Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lutetia City: The Den Cellar

as written by Knosis

Her eyes shot open as she heard Jesse's voice. All she could do was nod in reply or else she would have screamed.

The pain was eating at her though. Her body felt like it was close to ripping apart. As he squeezed her hand, a jolt of pain ran up her arm and resonated in the rest of her body and began to magnify. It was too much. She whimpered and closed her eyes but it was enough.

Her back arched and she let out a pained cry.
 
as written by Tiko

"Shhh," he told her gently. "It's alright."

Though it really wasn't alright. He threw a worried glance to the cellar steps but there was no sign of the police yet. And despite his reassuring words, Re'Altarn would see it on his face.

Baron needed to get those police out of the bar, and soon. He could hear voices now at the top of the stairs though and he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"Look, whatever happens, I won't be far, alright?" he told her.

He withdrew his hand from her as he shed his jacket, followed quickly by the rest of his clothes. He staggered and caught himself against the iron bars as his body contorted beneath bulging muscle and sinew, but the process was swift, and a minute later there was a shaggy wolf standing in there with her.

It was quick thinking on his part, and for once his small size and somewhat ordinary appearance would work in his favor. It wasn't uncommon for him to be mistaken as a domestic animal next to his typically much larger counterparts. To add to the ruse he used his snout to shove his clothes discretely away beneath the cot before laying down on the floor and resting his head on his paws. For all intents and purposes, he looked like little more than a large dog, or a wolf-dog.
 
as written by Knosis

She was losing her mind. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks and she writhed in pain. All her thoughts raced of wanting it to just end, for everything to just end. How was she still alive..? How was she still conscious through this? What -had- she done to deserve to go through this mind bending torture? Her eyes pleaded to Jesse for help and she barely heard Jesse before he disappeared from her sight.

That last of what was keeping her from breaking was gone. Her fingers from her left hand dug into the palm as her body seized up. And she let out a bloody curdling cry of pure agony.
 
as written by Sentry

Without a second glance back at Baron, Jeanne descended into the cellar, drawing her gun as her boot hit the first step. She held it out in front of her, safety off. She took each step carefully, cautiously, until she was at the bottom. Her eyebrows rose up.

"Selene Evequec praised be," breathed the detective as her eyes came down on the woman in the cage. She tilted her head toward Élodie. "Baron's in some shit now."

She walked toward the cage with even more caution than she had descending the stairs. Her eyes skipped over to the dog laying down, then back to the woman. "Shit. What's going on? Are you alright? Miss? Can you respond?"
 
as written by Lorelia

The ‘This isn't what it's going to look like’ snatched away some of her hope for the scream having come from some dazed barmaid who’d dropped a good bottle of ale straight onto her foot.

But when she looked upon the scene down below, all hope was siphoned away by what she saw.

Some shit indeed.

All of her senses were shouting at her about the nastiness she was beholding, but it was the tightening in her chest which she noticed the most. That overwhelming feeling of pity. She had been wrong to allow her perception of werewolves to be diluted with their remaining humanity. Monsters.

The shock was subsiding some as the other officer's voice pulled her back to current priorities. Nervousness etched in fright crept in instead. She’d drawn her handgun whilst descending into the cellar, and now she held it practically at the ready whilst sweeping the dim cellar.

“Is it locked?” she asked after drawing in a long, steadying breath.

Something she'd not noticed at first caught her eye. She blinked at the creature which was lying timidly beside the cage. Her heart had leapt upon first spotting it. The barrel of her gun stared into its form whilst El struggled to get a hold on returning distorted childhood fears of wicked beasts which howled at the moon. Just a dog. Just a dog?
 
as written by Sentry

"The door is open," said Jeanne, moving towards the cage. "I want you to call the hospital right now. She's hurt. If I had to guess, one of Baron's pack members attacked the girl and now they're trying to hide her." She whistled for the dog, motioning to the side. "C'mon, puppy. Out of the way. Move. Now."

Guard dog for a bunch of werewolves. It seemed silly.
 
as written by Tiko

Jesse let out a whine as he stood up, and he ducked his head low and slunk out of the way. Best to keep up the ruse that he was just some dog. What normally served as the butt end of jokes within the pack afforded him a measure of freedom at the moment. He could hear the commotion upstairs, but he had promised Re'Altarm he would stay with her, and so stay with her he did.

He could do little to dissuade the police though, not without risking them shooting him. And so he simply stood vigil to one side, hopeful that Baron would appear at the top of steps any minute now.
 
as written by Lorelia

Just a dog.
A breath rushed out as she lowered her arm and tuned all of her attention back to Jeanne and the undeniable victim.

The closer she looked the worse it got. Not only did the woman seem to be suffering from some kind of sickness, but there were wounds on her neck, her shoulders, her arms. And the state of the cage wouldn’t be called hygienic under any circumstances.

Elodie did as she was told. She took a few steps away from the cage, in the few moments it took for the call to be connected, she’s convinced herself that what was going to come out of her mouth was panicked garble. To her own surprise, it wasn’t.

The ambulance was on its way, and after a brief explanation of what had happened and what they had found – though Elodie hadn’t been sure how to word what was before her – probably backup.

