It is currently 09:05 Pacific Time on Thu Jun 6 2002. Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (28% full). Currently in Saint Claire, it's a sunny day. The temperature is 49 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the east at 3 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.29 and rising, and the relative humidity is 83 percent. The dewpoint is 44 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius.) St. Claire's Humane Society(#3912RJ) Two heavy glass double-doors at the entrance of a wide, one-story building. There's a reception desk in the front; to the right heavy glass doors lead to the vet clinic and wild animal area, the left intersects a corridor that shoots off in either direction -- one to the cats and little fuzzy animals, and the other direction leads further in the back to the kennel, where Raeye and Alicia are. Salem pulls up in a ugly, boxy little Yugo, jerking the vehicle into an empty parking space with little finesse. The Walker himself emerges a moment later, looking rumpled and haggard, bloodshot eyes and clothes that appear to be slept in. He doesn't even appear to have _shaved_ today, and the presence of stubble around the normally well-groomed short beard is as uncharacteristic as if he'd shown up pantless. Raeye nods solemnly, and after giving the dog another pat on the head, she indicates that she's moving on to the next pen, pocketing brush and leash. "I understand. Any less caution'd be foolish, anyway. I'll keep my eyes peeled, and stand by until I get further notice. Is there anyone else's name I should keep in mind?" She pauses, then adds, "In case someone's been working close quarters with the Wyrm, but not actually Tainted." "That I have no clue of. Andrea and Sepdet is most likely the two with that kind of information. You haven't had a weird dream lately, have you?" Alicia asks as she moves on to the next pen, following after her friend. Raeye shakes her head. "I stopped over in Seattle and heard from a local that there was trouble brewing up here. They're too scared've who might attack them if their numbers are low to send up help." She doesn't sound irritated by this decision, but troubled. "From the sound of things, it's going to be just Us against Them." Salem takes a moment to gather himself, then strides toward the shelter. The receptionist gives him a wary look, partly at his appearance, partly at the vibes of stressed homicidal monster that he gives off. "Looking for a friend," says Salem, as calmly as possible; his voice is hoarse and tired. "Female, blonde, about eighteen?" "Yah, I hear ya. But the way things are going, shit will pick up, really. I hope. I got faith in the system ya'know." Grinning, Alicia gives chase after a dog, her jacket flowing about her body. [Raeye gets called away.] The receptionist directs Salem toward the kennels, and he heads that way to see Alicia playing tag with a dog as though she hadn't a care in the world. He takes a deep breath, and then lets it out, heavily. With a light grin, she swats at a pooch, then glances over at the loud breath. Clearing her throat, Alicia stands up and heads over to him, her playfull nature dissolving quickly. "Hey there big guy." "You called," says Salem, shadowed eyes sweeping over the kennel area. He rides the waning edge of a surge of adrenaline and looks exhausted, ragged. "What's up?" Alicia reaches out and pats him on the shoulder, clearing her throat softly. "Old Strider Galliard just came back into town, Raeye, Travels-Her-Path-Alone. She was trying to get into the Sept a few months ago, but got tugged away without notice." She says in a soft, barely audible voice. "I called ya'just in case ya'know... cuz' well.. people been missing, coming back an ta-da.. they end up turning into spiders an trying to defile you know what. So, I was just playing it safe while I checked her and the story out." "Wise," Salem replies, automatically. Then, a beat later, he squints at her. "Spiders?" Whispering, Alicia says. "Agatha.. came back tainted and tried to take the pathstone. I fought against her and received my first scars. Before Eamon and I could land the final blows, she burst into a bunch of spiders." Salem's upper lip curls away from his teeth. "Jesus fuck, when was this?" Alicia runs her hands back through her hair, then glances down at the shallow scars on her arms. "Umm... 'bout a month before the recent attack. Some speculation was that she was the traitor, and that they used her knowledge of the Bawn and Guards to get that deep and lead the others here later." "Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit." Salem paces a short distance, dragging his fingers back through long, unkempt hair. Alicia nods her head and places a hand on your arm, giving a light, comforting squeeze. "Damage is already done, we just gotta be more careful who goes in and out now these days." Salem swings around to face the Gaian, bloodshot eyes intent. Even the dead one seems to stare at her; looking close, the scarred, bleached out iris is almost visible. "Have you talked to John?" "About what?" Alicia asks. "About Raeye here? No.. I haven't. But she's a good kid, that I can tell. She doesn't have the taint about her, she checks out clean and the dogs here aren't freaking out. She was close to me before she left, its refreshing to know she's willing to work her ass off to help us out." Salem waves a hand across the air between them, dismissively. "No, not the-- not about your friend." Alicia blinks her eyes. "You mean 'bout Agatha?" Salem snaps, "_No_." Then he catches himself, taking a breath and passing his hand across his face, fingernails rasping through black stubble. More calmly, and quietly, he explains. "I got a message in my voicemail yesterday morning. From _them_." He bares his teeth at the last word; his hands, dropped down to his sides, twitch, not quite closing into fists. "They know my name." "The fuck? From -them-? They know how to pick up a phone and dial it? How the hell did they get that? Holy fucking shit. This ain't good at all." Alicia suddenly turns bouncy and excited, pacing quickly through the kennel. "GeezusFuckingHolyMotherofWhatevertheFuckisoutthere." Salem's agitation is upsetting the stray dogs; they're getting noisy and restless -- some pacing, some whining, some barking and snarling with tails tucked under their legs. "I don't know," says the Glass Walker, fingers twitching and expression haunted. "Could be Hunter and