CHAPTER THREE ♔ what's done in the dark will be brought to the light

[wynn]

♬ god's gonna cut you down - johnny cash

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || The aftermath of Chapter 2
WHERE || London, England and variou
WHEN || Evening of June 7th --> onwards
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

In less than twenty-four hours, everything has turned on its head.

A Knight and her allies were kidnapped by Iscariot agents for execution in Rome, barely escaping with their lives.

A mission meant to free one Knight from the influence of a dark god succeeded - at the price of another's life.

A simple recon mission at a Keijen Blade concert nearly led to two Knights committing mind-controlled suicide in front of an eager crowd.

Several Knights went to see Draken Crombe, leader of the Church of the Lord's Humanity, speak in person, and learned just how sinister his religion's dogma is.

A call from Sir Hathaway alerted Wynn to the escape of the doppelganger from the Knight's dungeons, an escape perhaps aided by Elena Gilbert.

A demigod interrupted what might have been a simple smash and grab retrieval of an artifact.

And most horrific of all, in the middle of the night, hundreds of Shadowkind in New York City awoke, and walked in a mindless trance down to the Hudson River to drown themselves. Only the quick thinking and combined efforts of the Knights present and their allies prevented all of them from succeeding.

Beset on all sides, a dark time awaits for the Knighthood - who were already suffering from the capture of Dragon's Claw Sir Thomas Bancroft at the hands of their long time enemy Dimitris Sarandis of Andres Isle.

In times such as these, the light can be difficult to find. Hope itself seems somewhere just out of reach.

Comments

[likedillinger]

You know, I'm beginning to wonder what the hell you do with yourself when I'm not around for you to give crap to.

[littledhampir]

Not a lot. [Managing a wry, half smile.] Normally I don't bother but with you it just kinda comes easy.

[This is in no way the 'hey thanks for coming can I ask you some questions' that it was supposed to be...]

[likedillinger]

Lucky me.

So. You gonna fill me in on this case now and save us some time when we land?

[littledhampir]

[Rose's whole body tenses, eyes dropping to her lap as she picks at a loose thread on the sleeve of her sweater, buying herself time to find the words and where to even start.]

Sure... [Lines creasing her forehead.] A couple of our people were kidnapped several months ago and those responsible sent in a Doppelganger to take their places. Which, worked better than you might think until they managed to escape. We had Kyp in the dungeon for a week when... last night, one of our own, also a Doppelganger, helped him escape.

[She tries to keep her emotions out of it, just stick to the facts but it's touch and go for Rose to keep her voice even. (WS 10).]

[likedillinger]

Two full-blooded doppelgangers? You have any idea how rare that is?

[littledhampir]

[Crickets chirp.] No? I only just found out they existed and then we had two. Before you said... they were bad juju?! What did you mean?

[likedillinger]

I was talking about you having bad juju. First this Corsone deal, then two doppelgangers. You sure you don't have a curse hanging over your head, some crazy old fortuneteller you pissed off?

[littledhampir]

Trust me. You don't know the half of it. [No but seriously. Mirrors all around the world shattered when Rose's mother gave birth to her under a ladder on Black Friday.] My life kinda took a nosedive into crazy after I met you.

[likedillinger]

Oh, so now I'm the one taking the blame? Yeah, that's... [ wryly: ] touching. Really.

[littledhampir]

[You get a look for that one Winchester.] Yeah, as much as I might like to pin it on you, I don't actually think you could pull off the level of messed up that's been going on lately.

[She manages to return that wry grin.]

I'm just saying. Corsone? Kind of a good day.

[likedillinger]

Sounded like it, with what you said on the phone.

[littledhampir]

Yeah... It - The last twenty-four hours have kinda sucked beyond the telling of it.

[Little Miss 'putting on a brave face'. (Bluff 14 :/ )]

[likedillinger]

Sounded like a crapfest. So this... thing took your face?

[littledhampir]

Apparently. [Sore subject.] Used it to walk right out the front door with my best friend.

[likedillinger]

Wait, this thing kidnapped somebody?

[littledhampir]

[Rose's jaw tenses, hands clenching and unclenching before she can find the words to reply. (WS 11)]

No. She helped him escape. She's the other Doppelganger.

[likedillinger]

[ o h

well

that's

somethin' ]

... Did you know? That she was one of 'em?

[littledhampir]

[She nods.]

She only just found out herself. [She lets out a bitter huff of air.] She'd been worried that people would see her as a monster and then she goes and acts like one.

I don't care if we find her or not. [She at least sounds like she believes that.] It's him I want. She can live with what she's done. I want him to live through what I'm going to do to him.

[likedillinger]

If I was you, I'd take 'em both out. [ he seems to realize that sounds harsh and his brow furrows as he casts her a sympathetic look ] But I know it ain't easy when they're somebody you used to trust. Even worse, care about.

Believe me. It's one thing when they turn out to be a monster, but it's a whole 'nother ball game when you find out they all but chose to be.

[littledhampir]

[Rose shifts uncomfortably in her seat, like she's not sure what to do with herself. Her breath hitches, fingernails threatening to break skin as she claws at the palms of her hands. If it looks like she's trying to keep from screaming her anger and frustration into the air?! Yeah that's because she is.]

I don't - [Clearly Rose doesn't believe her words as much as she wants to.] I don't know if it's that simple. I don't know anything. If her saw her right now I don't know if I'd hug her or kill her. [Managing to reel herself back in, Rose's voice is cold with her next words.] Him? Him I want to suffer.

[likedillinger]

Well, lucky for you, that? Is something we can guarantee.

[littledhampir]

Good. [Rose manages a shaky exhale, lips twitching into something that vaguely resembles gratitude as her fingernails ease off from her calloused palms.]

I want to come with you - when you look for them? I figure you've got the best chance of finding them and I'm not just going to sit around and wait for news.

[likedillinger]

Good, because you were comin' anyway. I need someone who knows how she thinks. Might help lead us to him. No matter how much she might have surprised you, you know her behavior patterns, and people can't escape those forever.

[littledhampir]

[This is basically the first time in the last 24 hours that somebody has said something that makes Rose visibly relax. Because gameplan.

It... does raise another question though.]

Does that mean... If you know somebody, really know them I mean. You can tell if they're them or a Doppelganger using their face?

[likedillinger]

It ain't as impossible as people think. They only make it seem that way because ninety-nine percent of the time the person they're dealing with has no clue to even expect that they might be being had.

We're at an advantage. We're looking for 'em.