My Librarian is Missing!

[Martin Le Roux]

Chigaco Tribune's 30 January 1925 issue was a cliffhanger. It had very important information regarding Chicago's political movers and shakers of the day, but the 31st issue was missing. It was maddening. He had half a puzzle piece that needed to be dried out, but he had no press, or the other half. Martin had been laying low since returning to Chicago with Jude, who, so far, had managed to mostly keep out of trouble. He had a habit of doting too much on certain kine, but overall, had managed to behave better than expected. The hard disk Jude had formatted (mostly by accident) had only taken a few hours of data recovery. No harm would have been done anyway: Martin was nearly obsessive about making backups.

Things had gone smoothly, and although Martin wanted to be more social, keeping Jude safe was more important. But tonight, he needed the other piece of the puzzle, and it was possible Fiona might have it. The Malkavian slept at odd intervals, and seemed to be one of his sleep cycles. Martin left him a note.

A worked over black Subaru Legacy Spec. B was Martin's inconspicuous car of choice. The turbo flat four burbled to life. The sun had gone down only an hour prior. It was nice to be out of the house, if only for a brief time. Fiona's book store was not too far way. Unfortunately, Fiona was not there, and the newer clerk, although helpful, did not turn up anything of use. Martin tipped him a ten and decided to talk to Fiona herself. It was possible she had a copy of the paper tucked away somewhere, or knew where to find it.

Minutes later, he knocked on Fiona's door. He was dressed casually but stylishly. Arranged properly, he would fit in almost anywhere.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: The door was opened, and Martin was assailed by Velvet Revolver at rock concert volume. He was greeted not by Fiona, but Brigid. With bottle in hand, she invited him in ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Brigid had good taste in beer, but from the scent of her skin, she had more than one already.

"Brigid!" He yelled. She rolled her eyes and turned the music down. If he was not dead, his ears would have been bothering him.

"Hello."

[Brigid Cassidy]

"Nice to see you again, Le Roux. ;) Where you been hiding?"

[Martin Le Roux]

Martin sighed.
"Home." He said in a tone that made it clear he didn't really want to discuss it too much.

"Been keeping in the right amount of trouble?" He asked, with a half-smile. To ask Brigid to stay out of trouble was an impossible task.

[Brigid Cassidy]

"Nope, been a good little girl while Fiona's away." she said, settling back onto the leather couch with legs akimbo. She was a shameless flirt around Martin.

[Martin Le Roux]

"Fiona isn't here?" Martin frowned, and lowered himself into an empty recliner.

"England or France?" He asked.

[Brigid Cassidy]

"She left for Paris, but that was a week ago. Apparently there's something going on in London. Something about the Sabbat."

[Martin Le Roux]

"I know." Martin said and sighed again.

"So, mademoiselle, Fiona and her ombrez assez have left you behind to guard the tower?" Brigid liked it when he mixed French in.

[Brigid Cassidy]

"Yeah, but I've got Carte Blanche." she purred before taking a long sip from the bottle. Then her curiousity kicked in.

"Anything I can do for you?

[Martin Le Roux]

"Newspaper article, Tribune, early 1925. Someone went through a lot of trouble to bury it." Martin grabbed an errant remote and flicked it at Brigid, which smacked her the shoulder. She hadn't been paying attention and spazzed.

Martin laughed for the first time since Jude had tagged along.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: She tossed a pillow back at him ::

"1925, huh?"

:: She stood up ::

"We can take a ride downtown if you like."

[Martin Le Roux]

"Not if you are driving." Martin stated firmly. The last time he had been on the back of one of Brigid's bikes he spent a night healing, after being scrapped up from the pavement. It wasn't Brigid's fault completely, but he wasn't exactly eager to jump on the back of a motorcycle again.

"I hope we're going somewhere other than the Tribune or any library in the city, I've checked all of them already."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid reached over to the counter to collect the keys from their feline guardian, and downed her last gulp of beer ::

"Keys to the Kingdom." she said, twirling them on her finger. She took up her Hanzo sword before they left for the shop.

[Martin Le Roux]

Brigid had never really seen Martin drive before, and he was a little eager to get back at her a bit. He flipped a switch next to the fog lights, and a moment later the car idled much more loudly.

