Near the Breaking Point

[hazlogs]

It is currently 09:05 Pacific Time on Thu Jun 6 2002.

Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (28% full).

Currently in Saint Claire, it's a sunny day. The temperature is 49 degrees
Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the
east at 3 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.29 and rising, and the
relative humidity is 83 percent. The dewpoint is 44 degrees Fahrenheit (6
degrees Celsius.)


St. Claire's Humane Society(#3912RJ)

Two heavy glass double-doors at the entrance of a wide, one-story building.
There's a reception desk in the front; to the right heavy glass doors lead
to the vet clinic and wild animal area, the left intersects a corridor that
shoots off in either direction -- one to the cats and little fuzzy animals,
and the other direction leads further in the back to the kennel, where Raeye
and Alicia are.

Salem pulls up in a ugly, boxy little Yugo, jerking the vehicle into an
empty parking space with little finesse. The Walker himself emerges a moment
later, looking rumpled and haggard, bloodshot eyes and clothes that appear
to be slept in. He doesn't even appear to have _shaved_ today, and the
presence of stubble around the normally well-groomed short beard is as
uncharacteristic as if he'd shown up pantless.

Raeye nods solemnly, and after giving the dog another pat on the head, she
indicates that she's moving on to the next pen, pocketing brush and leash.
"I understand. Any less caution'd be foolish, anyway. I'll keep my eyes
peeled, and stand by until I get further notice. Is there anyone else's name
I should keep in mind?" She pauses, then adds, "In case someone's been
working close quarters with the Wyrm, but not actually Tainted."

"That I have no clue of. Andrea and Sepdet is most likely the two with that
kind of information. You haven't had a weird dream lately, have you?" Alicia
asks as she moves on to the next pen, following after her friend.

Raeye shakes her head. "I stopped over in Seattle and heard from a local
that there was trouble brewing up here. They're too scared've who might
attack them if their numbers are low to send up help." She doesn't sound
irritated by this decision, but troubled. "From the sound of things, it's
going to be just Us against Them."

Salem takes a moment to gather himself, then strides toward the shelter. The
receptionist gives him a wary look, partly at his appearance, partly at the
vibes of stressed homicidal monster that he gives off. "Looking for a
friend," says Salem, as calmly as possible; his voice is hoarse and tired.
"Female, blonde, about eighteen?"

"Yah, I hear ya. But the way things are going, shit will pick up, really. I
hope. I got faith in the system ya'know." Grinning, Alicia gives chase after
a dog, her jacket flowing about her body.

[Raeye gets called away.]

The receptionist directs Salem toward the kennels, and he heads that way to
see Alicia playing tag with a dog as though she hadn't a care in the world.
He takes a deep breath, and then lets it out, heavily.

With a light grin, she swats at a pooch, then glances over at the loud
breath. Clearing her throat, Alicia stands up and heads over to him, her
playfull nature dissolving quickly. "Hey there big guy."

"You called," says Salem, shadowed eyes sweeping over the kennel area. He
rides the waning edge of a surge of adrenaline and looks exhausted, ragged.
"What's up?"

Alicia reaches out and pats him on the shoulder, clearing her throat softly.
"Old Strider Galliard just came back into town, Raeye,
Travels-Her-Path-Alone. She was trying to get into the Sept a few months
ago, but got tugged away without notice." She says in a soft, barely audible
voice. "I called ya'just in case ya'know... cuz' well.. people been missing,
coming back an ta-da.. they end up turning into spiders an trying to defile
you know what. So, I was just playing it safe while I checked her and the
story out."

"Wise," Salem replies, automatically. Then, a beat later, he squints at her.
"Spiders?"

Whispering, Alicia says. "Agatha.. came back tainted and tried to take the
pathstone. I fought against her and received my first scars. Before Eamon
and I could land the final blows, she burst into a bunch of spiders."

Salem's upper lip curls away from his teeth. "Jesus fuck, when was this?"

