arboreal_priestess | The Freakshow, Baltimore, Tuesday Evening (Reply)

"So this is what the street-level entrance looks like these days," Verity said, as she and Liam rounded the exited the alleyway onto the main street. After a night of strategizing about how to handle the oncoming purge, the three of them had broke around dawn for some much-needed sleep, agreeing to meet up again that evening to start warning other folks. The Freakshow was a pretty good place to start, though that meant making a few necessary concessions.

Ryan might be willing to let Dominic in by himself every so often, but two nights in a row was pushing it. For Dominic to get in without much trouble, Liam and Verity needed to be with him. And Dominic's aversion to running across rooftops meant that they needed to meet him on the sidewalk below as he approached the front door on foot.

The front entrance was painted to look like the mouth of a tent, with old-fashioned 'carnival posters' pasted to the wall all around the ticket booth. Verity recognized herself in the middle of a cancan lineup, one painted leg eternally cocked at a come-hither angle that she hoped never to have to explain to her father. Sometimes she thought the dangers of her mundane career outweighed the dangers of the career that was more likely to get her actually killed. Vivisection hurt, but it couldn't hold a candle to parental disapproval.

Liam followed her gaze to the poster in question, and grinned. Dominic just looked confused. "Surely this can't be the first time you've approached from the ground."

"I hate taxis, subways freak me right the hell out, I don't have a car, and if I'm going to walk, I might as well do it where the crowds aren't," Verity shrugged. "I stick to the rooftops. It's worked out pretty well for me so far."

"You mean you haven't reduced yourself to a street pancake due to a misjudged leap."

"That's what I said, isn't it? It's worked out pretty well so far." Verity flashed her ID at the girl in the ticket booth, another dragon she didn't recognize. The dragon looked up from filing her nails only long enough to confirm that Verity didn't need to pay admission - and that, by extension, the guys didn't either - before rolling her eyes in disgust and pointing toward the door.

"One day you will have to tell me where you acquired this aversion to walking on solid ground," said Dominic.

"Try having a baby sister whose idea of a good time involves pit traps and land mines," Verity advised. The bouncer on duty opened the club door for them, and she smiled at him as they walked on through. "It's amazing how fast that sort of thing will make you think it's time for a return to the trees."