"Seat belt." He reminded her while his foot played a bit with the throttle, but stayed below 2000 RPM. Brigid obeyed, and Martin brought the car up to 5000 RPM. The turbo hissed audibly. He put the car into gear and lifted off the clutch. Four tires squealed against the pavement while the whole car squatted. Brigid was shoved violently into the seat.

One 15mph
Two 25mph
Shift. The exhausted popped loudly as a dash of unused fuel ignited.
Three 45mph
Four 60mph.
Shift...


Martin approached corner and tapped the brakes, loading the front end. His right foot working the gas and brake while his left shifted the car back into second. He turned the car left for a moment, and then hard right at the green light, allowing the car to pendulum neatly in the limited space. He worked the car back straight with the throttle and a wiggle of the steering wheel. The process continued until they were two blocks from Fiona's book store, and he flicked the switch again, making the car quiet again.

"Well, we are here."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid ran her fingers playfully across the ceiling as she stretched, and turned to grin at Martin ::

"Foreplay." :D

[Martin Le Roux]

"Perhaps."

Martin was a little disappointed, but then, Brigid had gone through more than one motorcycle wipe-out. He smiled at her anyway.

They got out of the car, and weaved straight to the back of the store. Martin had been in Fiona's store room on several occasions, but never when she was not present. It felt a little disconcerting.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid unlocked the doors and let Martin do his search ::

"Gonna tell me what it is you're looking for?"

:: Her curiosity was picqued ::

[Martin Le Roux]

"Early edition of the 31st of January 1925 Chicago Tribune. It cannot be the late edition, the article I'm looking for was heavily edited."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid pointed to a stack of boxes on the west wall and joined in the search ::

[Martin Le Roux]

After two hours, both of them were coated in dust. Their search had revealed nothing. The early edition was nowhere to be found. Martin sighed. He had been doing that often.

"I do not think that even Fiona has this." He shook his head slowly at Brigid. "It is buried well. Whatever was written was very damning of the Kindred at the time, and therefore an important part of the Chicago puzzle." Martin straightened.

"Brigid, you cannot tell anyone about this under any circumstance. Including Fiona. Especially Fiona."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid folded her arms and gave Martin a dubious look ::

"That's a bit extreme, considering it was Fiona you were looking for help from, not me. What's so dire about it?"

[Martin Le Roux]

"I was only going to ask Fiona because I am out of other options." He looked at Brigid with a mix of troubled desperation and concern.

"Brigid, I would tell you but then someone might kill you. I have friends you do not have. Even for me, this is a little dangerous." Martin was disturbed by the whole affair. Brigid had very seldom seen him loose any composure under Conditions that many other Vampires would have frenzied under.

"I cannot tell you Brigid. Maybe in fifty or a hundred years."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid's face mirrored Martin's ::

"I was here when Lodin called down the bloodhunt, La Roux. You remember that? If this is as dire as you're making it, you'd better shoot straight with me right now."

[Martin Le Roux]

"Yes." Martin said firmly.

"I remember you standing in the way of a very confused Werewolf so I could run. Do you not remember my protest of the blood hunt, and how I was thrown out of the Prince's sight?" Martin's French accent came back.

"Brigid, I have slain Sabbat with you. I have saved you from beheading. You have saved me, too. Both of us know many terrible secrets that no one should. I cannot share this one with anyone. Not yet. It is awful if not viewed in the proper context. It is enough to burn Chicago again if it falls upon the wrong ears."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid rolled her eyes as she turned from Martin in annoyance ::

"Whatever."

[Martin Le Roux]

"Do you think I enjoy carrying something so terrible alone?" Martin asked.

Bridgid did not answer. Fair enough.

"I do not think Fiona has what I am looking for." He said as he replaced another stack of newspapers into the sealed box.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid looked at him again after calming herself ::

"Yeah. What is it with you vamps and martyrdom anyway? I thought that was just Anne Rice."

:: She held up a hand to cut him off ::

"Forget it."

