"Is it even possible to find a... a dead guy, like this?"

[hazlogs]

It is currently Fri May 9 2003.

Currently the moon is in the waxing Half Moon phase (57% full).

The Rialto, an abandoned playhouse.

It's near noontime, as Renee makes her way to the agreed upon meeting place and and waits for everyone else. A sketchpad tucked under one arm.

Salem arrives not long after Renee, slipping into the Rialto through the side door. The Walker removes his sunglasses as he steps into the old theater's gloom and glances around as he tucks the glasses away, his expression thoughtful, eyes narrowed.

Yi is there already, and waiting for others. She's a bit punctual this time at least. Or, perhaps because she is preparing herself for something else, she there leaning against a nearby lean-able object looking discreet. "Hey there," she greets Renee as the galliard gets closeby. As Salem enters, the ragabash nods once at the Walker.

K. C. slips in, a little on the tardy side and smiling apologetically, but at least she's there. She takes a breath, decides against the long explanation, and instead says, "I hope you'll forgive me for being late."

"Hey, Yi, how ya doin'?" Renee grins nastily. "Ready ta find this sucker an' make his fuckin' day?"

Salem gives the other Glass Walker a thin smile. "You're not _too_ late, so."

The side door opens again, and a breathless Lyra squeezes through. "Sorry! Sorry I'm late!" she exclaims, tugging her hat on more snugly over her head and grinning sheepishly. "I went to the wrong building...sorry!"

Yi pulls out a twine-wrapped stone from her pocket, the thread looped so that it can be hung over one's neck. "Ready when you are," the ragabash replies, a definite touch of grimness in her tone. The stone, obsidian perhaps, is squeezed tightly. Yi looks up as Lyra arrives, and the gravity around her head lifts a little.

Salem gets another, fainter smile from K.C. and she drifts closer to the group. "Well, then."

Salem folds his arms across his chest. He glances over at Lyra, giving the younger Philodox a nod before he turns his attention to Yi.

Renee grins and waves at Lyra, a grin speading on her normally grim features. "Hey, chica! All set an' ready ta go? Yo, K.C.," She looks over at the female Walker. "Time fer you ta start talkin'. We need that Leech's name an' what he looks like. Gonna draw him up best I can, from what ya tell us."

"So long as I don't need to read maps," Lyra chirps brightly back at Renee. Yi gets a happy grin, and the halfmoon Gnawer flocks to her side and gives her a big tight hug about the middle. "(Elder sister, I didn't know you were coming on this picnic too.)"

Renee's attention shifts to the other two Gnawers and her lips thin, before she returns her gaze to the Female Walker.

Yi oofs at the hug, and smiles faintly. "(Did I ever mention I hate vampires?)" she asks Lyra rhetorically, before nodding over to the others gathered. "This may or may not work, but I'll need the most specific description. And a name helps. A lot."

K. C. smoothes her hands down her legs, somewhat nervous gesture and nods. "Yes, of course. His, ah, name is Orion, or at least that's what he was calling himself. And he's older. Business-like, you know? Not like the vampires you saw on the streets back at home." She goes on to give as clear a description as she can manage of the creature. "He likes coffee shops. And alleys. If that helps at all."

Salem glances sidelong at K.C. "This is the one calling himself the prince?" he asks.

As K. C. speaks, Renee flips open her sketch pad and scribbles like mad. Within' fifteen minutes, her has the equivilate of a police sketch in her hands. After a few adjustments with the Walker's imput, she gives the picture to Yi.

Lyra lets go of Yi so she doesn't hamper her and stuffs her hands in her pockets, humming and peering over the woman's arm at the picture. "S'good," she comments idly.

"I've always been good at drawin'," Renee rumbles softly, while giving the Gnawer half-moon a quick glance.

Yi peers down at the picture of the vampire. Sketchy, but possibly enough to get something going. "Orion," she repeats, careful not to crinkle the paper. Her voice going a little distant, she concentrates on the name and knowledge imparted on her to find this sucker. Holding the stone close to her, the Gnawer ragabash closes her eyes, murmuring mixed words of Cantonese and a really accented Garou tongue.