Liam	"It's true," Liam said with a nod. "I had the, uh... pleasure? Of meeting her sister a few months back. And let's just say it's a relief that she didn't have my address." Of course, that much wasn't really true anymore, but it wasn't like Dominic needed to know their living arrangements.
Dominic	"There may be a reason there's a kill-on-sight order for the whole family," Dominic pointed out. "I'm simply saying I've yet to see any proof that it's not warranted." Far from looking offended, Dominic noted, Verity looked downright pleased.
Ryan	Ryan was on duty at the interior door, less to check the work of the first two gatekeepers and more to make it clear to any drunk businessmen looking for a little grab-ass that this was a respectable establishment that would kick your nuts into your nasal cavity if you so much as looked at one of the girls wrong. He blinked when he saw Verity come walking down the hall. He blinked again when he saw Dominic walking behind her. "Verity?" he said, an uncertain note in his voice. "You're on the ground. Are you okay?" His eyes flicked to her feet, not-too-subtly checking for a limp.
Dominic	Dominic snorted. "You really were serious." He stepped up next to Verity, offering Ryan a nod. "Hello again."
Ryan	"Twice in twenty-four hours," Ryan said, with a nod of his own. "You're becoming a bad habit, De Luca. Very? Is this guy bothering you?" From his tone, it was clear he was hoping he'd say yes, giving him the excuse he wanted to kick Dominic's ass. His greeting towards Liam was far warmer. After the showdown in Carol's apartment, he considered the man a friend. "Liam, 'sup. Nice to see you."
Liam	Liam smiled back. "Hey," he greeted. "Wish I could say we're here on a social call. Unfortunately, it's business." And given who was with them, Ryan could probably guess just what kind of business was meant, yeah.
Verity	"The kind of business that involves bothering Kitty," Verity added. "Do you think you could get somebody to take the door for you? I'd sort of like you to be there for this."
Ryan	Ryan blinked again. Then he nodded. "Sure. Why don't you head on back, and I'll see if I can get one of the other bouncers to come take over. Can Istas come, too, or is this a private party?"
Liam	"She should be there," Liam agreed. This is where actual telepathy would come in handy. Still, a quick glance in Verity's direction and he was reasonably certain she was thinking along the same lines as he was. Istas and Ryan were the club's heavy hitters, after all, and it made sense to loop them in as early as possible.
Verity	Ryan agreed with a quick nod and Verity squeezed his elbow, offering a small smile, leading the guys past him into the Freakshow proper. The entry put them onto a low catwalk about five feet above the floor, providing a brief but panoramic view of the chaos below. Coming in from the roof entrance, she never got the view from this angle. Now she was seeing it the way that a patron would, and that changed everything. Girls in circus-themed outfits slithered through the crowd, in some cases literally, their cryptid attributes out in the open for everyone to see. Maybe some people thought the wings on the gargoyle girls were prosthetics, or that the sirens were into dyeing their hair, but the harpies? The bogeymen? It took an incredibly charitable - and potentially intoxicated - mind to mistake them for human women. On the stage, Jahi the wadjet was involved in a complicated dance with his snake dancer, Maibe. She gyrated her hips to the beat, seeming entirely unconcerned by the fact that she wasn’t wearing much beyond a fourteen-foot cobra. Humans mixed freely with cryptids everywhere they looked. It was exactly the sort of scene the Covenant of St. George was dedicated to preventing. "We are so screwed," Verity said, in a hushed tone.
Dominic	"Almost certainly," Dominic agreed. "This will trigger a purge of Biblical proportions."
Liam	"Way to be encouraging there, buddy," Liam said dryly. If Dominic was going to be spending more time with them, he was really going to have to learn the difference between dark humor and downright depressing.
Dominic	"I'm not here to be encouraging, Liam. I'm here to make sure the three of us get through this alive. If that means a few more lives are preserved in the bargain, then so be it." Dominic shrugged. "I am learning to accept your idiosyncrasies."
Verity	"What's sad is that for you, I think that was meant to be really nice," Verity said with a snort. Istas was passing through the crowd, heading back to the bar with an empty tray. Verity trotted quickly down the stairs, moving to intercept her before the waheela vanished into the crowd. "Istas!" Istas turned at the sound of her name, a quizzical look on her face. Verity pushed through people until she was close enough to speak without shouting to be heard over the noise. "Hey. So, uhh, it's been an interesting night." She jerked a thumb toward Dominic, figuring that would say plenty. "Think you can take your break and come back to Kitty’s office? Ryan's going to be there in a minute."
Istas	Istas' confusion faded, replaced by guarded hope. "Is this meeting a prelude to carnage?" "Yeah, I'm afraid it probably is." "I will be right there," Istas assured them, and turned to finish heading for the bar, a definite spring in her step.
Dominic	"She seems excited about the prospect of a slaughter," murmured Dominic. His voice was barely audible above the thudding music coming from the club speakers.
Verity	Verity sighed, shaking her head, and motioned for Dominic and Liam to follow her to the employee door on the far wall. "Yeah, well, that's a waheela for you. She likes introducing people to their insides. Only when they deserve it," she hastened to add, just in case Dominic started getting any ideas. "I've never seen her actually get violent with someone who didn't, you know, try to sacrifice me to a snake cult. Or grab her tits while she was bussing tables."
Liam	"Absolutely equal crimes," Liam said with a nod and a hint of a smile. Which was not to say he disagreed with reacting to the latter with violence.
Verity	"They are if you ask most cocktail waitresses," Verity declared. The employee door at the Freakshow was never locked, since most people, even drunk, weren't stupid enough to follow the monsters into their lair. For good reason, too, as proved by the solid bank of darkness that blocked the office door. "She has the darks on," she sighed. Dominic look confused so she added, "Darks. Diurnal species turn on lights, and nocturnal species turn on darks. Witches make a lot of money off these things." Pitching her voice a little louder, she continued, "And if Kitty thinks I'm coming in there while she has the darks on, she's as crazy as her uncle."
Kitty	"Oh, come on, Verity," said Kitty's voice. It came from somewhere barely inside the door. Verity didn't jump, but it was a close thing. "I've never knocked you out and sold you as a human sacrifice. Have a little faith, why don't you?"
Verity	"You make me wear a corset. It's almost as bad."
Kitty	The darks clicked off, replaced by normal overhead lighting. Kitty looked at them impassively. "Your concept of scale never fails to astonish me." She turned her attention on Dominic. "Covenant. You're on private property, you know."
Dominic	"I will endeavor to behave myself," Dominic informed her.