:: She turned and walked out into the main room ::

[Martin Le Roux]

"It is not..." Martin had started to speak. He frowned and finished replacing the box. He could hear her walking away slowly. Bridgid always caught him by surprise, even after 30 years. It wasn't fair. He slumped against one of the filing cabinets and sunk to the floor, realizing that he might never be able to put the pieces together to this terrible puzzle. Frustration ate at him for being so close. Martin pulled his knees up to his chin and stared at the empty doorway. It stung, what Bridgid said, but it seemed false. It was not martyrdom, but guilt, for being a monster, a parasite. It could be absolutely crushing, and he was in the depths now.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: She paced around a few minutes before getting distracted by a statuette. A Fu lion. It allowed her mind to drift until Martin was finished ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Over time, it is not uncommon for a Vampire to go deeper into madness as lifetimes of existence weights down on them. Some Kine have slept the days away, waiting until they felt better to rise again. The Toreador tortured themselves more thoroughly than most, being so close to humanity but unable to pull themselves up the ledge. Instead, they can peer over the edge and remember before the weight drags them down again.

Some let go, leaving only ash in the wind as they wanted to watch the sun rise.

Martin sat, frozen by over 200 years of unliving. The abyss had stared back.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Curiosity led Brigid to check back on Martin. She kicked herself when she saw him. The look on his face was something she'd seen before, in other Immortals before they went off the deep end ::

"Oh no, no, no ... you aren't gonna crash and burn on me."

:: She crouched down in front of him and touched his arm gently ::

"I'm sorry."

[Martin Le Roux]

Brigid had the smallest of warnings. Martin's lips pulled back from his teeth. His opposite arm shot forward, and his hand encircled her neck. He stood, lifting her off the ground. The only concession to her weight was one foot forward to maintain balance.

Martin growled.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid grabbed onto his forearm with both hands and kicked out with her feet to double kick, a left to the belly and a right to the groin. Hopefully, it would encourage him to drop her ::

[Martin Le Roux]

The impact barely registered, but the look in her eyes did. The mixture of suprise and panic were a mirror. He took in her scent, the sickly-sweet aroma of immortal blood. Her face was beggining to change color.

In a surpreme effort of will, he let go. Brigid coughed and sputttered before sucking in ragged breaths. He stared down, fighting the beast. His teeth were still bared, and he shook his head like a dog sneezing.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: She rubbed her throat as she lay sprawled at his feet, and glared at him ::

"Come and get it, Le Roux ..." she rasped defiantly.

[Martin Le Roux]

"Course! Course de femme!" He yelled.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid scoffed, opting to clip his knee and put him on his back instead. He needed the angst beaten out of him ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Years of fighting discipline were on Brigid's side, but Martin knew how to fight, too. She had seen him use firearms, and the ocassional blade, but never in a hand to hand brawl.

He bounced to his feet in a flash. To him, she moved in slow motion. Giving him plenty of time to deflect her incoming kick, which she converted into a spinning backfist that connected hard enough to turn his head. It was his speed and strength against her extensive experience. With her arm up, Martin slammed a fist into her exposed ribs. A painful crunch sounded as she was lifted an inch off the ground from the blow.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: A rib cracked as she fell up against the wall. She coughed and braced herself for what came next ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Martin pounced, knocking Brigid to the floor. He plunged his fangs into her neck and started to drink. It was all wrong. As soon as the first gulp hit, and done with the second gulp he withdrew. The room seemed to drip away, revealling the starless city sky at half-moon. He pulled Brigid to a sitting position.

"Oh dear." He said. "The room seems to have washed away."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid whimpered as Martin sunk his fangs in, letting him take what he needed to get through it. She leaned against him as her broken rib repaired itself. The bite marks healed shortly after ::

[Martin Le Roux]

"You're beautiful." Martin said, after taking a long, stupid glance at Brigid.

"You should wear earings more." He added, and patted her on the cheek affectionately.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid blinked, recalling what Fiona told her about him once. As vamps went, the guy was gorgeous. The next hour passed blissfully ::

[Martin Le Roux]

That didn't happen very often. Brigid looked at him with a naughty look in her eye, and a measure of conquest while her breath came back to her. She was sweaty from the exertion, and her skin glowed. Such things were usually looked down on by other Vampires, but it could be beautiful all the same. In Martin's suggestable, altered state, Brigid had willing participant.

He was slowly becoming more lucid, and pulled on his pants from the heap they had left in the middle of the floor.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid stood, still naked from the waist down as she pulled her shirt on and looked at him ::

"Feeling better?"

