Raquette Breaux's Story

A small hooded figure slunk into the bar, moving immediately to one of the open booths. Raquette tugged the hood down as she sat. She scooted to the back wall and pulled her legs up to lay across the seat and crossed her dangling ankles.

Her gaze was set firmly on the blaring television set. She pulled out her phone and set it on the table before tapping tensely on her thighs as the debates went on. Her expression was dark and she ground her teeth before finally motioning for service.

A small, hooded figure slipped in quietly and gave a few nods to other members she recognized. Raquette dug her hands into her pockets and lowered her gaze, sticking closest to Snow as she took in room and made her mental notes. Generally scared and confused with all the events she'd heard happening, she wanted to keep her head down and her nose clean. One hand did clench around her phone, almost hoping she wouldn't have to "speak."

"I think you must be mistaken, friend. The naked body is art, and the act of removing one's clothes to reveal that art is even more so." He retorted, quiet enough for Ren to hear before shooting a lopsided smirk at Snow. He took a moment to acknowledge the hooded figure appearing close to Snow, and then turned his gaze back to him.

His eyes gave a clear message in return - make me.

Also arriving with Snow where Marc, Jacques, Carlisle, and Julienne. Vanessa and Bastien where both notably missing, but given the situation with Sophia that was to be expected.

There where a few others missing also, people who had been out of reach, or in some cases out of town, but for the most part, the brunt of the pack had shown up. A few more stragglers might arrive yet too.

Meanwhile as everyone was filtering in, Desmond kept an eye on Chloe while Snow untied her so she could get dressed. With the pack showing up in force, it would be suicide if she tried anything, but if she wasn't entirely in control of herself as seemed to be the case then sometimes reason didn't really factor into these things.

A young red haired girl walked in with the rest of the stragglers, obviously confused, with a bag of some raw meat. She sat down and watched, while slowly putting meat into her mouth. Whats going on here?. She sniffed the air, and made a disgusted face before gagging. What ever, this was interesting, the first interesting thing she had seen today. Maybe she would learn something, people were always so interesting when being observed. Maybe she could see how these people interacted, they weren't siblings after all so maybe they treated each other differently. The girls heart pounded with excitement, she would learn something today, and maybe she could meet some new people. She suddenly snapped up and left quickly, and awkwardly, eyes wide and breathing in sharply.

The little girl wouldn't gain entrance into the building, given that it was a meeting of Bloodstone Pack members. As she herself wasn't a pack member, nor did anyone know her, they would have run her off at the door before she made it inside.

Carlisle looked grimmer than normal and he threw Chloe only a cursory glance. There was a lot on his mind, and on the minds of the rest of the pack for that matter.

"Vanessa and Bastien aren't coming," Carlisle informed the others as he got off his phone. "Not while Sophia's still missing. And Nieve's still out of town. Anyone seen or heard from Noel?"

"Not since he got out of the hospital after that spat with Ragenard again," Julienne replied with a scowl. "Probably off nursing his pride."

Chloe rubbed her wrists as she was released and slowly stood up, hissing and spitting curses as her side screamed with pain. After the stars cleared from her vision, she slowly got dressed, careful to not jar the wounds and bruises that were healing at a rather rapid pace. The clothes were a bit baggy on her, but would do for now.

The gun no longer concerned her as much as the people in this room did. Outnumbered and alone, Chloe would be killed before she had the chance to fully transform. Not that she'd willingly want to transform in a room full of a pack.

Suddenly, Chloe felt very alone and every instinct that drove her wanted to run. But with Desmond with the gun, and the others close at hand, she wouldn't make it to the swinging doors. So once she endured the torture of getting dressed, she sat tenderly on the floor with her arms out, waiting to be locked up again. She merely listened to the conversation that was going on around her, as it did not include her yet.

"You're gone one week and come back to find everythin's gone to shite"

Muttering angrily to himself, Alfred Fay walked down an aisle towards the stage. "Heaven's forbid I ever decide to go on holiday, I'll return to find everyone wiped out by a plague."

A heavy sigh escaped him as he climbed onto the stage, taking a moment to stand in the center, admiring the ruined remains of a once fairly decent theatre.

"Such a lovely place for this arrangement." He yawned, fishing a flask out of his jacket. "Very symbolic, and I hope it's not an omen of things to come."

He took a swig from the flask and returned it to his jacket before turning on his heels and sliding behind the curtain. When he came within earshot of the others present he spread his arms wide in greeting.

"Well then, what exactly have I missed, my beloved brethren."

"What have you missed?" Julienne bit out as she turned about to face Alfred. "Is that the best you have to say for yourself? Eliotte's dead, or didn't you care?"

Julienne always did have a sharp tongue for Alfred. He wasn't like most of the pack, he kept to himself a lot, and in her eyes he was an outsider here among friends.

"'ey," Desmond interrupted. "We 'ave more than enough trouble at our doors without scrappin' among ourselves. There's some problems that need addressin'. Not the least of which is sittin' right 'ere behind us."

His skin was a few shades paler than normal, likely on account of the mauling and the blood loss and he wiped the back of his sleeve across his brow.

"There's a chance she's the one who attacked that lad," he said as he gestured towards her with the gun still in hand while Snow was re-securing her with the chains.

"Took a bite out of me arm she did."