K. C. shakes her head in answer to Salem's question, but she lowers her voice so as not to disturb the rite. "No, he's not the prince. He wouldn't give me that one's name. Only that he was caitiff. This one's just ... one of a crowd, I guess."

Salem unfolds his arms, slips his hands into his coat pockets, watching Yi intently. He nods in reply to K.C.'s quiet explanation, mentally storing that tidbit away.

On the end of it's tether, the stone begins to twirl slowly, spinning one way, then back again, as if the twine had been twisted to set it going. There's no perceptable direction given at first, just a slow rotation until it begins to lean slowly towards the west. Just a small tug at first, then with greater surity.

Lyra smirks at Renee, adding softly to Salem, "The one Quentin and I took care of, his name was Jayce, for all that helps..." Then hazel eyes watch as the stone starts dancing.

Salem slowly lets out a held breath as the stone's uncertain movement starts edging toward a particular direction.

Renee grins savagely and her fingers twitch. "Its huntin' time," she rumbles. "Lead the way, Yi."

K. C. squints at Renee briefly, then tilts a little toward Salem and speaks lowly again. "If you don't mind my saying so, sir, it might be best not to just let them go ... charging in, guns blazing, so to speak. He -- it -- /did/ give up information. It might be more useful not missing its head."

Yi exhales ever so slowly, so as not to mess up the stone's directional tug. In her fingers, the feel of the string pulling westward causes her to open her eyes again. Wordlessly, she wraps the twine a couple of times around her hand and nods to the group. A'huntin' we will go. Though she's not sure just how long this effect will last, or whether they have the right Orion in the first place, she starts off and then pauses with K.C.'s words.

"Don't worry," Salem replies to his tribemate, calmly. "We just want to... talk. How the talk ends will depend greatly on what happens when we drop into our undead friend's lair." There's a definite coldness in the Walker's voice. Then he looks over toward Renee.

Renee's back stiffens and she looks straight at K. C., a low growl issuing from the back of her throat. "If you have something ta say ta me, say it." She snorts and looks directly at Salem, growl rising in volume. "I don't have time for your shit right now, Salem. We're all here for the same reason, so fuck off." She returns her attention to Yi, back remaining stiff. "Lets go."

Undead. Friend. Riiiight. Yi tightens her grip on a string. "It's pulling towards Elson and the business district," she mentions, making sure her concentration is still intact. Eager to set off, the newmoon starts walking again once Renee gives the word. That, and it being the middle of the day, well, it's probably better they don't walk around in a pack. With that, she moves out of the Rialto and onto the streets.

Salem's mouth thins, twitching in anger, and then his face goes flat and neutral, a shutter slamming down. Taking out the dark glasses from inside his coat, he dons them and follows Yi out into the street.

Renee follows the Gnawer Ragabash, stuffing her hands into her pockets.

K. C.'s chin lifts and she tilts her head, not doesn't answer the challenge. Instead, she watches the interplay between Salem and the Gnawer elder, then follows them out of the Rialto.

Being that it's drawing close to 1pm, the lunch rush is in full swing. People wander to and from the nearby park, enjoying the reasonably calm day, while others come back and forth from the cluster of pizza parlours and fast-food joints in the southern blocks, only a few sparing the odd look for a motley crew coming out of the dilapedated old theatre. Yi's stone leads quite decisively west, with perhaps a hint of north as well as she steps further away from the Rialto.

Yi leads the group down and through the lunch break crowds, occassionally clearing her throat at the person who gets in her way. Orion, she repeats in her head like a mantra. Onward, over the asphalt river and through the concrete woods. "Just exactly what are we looking for?" she asks pseudo-casually, as if this were a random conversation amongst peers.

Renee shrugs, casting a quick look around her. "Hmms. Place that has a room without windows."

Salem, striding along with his hands folded casually into his coat pockets, shrugs. "Could simply be a place with a good basement. But we _should_ be led right to it, if the stone's right."

"Would've stayed home if I knew I'd be heading back there," Lyra grumbles, rather miffed that all her running around lost had been for nothing.