his packs, from Vegas, but Byte-Me _assured_ me that they'd been killed. _Fuck_." He starts pacing again, which does nothing for the dogs' peace of mind. "That doesn't explain the safehouse, though, or the junkyard, or the--" He stops short, frowning in thought. Half to himself: "Possibly the Rialto. Did I tell him about Edge? Shit." Alicia rubs the back of her neck. "They are ganna attack the Rialto... Andrea's pack found out. They have it planned and targeted on three moons. New, Half, and Full. They are also ganna preform a huge Rite to defile the Caern for good on the Full, I believe." She turns about and lets out a breath, then reaches out to touch your arm again, squeezing. "C'mon, lets get outta 'ere, I'll have Raeye give me a call on the cell." Salem nods distractedly at the first part; he was there for the meeting, after all. He lets Alicia urge him out. "Thursday night, they said." [Later...] Motel Room(#3561RFJ) The banal little motel room is something of a mess. Of the table and two chairs set up near the bed, one chair is on its side near the big vanity mirror, outside the tiny bathroom. The other is broken, and the table's on its side. There's a fist-sized depression in the wall, too, stuff in general is scattered about, thrown or fallen. The fact that Salem shows no surprise indicates that this is not the product of a break-in. The Glass Walker lets Alicia in, then locks the door behind them -- latch, chain, deadbolt. Following inside the large Glass Walker, Alicia lets out a short breath, glancing about the hotel. "Man... so you ganna hide yer'self out here or something?" She asks, glancing your way, raising up a brow. "And do they have the Walker voice mail number too, or just yours?" Salem has calmed down somewhat during the drive back, but he's still restless and edgy. And the moon's only crescent, too. He stares at the disarray with a wan expression, then paces over toward the chair lying near the bathroom. "I don't know," he says, picking it up. "They know my name, and unless not a _single_ _one_ knows Questing Stone, they can find me." He looks back at the upturned table and the chair's broken twin, and then just sets the unbroken one upright where it is. Then he drops down into it. "I sent a copy to John's box. I haven't spoken to him yet." Alicia dips her head in a nod, letting out a breath. "That sucks ass dude. Man... " Sitting herself on the bed, she props her chin up in the palm of her hands. "You want me to stay with you then? For the next few nights? It won't be a problem at all, that way you at least got some back." "They said that they were coming Thursday night. Tonight." Salem pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes squinted shut. "Which is ripe for an ambush, except that they would fucking well _know_ I'd think that. Unless they're utter fucking idiots, which doesn't seem fucking likely." "So, you want me to stay or not?" Alicia asks, rolling her shoulders back a bit. "I got silver back at my place, we can load up, and blaze the fuckers down if we gotta." Salem rubs his forehead. "And die gloriously." Is that bitterness? You better believe it. "We won't die, at all. Ok?" Ali' reaches out and gives him a nudge. "We definitly won't be dying, that much I can tell you that. But in the end, if we do die, it'll be with glory." Salem glances up, meeting her eyes for a moment, and then gets up. Back to pacing. "Die with glory. Yes, that's what we _do_, isn't it?" He pauses as a brittle plastic cup crushes underfoot and looks down at it, scowling tiredly. "How did they know? Fuck me bloody, _how_ _did_ _they_ _know_?" "Well.. " Alicia says softly, rubbing the back of her neck. "You weren't tagged with a tracking device embedded into the back of your skull or anything, were ya?" She grasps at straws, shrugging. "I mean, hell.. all the weird shit lately, it'd make sense." Salem actually does bring his hand up to rub at the back of his head, fingers digging into the thick black hair to feel at his scalp. "Nh. No. Unless..." He thinks a moment, then shakes his head. "Andrea's pack scouted at night, didn't they? And no vampires." Alicia nods her head. "Yah.. They did scout at night, but how would that involve you in any way?" "It wouldn't," says the Glass Walker. His hand drops back down to his side, finding nothing. "Unless they were working with the Sabbat." He grimaces. "But if there'd been Sabbat about, there would have been signs. _Dammit!_" His fist slams into the wall with sudden violence. Once, twice, more. "Dammit fucking bloody shitting _dammit_!" "Salem, c'mon.. chill. We gotta think clearly." Alicia reaches out and catches his arm on the next fly, grunting. "Sit down, take a load off. We /will/ get through this, together, as a pack." Salem snarls, literally, as Alicia grabs his arm, his good eye going from brown to gold. She manages to hold on to the tensed limb for a moment -- then it bulges with muscle, ripping free, and then he's whirling on her, already in Glabro, teeth lengthening. Alicia lets him go and lets out a breath, taking back a short step back. Her chin lifts, peering up at him evenly. "Salem, Calm. Down." She says again, leveling out her voice. "Please." Salem breathes heavily, jaws parted and fangs visible. Then he grits his teeth and turns away; Alicia gets a good view of his back as he reverts to homid form. "I'm sorry." "Its ok. I understand that you are frustrated and stressed out. We all out." She reaches out hesitantly and touches your back, hoping that her prescence can be a sense of comfort. "Sit down.." Salem looks at the overturned table and the broken chair, his shoulders sagging. "Shit," he mutters, and sits down on the edge of the bed. Alicia settles down behind him and sets her hands upon his neck and shoulders, starting to give him a light massage. "You'll figure things out, we all will. Just watch your back, and also, we are there for you." Salem closes his eyes for a moment and then, opening them, pulls away from the Gaian's touch and pushes to his feet. "I'm going to take a shower," he says, looking at the fist-dented part of the wall. "If anyone calls..." He makes a vague gesture toward the clunky motel phone. "You know." Alicia nods her head and leans back a bit, then glances over to the phone. "They know you are in this room?" She asks, squinting her eyes. Salem shrugs out of his coat saying only, "I don't know," in a tired, troubled tone of voice. Then he vanishes into the bathroom. The door closes.