With her phone back in her pocket, her focus was back on this sorry sight.

As Jeanne was making for the cage, El bit her lip, wanting to say something, but not certain if her observations hadn’t already been digested by the more experienced officer.

“She’s hurt… scratched, bit… Shouldn’t we keep our distance?”
She didn’t like the idea of contracting lycanthropy too much herself, in all honesty. Her empathy was not powerful enough to overcome that. This woman did not look too... with it. Instability rolled off her.
 
as written by Sentry

Just a dog.
A breath rushed out as she lowered her arm and tuned all of her attention back to Jeanne and the undeniable victim.

The closer she looked the worse it got. Not only did the woman seem to be suffering from some kind of sickness, but there were wounds on her neck, her shoulders, her arms. And the state of the cage wouldn’t be called hygienic under any circumstances.

Elodie did as she was told. She took a few steps away from the cage, in the few moments it took for the call to be connected, she’s convinced herself that what was going to come out of her mouth was panicked garble. To her own surprise, it wasn’t.

The ambulance was on its way, and after a brief explanation of what had happened and what they had found – though Elodie hadn’t been sure how to word what was before her – probably backup.

With her phone back in her pocket, her focus was back on this sorry sight.

As Jeanne was making for the cage, El bit her lip, wanting to say something, but not certain if her observations hadn’t already been digested by the more experienced officer.

“She’s hurt… scratched, bit… Shouldn’t we keep our distance?”
She didn’t like the idea of contracting lycanthropy too much herself, in all honesty. Her empathy was not powerful enough to overcome that. This woman did not look too... with it. Instability rolled off her.
 
as written by Lorelia

She nodded in response. El wasn’t about to admit that she was somewhat grateful for the cage separating them from this perhaps, potential threat.

“Been let loose a few times. Interviews, scene searching, nothing… nothing like this.” Definitely not. Here it was: that experience she’d been wanting for so long. Now she stood there in the raw horrors of criminal actions, she was questioning her choices, motives, perhaps her sanity for wanting to spend her life dealing with such things.

Noticing that she was still unreasonably tensed up even though nothing aggressive had happened so far, she tried to get herself to loosen up. A quick glance at the dog which was still lingering made certain that her muscles remained wound up.

“Not an EMT.” It was something she planned to get to. She hadn’t been expecting to need it so soon. Besides, she might have considered telling a lie simply because she didn't want her hands anywhere near the maybe-infected and definitely out-of-her-mind woman. “I just wanted to drive fast and have lots of guns.”

Half-hysteric laughter collected in her throat, but she swallowed it down with a gulp.

“Shouldn’t be long.
This is… this is horrible. They didn’t seem so bad.” Elodie was perfectly aware of how childish she sounded.
 
as written by Tiko

While the police where working their way through questioning the patrons and taking statements upstairs, an ambulance pulled up on scene. A pair of EMTs exited the vehicle and made their way into the bar until they re-emerged a few minutes later to load Re'Altarm into the back of the vehicle.

Padding out of the bar after them was Jesse, still looking little more than a scruffy pet.

He didn't seem to pay anyone any mind as he started to pad off down the street. He wanted to get a headstart on the ambulance, and it was likely they where taking Re'Altarm to St. Lucien, the hospital he used to work at. He was still working through how to get in with her once the ambulance arrived, but he was running the possibilities through his head as he cleared the corner of the street and vanished from sight.
 
as written by Knosis and Tiko

Chloe stirred on the stone floor, huddled up underneath a blanket she happened to find half unconcious after she had shifted the night before. She was still in her birthday suit, finding it better to just let herself pass out and freeze than to force herself to find where her clothes had been scattered to.

Her body was stiff, both from the shift and the stone floor, and there was some dried blood on the stone floor from where she had most likely gnawed or bashed against the bars. She felt her head tenderly and winced at the goose egg there.

"Desmond..?" She called skeptically. No doubt he couldn't hear her or he was gone.. Or most likely out cold drunk.

"I sent him away," a man's voice spoke up.

Baron was seated on a wooden crate with an ashtray on top of an empty cask next to him. From the accumulation of cigarette butts in the tray, he had been there a while.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

Wolfish eyes found her own through the gloomy cellar as he watched her from his seat.
 
as written by Knosis and Tiko

Chloe's neck hairs went on end at the sound of his voice. Her green hues turning bright almost instantly as her head whipped around to gaze up at Baron.

She remained silent for a long moment after his question, it was almost uncertain she would answer.

"I'm assuming that you're Baron." She said quietly, her voice oddly calm.

She felt that he was judging her with every move she made, and so she remained perfectly still, crouched on the ground. The blanket had long fallen away and the cellar was freezing even with her higher tolerance of the cold.

"I am. Do you know what that means?" he asked.

Her jaw clenched slightly. At least Desmond could have given her some warning...

"Guess you're here to judge me." She muttered.

"It means that I'm in charge around here," he corrected. "And it means I'm responsible for the safety of my pack, and this territory. Something that your presence in Lupaix endangers," he continued as he stubbed out his half-finished cigarette.

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees as he spoke, and his stare was unwavering as he watched her through the bars of the cage.