K. C. pipes up again, saying, "I'd say Renee's guess is more likely than a basement. He didn't seem like the basement-dwelling type."

Westwards still, through the outskirts of the commercial zone. Office blocks abound, right along there with shops of all kinds. The Stone pulls north now, more decisively once the western slant begins to relax. North through more shops and annoying throngs of parents and children, to an apartment block in the artsy district. It's crumbling a little around the edges but otherwise in tact, and is fairly obviously a place where students rent.

The door is typically one of those buzz-call ones, with a panel to the side listing room numbers and names. None appear particularly out of the ordinary, and while they're grouped by floor, there dosen't seem to be a listing for the basement.

Renee squints at the door and crouches down, eyeing the lock in annoyance. "Don't have Open seal, do ya?" She asks Yi, voice hopeful.

The stone, previously pulling towards the building, begins to strain upwards, pulling over Yi's hand. Then it drops, swinging wildly under it's own momentum, and eventually swinging to a halt.

Salem glances upward, scanning the building and the windows -- the ones visible from the street, at least. His expression remains stonily neutral.

Lyra peers suspiciously at the stone. "What's it doing loop-de-loops for?" she asks quizzically, looking straight up into the sky as if their Leech had just flown over their head. Might've. Leeches can do funny things...

Yi smiles, the glint of her eye indicative that she does know the gift. "Thanks to Joey," she answers, "yes." She looks down at the stone's erratic swings, before looking to the floor. "It might not work with the electronic door, but I can try." Putting her hand onto the doorknob of the gate, the Gnawer goes back to concentrating. This time, on making the lock open itself.

Windows, and lots of them. It's a tall building, perhaps thirty or so windows visible from this side, none of which seem particularly obscured. Net curtains, flowerboxes and hanging laundry are some of the many things in front of them, but nothing that would unduly block out sunlight.

The door's lock, once approached, seems rather resistant to Yi's charms at first, the lock refusing to budge. It takes a few long minutes to accomplish anything, victory coming with a sudden and rather final-sounding click.

"Good goin'," Renee rumbles, eyes focusing on the door handle.

Salem merely grunts and drops his gaze down toward the door, then Yi. "Lead on."

Renee grins, as the door's lock finally clicks. "An' we have victory. Yer fuckin' fantastic, Yi. I say we go up a few floors an try workin' on that Rite again. Sound good?"

K. C. watches the stone rise and fall, and frowns a little, eyebrows knotting together. She looks up as well, then back at the door. "Good job," she tells Yi.

"Chinese delivery!" Lyra adds helpfully, tugging on one of her hat-tassels. "Onward Macduff?"

Yi clears her throat with satisfaction when the lock opens. She hasn't lost her touch yet. Thanking the spirits of both the lock, and the ones that help unlock, in her head the newmoon continues onwards. "How far up?" She runs the free, untwined hand through her hair.

Into the building, well, it's not much better inside than out. The walls of the hallways and stairs are brightly decorated with cheap paint, the lower half given over to graffiti of all kinds, while the upper half - sectioned off by a strip of sunshine yellow paint - is left plain white. Some kind of statement, probably.

There's two stairwells leading up, one near the door and one at the far end of the corridor, as well as a pair of lifts roughly halfway along, where there's also a CocaCola(tm) can-vendor.

The building is about 15 stories tall.

Renee scratches at her cheek and hmmms. "How 'bout we go up ta ten, ta start." Making her way ove rto the elevator, she hits the 'up' button.

"Thin walls," Salem murmurs, not just to himself. He'd removed his sunglasses upon entering the building, and seems to be assessing the place critically.

The Gnawer halfmoon just tugs on her hat-tassel and glances around. She's trying to look sauve and casual, but she's not letting go of her hat, either.

All the more reason to be quiet, Yi supposes. A silent look to them all, and the ragabash breathes out again. Focus. Even as the elevator comes to their service, she's preparing a second time to ask for some help of the spirit of the stone.

"We'll have to check and see if there are apartments on both sides of the ... hall," K. C. says. "Something further away from the outside is more likely to have no windows. Right?"

