2020-09-25 - The Trail of the Madman

Alexander has a moon carved into his skin that says it's probably a good idea to try to bring this guy in soon, so he's in for the plan, even if the idea of bringing a serial killer to a lecture has him breaking out in almost literal hives. He's actually got a reason to be on campus - he teaches online courses, not for real credit, but the 'community enrichment' sorts - and it's meant that he's occasionally had to be on campus. He's currently sitting towards the back, notebook open. He fits in better among the community college crowd than the typical freshmen crowd, and his scan of the area could be that of a millworker taking classes to Move Up In The World, but still bored out of his mind.

Bennie likes to dress the part. When she helped Alexander take down the Satan spawn Elf on the Shelf she wore an ugly Christmas sweater. Now? She's in audience of the lecture hall with her hair piled up in a bun and black plastic framed glasses sans prescription on her nose. While the drab colors are positively KILLING HER to wear, she's in a cream blouse and a pair of tan trousers and sensible flats. Apparently this is what she thinks all college kids look like attending lectures. What does she know? She went to a trade school to become an EMT. Her pencil is bouncing nervously on her blank pad of paper, her foot bobbing in time to the same rhythm. There is a glance to the other planted members of their little scheme and then she starts doodling.

Cecil sits not far from Alexander, but far enough away it doesn't look like he's with him. He looks a little on the older side for a student, but the nerd energy is strong in this one. His normal wardrobe fits the nerdery easily. One one of his feet is a sprain boot, but he doesn't seem to need crutches anymore. He probably won't be one to make a speedy getaway, though, if it comes to that. He has a notebook open and a pencil in hand, one of those mechanical kinds. He keeps an eye out while he pretends to make notes.

August has no trouble looking academic, since technically he is one. He parks himself among a cluster of low-to-no Glimmer students, who don't seem to mind because being near another presumed professor means they can crib from his notes AND might get bonus points if they ever wind up in his class, right? Right?

...maybe not. But it helps him blend in, along with his black and white flannel, plain, dark purple tee, denim jeans, and urban hikers. He's taking notes diligently, if only to give Ravn because he might find it interesting, and not actively looking for the killer. He's just here for backup and to wave down the cops, etc. As he told Ruiz, he wouldn't know what to do with a serial killer if he caught one. He'll let the detectives deal with that. He's just keeping kids and their lecturer safe.

Lilith walks in with Byron on one side and a designer tote handbag with notepad sticking out, instead of a full backpack or anything. But she has kept it pretty blend casual with jeans and a t-shirt for some BBQ joint in Atlanta, as well as running shoes and a ponytail, makeup kept to lip gloss for the fresh faced college student look. It took them a bit to find the actual place in the building, but then there it is, marked with a sign.

COMPARATIVE STUDY LECTURE: RITUAL SACRIFICE IN THE NEW AND OLD WORLD

Honestly, the woman might have attended this lecture anyway if she knew about it and someone invited her, so she's actually a little chipper to be showing up, despite the context of it being some kind of sting operation. She lowers down into one of the fringe chairs near the door soon after walking in, angled to see the speaker and the room in general.

Can Byron Thorne look like anything but a successful businessman? He's not wearing a suit and tie and is in casual dress for the event. Wearing a plain long sleeve gray shirt and jeans, he even shaved for the day, going incognito, something which probably will be undone come morning when the bristles start setting back in. He, himself, is of low glimmer, so can easily blend in with the others of kind in comparison to those that shine as brightly as a Dark Man beacon. Taking a seat beside Lilith, he rummages through a backpack to pull out some random notebook which he'd purchased just for today. Dark eyes scan the room, seeking out the locations of the other players in this trap, before he resettles back in.

Alexander is taking notes - the information IS interesting, after all. He's also taking little glances around the hall, trying to time it when people cough or shift, something that would be 'natural' to look around for. He notices the man with the straw blond hair, and looks to the others. If he can catch their eyes, he tries to subtly direct any looking in other directions towards the man he saw. There's a lot of scratching his nose with the end of his pen, okay?