"With that said, this can go one of two ways. You can leave Lutetia, or you can convince me that you're not a danger to my pack. Julienne says you have lunentia, while Desmond says you have shown progress in controlling yourself. So I ask you, which is it."
 
as written by Knosis and Tiko

She gazed back into his eyes, just as unmoving as he was. She took a deep breath and her eyes faded from the neon light that had began to grow behind them.

"You tell me." She answered quietly.

"I'm no danger to your pack."

"Your denial makes you more of a danger than your lack of control," Baron replied unwavering. "You nearly killed one of mine, and yet say you're no danger."

He stood then, seeming to move to head back upstairs.

"Then what do you suggest?" She asked, her eyes following him. "I admit that it slipped. I am trying to fix my problem.." She said.

"Give me a direction to go in. I don't want to be run out of of Lutetia, and our paths will cross again if I remain in the city. Tell me how I can fix this, and I will."

"I don't want to be made an enemy of your pack because of something that can be mended before it gets worse.."

He paused two steps from the top of the stairs, seemingly thinking. Finally he opened the cellar door and headed upstairs, leaving Chloe be for the time being.

Chloe began to pace in silence.
 
as written by Alara and Tiko

It was a half-hour later when the door re-opened, and this time it was Carlisle who appeared at the top of the steps.

He had the keys to the cell in hand which he used to unlock the door to the cage.

"Go on then, Baron'll see you upstairs," he told her.

Chloe had taken the time to get back into Desmond's spare clothes in her free time. But her mind was going a million miles a minute.

Her eyes followed Carlisle as he came to unlock the cage. She seemed hesitant on crossing through, as if suddenly the cage was the safest place she could be in right that moment. Still, she had to face it sooner or later.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly moved towards the man. "Thanks.." She breathed, meekly smiling at Carlisle as she passed through the door. She would then start to head up the stairs into the bar.
 
as written by Tiko

Bastien led the way down into the cellar which was a fair bit larger than one might have assumed from upstairs. Oak casks, barrels, and crates of bottles lined the walls while a pair of iron cages where situated at the far end of the cellar, but the rest of the room was cleared to leave a large open space.

Lighting was somewhat murky though as the only light source was an uncovered lightbulb that swung from a chain overhead, and the place had a rather dingy feel to it.

"It doesn't look like much, but it has room enough to get a good tussle going," he explained to Eliza with a wink.

He moved an arm to bar her way into the room though as they reached the bottom of the stairs which left her caught between him and the wall.

"You're new, and it's your first time so you'll be expected to participate," he explained. "And I'll wager from the look of you that you'll have the lot of them lining up to have a go at you..."

His words skirted that line between a complement and a warning as he stood close enough to leave her crowded against the wall in the tight confines of the narrow staircase. He briefly gave her a once over, measuring her up, but when his eyes returned to hers she would see a hint of seriousness to them.

"Mind Marc. He likes to throw his weight around with the new ones," he warned. "And he's faster than he looks."

Fortunately 'fight night' as the pack had come to jokingly refer to tonight was more about blowing off steam and sparring to keep their reflexes honed than it was about the bloodier aspects that came with actual challenges within the pack. The latter where far rarer, but where known to put pack members in the hospital - or worse. Tonight about the worst anyone was liable to endure would be some broken noses.
 
as written by LuLu6214

Eliza follows Bastien down the stairs, steps creak under her feet. She stops at the bottom as he blocks her way, she leans with her back against the wall "I like a challenge, plenty underestimate me. Guess I'll give um a taste of my wild side" her eyes flash with a hidden feral nature as she bites her lip, she pauses.

"I will be sure to watch out for Marc." she glances around the dingy cellar, there was something comforting about it although the cages made her a bit uneasy she wasn't much for being caged. "So what about you? Are you getting in on all this or are you gonna watch?" she questions with a little smile, giving Bastien a once over she sizes him up.
 
as written by Tiko

"Heh. We'll see," he answered. "The other's should be down soo-"

At the top of the stairs the door opened as Snow and Damon entered.

"-ner than expected," Bastien finished. "Guess we're getting the party started early."

He let his arm drop so that she could enter the cellar and he would trail after her as they went inside so they weren't blocking the stairway for the others.
 
as written by LuLu6214

"Well let's get this show on the road."

Eliza brushes past Bastien and walks into the cellar to clear the way for those coming down. She walks over to the cages running her hand over the bars and stares in. She steps away and leans on a barrel, stuck in her own mind, waiting for everyone else to come downstairs.

----------------------

Damon comes stumbling down the stairs "stairs...I forgot those were there." he hops up onto a barrel, sits and waits for others to arrive.
 
as written by Script

Snow half raised an eyebrow at Bastien upon noticing the scene when he entered, forming a small and brief smirk. He made no comment, however, until he'd made his way down the stairs. He rolled his eyes at the sound of Damon stumbling behind him. "It's a cellar." he stated flatly in response. Of course there were stairs down to a cellar. Otherwise it would just be a back room!

Only then did he nod his head in acknowledgement of Bastien and Eliza, "I don't think we've met." he said to the latter, "I'm Snow."
 
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