*DING!* The elevator sounds so cheerful in the ambient quiet of the hallway, the spell broken as a pair of young kids get out and head for the main door. Coulden't be older than eight or nine, and quite evidently not bothered with going to school. Other than that, there's still nobody else around, beyond a couple of cockroaches crawling laboriously up along one of the far walls.

Renee watches as the youth's slip past the group, then ducks into the elevator. Holding it open until everyone is inside.

Salem steps back as the kids go past, his eye following them for a moment. Then he moves into the elevator.

"Truant," Lyra mumbles under her breath as the kids go by, heading after the other Philodox into the electronic people-mover. She glances at K.C., having met her once but not often enough that she can't resist peeking at the Walker.

Yi only glances at the kids in passing, getting into the elevator and waiting without a word. She also looks at K. C., but that's because she hasn't met her before.

Everybody's abord and the elevator door slides inexorably closed. A rather crackly woman's voice announces, "Going! Up!" As she does so, the room lurches into motion, the whirr of electronics and hydraulics soon filling the silence.

It does take a while for this machine to reach the tenth floor, but when it does so, the same woman's voice relates, "Tenth floor! Doors! Opening!" And lo, they open, revealing a hallway much like the one that's just been left. A large number is painted opposite the elevator's dootway to indicate the floor, and the number is '9'.

Renee snerks. "Guess the elevator is busted. Good a place ta start as any. Do yer stuff, Yi."

Renee squeezes out of the cramped elevator and gives the hallway a quick once over.

Salem wrinkles his nose at the disembodied voice, then shakes his head slightly and steps out of the elevator after the rest. Like Renee, the tall Walker scans the hallway.

Unless the basement happens to be numbered floor 1, that is, Yi thinks to herself. Did she ever mention she didn't like elevators either? Still, the ragabash makes her way out and scans up and down the hallway for watchers. "Ok, hold on." She walks a couple of paces away from the group, and again, repeats what was done before. It will take a little longer this time, she thinks, but they're close. According to the stone, at least.

Lyra frowns and steps off, looking at the '9' curiously. "So...if...the elevator said it was ten but this says it's nine..." She thinks a moment. "Where we were was the lobby and the second level is really floor one." She glances to Salem, wrinkling her nose. "Is that an American habit? The French do that."

The hallway is tiled in brown, and the tiles are a little wet. Not so much so as to be slippery, however, the source of this dampness coming from the cleaning lady a little further along, industriously tackling grime and dirt with a grubby mop and filthy water. Some things never change.

Apart from her, there's little enough of interest in the hallway itself, doors leading off of this hallway beginning at '1001' and leading down to '1015'.

Finally, the stone. It twirls a little as before, twisting and rotating slowly, but ultimately stops without giving any useful information.

"That's not uncommon," Salem replies to Lyra. He cocks an eye down the hall toward the cleaning lady, almost warily.

"Ninth floor," K.C. says, "but the apartments start with ten." She shakes her head. "I don't think the architects and hallway painters were talking to one another, for whatever reason." She glances over at Yi and the stone, and asks, "Anything? Think he's still here?"

Renee mutters faintly in annoyance, as the stone fails to do anything useful. "Well, anyone got any bring ideas?" She asks, quietly. "I could head outside an' look fer boarded up windows, s'bout all I can think of right now."

Yi puts the stone away, tucking it into a pocket. "We could check downstairs," she suggests. "In the basement." The cleaning lady noted, she keeps her voice subdued. Thin walls indeed.

"Might ask the help?" Lyra suggests, watching the cleaning lady as she focuses her attention on something else, something moving at least. She's speaking softly too, and twirling the tassel in her fingers. "If our chap tells his name to Miss Kasey, p'raps he told his landlord too."

"You volunteering, Lyra?" Salem glances down at the young Gnawer Philodox, one corner of his mouth quirking upward.

More mopping from the elderly cleaner. She dosen't seem to notice that there's a group of strangers milling around near the elevators, nor that she's the subject of discussion. No, she's quite intent on her mopping, even though her efforts do little more than push the dirt around to new resting places.

"It's not a bad idea," is K.C.'s vote. "Go ahead." A little encouraging smile for Lyra.