Lilith was pretty strategic about sitting by the door to get the lay of the whole room from the edge, but it helps her zero percent. She's not looking around too long before doing a double take on a guy that she thinks might fit the bill. But then he's eyeballing her and flashing his pale abs, which almost cracks her up on the spot. The brunette just barely keeps it together, but Byron can hear the noise of strain and muffling in her throat for a psuedo-laugh there for a second. Then she just gives the guy a 'thumbs-up' gesture on his pasty abs, which might be encouragement, who knows, she never went to college and it's funny, okay.

It's also distracting, she doesn't see what others are picking up on as weird. Re-crossing her legs, she flips her notepad open for a breather on the whole searching around angle so she doesn't look like a crowd weirdo.

Bennie doesn't really realize what she's doodling until a wide evil smile is looking back at her on the paper capped with a pair of cat ears. With a wrinkle of her nose, she flips over to her eraser and starts deleting out pieces of the things teeth like a one of those Clown targets you throw bean bags at at a Carnival, not satisfied until he's gapped toothed. As the B-word is mentioned, she slumps down slightly in her seat and glances around, 'accidentally' dropping her pencil and when she bends over to retrieve it she looks closer at the man in the hoodie near the back. Her finger touches her ear and she murmurs, 'Papa's got a brand new bag, and his future's so bright, he's gotta wear shades.'

DAMN, they totally should have worn ear pieces! Why didn't they think of that! Bennie'll have to get someone else's attention a different way, so she clears her and makes a little gesture towards her shoulder to indicate 'behind her', that hopefully someone else in their group will see.

Cecil not only spies the guy they're looking for, he catches Alexander's look and gives him a small nod. Yeah, he sees him, too.

Look, Cecil has one job on this ship. He notices things. It's what names him a good forensics scientist. His gaze skips from Alexander to Bennie, and he gives her a small nod. Earpieces would've been wonderful. He ponders reaching out to her mind, but gosh, it seems so forward. He taps his pencil against his notepaper idly as he glances around at the others to see who's picking up on this.

August meant to lend a hand looking for the killer. He really did. But then some thirty-going-no-twelve jackass is flashing Lilith in front of God and everyone. He gives the kid a look planted squarely between pissed off big brother and disgusted member of your gender. It's not The Face (as Itzhak calls it), which is more disappointment than anything else; it's the expression of a guy who used to keep his sisters safe from creepers in high school, and he didn't do it via polite conversation. The fact that he can't actually follow up on this look isn't relevant. Lilith can take care of herself. But August will be cold and dead in the ground before he lets this kind of douchebag behavior slide.

Byron was always a decent student, so he has no issues with being lectured to in a room for a little over an hour. This was more of a presentation than a class, so rather than pull out his laptop, he's jotting a few notes down on his phone. As he does so, his eyes sweep the crowd between note taking, looking for that infamous face or just someone showing signs of unease. At some point, he half-turns towards Lilith, his eyes focusing on the dude a few seats away. You know the one. He's lifting his shirt up for some reason. He nearly snorts at this pathetic display and just has to shake his head when Lilith offers her misplaced encouragement to the poor guy.

His brow lifting, he returns his gaze back to phone for a moment, before doing the casual look around again. His own posture is relaxed rather than rigid and he's leaning in full within his seat.

Initially, he notices some guy in a hoodie, focusing his attention on the other man's features. Luckily for him, Bennie seems to be sitting nearby, so when he notices her gesturing as subtly as she can, his gaze will slowly shift to see if he can figure out who she is gesturing to.