Alicia runs her hands back through her hair, then glances down at the
shallow scars on her arms. "Umm... 'bout a month before the recent attack.
Some speculation was that she was the traitor, and that they used her
knowledge of the Bawn and Guards to get that deep and lead the others here
later."

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit." Salem paces a short distance, dragging his
fingers back through long, unkempt hair.

Alicia nods her head and places a hand on your arm, giving a light,
comforting squeeze. "Damage is already done, we just gotta be more careful
who goes in and out now these days."

Salem swings around to face the Gaian, bloodshot eyes intent. Even the dead
one seems to stare at her; looking close, the scarred, bleached out iris is
almost visible. "Have you talked to John?"

"About what?" Alicia asks. "About Raeye here? No.. I haven't. But she's a
good kid, that I can tell. She doesn't have the taint about her, she checks
out clean and the dogs here aren't freaking out. She was close to me before
she left, its refreshing to know she's willing to work her ass off to help
us out."

Salem waves a hand across the air between them, dismissively. "No, not the--
not about your friend."

Alicia blinks her eyes. "You mean 'bout Agatha?"

Salem snaps, "_No_." Then he catches himself, taking a breath and passing
his hand across his face, fingernails rasping through black stubble. More
calmly, and quietly, he explains. "I got a message in my voicemail yesterday
morning. From _them_." He bares his teeth at the last word; his hands,
dropped down to his sides, twitch, not quite closing into fists. "They know
my name."

"The fuck? From -them-? They know how to pick up a phone and dial it? How
the hell did they get that? Holy fucking shit. This ain't good at all."
Alicia suddenly turns bouncy and excited, pacing quickly through the kennel.
"GeezusFuckingHolyMotherofWhatevertheFuckisoutthere."

Salem's agitation is upsetting the stray dogs; they're getting noisy and
restless -- some pacing, some whining, some barking and snarling with tails
tucked under their legs. "I don't know," says the Glass Walker, fingers
twitching and expression haunted. "Could be Hunter and his packs, from
Vegas, but Byte-Me _assured_ me that they'd been killed. _Fuck_." He starts
pacing again, which does nothing for the dogs' peace of mind. "That doesn't
explain the safehouse, though, or the junkyard, or the--" He stops short,
frowning in thought. Half to himself: "Possibly the Rialto. Did I tell him
about Edge? Shit."

Alicia rubs the back of her neck. "They are ganna attack the Rialto...
Andrea's pack found out. They have it planned and targeted on three moons.
New, Half, and Full. They are also ganna preform a huge Rite to defile the
Caern for good on the Full, I believe." She turns about and lets out a
breath, then reaches out to touch your arm again, squeezing. "C'mon, lets
get outta 'ere, I'll have Raeye give me a call on the cell."

Salem nods distractedly at the first part; he was there for the meeting,
after all. He lets Alicia urge him out. "Thursday night, they said."


[Later...]


Motel Room(#3561RFJ)

The banal little motel room is something of a mess. Of the table and two
chairs set up near the bed, one chair is on its side near the big vanity
mirror, outside the tiny bathroom. The other is broken, and the table's on
its side. There's a fist-sized depression in the wall, too, stuff in general
is scattered about, thrown or fallen. The fact that Salem shows no surprise
indicates that this is not the product of a break-in.

The Glass Walker lets Alicia in, then locks the door behind them -- latch,
chain, deadbolt.

Following inside the large Glass Walker, Alicia lets out a short breath,
glancing about the hotel. "Man... so you ganna hide yer'self out here or
something?" She asks, glancing your way, raising up a brow. "And do they
have the Walker voice mail number too, or just yours?"

Salem has calmed down somewhat during the drive back, but he's still
restless and edgy. And the moon's only crescent, too. He stares at the
disarray with a wan expression, then paces over toward the chair lying near
the bathroom. "I don't know," he says, picking it up. "They know my name,
and unless not a _single_ _one_ knows Questing Stone, they can find me." He
looks back at the upturned table and the chair's broken twin, and then just
sets the unbroken one upright where it is. Then he drops down into it. "I
sent a copy to John's box. I haven't spoken to him yet."