Yi peers back at Lyra, a nod indicating her approval at least. "No harm in asking," she notes with a look up to the cleaning lady.

Renee cracks her knuckles. "As good a sugestion as any."

Lyra eyes Salem and then K.C., and as if -they- were vampires, takes a cautious step away from them and closer to the cleaning woman, grinning despite herself. "'H'lo? Excuse me," she asks brightly and sweetly, twirling the tassel. "We're looking for a Mister Orion? Is that it? Don't suppose you know where he'd live, do you? We've been wandering around for over an hour already..."

At first, there's nil response from the old woman. Then, noticing Lyra's proximity, mainly by virtue of the fact that there's a foot where she wants to put her mop, the cleaner looks over at the Gnawer Philodox. "EH? WHAT'S THAT?" she bellows, leaning towards Lyra as if to try to hear a second time. Apparently, she's a little on the deaf side.

While Lyra's interrogating the cleaning lady, Salem turns to the others. "If we can't narrow down where he lives and the basement turns up negative, we should set up a watch on the place. Stake it out in pairs, rotate in shifts if necessary, though he probably leaves each night."

Lyra blinks, startled by the sudden shouting. Undaunted, she repeats, -loudly-, "Mister Orion! Where could we find a Mister Orion?"

Yi winces at the shouting. Nevertheless, she nods at Salem. "That could work," she replies, "unless he knew, and moved on already." The newmoon looks over at Lyra and the cleaning woman, hoping they'll get something substantial.

The old dear seems to think about this for a moment, using the time to dunk her mop in the nasty-looking water she's got in her bucket, and wring it out again. "HAVE YOU TRIED NUMBER 504?" she inquires at volume, straining to hear herself over her own infirmity.

Salem rubs his chin. "That _is_ a possibility..." He glances back over at the deaf cleaning lady and the PhiloGnawer.

"Yes!" Lyra shouts back, nodding her head emphatically to make the affirmation even clearer. Has the philocliath lost it? "Do you know where he can be found!"

K. C. says, "I haven't been chasing him, and I never followed him home, so I don't know wh--" She trails off to stare, a little taken aback, by the shouting, but she clears her throat and goes on. "I don't know why he'd just pack up and move. Still, if it's shifts, I'm good for it."

The cleaner swishes the mop across the floor right in front of Lyra's feet. "WAS HE NOT IN?" she prompts, looking bemused. "THE ORIONS LIVE AT 504!"

Yi notions with a tilt of her head. "504," she notes. But the second shouting gives the Gnawer a pause. Orion/s/? "(Crap,)" she utters profanely. "We didn't check the listings of the residents on the front door, did we?"

Long distance to the room: Salem hrms. Snaik mentioned the door listings and that none of the names seemed out of the ordinary. Assumed that there _was_ no 'Orion' listed.
From afar, to the room, Snaik nopes. No 'Orion'.

Renee shrugs. "So, we gotta number now. S'what matters. We gotta head down five floors an' take a look, eh? I say we take the stairs, this time."

Hah, her sneakers have suffered enough that drowning means little to them now. The Gnawer doesn't step back from the path of the mop. "He was -not- in!" Lyra shouts again. "Not in 504! WHERE CAN WE FIND HIM?" Philodox looks all huffed and puffed out, now.

K. C. shakes her head slowly, and worries at her bottom lip before saying, "I don't think that's him. I think I remember him saying something about coming here from another city. I doubt he'd move in and just happily list his name."

By this point, the old woman is confused. "TRY RECEPTION," she deflects, only wanting to get these people off her hallway so she can continue cleaning in peace. She shakes the mop at Lyra as if to emphasise a kind of 'shoo'.

Salem frowns slightly. "I don't recall seeing an 'Orion' listed outside. Mm." He seems dubious now, and as Lyra continues to shout, he grimaces faintly and turns toward the stairs.

Lyra nods and smiles, although the shaking of the mop hurries her along. "Thankyou," she calls back half-heartedly, returning to the Scooby Gang with a slight shrug of her shoulders and tug on her tassel. "If that was any help, ladies and gentleman?"

