran her eyes over the notepad. She was Ariana. Her sister was small and blonde and in training. This was a test day. There was a judge waiting on them.

Ariana hefted her sword. She didn't feel entirely used to a sword and its balance, but it was maybe the foam that threw her off.

The slayer tucked her notepad into her breast pocket where no prying vampire eyes might see and sauntered over to her little sis. "Ready, Lav?" She cracked her knuckles one at a time. Just another day in the life of a vampire slayer. Lavie would know soon enough.

Percy straightened his hat, Noel checked her reflection in the car's mirror, Katrina tightened her grip on her foam dagger, and suddenly it was game on.

Her older sister asked with all seriousness if she was ready for this.

Lavie-Kat looked up to the sky where the last traces of pink and gold were slithering toward the western horizon. All around the city vampires were waking up, crawling from their coffins, sniffing to test the evening air.

The little blonde would-be slayer nodded solemnly, “I'm ready.” She looked around at the party and gave a nod to each. Percy the judge, Arty their guide through the forest, Noel her 'sister', Edward the... he was gone, vanished into the long shadows between the trees that were quickly merging together to form the night. She shivered, not just because the sun's disappearance meant the heat of the day was rapidly slipping away.

“Which way should we go?” She asked hesitantly, not sure exactly how they should proceed.

Which way? "Think Lavie, the judge is watching."

The last trickles of light were now gone from the park and the street lamps were flickering on with electric hum of night life. It was prime vampire time. "Tracking is part of this too. Think like a vamp and you might just nab one."

Or stab one. Ariana smirked. It was tough love becoming a slayer, but she'd survived. Lavie would too.

Lavie Kat glanced nervously up at the judge. Percy did his best to look imposing. The little blonde gulped. Right, this was a test. She had to learn to track without help on these hunting trips or she'd never be a real slayer.

“At this time of night, they are just waking up. They'll be emerging from their dens then starting to head towards people. We should watch for areas of freshly turned earth and the sewer grates.” She shuddered at the very real memory of the sewers beneath the park. “There are whole networks of tunnels down there where they could hide during the daylight hours.”

“If I were just waking up, I'd be thirsty right away.” Not to mention grumpy. “I'd head towards the conservatory, where they sometimes have nighttime events that gather crowds.”

Lavie Kat started down a path that wound it's way towards the conservatory at the center of the park. Already she could hear sounds floating through the darkness. A band was warming up for a free concert. Vampires would be lurking in the shadows hoping to score a free meal.

“This way,” she whispered.

Arianna tucked her sword away for now. It was true that they could be accosted by vampires at any moment, but tracking required them to move and it was never advisable to go running around with a sharp pointy stick in your hand — even if that stick was covered in foam.

> "This way." Lavie's voice was quiet but sure and that made Ari smile. Go sis! She wasn't charging into the sewers and that was a real plus for their lack of boots and for their health. It wouldn't do for them to get jumped in the dark with minimal back up.

Arianna followed her little sister's lead. As hard as it was to do that, she refrained from paranoid pointing out at the shadows that moved unnaturally or the darker blotches of shade in the woods. No need to scare the girl. The more experienced hunter gripped the hilt of her sword, her eyes tracking a shadow within the shadows moving parallel to their position. Were the stalkers being stalked? Only one way to find out.

The winding path brought them to the main thoroughfare. People of every shape and size were gathered for the first experimental twangs of a guitar. The screech of a microphone drew Arianna's eyes away fro the shadows momentarily and then it was gone. Would Lavi spot him now? Ari tried not to draw her sword prematurely so as not to tip off the girl, but she was ready and eager for the fight.

Lavie Kat's eyes darted here and there amidst the shadows, looking for anyone or anything that moved suspiciously. Every shadow was suspect, every movement in the darkness. Behind her, Ari was quiet. As were Arty and the judge who were bringing up the rear and observing from the sidelines, respectively. It was strange to be the one in the lead in a party of hunters that included three adults.

More and more of the shadows were turning out to be just regular people finding places to listen to the concert.

There! A rustle in the bushes! Katrina stepped towards it hesitantly, when a cheerfully familiar voice interrupted her forward charge.

“Hey Ari. What's up? This your sister?” Edward sauntered up and just about threw his arm over Noel's shoulders like he owned her. “You got a good spot for the concert yet?”

As for the suspicious shadow, embarrassed giggling indicated that they probably didn't really need to go over there and interrupt whatever was happening behind that hydrangea bush.