Alexander pulls out his phone, keeping a sidelong eye on the shaggy guy, and pulls out his phone. It's not hard to make a group for everyone currently involved, and he texts while slumped at the desk like a guy who just cannot be bothered with this: I'm going to call the cops, but it'll take them a minute or two to get there. In the meantime, we need to cut off his retreat. Anyone need to go to the bathroom? He breaks off the text, sending it just when he reaches into the bag. But it's just a notebook. Still, there's those injuries that make him frown.

Lilith is less amused now, she's not as caught offguard for the ridiculous shock factor as ab-guy, this time she's just noticing the kissy faces and looks and it's distracting again, she doesn't see what everyone else is seeing. Shifting in her seat and uncrossing her legs to get out her phone when it buzzes, though, she realizes others have a bead on him and looks aside at Byron with a vague tilt of her head. Then she leans in to speak right in against his ear with little kisses and nips, and it looks like she's trying to prove a point to the flirty-mc-flirt, not whisperwhisper.

"... want me to stand guard outside? I don't... where am I looking?"

Once upon a time there was a legitimate reason for Bennie taking Adderall, just not handfuls of it at a time. She still gets distracted at the oddest times, and when she should be looking for McHot Killer, something else catches her eye instead. Her gaze narrows at a little flicker on the lens of the projector, at first trying to ferret out if it's an issue with the lightbulb but no, it's a moth! Aw, that's kinda pretty. Don't go towards the light little friend! And then Bennie's phone goes off, having forgotten to put it on vibrate. Suddenly Donna Summer starts singing, "I want some hot text baby this evening..gotta have some texting, gotta have some text toniiiight!" She squeaks, diving for her hobo bag.

Cecil's text alert is on vibrate, and he glances at his phone, then texts back: I can go to the loo. Then he gathers up his notebook and pencil, and he hoists himself out of his chair. The sprain boot makes him limp, but honestly he's probably able to get around better than he's letting on. He moves slowly, and when he gets to the doorway, he curses quietly under his breath and kneels to fiddle with the straps on the boot. No one's coming in or going out that door unless they want to knock over the temporarily disabled guy. Or unless he moves aside. Which he can totally do! If he wants to. He just doesn't. Awkward nerd.

Douchebag flirter is saved from more of the 'former trailer trash who beat up other trailer trash' look when Bennie's phone announces to the entire, lecture hall how badly she wants text. Oh so badly. Like everyone else in the room August looks at her and blinks, slowly, mouth flattening. Oh, there it is: The Face.

They have a job to do, though. He glances at his phone with a tilt of his head, sees Cecil has the bathroom exit situation covered. So he takes to watching who reacts to Bennie's sudden text fiasco.

Continuing to try and do his best to not look like he's spying on their killer, Byron tries to only observe the man from out of the corner of his eyes, taking note of his reactions. Mainly, to see if he'd noticed any of them yet. When he sees the guy taking furious notes, he pretends to do the same, playing back what the speaker had said make the guy go off like that. That's when he feels the phone in his hand vibrate first, before the notification pops up with Alexander's text.

At around that same time, Bennie's phone goes off too and that's probably enough to draw the attention of several people. One of them is probably glaring at her or positioning a lone finger against their shushing lips. Oh boy!

Typing out a message of his own, he distractedly turns towards Lilith when he feels her warm breath against his ear.

We'll pretend to leave as well. Just grab our things and loudly head on out.

He then murmurs to Lilith, placing a kiss at her lips, "Let's grab something to eat." This is all ACTING! Reaching to collect his thing, he then directs her attention to the killer in the midst.

Alexander twitches, quite literally twitches, when Bennie's phone goes off. His look in her direction is not feigned in its exasperation - and amusement, when he realizes the words of the song. He chuckles with the rest of the class - but the expression falls away when he sees the target stand up. Alexander quickly sends off a text to a cop he knows, saying that he's seen the guy matching the APB, and where they are, and then he gathers up his things and starts to follow, attempting to be casual about it.

Let's be honest - Alexander doesn't do casual well. And he's got a cast on. But he's gonna tryyyy.