Kitty	"So you'll give me warning before you try to murder me?" Kitty asked, going back to her desk to continue to apply her stage makeup. "Yay. Verity, you know I don't like him. What the hell would have possessed you to bring him here on purpose?"
Verity	"Ryan and Istas are going to be joining us in a minute, and then I'll be happy to explain everything," Verity said. "I don't want to start without them."
Kitty	Kitty paused again for a very long moment. She looked from Verity to Dominic and then to Liam. He was neither Covenant nor Price and seemed to have a decent enough head on his shoulders. Ryan said something about him being more than just a regular human, which was another point in his favor. So it was Liam she asked, "How bad?"
Liam	"Bad enough that we're standing in front of your office with a man from the Covenant of St. George in tow," Liam pointed out. "This is going to need to be a closed-door conversation. We don't want to start a panic."
Ryan	"I remember a time when your pal here could start a panic by breathing," said Ryan, walking into the office. Istas was with him. The only sign that she'd gone off duty was her apron, which was now frilly lace, rather than industrial canvas. "I guess you're a bad influence, you and Very both."
Dominic	"I know they're bad influences," said Dominic. Now that it was him in the same room with a Price and three cryptids, he was starting to look less sure about what he was doing.
Verity	"Ah, ah, play nice," Verity said. "It's conference time." She went and shut the door to the office, then leaned against it. Which looked casual, but mostly meant to be a deterrent from anybody storming out and starting that panic they'd mention. "Tell 'em, De Luca."
Dominic	Dominic glared at her for putting him on the spot, but complied. It took him less than ten minutes to explain what was going on. It took Verity and Liam another twenty minutes to get everyone to stop yelling. Kitty was demanding answers. Ryan was demanding someone's head on a platter. Istas was just yelling because everyone else was yelling, and it seemed like the thing to do. Eventually, everyone calmed down. A few questions were asked. A few answers were given. And things proceeded to take a turn for the weird, which is like taking a turn for the worse, but didn't necessarily involve cleaning your knives afterward. "You can't be serious," said Dominic, staring at Kitty.
Kitty	"I'm dead serious," said Kitty. "Possible stress on the 'dead' there?" suggested Ryan. Kitty ignored him. "Look. You say the Covenant is sending people to check on you, and that when they find out how little progress you've made, they’re probably going to purge Baltimore. Great. Do you have any idea what kind of cryptid population this city has?"
Verity	"No, he doesn't, and you're not going to tell him," Verity said hurriedly. Dominic raised an eyebrow and she patted him on the arm. "You're earning a lot of points tonight, but there are still some things I don't think we should be sharing just yet." Sorry not sorry.
Dominic	Dominic sighed. "Much as I'd like to argue, with my fellows coming to town, I'm afraid that Verity is correct. If they suspect that I've been...compromised...they have ways of getting me to reveal any information that they desire."
Istas	"You know where the club is located," noted Istas. "We should kill you to preserve that information." She smiled. Somehow, that didn't help.
Liam	Liam's flinch at Istas' words was barely visible as he remembered a similar discussion regarding his own mother's knowledge of the Resistance base, shortly after he'd been born. "No killing of our friend here," Liam said firmly. And yes, apparently their relationship had progressed to the point where the word 'friend' was meant genuinely, no verbal airquotes to be found. "We don't kill your friends, you don't kill ours."
Istas	Istas considered this for a moment before allowing, "That seems fair." Dominic tried not to look too relieved.
Kitty	"If we could get back to the point here?" said Kitty. "I meant what I said. There are too many cryptids in this city for even the Covenant to kill. I will not run. I will not let them win. And the Freakshow will not be closing its doors." "Kitty--" "Boss--" "Surely--" "QUIET!" Kitty's time as a wanna-be rock star served her well; when she shouted in an enclosed space, you knew damn well and good that somebody was shouting at you. "Everybody who doesn't own this club, shut the hell up and listen to me. You," she thrust a finger at Dominic, "had no trouble finding this place even before you started hanging around with Verity. You know why? Because my uncle wouldn't know discretion if it bit him on the ass. He advertised too widely, and we got a reputation for having freaky girls. All I've done is build on that reputation."
Dominic	"Which is why you need to close for the duration," said Dominic.
Kitty	"Which is exactly why I don't need to close for the duration," said Kitty. "Too many people know we're here. If we close, we might as well be putting up a big sign that says, 'Oh, hey, that club that had the fake monsters? They were real monsters.' We'll become the all-you-can-kill cryptid buffet. But if we stay open..."
Verity	"Hiding in plain sight," Verity said, finally grasping what Kitty was trying to say. "I'm an idiot. You want to do exactly what I did on TV." Before Verity came to Baltimore, she'd gone to Los Angeles. Not to study the local cryptids: to appear on reality television. She'd been a contestant on the nation's highest-rated dance competition show, Dance or Die, under the name 'Valerie Pryor.' She'd put on a red wig and green contact lenses, and then cha-cha'd her way into America's hearts. Far enough into their hearts to take second place anyway, and while that wasn't as good as winning, it was pretty decent. "It's been a long day," she groaned. "I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out."
Dominic	"Could you perhaps fill in for the rest of us?" asked Dominic.
Verity	"It's important that you guys - the Covenant, I mean - continue thinking that my family died out two generations ago," Verity explained. "That's why when you've seen me at dance competitions, I've been wearing a wig and using a fake name. It's hiding in plain sight."
Liam	"Put some latex on the girls who look mostly human, and give the girls who look too inhuman to pass a few weeks off," Liam said, nodding. "More importantly, staying open means people will have a place to run if they need to."
Dominic	"And if the Covenant comes looking for cryptids in a place where they have been known to gather?"
Kitty	"They'll find a bunch of humans in prosthetics and stage makeup." Kitty looked at him calmly. "Bogeymen have a reputation. I'd have to be blind not to see that you expect me to cut and run because my uncle did. But the thing most people forget is that we run from your homes. We run from your places. We don't run from our own. We stay."
Istas	"Perhaps there will be the opportunity for carnage," said Istas.
Verity	Verity sighed. "See, that's what I was hoping to avoid. Carnage is bad for business."
Kitty	"My business," said Kitty. "If they want to bring the carnage to us, let them. We'll be ready." Judging by the looks on their faces - Istas anticipatory, Ryan grim, and Kitty just determined, like there was nothing in the world that could sway her - if the Covenant decided to come to the Freakshow, they were going to get a lot more than they had bargained for. Verity just hoped that the right people would be the ones standing at the end of it all.