Alicia dips her head in a nod, letting out a breath. "That sucks ass dude.
Man... " Sitting herself on the bed, she props her chin up in the palm of
her hands. "You want me to stay with you then? For the next few nights? It
won't be a problem at all, that way you at least got some back."

"They said that they were coming Thursday night. Tonight." Salem pinches the
bridge of his nose, eyes squinted shut. "Which is ripe for an ambush, except
that they would fucking well _know_ I'd think that. Unless they're utter
fucking idiots, which doesn't seem fucking likely."

"So, you want me to stay or not?" Alicia asks, rolling her shoulders back a
bit. "I got silver back at my place, we can load up, and blaze the fuckers
down if we gotta."

Salem rubs his forehead. "And die gloriously." Is that bitterness? You
better believe it.

"We won't die, at all. Ok?" Ali' reaches out and gives him a nudge. "We
definitly won't be dying, that much I can tell you that. But in the end, if
we do die, it'll be with glory."

Salem glances up, meeting her eyes for a moment, and then gets up. Back to
pacing. "Die with glory. Yes, that's what we _do_, isn't it?" He pauses as a
brittle plastic cup crushes underfoot and looks down at it, scowling
tiredly. "How did they know? Fuck me bloody, _how_ _did_ _they_ _know_?"

"Well.. " Alicia says softly, rubbing the back of her neck. "You weren't
tagged with a tracking device embedded into the back of your skull or
anything, were ya?" She grasps at straws, shrugging. "I mean, hell.. all the
weird shit lately, it'd make sense."

Salem actually does bring his hand up to rub at the back of his head,
fingers digging into the thick black hair to feel at his scalp. "Nh. No.
Unless..." He thinks a moment, then shakes his head. "Andrea's pack scouted
at night, didn't they? And no vampires."

Alicia nods her head. "Yah.. They did scout at night, but how would that
involve you in any way?"

"It wouldn't," says the Glass Walker. His hand drops back down to his side,
finding nothing. "Unless they were working with the Sabbat." He grimaces.
"But if there'd been Sabbat about, there would have been signs. _Dammit!_"
His fist slams into the wall with sudden violence. Once, twice, more.
"Dammit fucking bloody shitting _dammit_!"

"Salem, c'mon.. chill. We gotta think clearly." Alicia reaches out and
catches his arm on the next fly, grunting. "Sit down, take a load off. We
/will/ get through this, together, as a pack."

Salem snarls, literally, as Alicia grabs his arm, his good eye going from
brown to gold. She manages to hold on to the tensed limb for a moment --
then it bulges with muscle, ripping free, and then he's whirling on her,
already in Glabro, teeth lengthening.

Alicia lets him go and lets out a breath, taking back a short step back. Her
chin lifts, peering up at him evenly. "Salem, Calm. Down." She says again,
leveling out her voice. "Please."

Salem breathes heavily, jaws parted and fangs visible. Then he grits his
teeth and turns away; Alicia gets a good view of his back as he reverts to
homid form. "I'm sorry."

"Its ok. I understand that you are frustrated and stressed out. We all out."
She reaches out hesitantly and touches your back, hoping that her prescence
can be a sense of comfort. "Sit down.."

Salem looks at the overturned table and the broken chair, his shoulders
sagging. "Shit," he mutters, and sits down on the edge of the bed.

Alicia settles down behind him and sets her hands upon his neck and
shoulders, starting to give him a light massage. "You'll figure things out,
we all will. Just watch your back, and also, we are there for you."

Salem closes his eyes for a moment and then, opening them, pulls away from
the Gaian's touch and pushes to his feet. "I'm going to take a shower," he
says, looking at the fist-dented part of the wall. "If anyone calls..." He
makes a vague gesture toward the clunky motel phone. "You know."

Alicia nods her head and leans back a bit, then glances over to the phone.
"They know you are in this room?" She asks, squinting her eyes.

Salem shrugs out of his coat saying only, "I don't know," in a tired,
troubled tone of voice. Then he vanishes into the bathroom. The door closes.