Lavie instinctively hid her foam weapon behind her back. Was Edward playing a civilian? Was he not supposed to know what they were out here doing?

“Uhh, hi.” She waved stupidly, childishly, not sure what else to do.

The hunter's focus honed in where Lavie had found something wriggly. She was so keen on deciphering the shadow that the arm across her shoulder scared the jeepers out of her. She jumped, caught wholly unaware. Her natural reaction? A good, swift elbow to the ribs despite the fact that he knew her name.

"Who are you?" Arianna raised her foam weapon as if it were much more lethal than foam. This, this guy was ruining her little sister's test. "Can't you see we're busy?"

Someone giggled from the brush and she couldn't help but feel that might be directed at them even if it was really from the intertwining shapes. It made her decidedly more... grumpy.

It was clear from her actions that Noel had entirely forgotten Edward. That or she was a fantastic actress.

Edward scoffed at Arianna, “It's me, Edward Cullen. From biology at the U. We were lab partners all last semester. Remember? Prophase?” Edward shrugged his arm off of Arianna's shoulder and stuck his hands casually into his pockets. He didn't leave though.

“So, are you going to the concert? Did you get a seat yet? Maybe we could go together and I could get to know you better this time around. I obviously failed the first time.” He was trying to be charming and badass at the same time. It probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a try.

Katrina frowned at him, highly suspicious. Why was Edward trying so hard to distract them from their mission, unless he was part of the storyline somehow. Maybe he was supposed to get attacked by a vampire or something.

Or. Something.

“We don't have seats yet,” Katrina added. Behind Edward's back she mouthed a word to her sister.

The word was bait.

"Edward Cullen is a fi—" She meant to say fictitious character in an adolescent's story, but something stopped her. Edward Cullen was a vampire. What were the odds that out in the night on a vampire hunt they would encounter a man who claimed the name of a vampire? He knew something more than he should have. She didn't know what that was exactly, but she would figure it out. "A fine name."

Besides. She remembered reading those books voluntarily. Reading them and enjoying them. What kind of slayer would 'fess up to enjoying a vampire love story?

> "So, are you going to the concert?"

She cleared her throat. "We don't have time for a concert. We're very busy and..."

And Lavie picked up where Arianna was falling short.

“We don't have seats yet.”

She raised her eyebrows at him as if to say "Yeah. We don't have seats." Because how could one go to a concert without having seats?

"Now if you'll..." Arianna again paused mid thought. Lavie had mouthed the word 'bait' to her and then pointed at the potential vampire pseudonym stealer if not an actual vampire. "If you will join us it would be our pleasure to see the concert in your company." Every word came out slightly clipped and perfectly formed so that this Edward, if that even was his real name, would not misinterpret her asking.

I hope you washed your neck. She thought the thought as hard as she could toward Edward.

They all headed towards their seats. Two of them cautiously, one of them gracefully, as if he had spent many hours in dance classes as a child or had a preternatural grace usually associated with the immortal undead. Katrina walked slightly behind the older pair, analyzing every step. Her sister walked almost the same way as the stranger from biology class.

Perhaps it was a slayer thing. Perhaps this guy was a slayer trying to scope them out just like they were trying to scope him out. With the twisted minds that had come up with this game Katrina wouldn't be surprised at whatever ended up happening.

They had reached their seats. Katrina couldn't wedge in between Arianna and the who-knew-what-he-was guy. Edward had quick elbows it would seem. Instead she took the next open seat in the row, next to Arianna. She leaned forward so she could lean around and still watch the suspicious stranger. Percy adjusted his judge hat and sat silently in the row behind them.

Up on stage, musicians were testing the mics. Things were about to get started.

After dropping off the witch, the drug lord was still left with a ninja. Somehow, in the time it had taken Slate to walk Susan to the door of the Mansion and stand with her awkwardly for a moment, Nigel had claimed the driver's seat of Slate's car. He could have ordered the man to stand down, of course. It would have been a simple matter. Somehow, however, he got distracted from this thought.

"How was your date?" Nigel asked.

"It was not a date. It was a pre-arranged social engagement--"

And so it went, until they reached Central Park. There was a bit of a traffic jam up ahead, likely due to that night's concert. The view seemed strange to Slate for a moment; things were closer, or... more on eye level. Ah. He had forgotten that they were riding in the blue car, rather than the standard Kabal black jeep. Other drivers seemed significant from this angle: how quaint.