Lilith finally sees the man while rising up with Byron to lean a bit gingerly to get her bag once standing, eyes flicking up to trace the figure on the way to the door and where Cecil is. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, she puts a hand over into one of Byron's and plans aloud, "... yeah, I'm starved, let's do it. This is what we get for skipping a meal, can't concentrate on what anyone is saying because of Mister Abs over here, anyway."

Her tone of voice, though, to Byron's notice is a bit dragging and distracted as she shifts the bag on her shoulder and takes a moment to focus, really focus on somewhere near the doorway while turning to file out that way at a casual saunter too. Shaggy's got the lead, of course. Her focus wanes, though, suddenly, and she's off with her aim of what she was trying to do to the man's bag.

Bennie's too busy digging in her bag trying to find her phone, pulling out all matter of nonsense from her bag while she apologizes to the class and teacher with a, "Sorry! Sorry!" One sneaker is plopped down on her table, a coin purse, a compact umbrella...wait...is that a bra? Look, she gets changed on the go a lot. No RAGRETS. She flicks a glance up to catch August's Dad Face but is kept from utter shame and ultimate chin wobble by Alexander's note of amusement. Finally she finds her phone and first turns it to silent before checking the message, but she's now several steps behind everyone with the whole noticing the escape of their mark thing.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry," Cecil says, and he gets to his feet just in time to step into Shaggy's way. "I'm so clumsy, I'm so terribly sorry." He moves to get out of the way, stepping into Shaggy's path again. All he has to do is be himself, and he can do this all day. "Shall we dance?" he jokes with a little laugh. "Oops, here, let me..." He starts to scooch aside, second-guesses himself, and yet again ends up in the way. If Shaggy wants to get past him, he's going to have to physically remove him from the doorway.

August watches the presumed suspect get up to leave. He catches Bennie's almost chin wobble, relents with a sigh. To the kids around him this just comes off as long-suffering professor.

He doesn't immediately move to follow Evil Shaggy; at least one of them should, he figures, stay put to keep up appearances (and protect people in the room, because who knows what the guy might do when cornered). Instead he concentrates on the bag, trying to weaken the seams so it spills open. No such luck; try as he might, he can get them to give. The others have things in hand, so he settles for watching and waiting, and (if needed...but hopefully not) defending any of the civilians caught in the crossfire.

With his backpack slung over his shoulder and one arm snaked behind Lilith's waist once they've both risen, Byron gives the room another 'casual' glance, Shit, the guy was on his way out. It would be way too obvious if they suddenly gave chase, so despite picking up their walking pace as they make their way out of the lecture room, he tries to give the illusion that they weren't chasing some random guy and that they were just eager for food!

"I'm thinking of heading to the nearest diner." He says in a normal conversational tone. Really! All while watching as some time is bought when Shaggy has an encounter with Cecil. At this moment, he has no idea that Lilith or August tried to trip the guy up further by magically manipulating his pack. What Byron does see is an opportunity. Taking note of which direction the killer will most likely be heading, he conjures up an illusion of a campus security guard coming out from around the corner, looking to possibly block the way which Shaggy was planning to take. If anything, he tries to make this ghostly guard look menacing, making eye contact with the fleeing nerd.

Alexander staggers to the side when the projector goes hurling across the room, and he makes a noise of distress as Cecil is grabbed and that knife is pressed up close. "Hey," he calls out, quietly, "we know you're just trying to save us all. We know that. We'd like," he casts about, "we'd like to learn from you. Follow your path as you've laid it out for us. You've called to us, given us the quests to calm the wrath of the gods." While he babbles about that, he's reaching out with his mind, trying to find the centers of chaos and fear in him and lull them into quiet, into calm, into trust. His eyes are locked on the man.