Yi nods once at Lyra, a little amused at the way she handled the cleaning lady. "Well then, let's go down and get off the lady's floor," Yi says, heading down the nearest staircase.

Renee smiles at Lyra. "Ya did good, Chica." With that, she scoots down the stairs.

The staircase journey is pretty uneventful. Walkers in the party may notice the odd 'roach making it's home, or scuttling between food and nest, but apart from that and some seriously eye-hurty paint colours, there's little of interest. As with the floors above, the floor number' is painted at intervals along the wall, this time the '5's are decorated with little flowers. Aww.

Salem is immune to the charm of little flowers.

Yi blinks a couple of times at the flowers. "You've got to be joking," she mutters, suddenly remembering those two little kids that ran by them at the elevator. Maybe they live here. "Flowers?"

K. C. wrinkles her nose at sight of the flowers, and murmurs, "Well, you make do with what you have..."

"I think they're cute," Lyra pipes up defensively, patting the painted things as if to reassure them that yes, indeed they were wanted.

Renee snorts. "Who cares. Yi, could ya open this door fer us?"

Salem has drifted toward the back of the group, keeping alert. He looks troubled; not nervous but still tense. His expression remains otherwise unreadable.

K. C. blinks and steps abruptly forward. "Wait. You can't just go opening this door up. We don't even know if it's -his-. Knock. We're knocking first," she says, and steps up to the door to do just that.

Yi looks at Renee, then the others. This could be a bad thing, she thinks to herself. All they need now is to open up the door to get face to face with Mrs. Orion. "Yes, but this isn't..." Well, K.C. interrupts for her. That's what she was going to do.

Renee shrugs. "Suit yerself. Never was known fer havin' the best manners, myself."

Lyra just tugs her hat down over her eyes and holds onto her tassels with both hands.

*knock knock* There's a short pause before the door opens and a young girl of perhaps twelve or thirteen years pokes her head around the door. She's got ruddy, freckled skin and a shock of red hair, bright green eyes that are trained exclusively on KC now. It would be easy to paint her as Fianna, if she weren't just another human. "Wot?" she inquires succinctly of the Walker woman.

Well then. That would have been bad, busting in on a child, wouldn't it? K. C. smiles as politely as she can manage and leans forward a little. "Hello. I don't mean to bother you, but can you tell me if your father's home?"

Yi smiles vaguely, having backed off from the door. The lot of them must look rather odd at this point. She shakes her head a bit, but otherwise checks out the interior of the apartment through what very little she can see through the crack.

"Moooom!" the child calls, pulling back from the door and pushing it to, though not closed. A few moments later, an older woman with much the same looks as her daughter opens the door again, looking cross. "Who d....oh. Can I help you?" she challenges, apparently these people not being quite whom she was expecting. Grey-green eyes look over the motley bunch, before settling on KC.

Salem shares a glance with Yi, then looks away, down the hall, lips thinned, still tense and vaguely irritated.

Renee yawns and takes a step back, before leaning against the hallway wall.

Lyra peeks out from under her hat and smiles faintly at the mom.

K. C.'s eyebrows lift and she straightens up. Her smile remains firmly in place. "Good afternoon, ma'am. I really am sorry to disturb you. It's just that I was looking for an acquaintance. I'm new to town, and I'm not sure I've got the address right. No direction sense," she lies politely. "I'm looking for a man who used to call himself Orion." It might be a nickname, after all.

Distinctly defensive, the mom replies, "I don't know anyone by that name. Maybe you got it wrong. I'm Mrs O'Ryan." Inside the apartment, there's the sound of another voice, possibly a young boy, calling out, "Who's there, mom?" She makes 'shush' gestures with her free hand. The sooner rid of these, the better.

Yi now faces slightly away from the door, with that faint smile plastered on her face in a friendly fashion. At least, as friendly as one can get given the odd circumstances. She'll just let K.C. do the talking. Even though, it seems like they got the wrong Orion.

Hearing the conversation, Lyra pulls the hat back down over her eyes.