Slate was pondering switching seats with Nigel again when both their gazes settled quite suddenly on a parked car. The traditional Kabal black jeep, to be specific. Nigel's eyes narrowed.

Are they LARPing without me again? The bleach-blonde man thought. How... quaint.

"What is LARPing?" Slate asked, checking the jeep's license plate as they edged by. OMG-337. Most certainly Kabal, and most likely Edward. When he turned back, the man was watching him thoughtfully.

"...It's like a game, Slate. Want to play?"

It took longer to park the car than to track the wayward low-levels to their stage. Or their seats, as the case might be. The three year old watched at curious attention as Nigel picked up their trail from the jeep. They had stood around briefly (all five of them--Nigel narrowed his eyes at the distinctive trace of a fourteen year old's flip-flops, and another set of light tracks likely female and recently picked up from a certain pre-arranged social engagement). Two sets of tracks branched off into the underbrush, as the girls and one seasoned LARPer headed straight for the lights of the concert. Not far down the trail, one of the stalkers rejoined them in time for the show.

It was the process of elimination, then, that put Nigel's hand over Artemis' mouth.

"Hello, Archer. Miss me?" The ninja whispered into his ear.

One heart attack and a debriefing later, Slate's goatee slipped from the darkness, followed closely by a pair of baby blue eyes and a bleach-blonde hulk of black suit and dark skin at his left shoulder.

The goatee quirked as the mouth above it smiled, like a poor actor's play at amusement. "Ah, Miss... Arianna. What a pleasure to see you again so soon. So this is your sister. ...What was her name again?" Slate could not remember. Something with an "L"?

Nigel slid into a seat behind the slayers, like a bolder slidding down a hill. Percy moved hastily ahead of the manslide. Soon Percy was seated behind a mere civilian and Nigel behind Katrina. Slate took his seat directly behind Noel. The goatee glinted in the concert lights.

The hairs at the back of her neck inched into a perfectly perpendicular standing. Ari reached for her sister's hand. This test was going to get ugly. And now that the trap was baited (Thank you, Lav, for including us in the trap.) it could go wrong at any moment.

"Lavi, whatever happens... I want you to know that I'm proud of you." She was using the brief skin contact opportunity to pass something hard and skin-warmed into Katrina's hands. It was a small cylinder. More diameter than a pen, longer than a glue stick.

"Ah, Miss... Arianna. What a pleasure to see you again so soon. So this is your sister. ...What was her name again?"

Her body went into high alert. Her hand instantly back on the pummel of her foam sword. She turned in her seat and yet she couldn't quite place the face, the voice. A brief memory of a Shirley Temple flittered by... Japanese food... "Enjoy the Asian?" Anything she could do to draw his attention away from Lavie.

((OOC: the cylinder is pepper spray... enjoy))

LavieKat accepted the object that Arianna passed to her, keeping it hidden until she could inspect what it was in the low light without anyone else seeing. The words “pepper spray” written in silver letters on a red background glinted back at her. It was a wise thing to carry if one got mugged, but in the midst of a game was she supposed to use it for real? To be honest, Katrina didn't know what pepper spray did to someone outside what she had seen in movie or on TV. Just in case, she kept it in her left hand while her right hand tightened on the handle of her foam stake where it laid hidden and ready next to her thigh.

She was waiting, watching Edward for any sign of vampirism just in case. Was he staring a little too closely at Arianna's neck? Were his nostrils flaring a little too often?

The voice from behind caught her completely off guard. She had been expecting an attack, maybe from someone that looked suspiciously like an elf, but to have Slate's voice suddenly behind her... it was unexpected. The disco lights from the stage never looked so menacing as when they glinted off of triangle pointed goatees.

Slate was playing too?

Edward did not jump. He merely turned his head slowly to take in what was becoming a crowd of familiar faces in the row behind them. He'd played enough games with Nigel, not to be able to predict what he was going to do, but to expect him to do something unpredictable. At any time. Even when he wasn't supposed to be playing.

“You know Arianna too? I don't believe we've met. I'm Edward,” he extended his hand toward the goateed young man. In his mind he added, Is your hand warm or cold? He was the picture of politeness, but ready to defend what he had already staked out as his territory.

LavieKat watched the exchange, not sure that she liked the coldness toward the newcomers that she saw in Edward's eyes.