[Martin Le Roux]

"Oui." He paused as he brought a shirt over his shoulders, and then slowly began to button it back up.

"Thank you..." he paused again, still fuzzy from her blood. "...for pulling me back from the edge."

[Brigid Cassidy]

"Splendid." she replied, reaching for her pants. "So are you going to talk to me now?"

[Martin Le Roux]

Martin nodded.

"Since I think I have hit the end of this path, it would be nice to tell someone my unsubstantiated theories. Chicago..." He began, and paused. There was an annoying metal scraping sound outside, or near-outside.

"Chicago what?" Brigid asked.

"Do you hear that?" Martin whispered.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: She nodded, canting her head to listen ::

[Martin Le Roux]

"Someone is trying to break in." He whispered into Brigid's ear. Always armed, Martin finished dressing quickly, Sig P229 in alternating hands. Brigid expertly held her Hanzo katana.

Martin, unforunately, was still a little fuzzy around the edges. What made the Immortals immortal was very powerful magic, and he was still uncertain of little details coming into his ears. Brigid had good, but normal hearing.

He edged up to the window and looked out.

"Nom de dieu de bordel de merde." The Vampire muttered. The Subaru had been trashed. The shotgun he kept in the trunk was in the middle of the folded down passenger seat, but the trigger lock was intact. The interior had been torn apart otherwise, and the tires had all been slashed.

"Maudit." He added.

The efforts of their enemies had gotten louder. Fiona used high quality locks, and they were not easy to pick.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: The security systems went off full tilt and Brigid drew her Hanzo sword, seemingly out of thin air ::

"Friends of yours?"

[Martin Le Roux]

"Friends of...?" That made no sense to Martin. They had just trashed his car! Oh. English. Sarcasm.

"The chance, they blew it." He snarled.

"I do think we should be polite and invite them for tea, though." He said, marching to the stairs.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid twirled the Katana with a gleam in her eyes, then followed him to greet the interlopers ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Martin led with his pistol, well aware that Fiona had many valuable objects downstairs. The police would arrive eventually, but Martin was going to kill these products of some motherless whore. He fully intended to shoot all of them, legally, inside Fiona's warehouse. It probably wouldn't cause any complications.

Brigid was ever-ready with her expertly crafted weapon. The door was still under heavy assault. Their approach was undetected. After all, why would anyone be inside?

Martin unlocked the heavy deadbolt that secured the middle of the door, and leaped out of the way as it flung open. The first was a heavyset tanned fellow with more piercings and tattoos than brains. He was about half again as wide as Martin and another head taller. A Brujah ghoul by the look of things. A step inside and everyone was deafened by the sound of three .40 S&W rounds impacting flesh and bone.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid didn't wait for the others to come in. She was out the door and in the thick of it ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Brigid had a nasty habit of not bothering with the rules. Sometimes it was hard to argue with the results. A creature of habit, she lopped the head off of a 6'6" monster in short order. Martin moved methodically out of the door when he was attacked with a chain from behind. He was lifted off of his feet and nearly dropped the SiG. So there were five. Large arms attempted to pop his head from his shoulders, but Martin did not panic, instead calmy shot his attacker twice in the temple. The other three were trying to bring down a very angry Brigid.

Martin's expertise put four bullets in the head of the next ghoul, despite his diving attack at a blocking, occupied Brigid. She was hit with dead weight instead of Potence fueled damage.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid fell, temporarily pinned beneath the ghoul's bulk. The others moved in for the dogpile ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Martin had used half of the ammunition in the first magazine, and emptied the rest into the topmost assailant who had the prescience to wear a bulletproof vest, and a skull thick enough to take a few slugs. Brigid was pinned on top of her sword. She was taking a beating. Martin hit one with a violent kick, enough to get his attention. These ghouls were huge! Certain that their little problem of a woman wasn't such a problem now, the ghoul turned to focus on Martin.

"Degenerate Artfrack." Martin snarled and smacked the massive ghoul between the eyes with a lightning fast blow, and followed up with a right to the temple. The ghoul was stunned for a second until he tackled Martin and drove him into sidewalk.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid rose up behind the second ghoul, cracking her knuckles to get his attention. She punched him with a haymaker that whipped his head to one side. Blood and teeth sputtered from the ghouls mouth as he yelled at her ::

"FRAKKIN BITH!!!" he roared, spitting more teeth. "YAH BROKKTH MAH FRAKKIN TEETH!!!"