Well, Bennie gets at least a sliver of satisfaction when the Mad Man starts in fact babbling like a Mad Man. She can see that busted grill of his, and so that's almost worth poor Cecil being taken as a hostage. WAIT! Poor Cecil! Poor person in the audience getting beamed by the projector! August is already moving to help the latter, so Bennie turns her attention on McNoLongerHotPants. You're getting veeeeery sleeeeeepy...

It's a bit like tossing around a rag doll, pinning Cecil to the floor. The next thing he knows there's a blade against his throat and he's looking up at the killer whose crimes he has become intimately familiar with. Some part of him wonders dimly if this is the knife he's been decapitating people with.

He's quite calm as he looks the madman in th eye. He also keeps very, very still. "No reason to get bent out of shape, mate. Let's work this out, all right?" He's not using any ooky powers to try to make his case. He's just trying to keep the guy engaged long enough for the big guns to arrive.

Shaggy turns his head fast enough that it knocks off the hat and the bad wig, revealing close-cropped hair. The sunglasses still hide his eyes, so it makes him very difficult to read. He stares at Alexander, and for a moment he's like a snake facing charmer. He's still got that knife against Cecil's throat, but he visibly clams. But then something surges up, "But you don't...you don't have the will. Only the Quencher can slake their thirst." The fist tightens again and there's a little rivulet of blood that comes from the point of contact.

But then Bennie's doing her thing. He blinks hard against it. "No. No no no no. I need to finish...the work. I need to give them...blood." Before the sleepiness can take too firm a hold, he shoves Cecil away, then puts the blade up to his own throat and starts to slash.

There's a few things that run through Liilth's mind real quick once panic breaks loose with weird words and... a knife. The impulse she has to suddenly wreck and correct isn't the safest for Cecil, but that's not exactly the way her mind works, especially with the Vivisectionist's touch held upon it. However, she's right in against Byron and rather close when it happens and Alexander and Bennie are already working softer ways on the man, which isn't anything she can see in the quick moment, but she is delayed enough to notice the reaction when both power exertions hit.

Cecil isn't in peril and once Lilith realizes the man is gouging his own throat, she just steps back like nope and frees Byron to do whatever, staring with a little appall and a little fascination.

Byron keeps the illusion of the security guard up for a while longer, before eventually letting it fade from the mad man's mind. Just like that. There was no pretending anymore as shit just got real. In truth, he had a mind to try fry the guy, even if that meant Cecil was taken out as collateral damage. The rumbling in the other man's voice and the power he displays lets him know that they ought to work quickly and just get this over with.

Then, something began to happen and he noticed the confusion and panic in the killer's eyes. He has an idea of what may be happening, though he might blame most of that on Alexander. The air is heavy the smell of ozone when Thorne clenches his fist which soon glows with a crackle of electricity. But the tide had turned and Cecil was released. That was good and all and if it were up to him, he very well may have let the other man slit his own throat. But he remembers about the sacrifice. If he's not going to sacrifice Cecil, that means...

With the forensic guy out of the way, he lunges forward to make a grab for the killer's knife wrist to either force him to let the blade drop or to yank his arm back and away entirely. However, as an added precaution, his hands still spark with electricity, perhaps in the hopes that the shock will stop him before he can complete his ritual.

There's a stark, worried noise from Alexander when Byron lunges forward, and he just barely bites back a sigh of relief when the younger man gets the upper hand on the killer. The blood is stark and red, and he glances towards Bennie. "Can you heal him? He might have a victim still kidnapped. The cops will want to question him." He moves forward, and - with only a little hesitation - slips around and offers Cecil a hand up. "Are you okay, Harvey?" He looks him over even as he asks. The sirens in the distance do bring that sigh of relief. He looks towards the killer. "I'm sorry," he says, quietly. For what, he doesn't say.

It's not pleasant to let your fiance jump at a mad man with a knife trying to cut his own throat, but Lilith doesn't confuse or complicate the matter any more than it already is. She's still mostly staring with fascination that only intensifies with focus once Byron is physically involved. In fact, her head tilts and she's distracted there for a beat, almost appraising the man like a prized fighting stud before she blinks a few times and looks to see what the others are doing.