The boy's story had been all over the news, headlines that where still vying with Sophia on coverage time. The child's prognosis was grim, and as the boys condition deteriorated in the hospital, the outrage among the Lutetian citizens was on the rise. The rogue wolf on the loose was a problem for all of the packs, but with the victims cropping up around Bloodstone territory, it was a matter of some urgency for them in particular. The police, and VINDEX where both beginning to cotton on to the pattern and it was bringing heat down on the pack. And now Baron was cooling his heels in jail.

Once Snow had Chloe secured, Desmond stood back up and reholstered the gun in his back holster.

Chloe's eyes grew wide at the accusation of attacking another. "H-hey!" She exclaimed. "I'll admit that I accidentally attacked you. But I'm not taking blame for something someone else did!" She said.

She had heard about the boy being attacked, and had even been on the case right after Re'Altarm had been attacked. Though with the attack on Desmond, her chances of convincing the rest of the pack was slim unless there was harder proof. "You can't pin that on me." She muttered, glaring needles at Desmond.

"You don't remember doin' this either," Desmond reminded her. "Might be there's other things you don't remember doin'?" he asked.

There was no malice in his words, but it was a serious enough question. Had Snow not happened on the situation, the day could have gone very different. Desmond would have been the newest headlines, and would she have ever known she was the responsible party?

Ulrich had come into the theater with the rest, but he was quiet at first, like Raquette. Backstage with everyone there was slightly stuffy. There was a good amount of dust. He remembered that smell from high school. Theater dust.

The man looked grim, which wasn't much of a statement for Ulrich. He normally seemed a bit down or harried, but it was particularly apparent that day, carving grooves above his brow. So much had happened in the last few weeks. Nothing good. People were missing, dead, and hospitalized. A grim week, it was.

He trained his attention on Raquette, who'd stayed mighty quiet the whole time, as she often did. He hovered near the two Jeans, however.

"This..!" She started off as if she were going to raise her voice but backed off immediately, finding it wise not to tick off most of a pack. "This time.. Was different.." She said, lowering her gaze away from Desmond, furrowing her brows. Why was it different though? She had never lost control during the day.

She would have more problems if she were to remain captive over night as well.

"I don't know how to convince you that I didn't do it.." She said, the note of uncertainty in her voice. Could it be possible that she was involved with the attacks? She couldn't remember attacking Desmond, but she hadn't randomly ended up naked in the middle of somewhere she didn't remember how she got there prior to this event either. But Bowen had been insistent she see the attack site where Re'Altarm had been and has made sure she was locked up from that point on.

Could it have been her?

"It couldn't have been me.." She said, more quietly and less certain that before.

"I don't think it was her." Snow stated, shaking his head. "Her attack on you was random. A result of her losing control. My understanding of this rogue wolf is that their attacks are deliberate, and malicious. And I don't think a VINDEX operative could have flown under the radar while carrying out such regular attacks."

He pulled a wooden chair over from the side and sat reversed on it, resting his arms on its back. "The fact remains that we need to find who did attack that boy, and the others. We can't let that sort of thing happen on our doorstep."

"I agree with him for once" He spoke up, pointing a finger with thumb cocked back at Snow, and then pressing the thumb flat against the side of his hand in a mock shooting gesture. He shot Snow a wink before turning to Desmond.

"You know me. I've lost control like she has before, only I didn't have the fortunate of being stopped and made aware until hundreds were hurt or killed." Not to mention the near one hundred partially eaten he thought to himself, shuddering slightly before straightening his posture and regaining his composure.

"I say we try to be a little forgiving here and focus on the more important matters. No offense to you and your missing, erm... chunks."

Rather than react to Julienne's scolding, Alfred found it was much more advantageous to simply shut up and listen, and by doing so he got the answers he was looking for.

"Been quite a week then." He nodded as he walked past Snow, and up to the restrained Chloe.

"Loss of control hmm?" He asked rhetorically as he bent at the knees, squatting a bit to get to her level. "Well, that's convenient ain't it?" Again he went fishing into his jacket, only this time it wasn't for his flask.

"In that case,I 'appen to have something here for you. Would you like to see what it is?"

Chloe had been lost in thought, so she hadn't noticed Alfred until he squatted next to her. She narrowed her gaze at him, suddenly wishing she hadn't been so compliant to be tied up again.

"Considering I must look like some bondage porno gone wrong when you came in, forgive me if I don't seem too terribly interested in what's in your pocket, sir."

Always an awesome time to be a smart ass when you're outnumbered and chained. It's not like she had much of a choice one way or another if Alfred decided to show her what he was talking about.

Jean-Pierre smirked at the exchange between the bound girl and Alfred.

"I can assure you that whatever it is, miss, he's not just happy to see you." He quipped.

Raquette shuffled awkwardly and tried to press herself back into the crowd, blending in. However, she still felt eyes on her and she subtly scanned the surrounding face to find whom they belonged to. When her eyes finally landed up Ulrich's, she couldn't hide her emotional state. Anxiety, fear, and sorrow all played across her features and flashed from her eyes like beacons. She made her own quick study of his face before dropping her gaze and tugging slightly at the hood, though it already covered as much of her face as it could.

Her eyes fell onto Chloe and she studied the woman carefully now that she was fully clothed. She pulled her phone and began typing out something before shaking her head slightly and deleting it all, shakily stuffing her hand back in her pocket. It wasn't important enough, anyway.