:: Brigid ducked as he swung and missed, and then she drove a reverse karate punch squarely into his groin. The ghoul went down ::

[Martin Le Roux]

The ghoul had made a tactical error. He had not pinned Martin's head lower than his neck and the vest did not protect his neck. Martin shifted beneath the bulk and bit down on the Ghoul's neck. The ghoul gurgle-screamed as Martin tore his throat out.

For the first time Brigid saw Martin looking like a stereotypical movie vampire as he rolled the corpse off of him. He grabbed one of the jackets and wiped his face down.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Her attention was drawn away by flashing police lights as a car drove up. The officer was a Camarilla ghoul assigned to graveyard shift, but Brigid didn't recognize him ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Some of the structures Fiona owned had been tagged by the Camarilla. Her alarm system received different treatment than most of the others.

The officer sat in the car for a few minutes, and ran Martin's plate.

"Good evening, Officer." Martin said after reading the badge number. Ghouls always ended in 36, 38 or 39. The slightly rotund man grunted as he got out of his car. The scene still smelled slightly of sulphur from the P229.

From the way his uniform was so neatly pressed, Martin reasoned he was a Ventrue ghoul, like much of the graveyard shift. The cop whistled low at the carnage. He'd seen worse, of course, but this would take a few hours to clean up.

He took a quick look at Martin and his shirt and nodded.

"Everything all settled here? It's goin to be an ugly stack of paperwork." The ghoul stated.

"My condolences."

"You got keys for this place?" The cop asked with a bit of suspicion. He had to be sure, after all.

Brigid grunted, her distaste for police officers more than evident. She tossed the keys to Martin who, after a few unsuccessful attempts, found the right key and managed to get a relatively undamaged lock to click open and shut.

"I also will need my car towed on a flatbed to this shop." Martin handed him a card. It was a specialty shop that serviced several of the local road racers. They did excellent body repair and carried the agressive tires Martin perfered.

"Yeah, no problem." Finally, something easy. Martin handed him another card

"And call me if you get any interesting leads, please."

The cop grunted and nodded before ambling off back to his cruiser.

The night was still somewhat young. Martin sighed.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid gave the surviving ghoul a swift kick in the ribs, then looked at Martin ::

"So, you wanna ask the questions or should I?"

[Martin Le Roux]

"Go ahead." Martin said, walking back to his car. He would probably over do it, and while Brigid was strong, she was less likely to kill the ghoul accidentally. Keys in hand, Martin opened the rear door and grabbed the pump shotgun. He removed the trigger lock and tossed it back to the ruined back seat.

He walked back and stood two meters from the ghoul. Martin wanted a cigarette, just to chew on.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Back inside the shop, the next several minutes were filled with the heavy thumping of cranium off the table top as Brigid interrogated the ghoul. It lacked in finesse, but the ghoul was practically sobbing as he told Martin everything he wanted to know ::

[Martin Le Roux]

Martin ran his finger along the trigger guard as the ghoul's head bounced up and down against the heavy oak table. Every time that Brigid seemed to establish a rhythm, she'd chance pace. This ghoul was exceptionally durable. How lucky.

“I see that you are new at this. I will now explain.” Martin paused.

“I have a shotgun. I will remove digits if I am upset because I think you are lying to me. Digits are fingers and toes. I can extend that definition if it proves necessary.”

“Oh god.” The ghoul muttered.

Martin asked, “who gave you your gifts?”

“I dunno! I dunno! Don't shoot me!” He said through sobs.

“Describe him.” Martin countered before Brigid could bounce his head.

“Ah ah ah. Punk. Bald. Chicago accent. All kinds of crap stuck in his face. He said you were a bitch for some elders or something, and a French bastard. I just like hittin' things.”

“Go home. Now!” Martin yelled. The ghoul practically evaporated from the room. Martin waited until he was gone.

“There are larger forces at work here than an idiot Anarch.”

Brigid said nothing.

“I think the Sabbat have rekindled their interest in Chicago.”