After seeing the blood on Cecil's neck, she quick acts and steps his way, warning before exerting powers to mend what was done to his flesh before the killer took the knife to himself to try and finish the job, "Hey, I'm mending you up, you're fine, okay?"

Bennie finally steps out of the row of seats she was in, heading (seemingly) calmly up the aisle to the gurgling Serial Killer. Her blue eyed gaze looks to Alexander and there is something said to him without words or the need for a mental bridge: the man doesn't get to get out of this so easily. She normally prefers to touch the wounded, to get a better feel for their energy before she tries to mend a wound, but she's not risking it this time. "Wonderland was never yours to begin with, but you should have read the ending of the book. It was all in her imagination." Convinced, at last, that this is just the man's delusions. She opens her fist, but there is no fireball for the man this time. Just the bright flare of sudden warmth meant to knit and repair, heal instead of hurt.

Cecil takes the hand up, giving Alexander a nod as he says, "I'll be okay." There's blood staining his short-sleeved button-up shirt, and the cut at his throat is a bleeder, but it's not spurting. He will live to nerd again. He lets go of Alexander's hand as soon as he's on his feet, and he murmurs to him, "Thanks, mate."

As Lilith approaches, he gives her a nod, Mr. Cool Under Pressure But Not Cool In Any Other Way Whatsoever. He doesn't interfere in the mending. Instead, he asks her, "Do we know each other?" He's changed somewhat since 'high school' but honestly not that much, save to get older. Once the bleeding stops, he adds, "Thank you."

Arcing his body back to steer full clear out of the way of the murder's swiping dagger, Byron grapples with the man, before position himself behind him as they fight over control of that blade hand. "And your death? This sacrifice? What is that supposed to do? Save us all?" Once upon a time, Byron Thorne might have dismissed this man's ramblings, but he's experienced quite a bit in the past year. He knows that anything is possible.

Sending a mild shock into the mad man's body, he feels the killer's body growing heavy as he becomes sleepily compliant and the entrepreneur helps to carefully lower the man towards the ground with his arms clasped behind him. Crouched down on one knee, he draws in a heavy breath after the mad rush towards the... mad man. He then gives Alexander this look, almost asking if they did the right thing? Not in saving Cecil or anyone else, but in saving the killer. That soon is put out of his head when he murmurs, "If whatever he says is true. We better brace ourselves."

Keeping the man pressed against the ground, he just waits for Bennie to work her magic. That's when he notices Lilith tending to the other guy and he graces her with a distant smile.

The cops were on their way. If there was another kidnapping victim, Byron doesn't seem to be concerned about that. Right now, what he wants to know is: "What's coming? And how do we prepare for it? Besides, you know..." Sacrificing people. This could all be nothing but a crazy man's rambling, but he's taking no chances.

Alexander flashes a smile at Cecil, although he looks relieved when the man's on his feet and lets go of his hand. "Anytime. That was very brave," he says, quietly, then shuffles back to let Lilith work her (literal) magic. He ducks his head a little at Bennie's look, but turns to the killer and Byron. Byron's question is a good one, but Alexander has one of his own: "A man named Nakamura is missing. Where is he?" He fears he knows the answer, but can't help but ask, if there's any chance at all the guy is still out there, alive.

After Lilith has taken a moment to focus on Cecil and push his body's systems to accelerated clot and closure, she actually looks at the guy for a long moment, as if it's nagging her. Does she know him? She can't place where she thinks she might know him from, not right now anyway, so after that study and stare, her shoulders just hitch up with a helpless 'I dunno' gesture. Quickly, her eyes are checking on Byron, but with people talking now and the killer-man pinned, she wanders back a few steps closer to listen with a flitted little confidential smile at the dark-haired wrangling man.