Right. K. C. clears her throat again, and has the grace to laugh a little at herself. "Oh, that's why ... well. I apologize for disturbing you, again. I hope you have a good afternoon." That said, she turns back to the motley crew that stands behind her, shrugs, and says, "Wrong apartment."

The door is unceremoniously closed. Not quite slammed, but neither is the ending particularly polite. Seems someone didn't want visitors.

Renee's nostril's flare and she hmmms, lips tugging downward in a frown.

Salem grunts and straightens up. He casts a glance over toward the O'Ryan's door, then turns back toward the stairs. "The stone led us to this building. Might as well check the basement." He looks over toward Renee, face and voice flat. "Or set a watch, as I suggested earlier."

Yi hides the roll of her eyes, only nodding at the clear fact that you know, this stuff isn't nearly as easy as it looks. She starts back towards the stairs though, keeping her face neutral. "Should have checked the names on the door," she mutters. No doubt, she's disappointed that her rite failed. No, worse, it led to a dead end. "Is it even possible to find a... a dead guy, like this?" The pause taken, voice lowered, the Gnawer ragabash opens up the staircase door. "Basement's a good idea."

"There's an intelligence there," Salem points out. "He's not _really_ dead."

"Basement yes, let's," Lyra thirds, still from under the hat. She's acutely embarrassed that all her shouting got them nowhere. "Lead the way..."

Renee pushes off the wall and follows Yi, lightly draping one arm over the other Gnawer's shoulders. "Ya did fine," she mumurs. "Basement is cool. Settin' watch if that doesn't pan out, sounds like a decent plan ta me."

K. C. follows after the rest, folding her arms across her chest. She glances back at the O'Ryan's door, just in case, but files through the door to the staircase when it's her turn.

Yi glances at the hand over her shoulders, and then nods at Renee. "Sometimes things just don't go like planned," she agrees, and thus makes her way down the flights towards the basement. O'Ryan. Haha. She'd laugh, if it were a less leech-related situation.

As the motley group reach the ground floor - if there's a basement, the stairs don't go to it - the younger girl from apt 504 skids down from the other flight of stairs, panting. As she spies the group, however, she begins to leg it back upstairs, for whatever reason.

Lyra blinks, watching the girl's odd behavior. "Someone should head up after her, see if she snitches?"

Yi turns around, spying the girl and considering. Eyes narrowing slightly, she nods in agreement. "Thin walls," she notes. "Maybe they're drug dealers though."

Salem turns toward the sound of rapid descent, his gaze fixing on the girl just before she beats a retreat. "Snitches on what?" Still, he's frowning. Not that he's stopped, really. "Mnh. Could be anything." He shakes his head irritably and looks for a door that might likely lead to the basement. If, of course, there _is_ a basement.

K. C. turns toward the girl as well and watches her dart off again. "Maybe she's just curious. We're not exactly blending in here, you know?"

There dosen't seem to be any way down from this hallway. The only doors that don't lead into apartments, or out to the roadside, are marked with the male and female bathroom symbols respectively, and one labled 'PRIVATE'.#

Yi considers the Private door. "Could be just a closet," she notes with a thought. "Should I, anyway?" Her gaze goes to the others.

Renee grunts. "Or she was headin' for the 'private door.' Sure Yi, give it a shot."

Yi nods, rolling up a sleeve and withdrawing a lockpicking tool from a brace on her wrist. One hand on the knob, the other working the metal piece, the ragabash twists the material and attempts to break in the traditional way.

K. C. glances at Salem and takes a breath. "I suppose it won't hurt to explain to the super what we're doing breaking into his apartment. Worst case scenario."

The door opens easily enough to reveal.....janitor's equipment. Mops, brooms, industrial-sized tubs of soap powder, and a small stairway leading down into what looks like some kind of spare-parts store. Pretty dark down there.

"Worst case," Salem agrees, just before Yi reveals the equipment room and the stairs leading down into blackness. His eyebrows lift. "Hm."

Yi looks down at the storeroom stairway, and then back to the others. "Doubt there's anything down there. It'll probably be better to wait for nightfall."

A watch is put up on the building. K. C. and Renee take the first shift.